Soulmates
36
Conversations
Jaime and Keira and Trayce
TRAYCE PARKED her car and walked to where Jaime and Keira were waiting for her in the park. The three didn’t say anything, though surface thoughts were clearly readable. All were excited to be physically together, but were also cautious. They met with cheek-kisses.
“Hey, Jaime and Keira. Fancy meeting you here. I feel like I know this place already.”
“Yeah. We walk here frequently. Even when it’s freezing cold like today,” Keira said. “How are you doing?”
“Okay, I guess. Mom really didn’t want me to leave the house unaccompanied today. We had a bit of an argument. I got a new phone this morning, so I can give you my number and we can text, you know,” Trayce said. She looked at Jaime.
«Hi, Trayce. I’m really glad to see you,» he said.
“Why did you do that? It makes me uncomfortable. Just talk to me.”
«I don’t talk out loud. Sorry.»
“I heard you yesterday. I know you have a voice.”
«You’re one of only four people who have ever heard it. One of them is dead.»
“Shit! I don’t know if I can do this head talk thing. Seriously. I mean it was sort of okay when we were miles apart, but we’re standing right in front of each other,” Trayce said, shifting from foot to foot.
“Trayce, honey, head talk is part of who Jaime and I are. I can use my out-loud voice because I had it before I had my head voice. Jaime didn’t. Even as I’m talking to you, I’m talking in your head as well as your ears. Otherwise, you’d know if I wasn’t saying what I meant. Jaime forced his out-loud voice yesterday because we needed to rescue you. You were the only reason,” Keira said.
“I’ll try to understand that, but I really can’t just do head talk right now. I suppose you can read everything I’m thinking, but I don’t want to talk that way,” Trayce said.
Jaime and Keira began putting up filters so they couldn’t read Trayce’s thoughts nor talk to her with their heads.
«Do you really think this is the right thing to do?» Keira asked.
«We have to respect what she wants,» Jaime said. «I’ll sign to you if I need to talk.»
“Wait! Where did you go?” Trayce asked, alarmed.
“I’ve withdrawn so I’m not reading your thoughts or sending you mine,” Jaime signed. Keira interpreted.
“I’ve done the same thing,” Keira said. “Honey, we don’t want to do something that makes you uncomfortable. We’ve learned to limit our communication to just each other. It’s a bit of a strain at the moment because we didn’t used to know anyone else who could hear us, but we’re getting better at it.”
“It’s like… You’ve always been there, haven’t you?”
“We don’t know exactly when it started, but circumstantial evidence suggests it was significantly before you joined us in kissing,” Keira said.
“What kind of evidence?”
“Um… People we met started showing up in your stories before we knew you were there,” Keira said. “Like Angus, Kate, and Thursday. We met them just over there. But that was while we were still figuring out if we could hold hands.”
“My characters! I haven’t been writing my stories at all, have I?” Trayce appeared truly distressed.
“I don’t think that’s true. It seems the only thing you’ve picked up from us is the general scenario. The old detective and two stripper sidekicks. A woman trying to tell her daughter her father was dead. A depressed woman who didn’t look like it to the outside world. Once you had those characters, you brought them to life in amazing stories,” Keira said.
“You’ve read them?”
“When we make love, we sink really far into each other. We saw them in you,” Keira explained.
“I don’t know if I’m relieved or terrified,” Trayce said. “Jaime, I’m sorry I kicked you out of my head—or whatever happened. I really do like you. I even told my mother I loved you—both. Maybe we can do a little trial at a time when we’re together. Would that be okay?”
“We’ll take it at whatever pace you want,” Jaime signed and Keira interpreted.
“I should learn sign language, shouldn’t I?”
“It’s easier when Jaime is telling you inside what the signs mean. He’s been signing since kindergarten.”
“Yeah. Maybe. Um… I’m so mixed up at the moment,” Trayce said. “Like I want to just drop all my barriers and preconceived notions and be one with you both. But I’m scared that Dr. Schwartz left some suggestions buried in me that will hurt you. I’d die if I hurt either one of you. And as sexual as we’ve been in our heads—and I really loved it—I’ve never even had a real kiss. I mean, not counting the quick one we each had at the door yesterday or on the cheek. And I’m panicked to think I’m actually going to get naked with you and really have sex. It seems like it will be so different that I should go slow on that.”
“Exactly what Keira and I were determined to do,” Jaime signed. “At each stage, something new and a little frightening opened up for us. The first time we held hands was for only a minute and we almost passed out from it. It was even more dramatic the first time we kissed. It was like the world just exploded.”
“But you do it all the time now. Does it get less?” Trayce asked.
“We’ve learned to control it more,” Keira said. “We call it filtering so we can enjoy touching each other without opening ourselves to every input within a mile.”
“We could… um… if you’re willing… we could try a kiss. Can you protect me from being overwhelmed?”
Jaime and Keira communicated with each other before Jaime responded to her question.
