Mind Games

A Story by Emily Herring

Follow the story of Shay Atwell, as she uses her mind powers to go to war with the country.

Mind Games

Chapter 1: How it All Begins

I wish that I could say I am ordinary. Sorry, but that’s a complete and total lie. I’ve been as extraordinary for as long as I can remember. I have an ability unknown to any human being, at least to my knowledge. I have the power to move objects without touching them…..with my mind. Currently, I’m sitting in my Chemistry classroom, making my pencil roll back and forth, pushing my blonde hair behind my ears. This is a good distraction because what I’m supposed to be listening

to is pure garbage.

“Everyone go get your textbooks and get into groups for the discussion questions!” yells my teacher. Resisting the urge to make my textbook come to me with my mind, I get up to go get it. As I’m returning to my seat, someone comes into the classroom. He looks too professional to be here. He’s wearing a black suit and sunglasses, even though there aren't any windows.

“I’m looking for Shay Atwell. Is she here?” asks the strange man.

“Of course. Shay?” My teacher looks at me and motions for me to go out into the hallway. Confused, I obey. Nobody ever calls me out of class.

“Shay, we know your secret-” starts the strange man, but I interrupt him.

“Secret? Whaaaaaat?” I begin to deny, “Fine… I cheated off my homework. I won’t do it again. Bad Shay! Okay bye!” I start toward my class, but he stands in front of the door, blocking my way in.

“No, it’s not that. How cute that you think I care about your silly little girl problems. Come with me.”

Silly little girl problems?! Who does this guy think he is? I’m 16 years old! Offended but intrigued, I follow him. Rudeness aside, I’m glad I’m out of Chemistry.

“Well, what is it that you want from me?” I ask.

“Sir.” he says.

“Excuse me?”

“You are to address me as Sir.”

The nerve of some people. I swear.

“Okay, sir, where are we going? If this is going to take long by all means let’s go! There is a math test I’m perfectly happy to miss.” I explain.

“I can’t explain here. Too many people watching. Just follow me and keep up.”

Too many people watching… We are walking down an empty hallway. I roll my eyes.

“I saw that. If this is going to work you need to stop acting like such a teenager.” he says

“Well maybe I’d respect you if you stop treating me like I’m a little kid.” I retort.

“Alright, you got me there,” he turns to me and flashes a very fake smile.

Chapter 2: Jessie and the MMA

We exit the school and the first thing I see is a limo

“Wow! I’ve never been in a limo before!” I start to say, then I remember something. “Hey, if I’m leaving the school, shouldn’t my parents know? And how can I be sure you aren’t an axe murderer or whatever?”

The man takes out a badge and shows it to me, just like I would have seen on T.V.

“Robert Payne, FBI. You may address me as Mr. Payne, and Sir.”

“Oooookay? So now that you’ve proved you won’t kill me, can you explain where we are going?” I climb into the limo. The first thing I see is someone I’ve seen in the hallways at my school. She has jet-black hair and a t-shirt. She’s staring at a wine glass and… can it be? It’s moving! Doing flips! Finally! Someone like me!

“Shay, this is Jessica. She shares your power of moving objects with your mind. You two have a lot to talk about.”He then goes to the front of the limo. I noticed he never answered my question.

“Hey, you can call me Jessie.” says Jessica, “You can do this too?” she points at the wine glass.

“Yeah!” I say, “I thought I was the only one!”
“Of course you can, why else would you be here? As Mr. Sassypants said, my name is Jessie. Nice to meet you.” She doesn’t offer her hand to me, so I just sit in the seat across from her. The limo starts moving.

For most of the ride we sit in silence. I think about where we will be going, how rude Mr. Payne is, if my parents know where I am, how annoying Mr. Payne is, Jessie’s calmness, and the nerve of Mr. Payne. After about 10 minutes of silence, the wine glass Jessie has been entertaining herself with falls to the ground and smashes.

“Oh wonderful,” says Jessie, “that was the longest I’ve ever kept something in the air. I guess now is a good as time as any to talk.”

“Okay then!” I say, “So, tell me, how long have you think you’ve had this power?”

