For two people trying to "be civil to each other", Angelo and I were sure doing a lousy job. We were fighting all of the time, and over the stupidest things. Anything would set us off. Sometimes it seemed like it would never stop. But then, suddenly, it did. Unfortunately...

I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, not wanting to hear what he was saying.

"Angelo, stop, please..."

"Will you just listen to me for one minute?" he said in an exasperated tone of voice.

I was at the verge of breaking down. "Angelo, don't!" I shrieked. My body started to shake as I fought back tears.

"But...if we can't talk now, how will we after...after..." He stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. Even though he was shutting me out mentally, the look on his face--in his eyes--was unmistakable. He swallowed.

"I...I love you, Summer. I always will. But..." He sighed and shook his head. "But we can't go on like this. We can't keep pretending we still have something that's gone now..." His voice was quiet. "Do you know what I'm saying?"

My lip trembled slightly as I nodded. "Yes," I whispered. "Do...do you want to break it off?"

He looked at me sorrowfully. "I...I think it would be for the best, don't you?"

I couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't believe I was hearing myself say this.

"Yeah."

With hands that shook, I responded to his unspoken request and slipped the ring from the fourth finger of my left hand. I held it between thumb and forefinger, looking down at it one last time before slowly extending my hand out to him.

Angelo reached out just as slowly and took it from me. He closed his hand around it tightly and held his fist against his chest, as if trying to quell a sudden pain. I could tell I wasn't the only one fighting to control my emotions.

He looked up at me one last time. "I'm sorry," he whispered, leaning over and giving me a kiss on the cheek before hurrying from the room.

Oh, my god, it's over...I feel so empty inside. I collapsed onto a nearby sofa and sat staring at the wall, unable to accept what had just happened.

The door opened and Jubilee came in.

"Summer, are you two all right? Cuz Angelo just came rushin' through like a bat outta hell or something--" She sat down on the sofa next to me. "Summer?" Her eyes were filled with concern.

I turned my head and looked at her, forcing a smile. "Yeah, we actually came to an agreement."

She brightened. "That's great! So, what did you..." She stopped as I held up my left hand, her face falling. "Oh, Summer...I'm so sorry!"

I sat upright in bed, tears streaming down my face. So much for that nap I'd wanted to take. Why was it that every time I closed my eyes, that horrible moment of my life had to be replayed? Even my dreams were haunted by it.

"I just want to get some sleep!" I shouted to no one in particular, hurling my pillow across the room. I grabbed a Kleenex and blew my nose.

You need to calm down, Summer, and stop acting like a child, I berated myself. Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, I let my frustrations flow unrestrained onto the page.

I can honestly say, without a doubt, that the past month has been the most miserable four weeks of my entire life. I've pretty much been lurking around campus in a depressed state, doing my best to avoid any unneccesary contact with Angelo while attempting to fool my friends by acting cheery when they're around. I'm sure they see straight through my pathetic excuse of a facade; still, no one's said anything.

Angelo and I have gotten to the point where each basically acknowledges the other's existence, and yes, for the most part is civil to the other; but he hasn't gone out of his way to be anything more than just polite. Since that's the way he chooses to play the game, neither have I. It's like the way you'd react to a stranger in a doctor's waiting room, or on an elevator. Emotionless. They're there, you see them, you might even speak to them. But you don't make an effort to be overly nice or try to please them in any way. That's what this is to him, a game. Well, I'm tired of being a pawn. Love 'em and leave 'em don't float my boat, señor.

Ha!

At least Paige and Jono are back on good terms. After the whole damn jacket fiasco, Paige wouldn't speak to him for an entire week. Now that she's cooled down and come to her senses--especially after M told her how remorseful he felt about the misunderstanding--she's started to warm up to him again. As a matter of fact, as of late, they've gotten rather...chummy. Chummy. Right...

