Page 61 of Avelina

That was concerning. What if nighttime visitors had sneaked in and found him? “Maybe we drove him away with our racket.”

“Likely,” he said, a smug smile on his face. He still didn’t know that Ward was gay, and he probably felt a sense of triumph. How would he feel when he found out that the competition was all in his mind? Possibly like he had overvalued my stock.

He cracked the closet door open, stopping to listen as always while I squirmed impatiently behind him. Finally, he opened the door all the way, poking his head out. He had clearly done this many times as he knew exactly how to silently and quickly open and close the hidden closet door within the wardrobe.

We stepped through the outer closet door and into Jorin’s bedroom. It was a small space with an extra-long single bed, a desk, and the closet we’d sneaked out of. A large window with white curtains let in dim light. The room was empty of both people and character. I had a feeling that making the bedroom as boring as possible was deliberate.

Aaron stopped to listen for another minute at the bedroom door, then he led me to the tiny bathroom. A chorus of chirping crickets echoed up through the drain I was supposed to squat over, and I imagined one of them jumping up and hitting me right in the crotch. I cringed, but I did what I had to do. Aaron stood guard outside of the door, then told me to wait there while he searched the rest of the house. The feminist in me balked at that directive, but the pragmatist was perfectly happy to wait.

I called for Spirit to search the house too. “Ward’s on the downstairs couch,” she said.

“Oh, I guess we really did drive him away with our racket,” I said. Spirit didn’t respond. Jealous?

I’m not jealous, she thought to me.

I puffed out a breath. Spirit, can you hear all my thoughts? Even the ones I don’t direct at you?

Yes, she thought to me.

I gawked. I hadn’t expected her to just admit it like that. Oh, that’s just great. I don’t get to have private thoughts ever again, I guess. Then I thought about that for a second. Wait, can you hear everyone’s thoughts or just mine?

She gave me a sly smile.

Everyone? I guessed, my eyes widening.

She nodded. FYI, Aaron has a very dirty mind. So does Ward. He got so turned on by the sound of Aaron moaning that he sneaked down to the bathroom and masturbated for the first time in ten years, right into that drain.

I looked down at my bare feet and cringed again. Eeew! Why did you tell me that? I hadn’t thought to put my shoes on before I came down the ladder. This world had an extremely irritating learning curve.

Spirit let out one of her delightful little giggles.

Oh, shut up, I thought to her, but couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face at the sound of her laugh. It was infectious.

The good news is that he rinsed the drain area afterward, she thought to me. The bad news is that he feels guilty about wanting to sex up your boyfriend, and the depression is hitting him pretty hard. He’s spending a lot of time thinking about how great it was to be dead.

I was afraid of that. I would need to brainstorm solutions to the Ward problem. At the very least, I needed to counsel him on why gay guilt was unnecessary and pointless. Maybe I could get him back to Earth and set him up with someone. What he really needed, though, was a professional therapist. I probably wouldn’t cut it. Actually, we probably both needed a therapist.

Wait, I thought to her again, you can send thoughts to me from your mind. Could you send other people’s thoughts to me so I could hear what they’re thinking, directly from them?

Spirit thought about it. I’m not sure. Aaron’s downstairs berating Ward as we speak. Let’s go practice, shall we? She flashed me those bright white teeth.

I nodded. Can you check the grounds for intruders again first?

She blinked out and then back in again. “Nobody’s around,” she said aloud.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I came down the stairs to find Aaron speaking quietly with Ward, who lay on the green couch I’d seen on my way in the night before. Ward must have thought the couch seemed as comfortable as I had imagined it to be. A blanket covered him, and he definitely appeared to have slept there.

“You look cozy,” I said.

You look like you’ve been having sex all night, I heard Ward’s voice say in my head. I jumped in surprise. The words had been unexpectedly harsh and brimming with jealousy. It was so intense that I reflexively took a step back, unsure how to proceed. He wasn’t angry, exactly, but he was definitely upset, and this was more than jealousy over a sexual encounter. This felt more like unrequited love.

Oh no.

I guess it works, Spirit thought to me, smiling.

I didn’t share her amusement. Ward had spent quite a bit of time with Aaron as Rogue. He had learned from living with me that being gay wasn’t wrong, and then he went to live with Aaron. Beautiful, traditionally masculine Aaron, with his caramel skin and his bright blue eyes and those strong hands that could light the world on fire. I lifted my hand to my mouth to cover my shock. Aaron still spoke to Ward, but Ward wasn’t listening. He stared at me with those amber eyes, always so impossibly aware.

---