CHAPTER 15

HOMOGENEOUS ONES

Reighley was astonished by Freya’s sudden outburst. He didn’t expect her to do something to that degree. “She called him ‘Jim”, he thought. “That’s the first time I’ve seen her genuinely angry… oh, gosh, when we break up, is she going to be as upset as that? Would she get mad at me? Our agreement ends in less than a week. C’mon, Reighley! That doesn’t matter right now. I need to come up with a plan to fix this.” Reighley looked over towards Lily who seemed like she was in a depressive state. When she glanced back at him, Reighley saw her aura using Insight. It was beige as usual but with a layer of deep dark blue surrounding it. Looking at the desk in front of Lily he noticed Destiny who was looking towards him with teary eyes. The typical white fluffy cloud that was her aura looked now like a rainstorm pouring down solely on her. Like a personal cloud of sadness in cartoons he had seen as a child. His Insight was interrupted by the whispers of Lily.

Long time no see…” Lily said.

“What are you doing here?” Reighley questioned.

“Freya’s father sent me here to keep an eye on you and to separate you from her,” Lily explained.

“Well… I see where Freya gets her abrasive side from.” Reighley said. Class began and Reighley turned his head to pay attention. While looking away he whispered. “We’ll talk more later.” Reighley couldn’t help but be worried about Destiny’s mental state. He always remembered seeing her with a pure white, happy-go-lucky aura. It was troubling that it looked the way it did. For now, he had to put those thoughts aside and focus on up-and-coming tests. For the rest of the class period, Reighley was somewhat pressured by Lily.

“Is she watching me? It’s subtle, but I swear she is glancing at me while I take my notes.” Reighley thought.

Soon class was over and it was time for Reighley to figure out why Lily was keeping an eye on him. She never let him out of her peripheral vision. The moment Mr. Rugborn stepped out of the classroom, Reighley turned towards Lily.

“Care to explain the whole ‘observing' thing you’ve been doing?” Reighley asked.

“I’m surprised you noticed. It was the secondary task assigned to me.” Lily said.

“What? They asked you to watch me?” Reighley asked, very confused.

“Yes.” Lily wasn’t told she couldn’t tell Reighley what she was up to. Even if she was, she would tell him anyway. She felt like she owed him for his previous intervention at the mall. “Many teachers are under the assumption that you are cheating to be the number one student here at Gilford High. They asked me to watch you closely this week and to report any suspicious behavior. Personally, I don’t believe it’s necessary.”

“Well thank you for having some faith in me,” Reighley said with a chuckle. “But still, I guess that explains the poor treatment, even after becoming Freya’s boyfriend.” Reighley then looked over at Destiny who was hunkered over on her chair at her desk.

“Are you doing all right Destiny?” Reighley asked. With no verbal response, Destiny shook her head no, while it was tucked into her arms. Reighley knew he needed to try and make her feel better since Freya wasn’t around. In reality, Destiny always felt like more of a third wheel than a friend to him. It wasn’t as though he disliked her or anything of the sort. He found her normal demeanor quite enduring. It was more or less that he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to make plans or hang out with her, outside of her being around when he was with Freya. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he barely knew Destiny. He wasn’t sure if she was one-dimensional or if there was depth to her. Either was fine. Sometimes Reighley wished he had things as simple in life as Destiny made her life appear. Although clearly, everything wasn’t perfect. The moment Freya was removed, Destiny began having a mental breakdown of sorts.

“I’m worried about her.” Destiny sniffled.

“About Freya?” Reighley replied.

“Yeah… You may not know this but Freya is kind of an idiot.” Destiny explained. “She gets herself into trouble all the time if I’m not constantly watching out for her. It’s why I moderate her streams. She is the type of person to click on links that her viewers post in chat during her streams. I was the one who had to point out that, that's virus bait 101.”

“Really? I didn’t expect that.” Reighley assumed Destiny was always watching from the sidelines. Always ready to troll at any moment. Learning that she was acting more as a guardian of sorts was sweet in his opinion. Even Lily, who was sitting near Reighley and Destiny, was surprised to hear this revelation.

“It’s true… One time, when we were younger, Freya went to a tropical private island for vacation without me. She ended up doing one of her dangerous stunts and climbing the side of a mountain without any gear. She ended up falling and breaking her arm. It was the one time I decided I didn’t want to go. If I was there, I could have prevented that from happening.” Destiny shared.