Seeing the two of them together, flirting oh so innocently and obviously enjoying each other's company has been as painful as if someone had cut me and poured salt on the wound. But it has forced me to do a lot of thinking. That, along with the fact that this whole school is filled with things to remind me of what I've lost... The calendar in the kitchen with April's third Saturday circled in red... Condolences (or even just sympathetic looks) from well meaning friends during communications with the other X-teams... The wedding dress I have to look at every time I open my closet door... The absence of Angelo's ring clasping my finger...

Angelo. Why couldn't he and I have reconciled like that? Why was it so easy for Paige and Jono but not us, especially considering they had such a rocky relationship before this even all started? Ange and I used to be so good together...

The worst thing about this whole breakup is that...yeah, I still have feelings for him. Stronger than I'd care to admit. Which makes me angry. I'm not ready to forgive him yet--the way he acted, what he did was so wrong!

Yeah, I guess I'm wrong, too.

This is all wrong...

I tore the paper up into tiny shreds and tossed it into the garbage. Flopping backwards onto my bed, I heaved a huge sigh and rubbed my hands over my face. Face it, girl. Your life's a mess. I turned my head and glanced at my alarm clock. 2:19. Maybe I'll go downstairs and get a snack or something.

I got up from the bed and made my way out of the girls' dorm. Poking around in the fridge a bit, but, finding nothing of interest, I left the kitchen, following the sound of voices into the den.

Ev was playing Killer Instinct against the computer and losing terribly.

"Oh, yeah right! As if anyone could do that. Stupid game cheats--"

"I could do that. Melting and resurfacing elsewhere later isn't all that hard, once you get the hang of it." I grinned. "It's much more feasible than say, what that Orchid chick does."

"Don't knock Orchid," J mock warned me. "She's a way kewl character..."

"Yeah, she's the only one you know how to play," Ev teased, winking at her.

In response, J reached over and hit the power switch.

"Hey!" Ev shouted. "What did you do that for?"

"This is boring. 'sides, I toldja--I wanted to play a board game." She turned to me. "Sums?"

I shrugged apathetically. "I dunno, maybe."

"Come on guys! Let's play a game! I'm like, bored--"

Ev leaned over to me and whispered in my ear. "Please play a game with her, just for a while. To shut her up--"

I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. J liked to pull that sort of 'immature 13-yr-old flashback' thing a lot just to get attention. Unfortunately, most of the time, it worked... "Okay, Jubes. What did you want to play?"

"Monopoly," she declared. "I owe Ev big time for his hotel on Boardwalk last time!"

"Clear off the coffee table and I'll go get it," I offered. I left the den and made my way to the rec. room. Maybe this will help distract me a bit... I grabbed the game from the closet, and headed back for the den.

On the way, I bumped into Paige.

"Paige! Ev, J and I are playin' Monopoly, want to play?" I asked.

She smiled brightly. "Sure! Sounds like fun," she agreed. We entered the den together.

To find Angelo standing there.

"Sure, I'll play. Who else is...playing?" He stopped short as he saw me standing there holding the box.

The room was absolutely dead quiet.

"Uhm, let's play," J said, interrupting the silence.

Paige took the box from my hands and set it on the coffee table. Opening the box, she removed five playing pieces and put them on Go.

"Are we goin' to play or not?" she asked.

No one said anything.

"So let's play." She sat down on a cushion and began counting out the money.

"I'm going to go get a Coke," I announced. "Anyone else want something?"

"Sounds good to me," Ev agreed.

"What, no rum and coke?" Jubilee teased.

All heads immediately whipped her direction. My eyes widened a bit and I swallowed.

"J!" Paige hissed, giving Jubilee a 'Don't you know what you just said?' look. "That was uncalled for..." She turned back to me. "A Sprite, please."

Jubilee gave me a sheepish look. "Uh, Coke's fine."

The room was quiet again.

I cleared my throat. "Can I get you anything, Angelo?" I offered, making an effort not to bite my lip.

He looked up at me, opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. "No. No thanks," he said quietly.

"You sure?"

He looked down at the table, shrugged and made a little 'I don't know' noise.