“For about as long as I can remember, I guess. The only people that know about it are my parents. Sometimes I forget I even have it, I’ve gone weeks without using it.”
I try to imagine that. I use it as much as I can at home. One day, I even succeeded in having 3 things floating at once! That was a good day for me.

“If you don’t mind, I have a headache, so I’m just going to take a nap.” says Jessie.

“No problem, I know the feeling.”

“‘Kay, thanks.” and she lays her head down and sleeps.

For the rest of the journey I go between trying to make things flip in the air like Jessie did (I’m not very good at flipping things, so I’m failing on an epic level) and sleeping. Jessie doesn’t wake up once. In a few hours we finally get to wherever we are. I wake up Jessie and step out of the limo. What I see is breathtaking! It’s a giant modern glass building about 5 stories high. We’re in the courtyard, with marble sidewalks and a beautiful carved fountain. From what I see from the inside of the building and the courtyard, there has to be at least 100 people here. Children and teens accompanied by an adult in a black suit, identically dressed as Mr. Payne. I see there is one adult for every two kids.

“Wow,” I say, “This is incredible! What is this place?”

“This is MMA Headquarters.” answers Payne.

“Mixed Martial Arts Headquarters?” asks Jessie.

“No, Jessie, MMA stands for Mind Movement Agency. Come with me, and I’ll explain more.”

Chapter 3: Pros and Cons

We follow Mr. Payne into the building. Everything is decorated black and white. In the main room, I see lounges, bookshelves, coffee tables, lockers, etcetera. He leads us into a hallway, and into an office. His name is on the desk, so this office must be his.

“Girls, I’m going to get right to the point. We need you. America is at war, we can’t do this by ourselves. We need people with your special abilities to aid us. It’s going to be very dangerous.”

I look at Jessie, and she has this look in her eyes that says ‘danger is what I live for’.

“So Shay, Jessie, it would help us very much if you could join us. If you don’t want to, we understand, but you could save lives. I’ll give you one day to think about it. In the meantime, I’ll lead you to your dorms. You’ll be dorming together. You’re in room 94 of the third floor.”

He takes us to an elevator. We go up 3 floors, and arrive at room 394. He hands us a card key and lets us in. “Remember what I said. You have 24 hours.” Then he leaves.

My mind is racing. Fight for America? Me? No way! I don’t come across danger on a daily basis, I don’t know how to handle it! I start to panic, I put my hands over my eyes and try to calm down.

“Whoa, Shay, cut it out!” I hear Jessie say.

“What?” I take my hands off my eyes and see that every small thing in the room is floating. I didn’t even know I was controlling it.

“Look, if you’re too wimpy to do this, whatever, but I’m going for it. Nothing exciting really happens to me. I just don’t get how you’re going to pass up helping the country. It’s the experience of a lifetime!” screams Jessie.

“Yeah, but if I accept it, my lifetime could be cut in half! I can’t risk it, Jessie. I’m not even that good at mind movement anyways.” I say back to her.

“Shut up, you’re making objects move without even trying right now.”

“Sadly, this is my decision. Not yours. I might end up doing it, I don’t know. But for now I need you to leave me alone to think about it.”

“Whatever. I’ll go tell Mr. Sassypants I’ll do it. See ya.” She walks out, leaving me to my thoughts.

Yes, no. No, yes. I can’t decide! Should I do it? I don’t know! I decide to make a pro and con list. Pro: If I do this and win, my name could go down in history! Con: If I do this and lose, I risk my life. Pro: Winning could get me rich! I could buy anything I want. Con:... I pause here. The only con I can think of is death, and that can overpower any pro I have. I don’t think I can do this. I’ll go tell Mr Sassy- er, I mean Mr. Payne I want to go home.

I retrace my steps and arrive at Mr. Payne’s office. I hear him talking with Jessie inside. I stay outside and listen.

“-but thats how it is. It’s either both of you or none of you. The MMA scientifically paired you together.” says Mr. Payne.

“That’s ridiculous! I’m better off alone anyway! So you’re saying if we both don’t accept we can’t be part of this?

“That is correct. I’m sorry. Unless you can convince Shay I’m afraid you can’t be here.”

“Fine. I’ll be right back.”

