My name is Adam Graves, high school second year —–
Feels kinda strange saying that since up until fall last year I was a shut in who refused to go to school due to a certain.... phenomenon that affected me during the 5th grade, a 'phenomenon' that prevented me from being around people or operating as a functional member of society due to the flood of 'information'.
I finally decided to stop sitting on my hands and make an effort and I'm happy to announce that I was successful in reintegrating into society—— or so I'd like say; the only highschool who'd accept me was Stone Valley Municipal High School or Stone High for short, a public high school in the halfway creepy town of Stone Valley and even in this trashy school, I'm a loner with no friends, although that's partially my fault—it's kinda hard to make friends when my 'phenomenon' lays the truth out before my face.
"Our town of Stone Valley is 25 square km in area with a population of 3,502, the....."
Mr McAdams, our 5ft middle aged geography teacher was delivering a passionate lecture I think, I wasn't really paying much attention. Aside from the 'noise' emanating from my surroundings, there was something else which had my attention
"That damn Principal, how dare he give the teacher's bonus to Ms Milligan instead of me? I knew something was going on behind the scenes, that sh**y **** must've ****** him to get it. That ***** *****...."
Mr McAdams thoughts was full of words that would be censored if this was a TV show, but it was quite amusing considering the 'model educator' act he puts on for everyone else.
You've probably guessed it by now but the phenomenon I've been talking about for a while allows me to read people's minds.
Some might call it an ability, others a gift, but to me, this is nothing more than a curse; it doesn't have an off switch so I'm constantly bombarded with the 'noise' from everyone around me and I'm also forced to hear their thoughts, intentions and motives. It's kinda hard to make friends when you can see just how repulsive they truly are.
*Ding dong ping pong
And there's the bell for lunch break, finally. I gotta make a break for it before—
"Hey, Adam"
Good grief.
"I'm heading to the cafeteria for lunch, would you like to walk with me?"
Michelle, our class Madonna was inviting me to lunch, again.
I ignore her and make my way out of class
Almost as if on cue, Brock, our resident jock stepped in to defend his mistress's honor.
"Hey dead eyes! she was just trying to be nice, the least you could do is answer"
Naturally I ignore him as well. As usual, this infuriated Brock and he charged in to beat me up
*Right hook, left jab, right uppercut, back kick.
I dodged each of his attacks like I do everyday and made him lose his balance, then I casually strolled out of class.
Anyone watching what transpired would agree that I was in the wrong. After all, the kind hearted queen bee Michelle King was simply trying to be nice to the gloomy student, and has been trying ever since he transferred in.
We can all agree she did nothing wrong and genuinely wants to be my friend from the bottom of her heart, right?
Wrong.
Michelle King firmly believes the world exists for her purpose alone and everyone is beneath her. She sees men as dogs who's only purpose in life is to serve her every whim and women as either parasites who leech off of her popularity or tools to further her endeavors.
"Everyone on Earth are pawns in my game of life and I am the king", Such is the way of Michelle King.
But then again, who can blame her? She's beautiful, smart, good at sports and has her nice girl act down pat, you'd think she came straight out of a Japanese manga. It's only natural that everyone loves her and even more so that she always gets what she wants.
Men and women clamor to her feet like dogs and had I not been cursed with telepathy, I probably would as well, although sometimes I wish that was the case, at the very least my reputation wouldn't be trash.
*Sigh
I put my headphones on.
"Ignorance is bliss, I guess"
My slender build, gloomy eyes and loner personality would make me the prime target for bullying and due to my standoffish behavior towards Michelle the bullies have just cause to 'lock in'. However, seeing Brock getting folded by me everyday skewed their perspective, and the image everyone has of me is...
The former delinquent who was expelled from his former school for beating up 30 guys and had to move to Stone Valley for a fresh start, 'Dead Eyes' Adam Graves.
I guess you could say that a perk of mind reading is that I know where my opponent intends to hit me before they strike, it's not like I'm Kiyo**ka Aya***oji who can effortlessly solo every character in his verse.
"Mind reading solves a problem that mind reading caused in the first place, what a pain!"
I finally reached my destination.
I opened the sliding door to the school library, a place that's mostly deserted during lunch break. Here, I could eat the sandwich I packed for lunch while reading a good book.
"To the Light Novel section I go....."
Our Student council president made a petition to the school to allow mangas and light novels to be added to the school library.
I hear he was rejected multiple times but kept pushing for it until the school finally gave in. He's like a hero to otaku students at this school and a true man of culture.
I was combing through the light novel section looking for the latest volume of Clas***om of the e ***te when I bumped into something and fell on my butt.
I turned to look and realized I made a mistake, I bumped into "someone", but how?
I took off my headphones while trying to process my confusion
"Uhm, are you okay?"
The girl I had bumped into asked after gathering her books scattered all over the floor.
"Uhm, are you alright? How many fingers am I holding up?"
She said while raising three fingers.
The girl before me was of average height with a perfect figure and F, no G or maybe H cups probably. She had a voice that was half way between the 'shy library girl' in animes and the dependable onee-san character. She had long black hair and was about as beautiful as Michelle, if not more. She also had reading glasses on which looked quite cute.
"Uhm, do you have a concussion? Have you been possessed? Can you hear me!?"
Beautiful as she was, that wasn't what had me confused. It took a second to confirm my suspicions..... and realized that I was correct. I quickly ran out of the library at my top speed in a panic.
"Her thoughts.... they... were.... silent?"
My telepathy not having an off switch means I'm constantly hearing the thoughts of everyone in my vicinity. This allows me to know people's true thoughts, intentions and secrets. This also allows me to know where bullies intend to hit me before they strike but most importantly, it ensures that I can't be surprised or caught off-guard which means it's fundamentally impossible for someone to sneak up on me or for me to bump into someone since I know they're coming even before they reach me.
"I am able to read the minds of every human being without exception, so how..."
I bumped into her because I had no idea she was coming, I thought no one was on that aisle aside from me. I took a second to consider the possibility and focused on her thoughts but——
".....how come I couldn't read her mind? Just who or what.... is she?"