Gifted

Chapter 3

"Want to come in?" Jared asked. "Don't worry, my sister should be home."
I chuckled. "Yea, I'll stop in for a second."
The mansion was really a castle. It was huge. Grey brick seemed to be the choice of building material for the place. There were some towers that pointed to the sky. It was breathtaking. Walking in had the same effect. A grand chandelier hung from the ceiling. There was a front lobby, that had a checkerboard print on the floor and a staircases on both sides. Read carpet covered the stairs. The walls were white and lavish furniture were against it.
"Welcome to the mansion on the mountain," Jared exclaimed.
"Peter?!" a little voice called from somewhere in the house.
"Ruth?" Petter called out.
A little girl ran down from some of the stairs. She had strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. With big eyes and a button nose, she was absolutely adorable.
She jumped into her brother's arms. "Peter, you weren't home when I arrived. But Mason was here and told me you were coming later. I wish you would've told me a pretty girl was coming too."
"Ruthie," Peter cut his sister off, probably embarrassed, "say hi to Miss Lori Dubois."
She held out her hand like a grown woman. "How do you do?"
I took her hand and shook it. "I'm lovely, darling. How about yourself, Miss Ruthie?"
She smiled. "Peter, I like her." Then turned and walked away.
Jared and I giggled as she made her way up the stairs.
"You probably have a lot of questions," Jared prompted.
Ignoring his comment, I gestured towards the door. "I should probably go. We have lots of homework to do and I don't want to impose."
"Please stay!" Ruth yelled from the top of the stairs.
"Yea, and you wouldn't be imposing," Jared tried to explain. "That lots of homework would get done faster if we split up the work."
There was no denying that I was hesitant. And deep down, I knew it wasn't going to go anywhere, and the friendship would have to end. It would be wrong to lead him on, even if he didn't want anything romantic, even if he just wanted a friendship. It wouldn't last.
Jared must've noticed my hesitation. He held my hands in his. "C'mon, sweetheart, I bet Ruth would love to have a girl here for a change."
I smiled. He used the nickname I called everyone. "Alright," I finally agreed.
Jared first gave me a tour of the castle. He would have no problem learning our little school if he learned that place.
"This place is amazing, Jared," I gasped, walking through the ballroom. "It's so grand!"
My eyes were glued to the artwork on the ceiling, so I ran into something. "Darn it," I cursed.
Looking at what I ran into, I saw a piano bench. I realized Jared was laughing at me. Not being able to help it, I started laughing too. I could only imagine what I looked like- eyes point upward, twirling without a care and then running into a bench. After a moment, I asked, "Do you play piano?"
Jared nodded. "It's obscure if someone in the Capital doesn't play the piano. Usually, we play more than one instrument. The more we know how to play, we are looked as higher and more elite with more class and social status."
"How many instruments do you play?" I prompted.
"The piano, the flute, the violin, the cello, the saxophone, the clarinet, the guitar, and actually the harp."
"So eight?" I counted. He confirmed with a nod. "Wow."
"Do you play any instruments?" Jared asked as he walked past me to the piano.
"Yeah," I answered.
"What instruments do you play?" he asked.
"Piano," I said, knowing full well I was lying. If he edited the question slightly, I would be forced to really lie to him. "And I sing, if that counts as an instrument."
Jared chuckled. "It does."
He began to stroke the keys, playing a song I also knew. Because of the Gift, I was able to pick out every mistake he made, which was common.
When he finished, he turned to me. "Could you play something for me?" He asked.
My mouth searched for words. "I'm really not that good." Another God damn lie.
"I bet you are great," Jared encouraged. "C'mon."
I sighed and began to play the same song he did. When I played, I lost myself in the music, in the emotions. My hands moved without being told. The musicianship of crescendos and decrescendos, and slowing down and speeding up came to me naturally.
When I finished, the chords echoed around me. It filled the room and surrounded us. Silence followed. It was deafening.
Clapping broke the silence. I looked up to see little Ruth clapping. She smiled and then ran away.
"Lori... You're... My God, you were absolutely amazing," Jared stammered. "Compared to you, I looked like a fail. And I thought I was pretty good!"
"You're exaggerating," I shied away. I couldn't have him dwelling. He could report it and then... I should've been more careful. Silently, I cursed myself for getting lost in the music.
"Lori-" he started again.
"Thanks," I mumbled. "But, um, we should probably get started on the homework. It's not likely to go do itself."
Jared look shot down but then chuckled. "Guess you've got a point." He stood up and offered me his hand. "May I escort you, m'lady?"
"You may," I joked and took his hand. He escorted me with the bent elbow and my hand resting in the bend.
We finally settled to do our homework about a half an hour later. We decided he would do the science and math, and I would do our unrealistic folklore, history and english. Unrealistic folklore basically told us about old legends that has no chance of every happening to begin with, then the teacher criticizes the people who came up with them and finds all the holes in the story. I decided a long time ago that the Giver was paranoid about these folktales and scared of what could happen if they were believed- or worse- if they were true.
We were currently learning about other beings that ancient people used to believe existed. Dwarves, elves, warlocks and witches, vampires, werewolves, goblins and dragons. All of were absurd to begin with, but we were forced to explain how unrealistic they really were.
"Peter?" Ruth called as she ran in the study where we were doing our homework. "Mason said I could make cupcakes, but Chef Thomas is out. Could you help me?"
Jared turned to look at me. He raised an eyebrow, but I already knew what the question was. Slowly, I nodded. "I have something better," Jared smiled. "Miss Lori here is Gifted. And her Gift is baking."
Ruth's whole face turned into a smile. "Will you please help me, Miss? Please, please, please?"
"Of course, sweetie," I giggled. "Lead me to the kitchen, little lady."
She cried out with joy and began skipping in front of me and Jared.
I decided to ask the question on my mind. "What's with the whole 'Peter' thing?"
"I was wondering when you were doing to ask that," he announced. "My name is Jared Peter Caito. My family calls me Peter."
"Why is that?"
He broke eyes contact with me and looked at the ground. "My mom wanted my name to be Peter, but my father didn't. And my father was the one to fill out the birth certificate for me."
"Why don't you insist on being called Peter then?"
"It shows who really knows me," he specified. "Wait- I don't mean it like that. The people who call me 'Peter' are the ones who will always be there for me and I can always count on to be there."
"That's pretty cool." I nodded, showing I understood. But I knew-deep down- I would never call him Peter. I would never be able to have him count on me. I couldn't. Again, regret filled me.
But we reached the kitchen, so I wasn't forced to think about how much I was fooling him. How much I was leading him on. How much I was setting him up. How much I regretted my secrets- my burdens.

updated: January 8, 2015
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So another snow day today! I was able to write a bit more and update which is always goood!(: but now I'm waiting to see if we have another one tomorrow! with final next week, I'm kinda nervous!
Anyhoo, with that being said, I probably won't update for a while because I'll be busy studying. but I'd love to hear what all of yall think!
Thanks so much for reading and please VOTE VOTE VOTE and VOTE!