“So, despite appearances, you are Freya’s voice of reason,” Lily said.

“I guess you could say that,” Destiny replied. “I’m afraid she is going to do something stupid like paraglide off the school’s rooftop. She tried that once. I had to stop her. I need to get back to her before she gets herself hurt.” Reighley got up from his seat and approached Destiny.

“Hey, don’t worry! We’ll see her at lunchtime. I’m sure nothing bad could happen in the few hours that you’ve been apart.” Reighley said, comforting her with a pat on the back.

Meanwhile, back in class 2-D Freya was chatting with Ulysses after the second class of the day finished.

“Alright Ulysses. Listen closely. You and I are going to run this classroom.” Freya suggested.

“What! Why would we do that?” Ulysses asked.

“Well for starters. This behavior is unacceptable. These students are learning nothing watching movies of mine, regardless of how flattering that may be. Second off, if you become the quote-on-quote ‘Boss’ that would boost your social skills tenfold, which in turn will help you better talk to Lily. This will make you more manly, I swear.” Freya explained.

“More manly?” Ulysses questioned.

“That’s right. A real man has underlings serving him. Lily will be all over you. You need to help me run this place.”

Ulysses thought it over. “Lily needs a real man in her life? What even is a real man? The only real man I know is my dad. I guess that makes Sunny and me his underlings…” Ulysses, realizing that he didn’t count as a man according to Freya’s description, decided it was best to try and listen to the only girl he could ask for help. “If it’s to win her heart, okay… but what do you have to gain from it?” Ulysses asked.

“I need to get back at my dad for putting me in here,” Freya said. “Here, watch this…” Freya got up from her chair and walked over to a random female student. “Here, I need your jacket.” Freya pulled out a wad of cash. It was stacked with five, 10,000 yen bills.

“No, no, I don’t need your money, please take it and this too!” The girl said, immediately taking her jacket off and a choker, handing it to Freya.

“Thanks...” Freya said while taking the jacket. She felt as if that was too easy. She looked back toward Ulysses and saw that his jaw had dropped. Deciding to take her fate into her own hands she put on the black spiked jacket and choker walked towards the teacher's desk and sat on it with her legs crossed.

“Umm… Freya, what are you doing?” The teacher looked very confused. Freya took a moment and quietly asked the teacher a question and shortly after he shrugged and gave her a nod of approval.

“Listen up! As of today, all of you are now under my guidance! Do you have any idea how much potential you all are missing out on? It’s midterms and you are watching movies! Movies for goodness sake!” Freya shouted. “If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with Odysseus. As for now, for now, I’m going to teach this class!” The entire class was shocked by this. It was as if they were experiencing a truly life-changing event. Freya pulled out some black eyeliner, mascara, and eyeshadow she had in her purse and applied a heavy amount to her face using a tiny mirror. She then put on some reading glasses, pulled up the dusty textbook that was on the teacher's desk, and wiped it down with a tissue from a box nearby. “I’m going to save all of you from expulsion, is that clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am…?” The class shouted.

“You didn’t put your heart into it!” Freya claimed. “I said, is that CLEAR!?”

“YES MA’AM!” The class shouted.

“She can’t save them. They’re beyond help. Freya this, Freya that. It’s all they talk about these days. Why did I have to get assigned to this classroom?” Dante thought. He had tried for the entire semester to get the students to listen but to no avail. He figured if they were projecting their energy towards something that was at least not negative, then maybe there was a chance that he could get moved to a new classroom to keep the students well-behaved. At this point, he just didn’t care.

“She’s… She’s… Awesome!” Ulysses thought. It was pandemonium and Ulysses couldn’t believe what had just unfolded. In an instant, Freya showed a charisma he could only dream of having. It almost gave him the courage to make some sort of order. Almost. “If I become more like her, then I won’t have any trouble talking to Lily.” Suddenly two of the girls from the class approached Ulysses.

“Umm… Odysseus sir?” Punk girl A said.

“Hmm!?” Ulysses couldn’t get any words out so the only sound that came out was an irritated grunt of annoyance. Because of this, he turned red from embarrassment. The two girls saw this and worried they angered him.

“We’re so sorry to bother you, Boss! Please forgive us. Joy and I are a part of the cosplay club and we were wondering if you wanted a cool black leather jacket made in your size!” Punk girl B said, bowing to Ulysses. She also took the head of the girl named Joy and forced her to bow as well.

