Tenny could barely let out an utterance, her finger trembling over the screen. Mark and Blake made their way over to Tenny, thinking that she had already unveiled some evidence of the heinous crime the whole campus saw. The faculty only grew more agitated.

     “If this is some sort of ploy to distract and rob us any further, I think you'd enjoy a suspension-” one of the staffers began.

     “Ma'am, she's just taken aback by the culprit's identity! We'll sort this out,” Blake interjected.

     Blake and Mark pulled Tenny away from the faculty, also curious about what caused her sudden lack of composure.

     “Are you alright?” Blake asked.

     “What was that about? You were taking pictures, so you got one of that pickpocket, right? Are they someone you know?” Mark said.

     Tenny finally managed to speedily lower her finger from hovering over her phone, as if she had just awoken from sleep paralysis. Putting her phone away, Tenny pushed any loose hair strands to the sides.

     “You could say that…"

     Mark turned to see that the commotion completely erased the line that protruded outdoors. Only a few students are indoors, at the counter.

     “Uh, look! That whole scene attracted a lot of attention. The line is nearly non-existent now. Ready when you guys are.”

     “I need some air,” Tenny said.

     Tenny left the two freshmen, whom she considered newfound acquaintances in her own way. She did not exchange complete information with them, but because they shared some of the same classes, Tenny knew they would see each other again.

Tenny sat against a window near the library's entrance, eyes focused on her phone while people left and entered through the periphery of her vision. She has a limitation that has her fed up, one she thinks will last for her entire life.

     Tenny re-entered the camera app on her phone. She pressed on the photo without hesitation, something she couldn't do before. Sighing, Tenny brushed her hair back in frustration.

     A struggle that continues to plague her, Tenny deals with a condition she labeled 'Trust' years back.

     Her speech and movements completely freeze whenever she encounters information that someone does not want revealed, her speech and movements completely freeze. No research she's done so far has come up with anything relevant to this troubling restriction. However, that never stops her from trying to go past it, but it only leads to a growing, intense pain the more she persists. Such a level of pain would not be worth the struggle to an ordinary person.

     Unfortunately for Tenny, she can be overambitious.

     “I thought I grew past this…”

     Smoothing her hair back again, Tenny looked out of the window at a large number of freshmen gathered around the faculty members.

     The same ones still struggling with the assault. 

     In the distance, she saw Mark and Blake exiting the Dale cafe with coffee cups and muffins. A dirty blonde in a gray hoodie shoved past the two, causing Mark to spill coffee on his purple silk shirt and get upset. The closer the dirty blonde got to Tenny's line of sight, the more the dots began to connect.

     Tenny immediately looked back down at her phone.

     The photo is right on the mark of the suspect. The orchestrated gears in Tenny's mind began to turn.

     It was time to find loopholes around her innate restriction.

Tenny locked onto the wandering culprit, who was also carrying a coffee cup and a free muffin. Whether free or pricy, it seemed the culprit loved grabbing a good deal. Before he leaves campus grounds, Tenny has to pin him down somehow.

     Eyes roaming, Tenny spotted two Campus Police officers.

The culprit was yards away from them. Tenny had to get eyes on him. She thanked God that the culprit had something she could use.

     Taking in a deep breath, Tenny started down a path of no return. She raced towards the culprit, anticipating a large risk she'd have to take. Closing her eyes in fear, Tenny slammed into the culprit's shoulder, immediately being doused with scalding hot coffee. The pain sent her reeling to the ground.

     Successfully creating the scene, the two Campus Police officers averted their heads. Several students starting towards the two. The pickpocket, predictably, was furious.

     “Watch where you’re going you-”

     The pickpocket noticed the gathering crowd with phones out as if all of them were daring him to finish that sentence.

     “Count your blessings, brat.”

     “I have,” Tenny replied.

     Tenny smiled, to the pickpocket's confusion. Everyone was aghast and staring at the ground, the pickpocket turning his gaze to where their stares landed, being behind him. The Staffer's stolen watch laid in the grass, having flung from the pickpocket's pocket when Tenny slammed into him.

     The two Campus Officers rushed over.

     “What happened here?” One of the Campus Officers asked.

     “I’ve done nothing!” the pickpocket yelled.

     Several students started to yell accusations at the pickpocket. The Campus Officers stared at them, looking back at the pickpocket.

     “Is that the story you’re going with?”

The students continued to yell at his thievery, pointing at the watch in the grass.

     “Seems they see another side to it,” the other Campus Officer stated.

     The Campus Officers turned the pickpocket around, handcuffing him as they read him his rights. While one walked him away, the second officer turned towards the students.

     “Any of you who fully witnessed this crime, come down to the precinct. We'll get him nice and ready for you to select him out of a lineup.”

     Some students helped Tenny up while the Campus Officers escorted the pickpocket away. Tenny was the sole witness to the complete scene she helped create, presenting yet another catastrophe for her 'Trust' ability. But someone had to do it.

