10 Troubled Emma

Five hours ago.

Emma couldn't stay still in her room. She dressed up and went to the boys' dorm. It wasn't that odd to see a girl here entering during the day.

Emma looked at the dorm guy snoozing on his duty. She slapped the table to wake him up.

"Can you point me to Brennus's room?"

"Brennus who?"

"The tall guy with dark brown hair and, em, hazel eyes."

She had no words to describe his strange eyes.

The dorm boy looked confused. Emma read his thoughts.

'That antisocial orphan nerd who rarely goes out of his room?'

Emma's brow knitted closer. 'How is Brennus a nerd? He looked okay to me.'

Or he became more confident after getting his powers. That reminded her of high school, where she was bullied every day until she awakened her powers and cheated her way to the top. Her bullies turned into friends, and her life became a lot more enjoyable. Brennus seemed to be in a similar position. This sudden character change only added to her suspicion of being a mutant.

The dorm guy told Emma Brennus's room number.

'This much information is enough. It's not like he'll eat me if I hang out with him.'

She went to his room, only to find it locked. She thought about calling him but shook the idea.

On her way back, she heard a commotion about the Vice Chancellor's car stolen from the parking lot.

'Not my problem.'

As she entered her room, Kai attacked her with a hug.

"Hey, princess. Thought about coming tonight?"

"I'll come with Brennus."

It could be a good start to their friendship. She was 19 and knew nothing about how friendships really worked, thanks to her telepathy passively reading everyone's thoughts. It made her anxious that she couldn't read the other party's thoughts. She felt like losing control over her fate.

'The hell am I thinking?!'

"Are you cr—Emma, do you want to see Max and Brennus fight?"

"What made you think that?"

Brennus didn't seem the type to fight, but his sharp gaze was like those gangsters.

Emma had to bicker for several minutes over this topic again. Honestly, she was tired. Her first lover was dumped in the river. Her crush, no former crush, was secretly dating her best friend. Max seemed like a good guy, but he already had a firm stance on hating mutants.

She had no idea what to think of love anymore.

"Look, Kai, I'm not going to date anyone for a while. These aren't my best days."

"And you won't tell me what happened?" Kai sighed and stormed out of the room. She slammed the door shut and stomped audibly through the corridor.

"What's the point?" Emma muttered and collapsed on the bed.

She dialed Brennus's number.

"Is this Brennus?" she asked in a stiff tone.

'Why am I nervous?'

"Well, yeah. Missing me already?" he spoke in a teasing tone. She almost asked his name again, not believing him to be the same man.

Emma took a deep breath. "Are you free tonight?"

The question came off wrong. She did it again. The misunderstandings will only increase if she kept doing things like this.

"Depends."

She thanked him silently for not taking it the wrong way.

"The basketball team is throwing a party for their victory. And my friend is forcefully dragging me there… I was hoping you could join us."

Brennus took a long pause. "That means free drinks. Count me in."

Emma knew he was an orphan with no parent's backing whatsoever.

Emma told him to pick her up later.

Brennus chuckled for whatever reason. Emma hated phone calls for this reason. She couldn't read the person's mind through the phone!

"I'll be there—"

Brennus's voice hung in the air before a loud shattering sound came from the phone.

Emma gasped, fearing he had met some accident on the road.

"Brennus… Brennus! What happened?"

Brennus didn't answer but she stayed on the line. Growing nervous, she shouted again.

"Brennus!"

"Emma," he answered. "Calm down."

Emma heaved a sigh of relief.

"What was that noise? Everything okay there?" she inquired.

"Nothing major. I'll talk to you later," Brennus replied and hung up.

Emma stared at the phone's screen. "What's wrong with me…? I just met him and I'm so caring about him."

Was he manipulating her mind?

She shook her head. "It can't be."

As a telepath, she should've known if someone was manipulating her. She refused to believe Brennus was a stronger telepath. Looking at his achievements, the only thing that stood about him was his scholarship.

She fell on the bed.

"I'm glad that he is fine… he might be my ticket to survival in this world."

Blaming her concerns over Brennus on her desires to survive, she fell asleep.