"I'll be right back," I said. I went to the kitchen and quickly grabbed three Cokes, a Sprite and a root beer. Ange likes root beer-- Leaning on the counter, I rested my head in my hands and heaved a sigh. Just act normal, girl. You can't not do this just because Ange is playing. You should be trying not to avoid him, I berated myself. Yeah, right. I'd better get back before they think I skipped out on them or something. I grabbed the sodas and went back to the den.

"Here, guys," I said as I came back in.

"Thanks, Sums. Here, let me help you with that," Jubilee offered. Getting up from the floor, she grabbed two Cokes from me and sat down in the empty spot next to Ev, giving him one.

There was only one spot left.

Next to Angelo...

("You sneaky little...") I sent.

She ignored me and pretended to pick at her nails.

I handed Paige her Sprite flopped down in my prodigious seat. If things had been smooth with me and Angelo, I would have frozen his root beer for a joke, but he wouldn't be amused right now. So instead, I handed him the chilled soda.

"Thank you," he said.

Not gracias. He would have said 'gracias', it was more natural for him. He's acting forced, pained. Maybe I was just tired and reading too much into things.

"You're welcome."

"I could really use some music!" J shouted loudly. Grabbing the remote from the bookshelf behind her, she pointed it at the stereo. "Anyone have a preference? Or is whatever's in the changer fine?"

"Whatever," Ev said.

"Sure," Paige agreed.

Neither Angelo or I said anything.

In a way, it was like flirting. Ange and I never had much of a flirting stage in our relationship. By the time we figured out we liked each other, we had already had our first kiss. So now here we were, sitting painfully close to each other, pretending we didn't like each other; pretending we'd never been engaged. Like total strangers, but knowing each other better than anyone else. I wanted to scream or to hit some thing...someone. Anything would be better than sitting still and pretending.

"Okay," Jubilee said. "I'm gonna randomize this, is that fine with--"

"Yes, J, that's fine," Paige interrupted.

Giving her a 'Well, excuse me!' look, J started the CD and tossed the remote on the table. "Let's roll to see who goes first!" She grabbed the dice and rolled them, getting a five, then handed them to Paige but missed. One rolled under the table.

"Good job, J," Paige said.

"Excuse me, hayseed," she complained. "You've been on my case all afternoon--"

I'm gonna kill Jubilee. I don't know what in the world she's up to...no, I do, but I don't know what she thinks she's going to accomplish. No! I knew that too, I just didn't appreciate it. I was too tired for this game. Something had to give soon, or I'd go crazy...

It was obvious Angelo was as uncomfortable with the whole situation as I was. "Here," he said, stretching his arm under the table and retrieving the die. He handed it to Paige, who rolled.

I was severely distracted by Angelo. He was sitting on a pile of cushions with his legs stretched out, his right one only three inches from my shoulder, I sat on the floor next to him. And he knew it, I could see it in his eyes through stolen glances at him. Was he just wanting to be closer to me, or was he trying to drive me insane?

Jubilee was changing through the CD's, trying to find one she liked. She's gonna drive me insane if Angelo doesn't first...

"Community Chest. Just watch, I bet it'll be the one that says, 'Go to jail, do not pass GO, do not collect $200' ," I said sarcastically as I drew a card. "Hey, it's the 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card," I said, placing it next to my money.

"The way you're playing, you'll need it," Ev quipped.

"No kidding!" I'd already landed in jail three times. "It's getting annoying. I'm gonna go broke just paying 50 bucks every couple of turns."

I picked up the dice and held them out to Angelo. Our fingers brushed as he took them. I swallowed.

I feel like I'm twelve years old with my first real crush. I'm as excitable as I was on my first day here. This is not even funny! And the way Angelo was acting didn't help things, either...

Angelo rolled. "Baltic Avenue. Nah, forget it." He shoved the dice over to Jubilee.

"Doubles. Good, 'cuz 'Just Visiting' is a waste of a turn." She rolled again. "Electric Company. Should I buy it?"

"Utilities generally don't bring that much money," Ev counseled.

