Initially they kept in touch, sending each other instant messages, emails, text messages, pictures, and updates. But, as they grew older, the emails slowed down until finally they stopped altogether. They were both leading busy lives, which left less time to stay connected. But if Amber was honest with herself, she’d admit that the disconnection was mostly her.
Amber had already received her Bachelor of Science in Management, but had gone back to school for her graduate degree. Studying for her Master’s was a different beast. She had no time for sleep and coffee had become her friend. Well, that and Eric, whom she had bumped into a year back.
Since they had a lot of the same classes, they began spending more time together. And Amber was pretty positive that Eric was the culprit who had come between Kelly and her. Not really, she couldn’t possibly blame him. He was so sweet, funny, and charming. No, Amber had gotten so caught up in her new friendship with Eric that she didn’t realize she was neglecting her friendship with Kelly.
Once she came to her senses, she shot Kelly a few text messages. Hey girl! Long time…miss you. Let’s talk and catch up.
Unfortunately, her text messages went unanswered. Soon after that, Amber stopped altogether convinced that this was what happened—you grew up and, sadly, apart. The distance was just too much.
Slowly without realizing it, Eric became her best friend. It felt wrong as if she were replacing Kelly somehow, but it wasn’t intentional. It was a closeness that naturally developed over time as she’d gotten to know him. He made her laugh, annoyed her like none other, and defended her with a passion that was unmatched save for a little spitfire also known as Kelly Stowe.
“I can’t believe you, Eric,” Amber exclaimed, watching yet another cute guy running away that Eric had scared off.
“What? The guy is scum,” Eric explained. “He’s so not your type. Are you really angry with me? I did you a favor”
“Yes, I didn’t need your help and I really wish that you’d stop sabotaging my prospects.”
“I’m sorry, but you don’t know guys like I do.”
Amber glowered at him.
“Okay, okay! I get it. It’s none of my business.”
“Thank you.”
“I just want you to be happy. You’re my best friend.”
“Awww, you’re sweet. Annoying, but sweet,” Amber teased as she hugged him.
She didn’t know when her relationship with Eric had taken on such a familial turn, but she was grateful. Maybe love wasn’t in the cards for them, but she certainly enjoyed his company.
Oh well. “Well, I have to get going. I’m going to be late for cycling.”
“See you tomorrow with bells on.”
“You’re such a nerd sometimes.”
“Ha ha, I know you are but what am I?”
Amber rolled her eyes, hustling up Dalton Road to make it to the gym. She needed some time to unwind.
Later on during her cycling class, her thoughts digressed back to Eric. What was that all about? He never seemed to like any of the guys she dated. What was it to him?
“Up, down…up,” the spin instructor said, “C’mon guys. Push it.”
Amber stood up as the terrain on her cycling program changed, giving her a challenge. Her legs burned, but she willed herself to push through it. Not much of a multi-tasker, she fell behind, finding it difficult to keep up with the cadence of the rest of the cyclists. Thoughts of Eric were all consuming; she just couldn’t get him off her mind. Rolling her shoulders, she directed her full attention at the spin instructor. She could decipher the complexities of her relationship with Eric later.
After her spin class, Amber crashed hard. She dreamt the recurring dream that she’d been having for months. In this dream, she was flying. The hem of her white dress fluttered against bare feet as she glided across the sky. The moon was gorgeous as she drifted past it.
Then, all of a sudden, her flight accelerated. No longer floating, Amber soared up into outer space. She panicked. Of course, there were similar dreams over the past few months, but nothing like this. She’d always been aware and able to wake up at will, but this was different. She wasn’t in control.
Her stomach heaved the way it did on rollercoasters and she knew what was coming. A hell of a drop. Looking down, she had a long way to go. She plummeted at an alarming rate and prayed for a quick death.
The impact of her fall was massive. Detritus and rubble exploded everywhere. At the center of her landing, Amber dematerialized and reappeared in the Sahara Desert of Africa. Heat swayed in waves above the ground in the distance.
What the hell is going on?
Amber assessed her body, and, to her astonishment, she realized that she’d sustained no injuries. However, she’d somehow ended up on another continent and needed to find a way back home. Shielding her eyes from the sun, Amber searched in all directions for any signs of civilization. There was no one for miles.
Or so she thought.
Pain ripped through her and she screamed, turning to face her attacker. A tiger clawed at her and gouged out enough flesh to see the bones of her ribcage. Terrified, she kept her distance, looking for a diversion to escape.
Then Eric appeared, looking just as confused as she. “Amber?” he said, wiping sleep from his eyes.
The tiger pranced around to face the newcomer.
“Eric, run!”
As the tiger pounced on Eric, Amber swatted it across the desert. When it regained traction, again, it took off.
Eric murmured in pain, holding his ravaged arm. Meat bubbled out of the bloody claw marks. Amber ran over to him, but he vanished in a blinding light. She opened her eyes to find that the sun was rising and its light seeped through her blinds.
I knew it was a dream. But it felt so real. She looked at the time, 9:58 AM. She was late for class.