“Your name,” Ulysses answered.

“Uh! My name is Lillie.” The girl answered. Ulysses's head began to spin. He was talking to a girl, with the same name as the one he liked. He looked at her and her face began to warp to look like Lily’s.

“Uh-oh…” Freya, upon hearing this, hopped off the desk and rushed to his aid. When she arrived she stepped in between the two girls and intervened. “Yes, he would very much need a jacket custom-made in his size. Here is some money for the materials.” Freya said handing the previous wad of cash she had to the two girls.

“Thank you so much! We’ll work on it right away!” Joy exclaimed. After the two girls walked away, Freya turned towards Ulysses and whispered.

“Get a hold of yourself, Ulysses! How are you ever supposed to slow dance with Lily, let alone date her, when you can’t even speak properly to a girl with the same name as her.” Freya said. She was right. Ulysses couldn’t help but agree with her. He was pathetic in that aspect. Something in him needed to change in order for things to progress. Otherwise, he might be better off bringing a mop with sunglasses and a scarf to slow dance with instead. To him that would be less embarrassing than messing up in front of Lily.

“You’re right… I need to be brave,” Ulysses said with a sigh.

“Of course I am. Besides, I know of that girl, and her name isn’t even spelled the same.” Freya said. “Her name is spelled with an ‘L, I, E,’ instead of a ‘Y’.”

“Freya, how do you act so bravely in front of others?” Ulysses asked.

“It’s simple actually. When I feel stressed out, or anxious about what comes next. I tell myself to ‘remember to breathe.’”

“That’s it?” Ulysses asked skeptically.

“Yep. That’s it. You would be surprised how often we forget to do just that when things get stressful.” Freya explained.

“Okay… I’ll give that a try next time. By the way, how do you plan on teaching all of these students? Unlike them, I just study in my own time...” Ulysses said, worried.

“It will be fine. Besides, these people are nicer than I expected. I think it’s about time people started caring about class 2-D,” Freya reassured.

The clock struck noon, and the school bell rang, signifying it was time for lunch. Reighley asked Lily and Destiny if the two would like to join him. He planned on meeting up with Freya with the hope that he could figure out what his next course of action would be. The group arrived in the cafeteria. It was overly crowded near the center, as a bunch of students gathered around a sectioned-off area where students were sitting. There was a large commotion in the outer crowd and many students looked as if the thing in the center was awe-inspiring.

“What’s happening?” Destiny asked, intrigued. “You’re tall, right? You should be able to tell.” She looked at Reighley who was just as confused as she was. Curious, she pulled out her cell phone and checked SocialLight for anything trending at her school. “What!?” Destiny was completely shocked. The front page on SocialLight was one of Freya in a punk getup. She took a selfie, of her sitting on the teacher's desk, and behind her was the entire class of 2-D. “I leave her alone for only a day and she starts a gang!?” Destiny immediately recognized some students in the crowd as those in Freya’s picture. Distraught, she rushed towards the crowd and pushed through it in the hope of finding her best friend on the other side. She forced her way in, completely smothered by other people. When she peered at the crowd of students she saw Freya through the gap. Freya was surrounded by students from class 2-D. They formed an almost human barrier around her like they were protecting a mafia boss or president. “This… is too much. I can’t reach her. She’s slipping out of reach again.” Destiny thought while struggling to push through.

Destiny couldn’t help but feel like this moment reminded her of back then. Back when the two were younger. “I know I lied to Reighley earlier. The truth is, I was invited to that vacation. The trip to Solstis Island. Where you fell. You kept it a secret. All this time. That’s how I knew you were a true friend.”

“I got you!” A voice said. With her train of thought interrupted, a large hand grabbed a hold of Destiny from the gap. Ulysses pulled her through to the other side.

“Uly!” Destiny.

“Hey D,” Ulysses said. “All right Ulysses, time to be brave. Remember what Freya taught you.”

(“When you feel stressed out, or anxious about what comes next. Remember to breathe.”)

Ulysses took a deep breath, and let out a loud shout towards a few of the fan club members.

“Guys, make some room!” Ulysses ordered.

“Yes, boss!” The students replied and started to clear some space and break up the crowd. Soon there was more than enough space for three and a half people. When Ulysses stepped aside, behind him was Freya, who was sitting on a table eating an apple with one hand and texting on her phone with the other.

