Adventures of Laser Girl

Vintage Jeans

I walked into the glass double doors of Landon High with a chirpy smile on my face as I spotted Bryce.

"Bryce!" I called, rushing up the stairs and toward his locker. He spotted me and turned around, his eyes widening as he quickly shut his locker and began walking away.

"I don't have time, Ada. I have to complete the photon generator before the science fair next week." Bryce walked away quickly as I followed after him.

"Well I think I can help with your phantom generator!"

"It's called a photon generator." He rushed through the hallways, then froze for a second. I hadn't been paying much attention so I ended up slamming into his back and stumbling backwards. He eyed me suspiciously, looking at my white summer dress and my black fur-gloves. "Wait a second, Ada. Why are you wearing gloves in 90 degree weather?"

I looked at my hands and grinned. "My hands were cold. Anyway, back to your phantom generator..." I said as Bryce shook his head, muttering random words before he finally looked up again.

"Fine, come along then. You can watch, I haven't been able to get it to work." He entered a classroom and walked over to his giant metal machine. I eyed it warily with a smile on my face, I would be no help; it was just fun watching Bryce work.

"You're so smart Bryce." I said as he looked up at me with a sparkle in his eye. "I need to know what's wrong with me?" I said, about to reach for my gloves.

"Well, I would say a lot of things are, but, for starters," he began, I felt my cheeks heating up as I crossed my arms. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"I'm not going to show you anymore!" I stuck my tongue out as I sat across from him.

"Show me what?"

"Okay, fine I'll show you." I prompted, taking off my gloves and waiting for my hands to glow and start a fire. Nothing happened as I sat there waiting.

"Nice... hands?" He said, returning his attention to his machine and connecting wires together. Mr. Quigley would walk in at any second and kick me out, but he would let Bryce stay, as usual.

"Hold on." I muttered as Bryce raised his brow and crossed his arms.

"What am I waiting for?" He asked, tapping his foot impatiently. He returned his attention to the science fair project he was working on.

"No, look, I can shoot fire from them!" I held my hands facing toward the back wall of the classroom. It was lined with wooden shelves filled with books.

"You've been reading too many hero comics, Ada." He chuckled. I furrowed my brows, confused why it wasn't working when it had been unstoppable this morning. I flailed my arms, taking off my other glove.

Maybe this morning had just been a fluke. I watched Bryce work on his metal cube as I waited for the first bell to ring.

"Bryce, I don't know why it's not working." I said after a couple seconds of aiming my hands around the classroom. The beige desks looked glossy and sleek as light illuminated them from the many giant windows.

"Ada, I really don't have time for this. My photon generator has been glitching way more than it should be at this point and it..." he said a bunch of things, but I honestly wasn't listening. I was more confused and frustrated why my hands had stopped glowing.

"Ada, do you have any ideas?" Bryce asked as I looked up from my hands.

"You're... asking me?" I laughed.

"You said you wanted to help."

"I don't know anything about phantom generators." I responded as Bryce stood up and sat on the desk in front of me.

"You said you could shoot fire from your hands, that's light, it's photons. So technically your hands are photon generators. I'd like to see," Bryce said patiently, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose while I kept looking at my hands in amazement.

"My hands are photon generators!" I said, eyes widening as Bryce chuckled and shook his head.

"Sometimes I wonder why we're even friends, Ada." As soon as the words left his lips, my hands had decided to fire the steaming red line of photons right into the white board.

"Woah! Watch out!" He said. "What the heck? You weren't kidding!" He backed away, eyes wide as he looked at the small flame that had torn a hole through the fabric of the white board. "You're going to burn down the school."

I searched for where I'd placed my gloves. "I don't know how to control whatever this is, and the gloves stop it from happening."

"So you're fire-Elsa," Bryce laughed and I laughed along with him until another flame shot through my hands and slashed a hole in his jeans.

"Oh no! Drop and roll Bryce!" I exclaimed, looking at the small fire on his jeans. He stood there confused for a bit until he began screaming. I reached to help him, but my gloveless hands only served to create another flame right beside him.

"Hide your hands! Ada!" He said as I put my hands behind my back and shot bright red lines into a desk. I watched Bryce roll on the ground until the fire in his jeans simmered down.

"Dang it, Ada, ow!" Bryce stood up, rubbing the spot on his jeans. "How did you do that?" His eyes widening as he kept his hand on his thigh. "You just cooked me like a chicken."

"I'm so sorry!" I said, approaching him as my hands began glowing again.

"It's fine, it's just intriguing. How did this happen? I'd like to..." Bryce lay on the ground, grasping his leg.

"You're so weird, Bryce, let's get you to the nurses office and then you can figure out what's wrong with me." I reached out to help him, but he scooted away, fear in his eyes.

"Put the gloves back on first." Bryce said as I searched for them and slid them over my fingers. I helped him stand up and he leaned on me as we walked down the stairs. "I can't believe you burnt a hole through these jeans! They're vintage, Ada."

"I'll buy you new ones."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Bryce muttered, limping as we entered the nurses office.

"Welcome back, Bryce." The nurse said. I laughed, he was such a klutz. "What do you need this time?"

Bryce looked at her and removed his hand from over his thigh, showing the blistering bumps on his leg as I gasped and looked away. I did that. I burnt him like that.

"Oh, boy. This looks bad. Here, let me get you some ice." The nurse said, nonchalant. Bryce bit back tears as he sat on the small wooden chair in her office, sunlight showering us with its light. The nurse walked toward her mini-fridge and pulled out a can of soda. "I ran out of ice, here." She tossed the soda can at Bryce.

He looked at it, confused and scoffing as the nurse crossed her arms.

"Bryce, make sure you pay attention in chemistry today. Now, get out of here." The nurse shooed us out of her office as both Bryce and I stood in front of her door, dumbfounded.

"I think I'm going to faint. You probably gave me third degree burns and she gives me a warm soda to treat my burns." Bryce looked shaken as he froze in the hallway. The bell rang loudly as I waved him away.

"See you at lunch, Bryce!" I called, rushing toward my first class and hoping that Bryce's leg would heal soon.

***
"Ada might be dumb, but she's determined" - B. 2021

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