Chapter 16

Michael

My eyes fluttered open. The afternoon sun was pouring through my bedroom window. I sat up and cringed from a nasty headache. What happened?

I thought back on last night. I was running near Verde Ranch and then suddenly passed out for some strange reason. I shivered just thinking about that horrible pain that I’d felt before passing out. Fortunately, that pain was gone; now I just felt weak, hungry, and had a headache.

Glimpses of memory flashed through my mind. A dark, fuzzy image of Sarah standing over me, looking concerned. A feeling of relief that the pain was gone. A long walk to the car, Sarah helping me the whole way. Voices outside my bedroom door; Sarah telling mom that I was sick and needed to rest.

I rolled off my bed and opened a drawer; the blue meteorite rolled around inside. Sarah had put it back. I snatched it out and observed it carefully as I walked out my room, downstairs, and into the kitchen. Nobody was home, probably still at school and work. I poured myself some cereal and ate slowly as I kept looking at the blue stone.

Why did I pass out?

I quickly thought of a rollercoaster, causing an adrenaline rush that turned my powers on. I could feel the tingling energy rush through me again. It felt great, powerful, but no pain. None of that horrendous, life-sucking pain. “Hm….”

I’d thought my powers were gone but was grateful that they weren’t. The meteorite gave me these powers. They were obviously connected somehow. I remembered feeling much better when Sarah had found me last night, not just because she was there to help, but because she was carrying the meteorite in her pocket. I’d felt better when it was close to me. Why?

Eager to test something out, I quickly finished my breakfast, returned the blue stone to its hiding spot in my dresser, and got in my car. I drove around the block and stopped. I turned on my powers. It felt great, electric. I kept my powers on and drove out of the neighborhood. The tingling energy continued to spread around my body. I drove a little further, thinking my theory was wrong, but then I felt it. That terrible pain erupted in my gut and then spread through my limbs to the tips of my fingers.

I hunched over the wheel and groaned, surprised again by how much it hurt. I focused on calming down and let my powers turn off. The pain stopped. I heaved a sigh and pulled the car over to the shoulder of the road. I think I’ve figured it out.

I tested my powers again. The pain returned as soon as I turned them on, so I quickly turned them off. I was breathing hard, feeling weak, like I’d just ran a 5k. Like I’d already burned through the cereal I’d just eaten ten minutes ago, and I was hungry again.

I pulled a u-ey and drove back to my house. As I got closer, I bravely turned my powers on again, and was happy to sense the power instead of the pain. I kept my powers on all the way until I parked in my driveway. I ran up to my room and got out the blue stone and made a commitment to always keep it with me.

The meteorite was the source of my power. I’d thought that it’d just given me powers and was obsolete now, but I was wrong. The stone was still actively giving me my powers, and I needed to be near it. A little less than a mile or so. It had a limited range. Using my powers outside that range would result in pain and, eventually passing out. So, the solution was to keep the stone with me at all times.

I jumped as I heard the front door open and close. Footsteps thumped up the stairs and Sarah burst into my room. “Hey, you feeling better?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks for helping. I’ll forgive your intrusion into my room this time. I think I figured out why I passed out. I have to keep the stone near me to use my powers. When I—”

“Wait, Michael.” She cut me off, looking anxious to tell me something. “Have you seen the news yet?”

An hour later, I was still sitting on the couch, watching the news, stunned by what I was seeing. Sarah was in the recliner across the room. Mom and Dad were home now and sat on the sofa next to me.

Ray Simmons’ face filled the TV screen. They’d caught him on camera using… superpowers, supposedly. I leaned back into the couch, overwhelmed with the information. Sarah glanced at me from across the room. Her horrified expression matched my emotions.

I’m not alone, I thought. I’m not the only one with superpowers. Someone else has them. Someone like me. I shook my head. Why? Why did it have to be Ray?

I had secretly wished to beat him up someday with the extra help of my powers, but that wouldn’t be so easy now that he had powers too. It was obvious how he got them. He must’ve touched a glowing meteorite… just like me. Are his powers the same as mine? Maybe I could go ask him. I shook my head and frowned. No, this is Ray we’re talking about. He hates me… and I hate him. Besides, I looked back at the news, he’s probably not in the mood to talk to anyone right now.

Mom and Dad were ever the extreme skeptics as they watched. “They’re all idiots,” Dad said pointing at the screen. “Just because the reporters say that the video wasn’t tampered with, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t. The reporters are lying, simple as that.”

