"Eli? What is it? You can tell me."

Xavian's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion while I debated whether to tell him or bury it deep into the ground. I could tell that he was sincere. He wanted to help.

Was it the right thing to do, though? It wasn't like this was any average secret I could keep from him. This was a matter of keeping my reputation as a normal human being. I couldn't yell it out and be okay with it.

"Eli..." Xavian called to me in a gentle tone. "Come on, brother. I'm your best friend. Whatever it is, I assure you it stays between me and you in this room. We've known each other since we were toddlers. You can trust me."

I shook my head. "Xavian, you have no idea. Nobody has any idea."

"What do you mean?"

I kept shaking my head, trying not to let my emotions take control. Forcing myself to calm down, I decided to keep it as vague as possible. "I'm...not normal."

More confusion revealed itself on his face. "W-What? What does that mean?"

How was I supposed to explain this to him? What would he think of me if I did tell him? This was too much.

I just blurted the first words that came to mind.

"I'm not normal. I have powers."

Shit. What was I thinking!? Why did I expose myself? I have been holding my reputation as your average high schooler my entire life, and this is how I blow it? By blurting it out? What was Xavian thinking?

The confusion on his face was now peaked. He was dumbfounded. "You...what?"

The secret was out. There was no turning back, now. I sighed and turned towards him. "I'm serious, Xavian. I was born with these...abilities of sorts. I don't know how I got them, but as far as I can remember, I've always had them. I know this makes no sense, but I need you to believe me."

Xavian was completely speechless. "I...you...what?"

His reactions were understandable. I didn't know what to expect out of him in the first place. "I know it's hard to believe, but I'm genuinely being serious right now. I need you to try to understand."

He took a second to comprehend what I told him. "You're saying...you have powers? What does that mean?"

I was about to explain it to him, but an idea came to mind. It'd be a great way to get it out of my system. "Rather than explaining, why don't I show you?"

Xavian furrowed his eyebrows. "Show me? Where?"

Thinking for a moment, it was obvious to me that I needed a large, open space to showcase my abilities, but where? There was the old football field, but too many cars would pass by. Xavian patted my leg.

"The soccer field should be fine. The one off campus."

"Wouldn't that be too public?" I asked. "I don't want other people seeing this."

He pondered for a moment before shrugging and shaking his head. "No, because nobody uses it anymore. It's also out of the way from any residences. It shouldn't be an issue."

After thinking about the idea, I eventually agreed. I couldn't come up with anything better. "Alright. Let's eat dinner and we'll head out after."

"Sounds good," he responded. "It should be ready by now."

We left his room and joined his mother at the dinner table. She made a great meal consisting of pork, mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables. It had been a while since I'd had good meat like this, due to the spiked prices, another reason why I didn't like our Supreme Leader.

After eating, I asked Ashley if I could take a small portion of dinner home for my mother. She happily obliged and gave me a couple of plastic containers to take home. I thanked her.

"Hey, we're going to the soccer field," Xaxian told Ashley. "We'll be back before dark."

She smiled. "Sure, just be careful."

A chilly gust of wind crashed over my body. I adjusted my jacket and slipped into Xavian's car. I buzzed my lips to make a "brr" sound. He started the engine and put the car in reverse.

"It got cold quickly," I noticed.

Xavian nodded after pulling out of the driveway. "It did, didn't it? I wonder if it's finally getting cold."

Riland was a slightly warmer-than-average country. Our cold seasons tended to be more towards the end of winter until the middle of spring. It was the beginning of December, so it was still early for it to get cold.

It was a ten-minute trip to the soccer field. Xavian parked his car just off of the road and switched off the ignition. As we stepped out, Xavian sighed and turned to me.

"So, you're serious? You're not making any of this up?"

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. I know it's hard to believe, but let me show you that I'm not making this up."

Xavian motioned his hands toward the field as if inviting me onto it. I tried to shake the nervousness off and stepped forward. I couldn't believe that I was about to do this. I was able to keep this to myself for as long as I can remember, and thanks to a picture, everything spilled all over the place.

How was I going to show this to Xavian? This was the first time I'd ever shown anyone my abilities. I stood in the middle of the field, feeling his eyes on me, anticipating me to do something otherworldly.

I could feel the power surge through my body, itching for release. Having someone spectate may have been nerve-wracking, but I've been craving this for so long. It felt like I was going through withdrawal from a strong drug.

The earth beneath called to me, ringing nonstop, like a nagging feeling that you couldn't ignore.

I decided to answer.

BOOM!

I didn't realize my feet had sunk into the ground, along with my right heel driving itself into the dirt, creating a trench. I crouched and slammed my hands on both ends of the trench and bent my fingers to where I could rip it open. The gap in the ground was about three feet wide and five feet in length.

The ground cracked ahead of me, and the grass and dirt tried to fill the gap. I stood up and clenched my hands. Bending my knees, I brought the ground to life by imitating lifting something heavy in my hands. The ground lifted itself, now completely filling the gap that was created earlier. Two hills that were close to my height appeared in front of me, making the earth tremble as if an earthquake was happening.

Without hesitation, I threw my palms forward, sending the hills toward the creek. They traveled through the ground like an underwater missile, eventually slamming against the creek's bank. The noise it made was similar to deafening thunder.

After the dust settled, there was a huge dent in the bank of the creek. I relaxed my body and stood straight, feeling the adrenaline settle down.

"Holy shit."

My eyes widened, having forgotten that Xavian was here. I wheeled around, and he was standing behind me with utter shock on his face. He tried to find words to comment on what he witnessed, but nothing came out.

I forced a weak smile. What was he thinking? Was he going to shame me for being so different? Were we still going to be best friends?

However, he put his hands on his head and smiled widely. "Bro, that was awesome! You've been keeping this from me!? How long have you been able to do this!?"

