This supergirl has no powers (Now Published so sample only)

Chapter 6 - Hello Zeke!

© Sandra Corton 2014

Chapter 6 – Hello Zeke!

Winter’s POV

I still can't believe I kissed him, even weeks after it happened. I spent the whole summer in some sort of dizzy spell reliving that kiss over and over. It was something I had secretly wanted and craved for so long that I was glad it turned out more spectacular than I thought it would.

The only problem now though was we hadn't talked about it at all. We had long, nightly phone conversations but never about the kiss. It made me think that maybe he regretted it. Maybe he had never longed to kiss me but sometimes when we were close I felt like he wanted to kiss me. Maybe I was reading everything wrong.

He hadn't once flown down to see me like he promised, which I tried not to think about. I know his Mum had been pretty stern with him about not flying for the sake of flying. I had an awful feeling though that I would be hearing all about that Susie girl again when school started.

Enrolments were beginning today but Caz said he wouldn't be here until the last day which was a bummer for me. Then again at least it gave me something to look forward. I would have to deal with all the snobby parents and the annoying kids that looked down at me but like every year I would handle it as best I could. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

When I saw that big desk waiting for me that morning, my heart sunk. It was lined up with all the paperwork and as I stepped into the hall dread filled me. My confidence that I could survive this was knocked down. In truth I was not looking forward to it at all.

Every year it was the same, either looks of pity, revulsion or panic that their children were near me. Geez if I hadn't stolen my families powers, why on earth would I want theirs? Rumours had persisted over the years though, fed mostly by Cole and Quinn, I was sure of that. They both seemed to hate me with a passion that only deepened every year.

I went to open the main doors when everyone was ready. Seeing Cole's smug face first up made me queasy. Ugh why did he have to be first? Did the universe truly hate me? I tried to put a positive spin on of that at least he couldn't surprise me any other day with his rat like features but it didn't help.

"That's her." Cole whispered to the poor little kid behind him who sent me a terrified look.

"Really Cole, how childish can you be?" Another voice piped up that I didn't recognise.

I looked back down the line to see a tall, confident guy with shaggy brown hair shaking his head. I smiled at him and he sent a dazzling smile in return to me which I never once expected. I think I stood there shocked for the longest moment ever.

"If I could have everyone's attention." I called out to the group and the chattering stopped instantly.

I went on to tell them how the day worked and what was expected of them. I heard a gasp of surprise that spread through the group then and knew my Dad had finally appeared which I was grateful for. All my family members were met with the same awe while I tended to get disdain.

I headed to my desk but not before quickly glancing at that guy again. I couldn't recognise him so he must be new even though he seemed around my age. It was incredibly rare for talents to come in so late but not unheard of. This was why my family still kept being hopeful about me.

I mentally tried to prepare myself for whatever Cole wanted to throw at me. When Dad finally let them all stream in I had my back tight, a firm control of my tears and comebacks for any cruel remark he might make.

"Well what do you know it's Winter Mangalow, still manning the front desk and not a booth." Cole said snidely as he leaned onto my table with that smarmy look planted firmly on his face.

I was shocked when his irritated looking mother flicked his ear. The laugh escaped me without meaning to as I reached for the letter that everybody gets sent to attend this school. Cole's face dropped into a scowl but it couldn't stop me from smiling.

It was hard to keep the shock of my face as I skimmed over Cole's letter. His powers were not so much waning as almost disappeared. When he first came here he was in the ninety five percent band for strength in his related power. Now he was in the lowest ten percent. As much as I wanted to gloat, I did feel kind of bad for him. Nobody wanted to lose the one thing that made them special in life.

"Did you get slower over the holidays mere mortal?" Cole said snidely and there went the tiny grain of sympathy I had for him.

"Here you go, please see West in Booth F." I said it perhaps louder than I had to and a few people gasped knowing exactly what that meant. Cole sent me a grimace but I put on my best saccharine smile for him and his family. His Mum flicked his ear again leaving me nothing but satisfied.

I waited all day for that guy to appear who had spoken up for me at the beginning of the day. I thought he had been closer in line. Maybe I had just imagined the whole thing, was all I kept thinking when all these other kids kept appearing.

I was almost at the end of the line for the day when I finally spotted him again. There was no way, absolutely none for him being so far back and hearing Cole's comment this morning. Then again maybe he had super hearing, which would be a new one we hadn't really heard of.

Finally when it was only him and what I assumed was his mother approaching me I felt a bit gobsmacked. He was just about the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. His face could rival any model with its chiselled jaw and high cheekbones. His lips looked luscious and his eyes were brown with these golden spikes around his irises.

For some odd reason though, he made me long for Caz. He was handsome, stunning even but I wished he had blue eyes and shortly cropped raven hair that often reflected bluish in the light. I missed Caz smiling at me, laughing like crazy but mostly I missed his hugs which always made me feel so warm and loved.