“Destiny!” She said with a smile. “I was just about to text you.”

“Freya, are you crazy? Starting a gang?” Destiny said.

“They’re not a gang. It’s my fan club.” Freya explained.

“Okay. I know you were just explaining it, but I don’t think you realize how much you sound like Guinevere. ” Destiny said.

“Good to see you too,” Freya said sarcastically.

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“Freya, you look like the sun just burnt out,” Destiny said looking at the all-black goth girl get-up Freya was wearing.“You’re right… I need to go all out. I need to show Jim that he can’t control me anymore.” Freya steeled her resolve, reaching in her handbag for more black makeup to apply.

“That’s not what I was getting at! Look, Freya, I’m worried about you. I’m worried you are going to do something stupid and get yourself into something you can’t get out of. Are you sure this isn’t dangerous? What if the other school gangs heard of this startup? You could incite a gang war between our high schools, or even worse, what if your dad withdraws you from Gilford High?” Destiny asked.

“No. This isn't dangerous at all. Most of these students are struggling here with school. I want to help them. I planned on asking the number one student for some study tips as well.” Freya elaborated.

“You just want to talk with your Loverboy,” Destiny teased.

“No! Well, yes, but that’s beside the point. Destiny I need you to trust me this time. Please. I know I get myself into a lot of trouble and you're always the one bailing me out, but this is different. It’s about making a point by not judging a book by its cover. Something I learned very recently. So please have my back on this.” Freya said. After a brief pause, Destiny stopped Freya’s tangent and held out her hand towards her. “What are you-?”

“Get me a jacket!” Destiny exclaimed. “You are going to need a VP. I can see that you already have your Sergeant of Arms. Destiny said as she glanced over at Ulysses.” Freya’s eyes began to water up a tiny bit, and then she immediately hugged Destiny.

“I won't even ask how you know about all of that, but thank you, Destiny.” Freya said with gratitude.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I rock.” Destiny said with a smug look.” After the embrace, Freya looked towards Joy who was standing at the edge of the inner circle.

“Joy, Lillie Two, I need a jacket for Destiny, pronto!” She commanded.

“All right! Lillie Two, You heard the lady. Let’s go fetch the girl a jacket.” Joy said.

“Lillie Two!? Oh, all right…” Lillie Two said.

“Blue if possible,” Freya added.

“You know me so well,” Destiny added dramatically. The two girls went out of the crowd towards the cosplay club room but before leaving, Freya quickly glanced around attempting to find Reighley in the cafeteria. With no luck due to the crowd around her, she left.

On the other side of the crowd, Reighley stood there with Lily.

“There’s no getting through that crowd,” Reighley said. He guessed there were at least one hundred students surrounding them.

“I hope Destiny is all right,” Lily mentioned.

“Me too. Well. I’m going to eat lunch on the roof. Want to tag along?” Reighley asked.

“I don’t think it’s proper for a boy and a girl to be alone together,” Lily said.

“Fair point. Ulysses might get the wrong idea. How about out by the garden? There will be others around.” Reighley said.

“Sure.” Lily agreed. “I have to keep an eye on you anyway.” The two made their way towards the center of the school, which was outdoors. It had a fountain in the center of it with a statue of Gilford Manning. It depicted him as an elderly man with sunglasses. He helped create the prestigious education system Gilford High was renowned for. Reighley and Lily sat on a bench near the fountain and pulled out their lunches. The two began to eat and chat with one another.

“I was meaning to ask, but how long have you been working for Freya’s family?” Reighley questioned.

“Since I was eight,” Lily said. “I would have returned to a normal life by now if I wasn’t indebted to the Young family.”

“You don’t like the life you’re living?” Reighley asked.

“Before I would have said yes, but now, I’m not sure. So much has changed in this past month.” Lily replied.

“How so?” Reighley questioned.

“My life was pretty miserable working for Freya all these years. I was constantly cleaning up the messes she would deliberately leave me. I take care of pretty much everything for her. However, things are different now. Now I’m in a sort of gray area. She’s changed because of you.”

“You have my sympathy,” Reighley said, jokingly. Lily paused after swallowing her food and looked at Reighley. To her, he looked serious, but looking into his eyes she could tell something was off about him.

“Why do your eyes look so sad?” Lily thought while looking at Reighley. “Is it because Freya left the class? No… It’s deeper than that.” Lily put her food aside and thought it was time for some answers. “Reighley, how do you feel about Freya?” She asked.

