#mindreaders

“Six is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen!” the voice in my head yelled. My eyes quickly swept the room, trying to spot any sudden movements. I watched Six jerk slightly. He cast a worried look around the room before he turned his attention back to his laptop. I blinked in disbelief. Couldn’t be.

“Six, can you hear me?” No response. Well, if no one can hear me, I can say whatever. I can just shout into the void. Very cathartic.

“Six, I love you but I’ll never tell you to your face because I’m a huge coward and I have no idea how to approach you.”

I heard a little gasp in the silence, a very small one, and trained my eyes on him again. Six brushed his hair behind his ears and covered his face with his hands. I straightened up, eyebrows arched. He only ever did that when he was embarrassed. Oh my God, did he—?

He cast a tentative gaze at me out of the corner of his eye winged with black liner and I immediately looked away. My skin burned all over. He heard me. How the fuck?  

Every second that passed felt like an eternity and dread seeped into my soul. The moment the bell rang, I bolted. I zigzagged my way through the corridor regretting every decision I’d ever made since I was born and dashed into the nearest classroom. Mia sat on one of the desks, her pastel sweater a splash of colour in the room’s dull beige. “Why do you look like you just killed a child’s dog?” she asked, skipping all pleasantries as usual.

“I told Six I’m in love with him,” I breathed, dropping down to the floor, “and now I want to kill myself.”

“You need to tell me more than that for me to be of any help, you know this.” I ran her through the entirety of my dumb plan, shrinking away from her disapproving stare, and she sighed. “This is why we don’t do silly things, Max.”

“I know, I wasn’t thinking.” I shook my head. “Wait, why is that what you learnt from everything I just said? Did you not hear me say Six is a mind-reader?”

“Oh, I heard you,” she said, cleaning her nails, “I just figured that’s the least of your problems.” I opened my mouth to contradict her but, as always, she was right. “So, what are you planning on doing? It’s not like you can avoid him forever.”

“I sure as hell can try.”

“That’s counterproductive.” Mia hopped off her perch and walked over to me in her clunky rainbow platforms, crouching low to meet my eyes. Warmth spread through my body as she stroked my hair gently. “You have two options right now. You can go up to him and ask him out properly or you can let the awkwardness fester until it kills you. Your choice.”

“Both of those are awful.”

“Too bad. He’s outside. Make a decision.” My head snapped up and sure enough, Six stood behind the windowpane, his eyes canvassing the hall. I grabbed hold of Mia’s sleeve but she shrugged me off. “Good luck.” She rose to her feet and waltzed her way out into the corridor.

I heard Six’s boots tap against the tiled floor as he approached me and felt his gaze settle on the back of my head. “Hey, Max.”

“H-Hi,” I said as I flashed what I hope was a confident smile and felt myself shiver as his dark brown eyes met mine.

“So, um, about earlier...” he murmured, trailing off. The thundering of my heartbeat made my body tremble. “I’m not listening to your thoughts all the time, I swear. I promise I’m not a creep.” The silver bracelets on his wrist jingled as he scratched his head. “Hearing you shout my name just caught me off-guard.” “How, uh, how did you know it was me?” I leaned into the cold floor, trying to look nonchalant.

“I’d know your voice anywhere. There’s something really unique about it that I like.” His expression softened and my heart melted a little. “I’d recognise your voice anywhere.”

My skin started to tingle. Here I was thinking he barely knew I existed. “That’s, that’s really nice of you to say, thank you.” The effect of his compliment seemed to dawn on him after I thanked him; he desperately avoided my gaze.

Make a choice, said Mia’s voice, echoing in my mind. Go on, ask him out. The two of us were silent for a moment.

“Would you like to, um,  go get some coffee or something with me later?” he asked, a slight tremor in his voice. “It’s not a date. Unless you want it to be a date?”

I choked on thin air but managed to disguise it as a cough.. “S-Sure, I’d like that.”

He casually pulled his silver pocket watch from his trousers and checked the time. “I have a lesson next period so I’m gonna have to get going but, um, good talk. I’ll meet you in the courtyard around three?”

“Yeah. See you at three” I replied, chuckling nervously.

He looked at my small form on the floor. “Do you want a hand up, or…?”

“Nah, I’m fine down here,” I lied. “I like the way the tiles feel.”

Six shook his head. “Of course you do. I’ll see you later then.”

“Bye.” His gentle smile and the delighted twinkle in his eyes were burned into my memory as he left the room and my breath returned to me in a rush.

“Oh my god, I have a date.” I shot to my feet in pure excitement. “I have a date!”