“How long have you known her?”
“Since I was about five. She and Buzz were always together. She hates it here, but our house is like a haven to her. At least until she gets fed up with his shit again. Then they’ll separate and we won’t see her for a few days.”
“What happens then? Why does she keep going back to him?”
“Because she’s head cheerleader and he’s the captain of the lacrosse team, of course. He will promise her that he’s going to change, and he does for a few weeks, but then he slips right back into his old ways and the whole thing starts over again.”
I knew that Andy’s tale was supposed to be a cautionary one, but all it did was give me hope. I turned my attention back to her, begging her silently to turn around and notice me. She just needed to see what a creep Buzz really was and what a good guy I was. Maybe I should go over and talk to her or start dancing next to her. Then she would have to notice me.
“So, you went to school with your bother and her?” I muttered, trying to distract myself.
He shrugged. “For a while I did, but then shit happened and I started a private, online school so I could get done faster. I hated that place.”
“Why did you hate it?” I muttered.
“You’re looking at it—this whole damn place. One second, my brother is pretending to be my friend, and the next, he and his goons are shoving me into a locker. The bullying alone was enough to get me to leave, but having it done by your brother is ten times worse. I wish that he were never born, to be honest.”
“Man, and I thought that I had it rough,” I muttered. “You seem to be pretty calm about it though.”
Andy shrugged. “It was a while ago. Things are better now. I don’t have to deal with Buzz all the time, and like I said, my parents are gone a lot. I’m mostly left to my own devices, which is just fine with me.”
“Well,” I said, “I commend you for that. I don’t know how you’re able to do it. I guess this party isn’t getting me anywhere, so we can leave whenever you want.”
“Great!” he said as he set his cup down.
We were just about to stand up and head for the door when I saw Buzz walking toward us. Before I could do anything, he pretended to trip and spilled the contents of his cup all over the front of my shirt. There wasn’t a ton of it left, but the rage inside me started to build. My fingers started to tingle again, something that I barely took note of in the back of my mind as I glared at Buzz.
Andy sighed and rolled his eyes. “I’ll go get you a towel.”
“Oops,” Buzz said, much to the delight of the goons on either side of him. “It must have slipped out of my hands.”
“And you’re supposed to be the lacrosse team captain? I would work on my grip if I were you,” I shot back.
Instantly, I regretted saying anything at all. His cheeks flushed bright red as he shoved me back down on the couch. He stank of drugs and booze as he leaned over me. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” I muttered, breaking eye contact.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, you pussy,” he said.
The tingling in my hands had turned into pins and needles, but I wasn’t about to lose my temper. Controlling it was one of the few good qualities I had. I never wanted to fight. It just wasn’t who I was. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t defend myself in a physical altercation. I just didn’t see the point in beating each other up. It was barbaric and really stupid. Of course, Buzz was a complete moron, so I was almost willing to make an exception.
I smiled at him. “It’s Hen’s party. I don’t want to start any trouble. That wouldn’t be very polite to our hostess, now would it?”
Buzz glared at me again and looked over at Hen. She was watching the confrontation now and had stopped dancing. For a brief second, her gaze fell onto mine and my heart started to soar. I didn’t want her to see me being weak, but I also wasn’t going to get into a fight and ruin the night for her.
Buzz stepped into my line of sight and Hen quickly turned away from me. “I was talking to you, nerd.”
I clenched my fists, keeping control of my temper, though the pins and needs in my hands grew worse. “Sorry, I thought we were done with the conversation. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t like the way you look at my girl.”
“I didn’t realize that she was your property. I wonder how she would feel about that?”
He shoved me just as Andy appeared in the doorway. I stumbled back and inadvertently ran into him. He pushed me forward again. Now, everyone in the room was watching Buzz close in on me.
“I don’t think you belong here, so why don’t you take your little friend here and get the hell out?”
“Last time I checked,” I seethed, “This wasn’t your party.”
“Oh, yeah? You got the balls to go over there and ask Hen which one of us she wants to leave? I would love to see that.” He smirked. “You’d probably piss yourself just telling her ‘hi’.”
Andy tugged at my arm. “He isn’t worth it, man. Let’s just get out of here.”
I wanted to punch him in the face, but I knew that Andy was right. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to start a fight in the middle of a party. Plus, Buzz was huge. He would probably beat the crap out of me and then take the rest of his anger out on Andy, or worse, Hen. I shot her one more gaze before she turned away from me and ignored the situation. The rage inside me was reaching a boiling point as I turned away from Buzz.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said to Andy.
He followed me out without saying a word to his brother. I could tell that he didn’t like to be the center of attention, and at that point, he was just grateful that the situation hadn’t escalated even further. As we walked down the road a little way, I felt my anger building even more instead of starting to ease. By now, the sensation in my hands was almost overwhelming and I knew that it wasn’t normal. Something was going on. It had to be a side effect of whatever drug they’d given me.
“Hey, man,” Andy muttered as he grabbed my arm. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to rip someone’s head off.”
“Yeah,” I lied. “I’m fine. Just a little irritated about the whole thing.”
