Hey guys, here's the next chapter in this story. In this chapter, there is a fair bit of mind control stuff. If you want a refresher on how mind control works in this series, read the first few paras in Chapter 4. Hope you guys like it. Enjoy.
Chapter 13: To err is human.
Maya stood in the stands with her schoolmates. She had her hands folded and prayed to God. "Probably, last minute," someone said behind her. Just a few minutes back, the opposition scored and now the scores are level. Cheers rose around her as their team got hold of the ball. Immediately it was passed to Ben. Ben was running towards the goal. But she could see he was not running at full speed. Not a lot of people could play for ninety minutes and not get exhausted. She saw through his brain and gave him an adrenaline rush. She could see the adrenaline flowing through his brain. With renewed energy, Ben passed and dribbled between the gaps and within seconds he was in range to shoot. "Shoot," she prayed out loud. He shot. The team burst into celebration as the whistle blew and people around her were cheering and hooting. She sat down smiling. She was the reason for the happiness around her and that made her happy.
She ran to find Ben under the stands. She hugged him tightly. Ben was her boyfriend and they had their first kiss yesterday. It was at her seventeenth birthday party.
"Did you see that?" he asked. "I thought we were going to lose on time,"
"I know," she answered into his chest, "You were so fast that last minute."
"Yes, I was so exhausted but the blood rush helped me."
"If not for you, we wouldn't have gotten all the points. You did great," she looked up into his eyes.
"Thanks, babe," he leaned into her to kiss. But he stopped the kiss abruptly. He looked ashamed. 'He can be so sensitive sometimes,' she thought.
"What is it?" she asked him.
"It's," he stopped, "I'm sorry," he said and she couldn't understand why he was apologizing. "Yesterday, I never intended to kiss you. The thought just came to me all of a sudden. I'm sorry if I've crossed the boundaries. That was why I was avoiding you today."
Then it clicked on her. Before he kissed her, she was thinking of the kiss. 'Kiss me,' she had repeated to herself inside her mind when he was near her. That must've turned out to be a Command. He was compelled to kiss her. 'Oh my god,' she panicked, 'I forced him to kiss me. That is sexual assault.' All of her happiness melted away. She took someone's free will away and used it for her sensual purposes. 'I'm a terrible person,' she thought. She withdrew from his grip and walked a few steps away from him. 'But why is he feeling guilty? If I didn't like it, I would have told him that. That means he should know I am okay with it. He should be okay with it. Does he not like me? Did I do anything wrong?'
"I can understand if you don't want to talk to me. But just remember, it was not my intention. It just happened," he said.
'Why does he have to say it like that?' she thought. 'It is not me, it's all you' was how she felt when he said that. She broke up with him. She couldn't stand the feeling that she somehow used him.
Days passed, and she realized she was being played by him. She looked at him in the hallway, hand in hand with another girl. He already moved on, and she was still heartbroken. He didn't technically cheat. It was cheating nonetheless. She walked away quickly from the hallway and hid from everyone in her secret spot. She cried her eyeballs out. Tears streamed down her face, running the mascara down with them. She must've gone for a long time because Sharon came looking for her. Sharon gasped taking a look at her.
"What happened? Who are we going to kill?" she said.
Maya giggled and got control of her emotions. She already told her what happened with Ben. She didn't tell her mind control part but she told her that she kind of forced him to kiss her. "Now, I feel like I'm a terrible person. I feel stupid. Maybe I shouldn't have broken up with him. Maybe he was right to move on to another girl quickly because I forced him to kiss," her thoughts were jumbled.
"No, he is trash. He doesn't deserve your tears. He cheated on you, even if you don't believe me. He just wanted you to feel like shit. And for you, you didn't force him. Even if you did, everybody makes mistakes. People do wrong things sometimes, but we can correct them."
'Wrong,' she thought. "What? I don't do wrong, Sharon," she snapped at her. "Maya can do no wrong. Understand that." She regretted yelling at her. 'She was only making me feel good.' She thought.
"Yes, understood." Sharon seemed flustered.
_________
Maya sat beside Sharon in the chemistry lab. Exactly a year before, she was weak and heartbroken. Now, she learned how her powers helped her. One would stop holding back when one can control someone. That's exactly what happened to her. She used her powers recklessly now. But she was careful with Commanding someone after what happened with Sharon. She used their emotions to control them. She turned to her fellow student behind and showed her record, "Is this correct?"
She shook her head, "No," and she explained what was wrong with it. Sharon was looking at her when she turned around. "What?" she asked.