Clairvoyant ➶ Barry Allen

one

01 start at the beginning

When you leave somewhere that you considered home, does it still feel like home when you come back?

KELISSA SPARK HAD LIVED IN CENTRAL CITY for the first eighteen years of her life. Growing up, the brunette had always been a know-it-all. She knew that Becky Blue had a crush on Steven Worbecker, but was holding hands with Tyler Rogers to make him jealous. She knew that her best friend, Bartholomew Allen, had a crush on her other best friend, Iris West. She knew that she wanted to be a psychologist, diagnosing other peoples' problems while ignoring her own. She knew that she would get there.

She did not, however, know that her father had been cheating on her mother with Steven Worbecker's mother since she was in eighth grade. In the long run, Kelissa had paid more attention to other people and their lives than she had her own.

Maybe it was better that way. Maybe she had saved her younger self from an incredible pain that would have shattered her big dreams forever while simultaneously worsening her mother's pain.

Her eyes darted to the window as soon as her plane was hovering over Central City. Instead of feeling the warmth she usually felt when coming home, Kelissa only felt cold, not sure whether she could even call the city home anymore.

 ✯

HER MOM AND DAD HAD CHOSEN the worst time to split up. A selfish thought, indeed, but staring at the busy traffic in front of her, the brunette hadn't been thinking wrong.

S.T.A.R. Labs, a research organization with headquarters in Central City, was launching their particle accelerator that very day. The accelerator was supposed to use clean energy to power the city, and advance aspects in both science and medicine. While Kelissa wasn't thrilled about the traffic it brought to town, the science nerd in her was excited to be arriving on the same day of the opening. Though she wouldn't be in attendance, watching it on the news with her mom would suffice and hopefully take their minds off the situation at hand.

Pulling up to her childhood home in a crappy rental car gave her a sense of comfort that she had been looking for since she arrived. Even though much had changed in the eight years she had been away, the house looked the same. Flowers had been planted around the base of the house, and were in pots leading up the steps. There was a porch swing on the left side of the door, and a porcelain pug on the right.

As her feet stepped on the faded-out 'Welcome' mat, for a brief, brief second, Kelissa contemplated whether or not she should get back in the car and get a coffee from Jitters first, just to calm her nerves. Kelissa had never been good at comforting people, let alone when she had gotten no sleep the previous night and was currently facing major jetlag. The time difference from New York to Central City was subtle yet noticeable at the same time.

Shaking off her thoughts, the brunette knocked two times on the mahogany door. Glass shattered from inside as soon as the final knock echoed throughout the house. Frantically, she reached towards the porcelain pug, unscrewed the front right leg, and let a key drop into her open hand. She unlocked the door, bringing her suitcase inside so she could safely close and lock the door behind her.

Rushing through the house, she was saddened to find her mom lying next to a shattered bourbon bottle, all warmth and comfort leaving her body. Helping her mother up, saddened sobs wracking her body and making the task harder, Kelissa knew that she would be staying a lot longer with her mother than anticipated.

✯

WITH HER MOTHER SAFELY TUCKED IN BED and the glass all cleaned up, Kelissa Spark decided to finally make that Jitters run. Taking her mother's new suburban instead of the rental, the brunette entered the coffee shop with a tight smile. While she didn't want to seem menacing to the people she once knew, the crowded building and her current predicament wasn't helping her maintain her composure.

After waiting in the line for twenty minutes, she reached the cashier, who had her own tight smile spread across her face. That smile quickly grew into a full-blown grin once the cashier recognized who was standing before her.

"Kelissa!" Iris West exclaimed.

"Iris?" Kelissa questioned, her own smile becoming real.

"Kelissa!" Iris repeated, leaning over the counter as best she could to give her former best friend a hug. By now, news about her parents had no doubt spread around their circle. "It's so good to see you!"

"You as well," she sighed contently, taking in Iris West, another piece of her past that hadn't changed all that much.

Realizing that she was still at work and that Kelissa was a paying customer, Iris snapped out of the shock of seeing her childhood friend so soon, "Oh, what can I get you?"

"I'll take a caramel iced coffee with milk and extra sugar."

"Some things never change," Iris smiled, taking down her order.

"Unfortunatly, some things do." A tense silence took place between them. "Sorry, I'm still getting used to all that's gone on. My usual demeanor has been replaced by one that's less than welcoming."

"It's completely understandable," Iris sympathized. She, too, had lived through a divorce, and her lack of an apology for what had happened made the brunette feel more comfortable with her. "Maybe we can meet up before you leave and catch up."

"Most definitely. You can even bring Barry along for the ride, like old times."

"Yeah, he'll be up for it, for sure," Iris handed her the freshly-made coffee. The two had been talking so intently they didn't realize they had been holding up the line. "It was great seeing you."

"Yeah, you too, Iris, you too." And, surprisingly, she wasn't fibbing.

[ a.n ]

i present to you the first chapter of clairvoyant.

once again, i wish to dedicate this chapter to starfragment , whom i would not have come up with this story without.

hope you guys enjoyed the chapter !!