“The video itself isn’t very clear either,” Mom said. “You can barely tell what’s going on. Is he moving really fast, or is that just the video skipping forward. It’s just as clear as every video and picture of Bigfoot.” If I hadn’t touched that blue stone and become a super human myself, I’d probably be just as dubious as them.

Several eye witnesses at the gas station talked about Ray and what they’d seen him do. Dad and Mom couldn’t help but vocally dismiss each testimonial. “She was paid to say that!” Dad claimed.

“He looks like a drunk!” Mom declared. “And she wasn’t even in the video when it happened!”

I rolled my eyes at how determined they were to not believe the news, but I didn’t say anything. It was nice to have them at least agree with each other on something, even if they were both dead wrong.

The news cut to a new scene where Ray was walking out of school. He was completely surrounded by cameras, newscasters with microphones, and on-looking students. The video showed him say very little, push his way through to his truck, and drive away.

I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic towards Ray. Even though he was a jerk, I could tell he didn’t want his powers to be discovered like that. I knew I didn’t want that for myself. This reminded me why I needed to be so careful about using my powers in public.

I tried putting myself in his shoes. If I were Ray—well, honestly, first of all I would punch myself, just because I would hate myself for being Ray.

And then I imagined always being on the run. Everyone recognizing my face. My own friends betraying me. People wanting to put me in jail, operate on me, and maybe even kill me because I was such a dangerous threat to them. I shivered at the thought.

Doug Cooper, Ray’s best friend, was on the TV. This was probably my third time watching this segment. It was weird to see so many people I knew personally on TV. Doug pointed to his neck; it was red and blistered as if it had been burnt raw. “Yes, Ray Simmons did this to me,” Doug said hoarsely. “He used to be my friend, but now he’s a freakin’ monster! He definitely has superpowers. I was asking him a couple questions about it, and then he just snapped and did this to me with one hand!”

The scene cut to a picture of a guy I recognized from school in the hospital with a neck brace. Doug spoke as the video played, “But, this isn’t nearly as bad as what he did yesterday at football practice. He nearly killed James.”

I jumped, when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Zack. Dude, it said. Have you seen the stuff about Ray on the news?

Watching it right now, I texted back.

“James Earl was confirmed with a head and neck injury yesterday,” a female reporter—well, reported—“during football practice by none other than Ray Simmons. Sahuaro High School football coach Dan Jones had this to say about the matter.”

The video cut to Coach Jones with a microphone up to his face, sporting his hat and whistle like always. “I don’t know about superpowers,” he said. “That seems a little farfetched. I was thinking some sort of mega steroids. That’s why I kicked him off the team. However, I will admit that he did some things yesterday that seemed even too incredible for ‘roids. Either way, as much as I miss having him on the team, Simmons shouldn’t be playing football. He’s too dangerous.”

Zack sent another text message. You know what this means? You need to get yourself a disguise! Ski mask or motorcycle helmet? I’ve got both. Just say the word and one of them is yours.

Or just never use my powers in public. I didn’t send that, just thought it. I didn’t respond to Zack at all. A part of me knew he was right. Could I really live out my life without ever using my powers in public? I wondered. If there ever came a time where I had to use my powers, it would be nice to have a disguise on hand… otherwise, I might end up like Ray.

There was a knock at the door. Sarah went to go get it. Mom and Dad were going on about how the football team and newscasters were trying to exaggerate their stories to make it look like Ray had superpowers. “It’s like they’re creating their own breadcrumbs,” Dad said. “Making up new stories just to prove their original one. I think Coach Jones was dead on with his first idea. Ray’s probably just on drugs.”

“Hey Michael.” It was Sarah. “Someone’s at the door for you.” She whispered the next part to me. “I think it's your girlfriend!”

My stomach did a front flip as I made my way to the door. Sarah didn't wait around for me to correct her and scurried back to the living room to watch the news.

Sure enough, Angela stood there in the entryway, looking fantastic. She smiled when she saw me, but only for a couple seconds. “Hi, Michael, sorry to show up unannounced.”

“No, it's fine,” I said. “What's up?”

“We need to talk about something important. Will you step outside with me for a moment?”

“Uh... sure.” I gulped. What did I do wrong? Did I offend her on our last date? Was she going to tell me the secrets her dad has been keeping from us? Or maybe she came all the way over here because she was desperate to give me a kiss. Okay, probably not, but a guy can dream, right?

It was warm outside; the sun was about to set. Once I closed the door behind me, Angela spoke. “Michael, can I see your meteorite?

“Um, yeah.” I pulled it out of my pocket and handed it to her. She brought it close to her face and spun it delicately in her fingers, scanning every inch of it. I tried to hide my nervousness. “What's so interesting about the rock? I know your dad went crazy when he saw it, but—hey! What’re you doing?”

