My Eyes
Only 2

By Lillyanna Fuchsia

Copyright © 2020 Lillyanna Fuchsia

Cover art © 2020 Nidoriko

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents either are the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely
coincidental.

Table of Content

Chapter 01

Chapter 02

Chapter 03

Chapter 04

Chapter 05

Chapter 06

Chapter 07

Chapter 08

Epilogue

Afterword

Chapter 01

It was the most awkward Sunday family lunch Eliza had ever been to.
There was no conversation between the six people around the table; the only
sound was of chewing and drinking.

I knew it’d be like this. A religious and conservative
mother would never be thrilled about her lesbian daughter’s girlfriend after a
couple of days. She needs more time. Maybe a few weeks…or years, considering
how she found out.

One of the most embarrassing moments of her
life unfolded in her mind like a movie again. No. I don’t want to remember. Not only did she not want to go
through that again, but it wasn’t the time to relive it either.

I need to do something to make this less awkward. But
to think no one would say anything, Eliza thought
after she suppressed the memory. She glanced at Bianca, her only worry now. She
knew her mother wouldn’t accept their relationship so fast, but she didn’t want
her girlfriend suffering because of it.

However,
unlike Eliza, Bianca didn’t seem bothered by the awkward mood at all. All she
did was eat the feijoada as if immune to the heavy silence around her.

Despite
having trouble chewing and her stomach churning, Eliza couldn’t help but feel
relieved. I know it’s not only her
fault but technically, she’s the cause of this. We both are. She sighed in her mind.

I’m glad she’s being cool about this. I’d hate if Mom
made her uncomfortable or unwelcomed. I just wished she treated Bianca like she
treated my ex or Fabio’s girlfriend.

Eliza
glanced at her mother between forced bites. The nurse was solely focused on her
plate as if the food was the most interesting thing in the entire world.

C’mon, Mom. You make this like twice a month. Is the
food really so delicious that you can’t make a single comment? This might be
the first time I see you quiet during Sunday lunch.
Eliza sighed in her head again. I’m being
too greedy. It was already amazing that you invited my girlfriend—which you had
no idea I had—after catching us naked in bed. In the hospital where you work.
B-but can’t you at least try a little more? Please? Remember, you love me.

She knew
that asking more from her mother was beyond hopeless at this point. Inviting Bianca and not forcing me to have a
conversation with the priest was a huge step. It’s like Bianca says, baby
steps. Baby steps. Freaking baby steps.

As she
ate, Eliza couldn’t help but glance at her brother and his girlfriend on the
other side of the table. He’s so lucky.
He can be with her and Mom won’t say anything. He can go out and hold hands
with he, and no one even bats an eye.

Eliza
knew she couldn’t reach out for help from him either; he had his own worries.
She didn’t know what it was, but he wanted to ask their mother something and
wouldn’t risk irritating her to help his little sister.

The last
person Eliza could rely on for help was her father. Dad will help his little girl, won’t he?

“Dad,
h-how’s everything at the PD?” she asked, hoping it was enough to start a
conversation.

“Busy.
Too busy,” he said. He stopped his knife and fork. Even though he slept in late
on Sundays, he still looked tired. “The press’s been asking Eduardo and me for
interviews every day.”

“Because
you two were the ones who found those mysterious notebooks left by My Eyes Only
that helped my dad?” Bianca asked.

Eliza choked
on her drink and coughed. As her girlfriend patted her on the back, she widened
her eyes at Bianca, hoping she could transmit her thoughts. Why are you bringing that up, Red? Do you
wanna give me a heart attack?

“Yes. It
was actually Eliza who found them, but we left her name out of this whole
thing.”

“It was
for the best, honey,” Carla finally spoke. “After… after everything, Eliza
needs to rest. Take a break.”

Glad you recovered your voice, Mom. I was almost
hoping you’d never lecture me again, Eliza thought
sourly.

“I agree,
Dad. I know you don’t like taking credit for something you didn’t do, but I
didn’t do anything. That guy lurking around was the one who put the notebooks
in the trashcan. There’s nothing interesting for the press there,” she said,
hoping she sounded casual.

Through
the corner of her eyes, Eliza saw Bianca suppressing a smile between bites of
food. Under the table, she pinched her on the thigh, getting a strange high
pitch squeal from her.

Bianca
pretended it was a hiccup when everyone looked at her and picked up her drink.

“Dad
wants to give you and Eduardo a promotion.” Despite the strange sound, she
acted with the dignity of a rich girl. “He says he can now put the mayor behind
bars and even found corruption inside the PD thanks to you two.”

Flavio
flashed an awkward smile as he scratched his recently shaved face. Carla
insisted he kept a clean look for the interviews. “Yeah, the chief keeps saying
something about a promotion. Insisting on it. But I don’t know.”

“C’mon,
Dad. You have to take it,” Fabio jumped in. “It’s a great opportunity.”

“I agree,
honey. You should accept. You’d get more time at the desk than patrolling,”
Carla added. “God knows how many sleepless nights I had when you were on night
duty.”

“Worrying
about what? We live in a small city. We have our problems, but it’s not
dangerous like the capital.”

“Even so,
I’d feel much better if you were behind a desk.”

“C’mon,
honey. The patrols aren’t dangerous. We just drive around town wasting gas most
of the time. It’s boring, but we do get funny dispatches from time to time.” He
laughed and flashed a juvenile smile.

“Like
what?” Bianca asked. “Dad doesn’t have any funny stories about his job.”

“Let me
think…” The cop’s smile grew as he rubbed his beardless chin.

“Dad,
Dad! Tell Bianca about the monkey!” Eliza jumped at the opportunity.

“Ah! That’s
a good one. A great one.” Flavio was already laughing. “It was a normal
Saturday afternoon. Eduardo and I were patrolling when we received a drunk and
disorder dispatch in a bar. When we got there… the one drunk and causing the
disorder… was a monkey!”

He
laughed even more. Eliza, Fabio, and Danielle laughed too. Bianca smiled, eager
to hear the rest. “How on earth did that happen?”

“Someone
had the brilliant idea of giving cachaça to the owner’s pet monkey. After
one shot, he was so drunk he took a huge fishmonger’s knife the size of my arm
and chased people around at the bar. When the owner went to catch him, he
climbed on roof and threatened anyone who tried to take the knife away from him!”

Everyone
around the table roared with laughter. Even Carla cracked a smile as she shook
her head.

“What
happened then?” Bianca asked.

Flavio had
to take a deep breath to stop laughing and answer. “We offered another shot of cachaça
to the monkey!” Everyone laughed more. “He downed the glass and passed out
right away. We took the knife and called animal control.”

“I can’t
believe this happened in our town and I never knew!” Bianca exclaimed when she
recovered her breath. “I never heard anything like this from Dad.”

“There’s
no way the chief would ever hear about the underground stories of the PD. If
you want, look it up on the internet. Someone filmed the whole thing.”

“I’ll
definitely look it up.

Eliza
couldn’t stop smiling, but part of her was more relieved than happy. Thank goodness Red is smiling. That’s the
only thing I wanna see today, she thought, suddenly hungrier. Under the
table, she touched her girlfriend’s leg with her foot.

Bianca
smiled at her before turning to the police officer again. “Are there more
stories like that?”

“Tons!”
Flavio ate as he thought. Then his face lit up with a smile. “Ah! This is a
good one. We were patrolling when we heard a woman screaming. It wasn’t just a
scream, though. She was bellowing at the top of her lungs. It took a while, but
we found where it was coming from and why.”

“What was
it?”

“The
woman had her leg stuck on a tree with a pit bull barking and trying to bite
her.”

“My god!
How did she end up like that?”

“She
tried to sneak into her ex-boyfriend’s house and beg him to take her back. But
she was so drunk she snuck into the neighbor’s backyard instead. The pit bull
tried to attack her, but she managed to climb the tree and couldn’t get out.”

Eliza and
Fabio laughed. Danielle and Carla shook their heads with somber expressions.

“What did
you two do?” Bianca asked.

“We tried
to get in, but the dog came at us right away. Then we tried contacting the
owner, but the woman’s friend, who was as drunk as her, wanted to scare the dog
and give her time to escape.”

“How?”

“She
threw a brick!” Flavio was doing his best to tell the story without laughing. “Guess
what happened? She hit her friend instead! Even the dog stopped barking to roll
around and laugh!”

The
siblings laughed more. Even Carla chuckled.

“She
didn’t get hurt, though. I think she was too drunk for that.” The cop ended the
story, but his smile remained. “It wasn’t our fault, honey! The drunk friend was
the one who threw the brick. Luckily, the owner got home ten minutes later and tied
his dog up. We called the ambulance and when they were taking her, the
ex-boyfriend showed up and went with her. They got back together.”

“A happy
ending,” Bianca said, getting more laughs around the table.

Yes, everything’s going fine, Eliza thought, grinning and relieved. But, she could tell her mother
was shifting in her seat. Mom wants to
change the topic.

“Tell
Bianca about the day with the thieves, Dad!” she suggested quickly.

“Ah! That
was a crazy day. Over twenty years as a cop, and I’ve never seen anything like
that!” He smiled and shook his head as he drank his beer. “I was on desk duty
when a robber came into the PD to file a complaint. Guess why? He wanted to
have another thief arrested because he had stolen his loot!”

This time
even Carla couldn’t suppress the laugh, and her voice joined the others’.

“And that
was just the morning. After lunch, I went on patrol with Eduardo and we found a
group robbing a bakery. Before they got out, another group of thieves came in
and tried to rob the bakery too. While they were arguing, reinforcements
arrived, and we managed to arrest them all!”

“I can’t
believe such things actually happen,” Bianca said after she finished laughing.
“It sounds like those comedy cop academy movies.”

“Those
movies aren’t crazier than real underground cop stories. There’s no way the
chief would ever have a story like this.”

“No sir,
he doesn’t. The most my dad’s stories got out of me was a yawn. Ah, please
don’t tell him I said that.”

The cop
chuckled and flashed a fatherly smile. “Don’t worry. But don’t share my stories
with him. I doubt he’d like to hear what I’m telling his daughter.”

This is going great, Eliza
thought, trying to remember another story to keep the mood up. “Dad, tell
Bianca about the woman and the theme party!”

“Ah!
That’s a good one! I was working at the desk when this woman came in and—”

“No,
honey. That’s not an appropriate story,” Carla said suddenly.

Flavio
was surprised. Then he nodded with a wry smile. “You’re right, honey… I’ll tell
you later, Bianca.”

“Yes,
sir!”

After the
conversation ended, the only sound was of them eating again.

I was too greedy. I know that story wasn’t the best
for the moment Mom, but you didn’t have to kill the mood completely, Eliza thought. Thank goodness
we’re almost done.

Soon the
plates were clean and no one could eat another bite. Fabio and Danielle said they
were going out to meet a few friends, and Eliza took Bianca to her bedroom.

Please don’t make a fuss. Please, Mom, she begged as she led her girlfriend by the hand. She could feel her
mother’s stare, but they left the room without any comments. Only then did she
breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was
some lunch,” Bianca said when they were alone. “Your dad has some awesome
stories.”

“Yeah.
Sorry about the awkward mood.”

“What are
you talking about? I thought it went better than expected. You said your mom
would never invite me to lunch.”

“It
wasn’t an excuse. And you know she did it just because you’re Dad’s boss’s
daughter.”

“Even so,
we should be glad she’s making the effort.”

“You’re
right,” Eliza mumbled grudgingly. Then she sighed, pushed her mother from her
mind, and took off her glasses. She smiled and placed her arms around Bianca’s
waist and pulled her closer. She had been wanting to kiss her all morning but
had restrained herself until now.

Bianca
kissed her back, but before things could get more intense, she parted their
lips. “Wait. Not with your mom in the house. I want her to like me.”

“That’s
gonna take a long time,” Eliza said with a wry smile. “And she already caught
us naked in bed. It literally can’t get worse than that.”

She
pulled her closer and tried to kiss her again, but Bianca turned her face away.

“Still, I
want her to like me. Remember, baby steps.”

Eliza was
too weak against that sweet voice. Then she groaned and sighed. “Fine. I’ll try
to restrain myself. But I can’t promise anything.”

“You’re
the best!” Bianca beamed and kissed her on the cheek.

Eliza
blushed and pouted, touching where she was kissed. “Stop tempting me! You know
it’s hard already with you doing this.”

“What?”

She
gestured to her. “You know, breathing and all.”

Bianca
laughed. “Hey, what was the last story your dad was gonna tell? I’m super
curious.”

“Mom’s
right. That story wasn’t appropriate for a meal.” Eliza grinned. “A woman came
in to file a complaint. She was furious because her neighbors created a theme
party.”

“A theme
party?” Bianca raised the eyebrow. “Was it too loud or something?”

“It
wasn’t the party. It was the theme.” Eliza had trouble suppressing her laugh.

“What
was?”

“Take it
out ‘cause I need to crap!” Eliza laughed while Bianca flashed a puzzled smile.

“I don’t
get it.”

“The
theme was her. She was having anal sex with her boyfriend and suddenly shouted ‘take
it out ‘cause I need to crap!’ so loud the entire neighborhood heard!”

Eliza
laughed louder while Bianca shook her head.

“That’s
not funny.”

“Then why
are you smiling?”

“Shut
up.”

When she
stopped laughing, Eliza sat on the bed and pulled Bianca by the hand. They
looked at each other, their smiles growing. Then, she lowered her gaze, staring
at those lips she loved to kiss. Before she could even think of restraining
herself, she leaned closer. When they were about to kiss, Bianca turned her
head and Eliza ended up kissing her cheek instead.

“Don’t
you have any self-control?” she complained, though she seemed to be struggling
herself.

“I lose
all of that when I look at you,” Eliza admitted in an embarrassed voice. “And I
don’t wanna hear that from you. You couldn’t even wait until I was out of the
hospital!”

“That was
different,” Bianca mumbled. Her cheeks had turned a shade of pink. She pushed
Eliza onto the bed and laid her head on her chest.

“How?”

“You’re
the responsible one in this relationship. You should’ve stopped me back then.”

Eliza
shook her head, laughing and embracing the girl she loved. “If I’m the
responsible one here, we’re screwed.”

“I have
faith in you.”

“You
shouldn’t.”

“And why
is that?”

“Because
right now, all I want to do is undress you and make you lose your mind.” Eliza
whispered in the most seductive and alluring tone she could muster.

The
reaction was immediate. She could feel Bianca’s body jolting with the idea. She
flashed a teasing smile, but before she could step closer to undressing her
girlfriend, they heard a noise outside the bedroom.

At once,
Bianca got off Eliza and the bed and sat on the floor. A second later, Carla
opened the door. She looked at them and seemed relieved as she flashed a forced
smile.

“Hey,
Mom. What’s up?” Eliza tried to leave all the frustration out of her voice. If she hadn’t interrupted, I’d be sucking
Red’s boobs by now.

“I just
came in to check on things.”

“Everything’s
fine.”

“We’re
deciding what movie to watch,” Bianca said, smiling.

“That’s…
nice… Have fun you two.” She left the bedroom, but instead of closing the door
all the way, she left a little creak before walking away.

Eliza
exchanged looks with Bianca. “Baby steps?”

“Baby
steps.”

Chapter 02

“Good morning, Liz!” Bianca greeted her girlfriend with a huge smile
the moment she walked out the front door of her house.

“Hey…”
Eliza’s listless voice said it all; she didn’t share the redhead’s enthusiasm.
All she did was stare at her smiling girlfriend with an exhausted expression.

“What?”
Bianca’s smile grew. “Do I have something on my beautiful face?”

“Why do
you look so… hyped? We’re going to school, you know…” Eliza almost shivered at
the thought. “Or you’re planning to take me away like in those American movies?
I could use a day off.”

“That
does sound fun, but you already had too many days off.” She chuckled and walked
around the car to open the passenger door for her girlfriend.

Eliza was
so nervous she had barely slept. But as she stared at Bianca’s beautiful face,
all her worries went away. She glanced around. There was no one on the street
besides them. Mom’s getting ready to work
right now. Before getting into the car, she stole a kiss.

Bianca
was caught off guard. Then she smiled and blushed. But the next second, she
turned to Eliza’s house. When nothing happened, she sighed in relief and went
to the driver’s seat.

I hate having to pay attention just to kiss her, Eliza thought as she fastened her seat belt. But I have to admit seeing Bianca nervous like this is kinda fun. Ah,
damn. I’m becoming like her. Stupid hot redhead who made me fall in love with
her and makes me wanna tease her and more… She looked out the window to
hide her red cheeks.

“Today is
gonna be awesome!”

“Speak for
yourself,” Eliza grunted and let out a heavy sigh. “At least one of us is
having a good time, though I can’t see why you’re so hyped about school. Are
good students like that? Eager to learn?”

Bianca
laughed. “There’s no way I’d be hyped about school. I’m like this because I’m
going to school with my girlfriend, and I don’t even have to hide how much I
love you!”

Her smile
was so pure even Eliza couldn’t keep her bad mood.

“When you
put it like that… But don’t try to draw too much attention. It’s the first time
I’m gonna face everyone after coming out of the closet.”

Her eyes
became empty as she imagined it. She was used to people talking about her, but
those were stupid rumors. She had no idea how she would react if people made
fun of her about something she was. Or worse, make fun of Red.

Bianca
held her hand when they stopped at a red light.

“Now that
I think about it, it’s kinda my fault. Instead of coming out of the closet, I
dragged you out.”

