Mimic

Chapter 7

Beau

I hope Rose knows what she's doing. If she so much as thinks about putting Emily in any sort of danger, she will regret it. There's just something off about her. We'll see if she's really what she says she is today when we test Emily today though.

I walk to the cafeteria for the late lunch we all agreed on so that we could meet up before "training," I guess is the word for what we're doing and walk together. Emily walks through the double doors in a striped green sweater that engulfs her. She must be cold today. She's cute. I meet her and Liz at the door, and we find a table to eat at that will fit the five of us. Emily, Liz, and I are joined by Rose within a few minutes, and a little while later, Sean graces us with his presence.

"Everyone, this is Sean," I introduce him. He gives the girls a small wave as he takes a seat beside me. "Sean," I continue, "meet Emily, Liz, and Rose." I point to each of them in turn.

"I'm Beau's cousin," Liz chimes in.

"Sorry," Rose starts, failing to hide the disgust in her voice, "but why is he here?"

"Oh, yeah," I falter. "Sean is one of the best Power Guides I've ever seen. He's helped people from Toxes to Invisibles learn how to control their abilities. I figured he'd be a good asset if you're okay with that Emily," I add, turning to face her for her approval.

She nods. "I need as much help as I can get, I guess, and if you trust him, I'll trust him."

"Well, I'm here to help with her abilities too," Rose spits, irritated.

"Abilities?" he questions, more loudly than I would've liked.

"Shh. Yeah. We'll explain more once we're out of public," I tell him.

"So, where are we going to train her?" Liz asks, bringing up my next question before I have a chance to.

"I found a room the other day that would be perfect for this. It's a big abandoned room that they arenae refurbishing yet," Rose answers, giving details but not the ones I want.

"How'd you find it?" I question nonchalantly, leaning forward in my chair as I try to pry information out of her.

"I like to wander the building. It isnae like there's much else to do," she answers, looking away from me as she says it a little too much like she'd rehearsed those lines. I still don't trust her. Everything is too smoothed over, too polished. She's hiding something, and I'm going to figure out what it is.

"I thought you were at work most of the time when you weren't in classes," I prod, picking at the food on my plate.

"Well, for the most part yes, but, I...um..." she falters.

"Beau," Emily interrupts her, shaking her head at me, "stop."

I slouch back in my chair and stop interrogating Rose.

"So, I'm basically going to be your Power Guide, right?" Sean clarifies, turning to Emily.

"Yes," I answer.

"What's a Power Guide?" Emily asks. "I picked up that you help people with their powers, but how does that work exactly? Is it an ability?"

"Well, it's more of a part-time job. I've been trained to understand how almost all abilities work. There's a journal in Doctor Young's files that are accounts from masters of every ability we know about—two or three for each—and they explain how their abilities work. Power Guides study this information to help the new students learn how to control their abilities when they get here," he explains.

"Can anyone be a Power Guide?" Liz asks.

"No," Sean answers. "You have to go through lots of testing on paper and in simulations to get the title."