Freakling Read Online Free

where power was more important than people’s lives.
    Worry tightened Taemon’s chest. Yens was determined to seek out danger in more ways than one. And no matter what the goal was, Yens always scored.
    At the beach, Taemon walked the path that followed the rocky shoreline, hoping for a few minutes alone — and something to distract him from his confused thoughts about Yens. He had a school project he was supposed to work on over the summer, and he needed some ideas. The assignment was to design your own psi lock for your locker. The lock had to be unique so that only its maker knew how it worked. Unlocking it meant picturing the mechanism releasing, then using psi to make it happen. Make it too simple and anyone could figure out how to unlock it. Make it too complicated and even the maker might have trouble holding the release image in his head. The assignment wasn’t that hard, but this was the kind of thing Taemon loved puzzling out. He wanted to create something truly original.
    Da always said the best inspiration comes from nature. Taemon walked over to the knee-high stone wall that ran along the sandy path, just high enough to keep someone from accidentally falling off. Looking over the ledge, he saw the ocean a few feet down and wondered how it might help him design a lock.
    Waves.
    Rocks.
    Crashing.
    He’d been lucky to avoid a crash last night. Maybe he could use something from the unisphere’s design for his lock. Maybe . . .
    “Dare you to jump in right here,” Yens said.
    Taemon turned around. Yens had crept up next to him. Once again Taemon found himself right where he didn’t want to be — alone with Yens.
    “C’mon, freakling. Jump in,” Yens repeated.
    The water didn’t look too bad. He was a good swimmer. He could probably do it. The problem was that Yens would turn it into something else, something dangerous. Taemon stepped away from the edge and back to the path. “Nah,” he said.
    “Right,” Yens said. “Let’s go for a walk instead because that’s so much more exciting.”
    Yens was bored. And a bored Yens was a dangerous Yens.
    Taemon kept walking. Both boys were quiet for the next few minutes, Taemon keeping to himself and Yens poking the sand with a stick. Then Yens began walking on top of the rocky ledge.
    Taemon watched his brother out of the corner of his eye. It made him nervous to see Yens flirting with danger again, but he was certain that’s exactly what Yens wanted. If he ignored him, maybe Yens would give up. It wasn’t easy, though, with Yens pretending to stagger and stumble, leaning this way and that with a smirky grin on his face.
    “Whoa,” Yens said, teetering dramatically. He waved his arms to gain balance.
    Taemon looked away.
    “Whoa!” Yens called, more loudly this time. Taemon rolled his eyes and looked back — just in time to see Yens teeter toward the edge and then disappear over the wall.
    Was it a trick? It must be. Taemon waited for Yens to jump out or yell or anything.
    Nothing happened.
    Taemon wouldn’t go near the edge. He wasn’t going to fall for Yens’s prank. He waited several minutes, listening to the surge of the surf, the cries of the gulls. Another several minutes. Nothing.
    What if something had happened to Yens? Shouldn’t he check, at least? Just one tiny look. He walked over to the ledge, planted his feet solidly on the ground, and peeked over the wall.
    And there was Yens. Crouched on a rock on the other side. His laughter was loud and cocky.
    “Got you that time!”
    “I had to check on you, that’s all.”
    Yens climbed up the rocks toward the wall. Taemon helped Yens up with a little psi boost. Before he realized what was happening, Taemon felt himself being yanked forward, his belly pinned to the stone wall. He hung there, head on the ocean side of the wall and feet on the other, slowly tipping forward.
    “Let’s go for a swim,” Yens said with a snarl.
    “Stop it, Yens.” Yens shouldn’t be able to use psi to hurt