“Drew’s older brother is playing guitar
at a coffee shop tonight. Do you want to go
with us?”
Parker wasn’t used to being asked to go to
things. For a second, he thought he should just
go home like he normally would. But “Yeah, I
can go to that,” came out of his mouth instead.
“Awesome.” Yuan pulled out her phone and
had Parker give her his number so she could
text him the time and address.
That night, Parker met the others at the
coffee shop. Drew had neglected to mention
that his brother, Trevor, was a terrible
musician. Most of the songs were off-key and
had sad lyrics about some unnamed girl who
had rejected him.
In the middle of a song that basically
consisted of Trevor wailing about how lonely
he was, Yuan leaned over to Parker and quietly
asked him to pass her a sugar packet for her
coffee. Instead of grabbing it with his hand,
Parker lifted one out of the little bowl with
his mind. The top appeared to tear itself open
then pour itself into Yuan’s mug.
51