I’m still standing on the other side of the door. I run back to the room before anyone notices me. I arrive at our room and quietly close the door and sit on the bed. About thirty seconds later, Jessie appears. She slams the door and throws herself on the bed.

“What now?” I ask.

“You won’t believe this. It’s completely stupid! Mr. Sassypants said that if you don’t accept, we BOTH can’t be in this! Why do you have to make everything so difficult?” yells Jessie.

So much for convincing me.

“Geez, I didn’t know. No need to yell at me. Why do you want to be in this so badly anyways?” I ask.

Jessie sighs. “You want a reason? Fine. I’ll give you a reason.” she sits up and turns to face me. “Back at home, nobody noticed me. I’ve always blended into the background. I have a few friends, but I’ve found myself wanting more. The only thing that kept me going was my power. I know I could never reveal it, but it made me feel special. I never used it much because I was afraid it would consume me. But it kept me going! I knew that one day, someone would need me. I knew that not many other people, if any at all, had my power. Now, I finally get to do something useful! All my waiting has paid off. And now, I can’t do it because some fraidy-pants is too scared. You’re not crushing my dream, or I swear I’ll crush you.”

I take a second to let these words sink in. Crush her dreams really hit me hard. I feel a twinge of guilt.

“I didn’t know this meant that much to you.” I take a deep breath. I can’t believe I’m doing this. “Alright, alright. I’ll do it.”

“Really? That’s great! Thank you so, so -- er, I mean, cool. I’ll go tell him.” I watch her leave the room, but as soon as she’s out I hear her scream “YES! WOOHOO!” and skip down the hall. She tries so hard to hide her happy side. I wonder why.

Chapter 4: Enemies Among Us

A few days after we accepted, I’m finally starting to get used to the place. Payne has us meet with him at the end of every week to see how we’re doing, and to give us advice. Jessie became my friend. We go everywhere together. We got a full tour, and this place is absolutely AMAZING. It has a whole bunch of high-tech gear I’ve never seen before! Everything seems to be automatic. Our tour guide, who happens to be Payne, tells us this is all government funded. He also tells us training starts soon. When our tour is over, Jessie and I sit down in the cafeteria for lunch.

“Did you see that toilet thing?” I say.

“Totally. That’s so weird. And the hair cutter?” says Jessie.

“I know, right?” We both laugh. I feel as if I’m being watched. I look behind Jessie and see a boy who’s staring at me. He’s not that bad looking. Dark hair, big brown eyes. I have such a weakness to big eyes. He starts walking over.

“Jessie,” I say, “don’t look now, but a cute guy is walking over here. Be cool!”

“Gotcha.” says Jessie, and she winks at me.

“Well well well, what do we have here?” says the guy. He mind controls a chair out from someone else and sits down at our table. “Newbies? How cute.” Everything about him screams Bad Boy. “I’m Kody. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He moves my milk carton with his mind into his hand and drinks from it.

“Excuse you, but I believe that’s mine?” I say.

“Not anymore. Mmm… chocolate milk. My favorite. You have good choice in drinks.” He starts laughing to himself. I can’t believe I thought he was cute. Ugh.

“How about you clear out of here, or are we going to have a problem?” says Jessie.

“Not with you, cutie.” He winks at her, and drains the last of my milk.

“You disgust me. Go away, I’m warning you.” says Jessie.

“Adorable,” says Kody, “you think you can hurt me? I don’t think I’d even want to hurt you. Don’t want to mess up that pretty little face of yours.” he starts to move a hair away from her face.

“That’s it!” yells Jessie, and mind controls the chair out from under him and back to the table it came from. Kody falls to the floor.

“Aah, a fighter. I like that in a girl.” He starts getting up. Without thinking, I mind control the entire table and pin him up against the wall.

“What’s your deal?” says Kody, unable to move, “Okay, you’re asking for it now!” The table falls to the floor and he takes a food cart and, with his mind, flings it toward me at full speed. It hits me and it pushes me to the wall, slamming my head into it. I black out for a few seconds. Then I get up, which isn’t easy, and look around to see what else I can throw at him. But Jessie is already on it. Forgetting her mind powers completely, she runs to him and pins him to the ground, and slaps him in the face. He punches her.

