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"Ambitious and fiercely original. Sondi Warner is the exciting new voice we've all been wai...
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August 27 | Evening
"Yikes for making assumptions." Aurie wrinkled her nose at the awkwardness.
"It's not a big deal." I let my hair fall over my face and gave her a sideways smile, ready to change the subject. The conversation was getting culturally precarious.
"You don't have to talk about being adopted if you don't want to, but I find you fascinating."
"Like a peculiarity?" I teased.
She smirked. "Like an interesting person that I'd like to get to know."
I studied the floor. I rarely talked about my past. There was never any cause. My best friend Kittie had seen most of it firsthand, and my clients couldn't care less. Aurie's interest felt like a warm flicker within my consciousness.
I struggled to find a safe starting point. There were real traumas in my history, but my memories of growing up secretly Supernatural in a houseful of humans were just basic level bad.
"The first fifteen years of my life, I had no idea what I was. I thought I was mental. I could feel other people's emotions. When I tried explaining my Empathy to my parents, they said I was making things up."
"What's it like?" Aurie asked.
"Impressions," I murmured, looking at her. "Of what you want, what you need. I know exactly how you feel right now." She blushed, and I shrugged and smiled. "I try not to eavesdrop."
"Thank you," she said as she caught my hand. I sighed.
Sometimes I can't stop listening because I find you fascinating, too. "Anyway, I didn't understand why I could see things no one else saw," I murmured. "I remember telling my parents there was a monster outside my window. Later, I found out there were goblins and dragon shifters in my old neighborhood."
"Wow. Why didn't the other Supers help you?"
"I didn't know them, they didn't know me. I had a very sheltered home life. I was even homeschooled."
"Ah, got it. My mom is, um, famous. So, in middle school, my classmates started giving me a hard time about it, and my parents hired private tutors until I graduated."
"Yeah, my parents were fundamentalists. I learned about Overlay City when my best friend Kittie and I were recruited by a pimp who happened to be an elf." I chuckled dryly at the memory of Jasper. "That was after I basically got put out."
"Your parents put you out?" Aurie gasped.
"It's...complicated, but that's a story for another day. Ready to go in?" I asked. Our conversation had carried us to William J. Varnado's door. Aurie buzzed with nervousness.
"I hate leaping through walls, but here goes nothing."
"See you on the other side," I said.
I lifted a fist to knock at the door once she went in, but my phone rang. Glancing at the screen, I saw it was Kittie, and Aurie's words came back to me. I had been avoiding my best friend for making a forgivable thoughtless remark, which was wrong of me.
