Thoughts

Brendan PoV

“Attention, everyone,” says my new Spanish teacher, Miss Taylor.

The class falls silent. At least relative silence. All eyes are fixed on me, and the wave of thoughts inevitably hits me.

…who is he?...

…Whoa, he’s hot!...

…I wish we could be friends...

…mmmm, I wish I could get into his pants…

Yes, I can read minds, at least most of them. I just have to look into the person’s eyes, and their mind opens like a book.

“This is Brendan Weiss. He just transferred to this school and will be part of this class from now on.”

“Hi,” I say, smiling.

At that moment, there’s a knock on the door, and an adorable boy enters the classroom. He’s shorter than me, with white smooth skin and big, bright eyes.

“Ah, William! Come on in, dear, this is Brendan. Would you mind showing him around the school?”

“Of course, Miss Taylor,” William answers and then turns to me.

“Hello! My name is William Page! I’m the student council president. It’s nice to meet you,” he says, extending his hand to me.

He seems nice, and I hope we can be friends.

William’s thoughts come to me loud and clear when I look him in the eyes and take his hand. People’s thoughts have different volumes according to how much they lie to themselves. When a person has such a high level of thoughts, it means they are authentic, worth getting to know, or avoiding, depending on the thought.

“Likewise,” I answer with a smile.

We left the classroom, and William explained how the school works, its different activities, and sports clubs.

“This school has a big focus on sports. Almost all sports are practiced here, as well as all the arts,” he tells me at that moment.

“Is there a taekwondo club?” I asked him, suddenly interested.

“Yes! Do you know how to fight? I can show you where they train.”

“Yes, I started when I was twelve, and I haven’t stopped since,” I tell him, but my smile disappears; I had to learn to defend myself after ‘that’ happened.

“That’s great,” he says, smiling.

“Do you belong to a club?”

“Athletics. I’m not good at sports, but I’m very good at running.” at that moment, I looked at him, and his thoughts hit me

…Oh my god! There he comes, he’s so… wow. Way out of my league. He’s looking at me. Why is he so serious?...

I turn to see who William is referring to, and I see a group of boys coming towards us. The main one, a tall and handsome boy with a basketball under his arm, is looking at me with an angry face.

…who is this? Why is he so close to Will? God, Will looks so cute today; how I wish I could kiss him if only he liked me…

“Hi Will, who is he?” the tall boy asks without showing any emotion. His thoughts are also strong. He doesn’t seem like a bad person.

“Hi Paul, this is Brendan. He just transferred, and I’m showing him around the school on Miss Taylor’s orders. Brendan, Paul is the captain of the basketball team.”

“Oh, hello! Nice to meet you,” Paul tells me suddenly, smiling at me

...Ah, so that was it, then everything was fine. He seems like a good person; I think we can get along…

Now I understand the reaction of these two. For some reason, they like each other, but they don’t say it. I liked both from the start, so I’ll have to play matchmaker.

“Ok, Paul. I must continue with the tour. See you later,” William tells him, and I see how he blushes.

“Ok!”

We continue, but it takes a little while to come across another group of athletes. William was telling the truth; this school is focused on sports.

“Hey Benji! This is Brendan! It’s his first day at school. Brendan, this is Benjamin, the captain of the football team.” I’m looking at a guy about my height, quite muscular, with light brown hair.

“Hi!” he says with a smile and extends his hand.

…he seems nice and has a good body; would he like to join the team?...

“Hi!” I say, smiling. So far, so good. All the people William introduced me to are quite nice.

We continued walking, and suddenly, I felt it. The mood in the hallway changed; people started to get quiet, and I saw four people coming towards us. I usually don’t judge anyone by their appearance, but these four have that aura that screams trouble!

I look at the one who seems to be the boss, and his thoughts come to me suddenly.

…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….

I knew it! His thoughts are just noise, like the static you hear on the radio. He’s been lying to himself for so long that he’s forgetting his true self. I hate those kinds of people.

“Little Willie! Making new friends?” he says sarcastically to William

“Frederick,” William greets him with just a tiny nod.

“Brendan, this is Frederick, and those are Oliver, Michael, and Phillip,” he tells me, pointing to the other three.

Oliver and Michael have low volumes of thought. They aren’t bad kids, but they’re letting themselves go and losing themselves. Phillip is something else; his thoughts are loud, clear, and pure evil.

...oh, is little William angry? I wish I could beat the shit out of him, but Paul would probably come at me. So, I’ll have to take it out on the guy next to him...

Keep dreaming, I think to myself.

“Hi,” I say with less enthusiasm than the previous times.

Frederick watches me, and his thoughts barely rise a level before they drop again. I think I can make out the word eyes. Do I have something in my eyes?

“Who is he?” Phillip says, looking at me with contempt.

“Brendan just transferred, so I’m showing him around the school; excuse me.” Without waiting for an answer, William takes me by the arm and starts walking. The other four just laughed.

“Stay away from them. They only bring trouble.”

“Do you know them well?”

“Unfortunately. Michael used to be my best friend when we were in elementary school, but then he changed. Oliver was a good guy, too. Frederick and Phillip, well, they are bad guys, they always were,” William tells me, and I realize that, even though he doesn’t read minds, he is pretty good at reading people.

We finally arrived at the Taekwondo training center.

“Kyle! Come here!” William calls a boy a little shorter than me and with red hair.

“Kyle, this is Brendan; he is interested in joining the team. Today is his first day at school. Brendan, this is Kyle, the captain of the Taekwondo team.”

Kyle extends his hand to me, and I look him in the eyes.

... hmm, he seems to be in good shape; I’d have to do a little test on him...

“Hmm, you seem to be in good shape. I’d have to do a little test on you.” Kyle is one of those people who says everything he thinks, and I think he might speak without thinking, given the almost non-existent time between his thoughts and what he says.

Yeah, we’re going to get along.