“Now I don’t mind messing up your pretty little face. Not that pretty anymore.” Jessie starts to punch him back.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Mr. Payne runs in, pulling Jessie off Kody. “Stop it, both of you! Why can’t we all get along?”

All three of us try to explain, but Mr. Payne cuts us off. “Look, girls, this is your first infraction, so I’ll give you a warning. Kody, you come with me. Shay, you should go to the hospital wing, your head doesn’t look too good.”I realize I’m having trouble standing. The world is spinning. Jessie puts my arm around her and that’s the last thing I see.

When I wake up, I feel so comfortable. I could stay here forever. I try to sit up, but my head starts hurting so I lie down my head again.

“Shay? Are you okay?” says Jessie. I notice she has a black eye.

“Not really, where are we? How did I get here?” I ask.

“This is the hospital wing. You passed out. Payne had to carry you here. The doctor said you had a mild concussion, but you should be fine. You can go back to our room in the morning.”

“What? No, I don’t want to stay here!” Being beat by Kody was humiliating enough, the last thing I’d want is for him to put me here overnight.

“Doctors orders, sorry. I’ll be here though! I convinced the nurse to give me the bed next to yours. But listen, this is great. Kody got into major trouble. They’ve got a guard watching him for weeks. They say his next infraction could get him kicked out!”

This is a triumph, but why don’t I feel happy? I feel broken.

“That’s great Jessie, but I’m not all for celebrating. Forget me, look at your eye!”

“Oh this? It’s nothing. Nurse just gave me some painkillers and some ice. It’s you you have to worry about. Doctor said you have to stay in bed for the rest of the day.”

“How long have I been out?”

“3 hours I think. It’s about 4 PM.”

We spend hours talking. We talk about home, school, how we feel about being here, what training will be like, and ways to get Kody expelled. Some of the things are a bit exaggerated, but it’s fun to think about the result. We talk until the nurse yells at us to go to bed. I’m sent home in the morning, but told to take it easy. Jessie’s eye is looking a bit better. We were told training starts in 3 days. In the meantime, we explore the place a little more. A few times we do see Kody accompanied by a man in a black suit, watching his every move. One time I give him a big smile as I walk past. He wasn’t to happy about that. I got a big kick out of it, though.

Chapter 5: Training

Training day is finally here! Training starts at 10:00 AM. Jessie and I wake up early to go down to breakfast. We’re the first ones here, so we get to choose whatever we want. I get waffles and two chocolate milk cartons, just in case. Jessie ends up drinking the one I didn’t drink. We eat and talk until 9:50, then we make our way to the training area. It’s a gym-sized area with a glass ceiling, with 10 doors with numbers above them. It’s empty, except for me, Jessie, and about 50 other kids and teens. Kody is on the opposite side of the room, still with his guard. A woman in a black suit walks in. She’s quite tall, with dark brown hair tied back in a tight ponytail.

“Hello, children. My name is Janis. I’ll be your head instructor. The purpose of training is to, well, train you up to be able to use your powers and minds to solve situations. Some of you are farther along in your power than others, so this session will be to figure out everyone’s skill level. We will then put you in groups based on your skill. So, we will start easy.” She takes a button out of her jacket pocket and presses it. A trap door opens and a floor is rising out of it, containing multiple objects. “Everyone get in a single-file line, please.” I get in line. I’m close to the beginning. Jessie is in front of me. “Okay, so what you will do is take this cardboard box and fling it as hard as you can. That’s all. First up, come here.”

It takes about 5 minutes to get to me. Someone throws the box, and Janis puts them in different groups off to the side. It’s Jessie’s turn. She takes a deep breath, lifts the box, and BAM. It lands almost a foot from the back wall! Janis puts her in one of the smaller groups. It’s my turn now! I step up, and lift the box into the air, at about my eye level. One simple movement, that’s all. I concentrate, channeling my energy, and FLING. It doesn’t go as far as Jessie’s, but it goes farther than most of the people I see so far. Janis puts me in a group next to Jessie’s. I’m not with Jessie! Great, now I have to go through training with complete strangers. Half an hour later, everyone is sorted.

