Something to Believe In

We stepped out of class together, just chatting about how life was at Liberty High School and with Katie commenting on how friendly everyone had been so far and how there was this nice guy who was telling some interesting comedy.

“Ah, you’ve met Matt.”

“Is he a friend of yours?”

“Yes,” I decided to forget to mention that he wanted to get into her pants.

“If he keeps practicing, he could be on stage one day.”

“Yeah.”

“He may even be funnier than Gabriel Iglesias,” Katie replied with a wink.

“He means well.”

“He takes lessons from one of the best, so I’ll give him props for that. Do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

“Let him down easy for me. Let him know I’m not interested in dating right now.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand.”

Katie laughed as we approached the stairwell. Her laughter was louder than any other voice. “Guys never understand. We want to think they do, but they never really hear what you’re saying. They’ll try to read your mind and freak out because they can’t comprehend it.”
I didn’t take that as a personal attack towards the male gender. She was right. Guys didn’t understand anything about girls but, in their defense, girls would send signals, but yeas of brain rot from TV and movies helped to muddle said signals. You do not want me to start on my opinion about “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

“Can I ask a few questions, Tyler?”

“Sure,” I replied with a nod.

“Let me know if I’m being too direct or bitchy.”

“You got it.”

“Where did you get all of the answers?”

“A little Half-blood Prince magic.”

“You have your brother or sister’s old book?”

“Sister’s. There are few doodles in it too.”

“Lucky.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it. I searched for this book right before class on the first day and it has helped me tremendously for the past two months.”

Katie nodded as we dodged past students.

“So, Tyler, or can I call you Tai, with an ‘AI’?”

I looked at her for a second and then turned my head straight ahead. Did she know? Is this why she said “we” earlier? That alone wasn’t scaring me, it was what she would do with the information.

“Which is it?”

“With the AI,” I mumbled.

“I can’t hear you.”

“The AI. T-A-I. How do you-?”

“Let’s just say today is your lucky day.”

I shook my head and grinned because if I didn’t, I would be running and screaming down the hallway.

“The five of you. This will be a lucky day for all of you.”

“How?”

“That is for me to know and for you, Matt, Tony, Chris, and Riley to find out.”

I searched for a video camera, but it was possible to hide those in anything so that would be a hopeless endeavor.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She said as she skipped a step.

“Oh?” I asked, trying to block my thoughts, but I only ended up increasingly thinking of everything, everywhere, and all at once.

“Let’s meet in the library at lunch, where you play your game. Check you later, Tai.”

Katie ran ahead and I took what little time there was left before second period to find Matt.

I located him, caught in the middle a hate triangle of Barry, Paul, and Wes, seniors who were on Liberty High School’s wrestling team. They battered Matt back and forth like a human pinball and their fists were the bumpers. I wanted to run in and help, but I kept my distance because if I tried, I’d become the bonus ball on the playfield.

“Gonna try out for the team, Matty boy?”

“Maybe I will,” Matt replied as Barry shoved him down.

“I’m looking forward to getting a letter for beating your ass. Let’s go guys. See you later, Matty.”

“Hulk on up for us,” Wes said as he flipped Matt off. They walked in my direction, so I turned and ducked into a classroom door until they passed. Then, I ran out to Matt who had gotten himself off the floor.

“I’m a junior. I’m a human being. One would think I deserve some respect or maybe some help,” Matt said, while looking at me. “You know, if we banded together, then they’d back down.

“I’m sure they would,” I replied with a pinch of sarcasm as I picked up Matt’s books. “I have a message for you.”

“What?”

“Her name is Katie.”

“And she wants me to ask her out?”

“We didn’t really talk about that. She did say she liked your comedy.”

“I knew it. Girls love humor.”

“We’re supposed to meet with her in the library at noon, near the switch.”

“How does she know about that?”

I shrugged my shoulders as we ran in the opposite direction of the Pinball Wizards.

“Wait, all five of us?”

“Yes.”

“You know what that means? A quintet. She wants us to do her in the library. I could swear I’ve seen a video like that online.”

“She said this is our lucky day…but I don’t think she meant it that way.”

“But maybe that is what’s going to happen. Then hell yeah, it’s a lucky day. It’s semi-private. We need someone be the lookout.”

“Again, I don’t think that’s what she means,” I replied with a shake of my head.

“I can dream, right?”

Matt’s dreams usually turned into my nightmares. Like the time he convinced us all to boost PlayStation Vitas from a used video game store. I felt sick after I did that. I silently returned the Vita the next day. Then, there was another time where he thought that we should all go into the business of selling raffle tickets for a new car. The raffle was for a shiny electric sports car, and we made over five hundred dollars only to have the raffle pulled as the website hosting it realized the picture was for a remote-controlled McLaren toy.

The other guys would think of so many crazy ideas I had stopped counting, but I would be there to evaluate the situation and let them know everything negative that could happen. Such as Riley’s attempt to buy pot on a street corner in the middle of what looked like a gang war. Not to mention the police in riot gear parked on the next block. Tony, wanting to drag race against drivers from other schools. His car and ego were in no condition at the time to push around let alone win a race. Chris had an idea to raid a girl’s slumber party until I learned most of the girls were in junior high. I wasn’t trying to be a wet blanket; I just didn’t want us to have criminal records before turning sixteen.

This new dream could get him arrested, assuming Katie didn’t beat him to a pulp beforehand.

The five of us met in front of the library.

“Katie talked to you guys?” Chris asked with a shocked look on his face.

“Yep,” came Matt’s reply. “Well, she talked to Ty, and he told me.”

“Chris told me,” Riley added.

“She met up with me in shop class,” Tony said as we walked into the library. “By the way, she knows how to manage power tools.”

We weaved through the rows of bookcases to the back of the room and turned a corner.

Katie was already there, leaning on the wall.

“So, why are we here?” I asked.

“As I said, it’s your lucky day.”

“I’m not too comfortable with doing anything in the library.”

“I don’t think she means that, Chris. Don’t be a perv,” Matt replied.

I wanted to punch Matt so badly.

“My friends, and please consider me a friend. I’m here to help you. Each of you possess a wish that’s buried in your heart. Now, I know a few of you have a desire that, while meaningful to you, could be hurtful to others and yourselves, so please be careful.”

“Are you some sort of genie?” Tony asked.

“The correct pronunciation is Jinn, J-I-N-N, but yes.”

We stood motionless and without a thought in our heads; nothing rational at least. Then, one by one, the other guys started laughing and shaking their heads.

“Do you have a bottle? Riley asked.

“Seriously, Kate, we want to believe you, but-”

“Ah, and there is it is, the lingering doubt. Every second goes by and you’re thinking it’s a flat-out lie and that maybe I’m here from the Omegas.

Perhaps Barry sent me. Maybe I’m the feminine equivalent of Freddy Krueger here to make your worst nightmare a reality. It’s possible that one of you may be riding public transportation or hitching rides for the rest of your life. Only one of you truly believes me.”

The others looked at me as I nodded.

“Ty, she’s just saying that.”

“I don’t want to ride the bus all my life,” Tony whispered.

Matt, Riley and Chris stood unconvinced.

“Think of like this Matt,” I began, “if you don’t believe her, then when you think of something, nothing will happen.”

“What I don’t want to happen is that my mind wanders and conjures up a 112.5-foot marshmallow man.”

Katie leaned up against the wall and crossed her arms.

“Is that what you want, Matthew?”

“No, that’s not. Look, Katie, I’m sorry that I was trying to get to know you.”

“You wanted to do more.”

Matt stopped talking and looked at the ground.

“Just think about things, guys. No one’s going to explode or grow an extra head in the middle of gym, but you’ll think of what you really want, and it will happen.”

“Anything?” Riley asked as his face went into a blank stare and he only made that face when tacos were on the lunch menu.

“As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else. I will not kill anyone, Riley.”

“It was worth a shot.”

“Why are doing this? I mean, what makes us special?” Matt asked as he crossed his arms to match Katie,

We stood back in a group as Katie took a step towards us and put her arms around Tony and my shoulders.

“Why not?”

She dropped her arms, walked past us and turned the corner.

“Okay, was that for real?” Chris asked.

“She did know things about us.”

“Everyone knows about all of what she said. Hell, you can be a new student here for fifteen minutes and be up to speed about the most embarrassing things about people at this school.”

“I would wish for everyone to forget…that,” Chris said.

“We need to wish for some cash. That’s what I’ll do.” Matt replied as he clapped his hands. “If someone gives me a hard time, I can hire a real bodyguard or pay for self-defense classes.”

“If you have a lot of money, you wouldn’t need to continue going to school,” Riley commented as we walked out of the corner.

“Yeah, you could build a new school.” Chris chimed in.

“You really believe her, Ty?” Matt asked me as we walked out of the corner.

“Yes.”

“What would you wish for?”

“I’m not sure. I just know I believe her.”

“And like Ty said, if nothing happens, then nothing happens.”

“Not like she’s asking us to perform some dare or give up a body part.”

The librarian’s “Shh” made us all shut up before we left the library.

We broke away to go to each of our classes, with Riley following me to the gym.

“She is good-looking,” Riley said as he looked back to the library doors.

“Yeah, I think she’s cute.”

“She’s a little scary.”

I nodded as we went into the locker room.

I hated PE more than going to the dentist. One was an excoriating and painful experience of drilling and spitting blood. The other was me sitting in a chair with someone telling me to stop drinking Dr. Pepper. In PE, we spent most of the time running and other times playing something that always seemed like a variation of football. Our class was filled with guys who didn’t play sports, either because they failed to qualify for junior varsity, or they had no other classes they could take for the semester. There were about fifty in the class, so the noise in the locker room was always near 199 decibels.

