Speak No Evil-Gifted 6 Read Free

Ken?’
    ‘OK, I get it, we got our gifts because we had strong feelings about something. I felt guilty about my best friend getting killed when we crashed into each other on the football field, so I started hearing his voice from beyond the grave. And then all these other dead people jumped in and started talking to me. But I don’t care how I got the stupid gift, I just want to control it so I don’t have to listen to these – these ghosts, or whatever they are.’
    ‘But you can’t control your gifts unless you understand them,’ Madame argued. ‘You have to dig deeper into your feelings if you want to manage these gifts. And you can’t all do this in the same way. Not only because each gift is different, but also because each of you is at a unique level in terms of control. Some of you, for example, can summon your gifts at will.’
    Some students must have looked confused, because she explained.
    ‘What I’m saying is that some of you can call on your gifts when you need them. Like Charles.’
    Charles beamed. ‘I can make anything move whenever I want it to move. ‘ To illustrate this, he stared at Madame’s handbag, which hung on the back of her chair. The bag began to rise.
    ‘Charles,’ Madame warned.
    The bag went back to its place.
    ‘Others of you are less capable of bringing your gifts out when you want to. Tracey, you don’t have complete control yet, do you?’
    ‘But I’m getting better at it,’ Tracey said.
    Whatever, Amanda thought. This is such a total waste of time.
    ‘Amanda thinks this is a waste of time,’ Jenna piped up.
    Amanda shot her a dirty look. She knew how to block Jenna from reading her mind, but she’d let her guard down.
    ‘Jenna, you know you’re not supposed to read your classmates’ minds,’ Madame scolded. ‘But this is another example of my point. Did Amanda’s thought just come to you?’
    ‘No,’ Jenna replied. ‘She looked like she wasn’t paying much attention, so I was curious to know what she was thinking about.’
    ‘In other words,’ Madame said, ‘you read her mind intentionally. Which, of course, is wrong, because Amanda’s thoughts are her own and none of your business. But you did provide an example of what I’m talking about. You have control of your gift. You can decide whether or not to read someone’s mind.’
    Jenna nodded. ‘Yeah, I can pretty much do it whenever I want. Unless someone knows how to block me. And remembers to do it,’ she added, with a wicked glance at Amanda. Amanda ignored her.
    ‘I suspect,’ Madame said, ‘that all of you are capable of calling upon your gifts when you want them to appear. But some of you haven’t yet achieved that level of control.’
    This is so not interesting for me,’ Amanda thought. She kept the thought in the back of her mind so Jenna couldn’t read it, but Madame was getting very good at reading her students’ expressions.
    ‘Amanda, do you really think this discussion is a waste of time?’
    Amanda now had to admit to herself that there was another decent aspect of the gifted class. You could say what you really thought and not get into trouble.
    ‘For me, it’s a waste of time,’ she declared honestly. ‘I know how to control my gift. As long as I don’t feel sorry for someone, I won’t take over that person’s body. And I’d never want to do it, so I don’t need to learn how to bring it out.’
    Emily gazed at her curiously. ‘Really? You’re never tempted to live someone else’s life for a while?’
    ‘Like whose?’ Amanda asked.
    ‘I don’t know . . .’ Emily considered this. ‘OK, Lady Gaga. I bet she’s got a pretty fabulous life.’
    Amanda sniffed. ‘I’d rather make my own life fabulous.’
    Madame’s eyes swept the room and settled on another student. ‘Sarah, do you think this discussion is a waste of time?’
    Amanda was actually curious to hear the girl’s response. Of all the classmates, Sarah talked the least about her gift.
    The girl