“We think so. Trayce, we love you.” He invented a name sign for her, pretending to hold a pencil and write. “We’ll try to hold back how much we open up, but it could still affect you more.”
“Or less,” Keira said. “We don’t have much experience.”
“You’ve both kissed… her… Emerson,” Trayce said.
“We’ve been exploring and experimenting like any two people,” Keira clarified. “It was easy to do. But Emerson is not a head talker. She can only hear us if we are in skin-to-skin contact.”
“Okay. I guess. I don’t want to talk about her right now. I just… I really want to kiss you. You aren’t pushing me to do that, are you?”
“Absolutely not!” Jaime signed.
“Come here, precious,” Keira said holding out an arm to embrace Trayce. Trayce stepped forward and put an arm around Keira and one around Jaime. “Now, tilt your head a little to the right. It’s so we don’t break any noses when we come together.”
“Both? Both at the same time?”
“We can’t stand to be first or second to kiss you,” Keira laughed. “This is remarkably easy once you touch.”
“Yeah,” Trayce sighed as she closed her eyes, tilted her head, and moved forward.
The touch of lips was tentative at first, but those nerve endings sparked an opening of the senses to each other. Trayce felt the flood of warmth and love that came from her lovers and they could feel her joy in their touch. When their tongues came into play, the senses opened further. Jaime and Keira struggled to keep some filters in place, but Trayce was completely unfiltered and both gave and received anything available. They began to hear voices of others in the park: children, dog walkers, and even a power walker who was caught up in the music he was listening to as he strode down the path.
Jaime pulled back before they let the kiss get too overwhelming.
«Wow!» Trayce thought to them. «I really love you both. Thank you for protecting me. I know now that I’ll get better if you are patient.»
«We love you,» Jaime said, then withdrew from her mind.
“Maybe it would be better if we don’t… um… make love for a while,” Trayce said. “I mean with me. I wouldn’t stop you two from loving each other. I just mean I should start to focus on the actual physical part of our relationship instead of staying in the virtual world. You can still text me or call, though.”
“We will, hon. And we probably won’t be making love for a little while either,” Keira said. Jaime made a sour face but nodded. “It’s not like we have our own place where we can spend the night together. If we’re lucky, David will spend the night with Olivia again next weekend. Believe me, it’s not because we wouldn’t be headed for bed if we could.”
“I wondered,” Trayce laughed. “I just know so little about how life really works.”
“Welcome to our world,” Jaime signed.
“Well, I should go now or Mom will be panicked. She just sent me a text asking when I was coming home. Um… I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“We’ll see you soon,” Keira said. They gave each other an air kiss and Trayce went back to her car and left.
«Are you okay?» Jaime asked Keira when Trayce was gone.
«Yeah. It’s going to be a long path, but I’m okay with it. You won’t withdraw from me, will you?»
«Absolutely not!» Jaime affirmed. «You are the love of my life, Keira. I think Trayce could be the other love of my life, but we all need to grow into that. And it will be difficult, but not impossible.»
«We should have a regular date next weekend if she’s willing. One where we go officially pick her up and promise to get her home at an agreed-upon time. Then go out and practice opening up a little at a time while we do something teens do all the time. Like something… I don’t know.»
«We’ll figure something out. I love you, Keira. I’m getting cold. Can we go to your house and get warm before I go home?»
«Silly. Of course we can. I’ll ask Mom if I can borrow her car to take my lover home.»
«And then somewhere along the line, we’ll need to figure out how to tell our parents about Trayce,» Jaime said.
«That should be a fun conversation!»
The two walked back to Keira’s house and sat at the kitchen table while they drank cocoa and were polite to her parents.
Keira and Rose
“You’ve always been able to read my mind, haven’t you,” Keira said when she sat at Rose’s kitchen table Sunday evening. Rose had made chocolate sundaes instead of their usual cup of tea.
“I have never invaded your privacy,” Rose said. “I simply understood what you were going through and tried to help you.”
“Oh, you did! Really! Even if you’d been reading my deepest inner thoughts, I’d have still appreciated what you did to help me. I guess this weekend just made me reevaluate everything I’ve always believed and experienced.”
Keira became absorbed in her sundae for a minute. Rose simply waited for her.
“Like now. You say something innocuous and then just wait for me to talk out what’s on my mind,” Keira laughed. “Well, I came here to talk, so that’s okay. There isn’t really anyone else I can talk to. It’s just that there are things that hurt. Like Trayce.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah. I think so. And I think we’re going to eventually become the threesome we all thought we were before she believed we were real. That’s really exciting. I mean, Jaime and I have only been lovers since Wednesday night. And there was no place we could go on Saturday and Sunday, so we have the typical problems high school lovers have. And we’re both equally excited about having Trayce with us. But it’s going to take a long time. Which is strange because Jaime and I would have taken longer if it wasn’t for Trayce pushing us forward. Now we’re trying to be sure we don’t push her too hard or too fast.”
“That seems wise. You need more time to truly know each other as well.”
