The Fire In My Eyes (33 page)

That question was partially answered when he got to her name on the roll. “Wainwright, Nicole.” There was no response. He frowned and looked around the room, then stared at me. “Wainwright, Nicole?” I shrugged.

The door burst open. “Sorry I'm late!” Nikki leaned on the doorknob, bending over and panting for breath. “Lost track of time. So sorry!”

Ripley sighed. “Every trimester, someone attempts to make an entrance. It has long since ceased to amuse me. As I told Mr. Parker earlier this year, please, leave the grandiose entrances to me. I am old enough to know how to make them properly. Take your seat, Miss Wainwright.”

Nikki walked around and sat down in the chair next to me, still breathing heavily, skin flushed. She looked darker than she had the last time I saw her, probably from getting some sun over the break. A pair of sunglasses hung from the front of her pink shirt. When she noticed me looking in her direction, she gave me a half smile and a wink. I grinned at her. At least she didn't seem to be angry with me.

She was the last name on the roll. Ripley had called names in alphabetical order from memory. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Comparative Ethics II. Where there were thirty of you last we met, there are but twenty-four now.” He let that sink in for a moment. “Next trimester, more will be culled. It does not give me any great pleasure to do so, but I do not allow those with insufficient ability to continue this series of courses.” His gaze met mine again and I nodded slightly. He was cutting people from the class who didn't have psionic talents, I assumed. At some point, everyone left would be a psion. Would he reveal that? How many people in the room right now were being trained?

He went on to explain the general concepts of this stage of the course. We'd be doing short research papers this time, examining historical events and attempting to write an objective ethical analysis for each. The idea disturbed me on some level. Would he be asking us to examine the ethics behind events like the Holocaust or try to justify acts of terrorism? I didn't ask the question, but someone else did.

Ripley didn't respond, only walked over to the side of his desk and picked his cane up. He examined it for a moment, then walked back to the front of the desk and leaned on his cane, facing us. His face was unnaturally solemn. “It is not a question of justification or passionless, bloodless analysis,” he said quietly. “The objective of this course, ladies and gentlemen, is to encourage you to understand. Everyone acts for a reason. You all act for reasons that make perfect sense to you, whether you justify them before, during, or after you act. When you understand why someone acts as they do, you can extend that knowledge to understanding others, and even understanding yourself.”

“But we're all unique,” Nikki protested. “We're all different, Professor. What makes you act in one way will make me act differently. Isn't that right?”

He sighed and tapped the cane on the floor. “We are all different and unique, yes. Even so, if you understand why one person acts the way they do, you gain insights into why others might act that way, and you gain insights into why they would act differently. As I said, it is a matter of understanding.”

Nikki closed her mouth and leaned back in her chair. I could almost hear the gears spinning in her head. They were certainly spinning in mine. We were always asking “why?”, almost from the day we learned how to talk. We always wanted to know why things worked, why things happened. Ripley wanted us to question why people did things, horrible things, or great things. That didn't sound as bad as I thought.

He let us out early without even looking at the sheaf of papers he had brought. I wondered if they had even had anything on them. Nikki and I walked out of the building together, neither one of us speaking until the crowd had dispersed a bit. Even then, we didn't say anything until we were truly alone.

I broke the silence. “How was your trip?”

She glanced over at me. “It was nice. We spent a week in London, then another week touring around Scotland. Got to see plenty of the sights.”

“You look like you got a tan,” I said. She looked down at her arms, then at mine. I was burnt darker than she was, courtesy of Florida's beaches. I immediately wanted to take it back, but that was out of the bottle now.

“The tan came from spending time outside at home,” she said. “Spent some time in the garden with my mom. Caught up with some old friends. How was Florida?”

“It wasn't as much fun as I expected,” I said. “Had a bit of a rough trip down.”

She nodded, expressionless, eyes fixed on the sidewalk. “I see.”

“Got caught in some crossfire outside of Washington. We barely got out of there alive.” I exaggerated it a little bit, hoping to get a reaction out of her.

I succeeded. She looked up at me, eyes gone wide. “Gangs? I heard it was rough down there, but I didn't think it was that bad!”

