Chp. 2 "One Year Later"
I honked loudly as I pulled up to Max’s house, he always made me wait even though I told him I was on my way. I watched him walk out of the house, he had changed significantly since we had met. His hair was fixed and gelled and his acne had cleared, his shoes weren’t too big and neither was his leather jacket. We were two completely different people since last year when we met, and we had become best friends.
Ever since we found out that we had the same electric ability.
He had been over excited for me but I had been nothing but freaked the fuck out. He had explained to me how to control it and we had hung out every day after school since. We had mastered our powers together, searching for people like us but never being able to find any. We were sure there were people out there who were like us but finding them… well…
He joined me in my car and sighed, “Sorry, I was taking a shit.”
I rolled my eyes, “Really Max?”
We started on our way to school when he spoke, “The end of senior year is in view. It really can’t end fast enough.”
I nodded, “Yes I know, trust me.”
I looked through my rearview mirror, seeing my familiar green eyes as they stared back at me. Lately I had been thinking about myself, the thoughts of who I actually was came to my mind quite often now. The powers were a mystery, where did they come from and why me? Neither of my parents were like me… so how did I end up like this?
The answers I would come up with would scare me but explaining my situation to them was impossible. I hadn’t even touched on the subject of what I had discovered the day I had met Max. What was the best way to tell your parents you could control electricity? I mean… it was unnatural and almost impossible, but not to me and Max.
Explaining it to other people was near impossible… and my parents, well, it was even more impossible.
I drove up to our familiar high school, parking in my usual spot as I looked at Max, “Two more months.”
He nodded, “It literally can’t come fast enough.”
We exited my car as we made our way towards the front doors. I tugged my booksack tighter against my back as I shoved the double doors open and headed to my locker. Max followed besides me as we shoved our way through the halls and finally got to my locker in one piece.
Max spoke, “I’ll just share your book today in biology.”
I nodded, “Ok.”
We walked up the crowded stairs slowly, which only annoyed me further. Sometimes I just wanted to give people a little shock just to make them hurry the fuck up. Learning how to control my powers had been tough, for days I could barely get into my car and not short out my radio again. It had taken a lot of concentration but now it was as easy as breathing.
We walked into our usual first hour and sat at our usual desk, everything was just as per usual.
And I was getting sick of it.
It was the same shit every day and I was getting tired of high school, but thinking about life after it was blurry. What was I going to do after? Go to college? Get a job? Leave town?
I watched the door, seeing kids pass throughout the hallways and waiting for the class to start.
Then she walked in, Avery Ryan, the girl that I had found myself waiting for every morning to walk in and sit at her usual desk one row in front of me. Her naturally reddish brown hair was curled today, and she was wearing more makeup than she had yesterday. I couldn’t help but notice the little things about her, like the way she held her pen, or the way she tapped her foot nervously while she took a test.
God I sounded like such a creep.
Max nudged me, “Earth to Andy, you’re so infatuated with that girl it is ridiculous.”
I rolled my eyes, peeling my eyes away from Avery and looking straight at the dry-erase board. I shrugged, “No I’m not… she’s just… pretty.”
He snorted, “Ok now I know you’re lying cause that’s an understatement. Avery is gorgeous, and I think you should make a move before the school year ends.”
He was right; I had been too shy to even approach her. She was something else though, she wasn’t like the other cute girls at this school. She was kind, caring, and she was different. I almost envied her because she stayed herself no matter what the situation, never changing her personality for anyone or anything.
One of her friends walked in class as she looked up to greet them, making me wish her hazel blue green eyes would look at me instead. I craved her attention but feared the spotlight. I wanted to impress her but I was too afraid of her rejection.
Plus I wasn’t one hundred percent sure if she was into girls or not.
“Alright, read and do vocabulary for chapters 7 and 8. I’ll be working on grades if anyone needs me.”
My attention altered to my teacher who was currently making himself at home in his usual leather, rolling chair. We were starting a new chapter and after we did this I knew he would start his class and give us cool projects.
I scooted my book in between Max and I and we began copying down definitions. It was boring, but it was easy, and frequently I found my eyes shifting from the page to Avery. She was pretty focused on getting all the definitions done in class, and I noticed she was bouncing her foot impatiently again. I smiled to myself as she brought her black pen to her lips and let the end of it rest between her teeth gently. My eyes lingered on her pink lips that were full and a little cracked from the cold outside.
