Page 41 of The Alien in the Archive

“Alright,” Riley finally says, setting down his tools with a sigh. “You’ve been pacing for ten minutes straight, Page. Either spill or sit down before you wear a hole in my carpet.”

I stop mid-step, hesitating.

How do I even begin to explain this?

“Okay,” I start. “So…remember how I was getting those headaches?”

“Yeah…and you went to a doctor about them.”

I wince. “Not exactly.”

Riley sighs and shakes his head, leaning back in his chair. “Great…so you just told me you went to a doctor and kept working. I can’t say I’msurprised, but I’m disappointed. I mean, what if it’s something serious?—”

“It’s not,” I interject. “Well, not in any way a doctor can help with.”

“Explain.”

“...because they weren’t headaches.”

He frowns even more deeply. “Okay…I am so confused.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” I mutter.

He blows out a breath, rubbing his eyes. “Page, I gotta behonest, you’re freaking me out and you’re also a horrible liar. You may as well just admit there’s more to this?—”

“I’m psychic,” I blurt out.

Riley stares at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. For a moment, I think he’s going to laugh it off, make some joke about me losing my mind.

But then his brows knit together, and he says, “Psychic. Like…reading minds and stuff? Or are we talking, like, moving objects with your brain?”

“Both,” I admit, my voice smaller than I want it to be. “And it’s not just that. I can sense things…people, emotions, energy. It’s like being plugged into a hundred conversations at once.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re serious.”

“Dead serious.” I fold my arms around myself, chewing on my lip. “And it’s been getting stronger. It started with just thoughts here and there, but now…now I’m moving things without even trying.”

His eyes slide to the side…then he nods. “Like the cup.”

I swallow hard. “Yep. Like the cup.”

I resist the urge to search his mind for a meltdown, not wanting to transgress on his privacy. I used to do it instinctively; now that I have control, it’s just hard to resist. Riley sits back, letting out a long breath.

I brace myself.

“Okay,” he says. “So when were you planning on telling me this? After you started levitating furniture? Or when the Psych Department showed up to stick you in a lab?”

“I didn’t know how to tell you,” I mutter. “This isn’t exactly something you just bring up over coffee, Riley. ‘Oh, hey, by the way, I can read minds and move stuff with my brain’.”

“Fair,” he concedes, rubbing a hand over his face. “Butstill. Psychic powers, Page? What the hell? How is this even possible?”

I hesitate, my stomach twisting as I think about what I have to say next. “Elixir exposure,” I finally admit. “From the Pemberton Disaster.”

Riley’s head jerks up. “Wait, seriously?”

I nod, the lump in my throat making it hard to speak. “I was exposed to it when I was a kid. A lot of it. I guess it…did something to me.”

“Yeah, but I mean, so was I?—”

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