She shrugged and handed him the dice. He rolled. "How weird. Electric Company. I'll buy it."

"What?" Jubilee said. "You said--"

"I said they generally don't bring that much money. I never said I wouldn't buy it," he replied, counting out the proper amount.

Jube sighed. "Cheater."

Paige grinned at her. "Don't whine dear. It ain't flattering."

"Oh, hush," J said, sticking out her tongue at Paige and shoving the dice her direction.

"What? Ah've got to pay $200 again?" she complained, ignoring Jubilee's hysterical laughter. "Ah land on that stupid space every time!" She threw the money on Free Parking.

"Tough noogies, Husky babe," Jubes teased. "Wanta little cheese with that whine?"

"Hmph."

The game continued on uneventfully, except for the fact that I landed in jail often enough I could probably have set a new Monopoly record.

"Jail again, Summer? Ah've never seen someone go to jail as much as you have this game," Paige said, shaking her head.

I sighed, tossing yet another 50 onto Free Parking.

Ange rolled and got Community Chest. "It's the 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card again," he said, flipping it face down next to his money.

Wait, we haven't gone through the whole deck yet... I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. His eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

He just wants to see if I'll say anything!

I kept looking at him, his eyes. Almost gray, like his skin; very cold. He didn't look away and I wasn't going to either.

("Are you sure about that, Angelo?") I sent.

("If you're worried, go ahead and look at the card. I'm not stopping you.")

I knew he wasn't playing fair; I'd already used that card. But I didn't want to risk starting a confrontation over something that seemed so little in front of the others. ("I was just thinkin' we hadn't gone through the deck yet.")

("Are you calling me a cheater then?")

Oh! But he wasn't asking something so simple. He wasn't even talkin' about the game. He had done that on purpose! He had saved up that little line and set up a stupid trap for me to fall into. That was so slick...

("Would you cheat?") I asked him, trying to turn things around. Now we were both talking in this crazy code, dancing around the truth.

("Would you?")

"No, never," I said, answering him aloud. "Absolutely not." ("You know me better than that, Angelo.")

"Me, either," he replied, also aloud. ("And I thought you knew me better than that, Summer.") He continued to look into my eyes.

There was a pause. I was aware of the silence, of everyone else, and I didn't care.

"Something wrong, Summer?" Ev asked.

"No. Nothing at all," I said, still looking Angelo's direction. ("We'll talk about this later. In private,") I sent. "Go, J."

Jubes grabbed the dice and was about to roll when Paige smiled, picked up the remote and turned up the volume.

"Oh, I love this song!" she exclaimed, clutching the remote to her chest and heaving a sigh. "It's so romantic."

"Oh my god," I said, propping my elbow on the table and resting the side of my head in my hand. I didn't care if the entire team saw how exasperated I was.

<Say, my love, I came to you with best intentions...>

Since it wasn't the traditional love song, no one seemed to notice what havoc this was wreaking on me. And Angelo. I didn't dare turn around to look at him, but he had shifted positions and continued to fidget behind me. Unlike when I had been home and heard the song, I didn't get angry or tearful, instead I grew uncomfortably warm and frustrated by Angelo's physical proximity and emotional distance. Oddly enough, it made me feel...passionate, I suppose. I couldn't help but to remember what happened, or almost happened, between us because of this stupid song.

I couldn't think clearly, either. There was a rapid...something fluttering at the edges of my thoughts. I couldn't think, or even see, it was distracting me so greatly. I concentrated on it, only to realize it was Angelo. Somehow I was picking up on some of his thoughts or emotions. To my surprise, they nearly mirrored my own. They were incoherent with physical desire and anger and a deep melancholy.

I snapped my shields up as tightly as I could, realizing that I must have let them slip earlier. To my utter surprise and amazement, even as tightly shielded as I could make my mind, try as I might I couldn't rid myself of Angelo's mental whisperings.