I shook my head. “Not gangs. Worse.” I pointed at my right eye. Her eyes widened even more. “Someone wanted me to do some dirty work and then tried to double-cross me. I ended up clubbing him with a streetlight. Left a huge crater in the street.”

“No shit?”

“It got a little scary,” I admitted. I wasn't going to get into too much detail, especially concerning Star. That was something I was never going to admit to Nikki. Meeting her up here was going to be dangerous enough, but I wanted to learn what was going on, and I knew the Establishment wasn't telling me everything. If I mentioned it to Nikki, it would probably get to Absynthe, from Absynthe to Shade, and if he didn't kill me, Ripley probably would.

“I'm glad you're all right. Did they chase you down to Florida? Is that why it was such a bad time?” Nikki's eyes were softer now, sympathy in her expression.

“They didn't, but I was afraid they would,” I said. “I had dreams all month about waking up and seeing red eyes in the dark. That's scary enough for normal people.”

She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I bet.”

“And I was a little lonely.”

“Oh, really?”

I squeezed her hand. “Max and Drew enjoyed it. Drew's a terrible flirt, and even Max can get going once he gets a few drinks in him. I mean, neither of them did anything stupid, but you know how guys can get.”

“I know they're idiots, yes. What about you?” she asked.

“What about me?”

“Did you do anything stupid?”

“The only stupid thing I did was not tell you about our trip,” I said.

She laughed and tugged my hand hard enough to pull me off balance, then leaned in and gave me a quick kiss, barely brushing her lips against mine. “Apology accepted.”

I felt my cheeks heat. That hadn't really been a good apology as far as I was concerned, but if she was happy, I wasn't going to argue the point. “I'm glad you're not angry with me anymore.”

She smiled at me, dimples in full force for the first time that day. “I wasn't angry at you for very long. I wish you had told me, but I wouldn't have been very interested in going to Florida with those guys. I'd be completely out of place. If it was a mixed trip, I would have been going with you whether you liked it or not.” She punctuated that with a very firm squeeze. I winced. That hand had been broken a month ago and it still hurt if there was too much pressure placed on it.

“It would be fun to get the whole gang down there,” I said.

“It could be,” she agreed. “So, did you get hit on?”

“Me?” I asked. “Are you kidding? You put me between Drew and Max and no one bothers to give me a second glance.”

She snorted. “Like hell. Drew has muscles and looks, and Max has some perverse playboy charm, but you've got them both beat. I'm sure girls were all over you. Don't deny it.”

Aside from Star, there hadn't been a single one. I rolled my eyes. “You got me. There were hundreds. They got in line at the door to my hotel room. Max and Drew were both in awe of my prowess. I didn't get a moment to rest all month.”

She stepped into me, bumping shoulder to shoulder. “Jackass!” She laughed. “I was just teasing. I know you wouldn't do anything like that. I trust you.”

Her trust was so nearly misplaced. I hadn't done anything to betray her trust. At least, we hadn't followed through with it. Not counting the kiss. Or that I had been about to go back to her place before being interrupted. Too many things to hide. I changed the topic. “Hey, you want to grab an early dinner at the Caf?”

“Oh, I'm sorry, Kev. I have another class.” She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Stupid late afternoon courses. I wanted to spend some more time with you, but looks like we won't get a chance till later. Are you done with classes for the day?”

I nodded. “That's my last one on Monday. What about other days?”

We tried to compare schedules, but she had to run before she ended up late again. She gave me another fleeting kiss and ran off to her next class. I waved goodbye and headed back for the dorm. It was a little too early for dinner, so I'd wait for her to get back, or go with Max or Drew.

The door to our room was locked. I dug out the key and unlocked it, pausing before I opened the door to listen, just in case it was locked for a reason. There was no sound or reaction from inside, so I walked in and closed the door behind me. Almost as soon as I closed the door, it burst open. I spun around just in time for Lisa to reach up and grab me by the collar. Everyone seemed to have the habit of grabbing me by the collar recently. I sighed and let her pull me down to eye level. “Where is he?” she hissed.