“Everyone please sit.” We do. “These groups you have isn’t permanent. Some of you may move up, some may move down. Some of you won’t move. We are all going to end up in the same place. So, with that said, I will number your groups. Please remember your group number.” She goes off numbering us all. I am in group 7, and Jessie is in group 8. Kody is in group 9. “There are 10 groups. The group number you are in determines your skill level. Group 1 is the least amount of skill,” The people in group 1 look offended. “and group 10 has the most amount of skill.” Group 10 looks really proud of themselves. I can’t believe I pulled off a 7. I’m proud of that, too. “There are numbered doors on the walls. Please go to your number.” I walk with my group. I count, and there are 8 people in it, including me. We open the door and go inside.

In the room is what looks like an obstacle course. I get excited, these are so fun! Another woman walks in. She has golden hair and is about my height, but she looks adult-y.

“Hello! My name is Amber. I am your instructor for group seven! We will get started in a second, but for now I have something for you.” She picks up a box. “Tada! These are your group shirts. Everyone please take one!” I walk over and pick up a shirt my size. It’s yellow with a big, blue 7 on both sides. It’s made out of really comfortable fabric. I pull it on over my own shirt. “Okay, so let’s take a minute to get to know each other. Everyone sit in a circle, please!” I sit close to Amber. “Let’s go in order, starting with you!” She looks at me.

“Okay, well, my name is Shay. I’m 16 years old, and I’m from Arizona, and this is been quite an experience from me.” Everyone is paying close attention to me. I recognize a few faces, and realize some of these people were in the cafeteria when I fought Kody. “That’s all.”

Everyone introduces themselves. I try to remember everyone’s names. Derrick, Stacy, Nathan, Selma, Flynn, Meghan, and Tyrone. Everyone tells us their names, how old they are, where they’re from, and how they like it here. I noticed Nathan and Meghan are sitting really close. I feel a twinge of jealousy. I wish I had a boyfriend. But now is not the time, nor the place to solve that personal problem.

“Okay everyone, now that we know each other a little better, let’s get started! Line up in front of the course, please!” says Amber. “I’m not going to explain it. You must do a blind run first, which means you just do it without any instructions. Who’s first?” Nathan raises his hand. He’s really tall, this should be interesting

“Yaaaay Ney!” says Meghan, and gives him a kiss before he goes up to the start.

“Ready?” says Amber.

“I got this!” says Nathan.

“Set… GO!”

Nathan sprints in, knocking over punching bags, moving boxes with his mind to make stairs, jumping across foam pits, flinging dummies off the edge, and jumps across a second foam pit to the finish. Flawless.

“Great job, Nathan! Way to set the bar!” says Amber. “Who wants to go next?” I decide it’s now or never. I raise my hand. “Shay, you’re up.” I step up to the start, poised to run. The course reset itself.

“Ready?” asks Amber.

“As I’ll ever be.” I reply.

“Set…. GO!”

I run in, knocking a few punching bags over. I missed a few. I quickly turn around and knock them down with my mind. I come across the a wall. I have to make the stairs now. I move a few boxes, taking a little longer than Nathan. I make it up to the top, and run to jump across the foam pit. I miss. Fantastic. I get out to push dummies off the side with my mind. I jump across the second foam pit this time, and make it! I stand at the finish, trying to catch my breath.

“Not bad, Shay,” says Amber, “but there is room for improvement. Nice work, though!”

Not bad equals I sucked on a major level. Yet, as I sit and watch everyone else do the course, I didn’t do the worst. Poor Stacy, she fell in both the pits. After everyone finishes, we are done for the day. I walk out of the door and into the main gym. I meet with Jessie, and we walk back to our room.

Chapter 6: No Sugarcoating

“My instructor is a real d****e-canoe. His sentences rarely even contain more than 5 words. He talks in monotone, too. It was a challenge just keeping my attention.” explains Jessie.

“Sucks. What did you have to do?” I ask.

“Target practice. It was pretty fun. You?”

“Obstacle course. I sucked.”

“Big shock! I’m kidding!” and we both laugh. I see Kody making our way towards us, with his guard.

“Speaking of d****e-canoes, look who’s coming.” I say to Jessie.

“Girls.” says Kody.

“D****e-cano- I mean, Kody.” says Jessie.

