we're gonna fly this year

The moment I remembered every single birthday card I could think of from him- I realized why my back had been hurting, why the corset looking bandage wrap was so tight around my torso, and why it had to heal before I could try things out. At that point, I was practically grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait- are you trying to tell me I'm gonna be able to FLY?!? Like, actually IN THE AIR fly???" I felt the adrenaline rush of excitement, and I'll admit, of fear as well, go from the top of my head and down my spine, whispering that feeling ever so slightly onto every inch of my body. My mind was working faster than I could say anything out loud. I didn't even care if those other Kin guys heard me with their weird casting stuff, I was so excited- I've always wanted to soar through the sky, and now I actually might be able to? Holy shit, I thought, this is insane.

"...are you done?" Tim said, trying not to smile at my excitement.

Okay, maybe I do care if they hear me with their casting stuff. I forgot he can do that, honestly. Once I thought about it, I realized, so I just had to ask- "How do you read people if you're not one of those Kin people?"

"That's a little more complicated," he said, almost mumbling, "I've been able to since just around my 15th birthday, so for 22 years now. That's kind of the whole thing, we take people around the ages of 14 or 15, which is usually when their abilities would start showing, so we can stimulate the growth of their divisional features and get them under control and out of the way of the outside world."

I'd tell him I was surprised he was practically psychic, but I really wasn't. He always seemed to just know everything about everyone when I was growing up, if you know what I mean. Suddenly, an alert on Tim's smart watch went off- an alarm titled "Go to dinner". I then realized just how hungry I was, I hadn't eaten since breakfast due to being in that surgery. Turning it off, he got up off the operating table and smiled, motioning for me to get up too. I followed, and as I shifted my weight onto my feet, my stomach let out a quite embarrassing grumble, to which both me and Tim burst out laughing, even though I was sore from the operation.

Still catching his breath, he smiled and said, "Alright, let's head to dinner. You can't eat with the other Kins yet, since you're so fresh out of the procedure, and they'll overwhelm you. So instead, you can either go eat in your room, or eat with me in a conference room, it's your choice."

Obviously, I wanted to stick with the only company I had here. So, as we walked into the hexagonal room that had a hallway on each wall- each leading to a hallway of rooms, and suddenly I realized just how big this place was. Tim stopped walking, looked at me, and pointed to the hallway labeled '6', then to the one that noise was coming from, which I assumed was the way to the cafeteria. I knew I couldn't trust myself alone, especially with the new knowledge I have of what's under my bandages, so I put on a cheerful smile and pointed towards the noise-filled hallway.

When we finally stopped walking, we were at a conference room with a glass door. Inside stood a long table, chairs surrounding it. One of the chairs seemed lucky, so I went over to sit down. The chair was slightly uncomfortable, but I didn't wanna complain. My uncle sat his stuff down on the chair across from me.

"I'm gonna go get food for the two of us," he stated, more formally than he had sounded during our conversation in the operating room. I guessed he had to be as work-appropriate as possible now, because he still is an Observer, no matter whether we're related or not. Which lead me to think- would he treat the other new Kins like this, since he wasn't related to them? Would he still explain everything and free them from the restraints immediately after surgery? Would he still be the sweet uncle Tim I know if the kid wasn't his favorite niece? Or even his niece at all? My mind was going faster than the horses in the rodeos I grew up around, and I started to panic again.

And just in time, Tim came back into the room with two trays of food. He sat them down in front of each of our chairs, then sat down himself. He started eating almost immediately after that, but I was a little hesitant. It reminded me of school cafeteria food, which I don't really like, but I was hungry, so I tried a little anyways. It was actually not too bad, so I ate most of it. I'd also been given a bottle of water, so I took that back to my room with me, just in case I got thirsty later that night.

Once I got back to my little room, I noticed there were new clothes on the bed- still a white shirt and black pants, but the shirt was almost backless- probably for whatever was gonna make me able to fly, I thought. Hopefully some sort of wings, because that would just be awesome. I didn't want to change, however, cause I was exhausted. Plus, if I'm asleep, I can't be in pain and I can't miss home, I thought to myself It reminded me of a song I've heard before, but I couldn't put a name to it.

Just as I had started drifting off, voices woke me up again as they travelled through the hallway. A few were eyeing me through the door, so I sat up and waved at whoever walked past. The other Kins, I assumed. They all looked so cool! A few waved back, and two in particular were really excited to see me. Before I could question their unusual amount of friendliness, I saw that one went into the room across from me, and the other was directly next to mine.

The girl, probably the same one I heard this morning, had dark brown hair and shining green eyes. I couldn't help but think about how pretty she was, and I remembered the boy had called her 'Har' earlier. So Har is number 715.

The boy, however, reminded me of someone who was in my art class in middle school. He had straight, blond hair, parted down the middle, and dark brown eyes. He wasn't necessarily my type, when it comes to boys, but he still looked good.

Once everyone finally was out of the hallway, probably all in their rooms, I noticed the girl excitedly walk up to the door of her room and sit down, Indian-style. She looked over to the room next to me for a second, her facial expressions changing as she just silently stared at where I figured the boy was sitting as well.

Then, she looked over at me, and I heard a girl's voice in my head, who I assumed was this Har girl. She said- or I guess thought? Whatever. She said, cheerfully, "Hi!! I'm so excited we have a newbie so close by. Also," Her voice, or at least her headvoice, got louder, "J, we were both wrong. She's an AK, she's got the eyes. Wait- shit- I'm stupid. Is it okay with you if we use she/her pronouns for you?"

I nodded.

"Okay, thanks," she kept casting to me and this J guy. Then I heard the guy again-

"Do you think she can cast yet? I wanna know her name, dude," he said, seemingly annoyed. The girl, who I definitely liked more than J, was quick to shut the idea down. "Don't pressure her into it, she's still recovering, so I seriously doubt she could- or even SHOULD be casting."

I tuned out the rest of that conversation, honestly. I wanted to focus on trying my hardest. My head still hurt like hell, but I mustered all my strength together and focused on the girl, just like when I would read people back home. This should be similar, I thought, just think it as loud as you can once you start reading her. Fighting the urge to give into the pain in my head and back, I kept pushing until I finally got into her headspace. At last, I could let out a simple message.

"Hello?"

And immediately, I heard a rushing wave of surprise from this girl.

"Holy- I- uh, hey! Can you uh.. tell me your name? Don't say anything out loud- we'll get a noise complaint from the Observers. Don't feel pressured into it.. I get it if you can't do that again, if it hurts too much-"

I knew I was straining myself, but I just had to do it. I knew the girl was still talking to me, but I was too focused on trying to ignore the pain in my head as I thought, as loud as I could, knowing I was in this girl's headspace-

"It's Amber, and you?"

"That's a beautiful name, right, Jackson?" The girl had the same tone as someone talking with their teeth clenched.

"Huh?" The boy was confused, and concerned, too, from what I could tell through the foggy pain going through my entire skull.

"Don't you think," she used the same passive aggressive tone, "that -Amber- is an amazing name?"

The boy, now full of pure excitement, almost screamed in headvoice.

"OH. MY. GOD."