“Yeah. We think we’ll invite Trayce on, like, a normal date so we can get to know each other better. In a way, we’re all kind of messed up. Trayce lost her father in a drunk driver accident and her mother is struggling to stay sober so she can recover their relationship. That was a pretty terrible time for Trayce. Jaime lost his mother when he was not quite five. He’s never spoken aloud, having the ability to hear people’s inside voice since he was born. He learned sign language in kindergarten and he gets along just fine in school. He can hear, and he invented a text to speech application so he can participate in class. It’s cool.”
Keira and Rose both finished their sundaes and Keira picked up the bowls to rinse and put in the dishwasher. She sat back down at the table.
“And you?” Rose prompted.
“Yeah. I’m, like, the normal one. Isn’t that a laugh?” Keira said, shaking her head. “I had you to help me understand what was going on and to help me limit my exposure. But in eighth grade, some boys planned to rape me.”
“You’ve never mentioned that before,” Rose said, concerned.
“No. I got warned by the first head talker I ever met that I knew about. He was struggling to come to grips with it and thought I could help. He heard the boys making their plan and warned me. I went home by a different route and he walked the direction I normally took. The boys beat him up. Badly. I told Jaime he moved away. He’s in a nursing home. I don’t know if he can still hear people’s thoughts or not. He is just a little more than a vegetable.”
“Oh, dear. How terrible. How did you find out?” Rose asked.
“I went to visit him once. I talked to him, but I didn’t hear anything in response. I’ve been so afraid something terrible would happen if I met another head talker. Then I met Jaime and I couldn’t help but fall in love with him.”
Tears were running down Keira’s cheeks.
“I’m so afraid something bad will happen to him or to Trayce like what happened this weekend. I’d die. I’d really die.”
“Honey, fear is usually something we make up in our minds. What we are afraid of is something we imagine might happen.”
“How do I not be afraid?”
“We don’t. We learn to live with the knowledge that the fear is not real. We live past the fear and don’t let it interfere with what is important. Like love. You know that in your heart.”
“Yes. I’ve even told Jaime his fear is not of something real. It’s hard to convince myself.”
“Maybe you should suggest Jaime pay me a visit, too,” Rose said. “In the office.”
“I’m sure he would. I think he would. I’ll talk to him.”
“In the meantime, let’s give you a few exercises that will help you get through the scary times.”
Jaime and Emerson
“Can we keep all our conversations out-loud?” Emerson asked when Jaime arrived in the computer lab.
Jaime had been a little worried about his friend and had not spoken to her since Friday’s adventures. The first day back in school after the winter holidays was filled with surprises. Jaime was eager for the day to end so he could meet with Keira. He handed Emerson her earbud and launched his TTS app.
“Is this good?” he typed.
“Great. Just, you know, stay out of my head for now, okay?”
“Of course. How are you doing?”
“Not really ready to talk about it, okay? Let’s just focus on the progress we made with our apps over the break. I love the voice manipulation module. Do you think you could release it without your TTS adaptation? Like as a plug-in for other apps?”
“That makes a lot of sense. I really developed it separately. You know even this one with my voice is really a plug-in to an established program. I like the idea.”
They progressed through class with no further questions regarding the weekend. Jaime noted that Emerson had returned to her former look of baggy clothes and no makeup. She’d also abandoned her contacts and wore black-rimmed glasses, enhancing her studious nerd look. Jaime found he was more comfortable with this look on her than with the Paris look.
Jaime and Keira
«How was she?»
«Okay. Not ready to talk about it. Asked me not to look inside,» Jaime said.
«We’re getting pretty good at that. Did you get a text from Trayce this morning?»
«Yeah. Sounded fine, but also not ready to talk.»
«Aunt Rose suggested you might want to come in to talk to her. I met with her last night and she was helpful.»
«I might do that, but I can’t right away. I got asked to sort of be in the school play,» Jaime said.
«What? Are you using the TTS?»
«No. The request came through my ASL class. Three of us were asked to be sign language interpreters. The play is Blithe Spirit. It has seven characters and only one is a man. The two girls who will sign will play all six other roles,» Jaime said.
«Sounds like fun! When does it start?» Keira asked.
«Now. Or in fifteen minutes. We were all asked to be at auditions this afternoon so the cast could get used to working with interpreters.»
«So, no sneaking off to make out after school?»
«Afraid not.»
«Maybe I should audition.»
«Sure. Come ahead.»
«I’m kidding. It just seemed like the only way I’ll see you for the next… How long will you be working on it?» Keira asked.
«Six weeks. It will be on Valentine’s weekend.»
«Oh,» Keira sounded disappointed. «I guess we won’t be having a hot date with our lover on Valentine’s day then.»
«Crap! I’ll tell them I can’t do it.»
«No! You committed to it and we don’t have a commitment for a Valentine’s Day date. Maybe Trayce and I will come and watch you in the show. Quick kiss and I’ll see you tomorrow.»
They had a quick kiss and Keira headed home while Jaime went to auditions in the auditorium.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
