SAVANTS

The Chapture 22

"The problem is that he only sees food that has been charred and does not want to lift it" Xavier put his foot on an empty chair and rubbed his calf muscles. "What if this one?" he called Zed.

What are they talking about?

"This will be the best ever" Zed replied confidently, pushing the baking pan into the stove.

"So, Sky, how was your day at school? Surely you're having a hard time adapting to the new school, I'm sure" Xavier threw a pretzel at Zed.

"It's okay. A little different from my old school."

"Yes, but Wrickenridge is much better than many high schools. Most students will do what they want."

I picked up a handful of snacks on the table between us. "What about you? I was told you're good at the Olympics." Ask me.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It could be—but I don't think I'm going that far."

"Is it because you can see yourself failing and unwilling to be bothered to change it?"

"Ouch!" She laughs. "Hey, Zed, your girlfriend is so mean. Replying to me for making fun of you for not cooking"

"That's what I love about him" Zed gave me a nod in agreement. "Don't listen to what he says, Sky. I can cook."

"Yes, like Sky can ski." Xavier.

Suddenly a lemon came out of the fruit bowl by itself and hit Xavier's nose. I jumped out of my seat. "What's—!" Surprised, of course I was surprised.

"Zed up!" saul warned me. "We have guests."

I still question what I just saw. "You got, like, Telekinesis or what?"

"Yes, or something." Xavier rubbed his nose.

"Can anyone explain it?" Ask me.

"It's not me. What were we talking about before I was violently pelted by a flying orange?" He threw the lemon towards Zed but the lemon suddenly fell into the middle of the bowl. "Stupid," grumbled Xavier.

"Umm .. We're talking about your skier." I looked towards Zed but he whistled innocently as he wiped the surface of the table. Pura pura polo.

"Oh yeah. Well, I don't think I'd choose the route of a professional skier. There are too many other things I want to do with my life" Xavier said.

"I can imagine." But I'm not sure he meant it. That feels like an excuse to me.

"I quit as a junior champion in Colorado and retired undefeated."

"And he's just bullshit" Zed added.

Something strange happened to the lemon in the bowl.

And...

Braaakk

The lemon exploded.

"Boys"Saul knocked on the table.

"Sorry," they both obeyed Mr. Benedict. Xavier got up to clean up the mess.

"No explanation, is there?" I asked. These Benedict's got me confused.

"No, not from me. He'll tell you." Xavier threw the washcloth at Zed. "Attent." He suddenly ran into the oven.

"Sheesh, Zed, you let the pizza get charred! I thought when you said smart cooking this would be the best." He grabbed the oven mitt and placed the slightly blackened pizza next to him.

Zed medengus's. "That's your fault, why invite people to chat while cooking"

Xavier hit him on the head. "What's the point of being the one who knows everything when you can't cook pizza?"

"I ask myself every day" Zed replied with humor, pulling out a pizza cutter.

After dinner, Zed suggested that we both take a walk in the woods on the side of the ski trail to burn all the melted cheese in the stomach.

"Xav has a cleaning job when I cook so we're free" she explained and thrust her jacket at me.

"Groan! Is that what you do when you cook?"

"OKAY. I'm scorching the pizza." The answer.

He took my hand and led me out the back door. The house had almost no garden, just a fence before the end of the ski trail and the bottom of the elevator.

I can't see the top of the mountain from here, just the steep slopes and dark forest as well as the cable car station, the cypress trees are lined up to form like a carpet.

I took a breath, the air was cold and my throat was a little dry, making my skin feel tight all over my face. My head feels a little dizzy because the oxygen in the mountain is quite thin.

"You going up or down?" Zed asked, pointing to the slope.

"Get it first." Answer me.

"Good choice. I have a favorite place I want to show you."

We passed the tree. Most of the snow from the light rain on the previous day had melted from the branches.

The air was clear, brilliant like a crystal sparkle that made the stars appear brighter in the sky, the points of light.We passed through the piles of snow, down the mountain in winter.

"The snow is falling lower until Thanksgiving," Zed explained.

We walked hand in hand during the trip. He gently swept my knuckles through my gloves.

Surprisingly, I felt he was so sweet, that this boy who was famous as the most formidable madman in Wrickenridge, seemed content just for walking like this with a girl.

The snow is now ankle-high and my shoes are not working well to keep my feet dry.

"I should have thought about it" my grouse, brushed off the chunks of ice from my canvas cap before melting.

"My eyesight doesn't help much for such practical matters Sorry, I should have told you to bring the boots." Said Zed.

He's one of those weird kids sometimes. "So, what power do you have, aside from telepathy?"

"There's more, but the main thing is I can see the future." He stopped at a very beautiful, open place in the forest where the snow was wide. "You make a snow angel?"

"Let's know you want to do it too."

"Because you can read my mind"

"No, because I'm gonna do this."