“More
like you dropkicked me out. But I’m not blaming you. I’d have done the same thing
in your situation.” Eliza entwined their fingers. “Also, next time you say
you’re sorry, at least stop smiling. It negates your apology.”

Bianca’s
grin widened. “I’m trying, but I just can’t. I’m so happy!”

Eliza let
out a tired sigh and then chuckled.

“I give
up. It’s impossible to resist you or that smile.” She took off her glasses and
leaned closer for a kiss. Bianca didn’t hesitate this time.

They only
stopped kissing when the car behind them honked; the light had turned green.
Laughing, they drove to school. But when they parked the car, Bianca wasn’t
smiling anymore.

“Ah, crap.
I can’t believe I’m gonna face everyone again.” Eliza groaned. “I thought I was
immune to rumors by now.”

“That’s
what I wanted to ask. Even if they talk about us, won’t it be like at the
beginning of the year?”

“Those
were a bunch of stupid rumors. I’m not so sure I can ignore like I’ve been
doing so far.  They’d would be talking
about something I am. Also,” she averted her gaze as her cheeks reddened, “I
don’t want anyone saying mean things about you.”

Bianca
hugged Eliza’s head with both arms. “You’re so cute it’s not fair! I’m gonna fall
in love with you all over again!”

“Shut up.
That’s my line.” Despite her words, Eliza couldn’t help but smile. These boobs are super effective. There’s no
way I can be mad at her with them pressing against my face. If I died
suffocating like this, I’d die happy.

She
didn’t resist the urge to massage them. Her touch was firm but gentle, the way
she knew her girlfriend couldn’t resist. Almost right away, Bianca’s arms
weakened as her face grew redder. With a sly smile, Eliza slid one hand down
her belly.

“Hey,
Red. If you take me somewhere else right now, I’ll make it worth your while,”
she whispered in a sweet voice. Her hand was almost between Bianca’s legs.

Eliza
knew she would have to face school eventually. But if Bianca turned on the car
again and drove away, she wouldn’t complain. As she teased her girlfriend, she
stopped caring about school or rumors. She only wanted to touch Bianca and make
her feel good.

I’m losing my mind. We haven’t done anything ever
since Mom walked in on us. It was the last non lust
driven thought she had. When she slipped her fingers inside her girlfriend’s
pants, she stopped thinking.

Bianca
gasped and bit her lips. Already, Red? I
knew you were barely keeping it together. Just like me, Eliza thought as
she touched her womanhood above her underwear.

First,
she only caressed it lightly, her fingers circling the other lips she loved to
kiss. The redhead got wet, squirmed, and let out a cute, stifled moan. That’s too cute, Red! Eliza gently
touched Bianca’s womanhood with her middle finger. This time Bianca let out a
stifled moan.

“I’m
barely touching you, and you’re already so wet,” Eliza whispered. She pushed
her finger over the thin fabric. At the same time, she nibbled Bianca’s ear.

It was
enough to make the redhead reach pleasure.

With her
heart thumping fast, her face turning red, and a satisfied smile, Eliza pulled
out her hand, getting another moan from a panting Bianca.

“This much
and I barely touched you,” she teased. Then, while looking Bianca in the eyes,
she licked her fingers. That made her blush even more.

“I can’t
believe you’d do this here,” Bianca mumbled.

Eliza
only laughed. “And I can’t believe I’m hearing that from you. May I remind you
that we did way more when I was in the hospital?”

She
pouted and averted her eyes. “I couldn’t stop myself.”

“You didn’t even try. But let’s put that
aside. There’s no way you can go to class with your pants and panties like
that. How about if we go to your home and continue this?”

Bianca
was still panting. With a couple of deep breaths, she was somewhat back to
normal. While looking at Eliza, she reached out for her backpack in the back
seat.

“After
yesterday, I knew you’d do something like this,” she said, rummaging through
it. Then she pulled out another pair of pants and white lacy lingerie. “I’m
prepared for you, Liz.”

Eliza
stared in disbelief. When she finally recovered, she sighed and chuckled at the
same time. “I can’t believe you have those things in your bag.” She took the
underwear from Bianca’s hand. “It’s cute. This proves you’re the responsible
one in this relationship. Just as I said.”

“Don’t
try to push your job on to me.”

“I can’t
believe you carry sexy underwear like this as a spare.” With her curiosity
growing, Eliza glanced between her girlfriend’s legs. After a moment’s focus,
her pants became transparent. “What the hell are you wearing to school!?”

Bianca unbuttoned her pants enough to show her
silky black lingerie with a sly grin. “What do you think?”

“How can
you wear something like that to school?” Eliza was too flustered and didn’t
hide it at all, which only made Bianca’s grin wider.

“What’s
the matter? It’s not like anyone would see. Only you, and you looked hard.”

Eliza’s
face became an alarming shade of red. Me
and my curiosity…

“I got an
idea.” Bianca looked her in the eyes. “How about if you wear this and I wear
your panties today?”

“Have you
gone mad?”

“It’d be
so hot. If you wore my panties, I wouldn’t think of anything else. I’ll make it
worth your while later,” Bianca
whispered in Eliza’s ear, making her gulp.

A few
minutes later, they were in the bathroom in the gym near the parking lot. Bianca
wanted them to change in the same stall, but Eliza refused.

“Did you
hear something?” she asked in a low voice as she took off her pants.

“Don’t
worry. No one comes here at this hour.”

I can’t believe she convinced me to do this, Eliza thought. Her face burned as she took off her underwear. She
realized they were a little wet. It happened when I pleasured her. Can’t
believe I’m gonna give her my panties to wear all day. What’s wrong with me?

Despite
that, she put on Bianca’s backup lingerie. This
feels lewd. Like I’m doing something too perverted. They’re clean, but it feels
like Bianca’s touching me the entire time. That made her face go an
alarming shade of red.

“Did you
put my panties on?” Bianca asked from the next stall.

She sounds awfully excited. I can’t believe I’m in
love with such a pervert. But I’m no better… “Yeah…
Here…” Eliza handed her underwear over the wall.

“It’s a
little wet.”

“Shut
up!” Eliza said in a hushed voice. “It was you who suggested this!”

When
there was no answer, she used her powers and looked through the wooden wall.
Without even drying with toilet paper, Bianca put the underwear on without
hesitating.

“Are you
watching me?” she asked, turning to the wall with a grin.

“No!”
Eliza stopped using her powers at once and left the stall.

Bianca
came out a few seconds later, adjusting her pants. “This feels so naughty.”

“Because
it is.” Eliza groaned. “I don’t know what I was thinking. Your boobs give you extra
charisma points.”

“Let me
see how it looks.”

“No! Why
do you want to see?”

“Because
you saw mine.”

“I
didn’t!” Eliza lied. She felt overly aware of the underwear. “This feels lewder
than anything we’ve done.”

“Does it
feel like I’m touching you the entire time?” Bianca asked. Teasing plastered
all over her smile. “If you’re like me, you’re not gonna even think about
others with this.”

“Shut up!
Stop grinning like that and stop making this worse than it already is!” Eliza
shouted, her face became even warmer. Damn
it! I’m doing what she wants if I react like this.

With a
last grin, Bianca offered her hand. “Let’s face the long day that awaits us!”

“You don’t
have to sound happy about it.” Eliza took her hand and let her girlfriend lead
the way.

Chapter 03

Just as Eliza expected, whispers followed them wherever they went. The
moment they joined the flow of people entering the school’s main building,
everyone looked at them at least once. It didn’t help that the students made
room for them in the corridor as if they were celebrities.

To her
surprise, however, it didn’t bother her as much as she feared. Maybe the vultures got bored last week when
Red shouted that we’re dating. Or maybe she’s right. It’s hard to care when I
can’t think about anything else other than the fact that I’m wearing her
underwear. What the hell was I thinking when I agreed to this?

And I can’t believe she didn’t let go. I was so
worried I didn’t even notice this until we were here, Eliza thought, glancing down. Bianca was holding her hand and
smiling as if that made her the happiest girl on earth.

The fact
that one of the few openly gay couples in school had arrived holding hands had
spread throughout the school at an unbelievable speed. It seems as if everyone
already knew so Eliza gave up worrying. It’s
too tiresome.

But now that everyone knows, I don’t have to be overly
conscious or hold back when I’m around her. Not that I would kiss her in front
of everyone, but it’s nice to know I can if I want to. It’s amazing that she
can hum and smile like this with everyone looking at us.

Beaming,
Bianca seemed immune to anything bad as long as she was holding hands with
Eliza. Wish she could feel a little of
what’s going on inside my head. Actually, I wish I could be like her, she
thought with a mixture of annoyance and envy.

Then, she
let go of those feelings. Thank goodness
I have her. With her cheeks a shade of pink, Eliza squeezed those firm yet
delicate fingers.

They
ended the long march across the corridors and up the stairs into their
classroom. The rumors seemed louder here. Hard
to ignore people whispering about me in a confined space. Better look on the
bright side. No one’s saying shit about us to our faces, she thought. She
let out a listless laugh in her head as they sat in their usual seats.

“I told
you it’d be like this,” said Raisa, Bianca’s best friend. She pulled a chair from
an empty desk and sat next to Eliza.

“It’s not
nice to hear ‘I told you so’ first thing in the morning.”

“It’s
because you don’t look sorry at all.”

“What’s
done is done.” Bianca smiled.

Raisa showed
no expression as she stared at her best friend. Then, she shook her head and
let out a heavy sigh. “I knew you were a moron, but to think you’d do this to
Eliza with a smile. At least be sorry for what you did.”

“She
never thinks about these things,” Eliza said, chuckling. “She just acts on her
impulses.”

“Like an
animal. Sorry for my idiot friend’s behavior.”

“Sadly,
I’m used to that.”

“You need
to set boundaries. Her stupidity knows no limit.”

“And she
drags me along,” Eliza said, aware of the underwear digging into her skin a
little.

“Wait,
wait. Since when did you two get so close?” Bianca asked, looking between them.
“I didn’t know about this!”

The girls
exchanged looks. Then they looked at her and shrugged at the same time. “It
happened,” they said in unison.

“Hey,
don’t leave me in the dark!” Bianca complained as she grabbed one arm from each
girl. Before she could do anything else, the teacher walked in and greeted the
class in a tired voice.

Though
she was aware of her classmates’ glances, and sometimes blatant stares during
classes, Eliza was surprised to find herself smiling; even after everything,
she could have a normal school life.

If it’s like this, the new semester will be way better
than the first, she thought as she got ready for
the next class.

***

“It was a
long day!” Bianca exclaimed after the last class ended. “Why were the teachers
trying to make each class seem twice as long?”

“Because
the ENEM is right around the corner. And why are you complaining? You slept
through two classes after recess,” Eliza grunted as she massaged between her
eyes. Though her eyesight was getting better, she still needed her old glasses
but wasn’t used to them anymore.

“Whatever.
How about if we go to my house and have lunch? I’m hungry.”

“Sounds
good.” Eliza was starving. Though she had relaxed, her stomach was too tight to
eat anything thing during recess.

As she
organized her backpack, Bianca leaned closer and whispered. “My parents won’t
be home. I can make it worth your while.”

Eliza
dropped her notebook. As her face turned red, she picked it up. “Sounds
better.”

Once
again, ignoring the people looking at them, Bianca held Eliza’s hand and led
her out of the classroom. She hummed and smiled like she had in the morning,
but when they were almost out of the school building, she let her go.

“What?”
Despite the embarrassment, Eliza still wanted to hold hands; her fingers felt
cold without her girlfriend’s warmth.

“I’ll be
waiting out front,” Bianca said and walked away.

Caught
off guard by the sudden change, it took Eliza too long to realize why Bianca
had done it. Even in the corridor crowded with students hurrying to leave,
there was no way she couldn’t see Amanda standing next to the entrance.

With everything that happened yesterday and today, I
forgot, Eliza thought. She stood still for a
moment. With her stomach tightening again, she walked towards her childhood
friend. I’m just gonna talk to her. Why
am I so nervous? I know our friendship isn’t back to what it used to be, but I
shouldn’t be like this.

“H-hey…”

“Hey,
Liz. It’s been a while,” Amanda said. “Sorry, I didn’t visit you at the
hospital.”

“I-I
understand. Everything happened so fast…”

They
waited for the rest of the students to either go home or go to cram school
before looking for an empty classroom. Amanda stood still with her arms
crossed. Eliza avoided looking at her.

This is more than awkward. I’ve known her since we
were kids. I have to say something. I have to apologize for not telling her
about Bianca and me. But how?

“So,
you’re a lesbian now?”

Despite the
emotionless tone, Eliza could tell Amanda wasn’t condemning her. It was just
her way of giving her childhood friend something to start a conversation with. Even now, I’m depending on her…

“Not now.
I’ve been with Bianca for a few months,” she jested.

Amanda chuckled
and uncrossed her arms. Then she sat on the same desk as Eliza. “Since you came
back to school?”

“Why
would you think that?”

“Wasn’t
it back then when you started hanging out with her?”

That
statement made Eliza both surprised and happy. “You noticed?”

“Well…
yeah… Even with that whole thing, it wasn’t like I stopped worrying about you
or anything.”

No matter how strange things got, she was still
looking out for me. I shouldn’t have taken so long to apologize. Another thing
I have to thank Bianca for. I’ll never tell her, though. Her ego is already big
enough as it is.

“We
weren’t together back then. We started hanging out and became friends. She
didn’t hide that she wanted to be more, though. After constantly flirting with
me, we ended up together during St. John.”

“You
liked her before that, right? Your face said it all.”

Eliza
blushed and played with her fingers. “I ended up falling for her, but I was
afraid if I reciprocated her feelings, it’d ruin what we had. I couldn’t afford
that. Our friendship meant a lot to me.”

Amanda
remained quiet for a while, looking at her childhood friend. Then she sighed.
“I can’t believe after everything you’ve been through, you’re still the same
idiot who overthinks things.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, I can’t disagree with that. And I think
Bianca said something like that too.”

The
looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

“My best
friend, who was madly in love with a boy less than a year ago is now madly in
love with a girl. Things change.”

Eliza
blushed and smiled. “Yeah, they do.” More
than you can ever imagine, she thought. She held her urge to touch her eyes. “Why do you think I’m madly in love
with Bianca?”

“Oh,
please. Like I couldn’t tell.” Amanda snorted. “I’ve known you my whole life. Besides,
do you really think I forgot how you shouted at people for bad-mouthing Bianca
and her parents?”

Eliza
opened her mouth but when she had nothing to say, she flashed a sheepish smile.
“I kinda hoped everyone had…”

“Maybe
everyone did. Especially with Bianca’s outburst last week.”

“Don’t
remind me.” Eliza groaned. “Thank goodness I wasn’t here to see. I’d have died
of embarrassment.”

“Don’t
worry. I’ll send you the video.”

“Please,
spare me of that.”

Amanda
laughed. “Now that I think about it, it so was romantic. She was so upset when
people were bad-mouthing you she ended up confessing her love for you to
everyone.”

Eliza’s
cheek became warmer. “And kicked me out of the closet with a dropkick. All in
one go.”

“You say
that, but you’re not angry. Wait. What about your parents? Did you tell them?”

“Let’s
say they know.” She let out a dry and listless laugh.

“What do
you mean?”

“They
caught me and Bianca…naked in bed… at the hospital.” Her face became an
alarming shade of red as she remembered. Damn
it! I die of embarrassment every time I think about it! When will this become a
funny story?

“No way!
What did your mom say? I bet she flipped out!”

“Not
really. Probably because we were at the hospital. I think Dad managed to smooth
things out later. Mom even invited Bianca for lunch yesterday.”

“How did
it go?”

“Better
than I feared. Mom’s still not okay with the situation, though. After lunch,
she kept checking in on us in my bedroom and leaving the door open every time.
She wasn’t like that, even with Bruno.”

“You
can’t blame her. She’s the conservative religious type. Remember when I got my
belly piercing? She talked about it more than my mom. But at least she’s making
an effort.”

“That’s
what Bianca keeps saying. I just wish she accepted us like she accepts Danielle.”

“Give her
time. It’s not easy to change all she imagined for your future so fast.”

“Hope
so…”

“Anyway,
you should be glad. Now you can walk around holding hands with Bianca. I saw
how happy you were, by the way. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“You two
know me too well,” Eliza muttered under her breath.

“You
can’t do anything about that.” Amanda let out a hearty laugh. Then she flashed
a mischievous smile. “Speaking of which, maybe I should tell Bianca some embarrassing
stories about your past. There’s a lot she’d love to hear.”

“Please
don’t!” Eliza begged, grabbing her by the arm. “I’d rather keep most of my past
hidden from her!”

Eliza’s
reaction only made Amanda laugh even more.

“Don’t
kill the messenger. You should be honest with your girlfriend,” she said with a
huge smile as she stood up. “Especially since you’re happy with her. That’s the
only thing that matters.”

“Yeah…
even though she can drive me crazy sometimes.” Eliza muttered loud enough for
Amanda to hear.

“If she
didn’t, you couldn’t say you’re in love with her.” There was a moment of
silence, then she hugged Eliza. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Thanks.”
She hugged her best friend back. It feels
like ages since we’ve done something as simple as hug.

“It might
be rude, but I need to ask. Were you turned on just now?” Amanda asked when
they pulled apart.

It was so
suddenly Eliza had no idea how to react. The next second, however, she laughed.
“You’re not my type.”

Amanda
pretended to be hurt. “Liar. I’m sure you’d be hitting on me if you didn’t have
someone as cool as Bianca.”

