The following night after I returned home from Xavian's, I finished my homework and started getting ready for bed. Everything that happened today was still heavy on my mind. Spilling my secret, showcasing my abilities, and the girl from after school.

I started to get a migraine from everything going on in my head. It felt like they were tearing bits of my brain out. I decided to try to relax for a while by reading a new book that I had picked up from the local library last week, and I was already a quarter percent through it. My mind progressively began to wind down, and before I knew it, I glanced at the clock that read halfway past eleven at night. I bookmarked the page and placed it on my nightstand. Sighing, I turned off my lamp, put my glasses beside it, and lay down.

Sleep didn't come easy that night. Despite the efforts, my thoughts still roamed freely in my head. I knew what Xavian told me, but what did he think? I only showed him a little of what I knew I could do, so what would happen if I portrayed more? It put a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Also, the girl from after school continued to make her presence known in my mind. The best way to get rid of the pest was to take care of it head-on. I had to find time to talk to her privately. How was I supposed to do that, though? She was the kind of person I'd never thought would bother to associate with someone like me. There was a popularity difference, but with that came the fact that she always had friends with her. We never had classes together due to her being a year younger than me, and she always had at least one or two of her friends at her hip. If I wanted to talk to her, there was no way her friends could be around.

I shook my head in disbelief. What was I thinking? What would I even say if I did happen to catch her alone? What if this whole situation was a huge misunderstanding?

No, that was impossible. She was looking directly at me, despite the distance. Nobody else was in a thirty-foot radius, and her eyes were locked on to me. There was no denying it.

I rolled over and forced the thoughts out of my head. I'd have to figure this out tomorrow. There was no point in stressing over something I couldn't control. My eyes closed as I eventually let sleep take over.

-----------------------------

My alarm disturbed the peaceful slumber I was in. I hit my alarm clock and rubbed my eyes, waking up for whatever the day had ready for me. After a minute, I pushed the covers off and slowly climbed out of bed. The first thing I normally did for my morning routine was open my blinds to let the sunlight shine into my room. Afterward, I took a sip of water before heading into the kitchen.

"Hey Mom," I greeted as she was making a bowl of cereal.

She turned and welcomed me with a warm smile. "Good morning, sweetie. How did you sleep?"

"I slept fine, I guess," I said with a shrug. It wasn't a complete lie, but I couldn't tell her why I had trouble sleeping. "You?"

"Oh, the usual," she answered in her thick Rilandan accent. "I didn't end up falling asleep until close to two, and I remembered to take my medicine this time. Are you okay, though? You look tired."

I waved my hand in dismissal. "I'm fine. I didn't get a lot of sleep either."

Mom's expression turned into concern. "Why not?"

Quickly trying to think of an answer, I stuttered before forming a sentence. "I just have a lot on my mind, but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Are you sure?" she asked, slightly tilting her head. "I'm here if you want to talk about anything."

I knew I could trust my mom, but this was something that I couldn't tell her even if I wanted to. I don't know why, but there wasn't a way to sit down and tell her. What was I supposed to say, that I'd been keeping these powers from her for as long as I could remember? She'd lose her shit if I showed her like I did with Xavian.

So, I nodded. "I'm fine, Mom. Thank you."

"If you're sure," she said. It was clear that she wasn't satisfied with my answer, but she didn't press me any further.

We had breakfast together like we normally do unless my mom was gone on a business trip, which happened a few times a year. She left a few weeks ago for a city across the country for one of the biggest meetings of her career, where she got to meet the Supreme Leader. Despite her distaste for him, she claimed that it was still an honor to be able to meet the country's biggest personalities.

Once we were finished, I rinsed the bowls out and saw Mom out as she left for work. I later changed into my uniform, brushed my teeth, and fixed my hair. After I grabbed my phone and checked the time, I realized I was running late and grabbed my keys.

The outside air was cold and wet, which made me wish I grabbed a jacket. Getting in my car, I swiftly turned on the ignition and started the heater. I let it warm up a bit before pulling out of the driveway.

