- Taylor's POV -
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I went through the day with random, snippets of thoughts running through my head like derailed trains.
Over and over I wondered How did I get struck with lightning and survive?
I never thought of an answer.
At work in the morning, I idly wondered if the dirty blonde guy I’d been seeing lately would come. He had been frequenting my Starbucks more and more often, and we usually interacted with each other in the mornings. However, he didn’t show up. Maybe he’s sick.
During class it was hard for me to focus. I barely took notes during my history class, and calculus was even worse. I kept looking off into space, my mind racing about what had happened.
It wasn’t like me to to struggle to concentrate, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit.
As I walked out of my last class—programming—a small figure caught up to me. “Hey girl,” my best friend Jamie piped. Today she had her strawberry blond bangs pulled back in a purple clip. Her pixie cut was growing out.
“You need a haircut,” I teased, trying to sound happy. I hoped it worked.
“Pfft, I know I do.” She rolled her eyes. I’d always been envious of her eyes and hair. The green-brown of her irises really stood out in her pale face, and the reddish tint to her hair pulled all the colors together. Sometimes I think I should be a fashion designer instead of a programmer, the way I go on about her in my head, I thought ruefully.
“Hey, you seemed kind of out of it today,” Jamie said, snapping me out of my inner monologue. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. She seemed concerned.
My thoughts raced. Should I tell Jamie, or should I keep it a secret? After a few moments, I decided to tell her. I had to tell someone. I might go crazy if I didn’t.
I looked at my watch. It was 4:07 pm. I didn’t have much homework.
“How about coffee?” I suggested.
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“Woah.” Jamie’s mouth hung open, her extremely complicated and expensive drink forgotten. “Taylor…you actually…got struck by lightning.”
“Kind of.” I shrugged and sipped my iced coffee. I had taken my hair down from the ponytail and now it was falling in my eyes. I pushed it back.
“Are you okay? Like, are you really okay? Should you see a doctor or something?” My best friend rapidly fired questions at me. “What if it did something to you? What if you have superpowers, like in the comics Aiden reads?”
I snorted. “Well, to answer all your questions: Yes, I’m okay, as far as I can tell. Nothing’s wrong with me on the outside. If I saw a doctor they’d probably have to interview me and test me and all sorts of things, and I know that would make Mom worry. And I don’t think it’s done anything to me.” Meeting her eyes, I shrugged again. “I read up on stories like that, and I can’t see anything wrong with me. I can’t fly or shoot lasers from my eyes—at least not yet.” I wiggled my eyebrows.
We shared a laugh. “Promise me if you do get super powers, you’ll tell me,” Jamie giggled.
“I promise.” I took a sip of more of my coffee and laughed again. “Maybe I can use my powers to get you powers, and we’ll save the world from some great evil.”
“That would be pretty cool,” she grinned, then her face changed to regret. “I wish you had the power to pause time, though. I have to go. I need to get to bed early tonight—there’s a volleyball tournament tomorrow—and that means doing homework sooner.” She winced in genuine disgust.
“That’s okay. Thanks for listening to my story, and believing it,” I said. “I was afraid you’d think I was…making it up, or something.”
“You bet I believe you.” Jamie hugged me as I stood. “And I’d listen to anything, as long as it came from you.
I gave her a relieved smile. “It means a lot to me. Take care, and be safe at that tournament!”
“I will! See ya later, girl!” She waved as she walked out of the cafe.
Sighing, I let my hair fall back into my face, covering my eyes. I felt like hiding. What if there really is something wrong with me? What if it really did…
No, I told myself. Not gonna think about that. You’ve got homework to do. You need to focus all your energy on that.
I took a deep breath, threw away my trash and began the short journey to my car.
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(these chapters are short because i wrote the first very many chapters on notes on my phone, and it looks like a lot more when it's on a tiny screen)
(apologies)
(i love you all and i hope you have a fantastic day)
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