Turn it off!

"Very powerful mind? So do you have telepathy or something? Oh! Maybe telekinesis like me? Or you could just have a genius level intellect." One fun thing about this island was the endless guessing games you could make with people here. No one was normal here, so there was always something to wonder about when getting to know a new person.

Though, it looked like Minna had a question for Alex now. Now that he thought about it, that was good. He did not want to overwhelm her with too many questions. "We could always explore the outside together. I heard the tower is great. Heights . . . uh . . . kind of scare me, but since we'll be toge—Uh . . . Minna?" He had a bad habit of looking away from his conversation partner as when it was his turn to speak, but when he returned his eyes to his friend, her face was covered by her hands, with the visible parts looking red. Alex tried to get a better view of her face without invading too much of her space, thinking she was having an allergic reaction. It did not seem that bad, and when he thought about it some more, it did not make a lot of sense. Better safe than sorry. If it was not an allergic reaction, the pessimistic side of Alex told him she was laughing at him and trying to hide it.

Minna looked to be fine after she revealed her face to Alex. Her cheeks were still red, but Alex could tell there was nothing to worry about. He returned to his relaxed demeanor, resting his hands on the back of his neck as he continued to follow Minna around. With the blushing situation out of the way, Alex focused on other things, like what Minna's current abilities were. He was about to ask, but then she brought up the topic of books. "Books are a light hobby for me. They're helpful to pass the time at school. I read whatever's suggested to me, so right now it's Room by . . . uh . . . Emma something. I forgot her last name." Alex wished he had a cool backstory to the books he read. So far, there has not been one that truly connected with him enough to be called his favorite, nor was there one that has links to his childhood. "If you're up for it, after going to the tower, we could check out the library? I'm almost done with Room, so you could help me out with getting a new one. I could even pick up Dracula."

"I'd rather we get our own copies if we can. I don't think it'll be oo hard to find what we want here." This island had everything and more. The library not having these two books sounded ridiculous to him. There was another library on the island here anyway, as well as bookshops. With some hard work, he could find what he was looking for in no time.

Lost in thought, Alex realized he was trailing behind. He relaxed his arms and ran to catch up with Minna, right in time to hear her question. Surprisingly, they used to live in neighboring states. It weirded him out how some people here used to live close by to him. Some even came from California like him, but differing circumstances sent them to this island at different times. "I'm from California. Born and raised," he finally answered. Soon after, he took notice of Minna looking down at the ground. Her bounciness from earlier disappeared. "But, uh, is everything alright?"