“What!? What brings this up?” Reighley said with a slight blush.

“Well. I know she pays you each week.” Lily teased.

“How does everybody know that?” Reighley wasn’t surprised at this point.

“Never underestimate the Young staff's observation skills,” Lily said proudly.

“Now that she mentions it, Elise has uncanny perception too,” Reighley thought. “Look, I don’t know to be honest. If we are going by the rules of the deal the two of us made, we’ll break up after her party.”

“What? Why?” Lily asked.

“It was a part of our agreement. This was never about dating. It was about Freya saving face amongst her peers. If I didn’t fall in love with her after a month of being together, then we would ‘break up’ and she would leave me alone. She just wanted me because she couldn’t have me. At least at first.” Reighley explained.

“Do you want her to leave you alone?” Lily probed. She wanted to know the truth.

“No… but, this is bigger than what I want. There is something deeper going on in Freya’s life. ”

“What do you plan on doing?” Lily asked.

“I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out after I meet with him.” Reighley answered.

Soon lunch was over and the two went back to class.

The rest of the school day went by and Reighley left early without seeing Freya once. On his way out he sent a text message to her.

(Sorry. I have plans. I can’t see you after school. I’ll text you later tonight.)

A few moments later she replied.

(I miss you.)

It was three simple words but they were as bitter-sweet as could be. He didn’t know how to respond to something like this. It hurt his heart slightly. It was the first text she had sent him that made him feel like she was his real girlfriend.

“She’s getting attached to me… I’d be lying if I told myself I didn’t miss her too, but I can’t tell her that. If I did, It would only make my decision more painful. I don’t want her to get hurt because of me.”

Deciding not to reply, Reighley left the school grounds towards his meeting place with Elise. The two planned for Reighley to be picked up at Motherboards. He also thought it was best no one he knew saw him and Elise together. On his walk there he noticed a strange mansion during his commute. It was atop a green hill. The driveway was well over one thousand feet. He had never been down this particular path before. He guessed this area was where the upper class resided. He wondered if Freya’s home was nearby as well. Before passing the mansion entirely, he noticed something by the curbside.

Guinevere was blessed and highly favored. The extremity of her elegance remained unmatched. She is as beautiful as the sky itself. Models have wept with envy knowing they could not compare to her majesty. The life she lived thus far was absolutely perfect. This is reflected in her surroundings to a literal degree. Everything from her household to her person was symmetrical in design. She would have her hairstylist cut her cyan blue dyed hair in a perfectly even bob cut. Each of her outfits was custom-made. She couldn’t bear to wear the same clothes as those who dared to breathe the same air as her. They were filth in comparison. Guinevere had just finished her daily education. She spent a large quantity of her life at home as she had private tutors who would come to her mansion. Her parents insisted they bring the school to her, to protect her. The lessons were a breeze for her. Since she could simply cheat. At birth, Guinevere was gifted with the telepathic ability she called Reverie. It was the ability to read the minds of those around her. Their thoughts would appear like subtitles. This was how she knew other people were scum. Their opinions, intentions, and feelings were all written in plain view above their heads. This caused many of her servants to get fired. If they thought even the slightest negative thought about her in any way then they were instantly removed from the job.

Guinevere was sitting in the center of a three-seater leather couch in her family lounge and snapped her fingers at her butler signaling for a refill. She drank tea as it was her preferred source of caffeine even though the beverage was barely acceptable to a person of her station. After the butler approached to fill her porcelain teacup, she took a sip. To her disgust, it was lukewarm. Guinevere displayed a grimace on her face and tossed the expensive porcelain set shattering it on the floor.

“This tastes like mud! You might as well poison me while you're at it. What do I even pay you for!?” Guinevere said while looking at her butler.

“I’m sorry madam. I’ll clean this up and get you a new fresh glass of tea.” The butler said. “How could I be so stupid? I upset Madam Guinevere. I must fix this immediately!”

“Hmph!” Guinevere scoffed. Using her ability Reverie, she was pleased by his response. Occasionally she would test her servants' loyalty towards her. She’d intentionally overreact to see if their opinions of her had changed. “As expected. It seems he has taken full responsibility. I suppose he can keep his job despite his mistake.” Guinevere thought. Suddenly on the small tables on both sides of her, phones began to vibrate and buzz. She glanced over at each of the phone screens and noticed an alarm was going off.