As quickly as she could blink, she was having lunch with Eric. What is going on? She had no recollection of the morning.
I’m going crazy, she thought, fidgeting in her seat. Get it together.
“Hey spaz, are you okay over there?” Eric asked.
Amber’s eyes darted erratically from side to side. “How did I get here?”
“What do you mean? You know that you drove here, like everyone else. What’s with you, today?”
“I’m losing it.” Amber smirked. “I’m just kidding. You’re so gullible sometimes, Eric.” The last thing she wanted was for Eric to think that she had lost her mind.
Eric’s face softened. “No, you’re definitely different today.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Weird,” he replied, his tone timid, but measured, “but beautiful as always.”
“Oh, thanks.”
Eric rarely said things like that to Amber. He flirted with her, but in the kind of way that was construed as more personality, not an actual desire upon which he wanted to act. Still, he had never called her beautiful. She didn’t know how to process this random compliment, especially since she’d gotten it into her head that their relationship was completely innocent and platonic.
A wind picked up, flickering the skirt of the tablecloth. Dark clouds covered the outdoor patio of the restaurant in shadow. Lightning streaked the skies and the smell of ozone was strong.
“It’s going to rain soon,” Eric announced, packing up his books. “So much for studying. I thought it was supposed to be clear skies and sunny.”
The wind quickened and the droplets of rain soon transformed into a monsoon. They made a dash for the clearing beneath an awning.
“Third time this week. I don’t know what’s with this weather.” Water dribbled down his face, his t-shirt clung to his broad chest and shoulders, showcasing the toned curve of his arms.
“I should get going, anyway,” Amber said.
“I thought we were going to study.”
“It’s pouring.”
“Not here, obviously. We could go to my place.”
Amber had her back agains
t the glass of the storefront, her palms splayed across the window pane. It was chilly out with the wind sweeping across the rain, but she felt warm. The warmth originated in her belly, the kind that comes after a shot of Bourbon. It coursed through her bosom and undulated down her arms until she felt it tingling at her fingertips. “Rain check.”
She pushed off of the glass, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Behind her, fresh twin hand prints were molded into the glass. It glowed a molten red for a moment and then subsided.
“Shit,” Eric said, kneeling down to take a closer look at the window. “Was it like this before? Are you hurt?”
He reached for Amber’s hands.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Okay.” Eric jumped back, hands up. “I’m sorry. I was just checking to see if you’re burned.”
“Look, I don’t know how it happened. Okay?” Amber backed away, leaving the safety of the awning. “I gotta go.”
When Amber got home, she went straight to the bathroom. She decided to draw a bath to calm her nerves. There was no way her bare hands melted the glass of that storefront. No way.
Amber undressed. Feeling the steam of the bath was inviting, she couldn’t wait to soak in it. She lifted her leg over the rim of the tub and as she dipped a toe, the hot water swayed and shifted away from her descending foot. Testing the theory, she lifted her foot, breaking its affinity with the water. Then dipped her foot again and the water came swooshing back away from her foot. With the growing rift parting the waters, she could see the floor of the porcelain tub.
She rubbed her eyes. It’s just another dream. I didn’t burn the glass with my bare hands. The glass from the vanity cracked, its break splintered outward in different directions. She shut her eyes tight, willing away the crazy. It’s not real. The water began to boil. It’s not real. She backed up against the corner of the bathroom, sliding down the wall. She rocked herself back and forth. None of this is real.
A couple of days passed, but Amber was still destroying everything she came into contact with. She feared she had gone mad.
The phone began to ring. It was Eric…again. He had already left twelve messages in the last few days. On this message, he pleaded for her to meet with him and tell him what was going on. Now he was knocking on her door. He must’ve gotten tired of waiting for a return call that would never come.
“Hey stranger,” Eric said. “Can I come in?”
“I’d rather you didn’t. What is it?”
“You. I’ve been worried sick about you. You freaked out on me at the restaurant and you’re not returning any of my calls. What’s going on?” He stared past her at the wreck behind her. It looked like a demolition had been there. Craters and black starburst shaped scorches marred the walls.
Amber tried to close the door, but he had already gotten past her to examine the fallout.
A porcupine skittered across the floor. It happened a few days ago. Eric kept calling Amber around the clock until she couldn’t take it anymore. She yanked the phone out of the wall socket and had thrown it to the floor. It sprang up, morphing into a porcupine.
“Amber, what the fuck?”
“I’d like you to leave, Eric.”
“No, I’m not leaving until you tell me what’s going on. Is someone threatening you? You can tell me.”
“I SAID GET OUT,” Amber shrieked. Her voice knocked him over and she heard something snap. He was lying in an awkward heap, limbs twisted unnaturally. “Oh God, Eric, I didn’t mean to—”
“No, get away from me.” Eric croaked through a mouthful of blood. “You’re crazy!”
“Eric, please, you’re hurt. I was trying to tell you.”
“Get away from me.” He tried to push Amber away, but he was too weak.
Tears sprang from her eyes. “I can’t control it. I really wish you hadn’t come.”