“Well, I didn’t want to say anything in the party because of everyone so close to us, but my contact fell through. I can’t meet up with him tonight, but we can still hang out if you want.”
I shook my head. “Naw, that’s okay. I think I’m just going to head home. I’m still pretty pissed, but we will catch up another time, if that’s cool.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, a little disappointed. “I’ll get ahold of you on Facebook or something.”
“Cool,” I said halfheartedly as I started walking again.
“Hey, do you need a ride? My guy will be here soon, or we can take a cab?”
“No, thanks. I just want to walk and blow off some of this steam.”
“All right, catch you later.”
“Yup,” I muttered as I started walking again.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to see Andy again. I liked him well enough, but the idea of being in the same house with Buzz was the last thing I wanted. I started to walk faster, trying to run from the house and my anger, but nothing seemed to be working. It was killing me each time I thought about Hen and how she’d just turned away from the situation.
Didn’t she see what kind of a guy Buzz really was? Why would anyone want to be with an asshat like that? I was fuming, the pain in my hands getting more intense by the second as I thought about Buzz. The wind caught my shirt, and the smell of the spilled punch wafted up to my nose, pushing my rage over the edge.
I skidded to a stop, looking down at my fingers in pure horror. The anger won, and in the darkness of the night, I saw a small purple spark shoot out of my fingertips. I pressed them together, wondering if something in the punch was making me hallucinate. The spark started to die until another gust of wind brought the s
mell back to me.
I let out an angry howl and the sparks connected with each other, forming a large beam of electricity through my fingertips that arced in the darkness. I shrieked, jumping back in horror and clasping my hands tightly together. Fear raced through me as I started to run down the road. I knew that I was heading in the general direction of my house. Suddenly, I was thankful for never taking up smoking. My lungs still burned, though, as I made it the few miles to the apartment building.
When I burst through the door, my grandmother jumped in surprise and looked at me, but I went right past her to my room. I wasn’t angry anymore. Fear had taken over all other emotions that I felt as I collapsed breathlessly onto my bed. I was scared to move, scared to open my hands back up and see what was there.
“Benji?” she said softly as she knocked on the door. “Honey, is everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said as my breathing went back to normal.
“Honey, why don’t you open the door and we can talk? It didn’t look like everything was fine. Did something happen at your party?”
“Grandma, I don’t want to talk about it, okay? Please just leave me alone.”
“Okay,” she muttered.
I could tell that my words hurt her, but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let her come in there. She would probably have a heart attack if she saw what was happening. Then everyone I cared about would be in danger. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I opened my eyes and looked down at my balled-up hands.
There didn’t seem to be anything strange about them. Slowly, I started to uncurl my fists, praying that the sparks were gone and I wouldn’t burn down the entire apartment building. They looked perfectly normal as I let out a sigh of relief. There was nothing abnormal there anymore, but I was still terrified. What the hell was wrong with me? I knew that I wasn’t seeing things anymore.
I had seen sparks shooting out of my fingers. I couldn’t deny that any longer. Whatever was going on with me, it seemed to be over now as I carefully sat up in bed and stripped off the shirt that I was wearing. I couldn’t think about Buzz or the stain now. My mind was racing through what was happening.
My grandmother knocked softly on the door again, and I groaned. She didn’t wait for me to ask to be left alone this time as she pushed open the door and sheepishly smiled.
“I know you said you didn’t want to be bothered, but you seemed so upset that I just couldn’t leave it alone. I brought you your computer. I thought it might do some good to calm you down.”
“Thanks, Grandma,” I said softly. “You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it. I didn’t mean to snap at you earlier either.”
“That’s okay, kiddo. I won’t ask you about what happened, but don’t forget that I was your age once too. Long, long ago, of course. Girls can be mean. I know it for a fact.”
I blushed a deep red. “It’s not a girl, Grandma.”
“Oh,” she said before her eyes grew wide. “Oh! Well, a boy is just fine too. We love you no matter what path you take.”
“Grandma!” I said in horror. “No! It’s not like that! Geeze, I like girls! I just . . . it’s not about a girl!”
“Okay,” she said, still a little unsure.
“I thought that I would fit in with the group of kids tonight, or at least get a little credit for trying, but it turns out they’re nothing but jerks,” I muttered.
I thought about Buzz and my eyes flickered to the shirt balled up on the floor now. Horror raced through me as my fingers started to tingle again. I jerked my hands behind me and did my best to smile for my grandma.
“Listen, it’s been a long night. Can we talk about this tomorrow?” I quickly asked her.
“Sure,” she said, slightly suspicious. “Your grandpa will be back home then. Maybe we call all sit down and have a family dinner.”
“That sounds great,” I told her, lying through my teeth. “I’ll talk to you then.”
“Okay,” she whispered carefully. “I’ll be just out in the living room if you need anything tonight, okay? You just let me know.”
“Okay,” I muttered.