We changed into our gym clothes, consisting of a T-shirt and shorts. On most days the coach would force me to lose my t-shirt and be a “skin”. I would slowly take my shirt off and feel tense and disgusted that I had to put myself on display like that. I didn’t think it was fair, and my mind always thought how I could possibly sue for mental anguish. The girls were always doing something different.
We stood against the bleachers as the coach pointed to the first guy in line, Jimmy, and shouted “skins”. I did a quick count and dreaded the fact that I would be listed as a “skin”. Suddenly, Seth McKinney filled the gap next to me.

Yeah!
And then Mike Weston jumped in next to him.
Crap!

“Skiiiins-a” The coach’s voice said in slow motion as he pointed at me.

Every other member of class, even Riley, whooped and hollered as the skins were forced to shed the security blanket of being able to govern our own bodies. I did as I was required and went onto the gym floor as the coach brought out a plastic tote bin with flags.

“We’re going to play a few quarters of flag football.”

“Swell,” I thought to myself. No one in our class was on the football team but that never stopped a few of them from going into full-tackle mode.

The gym had a hardwood floor so when you were sacked you felt it in three ways: the initial hit, the feeling of being hurled back and the burn you sustained to an arm or the chest upon landing.

And that is exactly what happened on the first play of the game. The teams were unevenly matched, ‘Bambi vs. Godzilla’ style, and the carnage began as soon as the coach blew his whistle. The wannabe varsity shirts slammed into the skins in a mass carnage. Even the guys who were a part of the front line were taken down for no reason whatsoever. I survived the first play, but on the second one the ball was thrown at me, and I took off like my life depended on it, and with five steam rollers in my peripheral vision, it was. I felt someone grab at one of the flags and I turned around and threw the ball in their direction, lest they try to confirm I was “down”.

“Why did you throw the ball to them?” Seth yelled.

“I’m not about to get tackled to the floor,” I replied out of breath.

“Pansy!” Mike, one of the guys who had pummeled by the defense, yelled.

Judging by Mike’s limp, I wanted to think it was the pain talking.

I stepped down to pick up my flag and saw my hair, now more than shoulder length, cascading in front of my eyes.

“I didn’t think of anything,” I whispered as I threw my head back and my hair was short once again.

Riley ran over to me,

“Did you see that?” I asked.

“Your hair growing long for a spirit second?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you wish for long hair?”

“I was only thinking about outrunning those guys before they trampled me.”

Coach blew his whistle, and we readied to defend as—thanks to me—the shirts had the ball.

Coach blew the whistle once more, signaling the pain would continue. Riley stepped up to the front, and I had to wonder if he was out of his mind.

“Hut! Hut! Hike!” The ball was thrown to the quarterback, and Riley plowed his way through the line, knocking over guys who outweighed him by fifty pounds or more. The quarterback had a look like a deer in headlights as Riley ran at him at full throttle. His body blew several feet and then skidded to the floor…and kept on skidding. One could swear there was a smell of burning flesh before he came to a sudden stop.

Coach blew his whistle multiple times and ran over to Riley. “Mr. Peterson!”

“Yeah, coach?”

“Why in the holy hell did you not try out for the team?”

“Never thought I was really good at it, coach.”

“You can learn. Just do that at every game and I’ll be happy!”

“Sure thing, coach,” Riley replied as all the shirts stepped several feet away from him.

“You used the wish, didn’t you?” I whispered as we entered the locker room with our shirts back on.
“I didn’t think about anything except how I just wanted to win just once, maybe that triggered it, like a sub-conscious thought made the connection.”
The score was thirty-six to zero by the time the coach yelled for us to hit the showers.
Riley unlocked his locker and took off his shirt, revealing an impressive set of abs. His arms seemingly grew before my eyes.
“Umm, Riley?”
“It really is happening, isn’t it?”
“Looks like it.”
“Awesome,” he replied as he took his shoes, socks and shorts off. I, along with just about everyone else stared in awe at the new Riley, “Hulk Hogan” edition.
I turned back to my locked in sheer panic. If the change was instant and visible to everyone, did I really want to take a shower? All the guys were leery with getting near Riley as he went on like nothing happened. I got dressed and ran out of the locker room to find the others.
It didn’t take too long to track down Matt, as he literally appeared next to me.
“Remember that one time we talked about what kind of superpower we wanted?”
“Yeah, that broke down into a battle of Marvel vs. DC,” I replied as I was still trying to figure out how he just popped in right next to me.
“It’s still Marvel. All the way. Hey, time me!”
“Time you how?”
Matt vanished in a blast of wind and two seconds later reappeared on my left.
“How fast was that?”
“I don’t know, three seconds?”
“Yes!” Matt shouted. “All the way to Tokyo and back in three seconds.”
“How?”
“Don’t know…I just think of where I want to go or how I want to do it and it happens.”
“How many X-Men powers have you copied?”
“Everything, I think, except for an adamantium skeleton. Too many disadvantages and I didn’t ask for self-healing powers.”
“Okay, that’s the second surprising thing I’ve seen today.”
“What was…the…Shit, is that Riley?”
I turned to see Riley, now standing taller and broader than anyone around him. Amazingly, his clothes fit him as if he was always muscular.
“Does he look like he’s growing more?”
“I hope not,” I replied as I waved to Riley.
“Guess who’s on the football team?”
“So, your wish was to be the replacement for Andre the Giant?” Matt asked.
Riley shrugged his shoulders. “First practice is this afternoon.”
“Maybe I should go out for football? Oh, wait, basketball or track!!
“What did you wish for?” Riley asked as we continued walking. The once massive wall of students parted in awe of Riley’s fresh look.
“Superpowers. So far, I’ve tested, invisibility, speed and teleportation.”
“No flight?”
“On my list after the final bell.”
“Can you shoot laser beams from your eyes?”
“Let’s find out!”
“Let’s not,” I replied as I put my hand over Matt’s eyes.
“Maybe it’s more defensive than offensive,” he replied as he pushed my arm away.
“How did you test invisibility?” Riley asked as we reached his locker.
“Let’s just say Shelly’s really stacked under those sweaters she wears.”
“Katie should have added another rule to not use powers to spy in the girl’s locker room.”
“He did say he’d to it if he ever had superpowers.” Riley replied as he ripped the lock right off his locker and opened it up. “I’m going to have to get used to this.”
“Is this going to work for you, Riley?”
“Yeah, if I can sneak past the Omegas, I- Oh wait! I don’t have to do that at all. I can take them all on. No blood or killing, just going to make them leave me alone.”
“Do you think I should get a costume?”
“I know we should get to class, Matt,” I replied.
“You’re right. I gotta get up to the third floor. Let me get my books.” Matt flashed away and then reappeared with his textbook and binder. “See you guys later. One to beam up.”
“Have you seen Chris or Tony?” Riley asked as he gingerly closed his locker up.
“No, but I’m sure we’ll know something soon enough.”
“Catch you later, Ty,”
“See you, Riley.” I replied and then walked down the hallway, with fear about what they may have wished for.
Matt appeared next to me and grabbed my arm.
“You need to see this.”
The next thing I knew we were in the 3rd floor hallway in front of a mob of girls, twenty-or-so deep, who were shouting and yelling at someone in the middle of the circle. Either Johnny Depp made a surprise visit, or someone was giving away concert tickets for Taylor Swift.
“What’s going on, Matt?”
“Chris is in the middle of that hurricane of estrogen. I saw his face for a moment before another girl grabbed him and kissed him.”
We stood a few feet away from the crowd and for some reason I felt I needed to be a part of the mosh pit. I could have Matt transport me into the middle and I would put my hands all over his body before locking him into a deep kiss.
I slapped myself across the face. This was Chris, who once ate a bowl of cat chow and then wanted more.
“I’m going to be late for class, but you know, I’m okay with that. Do you think he could hook me up with one of them?”
More girls, maybe seniors, and one teacher jumped into the swarm.
“Where’s Tony? We should stop him from doing something like-”
“Like what? Powers? She didn’t say we couldn’t.”
“I don’t she meant for us to cause every girl in the school to want to throw themselves at our feet.”
“I wonder if I have mind control.”
“All students on the third floor, please report to class,” the voice of Mr. Harper, our principal rang out through the school intercom.
The crowd of girls diminished, including the shapely teacher, and went to their classes.
“I got sixteen prom proposals!” Chris exclaimed with his hands up in the air.
“Can you hook me up?” Matt inquired.
“How many, bro?”
“Chris, where is Tony?” I asked as I had a quick thought of ripping his belt off, unbuttoning his pants and going down on my knees. I took a step toward him but stopped as what sounded like an explosion rocked the school.
“It wasn’t me,” Matt replied.
We walked over to the window and looked out to reveal a giant robot ripping a truck like it was made from a beer can. It was safe to assume it was Barry’s.
“Well, there are two bright sides to this.”
We looked at Matt.
“That’s not going to buff out and at least it’s not a marshmallow man. Am I right?”

