Surge

chapter 9

The next day after dinner, Thomas takes me out to the woods for what he calls "our first day of training" Doesn't that sound exhilarating.

When we get there we kind of just stand awkwardly.

"Can you please tell me how standing here, saying nothing will help me control this?" I ask him.

"Right sorry, so we need to find out what exactly your abilities are, but we can't do that unless you know how to use them." He says while pacing.

"Okay, how do we do that?" I ask him.

"New game, no more questions until Thomas is done talking, yeah?" He says while nodding his head. I roll my eyes and let him continue.

"Every-time you've 'used' you're ability it was on accident right? It was cause by you getting worked up or mad at something and you tried to hold it in." He says.

"Yeah except I can't, I just end up letting it out somehow." I say.

"Okay so we need to get you mad so you'll be using your powers and then we'll figure out how to control it." He explains while standing a log upright.

"Now try to get mad and uh, push the log over with your...mind?" He says encouragingly and gives me two thumbs up. I furrow my brows and squint my eyes at him. I turn to the log and try to focus on it falling over. I stand there like that for about 30 seconds and nothing happens.

"I feel stupid this isn't working." I shake my head and turn to walk away.

"Hey, no no, you cant just give up on the first try. It's gonna take some time, but you'll figure it out okay?" He holds my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"Okay."

"Good now think of something that'll make you mad." He says while sitting on a big rock.

"Like what?"

"Gally? I don't know what gets you mad?" He laughs. I grin and roll my eyes.

"Gally could work." I nod. I close my eyes and hold my hands open in front of me. Breathing deeply in and out. I try to think about how Gally treated me at the bonfire, how embarrassed I felt.

Why does he get to stomp around and start shit with people who aren't bothering him? Who gave him the mindset that's he's the best person here? I couldn't give two shits about-

"Leah! Do you see that?!" Thomas yells.

"No, see what!" I look at him with wide eyes, what's he talking about? He looks down at my hands, so I look down at my hands.

Oh my god. What is this?

There's a blue ball of light sitting in the palms of both of my hands. My eyes go even wider but I don't dare to make a single move.

Where do I go from here? How do I make it stop? My breathing picks up and I think Thomas can see me start to panic.

"Okay, it's okay. This is good, this is amazing. You're doing it!" He says while slowly walking over to me. I awkwardly smile but still feel panicked.

"Thomas, how do I make it go away?" I quickly ask.

"Uh, shit. Just try to slow your breathing down. You have to calm yourself down." He says gently.

I try to slow my breathing and calm down by listening to the wind brush through the trees and the sound of the water in the lake moving. Pretty soon I can feel the energy slowly fade until it's completely gone. I open my eyes, look down to my now empty hands and laugh with excitement.

"Oh my god!" I jump up and down barely able to contain how happy I am. Thomas is just watching me with a smile on his face. I go over and wrap my arms around his neck, he holds his arms around my waist.

"I told you, you'd do it." He says. I loosen my hold and push back a bit to look at him.

"Thank you." We stand there for a moment looking at one another until he breaks the hug and the silence.

"Let's get back now, we don't want anyone noticing we've been gone." I nod my head and follow him back until we get to the hammocks. He says goodnight and then heads to his room.

On my left I see Chuck is already sleeping. I take a seat on my hammock and look at the walls of the glade. The sun is moments away from slipping beneath the walls, leaving the glade in the light of the stars and the moon. I think it's time to start appreciating the small moments like this. Today was a really good day, I think.