Read His Mind | ✓

Chapter 20

Benson's POV

It was a chilly morning with occasional strong gusts of winds. I wore a thin blue plaid button up over a white tee since I had believed that the weather forecast would be bright and sunny and not gloomy and windy. I rubbed my hands together and blew at them, hoping to warm them up a bit as I walked down an empty street toward the house at the end of it.

I stopped in front of a light green house with somewhat alive grass in the front lawn and took out my phone out of my back pocket. I stared at the dark screen and contemplated on whether I should give her a heads up of my arrival.Should I send her a text? Or, should I give her a surprise? 

The idea of getting to her blush was more appealing and outweighed the other option. I put my phone away and went up to the front door. 

Knock knock knock! I lightly knocked on the door and heard footsteps shuffling on the other side. The door slowly opened and revealed Mrs. Lee wearing an apron saying "World's Best Cook". Her tired eyes seemed to brighten up a little when she recognized me. 

"Why, aren't you the good looking friend of Abbie's?" she asked with a warm smile. "Benson, am I right?"

I grinned and nodded. "Will it be alright to walk Abbie to school today?"

"Of course, of course! That would be great, really. I am always worried about her walking to school all by herself and now I won't have to be knowing that a nice boy will be watching over her," Abbie's mom chuckled. "Well, why don't you come on in? You look like you're about to freeze into a block of ice!" She opened the door wider and gestured for me to go in.

I stepped inside the warm living room and immediately felt much better. "Thanks, Mrs. Lee."

"No problem at all. Why don't you go rush Abbie while I get breakfast ready? She's running a little late today."

"Sure, I can do that, Mrs. Lee." 

"Her room is up the stairs, second door to the right," she told me. "Keep the door open, alright?" She winked at me and went to the kitchen.

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I quietly went upstairs and as I got closer to her bedroom, I could hear her thoughts flying around in bits and pieces. 

Which one should I wear? .. will anything bad happen... Bobby... I'm gonna be late..

Right as I stepped in front of her slightly ajar door, the wooden floor creaked underneath my weight. Hearing the sound,  Abbie walked over the door with loud steps and flung it open. She was wearing an oversized t-shirt that read "not a morning person" with grey sweats.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw me and not her mother as she was expecting. "W-what are you doing here?" she stuttered as she backed away from me. "Where's my mom?"

"She's downstairs making breakfast. I came to walk you to school. After what the big reveal yesterday, we don't know what will happen. I have to be by your side at all times or else Bobby or the COT will... never mind them. You better hurry and pick something to wear, you'll be late for 0." I turned her away from me and pushed her toward her closet. "It doesn't matter what you wear, I'm sure you'll look beautiful like you always do." 

A red color covered her cheeks at my compliment and she started fanning her face in an attempt to cool them down. She moved away from me so I was no longer holding onto her shoulders and stared at the ground. "G-go out. I need to change." Abbie pointed at the open door and waited for me to leave.

"Okay, I'll be downstairs." I began to walk out when I changed my course and went back to her. I ruffled her messy hair and looked into her eyes with an assuring smile. "Abbie, don't worry about Bobby, I will never let him hurt you," I said and left her frozen there.

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Abbie came downstairs about ten minutes later with her hair in small waves and dressed in a pink crewneck over a white button up and light blue jeans. She caught me staring at her and tried to hide her blush behind her hands. 

"Come over and eat your breakfast, Abbie," Mrs. Lee said when she saw that she was ready for school. "You have about 5 minutes left and then you two have to get going."

She sat down beside me and took a gulp of the glass of milk her mom had put in front of her. Then she picked up the egg sandwich on the plate and took a bite of it. 

I quietly watched her eat from my peripheral vision. 

"You should eat some too, Benson. You know what they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day which is nothing but the truth," Mrs. Lee said, pushing an egg sandwich on a plate to me. "Eat up."

"Thanks Mrs. Lee," I said gratefully, taking the sandwich in my hands. 

"Feel free to call me Cathy. I think we'll be seeing each other more often, " she teased.

"Mom!" Abbie whined. "What are you saying?" She stared hard at the sandwich and wouldn't take her eyes off due to embarrassment.

I laughed. "I think you're right, Cathy. I do think you'll be seeing me around more these days." I nudged Abbie with my arm with another hearty laugh.

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Halfway there, Abbie broke the silence. "Teach me how to block others from hearing my thoughts."

"Mhm, should I teach you that? I kinda like knowing what goes through your mind," I smiled. 

"I don't like that. I don't want you hearing my thoughts, it's embarrassing," she complained. "Please teach me, Benson. You know that learning this skill will offer protection from the bad guys who want me."

"Yeah I know that so listen up. It's pretty easy to learn. Imagine a strong and thick brick wall that is impenetrable in your mind. Make that wall surround all your inner thoughts and protect it," I explained as we walked. "Easy, right?"

"Sure, easy for you to say," she grumbled.

"You'll get the hang of it in no time. I'll help you," I promised. "Now let's get to class." We were already on campus and the bell just rang. "Wait for me at your classes, I'll walk you to your next ones." 

"Bobby won't be able to hurt me, hurt us at school, will he?" she asked nervously. "There are teachers and so many students around here. It won't be possible, right?"

"I don't know, Abbie, I honestly don't know, but I want to safe rather than sorry. I've got a glimpse at what they're capable of. They're very powerful people."

"Oh."

"Come on, I'll walk you to your study hall class."

A/N: I'm sorry guys for not updating (again)!! I had a lot of stuff going on and I had writer's block so yeah. I hope this is good enough to satisfy you for a little while. :)