The five of us met in the middle of hallway on the first floor. Matt learned he had a new superpower: he could make time stop for three minutes.
“That was awesome, Tony.”
“I just wish I could have seen the look on Barry’s face,”
“So, is the robot like a ‘Transformer” parked outside?” Riley asked.
“It’s in me, like Ultraman, and I can shrink it down or mega size it.”
“That’s sweet, man,” Matt said as he looked around, “I should have added that to my list of powers. Flight test is still on for this afternoon.”
“What about you, Ty?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Why did your hair grow?” Riley asked.
“It went like long or something?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, during PE.”
The others looked at me and I felt afraid to say anything.
“Oh, I got it: Slash. You were going to wish to be a kick ass rock star!” Matt performed a slide on an air guitar. “Seems a little basic, but if it makes you happy.”
“I had thought about that,” I lied. “So, all of you have revealed your powers to everyone. What happens now?”
“I mind-wiped everyone in the school to forget everything that’s happened in the past hour, us not included, of course.”
“Our powers are still a secret to be revealed again, cool.”
“What about Riley?”
“To everyone’s recollection, Riley’s always been buffed.”
“What about Barry’s truck?” Riley asked.
“I want to be in the parking lot when he sees it,” Tony replied.
“Oh, hell yeah!” Matt exclaimed he gave Tony a high-five.
I wanted to feel disgusted at what they were doing, particularly with Matt, but I decided to stay calm. “Okay, guys, you need to swear to me that you’re not going to let this go to your head. Remember, we can’t hurt anyone.”
“I think she meant we can’t kill anyone because in about,” Tony looked at his watch, “sixty minutes or less Barry’s going to know about his truck.”
“Time’s almost up,” Matt motioned as he put his arms out.
“Remember, nothing crazy.”
“How about one more crazy, and then we go incognito?”
“I can always clear their memories with a ‘poof’” Chris said as snapped his fingers.
“Fine,” In replied.
“Doc Brown ain’t got nothing on me,” Matt replied as bursts of energy came out of his hands and everyone started to move around us.
“We need a team name. We need to think of a formidable team name,” Tony said as we broke away to go to our seventh period classes.

My final class of the day was American History. It was a boring class and due to what had happened I was happy for a dull hour. I looked at everyone around me, knowing things they didn’t. I noticed Shelly wearing a green sweater; my mind went back to Matt’s words, and I tried not to think anything more about it. She was beautiful, but she also had no interest in any guy. Maybe she thought all the guys at our school were stupid idiots. Still, she was hot. She looked good in green.
I looked back at my books, feeling bad that Matt had spied on her without her knowledge. I had to wonder if he had used any other of his powers on her. I didn’t want to think my friend may have done something to her besides looking. He couldn’t have, as Matt lived by the Stan Lee mantra: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.”
“What the Hell!” A guy yelled as they looked at the parking lot. “What happened out there!”
Everyone got up and went to the window to see multiple police cars, a fire truck and Barry ranting and raving. Several police officers had to tackle him to ground as he grabbed a section of his truck’s broken tail pipe and swung it around.
I sat back down and signed.
“What happened to Barry’s truck?” Shelly asked.
“No idea,” another guy said.
“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” Shelly replied as she sat back down. “I’m glad someone finally hit him where it hurts.”
I wondered what Shelly’s animosity towards Barry was. We didn’t like him as he bullied Matt. Maybe Shelly was aware of that.
“They got SWAT out there!” Someone yelled.

After school, four of us met on the baseball field but we did go by to see Riley starting his new life of playing on the football team. Riley had no idea how to run a play, but Coach ordered him to just run through the line and take out the quarterback. It took a few plays before coach made him the quarterback as the others had been put out of commission. No one wanted to approach him due to his size and the control of Chris’ telepathy.
“How much is it Riley’s skill and the other you controlling the others, Chris?’ I asked.
“It’s not really control. I’m able to plant an idea in their sub-conscious. If I want, say, Carter there,” Chris pointed to a hulk of a senior who looked like a sumo wrestler, “to think he’s a chicken for a few minutes I just need to think about it.”
We looked to the field to see Carter flapping his arms and shouting “cluck”. The other players looked at him, except for Riley who looked in our direction and gave a thumbs up.

“Okay, this is flight test number one.”
We stood at the pitcher’s mound on the baseball field. The field was out of the way from the school and the football field to avoid any crowds.
“Do you need to run a few feet, or yards to build up speed?” Tony asked.
“Not sure. I could try both.”
“Do you need pixie dust?” I inquired as Matt laid his backpack on the ground.
“Think happy thoughts,” Chris added.
“Maybe all of the above. Okay, shut up everyone as I concentrate on flying high.”
We stood on the side as Matt closed his eyes and started moving his arms like he was re-creating a scene from “The Karate Kid Part Two.”
He then jumped into the air, and swiftly landed back on his feet.
“Okay, we’ll try the running jump.” Matt ran fifty feet away from us and called back, “Okay, ready!”
“I’ll bet you a Taco Bueno supreme he falls on his face,” Chris said to Tony.
“I’ll take that bet.”
Matt ran several feet and then jumped into the air, only to slam his body into the infield and land where second base would have been.
“Safe!” Chris yelled.
“I owe you a taco,” Tony replied.
“You okay, Matt? I asked as he got up and wiped the dust off his clothes.
“Everything else was so simple. I still need to check on the laser beam eyes thing.”
“I could throw you into the air and see if you can float down,” Tony said as he cracked his knuckles.
“That my work. I need to feel the need to fly. Like life hangs in the balance if I don’t.”
“If Tony throws you into the air, then yeah, your life will hang in the balance,” I replied as I looked into the sky.
“Good point, but super problems require super solutions. Throw me, Tony.”
Tony nodded as his body changed to a cybernetic, silver being. He held onto Tony like they were going to perform a cheerleading stunt.
“Okay, Tony, on three. One, two...”
Tony launched Matt into the heavens.
“Three!” Matt wailed before he soared out of sight.
“Can you catch him? Chris asked.
“I’ll try, if I can see him,” Tony replied.
We all looked up, but the sun’s glare made it almost impossible to find him.
“Does anyone see him?” I yelled.
“No!”
“Nah-ah.”
How were we going to explain Matt’s death to his grandmother? “I’m sorry, Mrs. Williamson, but we threw Matt into the air thinking he could fly like a turkey dropped over Cincinnati.”
“He should have landed by now,” Chris yelled. “How far did you throw him up, the Mesosphere?”
“No, man, that would be fatal and he’d be crashing down like a popsicle.”
We looked at Tony and then back to the sky.
“I’ll tell his Grandmother he just did something stupid. She’ll believe that,” I said as a red beam fired down from above and cut into the earth, making a one foot trench between second and third base.
We hit the ground, rolled to our sides, and covered our heads with our backpacks.
“Lasers! Awesome!”
I looked up to see Matt floating in the sky with his arms crossed.
“Successful test. Thanks Tony.”

We piled into Tony’s new car which he repeatedly told us was a part of him. It was like a sports car in appearance, but it was able to accommodate all five of us, including Riley, due to Matt using space-time manipulation—his words. Riley sat in the passenger front seat with the rest of us in the back.

“It’s been a good day,” Riley said as he clapped his hands.

“Yeah, dude, it has.”

“Think of the chicks you can pick up with this car, Tony,” Chris shouted with a slap to Tony’s shoulder.

“I saw everyone crowding around it, wondering who the owner was. I just stood by and took down some names.”

“How fast can you go?” Matt asked.

“Not the question you want to hear from the ladies,” Chris replied.

“I haven’t checked. Let’s give it a try.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t. The county sheriff patrols this stretch of the road,” I cautioned.

“Duly noted, Ty. But they gotta catch us first,” Tony replied as he accelerated.

The car was silent as it increased speed. The surrounding highway blurred past us as Tony glided by cars. All of us saw a highway patrol car turn on its lights but they had no chance of catching up with us. However, through the power of the radio, three more cars, with lights and sirens blaring, pulled up beside us.

“You guys want to see something cool?” Tony asked.

“As long as it’s not the inside of a cop car,” Matt replied.

“Dude, you’re not the only one who can fly!”

Tony sat back as the steering wheel changed shape. He then pulled it down and the car took off into the sky.

I really wanted a seat belt.

“Thank you for flying Ricci airlines. We will be cruising at an altitude of whatever I please. First stop, Peterson Station.”

I looked out the windows to see we were high in the sky, but we were not moving too fast, and I was fine with that. The others treated this as just another day. Matt had his face plastered go the glass, staring at it all.

“You haven’t made your wish yet, have you, Ty?”

“No, I’m kind of wondering what to do. I thought of something simple but, you’re all going Justice League.”

“Avengers!” Matt called back with his face still against the window.

“I’m not exactly sure if that’s what I want to do,” I replied as the craft descended.

“Katie didn’t say these wishes had a limited effect.”

“Would she do that, like while we’re all up here like this?” Riley asked.

We sat motionless for a second.

“Tony, take us down, quickly.”

We dropped Riley off and continued our carpool on the ground, after Tony adjusted the exterior look of the car and the license plate to avoid being pulled over.

“So, this could be limited?”

“It’s possible, Chris,” I replied.

“Why do we have them to begin with? Why did she choose us?”

“Guys,” Matt began, as raised his hands, “we’re never going to know the reason. She said herself, she was a genie, or however she pronounced it, and she gave us each a wish. I mean if I won the lottery, I wouldn’t refuse it. I’d be all for them to put that check in my hot little hand.”

“Did anyone think about the strings that could be attached to these wishes?” Chris asked.

“Strings?”

“Yeah, ‘the be careful what you wish for, you just might get it’ kind?”

“Maybe’s she like the Disney one, but not blue and doesn’t sound like Robin Williams.”

“I’m going to agree with Matt,” Tony replied.

“Ty, since she has Geometry with you, why don’t you ask her?”

“I’ll do that,” I agreed as we pulled up to my house. “Remember, let’s try to keep this on the quiet side.”

I opened the door and the trunk popped open.

“Still thinking about what you want to do with your wish, right?”

“A little,” I replied with a nod as I closed the back door, grabbed my backpack, and closed the trunk.

“See you tomorrow, Ty!” Tony said through a speaker somewhere in the car.

I waved goodbye and walked up the rest of the driveway as they drove off.

I could keep it all a secret, it was going to be easy for me to do. I wondered if Riley’s parents would be under the same spell, or whatever Chris called it, to believe he was always huge. How would Tony explain the car—or how it absorbed into his body? Would Matt blow his house up as he tried to see if he possessed explosive capabilities?