“I suppose it’s that time already, isn't it? Forget the tea.” She said while silencing the alarms. She stood up from the couch she was lounging on and pocketed both of her phones into separate handbags. Guinevere carried two purses on her to counteract the asymmetry. She had two of everything. She could not feel at peace unless she knew everything was placed exactly where it should be.

“Madam?” The butler asked, confused.

“Donald, get the vehicle ready. I have an appointment.” She asked.

“Yes Madam Guinevere. What is the appointment for?” Donald asked. “I don’t recall her having me schedule any appointments.” He thought. Again, Guinevere read these thoughts like an open book above Donald’s head. No thought could hide from her Reverie.

“Your job isn’t to ask questions but to do what I ask Donald. Now leave me.” Guinevere reprimanded.

“Yes Madam Guinevere.” Donald replied. “She’s completely right. I must do what she asks of me with no questions asked.”

“Good.” She said, reading his thoughts. Once Donald left the room, Guinevere headed up a center staircase in the entrance hall. Her room was in the core center of the house. She had full control of the structure of the home. Her parents spent a fortune simply remodeling the mansion to her liking. She had the place all to herself. She felt it unbalanced having her parents' room be a part of her home. There wasn’t any place she felt she could place them without things becoming uneven, so she kicked them out. They always listened to her, as she knew the secrets each of them held close to their hearts. All the skeletons they kept in their closets made for perfect blackmail to use if they ever told her no. They too were imperfect. The only good things she could think of that her parents did for her were bringing her into this world and buying her things.

While in her room, Guinevere readied herself for the day. Her room was spotless. Her bed hadn’t a single wrinkle on it. Yet she was nervous for what was to come. There was only one person who frightened her. Freya Young, and making matters worse she had just been invited to her party a few days ago. She held feelings of contempt towards Freya as she was the only person in this world that she even remotely considered perfect. The two girls had traded barbs in the past. Guinevere was the one who always started the conversations. Most of their talks however never went farther than a terse sentence or two. This didn’t bode well with Guinevere, but this party was her chance to finally outdo Freya.

“This time… you won’t be better than me.” She said with anger.

Guinevere headed out of her room making her way towards the front of her home where Donald was waiting for her in their blue limousine. Once she entered the back, the vehicle headed down the elongated driveway. When the vehicle was about halfway down Donald warned Guinevere.

“Madam. It seems someone is rummaging through the trash you had thrown to the curb,” he said with disdain. Guinevere looked out the window of the vehicle and in the distance, she saw someone hunkered over near a trash pile. Although Reverie was perfect in appearance it did have three flaws that Guinevere was well aware of. The first was that it could only see subtitles of thoughts, not images conjured up in people's minds. The second was that it had a range that was limited to Guinevere’s ability to read from a distance. The third and final flaw was that she couldn’t tell what people were feeling. She could only make inferences with what words she was given. From the distance she was at, she was unable to depict what was above the stranger’s head. Usually, she would use binoculars to spy on others but felt it was a wasted effort as the vehicle was approaching anyway. When the vehicle pulled up next to the stranger Guinevere rolled down her window and spoke to the boy.

“I’d appreciate it if filthy rats didn’t rubbage through my garbage, thank you,” she said. Of course, Reighley saw the vehicle coming towards him, but nothing prepared him for the rudeness that followed.

“Um… excuse me? I’m sorry I assumed this stuff was all being thrown away.” Reighley said mildly annoyed. “I guess I’ll play nice since I am technically on their property.”

“This is private property and a monkey like you should leave-” Guinevere stopped for a moment as she read Reighley’s thoughts above his head. She was incredibly efficient at reading and speaking simultaneously.

“Monkey? Tch… I can’t get a read on this girl with Insight. It’s like her eyes won't stay still. No, they aren’t even looking at me, but above me?” Guinevere read Reighley’s thoughts.

“Insight? What’s Insight?” She thought. “What are you doing here?”

“I was just passing by when I saw this new game station that was sitting here on the curve. I was hoping to ask if I could have it since it was tossed out.” Reighley explained with a fake smile. “With this, I could play the games Ulysses recommended to me.” Finally, Guinevere looked into Reighley’s eyes, and Insight activated on her. A chill went down his spine as he stared into her eyes causing her aura to appear. The area around him morphed into what he could only explain as black ice. He had only seen one aura that was ever this dark before. He wasn’t aware ice-cool auras could even become like this. It was almost as if he took one wrong step he would slip and fall into a void beneath and that would be the end. “This girl is bad news. This whole situation reminds me of Freya, but only worse.” Reighley thought.

