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.

#

“I’m glad I’m not a cat,” said Jessa, “because that lesson would have cost me one of my nine lives.”

“What are you talking about?” Maggie said. “I thought it was great! Miss Farrell is so good at making things interesting. Plus, I love when teachers make us do role-play, it makes the content so much easier to get to grips with.”

“Ugh, no,” Jessa pulled a face. “I hate role-play. I like Miss Farrell a lot, but I just don’t get any of this philosophy stuff. It’s too hard. What do you think, Flynn?”

“Hmm? What?”

“Uh oh, I think Flynn’s busy thinking about a certain Philosophy and Ethics teacher.”

“I am not!” he blushed. “I was thinking about the Four Laws, actually.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jessa nudged him. “The Four Laws of lo-o-ove!”

“Shut up!” he quickly walked ahead, leaving the girls laughing behind him.

They caught up with him at the lockers.

“Shoot,” Maggie fumbled with an armful of possessions and her binder covered in dog stickers smacked to the ground. She crouched to pick it up and unwittingly putting herself in the path of Cecily Graves.

“Watch it!” Cecily snarled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Maggie apologised, looking up as Cecily shadowed over her.

“What’s wrong with you?” said Cecily. “Were you too busy daydreaming about puppies to watch where you were going?”

“No, I—” Maggie stammered, clutching the binder to her chest, trying to cover up the images on its outside. “I just—”

“You just what?” Cecily interrupted, stepping uncomfortably close to Maggie.

Jessa put her arm in between the two of them, shielding her friend from Cecily’s intrusive lean.

“Calm down, Cecily, it was an accident. We were just chatting about the lesson and didn’t hear you behind us, that’s all.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Blabbing away about Miss Farrell’s nonsense laws. Typical.”

“What?” Jessa said. “They’re not nonsense laws, they’re real laws that we all live by.”

Cecily lowered her voice. “Without those laws, my father would be the richest man in the world.”

“That would make your father a criminal,” Jessa said plainly, narrowing her eyes into Cecily’s glare.

“Not if the laws favoured parapsychs,” Cecily sneered, “as they should.”

“Is everything okay here?” came the familiar voice of Mr Fletcher behind them.

“Yes, Mr Fletcher!” Cecily said sweetly.

“Glad to hear it,” he said, looking straight through her innocent ruse. “You should probably head downstairs for lunch.”

“Yes, sir,” she flashed a coquettish smile, but he didn’t react. He waited until Cecily had disappeared down the staircase.

“You all right, Maggie?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” She looked down. “It was nothing.”

“It wasn’t. But don’t worry,” said Mr Fletcher. “I heard everything.”

#

“Do you think she meant that?” Flynn asked the girls once they’d found an empty picnic bench in the Winsbury garden. “I mean, do you think her family really believes that parapsychs should be treated differently?”

“Maybe,” said Maggie, putting down the apple slice she was just about to bite into. “My mum’s a primary school teacher in Hammersmith, and she told me a story about these parents who pulled their kid out of school and said they’d homeschool him until he was Registered and could go to a psych school. Apparently he was kind of a late bloomer, so at first, it didn’t seem like he was a parapsych at all, even though both his parents were. Then once they found out he was, they took him out of school so he couldn’t mix with the other kids.”

“That seems excessive,” said Flynn. “There still would have been other parapsych kids in that school for him to play with, right?”

“Yeah,” Jessa joined in. “And if they wanted him to spend more time around parapsychs, what about like a Sunday school like PsychPlay? I went to one of those, and it was great.”

“Me too,” said Flynn.

“So did I,” Maggie replied. “But I don’t know. That’s just what my mum said. They wanted him to spend less time around laterals because they thought that’s what stunted his parapsychism. I suppose some people are just sensitive about that kind of thing.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine having that sort of reaction,” Jessa pondered. “I’m the only psych in my family. I can’t imagine someone feeling that way about them.”

“Same,” said Flynn. “Maggie, you have other parapsychs in your family, right?”

“Both of my brothers are, and so’s my Mum, but Dad’s a lateral, and so are most of my cousins. I agree with you. For someone to have that kind of thought is just so… I don’t know…”

“Heartless,” said Jessa.

#

Jessa and Flynn left school together. They walked through Winsbury Square Park and out the other side onto Gramercy Street, toward their homes. After a few moments of meandering in a comfortable silence, Jessa spoke.

“Do you think Cecily is pretty?”

“I haven’t really thought about it. Why?”

“Because it’s like everyone thinks she’s amazing and wants to hang out with her.”

“Do you think she’s amazing?” he asked.

“Well, no.”

“Do you want to hang out with her?”

“No, that sounds like a nightmare,” she snickered.

“Well there you go,” Flynn smiled. “People like her because she’s rich and fashionable and loud. It’s a status thing, isn’t it? She acts like she’s better than everyone else, and her confidence makes other people want to be with her. But she’s totally arrogant, and can also be really mean, so maybe they’re just afraid of her.”

“Yeah. You’re probably right.”

“I’m definitely right. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m always right.” He flashed her a big grin.

“Oh yeah? Now who’s the arrogant one?” Jessa laughed.

“Honestly, though, both you and Maggie are prettier than Cecily,” he said without a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

“No way,” Jessa scoffed. “Maggie is, but not me.”

“What did I just say? I’m always right, remember? Cecily has a pretty face, but it’s ruined by her mean expressions and all the terrible things she says. So yeah, I guess she’s pretty on the outside, but underneath it, she’s a really ugly person.” He paused for a moment, then sighed. “You and Maggie are the only people in school who have been properly nice to me. Even in primary school, people were only friendly when they had to be.”

Jessa’s heart cramped at the thought of a young Flynn with no friends.

“Nobody wanted to play with me. They’d say that I smelled bad, or I had fleas. Stupid stuff, but it hurt. Before I started at Winsbury I was scared I’d spend the next four years eating my lunch alone, but you and Maggie sit with me every day. I’m just trying to say that it doesn’t matter if people judge you or me, or if they think Cecily is great. Just be a good person and don’t worry about anything else.”

Jessa pulled Flynn’s bony torso toward her own. Her arms awkwardly grasped around his backpack in a weird hug, then they said their goodbyes and walked away.