A wave of relief came over me as I didn’t have to worry about superpowers, as I didn’t want them. I wanted to be a superhero on a team of Super Friends, back when I was ten. I wanted to be more like Batman, but without any money, fancy gadgets, or a cool car.
I turned back to the road and brushed my hair from my eyes.

“I hope tomorrow’s calmer,” I said to no one. “I’ll ask Katie if there’s an expiration date on all of this and let the guys down easy. Nothing lasts forever.”

I turned back to the door and looked at my hands. They seemed different, smaller and slimmer. I fished in my pocket for my key to unlock the front door and then walked in.

The lights were out. Mom must have gone to the store or something. Dad usually came home around six, so there was about fifteen minutes to get started on my homework before having to help with dinner.

I dragged my backpack into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

“Crazy day,” I heard a female voice say. I sat up with a jolt and looked around,

“Hello?” I heard the same voice come from my lips.

I clapped my hands across my mouth and ran to the bathroom.

I am still confident my scream could be heard for miles as I stared at the reflection of a girl with long red hair.

I ran back into the living room, paced around, ran back to the bathroom, stared at the mirror, closed my eyes, and then opened them again.

Damn, she was still looking at me.

“Mom and Dad will be home any minute. Maybe at the same time. I can try to explain this to them at the same time.” I darted back to the living room and peeked through the blinds. “How am I going to explain this? I don’t even understand this!.”

I sat back down on the couch.

“Did I wish for this sub-consciously? I never wanted to act upon it. Too much pain to go through. But here she is. Congratulations, Ty, it’s s girl.”

I grabbed my backpack and ran up to my room.

“What the Hell!”

My room was the same as it was ten hours earlier, except the colors were a little off. A few of the posters on my wall had changed. I still had a few swimsuit models and an Avril Lavigne poster but also were included a few well-built guys with chiseled chests. I walked over to my bed which now had a neon pink and green comforter on it.

I nodded with approval.

“The closet,” I whispered. “What’s behind door number one?”

I walked to the door and opened it up to reveal a lot of flannel shirts, short-cut blouses, some low-cut skirts, two long dresses, and a few pairs of jeans.

“Olay, so, the wish follows and changes everyone’s perception of who we are. My parents are going to acknowledge me as looking like this…does that even fit?” I asked as I took out one of the blouses that looked like they wouldn’t cover up anything, a red cut-off.

I took the blouse out, took off the plain green T-shirt I was wearing and noticed I was wearing a sports bra. I tried to avoid thinking anything more about it as I changed into the blouse and then turned to the mirror. Normally, I hated looking at myself in the mirror, well, hate was a strong way to put it, but the reflection always seemed ugly, like a mask.

“You hate yourself as a dude and you don’t know how to feel now that you’re not,” I shook my head at my line of thinking. Maybe it was a subconscious wish. One of those fairy tales that were one of those “be true to the real you” stories.

“Is this the true me has it always been this way in my head?”

I ran out of my room, back downstairs, and to the den where there was a family portrait of my Dad, Mom, Shelia, and me. The image looked the way it always did until I stood right up to it: my hair was long, with my ears decked with dangling earrings.

The door lock clicked, and my parents walked in together holding multiple bags of groceries.

“Tai, how was school?”

“Eventful.”

“How’s that, pumpkin? Dad replied. I almost scowled at being called “pumpkin.” but just as sudden, I liked it, so I smiled back at him.

“Riley joined the football team.”

“I always thought he should have gone out for the team. That kid’s a juggernaut.”

Mom nodded as she grabbed the bags from Dad’s hands. She had already unloaded the bags she carried in.

“Oh, and Tony got a new car, very nice, and very fast.”

“How fast?” Mom asked as she raised her eyebrow so high “The Rock” would have been impressed.

“Well, he can get a little bit past the speed limit, but nothing too fast.”

Mom and Dad looked at each other and then back at me.

“I’m going to assume Chris and Matt were also part of this eventful day?” Mom asked.

“Kind of. Chris got a Prom date.”

“Isn’t Prom not for another seven months?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you, his date?” Dad asked.

“Me, no, there’s too much history between us.”

“He’s the one who ate “Meow Mix” thinking it was cereal, dear,” Mom added.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. So, let me guess, Matt asked you to Prom?”

“Matt? No, Matt’s just a friend. They’re all just my friends.”

My parents looked at each other again and then back at me with a confused look.

“What?” I asked as Mom walked to the fridge, took a magnet off a picture and handed said picture to me.

It was a Homecoming Dance picture. I didn’t go to Homecoming. I was with the guys playing an all-nighter session of “Neo Spartans.” We had decimated a ton of space castles. I looked closer at the picture to see a long-haired version of me in a too form-fitting dress standing next to Matthew Williamson. He looked good, almost debonair as he finally put a comb through his hair. I thought his hand was a bit low on my back.

“I still think his hand was too low,” Mom said as she took a package of chicken breasts from the refrigerator. Dad walked out of the kitchen and
the TV clicked on to a football game.

“Yes, I agree.”

“So, you’re no longer dating?”

“I’d love to hear you say you’re not, Taianna,” Dad called back from the living room.

“It’s complicated, Dad,” I replied as I put the picture back onto the refrigerator. “Just a bit.”

“Can you help me with the rice, Tai?”

“Yes, let me do one thing really quick, like five minutes.”

Mom rolled her eyes but nodded.

I ran out of the kitchen, upstairs and back to my room.

“Williamson residence,” a voice I knew as Matt’s grandmother, answered.

I held onto my phone and held back the desire to crush it into pieces.

“Hello, Mrs. Williamson, is Matt there, please?”

“Hello, Taianna. Yes, one moment I’ll get him. Matt!” She did not hold her hand over the phone as she yelled for him. I was about to do something similar.

“Yeah, grans?”

“For you, it’s Taianna.”

“Hello?”

“I suggest you take this call in your room,” I replied, flatly.

“What’s up, Tai?”

“Matthew Paul Williamson. I am about five seconds away from reaching across this phone and murdering you.”

“Okay, okay. Give me a minute.”

“You got twenty seconds.”

“Let me take this call in my room, grandma. I’ll let you know when to hang up.”

“Did he go and do something stupid again, Taianna?”

“That remains to be seen, Mrs. Williamson.”

“Don’t be too hard on him, dear,” she said as the line ‘clicked,’ “He means well, bless his heart.”

“I got it, Grandma.”

“Oh, I think you will be gettin’ it, boy.”

“Grans! Hang up, please.”

The other line clicked off, and I took a deep breath.

“What’s up, Tai?”

“What. The. Hell is going on! We did not go to Homecoming.”

“We did, from a certain point of view.”

“No, you are not going to Obi-Wan this on me. What is going on?”

“Your wish.”

“Did said wish also mean I was to be your girlfriend?”

“Yes, I guess so, as strange as that sounds.”

“That’s more than just strange. You don’t see a problem in this?”

“I did at first, as everything came to rushing into my mind, I felt okay about it. You’ve been my friend since fourth grade.

“Fifth.”

“Yeah, like almost half our lives so far. Oh, your name is Taianna Anne.”

“Thank you,” I growled. I looked at the door and wondered when Mom would call me down.

“Think of it like a multiverse where you’re looking at two different streams at the same time.”

“Which one is the correct one?”

“Which one do you want it to be?”

I turned to my reflection in the mirror and felt a tug of war in my head.

“I’ll talk with Katie in the morning. I have to go help my mom with dinner. Also, don’t you ever put your hand on my ass again!”

There was a long delay before he replied. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“I’ll figure out all of this in the morning.”

“Hey,” Matt whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Can you wear that red cut-off shirt. It looks sexy on you.”

I looked at my reflection again—I was wearing said article of clothing.

“Shut up, Matt.”

I abruptly hung up the phone, laid it back on my dresser, and pulled at the shirt.

“I’m going to burn this,” I said as I opened my door and ran down the hall to help with dinner.

Thirty minutes later we sat down to eat. I had a tough time keeping hair out of my face.

“Sheila is coming home this weekend,” Mom announced.

I nodded to the news because I wasn’t sure what our relationship was supposed to be. I had to think we were civil and not at each other’s throats, unlike the past where there was hell to pay if I even looked in her general direction.

I was cozy in bed that night after finally understanding how it felt to wear silk pajamas. Never realized how comforting they were, and I needed all said comfort due to how I was going to explode at Matt in the morning. That explosion would spark to the others as I thought they should stop using their wishes too. Well, fine, Riley’s was okay, and Tony…well, he needed a car. Not sure about the ability to transform it into something that would rival Gundam, but it came as a package. Chris’ mind powers? We never asked about their limit and that was when my brain dredged up the thought I had earlier in the day of tearing into his pants.

I shuddered at that thought for a second and then it was gone from my mind. Finally, I had to think about Matt’s abilities. Was he limited or did he have ultimate cosmic power that dwarfed Tetsuo Shima’s? I decided I would ask him about it in the morning.

“Hi, beautiful!” Matt said as I opened the front door.

“I wore this for you today,” I turned around and curtsied so he could see the cut-off and my skirt. I would have to put on a flannel to cover myself once we got to school, but until then, it was for the boyfriend one could only wish for.

“You’re wearing the necklace I gave you, babe?”

“Of course,” I replied as I tapped at my chest. “Next to my heart.”

“Looking good, Tai,” Tony said from the driver’s seat. Chris sat shotgun, allowing Matt and myself to sit in the back together.

Matt opened the door for me, and I had to give him a large smile.

“Riley’s at practice this morning?”

“Yep, he’s been smashing records this year,” Chris replied as I climbed in, and Matt followed.

“We should go to the game and cheer him on,” I said as I clicked my seatbelt.