“Freya!? What do you mean Freya? How do you know my intentions?” Guinevere thought after using Reverie. Suddenly she recognized the uniform Reighley was wearing. “That’s a Gilford High uniform! This boy must know Freya Young.” Guinevere, quick with her wit, decided to fib about his connection with Freya. “Oh my, if only I noticed sooner that you were a member of Gilford High School. I take back what I said before. They wouldn’t let Monkeys into that place. Say, you wouldn’t happen to know of a Freya Young would you?” Guinevere asked.

“No, I’m sorry.” He answered. “There is no way this girl and Freya are ‘buddy buddy’.” He thought.

“Now, now, you must have heard of her. She is the grossest- I mean goddess of Gilford High. You know, Extraordinary movie star, internet celebrity?” Guinevere felt as though she and this stranger were in the same boat. It was the first time she felt like she had found someone like her. Someone gifted with some sort of ability. “This Insight he thought of, must be how he could get a feel for who I am. His face completely changed after he looked me in the eyes. Not to mention he said he couldn’t get a read on me because of the lack of eye contact. That must be it.”

Reighley paused for a second feeling like the ice beneath him was cracking. He took notice of the Freudian slip that escaped her thoughts. “Oh, you mean that Freya Young,” Reighley replied. “Yeah, I think I’ve seen her a few times.” In every fiber of his being this stranger was giving off a bad feel. He could tell her intentions were as pure as tar. “I need to get out of here. I just get this feeling I shouldn’t let her find out Freya and I are dating.”

“Bingo,” Guinevere said out loud.

“What?” Reighley answered.

“Oh, nothing. Feel free to keep the Gamestation 5. I really must be going before I’m late. May I ask for your name?” Guinevere asked with a smug look.

“It’s Ray.” Reighley lied.

“Is that short for something?” She questioned.

“This girl just won’t let up, will she?” Reighley thought. “Nope. Thanks for the console,” he said while picking up the Gamestation 5 as fast as possible. As much as he despised people like this, there was no way he was passing up a free Gamestation 5. His treasure-hunting self wouldn’t forgive him if he passed up this opportunity despite how annoying it would be to carry the thing across town.

“Not so fast,” Guinevere said.

“Yes?” Reighley said with his back turned. “Ugh! What now, Karen?”

“My name is Guinevere and the next time you see Freya, tell her that I’ll be taking what’s hers!” She said irritated with his thoughts. “Now Donald, drive.” She commanded.

“Yes, Madam.” He replied immediately, taking off.

After the vehicle left earshot, Reighley let off a sigh of relief. “Well, that was just awful. What is wrong with that girl? That was by far the worst encounter I’ve had with a person since I’ve lived here. Not to mention her aura. Freya’s an angel compared to that snob and it's not because she pays me. I think I’ve had more than a lifetime's worth of rich people messing with my life.” He thought. Reighley looked down at his phone and realized the time. “Shoot! I’m going to be late.”

Meanwhile, back in the limousine, Guinevere was fuming. While the vehicle was driving away she turned behind in the back seat and used the pair of opera binoculars she kept in her bags. Allowing her to use Reverie on him for his final thoughts.

“THE NERVE OF HIM!” She shouted as she dropped her binoculars to her waist.

“I felt he was quite pleasant for a hobo,” Donald replied.

“Shut it, Donald! I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“Yes, Madam. Sorry, Madam.”

“Whatever. That doesn’t matter now, because I’ve hit double bingo!” Guinevere said with a maniacal grin. “Freya Young has to pay her boyfriend to stay around. I finally have some dirt on you, Little Miss Perfect! Did you want to dance Freya? Fine, let's dance. If your boyfriend can be bought, I’ll buy him. That’ll teach you not to threaten exposing my family secrets, you witch. I’m the only one who is allowed to blackmail my family. The world only has room for one perfect girl and that’s me!” Guinevere thought. She couldn’t help but get excited about what was to come. “Now to more important matters. Why did Ray call me Karen?” Confused, she looked up what it meant on the internet.

“THAT INSOLENT LITTLE-” Guinevere roared.