Stars Of Our Lives

You Know Perfectly Well Nothing Rhymes With Orange

Judging by the shock in his eyes, he recognized me just as fast.

". . . Aja?"

"Yeah," Jim glanced at me. "You two remember each other?"

We did have a pretty memorable runin.

Seamus nodded once. "We . . . we were in math together. You and your brother . . . Krel?" His eyes brightened a little. "Is he here?"

"Uh, yes," I folded my arms. "Yes, he's here with me."

"Well, uh, that's good," His smile suddenly became a little shy, his cheeks darkening ever so slightly. "Uh, it's good to see you again, I guess."

"Likewise," I said, shoving the incident we'd had out of my mind. It wasn't even my incident to be mad over. Not to mention it happened forever ago. "So, you're the Orange here?"

"One and only," He replied. "You guys need something?"

"Actually," Jim gave an easy smile. "We're here about your status as the one and only Orange."

Seamus's eyes immediately went to me, going from shy to curious, then right back to Jim. 

"Really?"

Jim almost looked proud as he nodded.

Seamus took a step toward me, looking as though he were trying to peer behind my eyes. And then he was behind my eyes - before I even had the chance to stop him.

It was a wave of numbing as he pushed into my mind, invisible hands gripping either sides of my head. I braced myself, waiting for the tumult of memories, the rushing river to come drown me. But it never came.

Instead, clear images appeared in the front of my mind. Like they were being pulled from a filing cabinet. Me pulling off a kickflip on my skateboard for the first time. Krel solving a rubik's cube in ten seconds. The smell of the Chinese takeout Zadra would always get us whenever Mama and Papa were out. "I'm allergic to the kitchen," She used to say.

I saw my hand scratching a fifth 'W' into the paint of my bunk at Thurmond. I felt the crisp spring air as I held my arms out to Krel, the first time we'd seen each other in four and a half years. I saw the rainy, open road as Steve and I laughed in the front seats. I felt Kubritz holding me by my hair. I felt my hands against Birdie's throat. I felt -

He pulled out.

"Well, what do you know?" He looked me up and down. "You are an Orange."

"Yep . . ." I had to pause to shake the fogginess from my head. Jim took my elbow to steady me. "Brain powers . . . got 'em."

Seamus walked a circle around me, examining me from all angles. "Huh," He said.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," He stepped back. "Sorry, I've just . . . never seen another Orange before."

"Me neither."

"Yellows and up are pretty rare," Jim said. "And that's not just because PSFs have it out for them," He elbowed me gently. "Which is something I'm sure you understand."

I managed a nod.

Seamus's hand was on his chin, his eyes squinting as they scrutinized every detail of my figure. Like I was one of his equations and if he squinted hard enough, the answer would appear.

"Um," I cleared my throat, gaining his attention. "Seamus, I'm here because I need your help."

"Let me guess," He leaned back against the desk. "You can't control your abilities."