Derek and I recouped a post just inside the neighborhood border. It was quiet while I hovered in the air, feeling the breeze brush over me as I took the best aerial view.
Derek took the view from below, parking his vehicle in plain sight in a retail parking lot and somewhere I could spot him if he needed help. My cell phone chirped in my pocket. And I assumed it was Derek from below, but Sam's name popped up instead when I checked the message.
"I hope you're safe, bud." he wrote. I free-floated, thinking of something creative to respond to him. But I had nothing.
"Derek and I are okay. If anything comes up, I'll let you know." I typed. Sam didn't respond, so I assumed he trusted me. Either that, or he was a little drunk now.
I heard the wind howling the twilight air and swooped down next to Derek and the car. He fell asleep against the car window. His face pressed against the glass as he snored. I didn't want to wake him because he seemed at peace, but I rocked the car, and his eyes shot open. He looked at me and unlocked the car.
"What the hell, James?" he slapped my chest as I buckled my seat belt.
I chuckled. "Sleeping on the job, eh?" I teased. He sulked.
"I've been off the clock since eight-thirty."
"You're supposed to be my lookout from below." There was no sign of Max or Noah anywhere. He sighed, resting his hands against the steering wheel.
"I am. I've just been working all day. Unlike you, I'm tired. You have the energy of a child on a sugar high. You didn't have any caffeine, did you?"
"Yep." I smacked my lips and stared out the window at the luminous lights lining the streets.
"That's great," Derek smashed his head into the steering wheel. "I have the incredible hulk in the car with me. That's just perfect." He glanced at me and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road.
Derek and I arrived home around ten-thirty that night, and with no surprise, Sam was super drunk, stumbling in the kitchen while cooking homemade tacos and listening to his phone playlist.
Cooking seemed to be a stress reliever for him. I didn't judge Sam. He was unemployed and often a lonely scientist, living with his two nephews and brother. He dated a little, going out with a girl on rare occasions, but it rarely happened.
Derek and I sat at the table, and Sam served us hard-shelled tacos with meat, cheese, beans, guacamole, salad, and cream cheese on the side. Just the way we loved it. Sam smelled like he'd been drinking a lot of tequila. By the next day, he'd be hungover.
"You two made the news tonight," Sam informed us. "COP WORKS WITH SUPER IN FIGHTING OFF STORE BURGLARS." He swiped his hands through the air. "You two make an extraordinary team." Derek and I smiled at one another.
"Do you ever think about not drinking so much?" Derek asked Sam. Sam tried to focus on Derek, but his head was spinning.
Instead, Sam grimaced. "When you turn twenty-one next year, you'll understand."
Derek shook his head. "I'm not drinking when I turn twenty-one. Maybe you and dad should go to alcoholics anonymous meetings or something."
He suggested the same thing I was thinking. Derek and I often thought alike. It was like we had twin telepathy, although we were four years apart. Sam declined the recommendation, taking a bite of a taco and sitting on the countertop.
"I'm not that much of an alcoholic." Derek and I thought differently than Sam did.
"Did you see anything amusing on your patrol?" Sam asked. He unsteadily wiped his hands down his white t-shirt and leaned against the counter.
"Not anything that seemed suspicious besides the robbery," I said. Derek grimaced with sudden opposition.
"James prevented a car accident earlier today, but the streets seemed clear of the common thieves and violations we see."
Sam grinned at the thought. "That's good. It means you two are doing your jobs, right?" Sam tipped his taco towards Derek and me and took another large bite.
My dad came through the door at that moment, entering the kitchen and removing his belt from his waist. He walked over, ruffling my hair, and formed his taco by the stove.
"So, what have you two been up to tonight? " My dad urged Derek and me into another talk. Sam leaned further into the counter, listening in. Derek was the first one to talk.
"I took James on a brief ride in the car. That's about it." My dad's eyes squinted at the two of us, and he took a bite of taco, chewing and swallowing.
"Are you sure that's all you two were up to?" The room got quiet. Was it not that obvious to my father? It was as if I had super spelled across my t-shirt. However, my father was always a talented actor. Derek and I glanced at one another as if trying to send each other a mental message with our looks.
"Not much else happened besides the car ride. I took him up in the hills and looked over the mountains. James found a live scorpion on the windshield and returned it to nature. That's about all that happened tonight." My dad chuckled.
"There are scorpions everywhere. The city has several of them. I find at least one on the window every day. Those little creatures are fast."
Our father took another bite of tacos taco while Sam finished his taco with one more nibble. My father looked at his brother. Sam was sloppy drunk again. He could hold himself upright.
"Sam, are you drunk again?" My father asked the obvious.
Sam pouted. "Maybe?"
My father sighed. "Damn it, Samual."
Sam gave up the balancing act and let himself collapse to the floor in one significant motion. Derek and I held back laughter the best we could. My father pointed at the two of us. "Both of you go to your rooms while I deal with Sam."
