A Psychic's Gambit

Short Fuses and Long Distances

Dad always called me a firecracker when I was younger. It was mostly endearing, but there was a degree of truth to it: I had a bad temper growing up. I still do, but I manage to keep it under control except for a few times it slips through. It always made Dad chuckle to himself when I would act just like Mom in that regard; she didn't care for it much, though.

The tropical sun was even more irritating than normal as I crossed the threshold of my front door. The normal annoyance coupled with probably less than two hours of sleep made for a miserable start to my day. Once again, I rummaged through my bag to find my sunglasses, and they of course weren't where they were supposed to be in my bag.

"Maybe I should get you permanent sunglasses for your birthday," Danny joked just outside of the fence.

"Fuck off..." I grumbled.

I felt like a beaker over a fire with every passing second bubbling more. If it wasn't for the desperation to avoid finals, I would have stayed home and slept like most normal high schoolers. I finally found my sunglasses, and we walked to the station in silence.

Stupid island sun.

The trees that dotted the sidewalks made for nominal shade. Each patch took a few seconds to walk through, and the breaks between them were also a few seconds. It was just enough of a break to almost adjust to the blinding light and stagnant heat before being thrown back into it and beginning the cycle all over again. Needless to say, I was tired of it within a few minutes.

The only boon of the morning was that somehow my power also as tired as I was. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a Calico cat sun bathing. I envied her life, able to and almost expected to sleep the days away. As we passed her by, her ear flicked, and her eyes cracked open to stare at us.

We climbed onto the bus and took a seat close to the back. The warmth from the window radiated onto my face as we passed through even more and shorter patches of shade. I felt eyes on me and turned my head to look at Danny.

"What?"

"Musubi?" He held out the snack in his hand.

"Sure," I sighed. "...thanks."

The fluffy rice was heavenly by itself, but the egg and meat made it almost too much to handle. The seaweed held it together perfectly for the whole minute that it took me to inhale it. In my attempt to catch up on sleep, I had forgotten to eat breakfast again.

Already off to a great start for this meet... I just hope I can sleep some on the bus ride...

***

I had hoped that food and some caffeine could balance out two hours of sleep. I performed a delicate balancing act of waking myself up and not overeating during lunch, but the fact that I was fighting to keep my eyes open even in Anatomy and Philosophy class proved that hope to be wasted. The last hope that I could hold on to was the hour drive to the meet after school.

The bell rang, and I gathered my things to trudge to the last hurdle before my run — Home Economics. The horrible realization that I still had to try to make bread came rushing back to the forefront of my mind. If anyone tried to say anything to me on that long walk between classes, I never heard them.

Mrs Tite smiled at me as I took my place behind the lab counter. I could feel the bags under my eyes pulling my face to the floor. Nonetheless, I tied my hair back and put on the accursed apron. While everyone else pulled their doughs from the various fridges, I pulled out all the base ingredients once again.

I had memorized most of the measurements since I had done this routine so many times before. Flour, milk, oil, sugar, salt, water, and the bane of my existence... the yeast. One by one, I placed everything into the mixing bowl until it was time for the last two. The chirping of the ovens cued me into where everyone else was in their processes.