Fearless

Psychics and Pies

Andrew

The room was amazing. I'd heard my friends back on Earth complain about how absolutely terrible hostel rooms were. Although I knew that the CNC was in no way close to a regular Earth Hostel, I was still skeptical because of the stories.

But this place was great. And if I'm being honest, cleaner than what I'm normally comfortable with. Never for a minute did it look like two teenage guys lived there.

Speaking of teenage guys, we entered the room to find a scrawny redhead writing something down with rigour at the desk. He didn't notice when we came in.

Eric looked amused as he closed the door behind us. The redhead, who I assumed was Austin, looked up. As his eyes focused on me, he grinned.

"For once, I guessed correctly. You are the new roommate." He said.

"Uh..." Yeah, I know. I have a way with words.

"Yeah, great going Austin. Your last date had no idea what she was talking about. You make a great first impression." Eric grinned as he gestured for me to sit.

"Whatever. I was right." Austin said while he rummaged through his bundle of papers, looking for something. Eric rolled his eyes.

He sat down on the bed placed opposite to the one I was sitting on. "If you're wondering what the hell he's blabbering about, you should wait till he finds it."

"Finds what?"

"Found it!" Austin exclaimed as he pulled out a sheet of paper from his bundle and handed it to me. I gotta admit, I was kinda freaked out at first. It was a sketch of me in the elevator, where I was minutes ago. Eric was in the sketch, but his back was turned. The picture was mid-conversation, like someone had sneaked up on us with a camera. The detailing was amazingly precise.

"Andrew, you freaking out?" Eric was suppressing a laugh. I looked at Austin, who had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"This...I mean when did you-"

"That's my gift." Austin announced proudly.

I must have looked pretty blank because Eric leaned in to elaborate. "Austin gets visions. Okay, that may not be the right word. More like glimpses of the future."

"Just still images." Austin said. " Making sketches of them makes it easier to make better sense of them."

"That's crazy. Freaking awesome. I mean, you can see the future. That's got to have a lot of upsides-"

"Hold your horses there, buddy." Austin said. "It's not as cool as you'd think."

"How could it not be? You are pretty much an oracle."

"No." Austin chuckled. "I'm really not. It's just still images. I have no idea what the situation would be. It's like a single screenshot to explain a three hour long movie, you get me?"

"Well, yeah. But still. Something's better than nothing, right?" I said.

He shrugged. "In most cases, sure. But sometimes..." He looked embarrassed. Eric chuckled softly, which earned him a glare from his part-psychic friend.

"An inside joke?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It's just a silly story." Austin shot Eric a warning glare.

"I'm not saying anything." Eric put his hands up to shoulder level. But he was stifling a laugh. Austin's face was turning the colour of his hair.

After a minute of awkward silence, Eric started with a mischievous smile," So he had this date-"

"Dude!" Austin stood up abruptly.

"C'mon. It's funny."

"Don't you dare." Austin warned.

I laughed. "You guys are not making me want to hear this any less."

"Maybe some other time." Eric grinned.

"Whatever." Austin sighed and went back to sketching.

"What's the image this time?" I inquired.

"I'll show you when it's done." Austin replied.

I shrugged. "Fair enough."

I got my stuff sorted with Eric's help, and he offered to show me around the place after lunch.

"Austin, we're heading to the dining hall. You coming?" Eric asked.

"No." Was all the redhead said.

"Seriously?"

"I'm not leaving this seat till I'm done with this." Austin said as he continued to sketch with concentration.

"This is the third time this week-" Eric started.

"Whatever mom. I'm not hungry, anyways." Austin rolled his eyes.

"Suit yourself." Eric shrugged as we left.

"So, Andrew, I was thinking. We could invite your cousin along. Y'know, if she's interested." Eric said.

I grinned. Interested? As in interested in you? "Sure."

"It's funny. I have no idea what your gift is. That is, if you've already got it." I said after a while.

"I've got it, alright." He didn't seem too pleased about it. "I don't use it very often though." He hesitated for a second , before sighing. "I'm something of a pyrokinetic."

"What pie?" Yeah I know. I'm a genius.

Eric smiled slightly. "Pyrokinetic. Basically it's the ability to create and control fire."

My throat dried up. "Wha-"

"Yeah, but like I said. I don't use it as much."

This was bad. If Red found out...no actually, she had to know. Before her little crush turned into something serious. Or she found out some other way, like a first hand experience, I had to warn her. I looked at my roommate, and felt kinda bad for the guy. He stood no chance with her, not with his gift.