Gifted Connections: Book 2(21)

Noah looked at the slips with a raised eyebrow. He looked at Gavin, then me. “Pops barely ever deals with disciplinary issues. What did you do?” he murmured with a teasing grin.

I cleared my throat. “What can I say? I like pushing the limits,” I said with a flirting tone.

“Interesting,” he said with a husky tone. “Is this the infamous Gavin?” he murmured in my ear as I began to walk to a seat.

“Just a friend,” I whispered urgently back.

“With benefits?” he asked as he caressed the inside of my arm.

Operation Make the Connection was in full effect as I leaned into his ear. “I’m hoping someone else might want to apply for that position.”

I knew I had stunned him, so I took my seat next to Gavin, glad that he found two empty seats close to each other. Gavin turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I held up two fingers, and I knew he knew exactly what I meant as his jaw dropped open.



Noah called Gavin and I over to a desk tucked in the back corner of the room as we were getting ready to leave. He was very professional as he handed us each slips of paper.

“Mr. Kincaid, why did you choose to drop your speech class? You were doing very well in it,” Noah asked conversationally.

Gavin looked at him with seriousness. “I spent the last seven years with a gift. At first, I thought I should fly under the radar, but after meeting Blake I realized how important it might be to learn about my gift.”

I was shocked that he revealed so much so quickly. He gave me a reassuring nod, like he had it handled.

“Are you gifted?” Noah turned interested eyes towards me.

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. Then I finally said. “I may be but it…comes and goes. Can you help us figure out what he may have?” I said trying to push the attention back on Gavin.

Noah was shrewd, too shrewd. “Why won’t you ask Collin?”

“Ask me what?” Collin came through the classroom door. “Hey babe,” he kissed my temple, before looking suspiciously at Gavin and Noah. “I heard you got into a little trouble today, you naughty girl,” he tapped the tip of my nose playfully, but I could see anger in his eyes. I assumed he got his butt chewed out by Zach for not watching me closer. “I think you need to reconsider this audition. You have plenty going on as it is. Now, back to this question, hit me.”

I bristled under his stare. I was willing to play the game, but not by their rules. “We can talk about this later,” I replied coolly.

“I was just telling them if they have any issues figuring out how to log onto the school website to pull up any of the past assignments, they could come ask you. Well, Blake.” Noah lied glibly.

I sighed internally, relieved.

“Yeah, no problem, you can even use my laptop, at home,” Collin said pointedly. “Gavin, you can swing by as well, if you’d like.” He said with a welcoming smile, that never reached his eyes.

I looked at Collin suspiciously. Realization slowly dawned. Zach wanted Collin to spy on him as well.

Gavin smiled warmly. “Thanks man,” he held out his hand for a shake. Collin took it and shook it. “Maybe another day,” I almost sighed aloud once more. “I promised my mom I would stop by the store for her tonight and we have a big family dinner planned.”

“Great, another day then,” I said cheerily. “We have our own shopping to do tonight, so I can cook us some real food,” I playfully winked at Collin. “Are you skipping your last class?” I asked him innocently.

He shook his head, clearly irritated. “No, I gotta run now.” he looked down at his watch. “Meet you at my car at 3?”

I nodded.

He didn’t look like he wanted to leave us alone, but he left reluctantly. “Make sure you get his number, if you haven’t already,” he called over his shoulder, his voice casual.

Gavin and I looked at each other pointedly.

“So, as I was saying,” Noah stood up and walked towards the door. “Just enter your student id number under the performance arts tab and everything we’ve covered thus far will pop up. In addition to any assistance Collin may give, I’ll give you my number as well,” Noah peered into the hallway, he seemed to be satisfied and then he closed the door.

“What the hell is going on?” Noah asked with rare seriousness.

“When I shook his hand, I felt a…void,” Gavin whispered fervently.

“You would,” Noah said quietly. “He has a gift that allows him to…take someone’s gift away.”

I gasped and looked at Gavin once more, understanding dawning once more. “How does that work? Does he touch…anyone and it leaves? Can you project it to certain individuals? And what about Gavin? He can see when someone’s gifted, and earlier he was able to… stop someone from using theirs.”

Noah looked at both of us and finally said. “He can project it to whomever he wants, within reason and distance. Now,” he turned to Gavin and looked at him, his brows furrowed. “When you say you stopped someone, how? And what do you see?”

We looked at each other once more, and I nodded to Gavin to go ahead.

“Someone was trying to prevent another person from talking and moving. It…angered me and I could feel their energy in them, so I pushed them out,” Gavin told him.