Charles Alblice has always led an ordinary life in Birchtowne. He enjoyed the company of his cousin, Quinn, and their best friend, Michael. The three lived their lives as carefree as any other teenager would.
But life in Birchtowne gets messy when...
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Mikaela didn't respond. She bit her lip and turned away from the two.
"Did you?" Quinn asked again. He crossed his arms over his chest. Charles glanced between the two of them. Did she?
Mikaela nodded once, the barest up and down motion of her head. She retreated farther away from the two boys, keeping her gaze averted from theirs.
"Holy shit," he muttered. He trained his eyes on Mikaela. She stood in the complete opposite corner from the two of them, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs.
"I'm so sorry," she choked out after a minute of silence. "I just couldn't stand the overwhelming pain I felt coming from you."
The two cousins made eye contact. Quinn looked just as confused as Charles felt.
"You could feel his pain?" Charles asked. "How is that even possible?"
She shrugged, keeping her head turned to the floor. "I don't know."
"Where did you find this girl?" Quinn whispered to him.
"She was in trouble. I had to help her."
"You saved a superpowered girl from trouble?" He could hear the disbelief in Quinn's voice, and he realized pretty quickly it was because he hadn't told his cousin about any of yesterday's events.
Mikaela looked over at them now. She tugged on the collar of her shirt, leaning against the wall. "How is that unbelievable? He's probably more powerful than I am."
Charles sucked in a small breath of air, heart sticking in his throat.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, clearly not following what she was saying.
"Quinn," Charles said simply. He waited for his cousin to be looking directly at him to go invisible.
Leaping back, Quinn let out a small yelp. He whirled around the room, eyes wide. "Okay, Charles. This isn't funny anymore." But there wasn't any light-hearted nature behind the words. Concern filled his voice, and his eyes.
"It's not a game." Charles pulled himself into visibility again. He strode over to the bed and sat down on the edge with a sigh. "Fuck, I wish it were a game."
Quinn continued to gape at Charles before turning to gape at Mikaela. They sat in silence like that for what seemed to be eternities. Each second dragged on and on. Drumming his fingers against his knees, Charles waited for someone else to break the quiet. He didn't know what to say.
"How long have you known?"
"Not even a day," Charles responded, looking up at Quinn.
"You seem pretty good for not even a day," observed Mikaela. She'd moved from the corner of the room but kept a healthy distance from them.
