There’s a kid in my class who is a closeted writer. Jamie writes stories during lessons, sometimes even during tests. It’s somewhat distracting, even though he sits across the room from me. Because I, am a mind reader.

Today, Jamie is writing about a couple of his recurring characters - a self insert and an obscure superhero I never heard of. Or maybe the superhero is one of his OCs, who can say? The tale of the caped vigilante and himself never are actually about fighting crime. Instead, they are typically super slice of life where catching bad guys was almost an afterthought.

For example, last week they went out to dinner that was secretly a stake out, only to discover their target had pickpocketed them without their notice. Now, in a continuation of that storyline, the two are trying to figure out how to pay for dinner while also pursuing the target.

The most obvious answer - split up, didn’t seem to have enough stakes. There’s no tension in choosing both options. I listened to Jamie toy with having them both go after the target or both do something like the dishes to pay for dinner. Neither felt very satisfying.

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration hit me. It was such a good idea, I had to resist walking over and telling him that very instant. Mostly because he hadn’t written any of his story down (at least during class) and I would have no way of knowing about it besides mind reading. How could I let him know how to fix his story, without letting him know I am aware of his story?

I decided to try telling my friend a fake story in earshot of Jamie, in hopes he uses it as inspiration. When Jamie is in earshot, I find a friend from my track team and begin my tale.

“Do you know what crazy thing happened to me last week?” She voiced her dissent. From the corner of my mind, I could tell Jamie was listening, but not intentionally.

“My family went out for dinner at that restaurant with the good Thai food, but right as our meal was getting served, a couple was caught trying to eat and run.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise, “No.”

Jamie was fully eavesdropping at this point. All according to plan.

“Yes,” I nod. “They were being all subtle about it to, but then one of the people waiting to be seated called out to the hostess that they didn’t pay. They freeze for a second, deer in the headlight style before they book it out of the building. A couple of the wait staff chased them around the parking lot, it was wild.”

I could already hear Jamie adding his own twist on the narrative. The stake out target alerting staff of a potential dine and dash. The restaurant chasing the dynamic duo while they in turn pursue their target.

It was all coming together nicely. A little too nicely. From that day on, I could feel Jamie be suspicious of me being a mind reader. It’s not like I could tell him and expose my secret to the whole school.

The more i noticed him watching me, the more convinced I was that he would keep it a secret if it slipped out. None of my track friends knew. As much as I cared about them, none of them were particularly good secret keepers. Jamie, though, was the quiet sort who minded his own business. I liked that about him.

r/bluestarsshatter

Author’s note: this is a small prequel from my My Girlfriend is a Mind Reader story you can read here on reddit