“Please
don’t go thinking lesbians are attracted to all women.”

“I know
that’s not true. But in case you’ve forgotten, you liked to practice kissing
with me when we were younger, remember?”

“What? I
didn’t—” Eliza widened her eyes. Oh, yeah!
I wanted to practice with her after my first kiss disaster! “I had
forgotten about that… B-but it was only once!”

“I don’t
know if you’re pretending or really don’t remember, but we practice more than
friends should.” Amanda let out an exaggerated sigh. “I never thought those
innocent practices were because you truly wanted to kiss me. If I’d known back
then, I’d never have played with your young and innocent heart.”

“Shut
up.” Eliza pushed her playfully. “Glad you weren’t my first crush.”

They
looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

“I missed
talking to you like this.”

“Me too.”

With a
last hug, they said goodbye. Eliza was feeling much better that she had this
morning as she left school. Bianca was waiting for her at the gates.

“How was
it?” she asked when Eliza entered the car.

“Not as
bad as I imagined. In fact, Amanda seemed more upset that I hadn’t told her
personally.”

“Like I
told you. You always imagine the worse.” Bianca held her hand. “The people who
matter to us will accept our relationship.”

“All
that’s left is my mom. I know, I know. Baby steps,” Eliza added before her
girlfriend could say it. Then she leaned closer. “But when she’s not around…”

It was a
light kiss, but as Eliza felt all her pent-up desires coming to the surface, it
grew more passionate. She wanted more than just a kiss. She wanted to touch the
girl she fell in love with. She wanted to be touched by those firm and gentle
fingers that could make her lose her mind.

“Wait…
wait…” Bianca broke the kiss. “Not here…”

Eliza
groaned as she exercised all her self-control. With great effort, she leaned
back into her seat. She hadn’t noticed, but a few leftover students were
looking at them. Crap. I completely
forgot where we were, she thought. She turned as red as her girlfriend’s
hair.

Bianca
drove faster than she should. This time, Eliza didn’t think her life was in any
danger even for a second; she was too focused on stopping her hand from
grabbing the redhead’s thick thigh and sliding it between those legs. But the
moment they parked the car, Eliza couldn’t stop herself. She took off the
seatbelt and leaned over the gear, kissing the lips she had been craving
without any restraint. Even Bianca was surprised, but soon she was
reciprocating and pushing the seat back.

Without
parting their lips, Eliza caressed the redhead’s breast. When she heard Bianca
moaning, she knew it was time to go further and slid down. Unlike this morning,
however, she touched underneath Bianca’s underwear. It was already wet. Bianca was right. I have no idea why, but
the idea of her wearing my panties is hot!

“Even
after this morning, you’re already like this,” Eliza whispered as she nibbled
on her ear. “Poor thing. You’ve really been holding back, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Bianca
managed to say, despite kissing Eliza on the neck.

“Then let
me take care of you.”

Before
the redhead could say anything else, she unbuckled her belt and pulled down her
jeans. Eliza didn’t care that she was in an uncomfortable position. All she
wanted was to kiss Bianca between the legs and make her squirm and moan in
pleasure.

As she
moved her tongue, the redhead bit the back of her fingers to stop her moans.

You can do that all you want Red, but I’ll hear your
lovely moans. Like always, Eliza thought as she
looked for Bianca’s pleasure spot.

Bianca
squirmed in pleasure and her legs quivered. As she grew closer to an orgasm,
her body became weaker. As Eliza pleasured Bianca, she felt herself arousing, but
she didn’t touch herself. I wanna focus
on her, she managed to think before her head became more hazy.

Just like
this morning, the redhead reached climax. It
tastes like her, she thought, her mind blissful. As she cleaned the corner
of her mouth, she watched her girlfriend’s pleasured face.

I never get tired of seeing this expression. Bianca’s breathing was deep and heavy, her face red and sweaty, her
eyes out of focus, her mouth slightly opened.

“I love
seeing you all messed up like this,” Eliza whispered in a teasing voice.

It took a
moment, but when Bianca’s eyes came back to focus, she wrapped her arms around
her and pulled her closer for a kiss full of passion. Eliza was out of breath
and still trying to think when the redhead turned her around.

As Bianca
kissed her on the back of the neck, she slid her hands down Eliza’s belly.
Soon, she was touching the pure white and already wet lingerie that belonged to
her. Without a word, she slipped two fingers inside and moved the way she knew
would make her girlfriend lose her mind.

Eliza
squirmed and moaned as those fingers pleasured her. Bianca is insanely good! She tried to keep her mind empty to
prolong the moment but she couldn’t. Those fingers, that girl, knew how to
touch her too well. Sooner than she wished, she reached climax.

“You
were… more intense… than usual…”

“It’s
because I haven’t touched you since we got caught,” Bianca said. “Let’s
continue this in my bedroom.”

It was
the best afternoon they had in weeks. Both girls forgot their hunger; they only
wanted the taste of each other. Both Eliza and Bianca released their pent-up
desire for one another.

Bianca
touched and kissed where she wanted.

Eliza
sucked and pleasured wherever she wished.

They only
stopped when they both were too out of breath to continue. The bed was a
mixture of sweat and love.

Despite
the exhaustion, Eliza couldn’t take her eyes away from the girl she had fallen
in love with. “I love you.”

Bianca
became the same color as her hair. Then she found the strength to roll over to
Eliza and give her a tight hug. “I love you too!”

Eliza
hugged back as tight as her tired arms allowed. She had gone without that
comforting embrace for too long. I
promise no matter what, I’ll never stop hugging her like this.

If they
could, they would remain in their own world forever. But a soft knock on the
door brought them back to reality.

“Bianca?
There’s a police officer here,” one of the housekeepers said.

“A cop?”
She sat up. “Isn’t it for Dad?”

“He says
he wants to talk to Eliza.”

The girls
exchanged looks. “We’ll be there in a moment.”

A cop? A cop wants to talk to me? Here? Eliza tried to think as she looked for her clothes. Where’s my bra?

Bianca
didn’t notice that she had put on her shirt backward. “I don’t know what he
wants, but let’s play dumb. I doubt he’s here because of that,” she
said, fixing her clothes.

Eliza
nodded. Her mouth was dry. There’s no
reason a cop would come to me. Unless Dad told someone I was the one who found
those notebooks. There’s no way he’d do that. Unless he had too much to drink…
or Eduardo… ah, crap. Her stomach was churning.

She was
thinking so much she didn’t realize Bianca was holding her hand. When she came
to herself, they were in the living room where there was someone waiting for
them.

The cop
was a black man in his late twenties with short hair and dressed in a dark blue
suit. He had two fingers pressed against his temple, but when the girls
entered, he turned to them.

“Hello,
Eliza and Bianca,” he said in a polite voice. “My name is João Paulo, and I’d
like to talk with you two about My
Eyes Only.”

Chapter 04

Eliza felt her whole body go numb. She didn’t know if the man said
anything else, as there was a buzzing in her ear. No matter how much she tried
to breathe, her lungs felt as if they were out of air. He knows… This cop knows about My Eyes… He knows about me…

Bianca
stood before her and the man. “Who are you?”

“I’m from
the Unsolved Cases Department.” He pulled a badge from the inner pocket of his
suit and showed it to them.

Bianca
stared at the badge for a long while. “It seems real. But that department…”

“I-I
heard about it from Dad,” Eliza said. “Sometimes they take ongoing cases but
never solved them.”

The cop
smiled as he put the badge away. “That’s not true, but I guess that will always
be our reputation.”

“I don’t
care what department you’re from, and we don’t know anything about My Eyes Only,” Bianca said firmly.

“I have
proof you’re close to My Eyes.”

Bianca
narrowed her eyes. “We refuse to say anything without our lawyers.”

“I told you they wouldn’t talk if you showed up like
this”, a chirpy voice laughed around Eliza. “I told you, but you didn’t listen to me. You
look way too suspicious!”

She
placed a hand on her head and looked around. Where’s this voice coming from?

Bianca
was glancing around as well. I’m not the
only one hearing it.

“Show them. It’s the only way to make them listen to
you. Don’t worry. There’s no one around you three right now.” The voice seemed excited.

The cop sighed and put both hands in his pockets. In an instant, he
vanished into thin air with a strange vacuum sound.

Before
Eliza blinked and tried to understand what happened, there was a different and
strange sound behind them. When they turned around, the cop was there. He
disappeared again, reappearing where he was first in the next second.

He has a power like me, Eliza
realized, gulping.

“Could
you two at least listen to me?”

Despite
being nervous, Eliza nodded when Bianca glanced at her. She squeezed her hand
for courage.

They sat
on the couch while the cop sat in the armchair. Bianca stayed between her
girlfriend and him, not taking her eyes off him for a second. Despite the
situation, Eliza couldn’t help but smile. Even
though she’s just as worried as me, she protects me.

“She really loves you,”
the same voice from before echoed in her head. “I’m so jealous. I want a girlfriend like her. I want a girlfriend.”

Eliza
looked around again. There was no one in the living room besides the police
officer and them. There could be someone
invisible here with us. But this voice doesn’t seem like they’re talking to me.
It’s more like echoing inside my head.

“It takes people way longer to figure out,” the voice said, not hiding how happy he was. “Normally they pretend they can’t hear me, so I pretend to be a ghost
just to mess with them.”

Eliza had
no idea how to react.

The cop
was watching her and breathed out through his nose. “Is he talking to you?”

“Y-yes.”

“I
apologize for that. He’s still learning. And doesn’t know when he should keep
quiet.” He muttered the last part under his breath as he pressed his temple.

“What’s
he talking about?” Bianca asked Eliza in a low voice. “There’s someone talking
to you?”

“Yeah.
Didn’t you hear a voice in your head a few seconds ago?”

“You
heard it too?”

“I did.
And that same voice was talking to me just now.”

Bianca
grew quiet for a moment. “A telepath,” she muttered.

“Right answer!” The voice
laughed. “I knew you two would figure it
out, but I never thought it’d be so fast! You two are awesome.”

Eliza
glanced at Bianca, who nodded. She heard
that too.

The cop
coughed loudly to get the attention back to him.

“Sorry. I just can’t help myself when I’m talking with
someone around my age with power,” the voice said.
“I got carried away.”

“You
always get carried away.” The police officer closed his eyes and took a deep
breath. “Now getting back to business—”

“What do
you know about My Eyes?” Bianca
asked before he could say anything.

“We know
it’s Eliza,” he answered, looking at her. “And most importantly, how she
obtained that information.”

“We also know why she went through all that. Eliza
really loves you, Bianca,” the telepath said
happily.

Both
Eliza and Bianca blushed. Despite the embarrassment, the redhead entwined their
fingers.

“How did
you find out? There’s no way a telepath could find out about My Eyes. They’d
have to read her mind beforehand. It was someone with another power.” Bianca
muttered more to herself than to the others. “Maybe psychometry…”

The cop
nodded, mildly surprised. “That is correct. Our department has an associate
with that power. Thanks to her, we discovered the truth about My Eyes Only.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but be impressed with her girlfriend. That’s my nerd.

“I see…
But why did you come here? What do you want from My Eyes?” Bianca asked.

“I told you she’d get straight to the point. I won
that bet,” the telepath’s voice echoed in Eliza’s
mind.

She knew
she wasn’t the only one who heard that. Bianca seemed to be suppressing a proud
smile, and the cop seemed to be suppressing his anger.

It’s amazing how much that voice annoys him, Eliza thought.

“He acts like that, but I know what he’s thinking. If
I didn’t say anything, things wouldn’t turn out like this.”

His face says otherwise.

“But he’s thinking. Trust me,” the telepath projected to Eliza’s mind.

“We need My
Eyes’ help,” the cop said, once he controlled his anger. “There’s a dangerous
artifact being snuck into the state. We know where and when it’ll arrive but
without any evidence, it would be too dangerous for us to attack.”

“If you
already know all that, there’s no need for My Eyes,” Bianca said.

“The
information could be false. We need someone to check to ensure it’s not a trap.”

“Don’t
you have a telepath? He should be able to get the proof. I don’t see why you
need Eliza.”

“We’ve
dealt with them before. They have people and artifacts that can block his power
within a certain range. Even though we’re following certain members, we haven’t
been able to catch any of them red-handed yet.”

“You want her power for what exactly?” Bianca asked before Eliza
could.

“We need
her to check if the artifact we’re looking for is there. With her help, we can
make sure we’re not walking into a trap.”

“That’s
all you need?” Eliza asked. If it’s only
that, I could do it, but my powers…

“We know your powers are a bit fuzzy right now. I read
your mind the moment you got within my range and informed JP,” the telepath answered before she asked.

That’s rude. Invading people’s private thoughts, Eliza complained. The moment she thought of it, she couldn’t help
but remember how she spied on her classmates.

“Like you were doing before you met Bianca? You’re
worse than me since I can’t control my power as much as you.”

Eliza
grew quiet. Damn it. He’s got me there.

“Yes.
That’s all we need,” the cop said. He was unaware of the conversation with the
telepath. “Please, could you lend us your power?”

“Wait a
minute! There’s a lot we don’t know yet,” Bianca said. “Will Eliza be safe? Can
you make sure those people won’t find her identity out? Can you assure her
safety if something goes wrong?”

“We’ll
make sure of that,” he assured. “All we need is for her to confirm if the
artifact is there. That’s all.”

“T-the
telepath told me, but you know about my situation, right?”

“Your
power isn’t at its full capacity yet, yes. But if you can see within a two
kilometer radius, it’ll be enough.”

Two kilometers. I have to check to be sure, but it
might be within my current limit.

Since
uncovering the mayor’s corruption and being admitted to the hospital, Eliza
hadn’t been using her powers. Only to
look at Bianca here and there. I still need glasses right now.

“Can I
think about it?” she said after a while.

Bianca
looked at her. Though she seemed as if she had a lot to say, she kept quiet.

“Of
course. The exchange will happen this Friday night. Please let me know by
Thursday night so we can make all the necessary arrangements for your safety.
Here’s my number.” He handed her a card before standing up. “Thank you for your
cooperation.”

“It was nice meeting you,” the telepath said, laughing. “Guess
we haven’t actually met. But we will
if you decide to help us.”

The cop
buttoned his suit and then vanished with that strange sucking noise.

Bianca
turned to her. Even without saying a word, Eliza knew what her girlfriend
wanted. She took off her glasses and stared at the wall. It blurred and then
became transparent.

“There… I
can see him…”

In a
discreet grey car almost at the corner of the street, she saw the black police
officer who was in the room moments ago, now in the driver’s seat. Next to him
was a brown-haired boy talking excitedly.

The boy
turned in Eliza’s direction, smiled, and waved. “Yo.”

“So,
you’re the telepath.”

He nodded
and gave her the thumbs up.

The
police officer turned his head too. He looked in the direction of the house,
though he missed her by a lot. When he nodded with a serious expression, the
telepath couldn’t stop laughing. Eliza couldn’t help but chuckle. Are you making him face the wrong direction
on purpose?

“Yeah. He gets mad so easily it’s hard to stop bugging
him.”

Eliza
watched as the cop understood and drove away after suppressing his anger.

“They’re
gone.”

“Are you
thinking of doing this?” Bianca asked worriedly

“I don’t
know. I know it could be dangerous…”

“But
what?” she urged when Eliza grew quiet.

“It’s a
way to use my powers for a good cause again.”

Bianca
pressed her lips as her worry grew.

There’s a lot she wants to say…

“It’s not
like I’ve made my decision,” Eliza said. “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay…”

“Even if
I decide to help them, I promise I won’t overdo it and collapse again. I can’t
imagine what Mom would do if she caught us in the hospital again,” she joked
and smiled.

Bianca
shared the smile, though it was small.

Eliza
gave her a light kiss. “Let’s eat something. I’m starving.”

“Yeah,
sure…”

Chapter 05

“Hi, Eliza!” said a smiling boy with a lot of enthusiasm. “Can’t
believe I’m finally meeting you in person!”

Eliza was taken aback by all the enthusiasm,
she couldn’t help but smile too. “I-it’s nice to meet you too, telepath.”

“I’m
Teodoro, but you can call me Teo!” he almost shouted. He grabbed her hand and
shook it.

“Your
voice sounds different when it’s not in my head.”

He seems overly hyped, but he doesn’t seem like a bad
guy, Eliza
thought as she shook his hand back. Wait, he can hear me, right? She waited,
but he showed no sign that he was listening to her thoughts.

“It’s not
the first time someone told me that. I have no idea why. Sounds the same to
me.”

“Maybe
it’s like when you hear your recorded voice.”

“Hope
not. My voice’s already high-pitched enough as is it. To think that’s the
better version…” He noticed her expression and smiled again. “Sorry if I’m too
hyped. This is the first time I’ve met someone with powers around my age.”

He
also talks a lot outside of people’s heads, Eliza
thought. Then she blinked a couple of times. The same age? I could’ve sworn you were way younger!

Once again, he didn’t show any reaction that
he heard to her thoughts. Is he pretending he’s not reading my mind? Ah, crap. This is gonna
bother me all night.

“Don’t
worry,” said João Paulo as he walked towards them. “Because he broke the
protocol when we met, he received a punishment.”

“You mean
you grounded me,” Teo muttered. “And that protocol was stupid. They wouldn’t
have talked to you if not for me.”

“Ah…”
Eliza looked at the cop. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

“You had
the face of someone who doesn’t know if the telepath is prying into their head
or not,” he explained.

