Pulse

lips on hers as he leaned over the table and kissed her, but instead she heard his voice.
    “Now seriously, you have to keep your eyes closed for me no matter what I say. Can you do that?”
    “I guess so,” Faith said.
    “Think about the glass on the table, the one you were drinking out of. Remember it?”
    “Yeah, I remember. It had water in it.”
    “Okay, good—now imagine it, in your mind, doing something other than what it’s doing right now.”
    “You mean, instead of just sitting there on the table? This is weird.”
    “I know, I know—just do it for me, please. Keep your eyes shut, think of the glass. Think of it doing something besides sitting there.”
    If Faith had opened her eyes, she would have watched the glass tip over on its own, spilling water across the white tablecloth. She heard the clank of the glass as it happened and, opening her eyes, started to get more worried. She had imagined the glass tipping over, and the fact that it was lying on its side, all the water poured out, could mean many things. Maybe Dylan had somehow read her mind and pushed the glass over in order to surprise her. Or possibly he did this trick with girls all the time and knew that most of the time people who closed their eyes and thought about what would happen to a glass of water thought of it tipping over. And there was another option, the one that scared Faith the most. Dylan could have given her a Wire Code that she couldn’t remember, and the entire evening was being filled with hallucinations she would eventually forget she’d ever experienced.
    Faith thought of these many alternatives as she watched Dylan peel off his leather jacket and hang it on the back of his chair. His arms were powerful looking, with wisps of soft hair along their surfaces.
    “Okay,” Dylan said. “Now put it back the way it was.”
    “Pardon me?” Faith said. “You don’t have to close your eyes this time. Just think of the glass. Think about setting it back up again. Don’t worry about putting the water back in.”
    Don’t put the water back in? Faith thought. Is he crazy or am I?
    Faith pushed her chair away from the table but didn’t stand up.
    “Did you know Wade gave me a Wire Code—no wait, two Wire Codes—without telling me?”
    Dylan didn’t speak, only nodded. A silence ensued, then he spoke, just above a whisper. “Put the glass back where it was, Faith. I need to see you do it.”
    “Either I’m crazy or you drugged me. Which is it?”
    “Neither. No one’s crazy, and I don’t give people Wire Codes. And Wade Quinn is a huge jerk for about a million other reasons.” Dylan took a deep breath and tried one last time. “Please, just put the glass back where it was. You can do it.”
    “Maybe it’s you that’s crazy,” Faith said. She stood up and turned in the direction of the ladder leading down to the fire escape.
    “Faith, listen to me—”
    “NO,” Faith yelled, thinking of the few sips of water she’d taken when it was still in the glass. “You put something in my drink, didn’t you? Were you going to take advantage of me? Is that it?”
    “You don’t understand.”
    “You’re just like Wade Quinn, only worse. And your burgers suck.”
    Faith was angry and confused as she looked at the glass where it lay on the table. Thinking of the glass, she swished her arm fast in front of her. The table was five feet away; but as she moved her arm, the glass flew with lightning speed, as if a blistering wind had picked it up. It flew ten feet through the air, then smashed violently onto the roof, shattering into a thousand pieces.
    “We’re going to need to get that under control,” Dylan said. It wasn’t clear whether or not he was pleased or merely logging the event in his mind.
    Faith was shaking her head, on the verge of tears as she backed up.
    “Why are you doing this to me? Do you get some kind of sick pleasure out of it?”
    “Faith, listen to me—it’s not what you think.”
    “I bet it’s not.”
    Faith turned on her heels, hoping she could escape whatever was happening to her before it was too late.
    “You’re going to remember this tomorrow,” Faith heard Dylan say. She was almost to the retaining wall that wound its way around the roof of the building when Dylan appeared out of nowhere in front of her. He was standing on the ledge looking down at her. Had he appeared all at once, out of thin air, or had he somehow moved there before Faith could see him do it? It was