It had been three weeks since the first day at Winsbury, and Cecily Graves had become the most popular—and the most feared—student in school. Even having her brand new Folio smartphone confiscated three times and getting a succession of demerits for inappropriate clothing hadn’t knocked her spirits. Quite the opposite, in fact, she seemed to relish the notoriety, and it wasn’t long before rumours began to take on lives of their own. Someone heard that Cecily Graves had a modelling contract at a big agency; someone else heard that Cecily Graves made a fourth-year cry; someone else heard that Cecily Graves owned an apartment in Mayfair. Nobody was sure where these rumours came from, but everybody knew about Cecily Graves.

“I heard her dad is one of the richest people in the country,” Maggie said to Jessa and Flynn as they walked together up the stairs to the first floor.

“Me too,” Jessa added. “Apparently, he just made billions more by building this mega hotel in the Middle East. That’s where her family is going for the Christmas break. They’re visiting one of their new resorts in Dubai.”

“How do you know all this about her?” Flynn asked.

“I dunno. Just heard it.”

“But where? Who says these things?”

“Everyone,” Maggie stated.

“Yeah, just people,” Jessa shrugged.

“Oh, right. Everyone and people. Sounds like a reliable source.”

They made their way down the East Wing corridor. While the tutor groups at Winsbury were small, the whole class of twenty-six first years came together for subject classes. They entered room East 4, for Philosophy and Ethics, where Miss Farrell was waiting to greet them at the door.

“Come in, come in!” she invited. “Let’s get settled and started.”

Jessa, Maggie and Flynn took their usual seats in the front row of the classroom.

“So last week we were thinking about Law,” Miss Farrell said. “Who remembers the name we give to the idea that there’s an innate law inside all of us?”

Flynn raised his hand a little, and Miss Farrell looked at him inquiringly.

“Natural Law,” he said.

“Exactly,” Miss Farrell continued. “Natural Law, as we learned, is the theory of using reason to think about our moral behaviour.” She glanced at Jessa, whose face was tense with concentration.

“Don’t worry if this doesn’t all make much sense yet. Philosophy is complicated. But I want you to have the concept of Natural Law at the back of your mind. Because as long as there have been people, there’s been philosophy. And it was the earliest philosophers who paved the way to our current system of Parapsychological Law, which, I’m sure you know, is an incredibly interesting and constantly evolving area of research and legislation.”

Jessa appreciated Miss Farrell’s enthusiasm, but they were only just touching on entry-level philosophy, and she was already having difficulty understanding the concepts. She was reassured, though, to look back at her classmates to see that everyone else looked as apprehensive as she felt.

“Seriously,” the teacher continued, “don’t worry. I promise it’s not as bad as it sounds. So let’s open our textbooks to page 32.”

Jessa opened the page to see a large heading:

FOUR LAWS OF PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTITUTION

“Even if you’re not aware of the exact wording of the Laws, you’ve all been raised in accordance with them, even if your parents are lateral.” Miss Farrell’s subtle accent gave a pleasant softness and storytelling quality to her voice, though Jessa couldn’t tell where she was from. Ireland, perhaps. Or Scotland. Or maybe Canada? Jessa had never been good at accents.

“The remarkable thing about Parapsychological Law is how it’s been created as part of the whole judicial system, and our entire society has benefitted from it. Of course, there have been some, shall we say, dark moments, in our past, and you’ll learn more about some of those in your history lessons. But it’s crucial to remember that atrocities in the world have been committed by parapsychs and laterals alike. We all have the ability to destroy, just as much as we all have the choice to unify. When you look back far enough, you realise that as humans, we are all family.”

Miss Farrell’s words reminded Jessa of her mum. She was always talking about family. Jessa had never really thought about it before, but she was the only one in her immediate family to have parapsych abilities, and her best friends throughout primary and middle school were laterals, so she’d never felt any disconnect between herself and any lateral.

Jessa looked to her right and saw Flynn gazing at Miss Farrell in admiration, and she couldn’t tell whether he was focussed on the teacher’s words or her glossy red lips as she spoke. Miss Farrell was known for being the prettiest teacher in school, charming many of the male students with her good looks and gentle personality, while the girls marvelled at her dramatic style choices and swooned over the hefty diamond ring on her left hand that often glinted in the light as she gestured.

Miss Farrell turned her attention to the statements printed in the textbook and read them aloud.

It is a legal requirement for children with parapsychological abilities to Register with the National Parapsychological Association (NPA) as a Person of Parapsychology Ability (PPA) within one calendar month of their 14th birthday.

Registered child citizens are required by law to enrol in a high school certified by the National Parapsychological Association’s Education Institute.

It is a criminal offence to discriminate against or prosecute any member of society based on their parapsychological classification.

It is a criminal offence for any Person of Parapsychological Ability:

(i) to use their parapsychological abilities for personal gain if the act violates any other law, or:

(ii) to conceal their parapsychological abilities in order to gain an unfair advantage in any business-related or otherwise financial transaction.