“Look, I am required to-” The guard elbows him in the side, “I mean, I want to apologize. What I did to you was totally uncool. I hope I didn’t cause any permanent damage.” He doesn’t say any of this convincingly. His guard gets distracted by one of his friends and turns away for a moment. “Actually, I’m not sorry,” whispers Kody. “ I hope I permanently damaged your head, and I hope your eye never heals. I’m required to say those things. I don’t want to be kicked out, so if you mention this to anyone I will rip your faces off. Good day.” Then he leaves with his guard, who stopped talking with his friend.

“Once a d****e, always a d****e.” I say, shaking my head.

“Until the end of time.” says Jessie. We enter our rooms and go to sleep.

Throughout the next few weeks, training continues. I improve greatly! I got bumped up to group 8! Jessie was right, though. The instructor is really annoying. On the last day of training, Janis groups us all together to make an announcement.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say good work to you all. You’ve all improved very much, give yourselves a hand.” We all clap for ourselves, and I actually see Janis smile. I’ve never seen her smile once! When we all quiet down, Janis continues. “Okay, so let’s be serious though. America can’t wait much longer. War is getting pretty bad. We need you as soon as possible. We also haven’t told you where the war is at yet. It’s in Mexico.” Small gasps and murmurs are heard all around the room. “America got in a tough place with them. They took very important presidential documents that we need back. We need you to retrieve it and bring it to us to give to the president. Some of you may be wondering why there are so many of you, if only one thing was stolen. We need as many people as possible on this task. You were paired with each other based on how well we think you will work with each other. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Some of you may not make it back. When you accepted, you were told it was dangerous. Now you will see how dangerous it will be. From this moment forth, you are soliders. You leave two days from now. Best of luck to you all, and I hope to see you back here.”

I look at Jessie, fear showing in my eyes. Her eyes are filled with a fire that can’t be contained. “W-well, this is it. Are you… ready?” I ask.

“As I’ll ever be!” says Jessie.

“As I’ll ever be.” I repeat. I remember saying that about the obstacle course the first day of training. I had no idea I would be saying that in this kind of situation. It’s now or never, I guess.

Chapter 7: As I’ll Ever Be

I wish I could say that I’m brave. Sorry, but that’s a complete and total lie. I’m ready, though. Jessie’s ready. We are all ready. On the day of our departure, we all go into a very big plane. It’s gray, with seats on the sides of the walls. We all get strapped in, and take off. I spend most of the trip in complete silence, staring out the window and taking deep breaths. Is this the last time I’ll be in a plane? Is this a transporter to the end of my life? I don’t know, I don’t know. My breaths are short. I try to make them deep, but my entire body shakes on every exhale. Jessie sits next to me, bouncing her leg up and down and up and down. She gives me a reassuring smile. Is she brave? Does she think she’ll make it back? On my other side is Payne. It’s hard to read his expression. He looks like he normally does, calm, collected. I start to feel the plane go down. We’re here.

The back door opens, and we all pile out. Mexico isn’t a pretty place. Rarely any trees, sand everywhere you look, tiny little houses, dogs roaming the streets. I stick close to Jessie and Payne. We all walk a few miles to the war site. It’s complete chaos. We are given instructions, stick with your partner, find the documents. They give us each a small first aid kit we attach to our belts and a small gun. We won’t need it unless we’re in an emergency, because we have our mind powers. We don’t know where the papers are, we have to find them ourselves. That’s it. We go.

Holding Jessie by the hand, with Payne at our heels, we run into the fray. We dodge bullets, trip over things, but we keep going. We turn around a corner, and see some soldiers from the other side turn to look at us. They point their guns at us. I use my mind powers to take a big trash can and fling it at one of them. Jessie has one suspended in the air by the ankle. Payne takes a gun out and shoots one in the leg. Jessie drops the man and we run past. As we’re running, I hear a moan. Payne stops in his tracks, eyes wide. Then he falls. Behind him, I see a man holding a gun out in front of him. Red is staining the back of Payne’s jacket. Jessie runs to the man, I drop to my knees and hold his hand.

“Payne! Payne, can you hear me?” I say frantically.

“Shay… you have to… get the papers… do it for… me…” says Payne, with trouble.

“I will!” I yell.

