Deep down inside him, Nickolas knew that he was different from the rest. He knew so when his mother treated him differently from his other siblings ever since he was taken in under her wing. Perhaps it was instinct. He could sense it when she would segregate him from the other four children. She would always treat him differently. She was nicer to him. And he knew that she treated him generously out of fear- fear that he would hurt the family. It upset him to think that she suspected him of any ill will. It was not his intention to hurt the family.

But the truth was, no matter what he did, he could not wash away the doubt and shock on Jane's face every time he read her unspoken thoughts clearly and respond to them. It was an innocent gesture on his part, but to Jane, it was spooky and haunting.

He was beginning to scare himself too. He didn't remember his past. He only remembered pleading for Jane Carter to take him in as a foster child at the age of five. And as the years passed by, his first memories were fading away. He wished he knew what was wrong with him, so that no one would be threatened by it anymore. He wanted desperately to become a part of the Carter family. But that hope seemed more distant as the years passed by.

As Nickolas matured into an attractive, young teenager, he had learned to control his power and mask it. He would act the way the people wanted him to act. If they were polite to him, he would return their courtesy, even if he knew that they didn't like him. He would play their game by treating them the way they wanted him to treat them. The truth was that Nickolas wanted to be as normal as possible. He didn't want this ability to interfere with his life. So far, it seemed to have worked.

On the other hand, Nickolas liked reading people's minds. He knew what the people around him didn't want him to know. He especially enjoyed learning about the thoughts and feelings of his Backstreet buddies. He didn't have to flip through their diaries to know their darkest secrets. It was as if his friends' thoughts and emotions just sifted through their sieve-like skulls and floated towards him.

Sometimes he would laugh at their secret thoughts, and his friends would have no idea why. He would simply pass off as a weird jokester to them. At times, when they were really angry, he would just run off somewhere to let them cool down. They had nothing to hide from him.

But it was knowing his friends' feelings that made Nick comfortable being around them. And to Nick, they were the only people that made him feelwelcomed and loved.

Who Nick was before he came to Jane Carter's house did not concern him as much anymore. To him, he was Nickolas Gene Carter, a Backstreet Boy who surfed on Florida's beaches and loved to sing to girls. He didn't want his life to change. What was important was that he shield his power from Kevin, Brian, Howie, and AJ. He didn't want them to quarantine him like the Carter family did. He loved them too much to have them desert him. He knew that he would not be able to take the isolation anymore.

Isolation had been a pattern in his life. And every time someone or some group would abandon him, he felt more insecure and deprived. He had yearned so much for stability, but had also learned that insecurity was an inevitable part of his life. Once people knew that he was different, they would shun him out. It hurt him to think that they couldn't look past his psychic powers to embrace his true nature. He was not bad. Sometimes, he made mistakes. But never did he intend to hurt anybody.

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