Freaky Cousins and Past Wounds (C)

I decided to mind my business and finish my meal. Antonio did the same, although he had a huge frown on his face.

"What happened?" Aunt Luciana was by the door, looking disappointed.

"We had an argument about Dad." Antonio's reply was nonchalant.

"I've told you, don't indulge her. Jacey is fragile and this whole situation is not easy for her." Antonio threw away the egg he was about to eat and got up so fast, his stool fell over.

"You know, I feel like you care about everyone else more than you care about me. I'm a boy, I need to protect Claire, but you didn't think that I could have gotten hurt there as well. Rather than scolding Jacey for hiding important stuff from us, you want me to be less normal and do more. Now, Jacey is fragile and this whole situation is not easy for her, what about me? I'm an outsider, right? You don't think it affects me?" No one needs to be told how hurt Antonio felt; his voice was really pained. Aunt Luciana couldn't even say anything, it must have been unexpected to her.

"I'm really glad I chose Dad, at least he doesn't make me feel less important. Go comfort your only child that matters."

"That's not true. I...." Antonio was already out of the kitchen. Aunt Luciana was a mess, her hands shook and her lips quivered. I didn't even know what to say to comfort her. I left my sitting position and went over to give her a reassuring hug.

"I'm sure he doesn't mean what he said. I'll go talk to him." She could only nod. I went in search of Antonio; I found him in his room, sitting on the rug and squeezing a stress ball.

"Hi!" I tried to sound cheerful as I invited myself in and sat next to him. He didn't acknowledge my presence.

"Are you okay?" He didn't respond.

"Well, you really broke your Mom's heart. Those are some really harsh words you used." He gave the ball one hard squeeze and threw it away.

"Do you think I don't know that?!" He snapped at me.

"What's going on? Why are you so angry? I know your Mom loves you and I know Jacey is more sad than angry."

"I know that." He said weakly. "Jacey and I used to be really close but then our parents' divorce messed that up." Oh, a divorce. Makes sense now.

"But it's not your fault they are getting a divorce, right?" He nodded.

"Of course not. What Jacey is mad about is that our Dad's already planning his wedding with his fiancee and even when I know it's not fair to my Mom, I'm choosing to live with my Dad."

"Why? Why would you choose your Dad over...?" I trailed off. I didn't know the whole story, I couldn't just conclude he's doing the wrong thing.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"You don't know that."

"I do. My Mom will have Jacey with her; it's not like my presence will make any difference."

"That's not true and you know it. You mean everything to them, to me too. I thought we were friends now; what would I do if you leave to stay with your Dad." He chuckled.

"I'm not going off to die, you can always come visit me."

"Antonio..." He shook his head.

"You're not changing my mind. And you need to get ready, SM is coming over." I didn't like that he was changing the topic but what I didn't like more was that he got me distracted when he mentioned 'SM'; I still didn't know what that meant.

"Jason is SM." He said, rolling his eyes.

"What does SM mean?"

"Jacey's the one who started calling him that, she'll be the one to tell you what it means."

"Hmm..."

"You should wear something cute, something that compliments the color of your eyes. Maybe he'll fall in love with your eyes too."

"Antonio?! What are you talking about? He's my cousin." I was miserably blushing.

"Maybe. But you love his 'beautiful, beautiful' eyes." He mimicked my thoughts.

"How did you know I thought that? You weren't even with us."

"But I was in the same house." He chuckled again. "Trust me, it's okay if you have a crush on him."

"Because he's adopted? It's not okay at all." He shrugged.

"You're always stubborn. Whether you plan to or not, you'll fall deeply in..." I blocked my ears and started saying "la la la la" really fast. That made him laugh.

"Alright, I won't say it but don't be surprised when it happens."

"Forget that. When are you guys going to tell me how you can read minds and heal people?" His smile faded.

"I don't know how, we just do." Oh! Finally some answers.

"I'm not answering your questions, okay? You know we can read your mind and we healed your hands, that's not all but that's all you're ready to know. We're not superhumans, it's just a family thing."

"Does that mean everyone can? Even my Dad?"

"No, it skips two generations. Grandma and our parents can't but we can, you included." I scoffed.

"Do you think if I could read Frank's mind that night and knew he would kill my Mom, I'd still leave? Or I'd even let him marry my Mom in the first place? I can't read minds."

"I know you can. Reading minds is our basic ability, all of us can. Healing is one of the abilities unique to Jacey and I because we're siblings, but we..."

"There's more?" I was shocked. Besides reading minds and healing people, they had more powers?

"I've told you, it's not a superhuman thing. We're not superheroes or anything, we're just advanced psychics. I don't know how to explain to you, I'll leave that to Grandma."

"But she's not like you."

"Like us... She's not like us." He corrected. "Yes, she's not but she knows every single thing you need to know about our family."

"Okay. So, what can I do? I mean, what's unique to James and I?" He blinked quickly and hesitated for a bit.

"I don't know, you'll have to find out yourself."

"Wow! If I tell James this, he'll be so happy. He'll think he's a superhero." Antonio did that blinking thing again and he looked away.

"Don't tell him yet. He's too little to understand any of it."

"You think he'll tell people and then scientists will kidnap him and put him in a lab and experiment on..."

"Stop!" He took my shoulders and shook me. "I already told you it's not a super power. There are thousands of psychics all around the world, with even more advanced abilities. We're not that special." He exhaled and moved away from me.

"See why I said you're not ready? Trust me, once you tap into your psychic abilities, you'll wish you never had one. Everyone would have a million questions for you each day and they still won't get enough. That's why I won't develop mine, I want to feel normal too." He actually looked sad and exhausted.

"An..."

"SM is almost here, you should get ready. You can't be wearing boy clothes when he gets here." I looked down at the clothes Tyler lent me.

"You should wear a dress. Something girly and you should put your hair down and try a little makeup too." I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"I'm not dressing up for Jason. And get that thought out of your head that we can be a couple. He's my cousin." He didn't reply, just smirked.

"I'll be back, we're not done yet. Oh, could you please talk to your mom? She was..."

"I know, I'll talk to her. Thanks." I left.