"Um..." I stuttered, my voice suddenly hesitant and wavering. "I need to...get an aspirin. I'll be right back." I stood up to leave. The disorientation in my head made me waver slightly on my feet, and for a moment I thought I was going to pass out. I managed to make a quasi-graceful exit from the room. I ran to the kitchen and splashed a handful of water from the sink onto my face. Unfortunately, it didn't work half as well as it did in the movies--being immune to the cold, it not only was not the abrupt shock I was looking for, it only served to wet my face and shirt. I am such an idiot right now!

I was getting a bit upset, the very idea of Angelo's thoughts being able to penetrate inside my shielded mind frightened me. Tiredly, I leaned against the wall, exhaling heavily. Could he know my thoughts as well? As if on cue, he entered the room.

His face was pale and slack as he entered. He marched straight toward me and abruptly halted a few paces away. He seemed to sway.

"Look chica, I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I would really appreciate it if you could keep your lusty thoughts outta my head."

"I...I'm not... Me keep my..." I blinked in surprise. "Angelo, I'm not doing this! I'm trying to keep your angry, filthy, erotic thoughts out of my brain here." I put a hand to my forehead. "I don't know what's going on, I can't even think, I wish you'd just get out of my head!"

"Hey--I'm not the telepath here! Whatever is goin' on, it is not my fault because I don't have any telepathic abilities. So get a grip here!"

With those final words, he transversed the distance between us. I felt weak at the knees, literally, as if I were about to pass out. Appartently he felt something too, because he reached out to the wall next to me to steady himself. He took a breath, and turned to look at me, apparently not completely convinced this wasn't my doing. I looked away.

Reaching over, he turned my face toward his own, forcing me to look at him. "Look at me, Summer," he demanded. "I'm not doing this, so it must be you."

His face was only inches from my own. Startled, my shields dropped completely. The moment my shields were down, he swayed again, the wall being the only thing preventing me from collapsing. For a moment, we were both totally lost in each others' thoughts. He was angry and confused, convinced I was doing something to him. For that reason, he was keeping the relatively small distance between us. But I could feel a deep desire there as well, and that emotion was apparently winning out over the anger. I was afraid--his thoughts were wild and chaotic, almost drunk, not on alcohol but on my emotions that he was feeding on.

He propped his free hand on the wall on the other side of me. I felt suddenly skittish, pinned under him and his gaze. He smelled faintly of smoke and cologne. I tried to flatten myself against the wall, my palms pressed to the cool wallpaper.

"Summer..." he groaned uneasily, a distressed tone to his voice. "Summer, why are you doing this to me?" Seemingly without volition, as if guided by some force, he gradually moved closer to me, breathing heavily. I could feel the rapid beating of his heart as his chest pressed against my own, his hands slid behind me, clasped at the small of my back. My arms relaxed and hung uselessly at my sides. I was filled with a mixture of anger and arousal.

The next thing I knew, he'd wrapped his arms around me and we were kissing fervently, hungrily. Frantically our mouths met, a result of our wash of emotion and confusion. Part of me wanted to hold him close and never let go; the rest of my mind, repulsed by my desire, screamed out for me to stop what I was doing; hadn't he done something terrible? Something...something vague...far away at the moment. Shocked out of my reverie by my thoughts, I gave a startled whimper and struggled momentarily in an effort to pull away from him. He paid little attention to my attempt to withdraw but only pulled me closer, holding me tighter against his chest, his hands running along my sides and back.

Trapped against the wall in his arms, I was powerless to resist. It was almost as if my mind was melting, my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions merging with his own; I felt myself relaxing. I could taste the passion of his kiss and found myself returning it with equal enthusiasm, my hands sliding up his back as I leaned in closer to him, closing my arms around him in a loose hug.

Without warning, he broke the kiss off suddenly and looked at me.

"Dios...What are we doing?" he panted, stepping away, a shocked, startled expression on his face.

I couldn't speak. ("I don't know, I don't know. We need to get Ms Frost, something is wrong.")

"No," he objected. "I don't want to involve her in this. It's none of her business."

