First of all, I wasn’t sure if being a Speaker was that big of a deal. As far as I could tell, the fact that I’d even managed to catch Bethany’s attention was enough to earn me the title. But what good had it done? It wasn’t like I’d been able to stop anything from happening. On the other hand, it seemed like being a Manipulator put you in a different league altogether. After all, Curtis could inflict a serious case of the willies upon the Tommy Balboas of the world armed only with a bar of soap. Maybe I could get him to help. But would he? I didn’t really get the best feeling about it. From what I’d seen, Curtis seemed committed entirely to maintaining a bad attitude. Still, I had to try. So, I climbed to the third floor and knocked on Curtis’s door. At first, the music kept blaring in there. I think he was listening to Led Zeppelin. When I knocked again, the music stopped. “What’s up?” Curtis said from somewhere inside his room. It didn’t sound like he was approaching the door.