“Like I
could do that with this.” Teo raised his right hand to Eliza, touching a ring
on his index finger with his thumb. His enthusiasm vanished as he looked at it.
“I thought I’d never use this again.”

“What’s
that?”

“This
thing suppresses my powers. With it, my telepathy’s range is limited to less
than an arm’s length.”

He and
Eliza stood side by side. Even though they were the same age, he was a head
shorter. Can you… hear me?

Though
she was expecting it, hearing a voice that wasn’t hers in her head felt
strange. “Barely, but yeah. It’s
like there’s static all the time. It’s
this ring’s fault. Just because I helped a little too much, JP grounded.”

“Get in
the car and I’ll explain on the way. We don’t know what time the exchange will
happen,” João Paulo said, getting in the driver’s seat. Eliza and Teo got in
the back seat.

“Hey, can you still hear me?”

Loud but not so clear. What did you mean when you said
he grounded you? Aren’t you a cop like him?

Teo
smiled and snorted. “Yeah, not really. I
was a normal kid until around last Christmas when I woke up with the power to
read the minds.”

You just woke with your powers one day like me?

“Yeah. It was awful back then. Now that I can control
it, I like this power. But at first… Whenever someone got close, I could hear
what they were thinking at that moment. Before I learned how to turn it on and
off, I was hearing people’s minds around a hundred meters away.”

I know the feeling.

“It was too much for my head,” Teo projected his thoughts as he looked down. “I loved my power and probably can’t live without it at this point, but
I hated it back then.”

Eliza had
the feeling she knew but still asked. What
happened?

“I was in constant pain. It was bearable. Well, most
of the time…”

Like having a headache.

“Yeah. But then one day, the pain grew too much… I
don’t remember what happened. My parents said I was screaming and fainting as
they rushed me to the hospital. The doctors had no idea what was happening. The
only thing they could do was sedate me.”

I was the same, Eliza
thought when he grew quiet. I couldn’t
control my powers at the beginning, either. At one point I couldn’t even sleep
because I was seeing through my eyelids.

“We both went through a lot.” Teo’s eyes looked
distant. Then, almost as if remembering where he was, he blinked and forced a
smile. “Thank goodness JP found me.”

He found you? Eliza
glanced at the back of the police officer’s head. Is he running around looking for people with powers?

Teo
grinned. “That would be cool. In
my case, his associates told him about me.” He raised his right hand,
showing her the ring again. “He gave
me this and said it could suppress my powers. My parents were…let’s say a lot
more than shocked when they find out about my telepathy,” he projected his
thoughts, followed by a weak laugh. “They
still haven’t gotten used to it.”

“Your parents know about your powers?”
Eliza was so surprised she spoke aloud.

She
couldn’t even imagine telling her parents. Would
finding out about my powers be more or less shocking than catching me in bed
with Bianca?

Teo laughed
louder this time. “That, I can’t
say. But there’s no way I’d be here now if my parents didn’t know. After I was
discharged, I heard them talking. They had no idea how to deal with this…
situation. And I can’t blame them. This power had only brought me trouble back
then.”

Teo grew
quiet again. Then he smiled. “This
power is part of me now. Since I’ll live with it for the rest of my life, I
want to do some good with it. My parents didn’t like the idea of me getting
mixed up with police business. They said life wasn’t a movie. But in the end,
they agreed, and I joined JP’s department. Well, technically, I’m not an
official member yet. I’m still only an independent consultant, so I can only
come when he thinks my power can be useful.”

He’s already thinking about using his powers like
that. I can’t help but be a little jealous, Eliza
thought, flashing a sad smile. If JP had
found me too, maybe I wouldn’t have gone through all that.

“Then you wouldn’t have met Bianca! That’d be a
shame,” Teo’s voice echoed in her head.

Eliza
smiled and chuckled. Yeah, you’re right.
If something had been slightly different, we might have never gotten together.

“Where is she, by the way? I could’ve sworn she’d tag
along with you today.”

Can’t you read my mind?

“Not unless you’re thinking about it. It’s not like I
can see every thought you ever had, only the ones on the surface. The mind
isn’t like a book you can read.”

I see. Well, you’re right. Bianca wanted to come, but
she had agreed to help her mother before this whole thing happened.

“You already know, but she really loves you.
Yesterday, she was only thinking about protecting you in case JP tried to
blackmail you.”

Eliza
blushed as she thought of her girlfriend. That
idiot. She can make me blush even when she’s not around.

“I bet she says the same thing,” Teo projected his thoughts, smiling. “But she’s so funny. I shouldn’t be saying this, but she has a lot of
intrusive thoughts.”

What’s that?

“How can I explain? It’s those random weird thoughts
that come into your head out of nowhere. Like when you suddenly think what
would happen if you threw your phone on the floor.”

It has a name? I thought I was the only one who had
those. Like how would it feel to punch a random person on the street.

“Yes! It’s more frequent than you’d think.”

Eliza
shook her head, chuckling. Hard to
believe everyone has those.

“Yep. And Bianca’s intrusive thoughts only proves how
much she loves you.”

What do you mean?

“She was thinking of how to protect you from JP, but
it was more like… Sometimes the idea of fighting him popped into her head out
of the blue. She quelled those thoughts, but it was still there in the back of
her mind.”

Red… I knew she was impulsive, but to think she
actually considered fighting a cop. Eliza couldn’t
help but smile.

“Yeah, but that’s not all. The idea of being your
knight in shining armor protecting you, from JP crossed her head too.”

What? Eliza’s cheeks grew
redder as her mind pictured it.

“She imagined the same thing as you back then! Amazing
how much you two are in sync,” Teo thought. He
nodded and smiled at the same time. “She
had to suppress the urge to kick JP out and go back to her bedroom to continue
what you two were doing all afternoon.”

What? You read that too? Eliza’s
entire face became hot. How could you do that!?

Even the
telepath blushed and averted his eyes. “I
couldn’t help it… It was Bianca who was thinking it.”

Damn it, Red. You knew there was a telepath nearby and
thought about what we did… Despite her
embarrassment, Eliza had trouble containing her smile as she thought of her
girlfriend. Then she thought about what they were doing that Monday and how
good they made each other fell.

Ah! Crap! Get away for a moment until I can sort my
head!

She
pushed Teo away and got as close as she could to the opposite door. She took
deep breaths to clear her head but failed. All she could picture was Bianca and
her naked body. No! I can’t think of
that! It’s for my eyes only now! I don’t want him seeing her naked!

It took a
while until Eliza controlled her thoughts. Only then did she stop pushing Teo
away. When he was in the middle seat, she could hear him again.

“I’m sorry for bringing that up, but it wasn’t my
fault! Or Bianca’s! That’s what an intrusive thought is… mostly… A-and don’t
worry! I’d never tell anyone! Bianca’s naked body is only for you,” Teo added hurriedly. Then he blushed as he opened and closed his
mouth without any idea what to say.

Eliza
wanted to be mad, but it was hard. She knew what it was like to have no control
over her powers. Just don’t bring it up
again. And if I think about it, get out of my head.

“We’re
here,” JP said after a long time.

He turned
into a poorly lit and deserted street close to the port. There was nothing but
warehouses on both sides, and he entered one that looked just like any other.
“I think it’s within your power’s current limit.”

I’ve been to the capital before, but never to this
part, Eliza thought. She took a deep breath to calm
herself.

Though
her task was simple, she knew the mission wasn’t. All she had to do was observe
one of the docks and look through the containers. She had no idea exactly what
the Unresolved Cases Department was after; she only had to look. Teo would
connect her mind and JP’s.

After
they parked, another vehicle entered the warehouse and stopped next to them. It
was an armored trucks that transported money or valuables. I feel like I’m in that game my brother plays where you’re the criminal
and rob cars and stuff, Eliza
thought.

A few
minutes later, another police car parked on the other side of the armored
truck.

Eliza’s
hands trembled slightly. She closed and opened them to make them stop as she
took another deep breath. Now that I
think about it, this operation seems important. But there are so few people
here, she thought as she shifted in her seat to face the direction of the
dock.

“You’re right. The department has a lack of human
resources. I mean, just finding people who know or can deal with supernatural
stuff is hard. It’s way harder to convince them to face such phenomena,” Teo informed her. “The
money is good, but still…”

How do you know all this? A
second later, she knew. Did you read JP’s
minds?

“He tends to forget to put the ring on when I’m
around… H-hey, I can’t help it! It’s not my fault!”

Eliza
snorted. You say that a lot.

“I-it’s just like you with your powers in the
beginning,” Teo thought, looking as nervous as his
voice.

I’m just kidding, she
thought. I know the feeling. Teo
seemed less flustered. Eliza smiled and messed up his hair. It’s like having a younger brother, she
thought. She forgot that he could hear her mind for a moment.

JP
cleared his throat. “If you please, Eliza.”

“I almost forgot too,” Teo
said, taking off his ring and facing the same direction as Eliza to hide his
smile. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “This way, I can connect your vision to JP and focus only on your mind,”
he added before she asked.

Eliza
breathed in and out slowly to clear her mind. She took off her glasses and
closed her eyes. When she opened them, she focused.

At first,
nothing happened. Then the edges of her vision blurred and moved forward. The
car door and glass were gone, just like the walls of the warehouse. Her sight
went on, moving past the other warehouses, containers, and people. Anything and
everything she didn’t focus on became transparent.

“Amazing… I’d seen a memory of it when you thought
about My Eyes, but I didn’t imagine it was like this,” Teo’s voice echoed all around.

Her
vision trembled and backed up a little. D-don’t
talk. It’s hard to focus.

“Ah, s-sorry! I’ll keep quiet.”

With the
silence in her head, her vision went forward again.

“That’s the dock,” JP’s
voice echoed in Eliza’s mind.

Too many people in my head…

“I know the feeling,” Teo
thought.

“I’m sorry about that, but please observe this area
for a while,” JP asked.

F-for how long?

The place
was not outside her currently reduced limit. Unlike when she helped Bianca’s
dad, there was no need to force her eyes or herself to cross that limit. But if
she had to keep this up for a long time, she might strain herself again.

“I don’t think it’ll take too long. Our source
informed us it should around this hour.”

O-okay… Eliza tried to
relax and maintain focus. According to JP, the sixth dock had been closed for a
while, but there were still some old ships anchored. The leftover containers
were already rusting. However, they weren’t deserted. From what she could see,
there were a few people around doing drugs.

It doesn’t feel like a place to make a secret
exchange, she
thought. Too many
people.

“That’s why it’s perfect. They have people with powers
too, just like us. They probably worry more about us than some drug addicts
seeing them,” JP
projected his thoughts.

Eliza
registered those words. Makes sense…

“Besides, they might not be all junkies. Focus on that
one in the right corner near that blue container.”

Despite
the needle in his hand, there were no holes in his arms. Instead of intoxicated
or worrying about his drugs, he was looking around as if watching the place.

That’s no junkie. He’s just part of the disguise.

Eliza
realized he wasn’t the only one. They
have a lot of people. I know you can teleport and all, but still…

“Don’t worry. Our objective is to seize the device
they’re bringing, though I’d love to arrest them too.”

If you say so…

She
continued to observe anything that seemed suspicious. But after checking all
the containers, crates, and ships, there was nothing that deserved her
attention.

After an
hour had passed, Eliza’s eyes were stinging. Though it wasn’t anywhere close to
when she was brought to the hospital, she used the eye drops JP had given her a
couple of times just to be sure.

Finally,
after another hour, there was movement between two ships. Eliza focused, and
the metal carcass and the interior of the ship vanished in few seconds. There
were three men and a woman standing around a huge crate on a speedboat. Despite
the motor, it was moving without it or oars.

That’s
got to be it, she thought, focusing. Is that it? The device?

The thing
inside the crate looked like a huge chessboard but instead of squares, there
were a bunch of weird symbols with a dark green crystal on top held by wooden
supports coming from each corner.

“Yes,” JP thought.

Eliza bit
her lips and pulled back her vision while keeping the speedboat in the center.
She had no idea how it worked, but she knew it was dangerous. Before agreeing
to help, she had asked what the device did.

“It’s
something to force undeveloped powers to awake,” JP said over the phone.

“What do
you mean?” Bianca asked. She was standing next to Eliza.

“There
are people who have their power since birth, but there are a lot of us whose
ability appears suddenly. There are ways to awaken undeveloped powers, but all
on a small scale. The device can awake a lot of people at once. The prototype
was developed overseas and they want to test it here. We couldn’t get any more
information, but it’s supposed to send a signal that will trigger those dormant
powers.”

Eliza had
trouble understanding. It sounds like a
plot of a movie Red would pick, she thought at the time with a sheepish
smile.

“Why
would anyone want to do that? What do they gain?” Bianca asked. To Eliza’s
surprise, she didn’t seem excited about the idea.

“From
what we can tell, they want more people with powers.” JP grew quiet on the other
side of the line. Eliza knew he was deciding if he should tell them more. “The
world has changed, but few people know it. Every group is trying to increase
their numbers, but it’s still not enough.”

Eliza
said nothing as her stomach boiled with the idea. That device could make
innocent people suffer the same thing she did at the beginning of the year. She
didn’t have a sense of justice that forced her to do something, but she didn’t
like the idea of anyone having their lives upside down because of some device
out of nowhere.

I almost died trying to deal with my eyes. I met
Bianca, but it’s not like everyone would have the same luck.

***

“Do you
see the woman?” JP said, bringing her mind back to the docks. “She’s the most
dangerous. Please keep an eye on her. I need to deal with her right after
stealing the device, or she’ll go after us.”

Teo
pressed his lips, suppressing a smile. “You’re about to see something amazing,” he said directly to the
girl’s mind. At the same time, he clutched her shoulder a little firmer, as if
afraid to let her go. “Please,
don’t blink. I don’t wanna miss even a second.”

What are you talking about?

“You’ll see.”

Before
she insisted, there was movement inside the car. Keeping the motorboat in her
sight, Eliza pulled half her vision back, turning off her power in one eye. Crap… I forgot how much it hurts to look at
two things at the same time.

Despite
the strain, she watched as JP pulled a strange pair of black gloves from his
pockets. They had a few complicated patterns on the palm and what looked like a
small switch button in the middle. After he adjusted it, the pattern formed a
symbol, and he opened and closed his fingers.

“Please
show me every detail,” he asked, touching Teo’s shoulder.

Eliza
nodded nervously, focusing on the device and the speedboat. Her sight trembled,
and her eyes stung a little.

“Pull back a little. I need to see everything,” JP’s voice echoed in her mind.

She moved
her vision back until she saw the real and the fake junkies on the abandoned
docks. Some of the fake ones stood up and walked towards the newcomers. Eliza
focused a bit more so she could see their faces, and more importantly, their
mouths.

Show
us the device, one of them mouthed.

Move your lips more so I can read better, she thought.

With a
sour face, one of the men on the boat pulled out a crowbar and opened the
crate.

“Focus on
the man near that yellow container for a moment,” JP said. Despite the pain,
she obeyed, still keeping the device within her sight. “So that’s where he was.
Bastard. I thought he had left the state. Teo, show this to everyone. Okay.
Guys, I’m moving in. Get ready.”

The
moment he spoke, the armored truck turned sprang to life. At the same time,
Eliza heard that same vacuum sound she heard in Bianca’s living room the day
she had met the cop. The next second, JP was kneeling next to the device.

The
people on the speedboat were surprised for a fraction of a second. Before they
could do anything, JP had already teleported again, this time with the device.
Eliza heard the vacuum sound, and then heard the armored truck’s gears creaking
under an enormous weight. She didn’t have time to look when she heard the
vacuum sound again. As JP teleported back to the speedboat, this time next to
the woman, the truck drove away.

The
moment he appeared, she shot at him. Everyone else raised their gun at him, but
he teleported out of the way, unharmed. JP materialized a few meters away,
floating in the air for a few seconds. Before gravity acted, he raised his
thumb and pointed his index finger towards the boat.

Eliza had
trouble both understanding and believing what was happening. She lost focus and
her vision wavered. Teo clutched her shoulder a little harder. “Don’t lose focus! I don’t wanna miss it!”

What the hell is he doing? Why is he pretending his
finger is a gun?

“Keep watching.” Teo’s
excited voice echoed in her mind.

Eliza
focused on JP, making sure she didn’t miss anything.

In the
blink of an eye, before the people on the speedboat and the fake junkies found
him, a little white sphere appeared at the tip of his finger. When he brought
his thumb down, the sphere flew with amazing speed.

“The boat!” Teo shouted in
her mind.

Eliza
pulled her vision back so she could watch as the sphere flew towards the
motorboat. The three men and the woman jumped out of the way before it crashed
against it. When it did, the sphere grew. The impact was enough to destroy the
boat.

“Holy
shit!” Eliza shouted, losing her concentration. Her vision blurred and
retreated.

“Don’t
stop!” Teo shouted, afraid to miss even a second of
the fight. He was almost shaking her. Eliza winced, strained her eyes, and
focused despite everything. When she was seeing the abandoned docks again, the
cop was out of sight.

Where is he?

“There!”

JP
teleported to get away from the line of fire. As he moved from one place to
another again and again, he touched his palms and changed the switches on his
gloves. The instant he could, he pointed his finger pretending, it was a gun
again. A new sphere appeared, this one blue. When it crashed near the man
shooting at him, the sphere turned into water, the pressure so strong it pushed
the fake junkies away. Those who were lucky fainted. The unlucky ones crashed
against the rusty containers before being knocked out.

Suddenly,
one of the containers flew towards JP with amazing speed.

