The Cost of Knowing

When the brothers get home, Alex frets about all the ways his brother could die and resigns himself to the fact that he’ll likely be there when it happens. Talia is waiting for them in the kitchen, and she’s wearing the black sundress Alex saw in his vision of their fight. Isaiah falls off a stool, which sends Alex into a panic even though his brother is uninjured. Alex sends Isaiah to the safety of the couch and prepares some food for him. Alex remembers how he first fell in love with Talia years ago. The summer after his visions started, someone shoved Talia off the high dive at a public pool, and she panicked. Alex rushed to help her, saw a vision of them kissing when he touched her, and was so shocked that he nearly drowned, too. Back in the present, Talia kisses Alex and suggests they find some privacy, but Alex turns her down. He doesn’t want to tell her about his aversion to touch and his power because he’s not ready to admit he knew about Shaun’s death. With tears in her eyes, she asks, “Why can’t you tell me what you’re feeling?” (110).