King slapped my physics test face down on my desk. I didn't need to flip the test over to tell me that studying had been a waste of time. I sensed, from the surge of disappointment coming off my teacher's aura, that my grade was awful. I kept my head down, letting my long chestnut hair fall around my face, and debated whether it was safe to look at the test result. All around me, my classmates were having normal reactions to their grades. They winced and slumped, or smiled and fist pumped. Others sat quiet and smug. I knew all of this without looking because I felt each of their emotions just as surely as if they'd blasted me with a fire hose. "What'd you get?" Becca nudged my elbow and stuffed her test into her backpack. She'd done well, I could tell. "I'm afraid to look." My forehead just above my eyebrows started to tingle, and the tips of my fingers prickled. Not a good sign. "Come on, Echo, don't be shy," a voice taunted me from behind. A smooth pale hand adorned with a diamond ring reached over my shoulder and grabbed my test.