“That’s the guy he talked about before. He’s the one
who threw it!” Teo said, this time shaking Eliza.

JP
teleported out of the way. But the moment he materialized again, another
container came flying towards him. He pointed his finger and shot the blue
sphere, which crashed against it and saved him.

“Holy
crap! He had that power too?” Eliza couldn’t think anymore and asked aloud.

“It’s not a power. It’s magic.”

She
couldn’t help but laugh. There’s magic
now?

“There’s always been magic,” Teo thought. His laugh echoing in her mind. “I was the same when I found out. Sounds like
it came from a movie.”

Hell yeah! It’s like I fell asleep watching one of
those movies Bianca likes and now I’m dreaming about it.

“I know. It’s awesome! JP’s gloves have a bunch of
magic circles on it. When he changes the switch, it changes the circle, and he
can use another elemental magic!”

Eliza
only grinned at the absurdity of the situation. Even so, she didn’t lose her
focus, watching the supernatural fight.

JP
continued to teleport and shoot the spheres in midair. Whenever his height
dropped too much, or the people shot at him, he moved to a higher place meters
away. When the containers were about to hit him, he fired one of the spheres
with his other hand.

He
teleported once again, and there was already another container coming into his
direction. He shot at it without even glancing. When it broke in two, there was
someone inside.

“It was a trap!” Teo
shouted in Eliza’s mind, clutching her shoulder harder. She didn’t have time to
complain that it hurt. All she could do was watch as a woman jumped out of the
container, grabbed JP’s wrist, and punched him.

Why won’t he teleport away? Eliza thought as she watched them exchange blows while falling in
the air.

“He can, but he’ll take her. He needs to get rid of
her.”

JP
blocked the woman’s punches as best as he could. But with only his right arm
free, he couldn’t defend them all. When they were about to crash to the ground,
he teleported once again. They materialized a few meters higher. She was still trying
to hit him, and he barely managed to defend himself.

“It’s not so easy changing positions,” Teo answered, reading Eliza’s mind. “His teleportation takes him and whoever is touching him to a new
location. I think he can change their position and change a few vectors, but
the teleportation would take much longer because he’d need to make the
calculations.”

They
disappeared into thin air once again but didn’t appear anywhere. Eliza pulled
her vision back, trying to locate the cop and the woman. Where are they?

“There!”

With
Teo’s help, she found them. JP had teleported underwater. The woman’s punches
had lost speed and strength. Now he had enough time to point his finger at her.

She let
go of him and kicked the hand away from her. The sphere left his finger,
creating a huge ball in the middle of the water and the pressure pushed them away.

They’re in trouble, Eliza
thought.

“She is!”

JP
teleported out of the water the next second.

“Where is
he?” Eliza asked frantically when she couldn’t find him.

“I’m…
here,” a voice said, coughing.

When she
pulled back her powers, JP was in the driver’s seat of the police car. His
clothes were soaked.

“Let’s get
out of here.”

Chapter 06

“He got rid of the woman with his magic finger and teleported to the
car in the blink of an eye! Then he drove off like nothing had happened while
the other police car got their attention!” Eliza leaned back and rested her
head on the bed. “I thought I was watching a movie. It was so awesome.”

“Sounds
like it was,” Bianca mumbled, uninterested.

“You
should’ve been there!”

“It
wouldn’t have made a difference if I was there or not.”

Eliza
noticed her pouting and smiled. “Even though you don’t have any powers, you’re
awesome. You’re more awesome than most people I know.”

“Thanks,
but I don’t want your pity.”

“But I
mean it!” Eliza added hastily. Her girlfriend chuckled.

“I know,
I know. But c’mon, we’re not here for this.” Bianca pushed the book over the
coffee table. “We’re here to study.”

“That’s a
subtle way to change the subject.” She groaned as she looked at the pages.

“The ENEM
is right around the corner. You need to study.”

“If it’s
around the corner, studying is pointless, don’t you think?” Eliza knew that was
a lame excuse, but she didn’t feel like studying at all. She was still too
hyped about what had happened the previous night. “At this point, I’m like one
of the musicians in the Titanic.”

Even
though she had told Bianca every detail she could remember the moment she got
home yesterday, and again this afternoon, Eliza still wanted to talk about the
amazing and unbelievable event she had witnessed. There was no way she could
focus.

“You
getting into college isn’t a sinking ship, so study.” Bianca flicked her.

“Ouch!”
Eliza brought both hands to her forehead and pretended to be hurt. Her poor
acting earned a smile from her girlfriend. “I thought you loved me. How can you
hurt me like this?”

“I did it
because I love you.”

“Then
punish me in a different way.” She gave Bianca the most seductive gaze and
smile she could. When it didn’t work, Eliza gave up and sighed. “Fine.”

With
great effort, she pulled out her notebook with the math exercises in it. No
matter how much she tried, she couldn’t concentrate; her mind kept wandering to
the docks and the fight.

That
was incredible, but I need to focus, she thought as
she forced herself to at least read the problem. Eliza hadn’t even finished
reading it when she groaned and placed the pencil between her lips and nose.

“So
boring and useless. When am I gonna use this in my life?”

“During
the exam,” Bianca said right away. “The exam is part of life.”

She
couldn’t help but laugh. “How long have you been holding on to that one?”

The
redhead said nothing. She smiled and turned the page of the textbook she was
studying. With difficulty, Eliza looked at the problem again. She managed to
read all the way through it, but she had no motivation to solve it. I already forgot what I have to do. But if I solve this, maybe Red will reward
me.

With that
in mind, she managed to finish it. That cost her all the energy she had. She
couldn’t even glance at the second problem. ENEM
is in less than five weeks. One hundred and ninety questions and an essay in
two days. Just thinking about it makes me tired, she thought as she lay on
the coffee table.

When
Eliza felt her girlfriend staring, she made sure she didn’t look. Instead,
under the table, she touched Bianca’s leg with her foot. When there was no
complaint, she ran a toe up on that smooth and firm thigh. When she felt a
quiver, she knew Bianca was torn between enjoying and scolding. And until she
said anything, Eliza wouldn’t stop.

“Liz!”
Bianca complained when she touched between her legs. “We’re here to study!”

“Sorry! I
got carried away.” Eliza flashed a sheepish smile as she pulled her foot back. Red’s wet!

Bianca
flushed and squirmed. “We can do that later.”

“Too
long.” Eliza knew she was wrong, but if she pushed a little more, she could get
what she wanted.

“Then
hurry up and finish.”

“I don’t
have any motivation.”

“What do
you want?”

“A kiss
for every problem I finish,” Eliza said at once.

“Like
you’d be satisfied with just kiss.” Bianca looked at her through the corner of
her eyes as she fidgeted. “I’ll give you one kiss for every right answer.”

She clicked
her tongue. “You picked up on that, huh?”

“You were
planning to answer everything at random just to finish and get your reward,
weren’t you?”

“We’ve
been dating for a while now and I’m also a cop’s daughter. I know what to say
in this situation: I want my lawyer,” Eliza said, suppressing a laugh. Before
Bianca could say anything, she pushed the notebook across the table with a
grin. “Here’s the first question!”

Bianca
stared at her before turning to the exercise. “You got it right.”

“Where’s
my reward?” Eliza opened her arms and puckered up her lips. Bianca leaned
across the table and kissed her on the cheek. “Eh? That’s all?”

“The
rewards will increase with each right answer,” she mumbled as her face turned
pink

Eliza
couldn’t help but smile. I love that she
can’t handle being teased, she thought. She took the notebook back and
turned to the second question.

“Done!”
Eliza exclaimed a couple of minutes later. “Where’s my kiss?”

Bianca
took the notebook with suspicion. After a quick glance, she handed it back.
“Wrong.”

“Shouldn’t
I get a consolation prize?”

“Not when
you got everything wrong.”

“But
isn’t it more important to participate?”

“Not in
this situation.”

“I meant
‘do or do not. There is no try.’”

“You
aren’t doing it.”

“You
didn’t fall for that?” Eliza clicked her tongue again. “I thought if I quoted
one of your favorite movies you’d cave.”

“How
nerdy do you think I am?”

“A lot.”

Bianca
sighed. “You just wanna make out.”

“And you
don’t?” Eliza looked at her with puppy eyes.

Bianca
blushed and pressed her lips. “Of course I want to…”

“Then…”
Eliza leaned over the table.

“But I
promised your mom we’d study.” Bianca stopped her face with a hand, pushing her
away.

“Why did
you promise that?”

“I don’t
want her thinking I’m a bad influence,” she mumbled, averting her eyes.

Eliza
flashed a sly smile as she kissed Bianca’s fingers. “Don’t worry about that.
I’m a bad influence on myself. I’m my own worst enemy.”

Bianca
resisted at first, but then pulled Eliza over the table and kissed her on the
lips. “There’s your consolation prize,” she said. Her face was as red as her
hair. “If you get twenty questions right, we can continue this.”

My girlfriend is such a tease, Eliza thought, grinning as she faced her notebook. Mustering every
inch of concentration and motivation she could, she suppressed her smile and
did her best to finish the exercises.

An hour
later, she put her pencil down. She had finished everything but was exhausted.

“Finally.
I feel like my brain is melting.” She groaned as she rested her head on the
cool wooden coffee table.

“Imagine
the real deal, which is at least three hours long. At least you were within
three minutes per question. That’s a good start.”

“Don’t
remind me. That must be the hardest part. The long problems are just to waste
time I don’t have and the amount of questions per subject is just as
ridiculous.”

“If you
study, you’ll only have to go through that once,” Bianca said as she checked
the answers.

“If
you’re lucky,” Eliza corrected. “Choose what we’ll do for the rest of our lives
at this age. Not only do we need to choose right, but we also need grades good
enough to get into college. Honestly, it’s kinda depressing if you think about
it.”

Bianca
grew quiet as she put the notebook down. “You’re right.”

She’s so good at a lot of things I forget, Eliza thought, observing her
girlfriend. Even
though she has good grades, she has no idea what she wants to do for the rest
of her life too.

Without
any underlying intentions, she reached out and enveloped Bianca’s hand, caressing
her with her thumb. Bianca said nothing as she caressed back.

“Did your
parent ask you again?”

“Yeah. I
knew she would when things settled,” Bianca said in a low voice. “Yesterday,
Mom asked me directly and I had no idea what to say.”

“You like
to tease, but you’re weak when confronted directly,” Eliza joked. She couldn’t
resist the urge. Bianca scowled and tried to pull her hand back. “No! Sorry! I
was just kidding!”

Eliza
didn’t let go, holding her hand with both her hands. Bianca resisted at first
but then dropped her shoulders.

“More
than confronted, I don’t like not having an answer when they ask me what I
wanna be.”

“They
don’t try to influence you?” Eliza asked. “My dad loved the idea of my brother
working at the PD with him. He used to take him to work whenever he could.”

“You
didn’t feel jealous?”

“A lot. I
threw tantrums until he caved and took me too.”

“As
expected of my jealous girlfriend.”

“I’m not
jealous. I’m the most non-jealous girl in the world,” Eliza defended herself
though her smile told otherwise.

“Do you
remember when we started dating? Do you remember why?”

It took
her less than a second to remember. They were at a St. John’s party and she got
annoyed when a girl flirted with Bianca. She took her back to the beach house,
and they started dating that very night.

“Why are we talking about the past? We were
discussing our future a second ago,” Eliza said, aware of her girlfriend’s smug
smile.

“You’re
right. Let’s put aside the fact you only kissed me out of jealousy.” Eliza looked
away, trying to hide the smile she couldn’t get rid of. “My parents don’t push
their dreams on me, but they do pressure me to choose something. I know it’s
what everyone expects, but how am I supposed to know at this age?”

“You
could work as a model for now. With the money you make, you can pick anything
you want.”

“Modeling
isn’t so easy. And having too many options is hard.”

Eliza
stared at her in disbelief. “Are you trying to make me pity the girl who’s so
good at all of the things she’s having trouble choosing just one? If so, I have
the right to flick you on the forehead.”

“I don’t
want pity.” Bianca held Eliza’s hand just to be sure she wouldn’t flick her.
“My future is ahead of me. But it’s just an open field with nothing in it.
Every direction is the same.”

“Having
too many options is just as hard as having none, huh?” Eliza leaned back and
rested her head on the bed.

Bianca
stood up, walked around the coffee table, and threw herself on the bed. “I
think so. But at least you have something.”

“Me? What
are you talking about?”

“You’re
kidding, right? You have a supernatural power. You’re literally special.”

“Oh,
yeah.” Eliza closed both eyes and raised her hand. Even with her eyelids
closed, after focusing a little, she could see it as if she were looking at it
with her eyes open. When she woke up today, her vision wasn’t blurred, and she
no longer needed glasses. “It hasn’t been a year since I got this power, but I
already treat it like I’ve always had it.”

“You have
a few doors opening to you, thanks to My Eyes. And I think I know which you’ll
pick.”

“What?”

“Unsolved
Cases Department.”

“I liked
following the mayor too.”

“Yeah,
but you didn’t talk about it as much as you did about the fight yesterday. And
since you just said you liked going to the PD with your dad, I think you might
have what it takes to be a cop.”

Eliza
stared at the ceiling. She forced her sight a little, and she could see the
clear sky as if she were outside.

“I like
Dad’s work, but I never thought about being a cop,” she said. “But it’s true.
Yesterday was incredible. I like when my powers are useful to others. I’d hate
it if people woke up and lost control over their lives suddenly like me.”

“See?
Being a cop or a reporter. You have two cool doors because you’re special.”

“Special,
huh?” It was a word Eliza had never used when thinking about herself. “Both
sound good. Or I could be a spy.”

Bianca
laughed. “That too. Either way, you’ll need to study.”

“You had
to bring that up and ruin the mood.” Eliza groaned. “Besides, you’re special
too.”

“Thanks,
but I said I don’t want pity.”

Eliza
climbed onto the bed and looked Bianca in the eyes. “I’m not doing that! I know
you’re awesome and special! No, you’re more than that. You’re kind and hot and
soft. Oh, God! I want you so much!”

She
didn’t start with that intention, but when the urge to be one with Bianca came,
Eliza couldn’t control herself. As they kissed, she placed both hands under the
redhead’s shirt and slid up.

“Wait… we
didn’t… come here… for this,” Bianca mumbled.

“Then why
aren’t you wearing a bra?” Eliza teased, laughing as her girlfriend flushed.
“Speaking of which. Teo told me you had a bunch of thoughts when JP came here.
A bunch of naughty thoughts.” She whispered the last part as she caressed
Bianca’s breast. She felt her nipples hard. Already,
Red? Sorry for being a bad girlfriend and not taking care of your needs.

She held
one breast and sucked it, her tongue licking the sensitive area. The other hand
slid down between Bianca’s legs, sliding in the space between her panties and
that silky-smooth skin. Bianca moaned, and she pressed her lips to stop her
voice.

That only
stirred Eliza even more. I wanna hear you
moaning like crazy! Because of me! As she placed two fingers inside her
girlfriend, she couldn’t help getting wet herself.

Even in
that situation, Bianca noticed. Despite already panting as Eliza’s fingers
moved inside her, she found the strength to pull her hand out and changed
positions, climbing on top.

Without
any word, Eliza knew what Bianca wanted: to make them both feel good at the
same time. Bianca freed Eliza of her short shorts and underwear and kissed her
girlfriend between the legs. Eliza squirmed and stopped breathing for a moment.
Red always goes for my weak spots… I lost
all strength with just one kiss…

She
didn’t want that. She too wanted them both to feel good because of each other
at the same time. Despite her hazed mind, she looked at that alluring womanhood
inches away from her face. Eliza found the strength to place her hands on
Bianca’s hips, get rid of those annoying clothes, and bring her closer to her.

The
moment her tongue went inside her girlfriend, the redhead’s whole body squirmed
and jolted with pleasure. Even her mouth stopped for a moment.

That sent
Eliza over the edge of reasoning. Her mind was gone. Even if there was any part
of her that wanted to, she couldn’t stop anymore. There was only her, Bianca,
and their pleasure.

Both
girls kissed each other between the legs, but neither rushed. They wanted the
moment to last. However, neither could resist the other’s tongue. They had
pleasured each other so many times they knew what the other liked.

They
reached climax at the same time. The next moment, Bianca fell on top of Eliza
exhausted. It took a while until both recovered enough to move and lay with
their heads side by side.

“So,
magic exists, huh?” Bianca asked suddenly.

Eliza
couldn’t help but laugh. “You suck at pillow talk. Luckily, you’re hot.”

“Thanks,”
she laughed too. “But you can’t blame me. It’s like finding out there’s a whole
new world.”

“I get
what you mean. Back then, I never thought if there were anyone else in the
world with powers like mine. I closed myself off after everything. But then I
met you and fell in love. Now there’s this whole new world opening up before
me.”

Bianca
held her hand and entwined their fingers. “I always thought supernatural stuff
only happened in books and movies. But deep down, I always wished this world
was more than what we see. Then I met you and found out about your powers… That
changed my world. No, you changed it. Thanks for coming into my life, Eliza.”

She felt
her face warming up. Damn it. After all
this time, I’m still weak against Red’s sincerity.

“No
matter where the future takes us, we’ll be together,” Eliza mumbled, squeezing
those delicate and yet firm fingers.

Bianca
blushed and flashed an embarrassed smile that made her girlfriend’s heart thump
faster. “Yes. No matter what, we’ll be together.”

She leaned
a bit closer, and Eliza kissed the woman she loved.

