Gifted #Wattys2015

Chapter 19

Teenage Tula

Jay knew this had to be something to do with her Gifts, but he knew he couldn't tell anyone about it, so he just took Ethan's help to carry Tula to the bed in his room. There, Albey sprinkled water on Tula's face and shook her awake.

Tula awoke with a start and looked around in confusion.

"Guys, do you mind if I talk to her for a minute?" Jay asked Ethan and Albey. He didn't want to say anything about Gifts in front of them. What he didn't know was that Ethan knew already. Ethan, on the other hand, didn't know whether Tula wanted Jay to know that she had told Ethan, so he just said, "Sure," and left with Albey.

"You okay?" Jay asked.

"I'm fine. Someone out there isn't though. I got hit by an overload of something. Some strong feeling that I couldn't handle. Could you go see who could have caused the overload?"

"On one condition," Jay replied. "You aren't getting out of bed till you feel completely fine. I'm going to get Ethan to stay with you."

"Okay."

Jay left, and Ethan walked in a minute later. "What's wrong?"

"Someone caused an overload. It's nothing big. I'll be fine."

"Okay. How are you doing with Belle?"

"Still no luck. I have no idea who she is."

"Have you seen her again?"

"No..."

"Oh okay."

Just then Jay walked in. "I think it might be Erika," he said, not wanting to say anything else in front of his brother.

"I need to talk to her," Tula replied. She shook her head slightly at Ethan to tell him not to tell Jay that he knew. Not yet at least. Ethan nodded back to show that he had understood. The two brothers left to call Erika. She walked in, and sat at the edge of the bed. "What happened Tul?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. You're not fine though," she said.

"What do you mean? I'm okay."

"No you're not. You seem sad."

"What's wrong with you? You're trying to act as though you know everything. You have no idea what I'm going through right now and you never will. Just leave me alone. I don't need anyone to help me." With that, Erika stormed out of the room. Tula tried to follow her, but she began to feel faint again, so she reluctantly laid back down. Before she realized it, she was fast asleep.

***

When she woke up, everyone had left. Jay was walking Erika home, so Ethan was the only person in the house. Tula walked into the sitting room and found Ethan watching TV. "Hey."

"Tula! How are you feeling? We didn't know whether to wake you up or not, but you seemed really tired, so Jay decided to let you sleep."

"That's fine."

"What happened to Erika? She wouldn't tell anyone what you said. She also seemed pretty sad the whole time, but I didn't want to ask."

"Good. She's really sad but wouldn't tell me why. She got mad at me for asking."

"Oh. By the way, do you plan to tell Jay that I know all about the Gifts?"

"Yes, but not anytime soon. Maybe later, after-" she was interrupted by the door opening. Jay walked in and smiled when he saw that Tula was awake. "Our sleeping beauty has finally woken!"

"Haha," Tula said sarcastically. "I'm going to call my mom. Be right back."

"Okay," the two guys said together.

Tula went call her mom, and was in for a surprise. "Tula?"

"Yeah ma. It's me."

"I'm really sorry sweetie, but your dad and I need to go to India to do something for work. We need to leave right away. I've spoken to Albey's mom. You can come get your stuff and stay over there until we get back."

"Kay, I'll be there."

"What is it?"

"My parents are going on a business trip, and they're leaving right now. I need to go get my stuff and stay over at Albey's."

"Do you want me to come?" Ethan asked, looking hopeful.

"Sure, if you want to." Tula said, laughing at his eagerness. She knew exactly why he wanted to come. Even though he was pretty good at hiding how he felt, Tula knew he had a tiny crush on Albey. Okay maybe not so tiny. Tula began to laugh uncontrollably, as Jay and Ethan began to look at her strangely. "Sorry," she choked out, "Just give me a minute."

Eventually, she did stop laughing, and Tula and Ethan left. When they reached her house, she found a note on the table.

Tula- We couldn't wait any longer, sorry. Sky is at Sammy's house. He'll be there till we get back. Check on him occasionally. Don't stay home alone. Get your stuff and go to Albey's. Try not to text or call unless it's really important, we're going to be really stressed out. Albey's mom knows everything, she'll take care. Thanks for being awesome! Have fun!

Love you,

Ma and Pa

"They're gone. I'll just go get my stuff. Come on up. I might take a while," Tula said to Ethan. She began climbing stairs two at a time as usual. As Tula began pulling things out of random corners of her room and tucking them neatly into her duffel bag, she decided to ask Ethan about his thing for Albey. "Ethan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Be honest, okay? I won't say anything. I'm just curious to see if my guess is right."

"Okay...?"

"Do you have a crush on Albey?"

"Maybe."

"Oh god, not this. Don't tell me you're going to say maybe for everything I say."

"Maybe."

Tula smacked Ethan on the head with the book she was holding, but he ducked.

"Come on, tell me."

"Maybe some other time."

Tula was beginning to think that she might either be wrong about him liking her, or he was just not ready to tell her. So she tried a different tactic.

"You know what? Fine. I really don't mind. Tell me "later"," she said with exaggerated hand-quotations, "if I live to see this later."

"Promise you'll never tell anyone."

"Okay."

"Say it. Say you promise."

"I promise. I swear, I'll never tell anyone."

"No. Yes. New. Old. Black. White. Up. Down. Left. Right. Add. Subtract. Multiply. Divide."

"Okay, okay. I get it. You're confused. Don't worry. You do act like you like her though."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Not really. You're actually pretty good at hiding it. I can just tell. I don't even need to read your mind. It's just an instinct."

"Okay."

"I'm done. Let's go."

"Okay."

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A/N: I dedicate this chapter to my friend Pikachua xD. I wanted to give you guys a little light reading. Fun stuff! Love you guys

-Helen