I chuckled nervously as he approached. "U-Um, for as long as I can remember. I could've been born with it."

"But how can you be born with...powers? What do you call it?"

I shrugged. "Abilities, powers, gifts. It doesn't really matter. I don't know, though. I've wondered that myself. I haven't met or heard of anyone else with these abilities. I've looked online, but I'm afraid to talk to other people about it."

Xavian tilted his head in question. "How come?"

Before I answered, I motioned to the car. "Do you want to grab a milkshake? I've been craving one for a few days."

A small smile formed across his face. "That sounds great. We can talk more on the way there."

The anxiety started to settle. Xavian hadn't shown any negative feelings toward me or what he witnessed earlier, which was what I was hoping for. There was more to discuss, of course, but for now, all was fine.

We climbed into the car, Xavian still rambling about what happened. "What else can you do?"

I slightly shrugged. "I don't use my powers hardly at all, so I don't know what I can do."

He shot a glance at me as he was turning onto another street. "Why don't you use them?"

"I want to be a normal person," I explained, the anxiety trying to take over. Sighing, I continued. "If people found out that I was different, I'd be everyone's favorite target, all for different purposes. Most would probably try to be friends with me for the clout; others would use me as a tool for homework because I'm considered a studious bookworm. I don't want that."

"I understand what you're saying," he replied. "You don't want to be in the spotlight or have a target on your back. What made you decide to tell me, though?"

Thinking for a moment, I looked at the people walking down the sidewalk beside Daita's business district. They all wore the same expressions, somber and in need of sleep. Due to the heightened prices thanks to the war, our country and its population had to make ends meet. I didn't want to become those people after high school.

"I felt comfortable, I guess," I answered. "I'm not sure how or why. You're the first and only person that knows about it."

"Wait, your parents don't even know?"

I pursed my lips and nodded. "No, they don't. I would, but I have no idea how they'd react, especially now that I'm eighteen."

"I understand, but I think they deserve to know," he implied. "They're your parents, and I'm honestly surprised they haven't seen you use them when you were younger. Now that I think about it, when did you figure out you had powers?"

"Maybe six, seven? It was around the time that the picture was taken," I responded.

Xavian pulled into the parking lot of the shop and turned off the car. Before getting out, he turned to me. "Well, I'm curious. How did you discover your powers?"

"It just kind of happened, I guess," I said. "I remember during our break period we went outside. We were playing kickball, and my foot slid against the ground. The ball ended up going far over the fence, and the teachers couldn't find it anywhere. The students looked at me as if I was some sort of freak."

Xavian chuckled. "Damn. The ball must've flown to the moon or something. But to be real with you, I think it's really cool that you have these gifts. Maybe you can use them for good."

I tilted my head. "Are you suggesting I be a hero or something? I'm far from that."

"I'm not saying you have to put your life on the line, but helping people in the way that you could be able to would be great." 

I shrugged and opened the car door. "Maybe. We'll see." 

We walked into the shop. It was a small, hole-in-the-wall kind of place, with a baby-blue complexion. It gave a comforting vibe. We got in line to order, and a few of Xavian's friends noticed him and came to talk to us. As usual, I stayed out of the conversation, but I pitched in when people talked to me.

After ordering, Xavian and I found a corner table that was out of earshot from everyone else. We drank some of our milkshakes before continuing our discussion. "Do you know of anyone else with powers?" 

I shook my head. "No. I've been keeping this to myself, so I haven't been actively seeking people that have powers." 

For some reason, the girl from the parking lot came to mind. Did she see something in me? I quickly shook it off and turned my attention back to Xavian, who was giving me a questioning look. "What's the matter?" 

After pondering for a moment, I decided there was no point in keeping anything else from him. "You know the feeling you get when someone's watching you from far away?" 

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, why?" 

"After school, I was walking back to my car when I got that feeling," I explained. "I looked over and saw a girl walking with her friends. She stared me down as if she'd seen a ghost or something." 

Xavian looked even more confused. "That's weird. Who was it?" 

"I don't know. She's one of the popular girls, but I can't remember her name." 

"What did she look like?" 

"Long brown hair, about average height, and a very petite figure." 

Xavian lowered his head in thought. "The first person that came to mind is Emily Jackson, or maybe Jolie. I don't know, though." 

I shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Maybe she mistook me for someone else. I'm a pretty average guy." 

"Uh, Eli?" He leaned in and had a sarcastic smile that he was well-known for. "Based on what happened about thirty minutes ago, I think you're the least average person I've ever met." 

"Okay, Mr. Murdock," I responded, jokingly using his last name that he never favored. He rolled his eyes. "I get your point, but I'd still like to stay undercover. Like we talked about earlier, I don't want to have that target on my back." 

Xavian nodded in understanding. "I hear you. Don't worry, I won't go all over the school spreading your secret. I'm not that much of a douchebag." 

I smirked. "Good, because I might have to kick your ass with these powers if you did. What you saw was nothing compared to what I can do." 

 For a second, his eyes widened. "O-Oh, uh, I got you. It stays between me and you." 

I broke out in laughter. "Dude, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not a violent person. Seriously though, please don't tell anyone." 

He could sense the tone in my voice in the last sentence. "I will, but on one condition." 

A bit of nervousness built in my body. Did I make a mistake telling him? Was he going to try to blackmail me? "Oh, w-what is it?" 

"You can chunk some rocks at me so I can practice baseball, just like in the picture." 

A smile grew. "Sounds like a plan." 

The discussion finally came to an end, but one lingering thought continued to bother me. There was no way that girl could've spotted me from over the length of a football field away and have the reaction that she did. 

There was only one explanation, and the thought of it scared me. I had to find her and talk to her, but that was easier said than done.

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