Weeks passed and the headaches became more bearable. They weren’t just in my head, though. It was the strangest sensation, a feeling that swept all over my body, but not quite within my body. As if it were a throbbing pain that glossed over the fine-hairs on my arms and legs. A second, invisible muscle. Like an exoskeleton I never knew I had. The intricate details of what I was capable of were unfolding with every ache, with every bruise on my knees, my ankles, with every fall from the invisible platforms or the stretch of that invisible muscle, pushing more weight than I was prepared for. Baekho had come into my world, ripped open the sky and revealed colors I never could’ve imagined. He was a tome that had opened up wisdom beyond worlds to me.

“You always have your eyes on Nana.”

He was grinning at me, mouth half-full of bread and cheese. He might’ve spewed it everywhere into the dirt if I didn’t respond. “What?”

“You like her?”

I looked back at the bottom of the hill, watching her and Lizzy laugh together. JR and Aron had joined them, sat on top of the picnic table and began talking about who knows what. Probably something about the upcoming Halloween party. “She’s been through a lot.”

Baekho made himself more comfortable, glancing back and forth between me and the distant image of Nana. “Yeah? Like what? You guys close?”

I shook my head. “I’m not close with anyone. I just… pay attention.”

“So what happened?” My eyes were still on Nana, but I could feel him staring at me, staring at me as if it would force the words from my mouth.

A deep breath, taking in the cool breeze the filled up the air. “She was attacked by someone that’s not going to this school anymore. No one else was around except for me. I don’t like to use my telekinesis at school since people already have bad ideas about me… but that day… my own reputation wasn’t a concern. Nana still doesn’t know I’m the one who did it, though.”

“What did you do?”

“I pulled the ceiling down on top of his head. He needed 28 stitches. I almost wish I would’ve killed him. She’s never gonna be the same.”

Baekho crumpled up the napkin in his hands, wiping leftover crumbs in the corners of his lips against his fore-arm. “So, you never actually answered my question.”

“What?”

“Do you like her?”

In that moment, I suddenly required a lot of thought. My feelings towards Nana weren’t something that I’d ever confronted directly. I didn’t really have any reason to before, I had no reason to think anything would come from some more-than-platonic feelings towards Nana. “Isn’t it enough to just say that I have sympathy for her?”

Baekho shook his head, grinning up at the sky. “I’m going to suppose that’s a ‘yes.’ For now, your answer is enough. It doesn’t really concern me so,” he jumped up abruptly, brushing his pants off, “think of your feelings however you want.”

I sat for a moment, still mulling over the conversation the two of us had had. It was a really mundane thing, shallow even, but it seemed a very important subject to me suddenly. Like a secret had been revealed that needed explaining. The tome had turned another page.

Another week had passed, and Baekho and I had wandered off through the powerlines until we were far enough from the road that no one would see us. There was plenty of broken limbs from trees to use as dumbbells, and Baekho thought it wasn’t too hazardous to use the chain-link fences as jump-offs to practice flying. He was always so certain the present day was the day he would finally do it. He said this every single time.

“So, why did you transfer?”

He was halfway up the chain-fence, turning his head with a raised brow. “Huh?”

“Did you do something to get in trouble?” My eyes were squinted, shaded beneath my palm. It seemed oddly bright for a late Autumn afternoon.

Baekho pursed his lips, turning his neck more comfortably before he continued his climb. “There was a fight. I was in it.”

“Is that what the scar under your eye is from?”

I heard a hushed chuckle. “It’s still noticeable, huh? Yeah, I kinda broke a window… with the kid. I lifted him right off the ground actually. He broke like… a -ton of bones. Needless to say I was expelled.”

“You did this telekinetically?” I asked, hesitating.

“Yeah.”

I turned away, suddenly reminded of my own childhood. “I bet everyone was really scared, right? How did you avoid the news?”

Baekho had finally reached the top, leaning away from the fence and observing the distance between himself and the ground. Observing the clear horizon at the edges of his sight. “It was just me and the kid. He tried to tell everyone what happened, but they chalked it all up to adrenalin rushes and blurry memories.” He wobbled the fence; testing the sturdiness of it, I suppose. “They kicked me out of school for violence and so here I am.”

Everything was oddly so quiet, even in the middle of all the nature. I couldn’t even hear the buzzing from the powerlines anymore.

“Can I ask… why you even got in the fight?”

He looked directly down at me and I could barely see the crooked grin on his face before he jumped. I barely had time to step back. He just came straight down, though he landed on his feet like a cat. No pressure. I was almost frightened of him; he never took his eyes off me once.

“He was bullying one of my friends. Teachers didn’t do about it, so I did.”

I nodded, turning it over in my head. “I probably would’ve done the same.”

“I almost wish I would've killed him. Joshua won’t ever walk again because of him. Trash like that doesn’t deserve a second chance.”

The two of us were still, and I was suddenly aware of the buzzing from the powerlines again.