She shut the door again, and I fell back on the bed, letting out a sigh of relief as the tingling sensation started to fade again. Whatever was wrong with me, I needed to figure it out and get rid of it. There was no way I could keep something like this hidden. It would never work. I had to keep them safe, my grandparents and everyone else. First thing tomorrow, I would go back down to the clinic and tell them to fix whatever they did to me. The lousy money wasn’t worth it anymore.
Chapter 7
I just needed a little bit of space, that was it. Maybe some sleep too. There was nothing else that I could do until tomorrow, so there was no point in freaking out even more. Whatever was happening to me, the doctors could fix it in the morning, but for now, I had to stay calm. The angrier I became, the more it seemed to trigger things.
I lay back against my bed and took a deep breath to help clear my mind. Though the night hadn’t gone as planned, I had made a new friend, and Andy seemed cool. Sure, he was a little bit strange, but that was nothing compared to what was going on with me now. Maybe he could help me find a way to get back at Buzz too. The possibilities were endless.
As I thought about the different things I could do to him, I started to relax. I just needed Hen to see what kind of a jerk he really was. Maybe if she knew he would never change, she’d leave him once and for all. My mind started to drift back to Hen and the way her body moved. Every thump of the song would send her hips rocking back and forth. It was an enchanting memory to recall.
Everything about her was perfect, from the way she moved to the way she laughed, her hair flowing behind her as she tossed her head back in a moment of pure joy. I knew that I could bring her that joy. Before I’d ruined things on the very first day we’d met, there had been a connection. I felt like I was lighter than air as I recalled everything about her. If Buzz brought me down, Hen lifted me back up.
Buzz, though, ruined everything. My anger started to surge. I was starting to get accustomed to the tingling. The pressure of the bed on my back almost seemed unbearable. I had to figure out what was going on with me. I forced myself to calm down again. I started to relax, the sensation of feeling lighter than air coming back to me.
I drifted, partially asleep and flittering back and forth on the edge of consciousness. Suddenly, something cold and hard smacked my nose and forehead, like a book was being dropped on my face. My eyes flew open, but the room was too dark for me to see anything. In a daze, I felt around in front of me and realized that whatever it was reached beyond the expanse of my arms. If I didn’t know better, I would swear that I was facing a wall.
I pushed it away from me before trying to find my phone in the darkness on my nightstand, but nothing touched my hand save for empty air. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, panic started to set in. I wasn’t near my bed because I was floating in the air! Sucking in a sharp gasp of surprise, I looked around and saw that I was hovering above my bed. Panic set in, and just as it did, I felt myself falling through the air and crashing back down onto the bed.
“Shit,” I muttered as my body thumped gracelessly on the thin mattress.
As expected, my grandmother was instantly in my room, flipping on the light. “Good heavens! What in the world are you doing in here?” she looked around. “If you’re sneaking girls in here, we’re going to have a very long talk, young man!”
I stifled a laugh. “And how would I do that? I don’t have a window and you’ve been on the couch the whole night, right?”
“I guess so. Then what on earth is going on? I thought you were asleep.”
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “Sorry about that. I kinda fell out of bed. Guess I’m not as used to this place as I thought yet.”
An easy smiled passed her lips, her face softening at once. “It’s okay, Benji. You’ll get there. Your first week hasn’t exactly been soothing, now has it? Are you worried
about Carl?”
I quickly nodded. “Yeah, that’s it.”
It wasn’t like I could tell her what was really going on. She would flip out if she knew I was freaking out because sparks kept shooting out of my fingers and I’d just woken up to find myself hovering over my bed. It was easy enough to claim the restless sleep was because of my grandfather’s condition. I hated to lie to her, but it was the only way I could keep her safe.
“There is nothing to be worried about. He will be back here tomorrow, and it might do us all some good. I’m taking a few extra days off work. We can really bond.”
“Awesome,” I muttered.
The last thing I needed was her and my grandfather breathing down my neck. “You know, if Grandpa is okay, I was going to go on a camping trip. Turns out I did make a new friend at the party. His name is Andy, and he’s super-smart. He graduated early and was planning on going to the beach this weekend. His family has a place there.”
“Huh,” she muttered.
I knew that she didn’t like the idea, but I also knew that I needed to get this thing, whatever it was, under control. What happened if I had a nightmare and set the place on fire in my sleep? Or worse, electrocuted one of them if they tried to wake me up? After the levitation incident, I was sure that it wasn’t just a hallucination. Whatever was happening was a problem, one that I needed space to deal with on my own, for everyone’s safety.
“I just need some space, Grandma,” I said coldly. “I know you and Grandpa are just trying to help, but I’m suffocating here. Everything happened so suddenly.”
“Are you feeling depressed? Should I be worried about you?” Her voice trailed off.
I put the pieces together and rolled my eyes. “Jeeze, Grandma. I’m not suicidal! I’m seventeen years old and living with my grandparents in New York City. What did you expect? That we would become one big, happy family? We barely know each other. I mean, come on. This shouldn’t be a surprise really. You and Mom never made the effort when she was alive, so why are we trying so hard now?”
The City Superhero (Book 1): Rise Of The Super Strike Page 5
