"Stella, I-"

She squeezes my shoulders. "I wouldn't ask you to do this right now unless I thought it was really important."

Her pale gray eyes are steely with resolve. Clearly, I'm not escaping this session. "Just let me splash some water on my face."

Stella nods and lets me go freshen up.

When I get back, she's in the dining room with a bunch of papers spread out over the table. She glances up when I walk in.

"Feeling better?"

"A little," I answer honestly.

"Good," she says, "because I need you to tell me everything about the situation that led to your autoportation."

As I sink into the chair opposite hers, I meet her eyes straight on. I don't really want to tell her what just happened-we may be friendly at the moment, but that doesn't mean I'm about to share personal details of my love life. But, the truth is, I'm a little freaked out by the whole autoportationthing. It's not like I controlled it. I didn't even see it coming.

What if I accidentally autoportmyself to the Gobi Desert? Or the bottom of the ocean? Or the middle of a Mary-Kay convention? I shudder at the thought of all the makeup and pep.

Considering the risks of notunderstanding what happened, it's far less frightening to tell Stella the truth.

"Well, I went for a run," I begin. "To clear my head…"

For the next thirty minutes, I spill every last detail of the last few days, everything from the instant I turned Damian into a surfer dude up until I autoportedback to my room. I even trash on Adara and her boyfriend-stealing games, despite the fact that she and Stella are friends.

Stella doesn't say a word. Just scribbles notes in a pink spiral-bound while I babble on. And on. And on.

"All I could think of was being away from there and then…" I gesture toward my room. "I was."

Finished, I take a deep breath and slump back against my chair.

Wow. I feel a lot better just getting that off my chest.

"I'd like to try an experiment," Stella finally says. She places her pen in the center of the table. "Simple telekinesis.Pick this up."

When I start to reach for it, she says. "No. Not with your hands."

Okay. Concentrating all my energy on the pen, I try to move it toward me. Instead of sliding in my direction, though, it spins in circles for several seconds before flying off the table and heading point first into the nearest wall.

"I know what your problem is." she announces.

"Great," I'm glad someone does. Tell me."

"You were trying to movethe pen."

"Well, duh." I hold her gaze to keep from rolling my eyes-she is trying to help me, after all. That's what you told me to do."

"The approach is all wrong." She pushes back from the table and retrieves the pen from the wall. "You were thinking about moving the pen-which you did-when you need to think about having the pen in your hand."

I shake my head. "I don't get it."

Stella replaces the pen on the table. Focus your thoughts on the pen being in your hand already. Imagine it there. Believe it is already in your-"

While she is talking, I try what she suggests. I picture the pen in my hand, like I can already feel the cool plastic in my palm. And then, while Stella is still talking and I'm still skeptically expecting the pen to zip into the living room. I feel a gentle weight in my hand.

When I glance down, Stella's pen is lying across my palm.

"I did it," I say, stunned. Looking up at her, I repeat, "Omigods. I did it!"

She takes her pen back and starts scribbling more notes.

"Does that mean I'm cured?"

Glancing up, gray eyes sparkling, she says, "Not yet." Before I can slump in defeat, she adds. "But it's a start."

We share a smile of success. For the first time in my life, a success off the cross-country course feels almost as good as winning a race. Almost. But, like Stella said, it's a start.

Chapter 9

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TELEKINESIS


SOURCE: ARES


The ability to move objects through nonphysical means. Ability varies depending on size and weight of object and distance moved. May be combined with Aerokinesis to magnify strength of ability. Generally the first power to manifestin young hematheos.


DYNAMOTHEOS STUDY GUIDE * Stella Petrolas

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MONDAY MORNING I show up on the Academy steps early. Not that I'm eager for camp or anything, but after spending all last night-and the three previous nights-trying to get to sleep, I just couldn't stare at my ceiling a minute longer. At first I thought the Internet could be my diversion. But I finally disconnected Saturday afternoon after another unprintable blocked message and after moving the fifth e-mail from Griffin, unread, into the "Liars" folder. Even running myself to the point of exhaustion three days in a row hadn't helped.

At least camp will be a welcome distraction.

"Never thought I'd see you here early."

I turn at the sound of Xander's voice.

"Yeah. I could say the same about you," I say, leaning my head back against the cold marble column.

I hear his footsteps approach and then the sounds of him sitting next to me, but don't open my eyes. With exactly zero hours of sleep and coming down from a weekend-long emotional roller coaster, I'm not in the mood.

Apparently, though, he's not sensing my go-away vibes.

"Trouble in paradise?" he asks. Despite the cliche, he sounds serious.

"What do you care?"

"I don't."

I feel him lean back next to me against the column.

"Good," I say.

For a minute I think he's not going to say anything else. "Unless it's affecting your powers training."

Prying an eye open, I ask, "I beg your pardon?"

"If your problems with Blake are going to get in the way of your development, then we need to deal with this."

"My problems with Blake-" I shake my head, "with Griffinhave nothing to do with my powers."

"You don't think so?" He sounds all superior. Maybe he and Stella have more in common than I thought. "Let me tell you from experience that everythingthat affects your emotions affects your powers."

Right, I almost forgot about his experience.

My spine stiffens as I turn my full attention on him. "Which reminds me," I snap. "You could explain a little more about the test- and the consequences of failing it-since you've, you know, donethat."

His lavender eyes burn brighter for a second, but he doesn't betray any other reaction.

"My experience has nothing to do with yours," he says, his voice sincere. "The gods play their games as they see fit, and what happened to me is completely removed from whatever will happen to you. It is intensely personal."

"It could still be useful," I insist, "if I had some hint of what to expect."

I mean, seriously. The solstice is just days away. And even though I earned a handful of merit badges last week-mostly by accident-I feel completely unprepared. My minor success with Stella's pen isn't exactly a guarantee of success. After Xander's cryptic I-hope-you-never-find-out-about-the-consequences comment, getting smoted for accidental powers usage is losing ground on the fear scale in the face of suffering some unknown punishment for failing the test.

"Fine," he says with a sigh. "But it won't help you."

"We'll see."

"It was anunimportant Thursday in Level 10." His eyes get a faraway look, and it's like he's not here anymore. "The girl I'd been dating for three years walked up to me in the cafeteria and, in front of the entire school, announced she was dumping me for some descendant of Zeus because he was better-looking."

I blink at him a few times. When he doesn't continue. I say, "And… "

"And thirty seconds later, she and the new guy were deep in the heart of King Minus' labyrinth."

That seems like a bit of an overreaction.

"As I said, the test is intensely personal." He rubs a hand over his face, like he's suddenly very tired. "For anyone else, that wouldn't have been a big deal. For me… well, let's just say my family history makes me kind of sensitive about superficial stuff."