"Are you sure you're ready for this?" David asked, drawing the curtains in my room shut, as if he was preparing for some absurd ritual to bring me into some sort of gang. As if this was an initiation... Actually, that kind of sounded accurate...
I nodded, pursing my lips so I wouldn't blurt out my doubts. I wanted this, and now I was getting it. There was no backing down. "Of course. Can we start already?"
David laughed as he threw himself into my bean bag chair. I casually sat at my desk, spinning around in my chair before facing him. "Well?"
David just stared at me. "You really don't know, do you?" he asked.
"Know what?" I replied.
"All the things that you are truly capable of."
A very dramatic and emotional line it was, I was still confused as heck. I needed an explanation now or else I was going to go insane and live the rest of my life in agony and tension. David had better be a good speaker.
"No, I honestly don't know," I said, annoyed. "Now, can you please just tell me about these... Powers?"
"All righty, then," he said, sitting up straighter. "So, let's go over what we know you can do. You can obviously grab things without using your hands - like me - and you possess super strength. You know, like when you dented in that light pole?" Yes, how could I forget? "And let's not forget your vision. Your..." he paused for words. "Your see through vision."
I laughed. "See through? Everytime I see through things I see weird colors and my head feels like it's being chopped up in a blender!"
He shrugged. "Well, Avaley, you aren't used to these powers so how can I say that the next time you see through a door, it won't hurt?" I guess he was right, but I still didn't get what he was talking about. "And I'm pretty sure you have the speed, from when you ran from school to the hospital. That was really fast." he sounded impressed. "Anything else I'm missing?"
I thought about it. "Nope, not really," I said. "You've covered just about everything."
"Strange," he tilted his head at me. "I figured you'd have more."
"Is that supposed to make me happy?" I growled, gripping the arms of my chair so hard I felt them cave in.
"Sorry," he replied. "And watch those arms. I don't want you breaking them already." he gave me a small smile and cleared his throat. "Okay, so let's start from that day. Think back as far as you can remember, before all of this started happening."
I closed my eyes and thought about it. Frankly, all this weird stuff kind of felt like it was part of me now, like seeing through things was part of my normal life. And yet, somehow, I knew that it wasn't, even though I had grown so used to and accustomed to it. But then my thoughts hit something - something I soon realized - was the answer to David's request. And it fit perfectly.
"The night I died," I whispered.
David leaned in closer to me. "Exactly," he said. "Can you tell me what happened?"
Instinctively, my hand went up and traced the scar where the knife had punctured. I took a deep breath before explaining everything. "I was... I was cutting bread, with a knife."
"Why were you cutting bread?" David asked me.
"Sean and I were going to eat sandwhiches for a snack," I said, my hand running up and down the scar. "He asked if I need help, but... I said no, and he left the room. I..." I gulped. "I was thinking..." I looked at David. "I was thinking of you before it happened."
"Me?" David asked, a bit surprised. "Why's that?"
"Well, you asked me out that day, remember?" I reminded him. "I wanted to see if you'd called or something, and I left the phone on the table away from my reach. I reached over for it, but I realized I still had the knife. I turned around..." my heart pounded with every word, emotions and painful memories clouding my mind. "...I turned around but then, the table was too far, and I... I slipped."
"Avaley, I'm so sorry," David said, leaning in towards me and giving me a one arm embrace. He pulled back. "Can you tell me what else happened?"
"Nothing," I replied immediately. "I mean, I don't remember everything."
He nodded. "Okay, and then when you woke up, you know, from being dead, what happened?"
"My parents were there, and Tamara and Shayline. Sean was there too and they were all talking about how I was gone for a second." I explained, trying to remember the events of that night. I really should start keeping a diary or a journal to jot things down or something. "But... There was this one person... I don't remember who, but I remember something about that voice..." I connected it to that beautiful woman I saw at the hospital. "That's all I remember from that night."
"And then when did all these... Powers, weird things... start happening?"
"Shayline and Tamara came over one day," I told him. "They brought me presents, and before I knew it I could see through the box. I was terrified. It wasn't long after that when I destroyed the light pole and then my other powers just kicked in."
David nodded, like he was a counselor who understood my every word. "You've been through a lot, Avaley."
''Now can you just tell me what's happening to me?" I asked, my voice trembling with fear. What if I was dying or something? What if something was gravely wrong with me, and I was a freak, an outcast, and no one would want me anymore?
"I will Avaley," David said, soothing me with a pat on my shoulder.
My mouth felt sore and dry from all this talking, and I grabbed my waterbottle from my night stand, without using my hands. David watched in awe as it flew to my hand and I gulped a few gulps down. "You're good," he said, impressed.
"The Force comes in handy," I said, screwing the lid back on.
David burst out laughing. "The Force?" he laughed. "Is that what you call it?"
"Well, maybe if I knew what was wrong with me, I'd call it something else!" I shot back.
His face softened. "Avaley, you talk about this as if it's a disease. You think something is wrong with you?"
My ego shrunk a bit. "Well, I... I mean, it's just..." I scratched at my head awkwardly. "I'm just really scared. I don't know what's... Uh... Happening to me."
David gave me a small smile. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I'm with you as well."
"You are?" I said, excited, then mentally slapped my face. No derp, right? He had the same powers as me, I think. I mean, I had seen him use the Force, or whatever it was called. "Do you... Do those other things too?"
He nodded. "Every single bit." he closed his eyes and then stared at my backpack, next to my closet. "In your front pocket there, you have three highliters - all of which orange, blue and green." he looked back at me, satisfied. "See?"
"So you can see through things, too," I said. I grabbed a stapler off of my desk and tossed it to him. "Break it," I commanded.
He did a double take. "You want me to break your stapler? But what about - "
"David, are you going to do it or not?" I asked, a bit forcefully.
He sighed, and then, using both hands, split the stapler down the middle.
"Thanks," I said. "I actually needed that."
"Wha - " he started but then saw my laughing expression and he laughed, too. When we calmed down, he said, "So I've proven myself worthy to you that I am just like you?"
I nodded. "Just about."
"Good." he smiled and stood up. "But I just need to see something."
"What?" I asked, excitedly.
He went over to my window and opened the curtains, the afternoon sunlight streaming in on his handsome features. He opened the window and the air flew in, along with a small breeze and plenty of sun. It was a beautiful day.
"You wanted to see the sky?" I asked, walking over next to him and staring out the window.
"No," he said. "I just wanted to see if you can fly."
And with that, he threw me out the window.