Her intent was to be sequestered in her apartment until the madness had gone away on its own. The fallen plaster by the sofa and the broken furniture suggested that it wasn’t in her head, but she just wanted it all to stop.
“Call the ambula—”
“I’m so sorry.” Nothing had worked so far in terms of controlling her powers, but now she didn’t have any choice. She had to try or Eric could die. She closed her eyes and concentrated on healing him, whispering a short prayer. Her body glowed a fluorescent pink and she laid her hands on his protruding ulna, reversing its break and pulling it back inside of his body. His wounds closed up, too, leaving faint scars.
Eric propped himself up, keeping his distance.
Amber’s lip quivered. “I don’t know what to do?”
He swept her up in his arms. “Ssssshhhh, I’ve got you.”
6
April 16, 2008
Everything had returned to normal once Eric had fully recovered. Of course, it would take some time to get use to the new metaphysical changes in Amber, but he didn’t mind. The powers kept coming: telekinesis, transmogrification, abjuration, enhanced strength, enhanced hearing, hyper-speed, electrokinesis, teleportation, sonic manipulation, heat manipulation, and water manipulation. It seemed endless, but keeping herself busy helped ground her.
“We could use a break,” Eric said, setting his Finance textbook aside on the coffee table. “Let’s skip classes today. It’s a nice day to go to the beach. What do you think, Tempest?”
Amber swatted him with a magazine. “That’s not funny, Eric. I didn’t know I was causing those storms.”
“It’s kinda funny.”
“No, it’s not. You know I can’t help it.”
“Yea, I know. So the beach is out, then.”
“Uh, yeah, I’m thinking no beach unless you're cool with ending up right in the middle of the eye of a storm.”
“Right…pass.”
When Amber explained the bath episode to Eric, they figured out that if she could do all that with bath water, then she could probably control the weather, too. Gaining all of those powers at once put her on the edge, which was reflected in the weather. To test the notion, she made a flood appear in a matter of moments, which was all the confirmation she required. She was unwilling to repeat the experiment. The last thing she needed to deal with was taming a tsunami.
Throughout it all, Eric stuck by her and tried to help her control her new powers. He was sweet, still telling jokes to keep her mind off of it. But things had not been the same. Suddenly, their routine took on a precarious nature with the addition of Amber’s unbridled strength.
“Let’s just go to class. I’d hate to get behind for missing a lecture. You know we won’t get any useful notes from anyone.”
Their Finance professor spoke so fast that it was like listening to an auctioneer asking for bids. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to skip one class, if the exams were based on the textbook. But, there was no rhyme or reason for what appeared on exams, which made not missing class a no-brainer.
“There’s always the recordings. Someone will it tape it for us,” Eric replied, imitating Professor Turner’s voice.
“You sound just like him.” Amber doubled over, holding her belly from laughing so hard.
“Well, it’s true,” he continued in the same voice. “If you go through—”
“Oh, please. No more.” She howled, jabbing him on the arm. What was intended as a playful “good one” punch to the shoulder, turned into a blow that sent Eric soaring across the floor. “Eric, I’m so sorry.”
It was becoming more and more difficult to contain herself around him. Even he couldn’t joke his way out of this one. It was written all over his face. She couldn’t relax and be herself, because she always worried about impaling him or covering him in flames. It was a gruesome thought, but always at the forefront of her thoughts.
“I don’t know why you stick around?” She offered a hand to help him up.
Instinctively, he flinched.
“See? You’re scared I’ll break you, again.”
He fought against his reluctance an
d took her hand. “It’s a lot to get used to, but I could never let you go through this alone,” Eric said, stroking a stray hair out of her face. “You’re still you.”
The tension was stretching between them and Eric retracted his hand. Amber, in turned, seized the moment and held his hand, lingering until finally intertwining her fingers with his own.
She couldn’t look at him; her gaze fell everywhere else except upon him. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
His free hand turned her face so that she had no choice but to look directly at him. “You’ll never have to find out,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.
Excitement surged through her, disintegrating any anxiety. Her hands twisted in his hair, giving him a start. As she released her grip, Eric said, “I’m sorry. It’s not that I’m afraid of you. It’s just I have to be careful around you.”
“But I can heal you.”
“That doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.”
“Right, there’s that,” Amber commented, her face falling.
“But I couldn’t leave you if I tried.” He kissed Amber’s shoulder and her hands found his hair, again. He grabbed her hands, cuffing them with his own, and held them overhead.
“Eric,” Amber murmured thoroughly impressed by the ease with which he took control.
Their kiss deepened.
Amber stood on the balcony of her terrace, the evening air felt amazing against her bare skin. She looked over her shoulder at Eric, sleeping soundly amongst crumpled cream sheets.
Then she heard an anguished cry for help about a block away. Not quite super hearing, but definitely enhanced and pretty darn good. Amber hesitated wondering if she would do more harm than good. She envisioned herself conjuring and shooting throwing stars when her intent was to simply stop the perpetrator with telekinesis. The powers rarely did what she wanted and this time probably wouldn’t be any different. But, could she stand by and do nothing all while listening to the victim’s suffering?
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