Chapter 07

“I can’t believe ENEM is today,” Eliza said. She was trying to find
the strength to fight the mysterious force that glued her to the bed. “I’m not
ready.”

“I told
you September would go by just like that.” Bianca snapped her fingers on the
other side of the line. “But no, you said there was time and wanted to fool
around.”

“You
should’ve said no to me. Aren’t you the responsible one in this relationship?”

“I’m not!
And I told you we should study, but you kept insisting and I…”

“Well,
you should’ve resisted harder! Where’s your self-control, woman?”

Eliza
knew she had no one to blame but herself. Even so, she couldn’t resist teasing
Bianca. Red’s been too sensitive about
this topic. She thinks if I fail,
Mom’s gonna blame her. Please, I can fail on my own, thank you.

“Like I
could resist you when you kiss me like that,” Bianca whispered.

Eliza
knew her girlfriend was blushing and wanted to see it. Without getting out of
bed, she turned around and faced the wall. In seconds, her vision went through
everything between their houses.

Bianca
was on the bed with her legs opened towards the wall. She wore a pink
transparent baby doll and had put a small post-it written ‘for Eliza’ right
above her girlfriend’s second favorite place.

“What the
hell are you doing?” Eliza exclaimed before she could stop herself. Her face
had turned red.

“I knew
you’d look!” Bianca laughed.

Damn it. I forgot who I’m dating, she thought. She smiled and rolled on the bed while hugging her
pillow. My girlfriend is such a tease… I
love her. “That was a nice
treat. An excellent way to start the day. Thank you.”

“Who said
that was all?” Bianca whispered in a sweet voice.

Eliza
froze. Whenever Red speaks like this,
she’s about to do something that will make me embarrassed. And yet she was
curious, so she used her powers again.

Bianca
took the post-it and raised her index finger while holding the cell phone with
the other hand.

“I’ll
name this finger, Liza. Any
resemblance to real-life people is entirely a coincidence,” she said. “Hey, Liza.
Since the biggest exam of our high school life is coming, do you wanna study?”

“Yeah,
sure,” Bianca said with a high-pitched voice.

“Was that
supposed to be me?” Eliza asked, smiling as she watched the show.

She
ignored her, moving her finger up and down a bit, as if happy. Then she brought
it to her belly.

“Liza, what are you doing? Didn’t we
come here to study?”

“Yeah,
I’m studying how to make a redhead moan.”

The real
Eliza was on the verge of laughing.

“Wait, we
can’t. The ENEM is coming.” Bianca’s forced bad acting was too cute.

“Since
I’m a horny girl who has no restraint and blames my girlfriend. This is more
important,” Liza said. Then the finger slid down into Bianca’s underwear.

“So
rough… ah…” She pretended to moan. “You’re always like that.”

“In my
defense, I’m not that horny.” Eliza couldn’t help but enjoy the show.

“Nooooo…
That place is sensitive! Liza, you horny beast!” Bianca went on with her bad
acting.

The real
Eliza blushed. Why is watching this
turning me on?

“Are you
turned on right now?” Bianca asked her real girlfriend, who said nothing.
“You’re such a pervert for watching me.”

“You’re
the one who made me like this. You should take responsibility.”

“How?”

“You
should… I’ll…”

“Go on.
You’ll what? Touch yourself while watching me? It wouldn’t be the first time,
right?” Eliza’s face became even warmer. “I’ll take your silence as yes. Now
tell me what you’ll do to yourself.”

“I’ll—why
are you trying to make me seem like a pervert!?” Eliza snapped. “And today of
all days?”

“Because
you were nervous, and I wanted to help you?”

“Liar!”

Bianca
laughed and rolled on the bed. Despite her embarrassment, Eliza couldn’t help
but smile. I won’t admit it, but she did
make me less nervous.

“Are you
done laughing?” she asked in a forced, grumpy voice.

“Yeah.
And you pretend to be annoyed, but I know you love me teasing you.”

Eliza
tried to keep her true feelings out of her voice. “For the good of our
relationship, I’m not answering that.”

“You just
did.” Bianca beamed. “So, do you feel better?”

“A
little,” she mumbled. “But that doesn’t make me any more ready for the exam.”

“Don’t
worry about it.”

“How can
you say that? Especially after forcing me to study so much. My head hurts when
I try to remember.”

“Because
there’s nothing you can do now. It’s a waste of time and energy regretting at
this point.”

“It’s
amazing you can say that with a straight face.”

“Even
though I’m a lesbian?”

Eliza couldn’t
help but chuckle. “That must be one of the most used gay jokes.”

“And you
laughed.”

“Let’s
put that aside. Let’s meet before the exam.”

“Didn’t
your mom say she’ll drive you?”

“Yeah,
but I was hoping we could meet and… you know… cheer each other up…”

“Why are
you going out of your way to make your mom hate me even more?”

“It
wouldn’t make any difference at this point,” Eliza said with a sheepish smile.

Even
though she was trying her best, Carla still had trouble accepting their
relationship completely. She never forbade Bianca from coming to their home, or
from doing anything to make her uncomfortable. But she never let the door close
when they were in Eliza’s bedroom.

To be fair, at least she stopped checking in every ten
minutes like we were out of control lesbians.

“Don’t
say that. I still wanna take you out on proper dates and drive you home without
your mom staring at me like I’m taking you down the path of sin.”

“You
worry too much. And half of that stare is for me, anyway. She’s not exactly
happy with my choices.”

“Like in
girlfriends?”

Eliza let
out a tired chuckle. “That too. I mean, I doubt she’ll climb aboard the lesbian
ship, but that judgmental gaze is partly because she wasn’t exactly happy when
I told them my career choices.”

“It’s
because you brought that up out of nowhere. You’ve never mentioned it to your
parents, did you?”

“No,
but—”

“And even
though our town is relatively safe, not everyone would like the idea of having
three people in the family working on the police force. I remember when I was a
kid and feared Dad wouldn’t come home one night.”

“I was
afraid of that too.”

Both
girls grew quiet for a moment.

“Where
are you taking the ENEM again?” Bianca asked.

I know she remembers but just wants to change the
subject, Eliza
thought, smiling.
“It’s in that
privet college downtown.”

“That’s
not fair. We live close to each other but you get to go to a nice place and I’m
stuck at a public school.”

“Why are
you complaining? It’s gonna be the same thing. A stuffed room with crappy
desks.”

“I doubt
it. I bet you’ll have an AC. If there’s a working fan in my place, I’ll
consider myself lucky. It’s gonna be extra hard.”

“Yeah,
I’m not gonna pity the poor rich girl.”

“Eh? Not
even now? Pity and comfort me!”

“Only
when you actually deserve pitying.”

There was
a moment of silence, and then both girls laughed.

“Mom’s
calling. We can’t see each other before the ENEM but I wanna see you tonight,”
Bianca said in an honest voice.

“Me too.”

There was
another moment of silence.

“I gotta
get ready.”

“Yeah, me
too.”

After
waiting without saying anything, they both ended the call. Still smiling, Eliza
snuck a peek into her girlfriend’s room again. Bianca was in the middle of
getting dressed when she suddenly faced the wall and sent a kiss.

I bet she does stuff like that from time to time
wondering if I’m looking at her, she thought, her
heart thumping a bit faster. I keep
falling in love with her even more. With a deep breath and her spirit
renewed, Eliza got out of bed.

“Morning,
sweetie,” Flavio greeted her when she entered the kitchen.

“Morning
Dad, Mom.”

“Are you
feeling nervous?”

“A
little,” she admitted. “But that won’t do any good, so I need to ignore it.”

“That’s
the spirit, honey,” Carla said, putting the food on the table. “But even if you
fail, there’s always next year. And you could use the time to think a bit more
about your future, especially with everything that happened this year.”

“Geez,
nice pep talk, Mom. Just what I needed before the biggest exam of my life.”

“You know
what I mean, Liz. You have to admit you brought it out of nowhere. I mean,
journalist or cop? You’ve never mentioned those.”

“It’s not
out of nowhere. I know I brought it up suddenly, but I’ve been thinking about
it for a while.”

“She’s
right, honey. Besides, she used to love coming to the PD with me when she was
little,” Flavio said. He smiled and leaned in to kiss his daughter on the head.

“Thanks,
Dad. And it’s not like I have to decide now. Today’s only the first day of the
exam. The results only come out in January. Then I’ll have to decide. If I’m
lucky.”

“Don’t
worry, sweetie. You’ll do fine today. You’ve been studying with Bianca, haven’t
you?”

At the
mention of her daughter’s girlfriend, Carla pressed her lips and stared at her
husband.

He gave
his wife a puzzled look, and then looked back at his daughter, trying to
suppress a smile. Whenever anyone mentioned Bianca, Carla tensed up and stared
at her husband if he was around.

Baby steps are too slow, but better than nothing. Mom
will accept my relationship in time, Eliza thought,
focusing on her food. Though she tried to eat, it was hard. Her stomach refused
to take in a lot. I never thought I’d be
this nervous. But Dad’s right. It’s
not like everything is gonna be decided today and tomorrow.

A bit
less nervous, Eliza managed to eat part of her food. Then, sooner than she
wished, her parents were calling her to take her to the exam place.

She used
her powers to check on Bianca, but the redhead had already left. I wanted to see her one last time, she
thought before trying to focus on anything she had studied with her in the past
weeks.

***

After more
than ten hours across two days, the national high school exam was over.

“I’m dead,”
Eliza said as she lay on Bianca’s lap Sunday night. “I feel like my brain was
run over by a truck at least five times.”

“That’s a
lot.”

“The
truck wanted to make sure it had squashed every last bit.”

“At least
it’s over.” Bianca stroked Eliza’s hair lazily.

“Are you
tired by any chance? You, the amazing Bianca dos Santos who only gets good
grades?”

“I study
to get good grades. It doesn’t mean I like taking tests,” she said in a tired
voice. “And I told you the public school where I took the exam was against me.
The fan was working, but it was so loud that people complained and one of the
supervisors had to turn it off.”

“Okay,
now I might pity the rich girl. Just a little bit.”

“I’ll
take that. But I still wanna complain.”

“I knew
it.” Eliza chuckled.

“Just
imagine me in plain jeans and a simple white tank top. When they turned off the
fan, the classroom became unbearably hot. Drops of sweat ran down my neck,
soaking my clothes and making my light blue strapless bra visible. I tied my
hair in a ponytail to make it a little more bearable, but the sweat still ran
down my neckline, going all the way down my back and into my panties… Can you
imagine that?”

“Shit,
Red! I can’t not imagine, even if I wanted to!” Eliza exclaimed. “If your plan
was to turn me on, you succeeded. Are you happy?”

Bianca
flashed her teasing smile that her girlfriend loved. “Yeah, very,” she said
before leaning down to kiss her.

At once,
Eliza realized Bianca was only giving her a light kiss, so she pulled her
closer, and it became more intense. “Your parents aren’t home, right?”

Bianca
didn’t even answer. All she did was nod before taking her clothes off while
Eliza kissed her.

“Wow…”
Eliza managed to say after they finished. The exhaustion was trifold now, but
she didn’t care. All she could feel was the pleasure coursing through her body.
“That was…”

“The
best…” Bianca finished, also panting and sweating. “I was this hot when they
turned off the fan.”

“Please,
don’t turn me on even more. I don’t think my body can take it right now.” Eliza
embraced Bianca and rested her head on her ample bosom.

“Then why
are you seducing me?”

“I’m just
resting in the best place in the world.” Eliza snuggled until she found the
best position. “That park doesn’t have boobs like yours.”

“You’re
so spoiled sometimes.” Bianca hugged her back.

“That
coming from a rich girl has zero effect,” Eliza teased.

“Stop
with the rich girl thing! It’s annoying.”

Eliza
only laughed as that calming heartbeat filled her with joy. If she could, she
would stay like that forever.

But her
phone rang and brought her back to reality.

“Ah,
shit. It must be Mom.” Despite the difficulty of getting away from those
breasts, Eliza searched her pants for her phone.

“Who is
it?”

“It’s
JP.” Eliza exchanged looks with Bianca. “Hello?”

Suddenly
the redhead was wide awake.

“I see…”

“What is
it?” Bianca asked in a
whisper.

“He needs
my help again.”

Bianca grew
quiet for a second. “Can I come too?”

Chapter 08

“Your job is simple, Eliza,” JP said as he drove to the airport.
“See inside suitcases until you find what we’re looking for.”

“What’s
she supposed to find?” Bianca asked quickly.

“Reams of
paper.” That was all he said. Then he noticed the girls’ puzzled expressions.
“They have magic imbued on them. Anything readable made from paper can make the
reader angry and easy to manipulate.”

For real? I honestly don’t know if this is a good or
an idiotic idea, Eliza thought.

“Why
would someone bring that here?”

“We
believe they want to use it during the World Cup next year. No one imagined
July’s protest would reach such a level. Our department thinks someone’s trying
to prepare the ground for next year.”

Bianca
grew quiet as she pondered the information.

Calm down, Red, Eliza
thought, smiling. JP already let you come
so you don’t have to be so eager to help.

“She’s excited to be part of this,” Teo’s voice echoed in her head.

Hey, could you give me some privacy, please?

“S-sorry! I can’t help it!”

I shouldn’t have sat in the middle. Even with the
ring, he’s so close and he can still hear me. But it’s better than him hearing
Bianca all the time. There’s a high chance Red will think something
embarrassing. She sighed and turned to Teo. She’s happy to be part of this.

“Y-yes. Well, it’s not being a part of this operation.
She’s happy because she can be part of your world even more.”

My world? What are you talking about?

“Even though she’s just here to accompany you, she’s
part of the world where people with supernatural powers use them to arrest bad
guys.”

I didn’t think she was that excited.

“For like ninety percent of the world, what we do is
something cool and straight out of a movie. For someone like her, it’s like a
dream coming true.”

A dream… I never thought of it like that. My powers
just became a part of me.

“Yeah, I get you. But Bianca can’t stop thinking about
superheroes and magical girls. Your girlfriend is a real nerd.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but chuckle. Trust me, I
know. My nerdy redhead.

“Since you’re looking for something to treat Bianca
to, how about cosplaying? She’ll love that.”

Eliza
narrowed her eyes. What did you just say?

Teo
flustered and widened his eyes. “I’m
sorry! It wasn’t my fault! I overheard her. I didn’t mean to! I wasn’t even gonna mention it until you thought
about that stuff!”

She took
a deep breath and let it out through her nose. It’s okay. But don’t go prying and talking to Bianca like this. It’s
too invasive. I can sort of understand, since I know how hard it is to have a
power you can’t control.

“R-right! I don’t go around listening to people’s
inner thoughts and butting in. But with you, it’s different.”

I don’t know if I should feel lucky or mad about that.
As he became more panicky, Eliza snorted. I’m just messing with you. Sort of.

“I have nothing to say.”

Cosplaying is dressing up as characters, right?

“Y-yeah.”

When did you hear that?

“When we entered the car.”

Since JP
didn’t want anyone riding in the front with him, the girls sat with Teo in the
back seat. The redhead was about to enter without giving it much thought, but
Eliza didn’t let her. The last thing she wanted was to let Teo and Bianca sit
next to each other.

I knew
it… I wanted
to stop you from getting more weird stuff from Bianca’s head.

“I’m sorry! It was just for a moment, but Bianca
imagined you being a superhero dressed in a uniform. Then she thought of you in
a catholic school girl outfit… then you were wearing a Japanese school
swimsuit. She realized what she was thinking but made no effort to stop.”

Eliza
turned to her girlfriend. Bianca was still thinking about what JP said. What the hell, Red! What are you thinking?
Why didn’t you say anything?

“She’s trying to figure out when to suggest this. Her
plan is to slowly turn you into a nerd, but it’s not going like she thought it
would.”

All those movies were part of her plan? Wait a sec!
You said you read her mind for only a moment! How could you get all that?

“Ah, crap! I shouldn’t have said that!” Teo became an alarming shade of
red. “I-it was
before, when we first met, not now! I’m sorry!”

Dude, I know you can’t help it, but stop reading my
girlfriend’s mind! It’s too dangerous for both of us! You’re wearing two rings
from now on!

“Sorry!”

Eliza
sighed and glanced at Bianca again. Despite her embarrassment, she couldn’t
help but smile.

“What?”
Bianca asked when she noticed. She looked between her girlfriend and Teo and
understood. “What did he tell you?”

“Nothing…
my big nerd.” Eliza muttered the last part, making sure it was loud enough for
only the redhead to hear.

“I’m
curious, but I’ll leave it for later,” Bianca whispered with a teasing smile.
Then she was serious again. “How did your department get this information?”

“Our
informant network,” JP said curtly. The tone suggested Bianca shouldn’t pry any
further.

“Don’t
you think it’s strange bringing something through the airport at this time? I
mean, if they tried to smuggle during the holidays, they’d have more chance of
getting under your radar. And from the way you said it, it doesn’t seem like
they’re smuggling much. Only enough to make it pass through security without
raising suspicion.”

“We do
find it suspicious.” Despite focusing on the traffic, JP smiled. “Even so, we
still need to stop them.”

“Why do
you think they’re doing this?”

JP went
quiet for a moment. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking?”

“Well… To
smuggle something at this time and in small quantities could be two things.
Whoever is planning this wants to smuggle the item little by little or is
trying to check out the security to bring something else.”

JP
chuckled, Bianca flushed, and Eliza was angry.

How could he make fun of her like that?

“It wasn’t that. He’s impressed with her,” Teo projected to her mind.

