Mastery

Superheroes

Rory

The doorbell rang and i heard my aunt call my name. Why hadn't benjamin just messaged me on Facebook or something. It was either really important or it wasn't him. The latter turned out to be true as i was walking down the hall and heard two female voices.

"Here he is"

My aunt winked at me and headed back to the kitchen.

"Hi Rory"

"Did Benjamin tell you where i live?"

It came out a little more dryly than i intended but the words were already out.

"Yes, but only because it's an emergency"

I searched her eyes to find out what kind of emergency had her standing in front of my house but they just begged me to listen to her. I stepped outside and closed the door.

"Let's go for a walk"

She followed me down the steps and we started walking towards a field nearby.

"Your mother is really nice"

Like everyone else, she thought my aunt was my mother. I didn't want to let her in on my personal life and i never really had to explain to anyone why i lived with my uncle and aunt and that i didn't have any clue who or where my parents were.

"She's not my mother. What's the emergency?"

The friendly smile on her face disappeared. I felt bad but i knew being cold to her was for the best. We had reached an empty field surrounded by a high fence with a pond running through it. I started climbing the tall tree that could get us over the fence and noticed Amanda having trouble doing so. I sighed and jumped down to help her. I intertwined my fingers with my palms facing up and she put her right feet in it. This silent communication thing was working well for me.

"Three, two, one..."

I saw panic in her eyes as i threw her up a little too high. Shit. She hit her head on a branch and didn't manage to grab on to any. She fell back down and i caught her. She weighed less than i imagined (not rudely intended) and she even felt weightless. She was groaning and i felt horrible. I laid her down on the grass and she just rubbed her forehead. My social skills were terrible and i just knelt there awkwardly.

"C..can i do something?"

I heard the words as i said them. I sounded like a total loser.

"How about fucking apologizing or something?!"

She was pissed.

"I'm sorry"

Was i apologizing for hurting her or making her pissed?

She sat up and grabbed the tree, using it to help her stand up. As she removed her hands from one place to another i noticed burn marks on the tree... the size of her hands.

"How are you doing that?"

"What? Standing up by myself?"

I reached to help her out and she grabbed my shoulder, burning it. I screamed out in pain and she let go.

"FUCK!"

"I'm sorry, oh my God I've never burned someone before"

I had to laugh. My shoulder stung painfully but we were both so helpless. I had just thrown her against a branch and now she'd implanted first degree burns on my shoulder.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag"

She smiled and rubbed her forehead painfully. I decided to use my uncle's words.

"How long have you been showing?"

I saw something flicker in her eyes but it was gone so fast i wonder how i caught it.

"For about two weeks now i guess"

'That's exactly how long I've been showing' i thought to myself. Were we even the same? How could i know if we were somehow connected? She stood there staring at me, with big beautiful and expecting eyes, waiting for the next question.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen"

She was the same age as me. Noticing the fact that we had just accidentally hurt each other i categorized us as dangerous. This was getting complicated.

"What was the emergency?"

"I just had to ask you... Do you think we have... powers?"

She couldn't be serious. We had just accidentally hurt each other and she thought they were powers like we were some kind of superheroes or something. I laughed and turned my back to her, walking back home. I had tried really hard the last few weeks to keep it to myself because I was afraid no one could explain what was going on and now she thought we had freaking powers like we were children.

"Rory!"

She called after me.

"What? Is the world in trouble?"

She ran and caught up with me.

"What other explanation do you have?"

She was right. But she was wrong. Any explanation i would've come up with, would be believable.

"We're just freaks Amanda, just freaks."