Jax of Hearts [A Jax Novoa EWW Fanfiction]

𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐈 - 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟

(Soleila in gif)

"I feel so close to you right now, it's a force—" With a practiced swat, I shut the annoyingly loud alarm off and sank deeper into the sheets. I had been awake an hour before it was set to ring; just staring up at the sparkly popcorn ceiling. Today, I was to make my debut as the new girl.

As if it weren't enough that I was in a new town...

Before I could make up my mind to take another five minutes for myself, the room shook violently. I was thrust out of the bed and planted next to a stack of cardboard boxes that should've been unpacked days ago.

"Soleila!" My father hollered, "Don't you dare. We leave in an hour. Get dressed."

I stood to my feet and lazily removed a wedgie from my behind.

        Looks like we didn't have time for any snoozing or sulking. I swiftly grabbed up a few things to take to the bathroom before drawing in a deep breath. With my legs wide apart and arms spread out in front of me, I expertly drew a glowing pentagon in the air and grudgingly muttered, "Porta aperta." The walls hummed in response as the corners of the room phased into the spout of my golden lamp. Once the transformation was complete, and the outer world was revealed through the slim opening, I willed myself into a glittering mist and slid out.

        It was uncomfortable at first. No one could ever really grow used to the crushing feeling it required to break down each molecule in your body. One minute you're solid and the next you're as weightless as a piece of paper. But before you know it, you're back on your feet and standing in your dummy room right across from the nightstand where your real room was. The movies had it all wrong. Being a genie wasn't as magical and amazing as they said. Sometimes you grow tired of all the shapeshifting, room hopping, and hiding in plain sight. But we do what we have to to survive. And sometimes that meant upending the only life you ever knew and moving to a foreign place because it was "right for the family."

"Tamia and Raven," Dad began, "If you two don't get up, so help me, God, I will put termites in your bedding!"

Today was a big day for our father too. Dad was starting his new job at Riverwem University as a senior software engineer. I could only imagine how anxious he was feeling right now. We left our old lives behind in Philly and relocated to Miami for this. And sure, he's good at what he does. But no amount of skill will trump those first-day jitters.

Wait.

I'm the first one up.

Dashing past the two rooms belonging to my younger sisters, I made it to the bathroom without a hitch. Mimi and Ray are heavier sleepers than me and weren't awaiting their alarms as I had been. I was taking advantage of the soothing shower while the water was still hot and the noise around the house was only coming from Dad.

∞

The car ride to school undid any of the happiness I managed to give myself in my 20-minute shower. I had been wedged in between Ray and her summer reading project and Mimi with her swollen backpack; forced to bear witness to embarrassing TikToks and inappropriate thirst traps from 8th graders. As I squeezed out of the car, I angrily asked, "What's in that freaking thing, anyway?!"