“If you want to go, babe, I’m for it.”

“What about you two?”

Chris looked at Tony and Tony nodded.

“Cool,” I said as Matt took a hold of my hand.

We had been friends forever, always playing outdoors and riding bicycles. They remained my friends after I passed my tomboy phase and there was one time, we all went camping in the woods. The guys thought I’d be more comfortable in my own tent, but I refused to leave their tent. It was warmer with everyone, and I would have felt by myself as they would have continued to talk. It was also that night that I stayed up and talked with Matt for hours about what we wanted to do. He talked about helping the world, being a superhero to the powerless and a beacon of hope to the oppressed. I asked him if he was Superman, and he shook his head. He asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I told him I wanted to be with him.

I’m going to take the car out there tonight.”

“You’re going to race, Tony?” Matt asked.

“Just this once. There’s these guys from Jefferson who think they can outrun me.”
“Be careful, Anthony,” I said.

“Thanks, Tai, I think I know how it will all turn out.”

“Just you?” I asked as Tony looked in his rearview mirror.

“Do you want to go, babe?” Matt asked.

“Sure, I’d love to. As long as I’m not in the car at the time. Matt and I will be your cheerleaders on the side.”

Matt smiled and squeezed my hand.

Tony parked in a spot reserved especially for him. He had stopped a robbery at the local bank and so as a way to repay him, the town gave him a special spot right next to the front of the building. It worked out for all of us, so we didn’t have to park in the nether regions of the parking lot.

The four of us got out and walked as a group to the school.

I wouldn’t say we ruled the school, but everyone liked us at Liberty High. We were a part of the social fabric with Matt leading the pack. He had calmed down the gang activity by challenging them to wrestling matches and had a seven to zero victory. Riley towered over the rest of the football team, and he was the leader on the field. Coach may have called the plays, but Riley was in charge. Chris always mediated confrontations between the staff and student body. There was a time when a shooter entered the school and Chris was able to convince him to put his guns down, walk out of the building, and wait for the police to arrive. I was just happy to be one of their close friends.

“Have a great morning, Matthew,” I cooed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“See you at break. Love you, babe.”

“I love you too,” I replied as I walked down the hall to my first class.

I usually sat in the front row in Geometry, but someone was in my assigned seat. I didn’t care as long as the teacher didn’t and she wouldn’t, thanks to Chris working out the SSG, “Student Seat Guidelines” that allows us to sit anyway we wanted to as long as it wasn’t distracting. I found a seat in the back row next to what looked like a new student. She had blond hair that shined brightly against her white T-shirt with blue jeans, and her nails had a beautiful shade of green.

“Hi, are you new? I’m Tai.”

“Hey, Tai, yeah, I’m Katie and yeah, I’m new, kind of. I’ve been here in the past, but that was kind of another life.”

“Oh, I understand. New life expectations and all, right?”

“Exactly,” Katie replied. Her eyes sparked like emeralds, and I assumed she must have soon kicking contact lenses. “I saw you walking into the school with a group of guys.”

“Yeah, they’re my BBF’s, well, one of them, Matt, is my boyfriend.”

“I hope so, since his hand was so low on your back.”

My face turned red for a moment.

“Just kidding with you girl. I’ll bet they’re all good guys.”

“I can introduce you to them.”

“Cool,” Katie replied as we simultaneously brushed our hair from our faces.

After Geometry, Katie walked with me down the hallway.

“You’ve been to Europe?”

“We’ve been everywhere over the years.”

“Are your parents in the military?”

“At one time, yeah, but after that we just went wherever we wished.”

“That is so cool. Matt wants to take me to Paris and then Rome.”

“That’s so sweet, and expensive.”

“Well, one time, he asked me to imagine we were standing on top of the Eiffel Tower. I held his hand and closed my eyes, and when I opened them, it felt like we were really there. We looked at the lights of the tower at night, and he held me closer. I know it wasn’t real. But the memories felt real.”

“I hope you get to go to Paris again with someone you love,” Katie said with a nod. “Hey, can you tell me where Mrs. Dolenz’s English class is?”

“Sure,” I said with a smile, “she’s on the third floor. Matt has that class too. Say hi to him.”

“Will do. Thanks, Tai,” Katie replied with a wave. I hurried off to my locker to get my books for US History.

I hated that none of my close friends were in any of my classes. Matt and I could never synchronize our classes due to the activities he was involved in, and I was happy about that. We saw each other at break, lunch and after school at his house for some studying, talking, and, if he was ready for it, I would do whatever he asked of me.

There was one person in my US History class that I would talk and compare notes with and that was Shelly Whitman. Shelly was a beautiful girl in her own right. and we could talk about clothes, makeup, and how we should do each other’s hair. There were times she stared at me and then abruptly turned her head.

“Hey, Shell,” I called out as I placed my book and notebook on the desk.

“Tai?”

“Yeah?”

“I heard about something,” Shelly sang.

“What did you hear?” I asked, intrigued. There was always an important announcement every time Shelly used her sing-song voice.

“Can you still wear a white dress?”

“Religiously?” I asked.

“I’ll take that as a no,” She replied with a laugh.

“Why?”

“You’re getting a proposal today.”

“I am?”

“From what I heard, it’s going to be tonight at a race or something.”

“Whoa,” I whispered. “I mean, we’ve talked about it.”

“I’m jealous of him,” Shelly said as she stood up and looked into my eyes.

“You are?” I asked as everyone else in the room seemed to vanish. There was only Shelly in front of me. She grabbed my face and kissed me on the mouth.

I was shocked and appalled for a moment, but those thoughts vanished as I tried to move around my desk without breaking contact with her lips. Shelly then placed one of her hands onto my chest as we continued to kiss. My mind was empty of any thoughts—only for Shelly in front of me. I reached out and caressed her. Nothing else mattered at that moment except for how she made me feel.

Shelly took a step back and I anxiously awaited what she would say or do.

“He doesn’t really love you. He loves what you can do for him.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Matt Williamson,” Shelly whispered.

“Oh-no,” I cried, as I let go of her hand and took a step back.

I heard a metallic “plink,” looked at the floor, and saw the shattered necklace.

“I…I gotta…I gotta…tell Matt!”

I fell back against my desk and then to the floor.

“You feel okay, babe?” Matt asked as I walked out of class.

“Sure, why?”

“I just thought that you needed some cheering up, so I bought you a donut. Bavarian cream, your favorite.”

He offered up the pastry with both hands. I saw a bead of sweat fall from his temple.

“Are you alright, Matt?”

“Oh yeah, just that test, it took a bit out of me.”

I nodded as I took the donut, broke it in half and handed half of it to Matt.

He wrapped his free arm around my back, and we walked down the hallway.

“Did you still want to go see Tony’s race?” I asked.

“Oh yeah, I wouldn’t miss it. Those guys from Jefferson won’t know what hit them.”

“Sounds exciting,” I replied, “it will be my first race to see in person.”

“It’s kind of loud. There was this one guy who tech-ed out his ride with some nitrous-oxide.”

“Well, Tony won’t need anything like that,” I said as I saw Chris and waved to him. His nose appeared bloody, and he had a paper towel on it. I broke away from Matt and ran over to him.

“Chris, what happened?”

“I don’t know. I just had a large headache,” he replied as he looked towards Matt.

“Mr. Henry’s chemistry test?” I asked.

“Yeah, I couldn’t think straight during it.”

“How long has your nose been bleeding?”

“A few minutes.”

“You should go to the nurse.”

“I should be okay, Tai. Matt, can you come with me to look at this?”

“Yeah, sure,” Matt turned to me. “See you at lunch?”

“You got it,” I replied as I kissed his cheek, leaving a bit of donut glaze on his face.

“I shall see you later,” Matt replied as he walked with Chris to the restroom.

I finished eating the donut as I walked to my locker.

Third period should have been just as uneventful as second period was, but everyone was asleep or frozen in time. The shock of my classmates sleeping sitting up like they were statues, was more than I could manage so I ran out of the room and into the hall.

“Somebody help!” I yelled, but everyone else in the hall was also immobile. It was like I was in a high school wing of Madame Tussaud’s.

I ran to the stairwell and started to climb up to find Matt, but instead I found Chris at the middle landing.

“Are you okay, Tai?”

“No, Chris, everyone is a statue or something. Do you know what’s going on?”

“No, but we’ll figure it out together. Come on.”

I nodded and followed Chris to the second floor. The hallway was empty, and it looked like everyone was in class.

“Weird,” I replied as I peered into Mrs. Witzski’s room and barely saw her five-foot one frame across the room. I almost opened the door, but

Chris tapped on my shoulder.

“Let’s cheek another room and see if more people are affected.”

“You’re so calm, Chris. This is high on my “X-files” list.”

“Everything will be okay, come on.”

He reached his hand out to me, and I took it.

Chris was being brave indeed during this craziness and as much as I should have been freaking out more and more, I felt reassured as we walked over to a classroom across the hallway. Chris opened the door, walked in and turned on the lights. It was a storage room.

“What’s in here?”

“We are,” he replied.

“Yeah, I can see that, Chris, but why?”

“It’s a safe space from whatever is going on.”

“Safe space?”

“Tai, there’s something you need to know,” Chris stated as he took ahold of both my hands.

“What?”

“There’s someone who is controlling you.”

“Controlling me? Like how? Subliminal messages? Radio signals?” I asked as I took off my flannel shirt and threw it onto the counter next to an old paper cutter.

“They have powers they’re using them on you, but you must fight it. You can break away.”

“Who?” I asked, as I removed my belt.

“If I speak their name, then we’ll be located, and we can’t let that happen.”

I nodded as Chris moved closer and kissed me, a deep and passionate kiss and I immediately reciprocated.

“You’re beautiful,” he said as he ran his hands down my arms.

