The clock strike nine thirty and I got out of my seat and ran for it. There were not too many students in the hallways and I was able to get to the other side of the school fast. I walked through the door and was greeted by the secretary and on my way to the back room the mentors greeted me. In the back of the room was the test coordinator and the other kids like me.
We were all special in our unique way. We had powers that no one could imagine. John was gifted with teleportation, Roland with super speed, Francesca could walk through any solid object, Amy could shoot laser beams with her hands, Phil could control the element of water, and as for me, I was had the power of telepathy. The names and list of what each student could do could go on. There were over seventy college students in the program. The program was called Pathways.
The program was directed by a man we called Doc, although his full name was Doctor Joseph F. Cupertino who had a doctorate in psychology. He was one of us too, although is ability was too advance for any of us to comprehend. Besides directing the program, Doc was also a teacher, often teaching in the field of psychology. He always greeted us in the backroom when he was not busy. Often joking with us and helping us out with school work if we had trouble or questions. Being in school for only about three months, I did not know the man very well, however, seeing how the older students interact with him I could tell he was a good man and did his job well.
“Hello Sly, come in. What do you have to work on today?”
“English. I have an essay due next week,” I told my mentor, Kathleen. I walked into her office that was filled with books and folders on the shelves. She did not decorate her office with much, but the cactus on top of her desk caught my eye along with a silhouette of Alaska.
“Hey Sly, how is your grandmother doing?” asked Roger.
“She doing well, thank you. She moved back into her apartment last Thursday. She is happy to be home after being in rehab for a week,” Roger was the mentor who shared an office with Kathleen. Roger was there in the mornings while Kathleen took the afternoon shift. Each student in the program is given a mentor, someone to help him or her with his or her work. When there was no work to be done, we worked on controlling our powers.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“You know the answer, I should not answer for you,” he said.
“I know the connection, but do you have a name?”
“I do not bare a name,”
“How long have you’ve been around?”
“You know that,”
“Why are you here,”
“I can not answer that,”
“He sent you, did he not?”
“Who?”
“Father,”
“Sly, don’t start your sentence with ‘in’,” said Kathleen and I smirked. Getting Kathleen angry was like watching America’s Home Video on television. I could not help smiling at her anger because I knew putting ‘in’ at the front of my sentences made her go crazy. She got up and I sat down at the computer to do my work.
“It’s three fifteen,” said Catherine, the next student to be mentored. I said hello to my friend and left the office so she could get Kathleen’s attention. Kathleen told me she had kids; one of her kids is just like us. Special.
Pathways was supposed to be a program at college to help selected students with learning disabilities and ADHD. But that’s a lie, Pathways was a program to help college students who were “gifted” to control their powers. We each had a story and each one is just as dark and sad as the others.
I was seven when I first noticed my gift. My “imaginary” friend was not so imaginary. He was a real boy, but from a different part of the earth. That was when we first met. We first met at a building in New York City, he was in a coma. A friend of the family took me there with my mother’s permission. She told me that the boy was in a coma for seven years and that he was dying. With the technology and his brain scans, they were able to discover that he spoke to me telepathically. I sat down next to his bed and we spoke to each other. I cannot remember what we spoke about because it was so long ago, but I remember certain parts. I knew our connection and why we could only speak to each other. The scientist and doctors never found out, but we did. We were twins, he was the oldest and I was the youngest. We were born thirteen minutes apart on September 18th 2092. Our mother gave us up for research, since he was in a coma, the doctors kept him and I was adopted, although my mother did not learn about my identity until years later. My brother died nine days after I visited him, his tombstone does not bare a name.
I was not able to control my powers in high school. I could hear every thought and move objects with my mind at random. Of course the school informed my mother and I had to get special training to learn to control the power. It was difficult and hard, but eventually I learned how to take some control over it. That was when a recruiter found me. He told me about Pathways program at the college, he told me that they could help me and I would be surrounded by people who understood and who were just like me. I could not declined and I accepted to register to the program.
It’s was almost Thanksgiving vacation when Doc. made the pumpkin pie. It was so good and everyone loved it! Pumpkin pie was always my favorite and I could not help but take a second piece. Some students were misusing their power to take bigger pieces or cutting in line or like that one kid, Kyle, who accidentally froze a student in front of him. Although we come from different places and have a different history I am able to thank Pathways for all their help. For helping me succeed in school and for helping me acclimate into the world.