"Angelo, something strange is happening here! You're blaming me, and I guess I can see how you'd come to that conclusion, but I don't know what it is and I can't control it--"

"Yes, you can too," he retorted. "Just try harder."

"But..." I stammered a bit, trying to find the right way to express what I wanted to say. "Angelo, I don't know what's happening, and I need her help--"

"I do not want Emma--or anyone else--involved in this," he said firmly, interrupting me once more. "It's no one's business but ours. You hear me? No. Like I told you, you just need to get a grip, Summer, and cut it out. Stop playing games. Control yourself." His eyes narrowed as he turned and headed for the door.

I gaped at him. "Excuse me? Did I hear you right? I'm the one who needs to control myself here? Wasn't I the one who tried to pull away from you when you came on to me?" I snorted derisively. "Oh, I know what topic your thoughts centered around the whole time, Angelo, they were plain enough." I folded my arms across my chest.

His lips pursed up in a scowl, as if he'd just restrained himself from saying something. In two quick steps he was standing in front of me again. Grabbing me by the arms, he looked me straight in the eyes, his face close to my own.

"Listen, I don't need to take this from you, woman," he snapped curtly, shoving me aside. "Hasta la vista, baby." Turning away from my hurt expression, he headed for the door again.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to control the anger that washed over me. Why why why is he playing with my emotions like this? Why is he doing this to me?

In my exasperation, I shot a beam of ice past him at the wall, narrowly missing the door. He spun around and walked back over to me.

"Are you crazy? What the--"

"Who do you think you are?" I screamed at him, my eyes wide with anger. "You accused me of playing games--do you think you can just play around with me like...like some kind of toy? I have no clue what's happened to you, Angelo. You have changed. I don't recognize you. You scare me." The words raced from my mouth, growing louder and louder. "You cornered me like some animal or something, and your eyes are so much colder than I could ever be. I don't mind telling you that you frightened me; I want you to see what you are. Has this all been some sort of game to you? Play nice so you can get what you want out of me, then dump me? Are you going to run off like you ran off on that Torres girl?"

He glared at me. "That was a low blow, Summer. But what else was I to expect, coming from you?"

"That does it!" I lunged toward him, only to be stopped as hands of stone grabbed me by the arms. I turned to see Paige staring at me, shocked, and realized suddenly that she must have heard at least the tail end of our arguement.

"Summer! Stop it!" she shouted, struggling to hold me back as the door opened, people rushing in. "What's gotten into you?"

I paid her no attention, only struggled to see Angelo. His head was turned away, he was looking at Jubilee who was saying something to him. Her breath came out in frozen clouds as half the kitchen was sprayed with ice. I watched him shake his head.

The door opened again and Sean and Emma rushed in.

"What's with all th' screamin'--sakes!" Sean exclaimed as saw the kitchen.

Emma was furious. "Let her go," she told Paige, who released me. She then turned to me. "What is going on here, young lady?"

"Nothing," I muttered angrily. "Just a little...misunderstanding."

Her eyebrow raised. "I see. Well, understand this--I want these childish displays to stop this instant. And I want the kitchen restored to its previous condition. Is that understood?"

I lowered my gaze. It was so unfair, not to mention embarrassing, that she was singling me out after... "Yes, ma'am," I murmured. It was always 'ma'am' when Emma was in one of her moods.

"The rest of you, out," she commanded.

No one needed to be told twice and the others quickly began to exit the kitchen.

"And where do ye think yuir goin', lad?" Sean inquired, grabbing Angelo by the shoulder. "It's plain t' see that ye played yuir own part in this little tiff, which means ye'll do yuir fair share of the clean up."

Angelo's shoulders fell, but he didn't argue.

As they exited, Emma turned to us again. "I want this kitchen spotless. When you're done, I think the four of us should have a little chat."

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, I thought angrily, before I could catch myself.

Emma spun on her heel to face me, her face ablaze with anger. "Summer! I don't know what's gotten into you, but you'd better grow up, and fast, girl." She left, slamming the door behind her.