“Go… you can do it… I… believe.” and his hand falls to the ground. Payne… gone. I think about how he came to get me, how he carried me to the hospital wing. Our weekly visits. His dark brown eyes will never pierce me again. I break down, crying. I can’t get up, I can’t leave him!

“Shay, it’s okay I took care of that guy. Is Payne…” She stops mid-sentence, and looks down at him. “Oh… I see…” says Jessie, tears welling up in her eyes. “He died a hero’s death. I don’t think… he would have wanted it any other way” Tears are moving freely now. “We have to go. Shay, you have to leave him!”

“NO! We can’t!”

“Shay! Let’s go!” screams Jessie, her face streaked with tears. She makes me stand, takes my hand, and starts running.

Chapter 8: Silly Big Girl Problems

As I’m running, I’m crying my eyes out. I refuse to believe that he’s gone. We stop to catch our breath on the side of the building. I sink to the ground, crying. I never want to get up, I never want to move again. Jessie sits down with me and hugs me.

“Shay, I know this is bad, but we can’t let this bother us right now! We have a mission! I know it’s hard, but you need to let this go for now. When this is all over, you can grieve. This is neither the time, nor the place. Got it? Pull yourself together, and let’s go!” She makes me stand again, and she starts to run, but I notice something and pull her back.

“JESSIE, NO!” I say. I look around the other side of the building, and see a long walkway, buildings on the sides of it. At the end of the road is a brick building, with about 10 guards. “Jessie! This must be the place where the papers are! Why would they be guarding it so much?”

“You’re right, Shay! Let’s go!”

“No wait! We need a plan! Let’s think, okay?” We stand there and think for a while. Our brainstorming is interrupted by a person, running next to us, holding his arm. Kody.

“Girls… My arm!” says Kody. His arm is soaked with blood. Jessie stares at him with hatred.

“Why should we help you, after all that you did to us?” This snaps me into my senses.

“Jessie! We have to think, who is the real enemy here?! Not Kody! Sure, hes horrible beyond all recognition, but he’s on our side! We have to let our grudges go!” Jessie stares at me.

“Fine, fine. You’re right. Lay down, Kody, and lets look at the damage.” I don’t want to see this. I turn away. Jessie gets a bullet out of his arm, painfully, by the noise Kody is making. Jessie takes some bandage from her first aid kit and put it on him.

“You owe me, big time.” says Jessie.

“I do, I know. Thanks. But we need those papers, wherever the hell they are.” says Kody.

“We think we may know where.” I say. I show him the walkway and the building. “We don’t know how to see this through, though.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” says Kody. “We climb this building, and jump from roof to roof to the one at the end!”

“Brilliant! How come I didn’t think of that?” I say.

“Because you rarely think.” says Kody.

“Wow. To quote a great man: ‘If this is going to work, you’re going to have to stop acting like such a teenager.’” I think back to when Payne said that to me. It feels like a lifetime ago.. I thought he was so annoying then.

“Whatever. Let’s go!” says Kody. We mind power some objects to get us to the top of the building. We jump from building to building, finally coming across the one at the end. There is no way in from the top.

“What now?” Jessie whispers. I look down at the entrance, and see the guards. There’s only one thing to do.

“We have to distract them. One of us gets their attention, while the others go inside. I’ll do it.” I say.

“Shay, no!” says Jessie.

“Wow. Bold.” says Kody.

“It’s the only way! I’ll jump down, you two go get the papers! I’ll see you soon.” Jessie hugs me, Kody shakes my hand. I take a deep breath, and jump.

Chapter 9: The Leap of Faith

I land right on top of one of the guards, knocking him out. Another guard says “HEY!” and I see him raise his gun. I’m a bit faster. I take a big box, and slam it into him. As he gets flung, all the other guards stare at him. I see Jessie and Kody run into the building, unnoticed. One guard points his gun at me, and fires. Excruciating pain stings my side, and I fall. I lay there in agony. I then realize I need to keep going. I use my mind to take all the guards into the air, one by one, and throw them as far as I can. Then the pain takes over, and I black out.

I wake up briefly to feel my body being carried by strong arms, Kody’s. I turn my head to see Jessie running, holding something. I black out again.