He immediately sat down and pulled me beside him before I could hold back.

Well, now that I'm here, I have to make angels, of course. Lying on my back, staring at a patch of stars, I tried not to let my worries about being a savant and the possible danger that came to me was to ruin the stunning beauty of the forest at night. I could feel Zed beside me, waiting for me to step back towards him.

"So what can you see?" I asked him.

"Not everything and not every time. I can't “see” my family's future, or very rarely. We're too close—too much interference, too many variables."

"Did they do the same?"

"Mom's only, fortunately." He sat down, sweeping the snow from his elbow. "The rest have other powers."

"Have you seen my future? In that hunch?"

He rubbed his face with his hands. "Maybe. But if I tell you exactly what I saw, I might change something or be the reason it happened—I can't know for sure. My vision became more precise the closer I got to an event. I just know for sure, something's gonna happen a second or two before it really happens. But it can also be wrong. That's what happened in raft— hugging you helped cause what I was trying to stop."

"So, you're not going to tell me if I'm going to be a good skier?" Ask me.

He shook his head and patted me on the forehead. "No, I didn't even think it was there"

"Good, I think I'd rather not know."

The breeze shook the branches. The shadow deepened under the trees.

"How does it feel? How can you put up with someone who knows so much about you?" I asked gently.

He is my opponent in many ways: I know very little about myself, about the past whereas he knows too much about the future.

Zed got up and pulled me up. "Maybe it sounds like a curse. I know what people will say—how a movie will end—how the score will be later. My brothers don't really understand, or don't want to think, what it's like."

No wonder he had trouble getting along at school. If he was always in front of others, always knowing, then he would be burdened by a sense of futility, unable to change the outcome, like a burning pizza. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. "It's all too weird."

She wrapped her arms around my waist, tucking me under her shoulders. "Yes, I get it. But I want you to understand. Sky, how to explain yes? I don't know, I kind of feel like I'm in a spinning elevator. It's like the background but you don't realize it until you notice it. In my dream, I heard a trumpet. People playing out. I don't know the people or understand what they mean. I might try or stop something, but it usually just happens in ways I didn't expect. I tried to block it— for a while—but once I forgot, it came back again."

It sounded more like a curse than power.

Then I realized something.

"You fraud!" I elbowed him in the ribs. "It's no wonder you're invincible when you score!"

"Yes, it might indeed have such additional benefits" He turned his head towards me and again smiled. "Help you, right?"

I remember catching his kick. "Oh."

"Yes, oh. I sacrificed my perfect goal record for you."

"Almost—you scored twenty or more goals."

"What will people remember about the game? I scored a lot of goals or did you catch my kick?"

"Idiot" I hit him.

He had the guts to laugh at me. "It's done. I have to distract you again before you hit me a second time."

As she leaned forward to kiss me, she suddenly lunged, knocking me backwards. Five feet behind us. At the same time, I heard a voice like a car.

Zed dragged me behind a fallen tree trunk and pushed me down, protecting me with his body. He swore.

"This shouldn't happen!"

"Take me off! What was that?" I'm trying to get up.

"Stay downstairs, someone's shooting at us. I've called Dad and Xav."

I lay still beneath him, my heart pounding.

Braak! The second shot hit a tree not far above our heads.

Zed stay away from me. "We need to move! Go to the other side of the trunk and run to the big pine tree over there." He said pointing at a tree.

"Why don't we just yell to let them know they're shooting at a human?"

"He doesn't hunt animals, Sky. They're after us, go!"

I squeezed out the jacket I was wearing and rushed over and ran. I could hear Zed right behind me—the third shot—then Zed lunged at me from behind, his elbow hitting my eyes as we fell. The fourth shot hit the tree in front of me right in line with my head.

"Berinsk. Sorry," said Zed and I could see the stars spinning around my head. "I'm almost too late to save you"

Better a bruised eye than dead.

"Yes. But I'm sorry anyway. Stay still. Dad and Xav are looking for the guy who shot at us right now." Zed replied reading my thoughts.

"I think the shooter's more than one."

"What?" He raised his head slightly to look at my face. "How do you know?"

"I don't know. I just feel it"

Zed did not question my instincts and relayed the news to his father.

"I told them to be careful." Zed stayed close to me, refusing to let me risk being in the line of fire. "It could be a trap to lure him out. We need to get back home. There's a river downstairs. If we get there, we can stay hidden and spin back home. OKAY?"

"OKAY. How are we gonna get there?"

Zed smiled grimly. "You're amazing, Sky. Most people will panic now but you don't. We'll crawl—like a lizard. I'll go first.'

He crept on the ground then fell on a ridge and disappeared from my sight. I followed him, trying not to think about what it would be like to be hit by a bullet.

It's too dark to see what's down there, so I just have to trust him. My head slipped first down the ledge, rolled over and landed in Zed's arms and lowered me.

"Through here," said Zed.