Then she started writing, she held her pen weirdly but I thought it was cute how she held it. Then as if she had felt my stare on her back her head lifted and her eyes swiftly found mine before I could pull them away. There wasn’t tension in the eye contact, but I felt something, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t necessarily good either.
Maybe confusion? Wonderment?
Anything was better than disgust though.
I continued to copy definitions, finding it difficult not to look up frequently to sneak a peek at Avery. It was weird, I hadn’t met her till this year but she had been coming here since we were both freshmen. How come it had been three whole years till I met this beautiful angel of a girl?
It just wasn’t fair.
My eyes had shifted quietly again, letting them linger on her thighs where her tight jeans showed every contour of her lower body. She was perfect, her legs were toned and her jeans were tight, allowing my eyes to engulf her figure.
Then I felt a tiny electric shock of pain in my arm, causing me to jump and hit my knee on my desk. Max giggled while I shoved him, “What the hell Max?”
“You were getting off track again.”
I whispered harshly, “Doesn’t give you the right to shock me!”
“Max, Andy, be quite,” I pulled my eyes up and nodded to the teacher who was sipping from his coffee mug. Then my eyes shifted to Avery out of instinct and I saw her pretty eyes again, making my heart flutter. She was smiling, well it was more of a playful smirk than a full out smile but…
It was friendly.
I returned her smile and began working on my definitions again as I brought my other hand up to Max’s ear. I pinched his ear lobe between my fingers and delivered a quick but painful shock causing him to jump and stifle a yell.
I whispered, “Payback. Now we’re even.”
He groaned, knowing this class was only first beginning but we were busy. Soon we would finish our definitions and be on our way out of here, continuing on till graduation. Continuously going through the usual motions of school until there was none anymore.
~ ~ ~ ~
The week had drug on without any sign of relief and finally, as if it would never come, Friday morning was here. It was one more week closer to graduation day which I was growing impatient for. Me and Max were on our way back to science, knowing today he would lecture and give us more useless assignments.
I walked into the familiar boring classroom, seeing my empty desk that awaited me. My eyes soon caught Avery, who was sitting at her desk drawing something into her notebook. I felt compelled to tell her hey or something, but instead I just continued to my desk with Max, scolding myself the entire way.
I sat, looking at the clock and seeing we had made it just in time. The tardy bell rang and our teacher stepped behind his podium and began to speak. “Ok, so I’ve been thinking that I’m going to do something new for this end of the year chapter.”
I rolled my eyes, I hated hearing those words. It usually resulted in something like a project that involves us presenting something or moving into bigger groups.
I really didn’t like too many people.
Max murmured, “Great.”
Our teacher continued, “So, I’m going to be assigning groups for the next set of projects we will have. I know you all are going to hate me but it’s required of me so I meet all of my teaching requirements.” He flipped through his curriculum and continued further, “Here are the groups, Jacob and Luke, Ryan and Kelly, Max and Carl…”
He continued calling names and I felt my heart drop when I heard Max wasn’t with me, he nodded, “Smartest kid in class, I can roll with that.”
I rolled my eyes and listened for my name but it took him awhile to get there. I must be last on his list.
“And last but not least… Andy, you’re with Avery.”
My heart began hammering in my chest, what the fuck did he just say? I was partners with Avery Ryan? Great, just great, how was I supposed to focus on grades when I couldn’t even get past her cute smile?
I looked up towards Avery who was gathering her things and preparing to move over to our desk as Max left me alone. I tried to calm my heart down, she was just another girl, and there was no reason to be nervous like I was. I moved my booksack to the far side of the table and smiled when she sat and spoke suddenly, “We’re gonna make a good team I think.”
I looked into her mysterious blue green eyes and smirked, trying not to seem nervous, “I agree.”
The teacher spoke again, “So the first project you will have to build an electric current, thus enabling the light bulb to flash. Do it anyway you can, the more creative the more points you get for creativity.”
Then he seemed to be done talking to us, allowing the groups to brainstorm. I turned to Avery, seeing her big, gorgeous eyes already locked on me, smiling, “I think this is going to be easy.”
I smirked, thinking how cliché this project was and how simple it would be if all I had to do was simply hold the bulb in my hand.
But I was going to have to do this project the hard way, with Avery Ryan by my side.