I become conscious once again, but I keep my eyes closed. I feel metal beneath me, cold and hard. My side is hurting very much. I open my eyes. I’m back in the plane. Jessie is looking at me.

“Shay? Are you okay?” says Jessie. A bandage is wrapped around her head. I turn my head. Kody is laying next to me, eyes closed. I can see him breathing, he’s just unconscious. Around me are about 20 other unconscious people. About 10 other people are sitting in the chairs, nursing their own injuries. I don’t respond.

“We did it. We got the papers. We won!” Why doesn’t this news make me happy? Once again, I feel broken.

“Oh.” is all I can say.

“You’re going to be okay. We’re taking you back to MMA. Hang in there.” says Jessie.

I spend the rest of the plane ride going in and out of consciousness. When we arrive, doctors put me in a stretcher and roll me to the hospital wing. They fix me up in surgery. I’m currently laying in a hospital bed. Jessie and Kody come to visit me.

“You okay?” Jessie asks.

“Not really.” I smile weakly. This reminds me of the first time I was here. “You know, the last time I was here was because of you.” I say jokingly, looking at Kody, whose arm is in a sling.

“Yeah, my bad,” he says.

“Are you still not sorry?” I ask.

“Well, I am now. You saved us all.” he replies.

“Maybe we can be friends?”

“Sure. Why not?”

Chapter 10: Rewards and Farewells

I spend a few days in the hospital wing. While I’m there, I think a lot about Payne. I grieve alone, when Jessie and Kody aren’t visiting me. Then I’m finally strong enough to leave. As soon as I’m out, we get a summon from the President himself! He’s in Payne’s old office. It’s hard being in there, his memory is in every part of it. We enter the room, and see the president sitting at his desk.

“Hello, children.” he says.

“Hello.” we all three say in unison.

“I want to congratulate you three. You went above and beyond to achieve this mission. Your sacrifices saved many lives. For that, I thank you. America thanks you.” We smile back at him. “I want to present you with these medals.” He puts a medal around each of our necks. Engraved on it is a brain. “As reward for your bravery, we will give you protection and riches for the rest of your lives. We won’t forget what you have done for us. Again, thank you, and have a safe journey home.” We all say goodbye to him and start to leave. “Wait!” says the president, “I almost forgot about Mr. Payne. We will be having a memorial service for him and all the others who didn’t make it tomorrow. After that is done, you may leave. Goodbye, and see you then.” We leave.

The service was long, there were quite a few people to remember. Payne’s service was at the end. It was hard being there. I cried with Jessie the whole time. After the service, Jessie and I went back to our room to pack up.

“Well, it looks like this is it.” says Jessie.

“Not really, we have school together, remember?” I say.

“Why do you have to ruin the moment?” says Jessie, suppressing a laugh.

“It’s what I do.” I say, laughing. We finish packing and meet Kody at the lobby.

“Here’s my number,” says Kody, handing us each a slip of paper, “Use it, or I swear I will rip your faces off.” He starts laughing. We all hug.

“See ya, d****e-canoe.” I say.

“Later, girls.” he says.

Jessie and I get into the limo. We talk the entire ride home. I get dropped off at my house first. My family hugs me, and asks me what I did.

Don’t I have a quite a story to tell them.

THE END

Author's Note

I made this like two years ago, so it's not perfect. I was re-reading it and thought, "Wow! I gotta show this to someone!"

My Review

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LastMonth

Okay.
So, I'm going to be honest with this review.

You seem talented, but this isn't as much as a story as it is a script. I've actually studied Film/Theatre and I read alot. So there's a stark difference between the three.

What you have here..?
It can be a script.
A good script.

Two years is a long time, and I'm not quite sure that my remarks are still relevent, but it feels like there's too many 'Talking heads' in this, if you know what I mean. This feels like a 100 page script pushed into 10, which leaves us with the skeleton, the plot, but doesn't contain any of the things that allow characters to develop properly.

Most of their personality falls somewhat flat into the stereotyped zone, and they don't get enough time to bond together.

Now, I know that this is alot of criticsm, but none of us is perfect. And keep in mind that you wrote this -two whole years- ago. I'm pretty sure that one rewrite can do wonders to this bit.

Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck, and I'm geniuenly looking forward to reading more things you post.
Thank you for the story.