The Pyramid Chronicles: Tyche Point (#1)

Chapter One: Everybody's Looking For Something, Part One

Half the town was still asleep, and the halls of Tyche Point High School were mostly empty. Dust particles danced in beams of golden morning light. Occasionally, a distant laugh or hurried footsteps would cut through the stillness. But with almost an hour left before classes would start, the only kids in the building were those working on projects, preparing for upcoming school activities, or participating in sports or clubs.

And then there was Sam Martinez, interrupting the quiet with a wild sprint through the halls as he searched for his twin sister. To tell her that he might have kinda sorta broken the one rule they'd set for themselves years ago.

"Veronica!" Sam flung open the door to the biology lab. "You in here?"

"Sam?" Fluorescent light glinted off Veronica's goggles as she looked up from her notebook. "Is something wrong? I thought you were outside working on that art project."

Sam pushed the door shut behind him. "Uh, yeah, remember how you said we should keep our powers secret because—?"

"Shh!" Veronica's gloved hands tightened, crumpling the edges of the notebook's pages. "I'm not the only TA. Someone else could come in."

"Sorry!" Sam exclaimed. He stepped away from the door and crossed the distance between them. "I just, uh, well I sort of told someone—"

"Please don't tell me someone found out about your powers."

"Well..."

"Sam!"

Sam lowered his voice. "We're not the only kids in town with powers! I saw this guy almost fall off that wall out front—"

"Why on earth was he standing on top of the wall?" Veronica asked.

"I—I don't know," Sam stammered. "But he could have broken something. So, I saved him with my powers, and he told me that he has them too. And he knows of another girl with them. Oh, and his brother. And he—"

Veronica cut off his rambling. "Sam, if the wrong people found out, we could be in danger." Her dark eyes held that deep concern they always had when the topic of their abilities came up. She'd made it clear that the last thing she wanted was to get dragged into the complicated world of superpowered beings, the endless battle between heroes and villains and the government.

But it had been years since they discussed their abilities in depth. Sam hadn't found the courage to try convincing Veronica that having them might not be all bad. At least, not yet.

"You're a scientist," Sam tried. "Don't you want to figure out how we got them?"

Veronica set her notebook down on the table. "Of course I want to know. But right now, I'm more worried about getting to college this fall. The last thing I need is to wind up on a government list." Her gaze met Sam's, and her expression softened. "All I'm saying is, hanging out with other kids like us could get you in trouble."

"I know, I know," Sam said. The last thing he wanted was to screw up her medical school plans. He rubbed his arm. "I just...haven't had any close friends since Mike moved away."

Veronica sighed. "I'm sure it'll be fine to hang out with people like us. Just be careful. If there really are more of us in town, it's only a matter of time before someone comes looking." She slid off her gloves and reached up to adjust her ponytail. While she had the same tan skin and wavy brown hair as Sam, her hair was a few shades darker than his.

"Is your head okay?" Veronica asked as her hands lowered again. "After using your powers?"

"I had a slight headache earlier, but it's pretty much gone," Sam told her. He hadn't been surprised when the pain came after lifting an entire person, but he'd forgotten how much he hated it. Veronica had only ever used her powers on accident, which wasn't enough to give her a headache.