     Tenny lifted the watch from the ground, turning just in time to see the faculty group before approaching the scene of the crime.

     “Your watch, ma’am,” Tenny said, handing the expensive watch to the Staffer, who was robbed of its presence.

     The staffer smiled with tears in her eyes.

     “I never thought I'd see this again. Thank you so much. What's your name?”

     “Tenny Hale.”

     “Tenny Hale. Anytime you need a hand, please let us know.”

     The gathered faculty group smiled at Tenny, who shook her head reassuringly.

     “It's no problem. Really.”

     Tenny looked ahead, seeing one of the Campus Officers shove the Pickpocket's head into their squad car.

     “Actually, I do need a ride.”

The female Staffer, an African-American professor, Catherine Knett, who also went by Ms. Knett, pulled up to the local precinct in her red Toyota. Tenny sat in the passenger seat. Her eyes scanned the faded building.

     Ms. Knett realized what Tenny would do, placing a hand forward on the car's dashboard.

     “I can go in with you if you want.”

     Tenny took a moment, adamantly shaking her head in the end.

     "I can do this on my own, but thank you for your concern."

     The red Toyota's car swung out, Tenny exiting against all of the apprehension in her body. Two loud flares of a car horn turned her around.

     “By the way, kid. My name's Ms. Knett. We won't forget the deed you did today.”

     Tenny smiled, happy to be able to return not only a possession but joy to the victim.

     “Are you sure you don't want me to wait out here until you're done? It was a five-minute drive, and it might take you an hour at best to make it back to the campus.”

     “I'll be fine. The sun sets slower in the spring compared to the winter.”

     Ms. Knett smiled, closed the Toyota's passenger-side door, and waved at the ambitious student before driving off.

     Tenny was now officially alone with the door to a building that would activate her ability to its largest level. Fighting every reluctant bone in her body, she entered with steps that pretended to be bold.

A stone cold room with faded walls and a worn floor, with two cops as its temporary guardians. The one-way mirror that's been shown countless times in all kinds of media, laid front and center before Tenny.

A newer cop jolted the frigid Tenny back to reality with one footstep.

     “When you're ready.”

     Tenny glanced at him, nodding. The cop signaled for the lineup participants to enter, all six of them entering sharply like soldiers. The cop leaned over a panel, unmuting the participants and one perpetrator.

     "Number one, step forward and read the line that has been assigned to you.”

Number one stepped forward, dull eyes pointing ahead.

     “Count your blessings, brat.”

     “Good. Step back. Number two, step forward.”

     The process was repeated three more times, Number Five walking forward the same amount of steps.

     “Count your blessings, brat.”

     Tenny's face became paler than mocha, not due to the recognition of the suspect.

     The battle for the truth against her ability has begun.

     The cop noticed a shift in Tenny's expression and complexion. He double-takes at the suspect.

     “Is this the culprit?”

     Tenny's eyes shook, lips lightly opening and closing as if to mime speech.

     “If you're afraid, you know he can't see you. You have nothing to fear. All we need is a confirmed verbal identity.”

     Through the corner of Tenny's eye, she looked up at the cop hesitantly.

     Enough was enough.

     She wanted to get past this.

     As if fighting against super glued teeth, Tenny forced her mouth open, trying to spill forth words.

     “Th-… tha-… Th-tha-"

     Tenny swallowed before trying again. The cop awaited her answer.

     “Th-… tha-"

     A gush of a substance immediately filled Tenny's entire mouth. She turned around as fast as she could, covering her mouth with her left hand. Tenny knew what it was, seeing as how this restriction has plagued her for her entire life. She did not want to startle the cop.

     “Are you alright?”

     Tenny, reluctant to see how bad it was, removed her hand as slowly as possible.

     Her hand nearly spilled thick pools of dark, dark red blood.

     Some droplets hit the floor, and Tenny quickly covered and smeared them with her foot. She withdrew a tissue from her pocket, completely wiping her mouth and hands, tucking it away. The cop was somehow unaware while Tenny turned back to the one-way glass.

     “We can try this again later, but the more time passes, the less credible it can be.”

     That sentence alone helped to wake the ambition in Tenny. She was going to finish this, no matter what. If she could not speak, she could at least point. It's not as credible, but it has to be something.

     Tenny attempted to lift her right hand, but it only managed to raise a few centimeters. It took all of her strength to persist, but her hand remained at a ninety-degree angle.

     The movements and speech were not working. The speech was not working. The restriction, it seems, tried to grow as strong as Tenny did.

     A knock on the door turned both the cop's and Tenny's heads. The cop walked over and opened it slightly, giving a few nods here and there. He closed the door, looking at Tenny.

     “We have two more witnesses waiting outside. Thank you for your cooperation.”

     Tenny refused to meet the cop's eyes, disappointed in herself for never once beating this restriction. She nodded lightly to avoid showing rudeness, happy at least that two others could pick out the culprit.

     She exited the room, walking past the two, spotting a bench up ahead.