by Laura Winter
“Hell no, man,” Glitch replied with a laugh. “I’m not getting in between whatever spark it is that you two have. Did you not see she couldn’t take her eyes off you this entire day?”
Shit. So Glitch had seen everything. Still, he was content to be the wingman and help us both out.
I heard them both head off and I skipped the rest of the way to the house.
9
Nate
I dropped into the shadows and made my way home, enjoying the cool feeling of darkness. I was sweating profusely under my shirt, and I hoped Clara hadn’t noticed the stick of my clothes. Somehow, she spent the entire walk with her hands shoved into the sleeves of her sweatshirt and didn’t look like she was roasting. Lucky.
I slid out of my shadow and face planted into my bed, completely exhausted. For first days of school, today had been pretty good. As embarrassing as Glitch was, I’m not sure I would have ever gotten the courage to talk to Clara without his help. And for whatever reason, she still wanted to talk to us; perhaps a first in my entire life. And though it was great to have another friend, there was one part of our lives we couldn’t include her in.
Glitch and I had never heard of anyone with powers or abilities, which meant we kept that part to ourselves. It’s not like we saw people running around and flaunting their supernatural skills every day. It wasn’t really that hard to keep our secret, though. Miss Bonner wasn’t one to hover and usually just made sure we weren’t getting into serious trouble. My parents were never home, so I didn’t have to worry about anything either. Mom was somewhere on a research project and had been gone for most of high school doing whatever it was she did. Dad, on the other hand, dropped by every few months thanks to his government job. I probably wouldn’t see him again until closer to the holidays.
I sat up on the edge of the bed and felt something cold pinch into my leg. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the half marble I had found this morning. Even after spending the day in the August heat and even longer in my pants pocket, the surface was still cold. I flipped the marble over to the round side, narrowing my eyes as a swirl of blue flashed under the surface. But as I looked closer, I could only see black. Probably just a reflection of light in the surface. Well, as strange as it was, the perfectly halved marble was still a decent trinket. I put it up on the bookshelf and left to shower.
After finishing some homework and making dinner that would last a few evenings, I made my way back upstairs to get into bed. Just as I plugged in my phone, the screen lit up with a text from an unknown number. I clicked open the icon and smiled, realizing there was only one person it could have been.
Hi, it’s Clara. Glitch stole my phone at lunch and got my number, which means he sent me yours too. Anyway, I wanted to thank you for today. And for the sweatshirt. Lifesaver.
I laughed to myself. Glitch was playing the matchmaker role seamlessly. He probably had a million moves lined up for us, saved up over the years of not getting to use them. I pictured his smug face in my mind as I replied.
Anytime, C. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning at 7.
I sent the message before realizing how quickly I had responded. Glitch used to say that there were rules about how much time you should take between text responses so you didn’t look desperate. I hadn’t paid attention to any of those ridiculous rules, not concerned with texting girls, so I had completely spaced. But I didn’t have to sit in my dumb, teenage anxiety long because Clara clearly didn’t know those rules either. She replied instantly.
I’ll meet you at the bottom of the hill.
It took everything in my power not to respond and wish her a good night, but I knew Glitch would never let me live that down. In fairness, I had only met her this morning. I smiled and turned off the screen, letting the events of the day lull me to sleep.
◆◆◆
I stood in the clearing; the same one where I found the half marble. A man stood in the middle, his back toward me but facing someone. I heard his laugh grow, the deep sound echoing around the trees. He lifted his arm slightly, flames dancing around his hand and growing to surround his body. In an instant, he chucked the flames forward, directing them toward a girl who now came into my sight.
Clara.
She didn’t flinch, though, her head twitching only slightly as the fireball deflected away from her. But the movement revealed the blue light glowing from her left fist, creeping out of her enclosed fingers.
From the sky, a bright flash cracked on top of her, the deafening sound vibrating in my chest. I closed my eyes, the outline of lightning burned into the backs of my eyelids.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing next to Clara, her violet-red hair plastered onto her pale skin with sweat. She turned to face me, reaching her left hand up toward my face. I frowned, noticing the blue scar that originated in her palm and traced up her elbow, outlining the same shape as the lightning I had just seen. Her fingers touched my cheek softly, but I shivered in response. Her palm was ice cold.
“You’re too late,” she said, pulling her hand away. Both of her arms reached toward her stomach.
I glanced down to see blue blood spilling between her fingers, dripping down to the puddle of blue blood at her feet. Her legs shook, finally giving in as she dropped to the ground. I dove forward, trying to catch her before she slammed into the ground.
My face connected with a hard surface, knocking me back down to the bed. I stared up at the ceiling, my breathing labored as I tried to orient myself. Had I really just tried to dive through my bedroom wall? My entire body was tense, pain radiating from my forehead as I let myself cool down before I tried any movements.