“He is?” Bianca’s voice
echoed in her head too.

H-huh? Red? Teo, did you link our minds!? Eliza asked, glaring at him. I thought you had to touch people to
do that!

“I-I thought she’d want to hear this too!” He raised both hands defensively. “He’s impressed because it took him longer to reach
the same conclusion. He’s wearing a suppressing ring too, but I get the feeling
he’s wondering if you wouldn’t be a good addition to the team. And I only need to touch to
link senses.”

Bianca
smiled and blushed slightly.

“Exactly
what I was thinking,” JP said. “That’s why we’re bringing in our associate with
psychometry. We need to know everything about this.”

Through
the rearview mirror, Eliza saw him smiling. That’s right. My Red is awesome.
Even so, she’s not used to people
praising her like this. I’m so lucky to have a hot and smart girlfriend.

“You think that about me?”

Yeah, of course—Wait, why are you still here? Teo!

“Oops. I forgot to disconnect your minds,” he thought, straining his neck to look outside the window and not at
her.

“Don’t get mad at him,” Bianca
thought, leaning closer. I always
wondered what was inside your head.

This is bad! You can read me pretty well for someone
without power!

“That’s because I love you. But I wanna know more.”

B-better not because—Eliza’s
face grew hotter by the second. Teo!
Disconnect us now!

“No. I wanna hear more!”

Eliza punched
him on the leg, getting an ‘ouch!’ from him. After a moment, she stopped
hearing her girlfriend’s voice in her head. Bianca wore a sly smile as she
leaned back on the seat.

That was too dangerous. If she heard more, she’d tease
me for months. But that doesn’t sound so bad. Ah, damn it. My masochist
tendencies. Glad she didn’t find out about that.

Eliza’s
face was still red by the time they reached the airport. After parking, JP led
them to the food court, approaching a black woman in her mid-fifties. She wore
sunglasses, had a cane, and her short, grey hair was tied in a bun behind her
head.

“It’s
rude to leave a lady waiting,” she said in a dignified manner.

“Sorry,
Angie. Traffic was worse than I thought.” JP sat in a chair in front of her, gesturing
for the others to sit.

“You
could’ve used the extra time to find a better excuse,” she said. As Teo pulled
the chair to sit, she moved her cane and hit him on the shin.

“Ouch!”
he exclaimed, rubbing the place she hit.

“Sorry,
boy. Forgive this old blind lady. I didn’t see you.”

“You know
I can read your mind!” Teo complained in a hushed voice. “I know you did it on
purpose, you old hag!”

“Oh yeah,
that’s right. You do have that annoying power you haven’t learned to fully
control yet.” She opened her purse and, without searching, took out a ring
similar to the one JP and Teo were wearing. After she put it on, she turned to
the boy again. “You can’t read my mind now, can you? Then, I’m sorry.”

She hit
him on the other shin.

“Ouch!
Apologies don’t work if you do it before you hit me!”

Because
it was police business, both Eliza and Bianca had been tense. Now, they
couldn’t help but laugh. Even JP was enjoying the show.

She doesn’t like you. What did you do? Eliza asked in her mind, hoping Teo was listening.

“This old
hag hates someone else getting in her head!” he complained. He still rubbed his
shins as he sat as far away from the cane as he could.

“She’s
the associate with psychometry,” Bianca said.

“Good,
sweetheart. My name is Angelica,” she said. She turned to Bianca with an
approving smile. “I had a feeling you were sharp, but that might’ve been what
Eliza thought of you. It seems it wasn’t tainted by her feelings.”

Bianca
grew quiet for a moment. “You can even tell that with your powers?”

“Yes and
no. I don’t read superficial thoughts like a certain rude boy. I can sense
strong residual energy left over in objects. People do that unconsciously. I
sensed the feelings she had while trying to help you and your family. She was
thinking of you the entire time. Even a blind woman like me could tell how much
she loves you.”

Eliza
blushed and turned her head away when Bianca looked at her.

Did she really have to say that out loud?

“Sorry,
dear. I didn’t mean to make you embarrassed. She asked, and I answered,”
Angelica said.

She’s lying. That old hag loves to make people
uncomfortable. Then she uses her blindness as an excuse for being an asshole, Teo’s voice chimed in Eliza’s mind.

Angelica
tried to hit him with the cane under the table. He raised his leg, avoiding it
with a triumphant smile. But it vanished when she hit his foot with the end of
the cane.

“You
miserable old hag!”

“Watch
your language, boy. I’m a blind and frail old lady. Treat me as such.” Her
voice didn’t match her words.

“You
never mentioned this part,” Bianca whispered to Eliza.

“First
time I’m seeing this,” she answered, chuckling.

Is she really blind? She managed to hit Teo as if she
knew where he was.

“Yes, she
is. She’s just as blind as she’s a miserable old hag!” Teo almost shouted.

“Will you
keep it down, boy?” Angelica snapped. “In case you forgot, we’re here to work.”

“She’s
right. Could we keep the focus on the mission?” JP added, suppressing another
smile.

Teo
pushed his chair away until he was outside the cane’s reach. “Just keep that
old hag away from me.”

The girls
sniggered and Angelica smiled.

“From a
reserved room near the luggage carousel, Eliza will look through the contents
of the bags until she finds the item. We’ll watch who gets it, and Teo will
read their mind. If there are any more people are involved, the others and I
will act. Angelica will get any information from the item. Any questions?”

Eliza
raised her hand with uncertainty. “Eh… I know you said it’s a ream of paper.
Does it look like what it sounds?”

“Yes. We
have a photo.” JP pulled out his smartphone. It was as the name implied, a ream
of paper, but instead of white, it was yellowish and wrapped with bows like a
present.

That’d be a lousy present, she thought. Cosplaying seems better.

“Is there
any information about the baggage? Size, color, or anything?”

“No. If
we knew, we could narrow it down, but since we can’t, your power is gonna be
helpful.”

He’s treating me like a walking, breathing x-ray
machine, Eliza thought as they headed to the
reserved room near the baggage carousel.

“Yeah, and you better get used to it if you join us,” Teo projected his thoughts to her mind.

Like you’re used as a lie detector?

“That’s only one of my uses. Besides, believe it or
not, it’s way better than how JP was used.”

What do you mean?

Teo
laughed. Everyone looked at him, but he said nothing. “JP’s martial arts master always uses him as
a personal taxi. He hates it, but his master doesn’t care and forces him to do
it.”

Someone bosses JP around? Even though he’s that strong?

“His master is way stronger.”

The image
of the fight at the docks crossed her mind.
That’s unbelievable.

“You’ll probably meet him if you join us. He doesn’t
live in the country, but he comes around now and then.”

Did you join officially?

“Not yet. I still need to pass the physical part of
their exam. If not, I’ll only be an associate like the old hag.”

If it wasn’t this, how you’d use your powers? Have you
thought about it?

Teo flashed a guilty grin. “I considered getting rich
playing poker. B-but once, or twice! After I decided to join the Unsolved Cases
Department, I stopped thinking about using my powers like that.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but smile. Who would think
of cheating at poker with their powers?

They
passed through a door in the lobby. The place looked like a plain waiting
lounge with dark blue walls, a sofa, a cooler, and a round table with a few
chairs around.

“The
carousel should be in this direction,” JP said, indicating the wall on his
left. He pulled out the black ring, which blocked Teo’s power, from his pocket
and handed it to Eliza. “I don’t know if they have a telepath, but better be
prepared in case anyone else is listening
nearby.”

Eliza,
Teo, and JP sat on the chairs while Bianca and Angelica sat on the sofa
talking. Though curious, Eliza had her mission to focus on. With a deep breath,
she focused.

With her
sight, she saw the conveyor belt grow closer. Then the suitcases became
transparent, and she saw their contents. This
might be boring, Eliza thought after less than ten minutes of watching. An
hour later, she was sure of it. I thought
it’d be better than last time, but most
people carried nothing interesting. And I feel like a pervert looking inside their bags like this. At
least I don’t know who the owners are. If I was doing this for myself, wouldn’t
it be a crime? I know I used to spy on my classmates, but that was different.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Teo said directly to her mind. “There’s no way the normal law can get you because of this. And the Unsolved
Cases Department wouldn’t come after you unless you used your powers to hurt
others.”

They go after people like us?

Teo
glanced at the cop, who was looking at his smartphone. “Don’t spread this around, but when JP was a
kid, he used to use his powers to steal.”

No way. Eliza almost
looked at the cop. That same JP next to
us?

“Yeah. He was caught by the guy who later became his
master.”

That seems like a cool story.

“Yeah, it is. He’d never tell me, but I got it from
the old hag when she lowered her guard. If you wanna know more, ask his master
if you ever meet him. He sure loves to tell that story.”

I just might—Holy shit! Look at that suitcase! Eliza almost lost her concentration as she held back a laugh.

“What? What?”

Inside
one of the suitcases was a huge phallic object used for pleasure. Who the hell travels with a dildo that huge?
It’s almost the size of a forearm!

Teo
touched her shoulder to share her vision. He too did his best not to laugh. “W-whoever owns that is free to use whatever
she wants to pleasure herself. I admire her courage to travel with that.
Imagine if security checked?”

When a
bald man with huge muscles picked up the suitcase, neither of them could hold
their laugh anymore.

“What is
it?” JP asked, putting away his smartphone.

“Nothing!”
they said at the same time.

Bianca
looked at her, curious. Eliza finally managed to stop laughing and mouthed the
word ‘later’ before turning
back to the baggage carousel.

After
another hour of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of suitcases, she finally saw what
they were looking for. Just like in the photo, it was a ream of paper tied up
with red bows.

“Found
it!” she said. At once, JP touched Teo on the shoulder. “It’s a grey suitcase
with wheels.”

“Teo,” JP
said.

He took
off the ring suppressing his powers and closed his eyes. His face strained as
if he was making a great effort. Sweat poured from his head, and his breathing
became heavy.

“I can’t
find… Too many voices,” he groaned. He took deep breaths but it didn’t make
much of a difference.

“Don’t
strain yourself trying to find the person. Just focus on the suitcase and
whoever gets it,” JP said. “Eliza, don’t take your eyes off it, please.”

She
pulled her sight back a little so she could see the entire area while keeping
the suitcase at the center of her vision. Who’s
getting it?

After the
carousel had gone around twice, a man dressed in a blue suit and talking on a
cellphone walked to the suitcase.

Teo, that guy, Eliza
thought. Still on the phone, the man took the suitcase and walked away. Damn it. I can’t read his lips from this
position.

“He’s not
thinking… anything related… to the item,” Teo said in a strained voice. “He’s
just…thinking about…a meeting he has…and complaining…about the flight delay.”

“He might
not be involved,” JP said. “The ones behind this might have tricked him into
taking the suitcase. Or he’s aware of us and is masking his thoughts. Or—”

“It’s
pointless thinking about it now, boy,” Angelica interrupted. “You can either
follow him and see where he takes the suitcase or bring him to me. The children
can keep an eye out for anyone else watching that suitcase.”

JP became
silent for a moment. “You’re right.”

“I know.”

“I’ll ask
security to bring him here.”

Everyone
in the room grew quiet as he talked on the phone. Still watching the man, Eliza
looked around, trying to find anyone suspicious. No one seemed interested in
him but with so many people in the airport, it was hard to be certain.

Maybe Bianca is right. If it’s just to test security,
the people behind this might not be here. But they’d need to see what happens. Maybe with Teo’s help…

The
telepath rested his forehead on the table, pressed both eyes, and took deep
breaths. He was painting even more than just now.

He’s in pain because he’s trying to hear thousands of
people at the same time. He’s forcing his powers like me when I was trying to help Bianca. But
in my case, the pain was spread out. He’s suffering this all at once. I need to
help him…

When the
man was in the airport lobby. Two security guards walked towards him. Now that he and the bag are taken care of.
Isn’t there anyone paying attention to him?

No matter
how much she tried, she only saw people reuniting, saying goodbyes, coming
into, and leaving the airport. Some watched as the guards escorted the confused
man, but that was it. No one seemed more than mildly interesting.

Then
Eliza found someone who caught her attention.

There was
a woman sitting on one of the benches. She wore a brown power suit and seemed
like any other executive. Though she pretended to read the paper, she watched
as the guard escorted the man. When he was out of her sight, she closed her
eyes and pressed her temple.

When
Eliza took a peek inside her suitcase, she saw men’s underwear, shoes, and
clothes much too large for her. There was nothing in that suitcase that
belonged to a woman.

That alone is suspicious. But that pose… It’s like
she’s talking to someone through her mind. Teo, can you check her? When there was no response, she shook him a little.

“What?” Even in his mind’s
voice seemed strained.

That woman… She focused so
he could see through her eyes. She looks
suspicious. Her suitcase only guy’s stuff in it.

Teo held
his breath and concentrated. His face became more strained. “I can’t hear her…
Either she has a ring… or she’s a telepath.”

“JP!”
Eliza shouted.

“What?”

“We found
someone suspicious!”

Teo
touched him to link their minds and senses. After a second, JP nodded.

“Good
work, son. Now rest. You too, Eliza.”

With the
vein on his forehead throbbing more than ever, Teo searched for the ring on the
table and quickly put it on. Though he still panted, his features relaxed a
little, and his breathing slowed, but he still seemed pale.

“Here.”
Bianca brought him a glass of water.

“Thanks,”
he mumbled in a dry voice and drank. He coughed, and she patted him on the
back.

The
moment she was sure Teo was better, Eliza used her powers again. However, the
woman was nowhere to be seen. She had left the suitcase behind. Crap! Eliza looked frantically, but
there was no sign of the woman. I only
took my eyes off her for a few seconds. Damn it!

She felt
a hand squeezing hers. Without looking, she squeezed Bianca’s hand back gently.
Calmer now, Eliza pulled her vision back and found the woman. Found her!

“She’s
leaving the airport!” she shouted when she remembered Teo wasn’t transmitting
her thoughts anymore. “She’s getting in a taxi right now!”

“Sorry
about this, but I need you to show me!” JP said as he touched her shoulder.

Before
Eliza could understand what that meant, there was a strange vacuum sound and
everything became black.

She
didn’t have time to think about where she was. In the next second, everything
became too bright.

The
endless blue sky. It wasn’t the first time Eliza had seen the sky up close.
With her powers, she could see through the clouds as if they were never there.
She had seen what few people had.

And yet,
this was a completely different experience.

It’s like I can touch the sky if I just reach my hand
out, she thought for a moment.

There was
a strange sensation of not feeling her weight as if gravity didn’t exist. She
had never felt so light. The next second, Eliza’s entire body was pulled back
to earth as if someone had turned on gravity.

“Holy
shit!” she screamed. She barely heard her own voice trailing behind her as she
fell towards the ground. JP was next to her, still touching her shoulder. And
he wasn’t the only one.

Bianca
was with them too. Though she wasn’t screaming, she was squeezing her
girlfriend’s hand as if her life depended on it.

It’s like skydiving without a parachute… even though
I’ve never done it, Eliza thought. She barely heard her nervous laugh. A second later, she understood what had happened. Even the ground,
which seemed far away at first, got closer and closer.

Teo had
used his powers too much. Without his telepathy to share Eliza’s vision and
show which taxi the woman was in, JP had to bring her. Bianca tagged along
because they were holding hands.

“Which
taxi!?” JP’s tense voice reached her despite the sound of wind filling her
ears.

Praying
her food remained in her stomach, Eliza focused. Even in that situation, she
could see clearly. As her vision got closer to the ground, she looked through
the roof of all the white cars leaving the airport.

“There!
That’s the taxi! The one about to make the U-turn!” she shouted and pointed,
forgetting that JP didn’t have her powers. She even told the license plate.

“Got it.”

Even with
the wind howling in her ears, Eliza heard the same vacuum-like sound.
Everything became pitch black again, and the momentum from the freefall ceased.
Though she fell on something soft, her stomach hadn’t realized it.

“I’m
gonna puke…” An instant later, there was something on top of her. “Ouch!”

“Sorry,”
Bianca said in a winded voice as she tried to stand up. Her legs were shaking.

“I like
it when you’re on top, but not right now. I don’t think my body can handle it,”
Eliza said absent-mindedly. When her head was working again, she remembered
where she was and blushed. Is my brain
still falling?

To her
luck, Teo was the only one in the room, lying listlessly on the table. He was
too exhausted to pay any attention to them.

It took
Eliza some time to recover from the experience of falling from the sky without
any protection or gear. Bianca helped her sit on the couch, but she only opened
her eyes when she planted her feet firmly on the ground and made sure it wasn’t
going anywhere.

When they
looked at each other, they both had a sudden urge to laugh.

“That was
awesome!” Bianca exclaimed, standing up and walking around the room. She was
too hyped to stay still. “We were flying! Liz, we were flying!”

“We
weren’t flying. That was falling. Without style,” Eliza muttered under her
breath as she stomped lightly on the carpet. “I never imagined I’d enjoy having
a firm ground beneath me.”

“It was
awesome! And that view! It was like the whole world was beneath us! And above!
All at the same time!”

Eliza
flashed a sheepish smile. “Yeah, I gotta admit it was cool. I’ve never seen the
world from above.”

“How did
teleporting feel to you?” Bianca went on. She paced even faster as she moved
her hands in excitement. “It was like my body took a moment to realize it
wasn’t the same place. I couldn’t see or hear anything for an instant. Then
everything went bright, and I saw the sky from up close!”

“And then
that heartless gravity called us back to earth,” Eliza said, chuckling weakly.

