It was good that no one was paying attention to me or they would have noticed me trembling and sweating. It goes without saying that I didn't "scan" my sister's memories. Who knows what sort of things I would find this time? Let the people close to me keep their dirty secrets.

As soon as dinner ended, I did the dishes and went back to my room. I needed some time to digest the day's events. To think my normal self would suddenly get such an overwhelming ability. And who would have thought this power had such a downside? I winced once more at the information I discovered today.

I needed to change my mind for a while. I booted my computer and played some games for an hour or so. But soon, I felt I was getting distracted. With my mind wandering, I let my power expand slowly in all directions.

My little sister was chatting with her friends on social media. My father was watching the TV but only kept part of his attention on it. My mother was sitting next to him, the same book as previously in her hands. Her main focus was reading but she still kept a part of her attention on the TV and my father. All this only took me a few seconds to find out.

My field of reception grew further and I reached the apartments around ours.

("I'm already sleepy. Time to get to bed, then.")

This was an old lady living under us.

("Nothing interesting on TV. Let's watch a series.")

This was a young man residing next to our place.

("How long is she going to use the toilet for? I'm going to leak here!")

That one was from one of the siblings from the family situated right above us. Just like that, my range extended leisurely. After experimenting during the day, I knew I could handle a few tens of people at the same time. This was fortunate because I would be surrounded by a lot of people at school from tomorrow on. On top of that, I could focus on one person specifically if I wanted. I would still hear the others but they would become something like background noise.

I reached an apartment situated at the other end of the building, diagonally from my current position. This one seemed to be rented by a young couple and I had "arrived" right at the perfect time. I now realized one more advantage of this power. It was the perfect tool for voyeurism.

We all took care of our businesses and a long time later, I finally got sleepy. I decided to go to bed. For the first time in my life, I was slightly looking forward to going to school. With mind-reading powers, there was no doubt I would fare much better than usual. Tests also would never be an issue for me, not like I needed to cheat much anyway. I was a decent student.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Monday. The thoughts of the many people around me woke me up. I was sure I reduced my range to zero before going to sleep. I would need some time to get used to it, probably. It was still early but I was a little excited to go to school and meet my new environment. Plus, I was finally in high school. Goodbye, kids who were barely better than snotty brats. Like my sister.

Since I had a lot of time, I chose to play some games before going to school. I became engrossed in it and when I checked the time, I almost swore. I would be late if I didn't hurry now. I took a quick shower, ate a few pieces of bread from breakfast, put on some clean clothes, and sped toward school. My family didn't force the children to attend breakfast, even though there would still be things to eat on the table.

Fortunately, my school wasn't that far, fifteen minutes on foot. It was yet another reason why I wanted to get admitted there. The other options were much farther and I would have needed to use another means of transport. The only downside was that I was the only one who managed to get admitted here out of my friends. I would need to make new friends from my class. It probably wouldn't be too difficult considering my power.

I reached the place soon after, just in time not to be considered late. This school only consisted of an enormous building, probably because it was close to the town center. As such, there wasn't a campus or anything similar. You were either in the building or out of school. The building itself was both large and tall. It had five stories with the three first each dedicated to a school grade. The other two were for special classes, like art and science, as well as for the library and teacher offices.

I already received an email from the school indicating that I was assigned to class 4, the fourth class among freshmen. It was also on the first floor, where all freshmen classrooms were located. I soon reached it. The door was still open, indicating I wasn't late.

I sighed in relief and entered. It was already almost full of students, leaving me only one seat. It was the second seat from the window in the last row, not a very good one, unfortunately. I didn't mind too much. Seats weren't assigned to specific people and I could always change the next day.

Now seated, I took time to look at my classmates. At first view, there wasn't anyone that looked particularly extraordinary, except a couple of attractive girls. The gender ratio seemed to be equal. The only noticeable aspect was that we weren't that many people in the class. Around twenty-plus or something?

On my left, next to the window, was a black-haired girl that looked like she didn't know why she was there. On my right sat a black-haired boy who was frowning quite heavily.

The homeroom teacher entered the classroom at this moment. He was a blond-haired man and looked like he was in his thirties. He looked at us like we were bugs and spoke.

"My name is Cas Reiziger. I'll be your homeroom and math teacher for the year. Anyone who doesn't behave will get immediately punished. I'll explain the school system during the next hour so listen well."

He started to talk about things I already knew after this. I didn't have any other thoughts about him except he gave a bad first impression. What a shame. He didn't look like someone who wanted to be here in the first place.

Anyway, it was now time for the interesting part. I wanted to scan all my classmates to get a good understanding of them for the future. I glanced at the girl on my left and began with her.