The Hotel

“It was really nice of you to walk me back.”

Everett glanced up at her. He hadn’t really been listening. He’d been too busy screening his emotions. Or trying, anyway. “No problem,” he said quickly, trying to think of anything besides how good she looked right now. His gaze slowly went to the carpeted floor.

“Before I forget, thanks for saving my life,” she added, looking at him.

Everett swallowed nervously. “You’re welcome, T-Boz,” he said stiffly.

She frowned a bit. “That’s my stage name. Now it’s Tionne.”

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“S’okay. Just don’t make it a habit,” she replied.

As she reached for her key card, Everett tried to think of a suitable reason not to join her for a nightcap, or whatever these those things were called. "It’s really late." "The others are waiting on me." "Emma and Sean will kill me for coming in at this hour." "I already have a girlfriend."

Everett scolded himself. Even if the latter was true, this was Tionne Watkins of TLC. Millions of men would lie about their girlfriends just to stand next to her. He had saved her life and walked her home, and all in the same night. If he joined her, he was likely to pass out. If he didn’t, he was the biggest heterosexual fool ever to walk the face of the earth. In his mind, anyway.

“Ev?” she asked gently.

He must’ve zoned out, because the next thing he knew, they were inside her hotel room. “Smooth move, pal,” he thought. “The next thing you know, ‘Red Light Special’ will be playing, and you’ll both be naked on the flo--”

“Ev?” she repeated, started to look worried.

He blinked. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

She stared at him. “You’re scared out of your mind, aren’t you?”

“Who, me?” Ev asked. “Why would you think--”

Tionne shook her head. “Even if I wasn’t an empath, you’d still be a bad liar. You’re sweating.” He was about to argue the point when a drop ran into his eye. He could hear her laughing, even as she threw a towel at him. “I’ll be right back,” she announced.

Everett snatched the towel off his head, just as the bathroom door closed.

“Oh God! She’s gone to slip into something more comfortable!” he thought. Everett could see that the towel was going to do no good whatsoever. He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to calm himself. “Remember, Ev. She can probably tell what you’re feeling right now. Just relax. Relax.”

At that moment, the bathroom door opened. For some reason, he shut his eyes. It just seemed safer that way. “I’m not gonna look. She’ll have to beat me over the head with a crowbar first.”

He felt her hands on his shoulders. “Ev, you had better not be asleep.”

Going against every instinct he had, Everett eventually opened his eyes. Tionne was staring at him, and there was an amused smile on her face. His eyes slowly took in the rest of her. “Um...isn’t that the same thing you wore in that music video?”

She looked down, as if noticing the light blue silk for the first time. She pulled at the fabric. “Guess so. Why?”

Silence.

Tionne looked up and sighed. Everett had fainted.

“So you have no idea what my power could be?” Rozonda asked for the tenth time.

“Just one,” Nate replied. “But you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“What?” she asked anxiously.

“Well, have you ever felt really attractive?”

She stared at him for a moment. “Is that a trick question?”

“No, I mean it,” Nate said. “Have you ever felt...unnaturally attractive? Like you were...I dunno...Supergirl or something?”

Rozonda laughed. “Um...Nate, if you want a date, just say so.”

“It’s not that,” he quickly replied. “Of course, if you’re not busy, we could set something up. But I’m serious! I’m not sure, but I think in addition to your individual powers, TLC may have a collective mutant power. One that can only be used when you’re all together.”

“Neat,” she said quietly. “So what is it?”

“You’d have to answer my question first,” Nate replied.

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Only when we’re performing, though. But there was this one time when we were singing ‘Digging On You” in Seattle. This drunk guy jumped onto the stage and literally tackled me. He started kissing me and hugging me and screaming, ‘I love you!’ and stuff like that. They took him away, but I sent him an autographed photo of us later.”

“That doesn’t mean you were using the power, though,” Nate said. “I mean, what man wouldn’t tackle one of you girls?”

Rozonda laughed. “Good point.”