Excerpt: I'm Not Your Savior

"I don't know what's wrong with her. Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"She's not all there, is she?"

"We're not running a psych ward, Hakeem. We're taking in children with genuine problems and abilities. This...I don't feel this is our responsibility."

"Unless she has such difficulty with her ability because she is socially inept. Or maybe the social ineptitude arises from the ability. Either way, I can't help but feel the two oddities about her are related, by causation or some indirect factor."

"Maybe."

"Shea didn't have problems with his telekinesis. It came naturally to him."

"I'd rather not talk about him, if that's all right."

"Fine. You and your unwillingness to examine past data at the tiny cost of the pain of reminiscence."

"Whatever."

"I say we keep her around and see what happens."

"You would. And how do you suggest we handle her every day?"

"Like any of the other children, of course."

"Are you sure? I feel like I'm about to break her whenever I so much as look at her."

"I always feel I'm about to break under your gaze, Eleanor."

"Shut up."

I stayed awake for hours that night after they left the hospital room. Wondering if they meant for me to hear that. Maybe they did. I'm not sure which way would hurt worse, if they did or didn't.