After carefully navigating the slick roads, I found a parking spot not that far from the entrance and gathered my things before entering the building, officially beginning the school day.

---------------------------------

The first half of the day went normally, with no sign of the mysterious girl. I was walking out of my mathematics class when I found Xavian wearing his goofy smile.

"Afternoon, my good sir," he said with a playful bow while putting his hand to his stomach.

The gesture gave me some reassurance considering the recent events. I gave him a playful smile. "Good afternoon to you too, good sir. Shall we get some food?"

"We shall," he spoke in a deepened tone. "After you."

We secured our places in line and picked up our food, which consisted of a small chicken sandwich, fries, and our choice of water, milk, or juice. Despite how good it sounded, I thought the taste of it was basic.

Xavian and I sat down in our normal spots and took a few bites of our lunch before I gathered the words I wanted to say. "So, do you remember the girl I told you about yesterday?"

He tilted his head. "Yeah, what about her?"

I shrugged. "I've wanted to talk to her, but I haven't seen her around today. Do you happen to know her schedule?"

He studied me for a moment before a smile came across his lips. "You like her?"

"No!" I exclaimed louder than I meant to, creating instant embarrassment in my body. I leaned closer to him while he was chuckling. "It's not like that. I want to talk to her."

"No, I don't know her like that," he responded. "Though I've heard she's a nice girl, so I don't think it'll be too much of an issue."

I nodded. "What'd you say her name was?"

"If she's the girl I'm thinking of, it's Emily Jackson. To me, she seems like a girl and all, but I've heard she's a bit rude to people."

I frowned. "The typical popular girl shit, or...?"

Xavian shrugged. "I dunno. I've talked to her a few times and she seems fine. I wouldn't worry about what other people think and figure it out for yourself."

I knew he was right. There wasn't any point in listening to what other people thought of her. It made more sense to figure it out myself.

We finished lunch and returned to the rest of our classes. As the day progressed, my mind was clouded with a ton of anxious thoughts about the many possibilities of how it would end. I kept telling myself that I had to at least try to talk to her, regardless of the outcome. 

With that in mind, I used it as motivation to get through the rest of the school day. Sighing, I walked out of the front doors and into the parking lot. As I was walking, I decided not to go to my car and instead head to where I saw her walking yesterday. I made it to the front of the Performing Arts Center, where a lot of the theater, choir, and band performances take place. 

I leaned my back against the stair railing and scanned the students who were coming out of the school. Some were talking with their friends, others getting into their cars and driving off, and the rest closing the doors to their parent's cars who were picking them up. 

Finally, I noticed her. She was wearing a cute red shirt with a flower design on it. Her hair was down today, giving it a long, wavy design. She was walking with one other friend, someone who was slightly shorter than her and had wavy blonde hair. The girl I was looking for wore a focused expression as if she was intently thinking about something critical. My eyes were locked onto her until she caught me looking. I forced the anxiety down as we locked eyes. Her eyes widened.

What was she thinking? Did she want to talk to me? Did I do the right thing in regards to standing here to wait for her? She looked back down in thought for a moment as they continued to walk in my direction. A moment later, she said something to her friend and motioned to me with her head. Her friend looked confused. She shrugged, said bye, and walked in a different direction. 

As she approached me, she took me off-guard by grabbing my arm and dragging me to the side of the building. I stuttered over my words. "H-Hey! What-" 

"Shut it!" she demanded. "We can't talk out in the open like this. Just come over here." 

Did she know what I wanted to talk about? I knew it was a possibility, but I hadn't prepared for her to act like this. She dragged me away from the eyeshot of anyone else and looked up at me with serious eyes, which the beauty of took me by surprise. I internally shook the thoughts away and cleared my throat. 

"L-Listen, I just wanted to talk about yesterday," I started. "Is there a reason why you were looking at me the way you were?" 