“I can be more beautiful if you can help me with this skirt.”

“I would be happy to,” Chris replied as he unclipped two buttons and my Abbey Dawn skirt fell to the floor. I stood in a torn crop-top, and a VS pink thong. I should have been freezing but all I could do was wonder what we were going to do next.

Chris picked me up, sat me on the counter and kissed my neck. It felt serene and like it was always meant to feel. Chris raised my hands and took off the crop top.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m whatever you want me to be, Christopher Vaughn,” I whispered as I jumped down and into his awaiting arms. We kissed again and his hands squeezed my breasts. I wanted him to keep going but there was a thought in my head. It was the same thought I had the day before. My hands went to his jeans, and I felt his hardness longing to be free from its denim and cotton prison.

I looked up to his eyes for permission and Chris nodded so I pulled at the button, causing the zipper to rip apart and his jeans to fall. He moved my hands in a position to lower his underwear, and I giggled at the thought of doing this for the first time, but I was in presence of someone who was protecting me from a dark force. I had my own dark force within me as I took a hold of his erect manhood and moved my lips close to it.

I heard a “dripping noise” and then felt something on my hand, blood. I looked to see Chris’ nose bleeding profusely.

“Chris, are you okay?”

“Yea, yea, keep going, please,” he pleaded. “He can’t find us just yet.”

“Who? I…What the hell?” I yelled as I stepped back and covered myself with my hands.

“It’s okay, Tai, it’s okay.”

“No, no it is not okay. Why am I standing here like this?”

“You wanted me to.”

I shook my head as I grabbed my clothes and tried to quickly get dressed. Chris’ bloody nose was dripping faster, like he was hemorrhaging from his brain.

“Let’s get dressed and take you to the nurse.”

“I’m fine, Tai, could you please continue, I would love it if you would.”

I stopped getting dressed. I had my top and flannel on, but my skirt and belt were still on the floor.

“If I do this, then you’ll go and get help?”

He nodded.

“Okay,” I replied as I kneeled. “Where were we?”

Chris moved my face closer to his hardening erection, and I reached my tongue out.

A door exploded open behind us.

“You!” Matt’s voice boomed.

“It’s not what it looked like, Matt.”

“What’s it supposed to look like, Chris? Of all the stupidest shit you could say!”

My face moved closer but then I felt another hand on my shoulder.

“Go and get dressed, Tai.”

They stared at me as I got dressed. Matt then punched Chris in the chest.

I brushed my hair away from my face and then turned to Matt.

“I’ll see you at lunch, babe. Chris and I have some things to discuss.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then, Matt. Feel better, Chris!”

“I will be in a few minutes,” he replied as he winced.

“Bye, Matt,” I turned and walked out of the room.

The clock on the wall showed it was time for third period. I couldn’t figure out why I was on the second floor.

When I met up with Chris at lunch, he had several scratches on his face and a large bruise on his forehead.
“What happened to you?”
“Matt., but don’t worry about it. Everything’s cool.”
“Great!” I exclaimed as I smiled. “So, we’re still going to ‘The Ruins’ for the race?”
“Yes, and we’re going to ride with Tony.”
“Is that safe?”
“Of course,” Chris replied, and I agreed with him.
“Dude, what happened to Matt?” Riley asked from behind.
“He was trying to get into my head a bit.”
Riley shook his head.
“Do you have practice this afternoon, Riley?”
“Nope, going to see Tony leave some Jefferson punks in the dust.”
“You can come with us then. Right, Chirs?”
“Sure, Tai, sounds good,” Chris said with a look at Riley that I didn’t understand but I also didn’t bother to ask about.
The three of us walked up to the lunchroom, passing by Barry, Paul, and Wes who gave Chris high-fives as they passed by us. The four were a part of project to help the homeless.
We walked into the crowded cafeteria area and stood in line. I scanned the room and saw Matt sitting by himself with his hands on his head when noticed me and looked at me. Matt had similar scars and what looked like a bruise on his face as well. I turned back to Chris, they almost matched.
Tony sat by himself at the table we all usually sat together at. This would be the first day since grade school we would be a part and without Matt. I’d have to ask Chris what happened when I had the chance.
“Oh yeah, they’re serving tacos.”
“You can have mine, Riley,” I replied.
“Thanks, Tai.”
“You’re welcome.”
Chris looked back at Riley for a moment, then picked up two trays and handed one to me.
The cafeteria workers doled out the tacos, trimmings and some pears that looked they had seen fresher days. My head pounded for a second and I felt like I was being pulled back. Chris grabbed my waist with his free arm and my eyes darted to his.
“You okay, Tai?”
“Just feel dizzy,..guess I just need to eat.”
Chris nodded as I steadied myself back onto my feet.

“I’m going to hustle them, make them think they’re going to win before smoking them out at the end,” Tony beamed a the rest of us sat down.
“I wouldn’t call it hustling. You can call it, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.” Riley said as he sat down in a chair next to Tony.
“Yeah, you need to pull up looking like you have a junked out car and then you can smoke them” Chris added as we sat down next to each other. I slid my tray across the table to Riley who picked up the taco.
“I’ll run a burnout and then pass them on the way back.”
“Just be careful, Tony, we’ll be in the car with you.”
“Not me,” Riley replied. “I prefer to slam into someone on the field then behind a wheel.”
“‘C’mon, Riley, I’m a great driver.”
“Yeah, you are,” Riley replied and then took a bite of a taco. “I’m talking about the guys in the other car doing something stupid.”
Shadow fell over the table. We looked up to see Matt.
“Speaking of people doing stupid things,” Chris muttered with a sigh.
“Hey, is everyone going to the race tonight?”
“Not if you are,” Chris replied.
I nudged Chris and then looked back at Matt. “We’re all going. You should come too.”
“Fine, whatever. Find your own ride though.” Chris muttered.
“I gotcha covered, man,” Riley said through another mouthful of taco.
“Thanks, Riley.”
“I‘m going to jerk their chains a little, maybe allow a few bets to roll on the side. We need a bigger crowd.”
“Not too big,” I cautioned. “The police?”
“Only if they can find us.”

Tony was partially right as “The Ruins” was the remains of a mall that never opened. It was built over an actual garbage dump and the foundation cracked four days before opening day. The stores scrambled to remove their merchandise, but alphabet soup red tape prevented them from going in, so it became a free-for-all for anyone brave enough to scramble over a security fence. A few weeks later, a large part of the façade fell, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the mall where you could drive two cars in at the same time. There were also flare-ups of methane gas which gave the area a “Mad Max” kind of feel. It was sad, really, as the mall was going to have the first Ulta Beauty store in the tri-state area.

The five of us walked back to the main building for our afternoon classes. I kissed Chris and said “see you later” to the others so I could gather my books for my next class.
“Tai!” Katie called from the back of the room.
I waved to her and walked to the desk next to her.
“I saw you sitting with those guys.”
“They’re my friends I was taking about.”
“Nice,” she replied as we sat down. “I admit I need to find a few good friends.”
“Why don’t you come with us to The Ruins.”
“The Ruins?” Katie asked as she opened her binder and wrote down “the ruins”.
“Anthony, one of my guys, is racing tonight.”
“No way, like street racing?”
“Kind of,” I replied, but instantly regretted it as maybe Katie’s family were in law enforcement or something that could make our lives hell.
“I’m so in, what time?”
“Sundown.”
“Can’t wait. Now, what can you tell me about this class?”
“What’s to say,” I responded with a shrug, “it’s Biology taught by the football coach. We usually watch videos.”
Katie nodded and then looked at me. “So Tai, which of your friend’s is the cutest?”
“They’re all cute, as you say, in their own way.”
“But you have eyes on one of them, right?”
“I’m with Chris. We been friends forever and then, one day, we were a couple. We’re all still close and no matter happens, we always help each other.”
Katie nodded again as Coach Mitchell walked in and stood in front of his desk.
“Okay, settle down. I’m going to call the roll. We have a new student to the class. Katie Walid, can you stand up please?”
Katie stood up and waved to the class. “Hello.”
Coach Mitchell took a textbook off of his desk and put his hand out. Katie walked up, took the book from him and sat back down.
“I hope someone left answers in this book too,” she whispered.
“Wouldn’t that be cool. I always thought about wishing for the answer to everything.”
“You never know,” Katie replied as Coach Mitchell continued calling the roll.

---

It Only Hurts for a While

It was sundown around seven-thirty as the impromptu crowd formed outside of what would have been a Toys R Us store. The store had been used as a vagabond village but even they cleared out due to the stench that would fill the air. It was the same that night when we arrived ahead of Tony, Chris and Riley: A foul odor which would require a hot shower for hours to get it off. I wore Matt’s long jacket as we got out of his car.

The crowd was mostly from Jefferson High, and it included the two drivers who had the gall to challenge Tony. However, a part of me wondered if Tony bragged a bit too much about his car to the wrong person and he had to prove to everyone he was the best.

Riley and Chris cut through the crowd to where we were.

“No Tony yet?” Matt asked.

“He’s on his way.”

“If he comes in flying, it’s going to be hard to set any bets.”

“There’s always the robot mode,” Riley added.

“Okay, now that I’d pay to see.”

“So would Barry,” Chris replied. “Just watch. He’ll come in a coche de mierda.”

Matt laughed a little as a light shined in the distance.

“All they got is a Honda,” Riley muttered and shook his head.

“A Honda decked out with enough nitrous to probably ignite the gas in the air, I’ll bet.”

An old-looking clunker drove into the parking lot.

“He’s doing it,” Chris said as he slapped Riley across the chest. “I called it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I owe you a taco.”

“You owe me two.”

We watched the car struggle to get next to the rival’s Honda.

“You’re going to race us in that piece of shit?” The taller of the two laughed.