“Drew?” I guessed. She nodded and tightened her grip. “I have no idea. I just got back from class. Why? Did he stand you up again?”

She let go. I straightened up and took a long step back away from her, just in case. “If you see him, would you please let him know that I'm going to kill him?” She smiled at me. “Kill him, ok? Could you repeat that for me? Just so I'm sure you've got the message?”

“If I see Drew, I'll let him know that you're going to kill him. Sure. Any particular reason why?” I asked.

She shrugged and rubbed her forehead. There was a red mark above her right eye. “If I told you, I'd have to kill you too. I'm sure you don't want that, right? Same goes if you don't tell him. And if you see Max, let him know to pass the message on too, ok?”

“I will make a point of doing so,” I said.

“You're so sweet and well-behaved, Kev. I like you. You're a good boy.” Her smile grew teeth. “I would very much regret having to hurt you, you know that?” With that, she spun and walked out of the room. The door slammed behind her hard enough to shake the floor and hurt my ears. What had Drew done now? I was sure he hadn't cheated on her down in Florida, but I couldn't be completely positive. Had he hurt her in some way? Was that why she had a mark on her forehead?

Drew and Lisa could take care of themselves. I didn't want to get involved in their games. I turned around and sat at my desk, pulling my laptop out of my backpack. Maybe I'd be able to get some reading done now. If Drew showed up, I'd pass along her message and be done with it. The screen came up, right where I had left off, and I started to read about the government's psionic organization, the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. No known date of formation, leader or command structure. No mention of whether they were actually part of the real United States government or if they operated independently. I doubted that the government was unaware of psionic activity happening within its borders.

A soft scuff on the floor behind me broke my concentration. I looked over my shoulder. Drew loomed one step behind me. “Is she gone?” he whispered.

I jumped out of my chair, heart hammering. “What the hell, Drew?”

“Sorry,” he whispered, looking over his shoulder at the door. “She's gone now, right?”

“Yes, she's gone. Where were you hiding?”

He pointed toward the bathroom. The door had been open and the lights off. “Hiding in the shower stall.”

I sat back down and closed the laptop's lid. “Holy shit. What did you do? Do I really want to know?”

He spread his hands wide. “Chicks are crazy, man! I really don't get them sometimes.”

“I trust you heard her message,” I said. “But I told her I'd tell you. She's going to kill you, Drew, and she sounded pretty cheerful about it. Do you have your will made up?”

“Not even funny.” He walked over to his desk and flopped into his chair. “I swear. Chicks are only good for one thing.”

“Sex?”

“Two things.”

“What's the other?”

“Messing with your head,” he said. “Man, here's what happened. Tell me what you think. I got out of classes and came back here about a half hour ago. I figured I'd go drop in and see if she's up for some fun, if you know what I mean.” I covered my face with one hand. “What? What did I do?”

“Nothing yet,” I said. “Go on.”

“So I get in there and she's sitting there putting on makeup or something. I guess she was about to come looking for me. Jess is nowhere to be found so I figured the timing is perfect. Seize the moment, right?” Drew glanced toward the door and crossed his legs.

“Right. So what did she say?”

“Well, she was pretty happy to see me, which is only natural. I am awesome, after all. So she started talking about wanting to go out and have a nice dinner and hit the mall, see a movie, stuff like that. Meanwhile, I'm this dude who's been restraining himself for a month. You know what it was like. All those girls down in Florida wanting a piece of me? I was beating them off with a stick, right?”

That wasn't exactly how I remembered it, but it was his story, and I wasn't going to argue about it. “So you're trying to tell me that all you wanted to do was sweep her into bed and let loose with the frustrations of the past month?”

“You know it, dude. That's exactly it.”

I covered my face with the other hand too. “You're nuts, you know that?”

“Shit, what did I do?”

“Nothing yet. Keep going. Did you say that straight out?”

He sounded somewhat wounded. “I'm not that dumb, Kev. I made it pretty clear what I was interested in though. She got so pissed off at me, man, you have no idea.”

“I have some idea,” I said.

“No, that came afterwards. See, she started bitching at me, telling me what a jerk I was, that I needed to be more sensitive to what a girl needs. Something like that.” He sighed.