"Hello dear." The older lady interrupted my daydream making me snap back to where I was.

"I'm sorry, good afternoon, how are you both?" I asked as I reached for his letter.

"Better for seeing you Winter." The guy seriously dropped me this wink and I could swear I stopped breathing.

"Um hi Zeke." I dared to look into his eyes, pleased that I had noticed his name before glancing back at his letter.

I almost dropped it when I noticed the ninety nine percent band strength. Whatever power this guy had he rivalled Caz. The letters were often quite vague but this one, like Caz's original letter outlined exactly what had brought him here.

It seemed his psychic ability had saved a whole building of people from dying when he had a premonition about its collapse. Wow that was pretty darn awesome if you ask me. I cleared my throat before daring to face him again.

"So how were your holidays Winter?" Zeke asked casually with a grin that would set any girls heart fluttering. Mine just thought about Caz even harder.

"Good thank you." I replied politely with my own smile.

"You know Cole is only a jerk because....."

"He's scared I'll steal his weakening powers." I interrupted with a Caz like snort which only made his grin widen.

"Nope not even close. Believe it or not but he has the hots for you." Zeke tapped his fingers on my table as I outright laughed.

"Well thanks for that, you cheered me up immensely. You can take these to Booth A where the principal is waiting to see you." I handed over his paperwork which Zeke gathered up.

"For future knowledge, I always tell the truth. Here's another titbit for you Winter, you have never been powerless." He walked off still grinning after that while I was stunned to silence.

I was immensely glad that he was the last because I couldn't focus on anything beyond his words. It all seemed a bit cryptic to me. Even the thought of Cole liking me was as gross as it was laughable. I went outside then and sat on the same stairs I recalled sitting there with Caz on his first enrolment day.

I watched as the sun set into the trees. The dusky pink glow surrounded me as I tried to figure out Zeke's angle. When the door opened I almost jumped out of my skin, I had been so lost in my thoughts. Zeke stood there with a soft grin still planted on his face.

"I thought I should come and make sure that I didn't freak you out too much." He said a bit sheepishly and I didn't know how to respond. "I tend to just blurt out things that I see. It's probably why no girls liked me at home." Well I didn't believe that comment for a second which must have showed on my face.

"I blurt things out all the time too." I told him to try and reassure him. "So I guess my Dad was happy with you?"

"I think I stunned him into silence at one point." Zeke's smile faded briefly and a disturbing shadow passed over his eyes.

"Really? It's pretty hard to shock my Dad." I said with a small laugh.

"Well I did. But I'm pretty sure it will all work out just fine." He said hurriedly and I could only wonder at what he meant.

"Can I ask you something?" I tilted my head better to see those nice brown eyes of his which were visible from the glow of the hall windows.

"You just did so sure." His grin was back in place which I was grateful for.

"How come you got here so late? Did you never get our letters?" I asked and he grimaced. "I'm sorry you don't have to answer it if you don't want to." I added quickly.

"I received a letter every year since primary school. My father....he knew I had this gift and he didn't want it to be developed. He ignored the letters and I never saw them. He did the wrong thing last year, exactly as I predicted. I had told him every night he went out drinking not to drive. He always just grunted at me before ignoring me completely.

"The night it happened I warned him again because I knew this was the night. I tried to prevent it and I failed. He hit someone and killed them before crashing into a tree. He has been jailed for twenty years. So this year when the letter arrived I decided it was time to take the opportunity offered to me." His bleak story startled me

"Zeke I'm really sorry." I told him sincerely.

"It's okay Winter. Things happen and sometime even having a gift can't change those things from occurring. Your gift however is freaking awesome and I can't wait until you figure out what it is." His smile gleamed at me but  I simply felt the normal emptiness fill me. I had no power and he needed to know the truth.

"Zeke listen, this supergirl…."

"Has power. Trust me, I never lie and I'm practically one hundred percent accurate." He interrupted me before he tapped me on the cheek.

"Nobody suddenly gets powers at seventeen." I protested knowing I was right.

"True but that's because you've had yours all along." I went to interrupt him but he simply raised a finger at me. "Answer me this and I will believe you are powerless. Why can't Cole see your underwear? Why doesn't Quill's mind bending power ever work on you?"

"I don't know, I guess I never thought of it that way." I said with a frown.

"The truth is their powers don't work on you because your awesome power stops them. Quill has come up with some dodgy things for you to do over the years and yet you've never done a single one of them. It's one of the reasons they despise you so much, their powers don't and will never work against yours." Zeke told me with the brightest grin.

As much as I wanted to believe him, I knew it couldn't really be true. Maybe he was just humouring me but it was hard to believe by the genuine smile on his face. He truly trusted in everything he just told me.