Derek and I didn't argue. Instead, we took our tacos with us and walked out of the kitchen, and
I let Derek into my room. Derek sat at my corner desk, watching me float objects above my head. I hovered over my bed as well, halfway to the ceiling. Derek seemed more entertained by his phone. He had started talking to an old friend from his middle school in Los Angeles, California.
Jaxton, the shy, awkward, and nerdy kid, grew up as the Instagram model type. Clear skin, healthy, and intelligent. He worked with our uncle at the police station. His father was a cop, but he retired soon after we left. So, Derek and Jaxton got back in touch on an app after discovering his old friend grew up to become a cop just like him.
They were inseparable as youngsters, and once they started talking, their conversations would go on for hours when they weren't working a shift. I jolted a floating pen at Derek, and he looked at me from his phone.
"What is Jaxton saying now?" I asked. Derek's eyes narrowed at me.
"He told me to tell you to stop throwing things at me with your fucking telekinesis." Derek heaved the pen back at me, and everything dropped from the sky, including me, falling on top of me once my concentration shifted. "It's annoying, and I'm trying to converse." I frowned. Jaxton was the one kid who knew my secret besides my brother when I was growing up.
"Tell him I said I would throw the next pen at him." Derek chuckled, lifting his eyebrow with amusement.
"Is that the best comeback you've got, Superboy?"
"Fuck you, Derek, " I spat. Another pen flew his way and hit him in the chest. Derek laughed again.
"He told me to handcuff you the next time you chuck something at me."
I shrugged. "I can just pull the cuffs apart," I mumbled to Derek.
Derek frowned. "Okay, tough guy. Do you think you can pull a Noah on me? You better not break my handcuffs. It's not like we have a bunch just lying around the office."
"Don't threaten me, or I will." Both of us grinned as we stared at one another. There was short, playful friction in the room. My father knocked on the door, and our attention veered to my dad in plaid pajama pants and a white scoop neck.
"Sam is sleeping downstairs on the couch. The two of you need to stay quiet." Derek and I nodded, and he started texting Jaxton again. I flattened out against the mattress and took a long breath.
"Understood." I acknowledged my dad. My father left the room, and a pen flew at my chest. I was quick to catch it in my mind. It floated in mid-air in front of me.
"That's not fucking fair, " Derek cursed. I laughed. It was for me. The pen dropped to my stomach and rolled to my side.
"You're damn right. It's not." Derek rolled his eyes and avoided me while continuing to text Jaxton. About half an hour later, he left down the hallway to his room. I fell asleep for the night.
∆∆∆
I woke covered in sweat, my eyes illuminating my bedroom with a lilac glow. Power rushed through my veins and into my palms. I pulled myself to the head of the bed and took some deep breaths to calm myself down. The purple glow died down, watching my eyes fade to blue in my phone reflection.
I pulled myself from the bed, yanking the covers from my bare torso. I walked through the hallway and down the steps, finding Sam downstairs in the basement, awake and working on luminous vials of exploratory fluids outside his laboratory. He was back and forth between his laptop and mixing experiments. He looked over at me briefly before returning to work.
"What are you doing up, James?" Sam lowered his voice and questioned me. I sat on a rolling chair in the basement, watching him mix and match experimental vials, almost like chemistry class, although I didn't know what he was doing.
"What are you doing, Sam?" I answered with a similar question. He sighed, looking up from his work again.
"It doesn't matter," he huffed, typing something on his computer, and looked at me again.
"My eyes were glowing again. I can't sleep."
"Good. That means you're growing." Sam grinned, taking a mental note. He continued with his laptop, typing additional information.
"What are you feeling, and do you notice your abilities?" Sam urged on. I wiped my hand on the back of my neck in thought.
"I have a lot of energy; as usual, I feel most of my powers in my palms. It's weird. There's a tingling sensation at my fingertips, but that's all there is."
Sam's grin widened, and he began writing notes. "That's an unusual side effect," said San. I agreed with what he stated. Who the hell feels tingling in their fingers?
"Don't touch anything, bud, since your strength can get out of hand." Sam stepped from behind his desk, his phone in his hand. He turned on the camera's light and shone it directly into my eyes. Before my eyes adjusted, I blinked.
"What are you doing, Sam?" I asked him. He moved the flashlight closer to my face.
"I'm checking your irises for anything unusual."
"Oh," I grimaced. "That's a good idea, I guess."
Sam pulled away and shut the light off with a button click. He returned to his computer, pulled his lips together, and started typing.
"Your eyes look normal. I noticed partial dilation and a small purple glow when I flashed the light, but that's it."
"That's good," I huffed. "At least it's nothing terrible."
"If your eyes change color again, I want you to find me." He spoke.
I nodded. "Will do."
"As far as I can tell, it was just a simple power surge. You should be fine. Now, go back to bed before your dad wakes up." Sam rushed me up the basement steps, and I returned to my room—just my luck. I was gaining more power, and as much as it pained me, I needed it now.
37Please respect copyright.PENANAJrNCQl2osC