The Unusual Tales Of Winfrall.

Chapter 1 : The First Mistake

Audrey's POV.

"Nicholas SOB doesn't even know how to dribble." My best friend, Bryan Foster, threw his hands up in exasperation, like it was his responsibility to give the guy basketball lessons. 

The cafeteria of Winfrall High School was buzzing with chatter and gossip; happiness and a mix of emotions, like a cloud above us, everyone choosing the one they favoured at the moment. Some words were hung in the air to process, and others were caught on, to carry with their respective conversations. The tables were placed so closely to each other, that you could hear snippets of sentences or paragraphs if you concentrated just as much.

"How can coach Sanders make him a center!"  

Here we go again.

Bryan was like a radio, which was turned on by George for background music so you could pay attention to more pressing matters.

Like a video game.

While Bryan ranted all his frustration on George, after George so kindly lit a match and brought it near to his friends fuse box which bursted and kept on going ever since.

And then he sat back across his friend and played F1 2019 under the table.

This was pretty much a routine now. 

Me and Janice gave synchronised eye rolls, grinned widely at our achievement, and eye rolled again.

".... George, he actually pushed me, and Coach Sanders doesn't even give him any fowls, he is so favoured all the time, Nicholas Smith, the best guy, yeah he can suck my......"

I sighed and looked at my best friend, as his full plush lips moved flexibly with every word. I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, and feigned concentration, so I could stare at him throughout lunch break.

My ramen noodles now forgotten, I fixed my eyes on the frustrated boy, and reflected just how beautiful he really was. 

His golden brown hair was messed up, like he ran his hand through them countless times. His side profile displayed his perfect jawline and my heart hammered against my chest, as my eyes trailed on his lips again.

His thick eyebrows were drawn together in confusion as he went on about today's basketball game; his hazel eyes, the colour of autumn leaves, fixated on George.

Basketball was high-priority for Bryan, and he certainly didn't like to lose. So he would switch down to denial, where he wouldn't accept his defeat, furthermore blame the other person and track down their faults even if it meant to get a microscope and search for one.

As much as I disliked this behaviour, my feelings couldn't help but amplify in the Bryan department.

Because he looked ten times hot, when he was mad.

I was about to place my hand on his broad shoulder in sympathy; as I always found an excuse to touch him, when I noticed a masculine hand slide on his shoulder, already taking my place.

The boy who was the centre topic of Bryan's conversation was standing behind the table, looking good humoured and mildly surprised.

"Bryan buddy," his grip on Bryan's shoulder tightened, "I think you should repeat what you said." His voice held warning and a bit of annoyance.

"I, uh," Bryan's voice faltered and he gulped,  his Adams apple bobbing up and down. 

George, who looked suddenly attentive, nodded vigorously even when there was nothing to agree about.

It was a hilarious scene to look at; me and Janice exchanged amused looks at the boys lightning behaviour change.

She even creased him up as she raised her pierced eyebrow and said, "He was actually talking about what a fair game it was." She finished by emphasising on the word, 'fair', and I suppressed a giggle that was threatening to come up. 

"Oh I'm sure he was." Nicholas played along with the same humour, his woodland green eyes twinkling as he bent down to look at Bryan in the eye, who was dodging his gaze.

But suddenly it wasn't funny anymore.

The grip Nicholas had on Bryan tightened every minute, and I could see the pained expression etched on my partners face, even though he horribly tried to hide it.

Not able to take it anymore, Bryan hissed in pain, and tried to wriggle away from Nicholas' iron grip but he made the hold more rigid. 

I noticed that Janice had stopped smiling and George wiped the droplets on his forehead with the back of his hand; cheering silently for his best friend who was shooting daggers at him, for not helping.

I noticed Bryan's face turning pale as he suppressed the pain. I could see the uneasiness in his hazel eyes and how he desperately wanted Nicholas to take off his hand. 

Speaking of the green-eyed boy, I could not understand if Bryan's words had really affected him so much or was it really something else altogether. Whichever it was, I couldn't care less. 

As I kept my eyes glued on Bryan's painful expression, I could feel the discomfort rising in my own body. I selfishly inhaled air through my nostrils as if it were the last ounce left to breathe. My heart started beating ten times faster. 

I felt an all too familiar itching inside of me.

I was going to do it. I was going to do what I had been avoiding for so long. I was giving in. 

My gaze shifted to the firm grip Nicholas had on Bryan's shoulder. I stared at his hand, with mixed emotions of affliction and anger.

GET YOUR HAND OFF HIS SHOULDER.

As soon as I brought this thought to my mind, Nicholas' hand quickly swept away from my friends shoulder. He recoiled back a few steps because of the force, and everyone on the table watched him with uncertainty. Not caring about the reaction, he examined his hand in surprise as if it had moved on its own will.

Then he looked down at Bryan's shoulder as if it had some repelling agents attached to it.

To my surprise, there wasn't an inch of shock or terror on Nicholas's face. He looked rather amazed. 

Yeah, I know I'm amazing. 

I could feel my lips curving into a smirk, but I kept a straight face. As he looked around at the table, something snapped inside of me, and the realisation I felt was like getting hit with ice cold water.

What have I done? How could I be so stupid?  Using my powers in public. You know what happens when you use your powers at school, you 'freak'. Calm down, stop freaking out, you'll grab unnecessary attention. Just breathe. I'll deal with you later.

A million thoughts raced around my head and a slight headache was emerging in my temples. I brought my hand to attend to it, and immediately regretted my careless actions. Nicholas was still standing there, but his eyes were scrutinising and calculative. He looked around the cafeteria as if to search for someone and rested his eyes momentarily on our table. 

Meanwhile, my mind just wouldn't shut up.

He knows. How could he possibly. Just stop talking. Or thinking. Or brea...