"We'll see." I eventually said while he rolled his eyes, once again reminding me of Caz.

"I swear to you by the middle of this year you will be treated like a queen because of your power. Everyone that has ever said a mean word will turn nice, even Cole and Quill which will make you want to gag. Anyway I've got to get going but I'll see you on the first day of school, maybe before." His words shocked me so much that I almost forgot to say goodbye to him. I managed to stammer out the words as left me there sitting on that cold, concrete step.

For the next four days that I waited for Caz to arrive for enrolments all I could think about was what Zeke said to me. I checked on Zeke's file and he was right, he was close to being one hundred percent accurate. His psychic powers were still strong even though he had never been trained to use them. I thought about his family a lot and the tragedy that had ultimately led him here. I felt bad about that but he seemed to cope with it just fine.

We hadn't had a psychic this strong I think ever in the history of the school. Zeke even overpowered the one man that could teach him how to use his powers, which seemed a bit ironic really. What I liked though was that Zeke just seemed like any other normal guy. He was as down to earth as what Caz was when he wasn't being influenced by others.

It was the last day of enrolments when I finally saw Caz. He beamed at me from afar and I felt my heart squeeze tight with happiness. It helped me let go of the awkwardness I had been feeling about that kiss when we left for holidays.

I was working ridiculously fast to get through everyone so I could see and talk to Caz. It got so bad that there were people left to queue up outside the booths so I was forced to slow down. When he finally made it to me I couldn't take the grin off my face. I had missed him so much. Even his mother's scowl didn't hinder my joy at seeing him.

"Hello here's our letter." His Mum shoved his letter at me so I didn't have time to talk to Caz, I guess. I grabbed it and turned to Caz regardless. "Hey Caz how were your holidays?" I asked and was rewarded when his bright blue eyes smiled at me.

"Not as much fun as I would have liked." He rolled his eyes in the direction of his mother and I forgave him for not coming to visit me.

"Let’s go Caspian. The principal is waiting." His mother huffed at our brief conversation which surprisingly made me smile.

"Talk to you later?" I asked him and he grinned in response. 

Something seemed to have changed in him this year. Well at least here, he didn't seem to mind being seen talking to me, which was a first. In fact he looked as though he didn't want to move away except for the tug on his arm from his mother.

"Alright I'm coming." He grouched to his Mum and I sighed. I had missed every single part of Caz and I was glad that he was back.

"Flirt much?" Quill said interrupting my staring session at Caz's back. I hadn't noticed her in line but I should have known she would have been close to Caz.

"Well at least I don't hang around like a bad smell." I replied shortly as I held my hand out for her paper.

I know I shouldn't have been shocked by her letter after seeing Cole’s a couple of days ago, but I was. For someone who could once smugly state she had been in booth B, it now had to cut her up that she was heading to booth E.

I didn't have to say anything else to her; I simply sent her a knowing smile. She flushed and looked away with mortification flooding her features. I handed her the paper work and watched with some satisfaction as she shuffled towards her assigned booth.

I heard Zeke's words in my head then and wondered if what he told me had any relation to how their powers had dimmed. I shook my head to myself then knowing that Zeke had to be wrong in what he told me. This was nothing but a strange coincidence.

I was still musing about Zeke when Caz found me again. His hair had grown a little longer over the holidays, getting almost as shaggy as what Zeke's had been. Why was I thinking about Zeke when Caz was around and vice versa? It had my brain in a bit of a tizzy actually. 

"Winnie it's so good to see you." Caz wrapped me in one on his awesome hugs the moment we were alone. I could barely breathe with how wonderful it felt to have him holding me again.

"It's good to see you too Caz." I told him as I returned his hug.

"So anyone new or interesting?" He gestured back into the hall and enrolments.

That was the instant my tongue decided not to budge. It simply didn't want to mention Zeke to him. What happened when they met though and Zeke mentioned he talked to me? They would probably both be in the Elite dorm so surely I would come up in conversation at some point.

"Um well there's a new guy that will probably be in your dorm. His names Zeke." The words finally escaped me and Caz sent me an odd look before smiling.

"Well it will be nice to finally have some company."

"Caspian we need to leave now." A voice screeched of at us and we both sighed. "I guess I'll see you in a week." He said smiling brightly and I nodded.

To my surprise he leaned in and kissed me then. His lips were warm, soft and brought an intense feeling curling to life in my stomach. Before I knew it he had pulled away sending me a melting smile.

He walked back into the hall and I touched my fingers to my tingling lips. I couldn't help the smile that bloomed on my face then. All my worries of summer were gone in one brief meeting of lips and I couldn't be happier.

****************************************************************************

So what did you all think of Zeke? I like him so far, he is sure going to stir the pot a bit!