“It’s got it where it counts,” Tony replied as he got out and slammed the door.

“Whatever, guido. You ready?”

“Hell yes. You got your money?”

They each took out two hundred dollars and handed them off to a third person who put the money into a bag.

“Matt, Tai!”

We walked over to the car with Matt sitting in the front and me in the back.

“You going to be okay, Tai?”

“Yeah, I’m stoked for this.”

“Awesome!” Tony exclaimed as he climbed back in.

“If you can get that old rust bucket up again, we can start!” The passenger of the other car yelled.

Tony turned the key, and the car roared to life like a lion but then sputtered like a lame tiger caught under the foot of a stampeding elephant.

There was a roar of laughter from the crowd.

“Just call the race off. We know who the loser is!” Someone yelled as he pointed at us.

The cars rolled into position and by then I had my seatbelt on and held onto the “oh shit” bar behind Tony.

The guy with bag holding the money stood in front of us and then dropped a hat onto the ground, signaling a peel out from both vehicles but the Honda zoomed ahead if us before Tony had shifted into second gear.

“And away we go!” Tony yelled and the car changed from a homage to the Wagon Queen Family Truckster to a futurist sleek car that surpassed anything featured “The Fast and Furious” and blazed ahead to catch up with the Honda.

“Tell me they can’t see the car the way it is.”

“They only see a piece of shit car, Tony,” Matt replied as he waved his hands in front of his face.

“You don’t have to put it like that.”

“Just watch it, we’re heading into the mall.”

Tony’s car was silent as we caught up to the Honda at the center of the mall. The course would have us go straight, leave through another hole in the wall, one that big enough for a single car, then circle around the parking lot. Then we would race in from the east side, continue to the west, and then head back to the starting point. We passed our opposition and they were not happy at all as they attempted to catch up.

“Wanna play chicken, huh?” Tony asked.

We were rapidly approaching the small hole in the wall with both cars matching speed.

“Screw this,” Tony spat as he flipped a switch on the steering wheel.

“Booster at the ready,” a computer-generated voice, which sounded a bit like mine, announced.

“Can you obscure the booster?”

“No,” Matt replied.

“Eh, what the hell! Everyone hold-on!”

“Booster engaged!” The voice said and we shot past the other car, clipping the side wall with no damage to the car.
Tony kept the booster on as we rocketed through the parking lot.

“Grappler ready,” the voice announced.

“Tony, why does that voice sound like me?”

“AI!” Tony replied as he pushed a button on the dashboard. A spike, attached to a wire flew out and buried itself deep into the ground, allowing us to take the turn at a dangerous speed. The wire disconnected at just the right moment, and we drove back into the mall for lap two. This time, we had to jump over an old fountain that was in the center of the food court. The ramp, if one would call it that, was composed of loose concrete and boards.

Tony kept the booster engine on as we hit the ramp, launching the car into the air. I stared in awe as we soared over the dilapidated food court and continued to fly to where the old Sears anchor store was. We touched back down and continued driving through the store and back outside. I looked out the side window, and I could have sworn I saw Katie!

“Was that Katie?” I asked.

“What?” Matt asked as he turned his head to me.

“I saw Katie!”

“Katie? Seriously” Tony asked as he pressed the same button as before.

“I invited her, but I thought she would have been with the others back at the starting line,” I said as the car’s computer beeped as it had earlier.

“Grappler ready,” I sang along with the voice of the car.

Tony looked at me in the rearview mirror as he pressed the button again and another bolt fired and punctured the ground. However, unlike the last time, the bolt did not go down as far, or maybe it had hit a pocket of gas as we undershot the turn and spun out of control.

“Booster disengaged.”

“AG stabilizer!” Tony yelled as the car floated off the ground and repositioned us back in the direction of the finish line.

The Honda appeared from the building in a desperate attempt to catch up.

“I’m converting back to incognito mode.”

“Use P.O.S., it simply rolls off the tongue,” Matt shouted as the car changed back into how it was when we started.

“Whoo!” Tony yelled. "Boo-yah!"

“Finish line!” Matt shouted.

I looked at Matt’s face, and it once again had a fresh set of scratches and bruises. I tried to think what we had hit to have caused that.

We darted past the guy with the hat and Tony slammed on the brakes. We came to a not so sudden stop and the car rattled and hissed.

The crowd cheered; Liberty had come to The Ruins to represent.

We climbed out of the car and Tony threw his hands into the air as Riley and Chris ran in to congratulate Tony.

“That was smoking!” Riley yelled. “They’re just coming in now!”

Chris turned and gave me a hug and a kiss.

“What are you doing?” I asked as I felt a pull at my body, like someone had their hands on my shoulders, throwing me back.

I flew back into the path of the Honda and their pissed-off drivers. I remember seeing their faces as I struck the windshield of the car.

Save the World

Have you ever had that dream and you’re sailing through the air, simply admiring the sky and the wispy stands of the clouds as you pass through them, but then you fall! You flap your arms and kick your feet, but to no avail! You reach terminal velocity and your heart races as the Earth gets closer and closer until you strike something like a car, Then, everything goes black, and you wake up.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock and wondered if it had triggered my subconscious to give up on my Peter Pan fantasy and return to the land of the normal. I pulled back my comforter and noticed I was still in the clothes I had worn the day before, which was not something I ever did as one cannot fall asleep fully clothed and ignore the liberating feeling of a comfy set of pajamas.

“Good morning, Taianna,” Mom said as I pulled on my blouse while walking past the kitchen. I almost thought about changing into a shorter skirt, but my ride was on the way.

“Mom, do you remember when I got home?”

“I want to think it was a little after nine. You said you had fun playing mini golf but had slipped on a spilled drink. I had no idea you liked to play.”

“Neither did I,” I replied as I hoisted up my backpack, “I guess I just had to give it a try.”

“Matthew was very charming to you. How serious are you with him?”

“Mom, can we have this conversation later? I got to get to school.”

“Of course, of course. You father said Matthew was going to take the four of us out this Saturday to Dusty’s Steakhouse.”

I nodded, opened the front door and waved goodbye to mom. An eight-ounce steak from Dusty’s was about thirty-five dollars. I shook my head at that cost for a moment until I saw Tony’s car come up the driveway. The thought of my nightmare came through as I saw myself falling again onto the hood of a car. The thought fluttered away as Matt opened the passenger side door.

“Morning, babe,” Matt said as he stepped out of the car and moved the set forward to allow me into the back. He then sat next to me and reached out to close the door.

“Good morning, Matt,” I kissed him on the cheek before I turned to the front. “Tony! Congrats on that hole in one on the final hole. That was a nail-biter.”

“Yeah, it would have been horrific if I failed,” Tony replied as he looked at me in the rearview mirror and reversed the car.

“No one would have died, Tony. How many tacos does Chris owe you?”

“More than his colon’s going to be able to handle,” Matt laughed as Tony accelerated.

I smiled at Matt, and he grinned back at me.

“Hey, Tai, how do you feel about going out this weekend? I’ve invited your folks to dinner.”

“You don’t have to do that. Dusty’s is expensive.”

“You are worth any price I have to pay,” Matt replied, and Tony abruptly changed lanes to pass a car. “Keeping you happy is the most important thing to me.”

“Thank you,” I said as we kissed on the lips, and I felt a surge in my blood to do much more.

“Later?” Matt asked.

I nodded.

I walked into first period with Katie meeting me at the door.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Last night.”

“Oh yeah, it was nothing, just a slip and fall due to a spilled soda, nothing big,” I waved it off with my hand.

“Oh, did you win?”

“Tony got the lowest score. I think mine was in the thirties. Mini golf is not my forte.”

Katie nodded as we walked to our desks.

“Oh, and Matthew’s taking me and my parents out Saturday night.”

“Oh girl, you know what that means, right?” Katie squealed as we sat at our desks.

“I have my thoughts, but I don’t think it would come to that. We’re still taking it slow” I replied as I flashed a ring on my left hand.

“I like the ring.”

“Thank you, Matt gave it to me last night.”

“So, it is an engagement ring?”

“It is,” I replied.

“Can I admire it?”

I looked at the ring and then at Katie before I allowed myself to remove it from my finger. I held it out and Katie took it in her hand.

“So, how was mini golf last night?”

“Oh yeah, it was nothing, just a slip and fall due to a spilled soda, nothing big,” I waved my left hand at her again.

“Oh, did you win?”

“Tony got the lowest score. I think mine was in the thirties. Mini golf is not my forte.”

“You’ll win the next game.”

“I don’t know, sometimes I feel like they’re all cheating, using some sort of superpowers.”

“Sometimes it’s good to be skeptic when everything is going your way.”

“I’m just kidding. I’m not good at playing the game, but they enjoy it, so I play along.”

Katie nodded as Mr. Fredrickson jogged into the room with a large cup of coffee and stood in front of his desk. “Attention class! I have an important announcement. If Einstein were a rapper, he’d call himself MC Squared. No, the real announcement is the pop quiz on the board that
I doubt anyone has noticed. Books and binders off the desk. Pens and paper only.”

The classroom was quiet with only the sounds of pencils and pens scribbling across graph paper until a blast of crunching metal cut through the silence.

Everyone stood up to look out the window, but Mr. Frederickson got there first and just stood there as a giant robot stomped around the parking
lot, crashing every car in its path. Before it, there was something that looked like a suit of armor with a blue electrical field. I looked to the far
end of the lot to see someone who looked like Chris running at full tilt towards the other two.

“If that’s Chris…then…”

Lightning flashed, followed by a violet roll of thunder. The giant robot and the armored man fell to the ground. The fire alarm sounded as true lights went out.

“Get away from the windows! In fact, we should go to the tornado shelter. Let’s go!”