She looked away before sighing. "I sensed your powers." 

I staggered backward in shock. How did she know? Did Xavian tell her? 

Confusion quickly replaced the initial shock. She sensed them? What does that mean? 

She saw the look on my face and spoke in a reassuring tone. "Don't worry. I have powers, too. I don't know how I sensed yours, but the only explanation is that it's a part of my powers." 

"Oh, okay," I responded with a sense of relief replacing the anxiety. "What are your powers?" 

"Levitation, some form of telekinesis, zero gravity," she explained as if it confused her. "I'm not exactly sure. I've sort of known since I was a kid when I accidentally knocked over my mom's flower pot from ten feet away."

I slowly nodded, trying to comprehend the thoughts that were going through my head. "I didn't know there were other people that had powers, much less different than mine." 

"Well, what can you do?" 

Hesitation took over. Was it right to tell her? I knew much less about her than Xavian, so would she tell everyone? 

My gut told me no. She openly told me her secret, so there must've been a trust factor there. If she exposed mine, I could easily turn it around on her. 

"I can manipulate the earth," I said, looking down at our feet. "I don't know the extent of that, but I know that I can move large rocks and make unnatural shapes in the earth. I know it's vague, but that's what I can do as far as I know." 

"Interesting," she replied thoughtfully. "Do you know anyone else that has powers?" 

I shook my head. "No. Not that I know of." 

"Neither do I." 

A question came to mind. "So, how did you sense me? Why didn't you come to me about it sooner?" 

More confusion revealed itself on her face. "It was like a flame that appeared. It happens randomly and I don't know how. Yesterday, it was like my vision blurred, and your body had a huge flame in the center of your body. Nobody else was like that. I wanted to talk to you about it because the only explanation was that you had powers. I just didn't know how." 

That explained the ghost-like expression she had on her face. I nodded. "That makes sense. You haven't seen that flame in anyone else?" 

Her lip twitched as her head shook. "No, I haven't. The vision's come multiple times, but nothing like what I saw in you has ever happened." 

"There's so many more questions than answers," I noted, trying to think of anything else that came to mind. "I don't know where to start." 

"I think we should try to figure this out together," she suggested. "It's clear that we have no idea where this came from, so the more bodies we have to help, the more we can figure out." 

I shrugged. "I guess, but neither of us knows anything. What's there to figure out?" 

"Where this came from, how we have powers that nobody else has, how we have such different powers," she stated as if it were obvious. She stepped forward and gave me an almost desperate look. "There has to be something out there. Haven't you always been curious about the 'how's' or 'why's,' Eli? I don't know about you, but it's been driving me insane. I haven't been able to focus. My grades are dropping, and my scholarship is slipping out of my hands. I just need someone who knows, and if that's you..." 

Trailing off, she looked down, avoiding eye contact. Her body started to shiver, and it was evident that she was about to start crying. She came to me about something so vulnerable, and now it was up to me whether to comfort her or leave her to dry. If I comforted her, I had a feeling that there'd be no walking away from this. I knew little to nothing about this girl, and suddenly it felt that there was a connection between us. 

To some degree, there was. 

I put my hand on her arm, not wanting to smother her too much. "Listen, um, Emily, right?" 

She wordlessly nodded. 

"I know it's hard," I started. "Believe me, I do. I'm trying to get into the country's top university and the anxiety that's come with these powers has been close to unbearable. It's been tearing me apart, Emily. With all of the questions that have bombarded my mind, I think it's time we find some answers. I'm not sure where to start, but we can figure something out, alright?" 

Slowly looking up, Emily looked at me with her gorgeous blue eyes that had a hint of adventure in them. "Are you sure? I don't know what all we'd end up doing." 

I considered it for a moment. Am I willing to take the risk with this girl? How far was I willing to go to find answers? There was nobody I could turn to and simply ask the hundreds of questions I had for them. I had to find them myself. 

The answer was obvious. 

"I'm sure. What should we do first?" 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------