(Madison's POV)

In the clinic for the trials, a nice woman takes me to the playroom to be with the rest of the kids. The tables are all taken up, with no place for me to sit by myself. It’s hard for me to talk to people I don’t know, so I like it better to be by myself until I do know them.

Instead of a table or place by myself, I sit at a table with only one other kid. A boy with straight brown hair that I make sure to sit a few chairs away from. I grab out my MP3 player and decide to listen to music while I draw. I’m not super great at it, but I’m trying to get better.

The boy moves to the chair next to me on my right side, and leans in close to me as he watches me draw. I take out one of my ear buds.

“Who is that?”

He asks after I start drawing his eyes, and I notice how much I don’t want him to be so close. I’m not used to strangers being so close to me.

“It’s uh, ummm, a boy I had a dream of. I’m trying to remember him.”

I look at him as he backs away some. He looks over my left shoulder of before back to the drawing of the boy I’m trying to remember. I take out my colored pencils, and can’t think of what color to pick. I grab the light blue before putting it back to grab the green, but still hesitate because I’m not sure if that’s right either.

“His eyes are blue.”

I look up at the boy next to me confused.

"Your friend. His eyes are blue. Kind of like the sky.”

Something about that does feel right, but it confuses me more. He looks down before laying his head down on the table and back at me again.

“He says his name is Peter. Why are you here? For the program?”

Again, what he says feels right, but I don’t understand how he would know this. I’m cautious of the boy in a different way now. Not because I’m scared, but because I’m curious of him.

“I, uh, for my ADHD, why… are you here?”

He pops up smiling and something seems to shift about him. Like he’s more giddy than he was.

“Really? I have ADHD too, but no, that’s not what I mean. Like, what are your gifts?”

Gifts? Like, talents?

“I mean, I’m pretty smart. I got all A’s last year, but what does that have to do with the program?"

Now he’s the one looking confused.

“That is pretty smart, but no, I mean the gift that you're in the program for? I can see, like, see your friend behind you, but no one else can. Or, I guess most can’t. I think some of the other kids can see too, and that’s why they're here. But, why are you?”

I look behind me and can’t see anyone. When I look back at the boy, he’s looking around the room and humming.

“I don’t know, but, does that mean that you see ghosts?” I ask him, growing even more curious of him.

That must be really cool!

The boy looks back at me with a smile.

“It does, and you do too! That’s really cool. I’ve never met someone else that can see them too. You can't right now, but you will. Your friend says that that’s why you're in trials. My name’s Tanner by the way.”

What?

I’m not sure what to think right now. It’s not hard for me to believe what the boy is saying, just that I’m someone who can see ghosts. I always wanted to, but it just seems… not real.

But it is?!

That’s so cool!