Second Thoughts Read Online Free PDF Page A

shoulders, the caramel hair, lit by the pale sunshine and curling at the ends where it was damp. He looked beautiful, unreal.
    â€œEvery morning. I admire Cartwright’s dedication, another trait he shares with the senator.”
    â€œYou know, I wondered why you scheduled our meeting so early.”
    A gleam in her eye told me I amused her more than I irritated her. By way of answer, she said, “The school is blanketed in potential before it fully wakes, while one of its brightest students haunts the grounds.” She was quiet for a second and I realized that she didn’thate Carter like he thought she did, not at all. She wanted more from him. Maybe everyone did. “Speaking of dedication,” she added, “I think you’ll find the senator is as devoted to his ‘nephew’ as he is to the Perceptum.”
    We said our goodbyes, the headmaster and I, but there was one thing I couldn’t say to her, a secret she didn’t share. Though I wanted to be part of the Honor Board, I was sure that all the practice with it could never erase my fear of the Perceptum. More than what they wanted me to do, the reason I hated them was this: they held Carter’s life in their hands.
    Only a few people—fewer than knew I was the last Marwood—knew that, like me, Carter was dual-gifted. Outwardly, he was just another Penrose, a
Lumen
with a brainiac gift, blessed with a perfectly photographic memory. Underneath, however, he was a telekinetic Thought Mover of unheard of power.
    Unlike other Sententia, Carter’s gift was
not
limited by proximity. He could move anything he’d seen once before, no matter where it was. And
that
kind of gift was exactly what the Perceptum would see as too powerful to be allowed to exist, regardless of how Carter used it or didn’t. His family and Senator Astor’s devotion to keeping his secret were all that stood between Carter and an almost certain death penalty.
    So yeah, to say that I feared the Perceptum was a bit of an understatement. I loathed them, just on principal, and promised myself I would never have any connection to them.
    Until I discovered I already did.

Chapter Three
    T his is so exciting,” Amy called from where she leaned over our bathroom sink applying mascara. “Almost like getting ready for the Winter Ball, only more sophisticated.”
    I laughed. “I guess so.” October had arrived like a blink, and with it, Aunt Tessa’s art unveiling. Despite that she’d spent months planning, creating, and installing it, I still didn’t know what it was. She’d forbidden me from seeing it, and though I could have peeked in the weeks since she finished her work, I knew that would disappoint her. So I kept my word and stayed out of the Auditorium and its lobby until the big day. Today.
    I slipped on my sleek black heels and inspected myself in the full-length mirror on the back of our door. In the reflection, I caught Amy looking at me from the bathroom doorway, a funny smile on her face.I smoothed my hands over my slim black satin pants. “What? Don’t you like my outfit?”
    Her smile widened. “No, I love your outfit. Those pants are outrageous. In a good way.”
    â€œThanks…But so what’s with the look?”
    â€œIt’s just this is like the first time ever where you’re the confident one, taking me to something in
your
element. An art opening seems so…exotic to me, but it’s as comfortable to you as, I don’t know, going out to dinner or something.”
    I’d not thought of it that way, but she was right. Usually things that were completely normal to everyone else were new to
me.
It was a nice change, and I was happy to finally introduce Amy to something that had been part of my life for as long as I could remember. Not that I wasn’t nervous in my own way, but it wasn’t about the event itself.
    Amy looked fantastic. She usually did, but