That nightmare had felt so real, yet nothing about it made sense. I had never seen that man before, and there was nothing about that scenario that was familiar. But even worse was that I was dreaming of the beautiful girl I had just met. Clara stood defiant in that clearing, facing down a man who looked like he wanted to kill her. Even more confusing was the fact that she had a blue scar shaped like lightning, blue blood, and powers. And there was a bigger problem.
She died.
There was no going back to sleep when my mind wanted to continue racing. I pulled up the music on my phone, searched for Clara’s blink-182 album to listen to, and stared out the window until the sun rose.
10
Clara
I shot up out of bed, my face dripping with sweat. I could feel every bit of pain from that nightmare. What the hell did that mean? Panting, I tried to replay it in my head.
Fire. The man who was dead in the clearing had control over fire. He didn’t say anything in the dream, but his laugh echoed through my skull. Deep. Evil.
The flash of lightning followed, blinding my eyes and burning down my left arm, leaving a solid blue scar on my skin. Just seconds before, I had been hot, but after the lightning, everything was cold.
That wasn’t the worst part. Nate was there. I don’t know how, or why, but he stood in front of me. My fingers lifted to my lips, feeling the words that I must have screamed in my sleep. In the dream, I told him he was too late.
And then I died.
I lifted the hem of my shirt, feeling the skin along my stomach. There was no scar there, no wound, but that’s where I had been bleeding.
I sighed and leaned back against the wall. If that was how I was going to get my memory back, I think I’d prefer to stay empty. My hand and forearm throbbed as I turned my arm over, inspecting the scar on my arm. It was strange to see the same lightning strike from my nightmare permanently etched into my skin. Flexing my fingers, I tried to recall feeling from the dream. I had been holding something, but there wasn’t anything in the clearing that could have fit into my palm like that. Besides, everything had been in my backpack.
Shit. The marble.
I dove over to the nightstand and pulled out the half marble, a faint blue streak of light swirling under the surface. It faded into the depths as I realized what I was holding.
This was
the Blue Star; the power source I was terrified of. I had taken in the energy from the Blue Star, and I had the scar to prove it. Then, it erased my memory and broke in half.
I sat back again, my thoughts spinning. Part of my past had been revealed, but why now? What caused it?
I groaned and slid out of bed, knowing I’d never get back to sleep. I threw in my headphones to drown out the emptiness in my head and shuffled to the library in the hopes I could find something more about the Blue Star.
By the time the sun poked through the windows in the library, I was no closer to an answer than I was before. I returned back to my room in a sleepless fog, trying to get ready for the day. I hated everything I tried on, feeling like I was wearing clothes that didn’t belong to me. I settled on another gray long sleeve and black jeans just to be consistent. Sadly, even my Converse didn’t feel right so I threw on a pair of combat boots and decided it was good enough.
Even my hair disagreed with me. I poked and pulled at the tangled, purple mess for five minutes before giving up trying to brush it. I threw up what I could into a messy ponytail and tried to rub away the bags under my freakishly blue eyes. Staring at my dull and lifeless face, I decided to settle on looking like shit.
I stepped out of the bathroom to find Nate’s sweatshirt folded neatly on the bed.
“Thanks, House,” I said into the empty space. He creaked back.
It felt a little weird talking into empty space, but I think House actually enjoyed it. I started referencing him that way after the first few days since I was getting lonely. He was definitely magic, setting out food for me, cleaning up my messes, and making me lots of junk food and caffeine. Though I wish he would help me out a little more in the library, or at least point me in the right direction. Either way, I was pretty sure he was keeping me safe. I hadn’t heard from The Complex, and he always made me wear the key necklace whenever I left.
He left me a donut, eggs, and coffee on the table for breakfast. There was something I was certain of; I had a craving for sugar and caffeine. I flipped the sugar jar upside down and dumped it into my coffee. Previous me must have had the same sugar cravings as me. Or maybe she was good about her diet and now I was just ruining all her work. That might explain why I couldn’t lift any of the weights in the training room.
Nate was already waiting for me by the time I made it to the bottom of the hill. I felt bad making him stand in the heat since I was late. I glanced at the cute boy waiting to walk to school with me and noticed his green eyes were just as dark around the edges as mine. Had he slept just as poorly as I had? No time for staring, though. He might get suspicious. But wait, he was staring at me too.
He straightened up and faked a smile as I got closer. She looks just as tired as I feel. Wait, you can’t tell a girl that she looks like hell.
Rude.
“I want you to be honest,” I said, pausing dramatically so I could watch him squirm a little. I could get used to reading minds if they were always as fun as Nate’s.
Oh crap, she’s going to put me on the spot. Do I lie? Can I drop dead?
A smile grew on my face. “Do the bags under my eyes match my outfit?” I laughed and spun around, letting the key necklace swing around behind me.
