The smile that curled his lips was as arrogant as it was beautiful.
"You need to accept the fact that you're Orange and that you're always going to be alone because of it." A measure of calm had returned to Clancy's voice. His nostrils flared when I tried to turn the door handle again. He slammed both hands against it to keep me from going anywhere, towering over me.
"I saw what you want," Clancy said. "And it's not your parents. It's not even your friends. What you want is to be with him, like you were in the cabin yesterday, or in that car in the woods. I don't want to lose you, you said. Is he really that important?"
Rage boiled up from my stomach, burning my throat. "How dare you? You said you wouldn't-you said-"
He let out a bark of laughter. "God, you're naive. I guess this explains how that League woman was able to trick you into thinking you were something less than a monster."
"You said you would help me," I whispered.
He rolled his eyes. "All right, are you ready for the last lesson? Ruby Elizabeth Daly, you are alone and you always will be. If you weren't so stupid, you would have figured it out by now, but since it's beyond you, let me spell it out: You will never be able to control your abilities. You will never be able to avoid being pulled into someone's head, because there's some part of you that doesn't want to know how to control them. No, not when it would mean having to embrace them. You're too immature and weak-hearted to use them the way they're meant to be used. You're scared of what that would make you."
I looked away.
"Ruby, don't you get it? You hate what you are, but you were given these abilities for a reason. We both were. It's our right to use them-we have to use them to stay ahead, to keep the others in their place."
His finger caught the stretched-out collar of my shirt and gave it a tug.
"Stop it." I was proud of how steady my voice was.
As Clancy leaned in, he slipped a hazy image beneath my closed eyes-the two of us just before he walked into my memories. My stomach knotted as I watched my eyes open in terror, his lips pressed against mine.
"I'm so glad we found each other," he said, voice oddly calm. "You can help me. I thought I knew everything, but you…"
My elbow flew up and clipped him under the chin. Clancy stumbled back with a howl of pain, pressing both hands to his face. I had half a second to get the hell out, and I took it, twisting the handle of the door so hard that the lock popped itself out.
"Ruby! Wait, I didn't mean-!"
A face appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Lizzie. I saw her lips part in surprise, her many earrings jangling as I shoved past her.
"Just an argument," I heard Clancy say, weakly. "It's fine, just let her go.
"You need to accept the fact that you're Orange and that you're always going to be alone because of it." A measure of calm had returned to Clancy's voice. His nostrils flared when I tried to turn the door handle again. He slammed both hands against it to keep me from going anywhere, towering over me.
"I saw what you want," Clancy said. "And it's not your parents. It's not even your friends. What you want is to be with him, like you were in the cabin yesterday, or in that car in the woods. I don't want to lose you, you said. Is he really that important?"
Rage boiled up from my stomach, burning my throat. "How dare you? You said you wouldn't-you said-"
He let out a bark of laughter. "God, you're naive. I guess this explains how that League woman was able to trick you into thinking you were something less than a monster."
"You said you would help me," I whispered.
He rolled his eyes. "All right, are you ready for the last lesson? Ruby Elizabeth Daly, you are alone and you always will be. If you weren't so stupid, you would have figured it out by now, but since it's beyond you, let me spell it out: You will never be able to control your abilities. You will never be able to avoid being pulled into someone's head, because there's some part of you that doesn't want to know how to control them. No, not when it would mean having to embrace them. You're too immature and weak-hearted to use them the way they're meant to be used. You're scared of what that would make you."
I looked away.
"Ruby, don't you get it? You hate what you are, but you were given these abilities for a reason. We both were. It's our right to use them-we have to use them to stay ahead, to keep the others in their place."
His finger caught the stretched-out collar of my shirt and gave it a tug.
"Stop it." I was proud of how steady my voice was.
As Clancy leaned in, he slipped a hazy image beneath my closed eyes-the two of us just before he walked into my memories. My stomach knotted as I watched my eyes open in terror, his lips pressed against mine.
"I'm so glad we found each other," he said, voice oddly calm. "You can help me. I thought I knew everything, but you…"
My elbow flew up and clipped him under the chin. Clancy stumbled back with a howl of pain, pressing both hands to his face. I had half a second to get the hell out, and I took it, twisting the handle of the door so hard that the lock popped itself out.
"Ruby! Wait, I didn't mean-!"
A face appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Lizzie. I saw her lips part in surprise, her many earrings jangling as I shoved past her.
"Just an argument," I heard Clancy say, weakly. "It's fine, just let her go.
( Alexandra Bracken )
[ The Darkest Minds ]
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