Bianca
laughed and sat next to her. “It was like bungee jumping!”

“Yeah, if
you ever think of inviting me for that, I’ll respectfully decline.” Eliza
rested her head on Bianca’s shoulder. “You’re still shaking.”

“Shaking
with excitement! When you told me how JP used his powers I tried imagining it,
but I had no idea it was like that!” Bianca exclaimed. “Can you imagine what’s
it like to do that again and again while fighting?”

“I’d
rather not. Or I might see my lunch again.”

“You love
to exaggerate.”

“And you
enjoyed teleporting a little too much.”

Both
girls remained quiet and then laughed at the same time again.

“Instead
of flirting, could you check how’s JP doing with that woman?”

For a
moment, she had forgotten about Teo.

“Oh,
y-yeah.”

Teleporting
had also pushed the woman out of Eliza’s mind. Despite having trouble focusing,
she managed to use her powers. It took a while, but she found the taxi and JP.

The cop
was a few hundred meters above her. During the freefall, he put on his gloves
and changed the switch in the middle of the palm. The moment the taxi stopped
at a red light, he vanished into thin air.

The woman
had her eyes closed and two fingers on her temple. The next second, JP was next
to her. Before she could do anything, he pointed his index finger at her and
lowered his thumb. A blue circle with strange symbols appeared above her head
and she fainted.

The
driver screamed, but JP pointed his other hand at him and lowered the thumb. A
similar but smaller red circle appeared. When it vanished, he looked forwards
and didn’t even look back when JP vanished with the woman.

“He got
her,” Eliza informed Bianca and Teo.

“Now it’s
up to the old hag to get any information out of her,” Teo said in an exhausted
and pained voice. He stood up, supporting himself on the table with both hands
before taking a deep breath and leaving. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to
puke.”

Eliza
exchanged looks with Bianca and couldn’t stop laughing again, though she didn’t
know why. “Now that we’re alone, it feels like everything was a dream.”

“Yeah.
But it’s real. All this!” Bianca exclaimed, grinning even more.

“It’s not
over yet, but what did you think of your first experience with the supernatural
police?”

“If I say
awesome, it’s gonna sound repetitive,” she said, chuckling. Then she laid on
Eliza’s lap. “It’s more than you said it would be. I could only watch you two
using your powers, but I felt the tension. People with special abilities
working together… And then I had a taste of a power.”

“Once
he’s better, let’s ask Teo about linking our senses. I’ll show you how I see
the world.”

“That
will be awesome! I can’t wait!”

Eliza
smiled as she watched Bianca’s eyes shining with wonder. “You’re thinking of
joining them, aren’t you?”

“I was
talking to Angelica while you and Teo worked. She told me you don’t need power
to join them. You can learn to use stuff like JP’s glove.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but smile. “Guess that’s my destiny. I’m the daughter of a cop,
so it’s only natural that I fell in love with a future cop too.”

Bianca
pulled her closer for a kiss. When they heard a noise outside the door, they
stopped.

“I caught
the woman. Angie is investigating her memory right now. The man was just a
decoy. He was under a spell to make him think that was his suitcase,” JP
informed them. He took his gloves off and put them in his pocket. “The woman is
a telepath. She was communicating with one or more people here but we couldn’t
get them.”

Bianca
grew still as she thought. “It does seem like they were just checking the
security.”

“Most
likely.” JP got a glass of water. Though he didn’t look anywhere near as bad as
the girls, he still looked like someone who had bungee jumped without a cord.
“There are a few more things we need to do here, but I can take you two home
now.”

Though
Bianca looked as if she wanted to remain, she said nothing.

“Please.
Wait. Are you gonna teleport us home?” Eliza asked. Her stomach agitated with
the idea, and her legs quivered with the thought of not having firm ground to
stand upon.

JP nodded
and Bianca beamed. After a couple of teleports, and Eliza’s lunch threatening
to show up again, they were in the redhead’s backyard.

“Thank
you for the assistance,” he said. “Given the state of things, it’s possible
we’ll request your help again in the future.”

“No
problem. I don’t mind helping, but I’d rather avoid teleporting ever again.”
Eliza mumbled the last part.

With a
laugh and a goodbye, JP vanished with a vacuum sound. The girls remained in
silence for a while.

“I’ll
take you home,” Bianca said in an absentminded voice.

She wants to think by herself right now, Eliza realized. They held hands as they headed to the car.

Epilogue

Eliza’s entire body was hot and sweaty. She was panting too much and
had to lay down. “I can’t…anymore… Please… Bianca.”

“No. I
know you can still do it.” Even though she whispered in that sweet and alluring
voice Eliza loved, it wasn’t enough to make her regain any strength. “Just one
more, and I’ll do that thing you like with the ice.”

“Are you
serious?” Eliza opened her eyes and looked at the girl she loved. “You’re not
just teasing me, are you?” Bianca had used that trick once before.

“One more
lap and you’ll find out,” she said. Her smile was too sly and enticing.

Eliza bit
her lips. She barely had the energy to sit up let alone run around the park
again. But with Bianca’s words echoing in her mind, she forced herself to leave
the bench. Can’t believe I’m so easily
manipulated with that.

To her
own surprise, and displeasure, it worked. Despite her muscles throbbing in protest,
Eliza managed to walk. Bianca jogged around her. When Eliza became a little
faster, her girlfriend picked up the pace.

“C’mon,
honey. Just one more lap around the park,” Bianca said with a genuine smile as
she ran backwards a few paces ahead.

With strength she didn’t know she had, Eliza
stopped thinking and walked. Before she knew it, they were once again at the
bench near the entrance, which they were using as a starting point. The moment
she saw the hardwood surface, she didn’t think twice before collapsing onto it.

“This is
it… I’m dying… I love you, Red… I wish we had more time together… Hope you’ll
be happy with another girl.”

“Amazing
how you can be so dramatic.” Bianca laughed and drank the last of the water
from her plastic bottle.

“I’m not
being dramatic. And how can you laugh when I’m dying? I know you have a
sadistic side, but I didn’t think it was this much.” Eliza sighed loudly. “My
first and only girlfriend laughs while I die.”

“If you
have enough energy to mumble nonsense, you’re fine.” Bianca lifted Eliza’s
head, sat on the bench, and used her lap as a pillow for her girlfriend.

“I know I
haven’t decided if I’ll join the UCD yet but if their physical exam is anything
like this, there’s no way I’m gonna pass. I’m just not cut out for this. I
might as well be a consultant like Angelica.” As Eliza spoke, Bianca tried and
failed to suppress a smile. “What?”

“We
passed their minimum requirement five laps ago,” she said, holding back a
laugh.

Eliza
froze for a second. Then she took a deep breath as the anger boiled inside her.
The next moment, however, she let it go; she had no strength left.

“Now I
have proof I’m in love with a hot and sadistic redhead who enjoys seeing a weak
little girl like me in pain,” she said calmly, almost as if she had an
epiphany.

“You
think I’m hot?” Bianca asked, smiling.

Eliza
blushed and pushed her face away. “You always focus on that part and ignore the
rest.”

“It’s not
my fault. I can’t get enough of hearing you say that.” Bianca beamed despite
the hand on her face. “I hear that a lot. But when you say it, I can’t help it.
My heart thumps faster, and I just wanna hug and shower you with kisses.”

“I
wouldn’t mind if you did that.” Eliza looked away. Bianca’s smile was too cute.
“I like bragging about my hot girlfriend, but that’s pretty much it. It
wouldn’t look good if I told people how much of a sadist you are.”

“Can’t
believe you still call me a sadist!” Bianca seemed shocked and placed a hand on
her chest. “And if that was true, which I’m not saying it is, it’s all your
fault. You bring out that side of me.”

“Are you
trying to blame the victim?”

They
looked at each other for a moment. Then they laughed at the same time.

“So, I
cleared the minimum laps,” Eliza said after a while. She closed her eyes and
enjoyed Bianca’s hot and sweaty thighs. “Now, all that’s left is the—”

“The
obstacle course,” her girlfriend completed the sentence in a chirpy tone.

Eliza
winced at the idea. “Don’t try to make it sound fun. I feel sore just thinking
about it. I’d rather teleport again.”

“Don’t
give up before trying. I know you can do it. If you don’t believe in yourself,
believe in me who believes in you.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but chuckle. She and her nerdy references. “You’re
forgetting that we did try it once.”

Since graduating
from high school, Bianca had been training martial arts with JP twice a week.
In the mornings, she was working out. All to join the UCD.

Though
Eliza still hadn’t made her choice, she had been accompanying her during the
morning workouts. Part of it was because she didn’t want to be one of those
people who woke up at noon every day just because they were on vacation. But
the other part was because she had to be in shape if she decided to be a cop.
Spending more time with Bianca was a great bonus.

In the
beginning, she thought the biggest problem would be waking up on time. But
after they started, she wished that was it. Though she had never been athletic,
she believed she had enough stamina to at least not embarrass herself. A couple
of laps around the city park was enough to prove how wrong she was.

Bianca
didn’t want her giving up, so she suggested they try the obstacle course once,
saying it might be easier for someone with her physical condition. She was
partially right; Eliza managed to get through a third of the course without
trouble, though her body caved in before she reached the halfway mark.

“Don’t
worry. We’ll get there,” Bianca said at the time. She was doing her best to
motivate her girlfriend.

“Guess
this means I’m more cut out to be an independent consultant,” Eliza said,
shifting her head to find a better position on Bianca’s lap. Even though she’s hot and sweaty, her lap is
comfortable. And she’s wearing these tight short shorts…

“Don’t
say that. Don’t abandon me!”

“Now
who’s the one being dramatic?” She chuckled. “We’d still work together. But
that’s just ‘what if.’ Remember, I haven’t decided yet.”

“I know,
I know.” Bianca sighed and caressed her hair gently. “I just can’t stop
imagining us working together. Fighting supernatural crimes and all.”

“You make
it sound like a bad movie plot. And are you sure you don’t just wanna see me in
a uniform? Wait, does the UCD have one?”

Bianca
thought for a moment and smiled, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. “I can’t
deny I’d love to see that.”

Eliza
couldn’t help but smile. She had imagined Bianca wearing a sexy police outfit
more than once. I pictured her roughly arresting me… While she’s sadistic,
I’m part masochist…

“If you
get one of those sexy policewoman outfits, I’ll wear it just for you,” she
whispered in the most alluring tone. When Bianca grinned and blushed, she
laughed; it was the reaction she wanted. “But only if you behave,” Eliza
teased. “Anyway, how’s training with JP going? You’re so secretive about it.
You practically haven’t told me anything.”

“Ah… Well,
you know. It’s martial arts stuff you’d expect…”

“There
you go again.” She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me. Or are you doing something
so shameful you can’t tell me?”

“Of
course not…”

“Then
tell me. Or I’ll keep imagining a bunch of weird things and it’ll make me go
crazy and then—”

“Fine,
fine,” Bianca mumbled. She searched the pocket of her shorts. “I wanted to keep
it a secret until I had some progress to show…”

She
pulled out a pair of black gloves with strange symbols and a switch button in
the middle of the palm.

“JP’s
glove!” Eliza exclaimed.

“Yes.
I’ve been training martial arts with him, but he’s also teaching me how to use
magic…” Bianca muttered, trailing off.

“You’re
learning how to use magic? I had no idea! That’s so cool!” Eliza exclaimed.
Some people glanced at them but kept on jogging. “Why did you keep it a
secret?”

“Because
it’s not going well…” She dropped her shoulders. “Despite training my whole
life, martial arts and magic are too different.”

Eliza
wondered for a moment. “How do you train for magic, anyway?”

“Meditating…”

“That’s
it?”

“There
are also a few movie clichés. It’s interesting. They got a lot of it right.”

“Like
what? Training under a waterfall? Are you gonna reverse a waterfall’s flow or
something like that?”

“I’m not
training to fight for Athena,” Bianca chuckled. “Besides, there’s no waterfall
around here. After the martial arts training, I stand under a strong shower and
recite a mantra to awaken my spiritual side.”

“Why a
shower?”

“Something
about the flowing water helps.”

“For
real?”

“Yeah.
But it’s not working. According to JP, I’ve only trained my physical side my
whole life.”

“Isn’t
that his nice way of saying you’re too stubborn?”

Bianca
flashed a sheepish smile. “That’s not the word he used.”

Eliza
chuckled and breathed out slowly. “I can’t believe you can use magic with that.”

“JP says
it’s like walking. Anyone can walk, but some can run, and others will have a
lot of trouble. In any case, I need to train.”

“Learn
magic and become a supernatural cop.”

“When you
say it like that, it does sound lame. I’ll ask if there’s a better word.”

“Yes,
please. I don’t think it’ll sound good if I say I’m dating a supernatural cop.
People will think you’re one of those cops who use psychics to solve cases. But
it’s the Unresolved Cases Department.”

“It might
not sound so bad if you joined too.”

“You
won’t give up until I say yes, will you?” Eliza asked, grinning at her
girlfriend.

“I’m just
trying to give you a little push.”

“You’ve
been doing that ever since we met. And thanks to that, I fell in love with
you.”

Bianca
became a shade of pink. “You know how to embarrass a girl.”

“I know
how to embarrass you.” Eliza pulled her closer for a kiss.

“If you
can kiss, does it mean we can go one more lap?” Bianca asked when they parted
their lips.

“God, no.
Please, spare me. Or better yet just bury me here. It’s so pretty.”

“C’mon.
Just one more lap. Pretty please…”

“That
won’t work. Not again.” Eliza averted her eyes. “And I know what you’re trying
to do.”

“What do
you mean?”

She
smiled and shook her head. “You’re still a terrible actress. I know you’re
trying to keep me busy because the ENEM’s results are coming out today.”

“Oh, is
that today? I had completely forgotten. When you’re not worried about that, you
don’t even remember.”

“I love
that you’re a terrible actress. If you ever cheat on me, I’d find out right
away.”

“Like
there’s any other girl weird enough to be with me. Or better yet, there’s no
way I could love any girl more than I love you.”

They
looked at each other and kissed again.

“You know
I’m just kidding, right?” Bianca asked in a more serious tone. “I’d love for us
to work together, but if you decide to be a journalist or anything else, I’ll
support you one hundred percent. You know that, right?”

“I never
doubted you, even for a second.”

“Good. I
just keep bringing it up because—”

“You
wanna flirt at work with me.” Eliza interrupted her with her eyebrow raised. “I
don’t need Teo’s power to know what you’re scheming, Red.”

Bianca chuckled.
“I’m not gonna lie, that has crossed my mind once or twice. But I’m truly
thinking about what’s best for you.”

“Is that
so?”

“Yes. You
could be an awesome journalist. You could expose secrets people could never
even dream. But if you join UCD, you could help and save many people, even if
they would never know.”

I was thinking that too. She really knows me. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Of
course.” Bianca looked up at the clear sky. “I know we’ve been dating for like
seven months. Actually, we’ve known each other for less than a year, but I
can’t help imagining us together in the future.” Her face was as red as her
hair, but she looked Eliza in the eyes. “I love you, and I want to have a
future with you.”

“You’re
the one who knows how to make a girl feel embarrassed.” Eliza’s face was
burning too. “I think about that stuff too.”

Before
Bianca said anything else, Eliza’s phone rang with a message. She sat up and
pulled it from the pocket of her shorts. “It’s Mom. She says the results of the
ENEM are in.”

Eliza
stared at the screen with an impassive face.

“Aren’t
you gonna check?” Bianca asked.

She
remained quiet for a long while before putting the phone away. “I doubt I can.
Millions of students are checking the site right now. I bet it’s impossible
with my crappy internet. Besides, I don’t think I need to,” Eliza mumbled.

Bianca’s
face lit up with a smile. “Does that mean…?”

“All you
said… I know that. I’ve been thinking the same,” she admitted. “And although
I’m not doing this only because of you, it might be fun working with you.”

Bianca
beamed even more and hugged her. “It’s gonna be awesome! JP will love hearing
this! He’s been saying your power would be a great addition to the team. He
tried to hide it, but he’s as subtle as a bulldozer. Together with Teo, we could
be the greatest spy team!”

“You mean
if he can keep his mouth shut.”

Bianca
stood up and offered a hand. “To celebrate, let’s run one more lap!”

Eliza
looked at the hand and then at the owner. “Do you think I forgot that you said
we ran more than the requirement?”

“One more
lap won’t hurt.” Her smile was overflowing with joy.

Eliza
sighed and took Bianca’s hand. I’m too weak against her. Despite that,
she couldn’t help but smile too.

She had no
idea what lay in her future, but she knew if Bianca was by her side, she could
go beyond what she could ever imagine.

The End

Afterword

Thanks for reading My Eyes Only. Hope
you enjoyed it. If you did, could you please leave a review? Even a simple “I
liked” helps me. It makes my day XD

Just like volume 1, I wrote My
Eyes as a web novel a long time ago. I know part 2 is different from part 1,
but I thought it was important how Eliza’s power changed her life. First, she
found love, then she found a purpose thanks to her eyes. I hope you didn’t
think it was too different. I still showed Eliza and Bianca lovey-dovey, which
was the most fun part of writing.

I don’t know if there will be a
vol 3. However, Eliza and Bianca are important characters in my world. They
wouldn’t be the protagonists, but they’d show up. Hope I can write all the
stories in my head.

If you want to check my future
works, please check my page on Amazon and facebook. I
still plan to write a lot more lesbian stories, both paranormal and fantasy.
One of them is my new series, Lovely Witch. The first
book is The Witch and the
Succubus