Her words stung more than I ever imagined they could; it was bad enough she'd reprimanded me, but she hadn't even bothered saving me additional embarrassment by doing it telepathically. I sat down in a chair and closed my eyes, fighting back tears. There was no way I was going to cry in front of Angelo.

"Summer?" Angelo began. I ignored him.

He reached out to me, "Summer, we need to talk--"

I jerked away violently, as if his touch had burned me. "Don't touch me," I spat. "Just leave me alone!"

He moved back a bit. "All right," he said in a calm voice. "If that's what you want."

No, that's not what I want, but it's the best way to keep you from hurting me again! "Can you blame me?" I asked angrily.

He sighed. "No, I guess not," he said. "How could I, when you've already blamed me for everything else as it is." Exasperated, he turned and began to clean up the mess I'd made.

I'm not helping things any, am I? I sighed mentally before beginning hesitantly, "Yeah, we do need to talk. I'm just as frustrated as you are. I don't know what's goin' on and it scares me. I mean, one second, we're angry as hell at each other, the next we're... ya know... and then we're trying to kill each other, and now... I'm just tired."

"I am too. I don't understand this anymore than you do..."

At least he didn't seem to think I was doing this to him anymore, which was a plus.

"We need to clean this up," I sighed.

"Well, excuse me, but whose fault was all this ice in the first place, Summer?"

I didn't feel like another fight, but the irritated tone of voice he used annoyed me. I wasn't the only one with the problem here!

"Well," I began, trying unsuccessfully to keep the sarcasm out of my own voice, "Obviously I have something to do with it, I'll admit that, but you're definitely involved too. I mean, why would arguing with you affect me like this, and not anyone else? There's something about you that is adding to this."

"Oh, please," he said, raising his voice again. "That's your solution to everything you don't know how to deal with, isn't it? Blame someone else for your actions and refuse to accept responsibility for any of the things you do," he said mockingly, his voice fairly dripping with sarcasm. He rolled his eyes dramatically. "It's so childish--"

"I'm being childish?" I yelled. "You've got a lot of nerve saying--"

Emma stormed back in, followed by Sean. "You two are finished," she snapped, "only because I'm sick to death of listening to your constant griping."

Sean sat down at the kitchen table. "Have a seat," he told us, guesturing toward the table. I sat down belligerently and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Angelo?" Emma inquired. It was more of a demand than a request.

"I'd rather stand, thank you," he retorted.

"So," Sean began, "is there something we need to talk about here?"

Silence.

"You two have a definite problem," Emma pointed out. "Which is bad enough in itself, but it's gotten to the point that it's disrupted this entire school." She crossed her arms, waiting.

Neither of us said anything. Angelo turned to stare out the window and I sat absently tapping my fingernails on the table, watching the second hand of the clock on the wall tick off the seconds.

I was picking up on Angelo's thoughts--he was blaming me for what had happened in the kitchen. Angrily, I glared at the back of his head.

He could tell. ("Just leave me alone, Summer!") Turning to face me, he gave me the equivalent of a mental push and leaned back against the refrigerator casually, as if nothing had happened.

I let out an involuntary little noise as I realized what he'd done--what he was able to do to me. ("You leave me alone, Angelo! I'm tired of your little mind games!") I pushed him back, harder. The linoleum was wet and he slipped suddenly, managing to right himself by grabbing the handle of the fridge.

Emma shot Sean a glance. He nodded and headed for the door.

"That will be enough of that, you two," Emma snapped. "I don't want to see either one of you using your abilities like that. These are your minds were talking about. Neither one of you is accomplished in telepathy, I will not allow you to indulge in these childish mind-games, because they're dangerous. Understood?"

I felt a strong pang of irritation from Angelo. He was upset that Emma knew part of what was goin' on with us. I was relieved though, I needed her help.

"Shades of Gray" 18/? By Me, monet@uky.campus.mci.net and my secret-psychic-sister Krista kjscjs@ix.netcom.com.

I don't mind the rat race, but I could do with a little more cheese.