"Nick-a-boo!"  My thoughts were interrupted by a distant yet loud voice. I knew exactly who this was. Before I looked at the person's face, I glanced at my best friend, Janice, who was already looking at me. 

"Oh god, not her.", she mouthed while rolling her eyes. 

"Oh here you are my darling, I've been looking for you all over..." The ginger-haired girl announced as she trotted towards us. She was dressed up in a teal halter neck asymmetrical  dress; her ginger hair tied in a professional chignon . The sound of her matching box heels going clink clank with every step she took was loud enough to grab the attention of the entire cafeteria. Everything about her appearance wanted to say, 'casual' but rather screamed, 'I took over an hour to get ready, compliment me'. 

"... I set up everyone else on a 'SON', but I knew I'd find you first." She uttered proudly when she finally reached our table and leaned in to kiss Nicholas. Her lips had barely touched his when he pulled back and asked in annoyance, "Amelia, what the hell is a SON?" 

"Search Operation: Nick-a-boo," she answered still smilingly proudly. Her hand gestures were so animated, it seemed as if they spoke more than her mouth. "So what was my darling doing?" Her chocolate brown eyes scanning our table with distaste. 

"Your darling is going for practice." Nicholas peeled her hands from his shoulders, and I wasn't mistaken when I heard annoyance laced with his tone. 

"No," she shook her head, her loose strands gently hitting her face in the process, "I meant what were you doing here?" She looked at us pointedly when she emphasised on the word 'here.'

I rolled my eyes at her kiddish behaviour and Amelia raised her eyebrows as she noticed it. 

Of course I did that deliberately. 

But she didn't say a word, as her attention was drawn toward a now departing Nicholas. His girlfriend coaxed him to come and sit with her friends on the center table, but Nicholas looked like he was running for life, and he jogged towards the exit without a second glance in her direction. 

I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Amelia, because her boyfriend embarrassed her in front of many students who were stealing glances and apparently gossiping about them. But she held her chin high in confidence as she made her way towards the table, where girls were staring at each other's outfits and manicures with superficial glee.

Bryan's face had turned red for some reason I didn't quite understand. He made throat clearing sounds after a few intervals; his hands fidgety and restless.

As soon as the girl in the teal dress got farther away, he puffed out his cheeks as if he was relieved. I was going to make a joke on whether he was scared of Nicholas or his girlfriend when Janice broke the silence.

"Bryan, you okay?" Her eyes travelled on his shoulder. 

I copied her action and Bryan just waved a hand carelessly as he rolled his shoulder blade. 

"I'm fine there," he said referring to his shoulder, "but not here." His index finger pointed to his heart and we exchanged confused looks, like we didn't understand a word he said. 

He looked at everyone in astonishment, "So no one is going to apologise for siding with my rival?!"

"Nah." Me and Janice replied after we feigned thinking on it and we stifled a laugh when Bryan rolled his eyes. 

Just then, the bell rang and we reluctantly got up, throwing away the trash on our way. We parted in pairs, as Bryan and George had Chemistry, and me and Janice had Spanish to attend. 

We silently walked for awhile, and I observed that my friend was having an internal battle with herself, as if she was itching to tell me something.

But Janice was Janice, so she finally gave in and asked, "Did you see what happened earlier?" Her hands firmly gripped her bag strap which rested on her jacked-clad shoulder, and her black eyes were wide with excitement. 

"See what?" I asked dumbly, as I didn't follow. 

She curled her lips inside her mouth and stalled for time, thinking that maybe I'd be like, "Oh! Of course I saw that." 

"Can you be more specific?" I asked when she didn't say anything.

She took a deep breath and gave me a sideways glance, "Okay don't laugh or tell me that I'm crazy, but just know that I know what I saw." She said it really slowly as if I took time to grasp things.

"Okay." I nodded slowly and creased my eyebrows, "Can you say that again?" I replied and walked like an old woman crossing the street.

"No time for jokes, Audrey." She backtracked and pulled me forward as I giggled. 

"Did you see Nicholas' hand?" My breath hitched and I couldn't feel my legs for a moment, "Did you— Audrey, are you okay?" She stopped walking and asked with concern as she noticed the colour drain from my face.

I  shook my head and gave her an empty smile, "I'm okay" I nodded and pressed her to go on.

"Alright." She nodded back and resumed conversation, "So here's what I saw; I watched that dude holding Bryan's shoulder in a death grip, and the next thing it was whisked away," she paused and then continued, "like it was moved by someone." Her black eyes were wide with hope, that maybe she wasn't the only one who witnessed that, and I saw it too. 

But I took a deep inward breath, and gave her a baffled look. 

"How could that be possible?" I shrugged my shoulders unsurely and reasoned with her. However, for a moment she looked taken aback, that I didn't laugh at her or gave her an 'Are you crazy' look, as if she didn't just warn me to not react like that. 

"That's why I tell you read Joe Nickells works!" She exclaimed throwing her hand up in exasperation.

"Wait," I scoffed and looked at her in genuine disbelief, "You think there is a ghost hovering around Bryan?" 

"You never know." She shrugged, diving into all the theories and case studies she had read about paranormal activities.  I nodded half-heartedly as she went on and on about many investigations of the unseen, and even went down to the extent of talking about Casper, the friendly ghost. 

Janice always had a weird passion for ghosts and other supernatural activities. She read thick dusty novels on spiritism and was the kind of girl who had the Ouija board hidden under her bed. 

I couldn't help but feel a bit relieved, but that didn't stop me from drowning myself in regret. I knew better to not use my powers in a public setting, the sole reason for learning to regulate them was to avoid using in crowded places, like repeating history itself. 

For now, I was lucky enough that people hadn't noticed it. But then, Nicholas popped in my mind, and for once I neglected thinking that he knew.