22.

Elliot yawned as he looked up into the canopy of leaves. The sun had barely been in the sky for an hour and he was already out of bed. Professor Klein had summoned him and Sheree to the woods for an early morning training session. Sheree entertained herself by passing her hand through a thin stream of sunlight.
“I wonder where Albert and asshole, I mean Just Josh are?” Elliot thought aloud.
“They won’t be joining us for these sessions,” Professor Klein said as she walked up to the two of them.
She looked surprisingly energetic for it to be so early in the morning. Her long, curly black hair shined in the early morning light as if it was freshly done. She smelled like some kind of flower and her dark skin looked smooth and healthy. Elliot suddenly found himself imagining her rubbing lotion on her naked body.
“Oh god, did I just imagine what her body looks like? Even worse, did I find it attractive?” Elliot shook the thought out of his head.
The professor wasn’t a bad looking woman. She was in her mid 50s, but she could pass for late 30s. She didn't have any wrinkles and she had a figure that even at her age still turned heads as she walked by.
“Why not, are we in some kind of trouble?” Sheree asked skeptically as she slowly attempted to poke a butterfly that had landed on a nearby leaf.
“Quite the opposite, you two are being shown a sort of preferential treatment today.” Professor Klein said. There was a small smile on her face as she spoke.
“Yeah, that settles it Professor Klein is sexy,” Elliot thought as he stared at her lipstick covered smile.
“And what exactly does that mean?” Sheree asked, in that lifeless tone of hers. She moved forward quickly but the butterfly flew away and she poked the empty leaf.
“So, if I can get you two to actually focus today, I would like to start training you to activate your second powers,” she said with an excited uptick in her voice.
Elliot’s eyes had dropped to her breasts as he tried to determine exactly how big they were, but she got his full attention when she said second powers.
“You mean second like number 2?” Elliot asked and held up two fingers.
“Yes, good job Elliot. I see you’ve been practicing your numbers,” she said sarcastically and grinned.
Sheree gave a quick chuckle at the professor’s joke. Elliot just stood frowning with his two fingers still raised.
“So, getting back on track, I know it's early in the morning, but I do need all of your focus if this has any chance of working. As of right now, I’m operating completely off hunches based on small observations I’ve made of you two,” Professor Klein said. Her humor left just as fast as it had surfaced.
“What do you mean by small observations?” Elliot asked, doing his best not to sound paranoid.
“Well, with you, for example I noticed that your punches create a kinetic force. If I’m right, that proves the existence of a latent telepathic power within you,” she said and waited for Elliot’s response.
Elliot’s eyes darted from left to right and back again as he tried to decipher what she had just told him. After a few seconds Sheree stepped in to help him out.
“Elliot, she thinks that the crackly thing that happens after you throw a punch, means that you can move things with your mind like me,” she said slowly and clearly.
“Oh cool,” Elliot said and started dancing and grinning.
“Well, I haven’t demonstrated anything like that, so why am I here?” Sheree asked, she had her arms folded in front of her.
“Yours is only something a well trained telepath would have noticed. When I entered your mind and tried to keep you from killing Albert, I had to convince you to do it willingly,” Professor Klein said. Her words were measured and thoughtful as she spoke.
“What does that mean?” Sheree asked, arms still folded.
Elliot stood beside them throwing punches and watching the after effect crackle.
“Well, that’s not how it should have played out. I should have been able to force your hold over him to break, but once I entered your mind you unwittingly took hold of me as well,” she said, she spoke slowly, it was evident to Sheree that she had to search for the proper wording.
“I took hold of you from inside of my mind?” Sheree asked, her head tilted as she listened.
“Yes, and I could have broken free, but that would’ve required me to do to you what I did to that eagle yesterday,” Professor Klein said.
Sheree gave an involuntary jerk at her words. She didn’t remember the altercation, but everyone around her confirmed it was as bad as she imagined it was.
“Okay, so what does that tell you about me?” Sheree asked, a nervous energy filled her words.
“Well, as far as telepathy goes, and I mean mind reading or controlling, I am the strongest and most experienced person on this campus, and by extension, in the world. For you to be able to exert your mental will over me, means that you are capable of surpassing me,” Professor Klein said. There was a gleam in her eyes as she spoke.
“But isn’t that the same ability? I’m already a telepath,” Sheree said, there was some emotion to her words now. It sounded like confusion and anxiety to Professor Klein.
“It’s true that we house people with telepathic and telekinetic powers together, but those powers are not the same. There is no one that we know of who can do both. In fact, if I'm right about Elliot he will be just the second person to possess a physical and a mental power. Both of you are truly remarkable, this is why I enjoy teaching!” Professor Klein said with her fists balled and eyes widening.
Sheree had never considered that she might be special in a good way. After spending her entire life as a throwaway it was really nice to hear that she was actually valuable. Only Elliot had ever made feel worth anything before. She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face, and she had no desire to.
“So, what do we do first, Professor?” Elliot asked, still punching the air.
“So the first thing we need to do is find out if you can make that same effect without throwing a punch. Then we have to see if you can make it just a push instead of an arcing wave. If you can get it to the point where it's just moving things away from you, then we can work on holding things and pulling them towards you as well,”Professor Klein said. There was a giddiness in her tone and she folded her hands together in anticipation as she spoke.
“And for me?” Sheree asked, trying to hide how excited she was about this training.
“For you Sheree, we are going to be doing some mental sparring. I will try and infiltrate your mind and you will have to keep me out. Once you can, we are finished,” Professor Klein said.
Elliot was throwing punches and suddenly stopped.
“Wait, won't awakening powers bump up our ranks too?” he asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, if we succeed at this you will both be B-rank students. That will put you above everyone except Albert and Josh,” Professor Klein said with a nod.
Elliot started dancing again. The thought of going from the bottom of the rankings to the top was just too enticing for him. Professor Klein stepped close to him and he froze as she whispered in his ear.
“B-rank or not, I will hurt you if I ever catch you staring at my breasts again okay,” she said and backed away with a smile.
A heavy horror ran through Elliot in that moment that caused him to shudder from head to toe. What made it worse was that all he wanted to do at that moment was look at them.

Chapter end