In a city of thousands you’d think the loudest place was town square. With the commercials all playing at the same time on motion sensor pop up screens. The horns on the hover cars as they streak through the sky. A cacophony of voices as people talk to various tech in the streets.

No this was peaceful. Music to my ears as I sat on some steps strumming my guitar. Not that I needed the money. In fact Mother hated when I did this. But it’s not as if she knew how often I did it. Because the true terror was at school. And despite Mother’s constant proximity only my elusive Mum knew the extent of that horror.

“Kyran!”

I jumped as my best friend’s face popped out of the holo band. But I managed to hold on to the guitar as I held my wrist up to face her.

“You know you can call me without hacking my holo band, right?”

“Not when we’ve got an exam in calculus today.”

I swallowed. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Get your butt here in the next three minutes or say goodbye to your spot on the hover ball team.” And with that her face disappeared into the holo band.

So now I had two options. Go to the worst place on earth and flunk the exam. Or skip the rest of the day and be barred from the sport I loved. Well if I flunked I’d be off the team anyway. And if Mother found out I was skipping again…

I threw the guitar in the case, barely slinging it onto my back as I made a run for the nearest alley. In the middle of the day like this it was empty. But the trouble was my destination.

Closing my eyes I cast my mind back to my school just a few miles away. And I was hit by every insecurity that a teenage mind could muster. The self doubt, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and fear. It grated against my sensitive mind like an out of tune rock band. And once again I was glad that I didn’t have true mind reading like my Mum. But just sensing the emotions like this was enough. It wasn’t like the adults that hurried down the street. Their emotions were duller and direct whereas the teenagers raged with several emotions at a time. And of course, I was the only one who could feel those emotions beating at my ears. Like a tone deaf orchestra all trying to play louder than the other.

But Mother’s rage would be worse. Especially with how long Mum had been gone already. It was always better when my two mothers were home. But with Mum’s mysterious job it wasn’t to be.

Mum had taught me how to not only silence the emotions I heard but to use them. They were spots on a map. A guide to the perfect place to portal. It was the spot of calm that I needed. Opening my eyes I locked onto the coordinates and opened a portal.

Stepping through, I found myself in a janitor closet. The cleaning bots were all lined up at their charging stations waiting to be summoned. But outside I could here running feet. And my heart sunk as the bell rang.

Bursting out of the closet I ran through the emptying halls. As long as I didn’t use my powers it didn’t matter who saw me. But I still got the occasional glare from teachers as I passed their classrooms.

Finally, I skidded into calculus. My sneakers were loud in the room full of testing students. All eyes were on me. Confusion, anger, annoyance, interest, fear, exhaustion. The emotions filled my ears with an overwhelming feedback. I took a step towards the door.

The teacher cleared her throat. “Take your seat, Mr Apara. I’ll have no more disruptions.”

I sat next to Chula and turned on the holo desk. Grabbing a stylus from my guitar case I stared at the foreign equations that popped up. Yeah, I should’ve skipped. Mother was going to kill me for flunking. And anything would be better than sitting in this cacophony of emotions.

Biting my lip I started to stand but Chula’s hand was suddenly on my arm. It was silent. I let out a breathe. Chula was always adept at muting the concert of horrors. I focused on the first question. Now to start a new nightmare.