“What about you?”

“Hm?”

“Why does everyone around here pretend you don’t exist. You do something bad, too?”

I ran a hand through my hair, chuckling under my breath as I searched for the words. “Yeah, kinda. Way back in kindergarten. Someone was being mean to my big sis, so I pushed him off the top of the jungle-gym. Telekinetically,” I added, half-smiling. “He broke both his legs, even had some internal bleeding. He didn’t grow up right because of me. No one has ever forgotten it.”

“So how did you avoid the news?”

I kicked some of the gravel, the memories coming back like a video reel. “We were just kids then. No one took their side of the story seriously. Exaggerated, right? He was pushed from the top of the jungle-gym, of course it looked like he was flying. Logical explanation for a bunch of kids with fantastical stories about some kindergarten scuffle.”

Baekho looked me dead in the eyes. “Well, I guess I’d be pretty cautious around you too if I’d seen something like that at that age,” he laughed. “We have more in common than I thought before.”

“Apparently so,” I laughed.

“Maybe we should start a gang, then the whole town will start to worry.” He jumped up on one of the fallen trees. “I’ve always wanted a leather jacket.”

“Then just go buy one.”

“But that’s not fun,” he jumped down and back into the dirt in front of me.

I was still squinting, and the wind had started to blow. “I thought we were gonna practice flying today. All’s you’ve done is jump from the top of the fence. I could be at home finishing Pedro Paramo right now.”

He grabbed me by my shirt, talking between his teeth with a grin on his face. “Then stop standing there just looking pretty and move, Min! You’re the one just chit-chatting away!” He shoved me away before rushing back to the chain-link fence, climbing to the top effortlessly this time. “Start lifting some of those branches, you have a lot of training to do before you’re as good as me.”

I readjusted my shirt, glancing around the area for something suitable to lift. My exoskeleton was still sore, but I wanted to power through it. He was right, I had a lot of work to do before I’d ever be able to attempt to fly. Everyday, I always hoped he really would make it. I wanted it to be possible more than anything. There was hope in flight.

Later into the night, when the sun was just past the horizon, we started gathering our things before heading back into the suburbs. I knew that the moment I fell into my bed, I’d fall into sleep. I couldn’t even remember if there was any homework I was supposed to have done before bed, but I didn’t really care, either. My legs felt hot with every step towards home.

“Have you tried talking to any of them since?” Baekho asked.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“What were were talking about earlier,” he adjusted his backpack, “about everyone being afraid of you and all that . Like, have you tried talking to any of them at all? I can tell there’s, like, a wall there, but it’s hard to know if it’s mutual or not.”

A felt the tome flip another page.

I watched my feet pass the lines with every panel of the side-walk, nearly hypnotizing myself with the repetition. I was feeling dizzy, trying to analyze myself as unbiasedly as I possibly could have. At this point, I didn’t know if it was possible to analyze oneself without any personal bias. That almost seemed like an oxymoron. ‘

“I just assume they don’t want me to talk to them. They get really distant and awkward. They only talk to me if it’s absolutely necessary, so I do the same.”

“So none of you are talking to each other, is what you’re saying?” Baekho prodded.

I shrugged, sighing. “I mean, I guess.”

“Did you ever stop to think that maybe they avoid you because they think you’re avoiding them?”

I grimaced at him. Probably even rolled my eyes at him, though I like to think I’m more mature than that. He laughed at me.

“I mean, that all happened when you guys were practically babies. You don’t think that maybe their perspective on the event has changed? Hell, they probably think they even remembered it wrong. Maybe they just avoid you now because they think you hate them. I mean, , you did push a kid off the top of the jungle-gym. Maybe you’ve just established yourself as an Alpha, Min.”

I erupted with laughter, something I hadn’t done in a long time. I could even see a mist of spit fly from my mouth in the light from the streetlights overhead. “Alpha my , Baekho. That was pretty funny, though, I’ll give you that much.”

“Seriously, though, Min. Just try to stop acting like the brooding, misunderstood introvert in the back of the class. Maybe things aren’t as grim as you think.”

“I never said they were grim, though.”

He shrugged. “No, I guess you didn’t. But are you really content with things the way they are?”

“I mean, I guess. It’s not been a problem so far. I’m an introvert, like you said. I don’t mind being left alone. Having one close friend is nice but I don’t think I’d want to have the whole class shadowing me like they do with you. That actually sounds like hell on earth.”

Now Baekho erupted with laughter. “It’s not really that bad. It gets a little suffocating, yeah, but it’s not as bad as you just made it sound. Only on days when I’m feeling pissy.” We finally reached the road where we would part ways. “Well, anyways… just try talking to someone. Try talking to Nana. It’ll be good for you. If you don’t talk to her I’ll talk to her for you.”

“Please don’t.”

“See ya!” He grinned, waving off as though he hadn’t heard me. And suddenly I was sure my heart was in a pile next to my feet.