She’d bent over and started pounding the stone against the sidewalk. I cringed, afraid it would break. What would happen if it broke? Would it kill me? I didn't know how far my connection with the stone went, and I didn’t want to find out by smashing it. Fortunately, there wasn't even as much as a scratch on it, though the sidewalk couldn't say the same. Angela huffed and handed it back to me. “Has it glowed at all?”

“No,” I said, cupping the stone in my hands like it was my baby. “Not since we found it. Why?”

She pointed over my shoulder. “It’s that.”

“My house?”

“No, silly, the news channel. Have you seen it lately? About Ray Simmons?”

I folded my arms. “Yeah, I saw it. Crazy huh?”

“Do you believe it?”

“What? That Ray has superpowers?” I took a deep breath, choosing my words carefully. “I don’t know. I sure hope he doesn’t.”

She folded her arms and stared at her feet. “I don’t know either, but there are so many connections.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just that there’ve been so many strange things, Michael. Last week we nearly got killed by a meteorite. A meteorite—by the way—that could glow! You touched it, got knocked out, the stone stopped glowing, and you woke up just fine. And my dad goes bonkers when he sees the stone and won’t tell me anything.”

“Yeah, that was weird.”

“Really weird! You know what else was weird?” She looked up at me and spoke slowly. “Ray and his friends also almost got hit by a meteorite. We saw the crater. That meteorite may have been glowing. Ray may have touched it.”

My heart started racing. I tried to keep a calm expression, focusing to keep my powers off. “So…”

“So, one other thing to add to that sequence of strange events is that Ray got superpowers.”

“Supposedly.”

She nodded. “Supposedly.” She kept her gaze on me, observing my reactions. Her tone wasn’t accusatory, more… pleading?

“And… you think that…”

Angela was silent for a moment, as if waiting for me to finish, but I didn’t. “Well, have you felt strange since you touched the stone? Any… superpowers?”

“Oh!” I chuckled. “I wish! That would be sweet, but I’ve felt one hundred percent normal since I touched that stone.”

She watched me carefully, obviously trying to detect my honesty. I put on my best act. I knew that if it were my sister Sarah, she would see right through me, but Angela had known me for only a little more than a week. This was my first time lying to her. And, unfortunately, I thought, it probably won’t be my last.

Angela put a hand on her chin and hummed. “So, you can’t fly or shoot lasers with your eyes?”

I laughed. “Nope. That would be awesome, though.” I was grateful to answer honestly that time.

“Yeah… it would.” She looked at the sidewalk pensively.

My heart calmed. It looked like she believed me. I hated to lie, especially to her. It was necessary though. Watching the news about Ray was enough for me to make up my mind to tell no one my secret. It was bad enough that Zack and Sarah knew. I didn’t want to add anyone to that list. The more people who knew my secret, the more likely I could end up like Ray. A part of me really wanted to tell Angela the truth. And my parents. And my soccer team. And all my Facebook friends. But, I needed to be careful, especially with Angela. Her dad knew something was special about the blue stone, and he didn’t tell her what. He probably knew what it would do to me, and he told me to keep it a secret. So, that was what I was doing.

“Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?” I asked.

Angela snapped out of her daydream. “Yeah… and I wanted to check out the stone too. See if it was glowing again. But it looks normal—for an abnormally blue meteorite.”

I nodded looking at the stone in my hand. “Yep.”

An awkward silence followed. We could hear the TV from inside. The same news report about Ray kept playing over and over. She seemed mesmerized by it. “Well,” she finally said. “I’d better get going. Sorry to bother you.” She turned to walk to her car, her shoulders slumped.

My heart went out to her. “Hey, Angela.” She turned around. “Looks like you’ve got a lot on your mind. How would you like it if we went and got some ice cream, and you let it all out?”

She smiled, maybe for the first time today. “Thanks, Michael, but this is something I’ve got to work out on my own.”

I tried not to look hurt. “Okay. Yeah. Well, let me know if you’re ever feeling the craving for some rocky road or something.”

“Will do. Thanks.” She got in her car, waved goodbye, and drove away from my house.

I stood there, feeling relieved she didn’t find out my secret and feeling terrible for lying to her. It was such a mixture of emotions, mostly painful ones. She was on the right trail to finding out the truth. I couldn’t let her find out. It would ruin my life if I ended up like Ray, with news vans waiting for me to get out of class. I needed to keep my superpowers a secret, and if concealing them wasn’t enough, then I’d need to hide my identity.

I got out my phone and wrote a text to Zack. I’ll take the helmet.