Glowing Sky: Book One

Chapter One - Adelaide

Seattle felt big and small at the same time. The buildings tall, but the space in between each one, cramped. Miniature, like something made for a doll.  The rain clouds and smog blocked out what little sun there was, casting a gloomy filter over everything. 

Well, maybe I was being dramatic. But it sure felt like the sky was darker than it should be. Or maybe it was my mood that made everything feel obtrusive, officious, and overwhelming. The volume of the city felt like it had been pushed up to ten, making my whole body vibrate like a musical triangle. Blocking out my own thoughts. Drowning them under a chaotic sea of noise in the metal jungle of downtown Seattle, Washington.

A new city. A new state. A new life. 

I had lived in California with my uncle and aunt until last week when everything blew up in my face. Figuratively and oddly not so figuratively. But I digress. Now I just had to start over, invent a backstory to boot, and pretend that I didn't have a secret that could cause serious damage to anyone who caught me at a bad time.

My dad was surprised to get the call that I wanted to move out here with him. Mostly because when I was ten he asked me to come with him to Seattle and I had given a VERY hard pass. My mom had just died and my dad was haunted by his memories of her everywhere he looked. My sister and I had refused to move. I didn't want to forget mom. I had a life in California, and I was afraid to start over somewhere else. So my uncle and aunt offered to let me and my sister stay with them. My dad moved and we stayed in California. So when I called to let him know I wanted to move here, he agreed without hesitation and was overjoyed.

Now I was doing exactly what he did, pursuing a fresh start in a new place, running from memories that haunted me.

Speaking of which, I needed to make sure I brought my survival kit to school tomorrow. Oh, school... The place I had been dreading for the last week, and not just because starting at a new school sucked. High school, in general, didn't need any help being terrible, but I was going to be adding my own problems to the mix by transferring in mid-semester as a Junior. That window of finding your people when the school year started was over and now it would be near impossible to make any kind of connections organically.

So I had two options, be a weirdo loner that everyone whispered about as they created theories on why I transferred in at the WORST possible time, or find a way to make friends.

Normally I'd be tempted to go the former route, but my survival meant that I needed to blend in and that meant being as fake as I needed to be to get accepted. So we would see how good I was at being anyone else but myself.

I ran my gloved hands through my recently dyed strawberry blond hair and sighed as I walked down 300 1st Ave W towards my new home in the heart of the city. I recited my lines of introduction that I had prepared for school the next day. I wasn't very good at thinking of things to say on the spot. "I'm Adelaide. I just moved here from California. No, I don't know any movie stars. But I did see Chris Pratt eating a burrito once at a food truck."

I passed a building and took a look at my reflection in the large glass windows. The new hair color stopped me in my tracks. It would take a while to get used to. My sister always had strawberry blond hair and every time I saw myself in the mirror, I thought I was seeing her, only to realize she was far away. I normally kept my hair dark, but a new life required a new hair color. 

I shrugged into my reflection, pushing thoughts of her away and kept walking. 

I made it to my dad's brick apartment building and climbed the five flights to his floor. Putting the house code into the keypad on the door handle, the keypad chirped its welcome greeting and I made my way inside. 

The apartment was nice. Floor to ceiling windows that overlooked parts of downtown. Dad was a minimalist, choosing pieces that were clean and simple, leaving tons of unused space in the open floorplan. Dad had a good job at a big company, but I could never remember the details. Something in computer coding. 

He had a home office that was now my room. He bought a bed for me and shoved his office desk, chair and a bookshelf into the corner when I moved in, not wanting to change too much until I decided what kind of style I wanted to decorate my room in. He seemed excited and I didn't have the heart to tell him I wasn't much good at choosing decore. 

My dad who was sitting on the couch, looked up from his laptop as I walked in, and smiled. He seemed happy to have me living with him. "Hey hon." He went back to tapping away at his computer. I could tell he was in the middle of a long string of code by the reflection in his glasses.

"Hey Dad," I replied as I walked by. He worked long hours. One of the reasons he had a nice apartment. My dad always had a wonderfully peaceful energy about him. Something I craved. It was nice to be around him. 

He hadn't asked why I suddenly wanted to live with him, something I was very thankful for. It would have been a very long and uncomfortable conversation. He just accepted it and made sure to be available whenever I needed him, which wasn't often.

I went into my room and closed the door. Dropping my bag on the ground, I plopped down on my bed and glanced around at the few items I brought. Several pairs of clothes, a few books, and my survival kit. I hadn't had much time to grab much else.

I was nervous about school tomorrow. Did I plan my schedule out well enough to keep things in control? I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. Closing my eyes, I went through my checklist again... 

Rule number one, don't talk about my past. Rule number two, don't reveal my powers. Rule number three, don't stand out. Blend in. 

I repeated it over and over until it was burned into my brain. I couldn't afford any screw-ups, not this time.