“What? No, of course not.”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure that boy likes you.”
I shake my head. “Definitely not. We just met a couple days ago. Who starts liking someone, in just a couple of days?”
Ron sighs. “Chrys, everyone does! That’s normal. Some people even fall in love at first sight.”
“Love at first sight is superficial, based entirely on appearances—”
“Anyway, don’t you kind of get the vibe that he might be into you?”
“I don’t get that vibe at all. I think you’re just seeing what you want to see.”
“I think you’re seeing what you want to see. You’ve always been pretty oblivious to this kind of thing. I mean, you didn’t even notice Treyvon liked you and he was so obvious about it.”
“Treyvon? He was our foster brother. He was just being nice.”
Ron folds her arms and shakes her head slowly, disappointed. “Definitely oblivious.”
I wave my hand, annoyed. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Hunter doesn’t like me and he knows I don’t like him.”
“You’ve talked about it? How could he know?”
“It’s his gift. He can sense emotions. I’ve never felt anything like that toward him so he would know that.”
Ron drops her arms. “Oh my god, that’s so sad.”
“It’s not sad because he doesn’t feel that way either.”
“That poor thing.”
I groan. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to finish the third task and then leave anyway. No time for romance.”
“You wouldn’t consider staying in the camp for him?”
“Why would I do that? I’d much rather be with you. Do you want to stay here or something?”
“No, it’s just… I don’t know. This is kind of bothering me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It just does. I mean, haven’t you ever had a crush on someone? It’s pretty painful when they don’t like you back.”
“Of course I haven’t. Who would I have a crush on? You’ve probably also never—”
“I’ve had tons of crushes, girl. And tons of unrequited ones too. It just makes me feel sad for Hunter, that’s all.”
“You’re just assuming things.”
“So are you. His gift is to sense emotions, not yours. And since he knows you don’t like him, he’ll never tell you, now, would he?”
Ron’s serious expression keeps me silent. I suppose it is possible that Hunter could like me, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me. I’ve never understood romance and crushes and stuff like that. It’s just not something I’ve ever had an inclination towards and I’ve always been well aware of that, feeling like something is wrong with me because of the way everyone else around me seems to be so obsessed with it. I always thought Ron and I were similar in that way, but I guess I’ve just been oblivious to her feelings too.
I remember looking it up and reading about something like that on a website—aromantic asexual, they called it. Someone who lacks romantic and sexual attraction. I don’t really know if that’s what I am, so I’ve never mentioned it to anyone—even Ron—but it seems the most likely. Or maybe I’m just too distracted and focused on myself to form a crush on someone. I don’t really know.
I feel kind of guilty now about Hunter. Should I ask him about it? Would that just make things worse?
Ron sits on the edge of the bed so I sit next to her.
“You know,” Ron says, “speaking of gifts…”
She pauses as if waiting for me to object, but I don’t say anything. Still, I know where she’s going with this and I want to stop her but I shouldn’t. Ron has the right to ask.
“I was just wondering,” she says in a low voice, “what yours is.”
“I haven’t told you because I don’t want you to change your opinion of me.”
“Chrys, nothing can change the way I think of you. You’re my sister.”
I scoff. “Even if I can kill people?”
“Kill? You’re joking, right?”
“I wish. I can touch someone and they’re dead in an instant.”
“Seriously?”
I nod.
“So that’s what the gloves are for,” she says. “So if you touch me right now, I’d just drop dead?”
“No, it doesn’t really work like that anymore. I have some control over it, I think. But I don’t want to risk it so I just never touch anyone. I don’t want to kill anyone. I would never do that on purpose. You know that, right?”
“I know that. Of course I know that.” She sighs. “But I get why you wanna get it removed now. That sounds awful.”
“It is,” I say, my voice shaking.
Ron pushes my head down so it’s leaning on her shoulder. “I wish you didn’t have to leave.”
“I know,” I say softly. “But I’ll come back soon.”
“Yeah.”
We’re silent for a moment. Ron’s shoulder is warm beneath my head.
“Give me the letter,” Ron says suddenly. “The one for Giselle. I’ll put it under the door or something after you leave.”
“Oh, sure. Thanks.” I sit up straight and take the envelope out from my tote bag. I hand it to Ron.
She looks at Giselle’s name written on the envelope with wide eyes. “Wow, this handwriting is beautiful.”
“Yeah, Remington is into that sort of thing.”
“Hunter said his name is Remy.”
“Well his full name is Remington.”
“You should stop calling him that. I think he’d like it if you called him Remy.”
“I don’t wanna call him by a nickname.”
She chuckles. “You say that like it’s poison or something.” She puts a hand on my thigh. “By the way, Chrys, you do not what his gift is, right?”
“Remington’s? I don’t know exactly but judging by Giselle, I’d say it has something to do with fire.”
Ron nods. “Yeah, Giselle told me the story. Remy burnt the house down as a baby, killing their parents and wounding Giselle.”
I laugh dryly. “Just an average day for a gifted child.”
Ron’s expression grows grim. “Do you have experience with that kind of stuff?”
“I mean, a kid with deadly powers and no understanding of how to control it? Of