Mr. Frederickson stood at door and waved the class out of the room, but I stood next to the window and stared in horror as the armored man removed his helmet and the robot shrunk down to the size of a man and its metallic face turned human. They were yelling at each other and pointing in Chris’ direction.

“Matthew! Tony!”

I ran out of the room and fought through the sea of students in the darkened hallway until I reached the end of the hallway and slammed into the exit door, forcing it open. There was the smell of gunfire, and some exceptionally large shell chasings littered the parking lot. I looked as the three of them continued to scream at each other until Chris knocked them down with some sort of concussive blast. Matthew and Tony donned their helmets again and both grew into large robots against Chris.

“This is some serious evil green ranger Megazord shit!” Riley yelled from behind me. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

“Trying to stop them from killing each other!” I yelled back as the gunfire started up again as Tony jumped into the air and fired down at

Matthew, but he stopped, held aloft by something Matthew was doing, until Chris threw his hands back and then forward, causing Matthew to lose control over Tony., but not before several shots fired in our direction.

“We’re going to need a miracle!” Riley yelled as shells filled the air and we ran for cover.

I could only nod as there was a loud ringing in my ears. We ducked back into the school as a piece of shrapnel nearly impaled Riley.

I crashed into his arms, and we fell to the floor as something whizzed through the air and exploded at the other end of the hall.

“Shit!” Riley exclaimed as we turned around to see Katie standing behind us. “Can you make this go away?”

“I can’t,” she replied as she looked out the door as another explosion rocked the building.

“Have you come to gloat about how we’re stupid about dealing with wishes?”

“Nope. I will admit the truism of absolute corrupts absolutely does fit the situation.”

“Will they kill each other?” Riley asked.

Katie shook her head. “They are at a stalemate. The only thing they can do now is grandstand, bluster about who’s the stronger man, continue to fight each other to the death or stand-down.”

“How do we stop them? I asked.

“It’s not a ‘we’ decision. The two of you together can’t stop them,”

“They’re our friends, if we go out and explain to them…”

“That didn’t work earlier, Tai.”

“We have to think positive they’ll come to their senses.”

Katie turned around and shook her head. “You know that won’t happen.”

“Like I said,” Riley said as he took a deep breath, “we need a freaking miracle.”

“How about a wish?

We turned to Katie and stared at her for a second as another rumble occurred followed by a siren in the distance.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“You never wished for anything.”

“Uh, look at her,” Riley replied as he moved his hands like he was showing me off as a prize.

“You never wished for this. This was wished upon you.”

“By Matt?

“By all four of them.”

I turned to Riley, and he lowered his head and nodded. “They got damn superpowers, Tai! Like Colossus going against Magneto, what could I do?”

“What did they do to me, Riley? What did you allow to happen?”

“I didn’t allow anything, Tai. There wasn’t anything I do to stop it.”

“I know something’s all screwed up with time. How many days have gone by?

“Three, but…it’s actually still Wednesday.”

An ordinance explosion rocked the school, and a verbal one spewed out of my mouth. “What happened to me, Riley?”

Katie silently walked a few steps back and then turned to Riley, causing him to swallow hard.

“Uhh, well, he, they…we..”

“We what, Riley?”

“You want it bluntly said or the calm way?”

“I don’t fucking care how you say it! Just tell it!”

“Yeah, that was it.”

“What was it?”

“We passed you around.”

“You son of a bitch!” I yelled as I punched Riley in the stomach.

He doubled over and nodded.

“How many times?”

“I don’t know,” he replied as he stumbled back. I had to admit I was shocked at my own strength,

“How many times, Riley!”

“I don’t know, honestly! After, after the first time I told them how wrong it was. I really wanted to have a wish to counter everything.” Riley looked at Katie, who ignored his pleading look.

I moved towards the battered door.

“You probably don’t want to go out there.” Riley wheezed.

“Oh, I do. I want to kick all three of their asses.”

“How?”

“I could use my wish to put an end to this and then if I must be Tyler once again, that’s how it will be, I’ll be ‘me’, again.”

Katie smiled for a moment, walked back to us, and put her hands on my arms. “You are you. You’re how you view yourself in your heart and mind. It was brought out early and used against you.”

“I can’t use my wish to stay like this when they’re out there blowing up the city!”

“Why not?” Katie asked.

I closed my eyes and pondered the choice of being a girl by my own free will or stopping the anime-inspired carnage. I placed so much thought into it that I started to get a headache and held my temple.

“Uh, Tai, I mean, Tyler?”

I looked at Riley who gawked at me as I returned to a male form. I made a few checks by touching parts of my body, which were still covered by my blouse and skirt. My hair was also short once again. I was about to sigh about how things couldn’t get any worse when the repressed memories flooded in. I could see the four using me in every way that could be done. I didn’t fear anger, I didn’t feel a lust for revenge, only a wave of sadness.

The laser blasts and ‘the rockets’ red glare’ battle outside abruptly ceased so I walked out of the building to see the three of them lying on the ground in a bloody heap.

“Oh my God!” Riley yelled as he ran to them. ‘Guys! Guys! Hey, it’s Riley!”

Riley slapped Matt’s face and shook Chris and Tony, but to no avail.

“Tai, you gotta bring them back. They were our friends.”

“Were, Riley,” I whispered. “Goodbye, guys. It was nice to know you, at one time.” I turned around and looked back to Katie. “I wish…”

I had no dreams or nightmares that night and I woke up without my brain feeling fuzzy or confused. However, the memories of the past few days—with and without the time dilation-- remained. I could see their faces as they towered over me or laid on me. It would have been an honorable thing to save my friends to try and bring them back from the dark side. I admit I chose the selfish route instead and to be honest,

I felt no regrets and would have done it again.

“Taianna!” Mom shouted from the other end of the house, “We need to leave!”

“On my way, mom!” I yelled as I scooped up backpack, took a final look at my wardrobe: a green sweater with jeans; and flipped off the lights as I left the room.

Mom stood at the end of the hallway as I ran from my room to the front of the house.

“Your look happy this morning, dear.”

“It feels like a new day,” I replied as we walked out the front door.

“Do you have a ride to work after school?”

“Yes ma’am,” I replied, “and back home.”

Mom nodded as we got into the car.

She started the engine, and the radio immediately blasted out and instead of turning the volume down, Mom covered her ears.

“The case of multiple rape charges against Christopher Newsom continues to day four…”

I reached out and tuned it off.

“Thank you. How did I leave that on so loud? Well, as I was going to say, Shiela is coming home for the weekend tomorrow morning.”

“Can’t wait,” I replied as we backed out of the driveway.

“She wants to go to the game. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure, I have tomorrow night off.”

“I’ll let you take my car as long as you only go to the game.”

“What about the after the game meet-up at Taco Bueno?” I pleaded. “I made promise I’d be there.”

“As long as you bring a sopapilla home with a lot of honey.”

“I can that mom. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Tai. Oh, someone is on the side of the road. Do you know them?”

I looked to the side of the road to see Tony standing in front of a broken-down car.

“He doesn’t look familiar. It could be a trap, you know?”

Mom nodded. “I’ll call the non-emergency number and see if someone can come out to help him.”

Mom dropped me off in front of Liberty High School. The school looked the same, but there was a different vibe in the air. I walked inside and dived into the sea of students to reach my locker. Barry and Paul walked by, sans their wrestling letter jackets, with their hands and hearts entwined. I opened my locker, grabbed my books, and turned to look back at the student body. In the past, I felt small and inferior to everyone but everyone who passed me acknowledged my smile and wave with one of their own.

“Gang way!” A voice shouted and I took a side-step to allow the blur of a guy chased by seven girls wearing jackets that had what looked like the letter “O” on the back to race by. They had thrown him into every trash can in the school, but it looked like there was a new one installed in front of the library that had not yet been blessed.

“Okay class. I have an announcement before we go over the results of the pop quiz,” Mrs. Fredrickson spoke through a sip of coffee.

“Parallel lines have so much in common. Unfortunately, they will never meet.”

The class groaned and she waved off their disapproval. “I’ll be here all week, as will all of you. Okay, here are the results of yesterday’s quiz.”

I glanced out the window and saw only the fall day. No bullets, no psychic powers, and no catastrophic damage to the city.

“Miss Traynor, are you with us or admiring the day?”

“I’m here, ma’am, sorry.”

“I don’t blame you for looking out the window,” Mrs Fredrickson replied with a nod as she flung her hair behind her back, away from her face.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said as she handed over my assignment.

After first period, I stepped past the school trophy and awards case, filled to the brim with various gold statues, ribbons, pennants, and pictures. One of the pictures was of our school’s dance team during nationals. I grinned at the sight of myself in our uniforms and flags. I was not the leader, and I was not the best, but I was part of a team. The next case was devoid of flair or splendor; more of sorrow and somber.

The center of the case featured a picture with a plaque below that read “We will remember you, Matthew Paul Williamson” with newspaper clippings of a tragic accident at The Ruins where his car flipped over five times, and he was ejected.

“Hey, you, okay?” A voice asked as a hand rested on my shoulder.

“I’m fine, I just never read this all the way.”

“It was a sad day, yeah. But think about it: he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was driving around a garbage dump. Not too safe, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied with a nod.

“Come, on, where’s my happy girl?”

“I’m right here,” I sang as I turned to Shelley and kissed her on the cheek.

“Remember, happiness is contagious.”

“I may have a fever,” I replied with a swoon.

“I know a cure.”

“Will you please heal me, doctor?”

“The first thing is we get away from this darkness and continue on to second period.”

I nodded to Shelley and together we walked to second period.

“Tai, I feel so happy today,” Shelley said as she wrapped her arm around my waist.

“I do too. You’re more than anything I could ever wish for.”