Nate laughed too, distracting me from the image of him from my dream. That smile was so much better than the helpless, worried face from last night.
He gestured to his outfit. “I think they complement my shoes and insomnia pretty well.”
I glanced at his worn down Chucks, immediately regretting not wearing mine. It sucked that he hadn’t slept well, but at least we were both in it together. I went to move my arms and realized I was still holding his sweatshirt. I held it out for him to take back.
“Thanks again for this.”
“Oh, no,” Nate said, shaking his head. “You heard Glitch and I completely agree. It looks much better on you so you might as well keep it. Besides, if you keep challenging the social hierarchy, you’ll probably need to keep more shirts in your locker.”
His smile sent butterflies through my stomach. I didn’t want him to see my cheeks turn red so I pulled back the sweatshirt and picked at a loose string on my bag. Just before the silence got too awkward, I heard him take a breath and stick his hand out toward me.
“Shall we?”
Holy shit. He wanted to hold my hand? What? Why?
Holy shit, this was so dumb. She’s never going to take my hand. Nate, you idiot, you just ruined everything.
I straightened up to fight the urge to laugh, trying to figure out the best response without seeming too desperate.
His hand twitched in front of me. I’m stuck in the longest minute of my life.
I reached out and took his hand, wrapping my fingers around his warm grip. I could feel the muscles in his arm relax as I looked up at him and smiled.
“My fellow insomniac, we shall.”
Nate’s breath released as I tugged him forward to keep him distracted. I could feel his pulse pounding hard through his hand, which meant he could probably feel mine racing too.
“I listened to that blink-182 album last night when I couldn’t sleep. I’m surprised you listen to them,” he said, kicking some rocks on the path as we continued along.
“Really? That music is awesome. Rock and alternative are my go-to genres, followed by singer and songwriter if the mood calls for it.” Wow, now I sounded like an idiot. I tucked a loose hair behind my ear and raised my head to see him smiling.
“I agree. No one really listens to alternative around here. I was beginning to think Glitch and I were the only outcasts.”
I lost balance from staring at him and bumped into his hip. Damn, having a crush was the worst.
“Well,” I said, trying to distract myself from that embarrassing moment, “if the purple hair didn’t give it away, I think I fit into the outcast category. Have you heard of lovelytheband?”
He shook his head. “Maybe I’ve heard a song, but I don’t know who they are specifically.”
“Oh, their album is amazing. I have to be here for your first time.” I bit my tongue, realizing that I stopped my sentence too short. I turned away and pulled out my iPod so we could listen. “This is my second favorite album right now.”
“Then what’s your favorite?” he asked, accepting the loose headphone as I started the music.
“Hush now and enjoy. I have to leave you wanting more, remember?”
There, that’s how I wanted to end that sentence. I needed to remind him of the volleyball scene from yesterday when he thought I was a badass.
I tried to watch his face as he listened, not really caring that he caught me staring. Even though we only had a few inches of height difference, the headphone cord was still at its limit but he didn’t seem to mind. Every time it came loose it gave him an excuse to look at me.
We got through half of the album by the time we made it to school. His thoughts were kind of garbled in my head, mixing with the music, so I figured I would just ask him about it. Though I would have to do it later because Glitch hopped off the steps and blocked our path.
“It’s about damn time, you two.”
I looked down to see we were still holding hands. Nate thought about pulling away, worried I didn’t want to be seen with him, but relaxed when I tightened my grip.
“It was twenty-four hours, Glitch,” I jeered. “Besides, I got interrupted by a smoothie and a third-wheel.”
I laughed as Nate froze next to me, stuck in his spiraling thoughts.
Has it really only been twenty-four hours? Did I make a move too soon? Wait, did she just say she got interrupted? As in, she was going to make a move on me?
Glitch slid his arm through mine and dragged me away from Nate who still stood frozen in place. His hand slipped out of mine and I looked back, admiring how cute he looked when he was trying to get his thoughts in order.
Glitch laughed. “Now, the smoothie wasn’t part of my plan, and I’m sure it wasn’t fun, but I have
to admit that it moved things along faster than my plan would have. I had a whole, three-month plan in the works.”
I slipped out of Glitch’s grip to go back and grab Nate who still hadn’t moved. Maybe I had let him squirm a little too long.
“Stop overthinking it,” I said, sliding my fingers through his as I pulled him up the steps. “You heard me right. I got interrupted. Now, let’s go challenge the hierarchy.”
11
Clara
By the time Friday rolled around, people had finally given up gawking at the three giant seniors walking around together. After realizing the weird, purple haired girl wasn’t going to put up with their shit, they decided against bothering me. And if they had any ideas about messing with Nate, they rethought quickly since I spent most of the time holding his hand. I didn’t care about anything they thought about us; I was happy. I could tell Nate was too. Glitch was ecstatic about it.
