“He still has a crew and equipment and stuff, especially for the bigger jobs,” I explained, “but just not as much as a regular person would need. And he still acts like he’s actually lifting whatever or that there’s more crew people on a job than there actually are, but then he just uses his telekinesis. He does personal construction—houses and stuff—so he can usually manage most of a job on his own. Besides, most people don’t know anything about construction. They’re not surprised when my dad does something super fast because no one knows how long something should take.”

“That’s kind of brilliant,” Cam said, Cat nodding beside her.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” I agreed. “And that’s what I mean—my dad has built his entire career around his telekinesis. It makes him better at his job. Safer. I don’t think there’s a job out there where being able to walk into people’s dreams is a benefit. If there is, it’s definitely not working in a kitchen.”

“What about your brother?” Dr. Loving asked.

“What about him?”

“He’s telepathic, right?” Marco asked.

“Yeah, he’s telepathic.” I sighed. “And, okay, maybe it doesn’t help with his job—”

“What does he do?” Sharon asked.

“Well, he’s figuring it out right now,” I said. “He wants to go back and finish his degree eventually, but right now he’s just working freelance doing tech stuff. He wants to do computer science.”

“So what’s his cheat code?” Cat asked.

“I mean, he can read minds,” I said. “That’s the biggest cheat code there is!”

“What do you mean by that?” Dr. Loving asked.

“Like, he never has to worry about not understanding someone or saying the wrong thing or wondering if someone likes him because he always knows.”

“Do you think that’s easy for him?” Dr. Loving asked. “Do you think he views it as a cheat code?”

“I mean, I don’t know,” I mumbled. Dr. Loving stared me down, lifting one eyebrow in a gentle challenge and I sighed dramatically.

“Okay, no, he doesn’t,” I admitted. “I know it’s hard for him. Things are a bit better now, but when his ability first started up, it was really, really awful. And not just for him, for all of us.”

Now that I’d started to talk about Aaron, it all came pouring out, rising up in my throat like a tide before spilling out over the rest of the group.