The next day was a Saturday, I laid on my bed, scrolling through my phone, listening to music playing in the background, just the normal Saturday routine when the doorbell rang.
"Who's there?" I heard my mum ask .
"It's Chris"
"Come in, the door's unlocked" My mum replied. "Fred's in his room"
"Thanks Mrs. Powell"
I heard Chris rushed up the stairs like he was being chased, he barged into my room and just stood by the door, staring at me.
"Hey bud! Last night was something, drunk was not a good look on you by the way" I said.
Chris was quiet briefly before he answered "Thanks for yesterday, if my mum had caught me in that state I'd be grounded for life"
"Well you wanted to be an adult, hope the experience was worth it"
"It wasn't" Chris put his palms on his forehead "My head feels like it's being repeatedly slammed with a hammer and everything is so loud. I don't get why people would willingly drink that stuff"
I laughed "Now that you're here, you can help me with something…."
"Fred" Chris cut in. "So exactly what do you remember from last night?"
"Everything, the party, you being drunk and me taking you home afterwards. Why?"
"I'm trying to piece together what happened last night, was there any chance I hallucinated all the car lights and alarms going off?"
"Wait, you remembered that?"
Chris eyes widened "So it really did happen, I wasn't hallucinating"
"No you weren't. It was kind of weird, whatever that was came out of nowhere"
"Fred, I think I saw something last night" Chris said "Every time I close my eyes I see flashes of it and if I didn't hallucinate the car alarms, I really don't think I hallucinated this one either"
"Okay, what did you see?" I asked.
"I know this might sound insane, but I swear your eyes were glowing last night. I keep seeing these flashes, these vivid images of your eyes lighting up. It's the one thing that stands out clearly in my memory from last night"
I chuckled thinking Chris was messing with me but stopped after Chris' reaction remained unchanged.
"You're serious?"
"Yeah"
"Okay, yesterday you did tell me my eyes were glowing, but…"
"I did?" Chris cut in.
"But, you were drunk and if you did see something it's probably just a reflection from the car lights that were going off, besides in the state you were, you could have seen a flying werewolf" I responded.
Chris took a few seconds to think, he looked more relaxed and sat down on the bed "Good point. So you and Bobby got into it outside the diner huh?"
I sighed heavily "Stop remembering"
"I knew you wouldn't want to talk about that. Get dressed, we're going out"
"It's Saturday Chris, it's my chill day"
"We're going to the mountainsides, I heard there's a ski race" Chris insisted
"Hello, I'm talking here. I don't want to go out, let's hang here"
"That's not an option bro, you're the reason I drove down here on a Saturday morning"
"I'm not the one who asked you to get drunk and start hallucinating glowing eyes" I responded.
"Doesn't matter, because you and I are going skiing. Now get up before I make you" Chris said, pulling my legs.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming. Just so you know, after today you're banned from Saturdays visits"
We arrived at the mountain sides, greeted by the sight of pristine, snow-covered slopes stretching endlessly before us. The air was crisp and cold as expected, invigorating as it filled our lungs. A few scattered booths were set up near the base, offering snacks, and hot drinks to both skiers and spectators. People milled about, adjusting their gear, chatting excitedly, and preparing for the runs. The slope was steeper than usual, clearly meant for the more professional and adventurous skier.
"Sign up here" a woman said with a megaphone.
"On the way here I imagined we'd be skiing on the lower mountain sides, but that is one huge course" I said with a dreadful look.
"C'mon, don't chicken out now, let's go" Chris said.
"What are you thinking Chris? We've never skied from such a height before, and I'm pretty sure you're still hungover. We don't have to ski, we can just stay and watch"
"I'm fine, all I feel now is a mild headache" Chris said "Are you coming or not?"
"I'm good, have fun" I replied and walked away to join the spectators.
"Hello ladies and gentlemen" said a voice from a megaphone. "Today we are gathered to witness what I might call the greatest ski race of all time, and I must warn that this course is a little bit on high mountain sides, most of y'all haven't skied these parts before. The rules are simple, do not start until you hear the whistle. Once the whistle blows, you are to head straight to the finish line. Foul plays will not be condoned and finally, the first 3 skiers to cross the finishing line will be the champions of this event. Alright skiers, the race commences in five minutes, take your places"
I stood from a distance and watched Chris put on his gear, I honestly didn't know what had gotten into him, I know he loves to ski but this was not the terrain he's used to. The contestants lined waiting for the race to begin, as soon as the whistle was blown the skiers began to race, maneuvering their way through rocks and fellow skiers. Not long, the first skier crossed the finish line, then the second and the third. Other skiers made their way to the finish line and came to a stop, but Chris had never skied on a slope that long and high. He couldn't control his speed, he went right past the finishing line and went further down the lower mountain sides. Thankfully he was quick, he fell flat on his belly bringing himself to a stop.
"Are you okay kid?" a man yelled.
"I'm okay" Chris voiced back.
I ran down the mountain sides to meet him.
I stretched out my hand attempting to pull Chris off the ground when a bolt of lightning struck out of my palm completely destroying my glove and hit a tree.
I stood there in disbelief "Please tell me you saw that?"
"What the hell was that?" Chris asked as he quickly got up.
"I don't know" I replied in fright.
Chris looked at me briefly and laughed "You're messing with me, are carrying a Taser or something?"
"I don't know any taser that can do that" I replied pointing to the dent made on the tree.
"Should we go to the hospital?"
"And tell them what exactly?" I asked.
"Try to do it again" Chris said.
"What? You want me to try to…."
"Do it again" Chris said.
I stretched out my hands and just like that, i felt that rush, my elevated heartbeat, the power, and there came the lightning, buzzing off my palms.
Chris gave me an intense look "You have powers, how do you have powers?"
I zoned out on my immediate surrounding for a second, I couldn't hear anything but my thoughts, my heart was still beating pretty fast, it's a dream I thought, it has to be a dream but this dream feels so freakishly real.
"Fred" Chris called out, bringing me back to reality "You good? Looks like I lost you for a minute"
The lightning buzzing off my hands stopped but I continued to stare at my palms "How is this even possible? I must be seriously sick or something"
"Calm down, It's not like they aren't people with abilities"
"Don't tell me to calm down" I snapped "Every person on earth with powers is either a supernatural creature or an enhanced soldier, I'm not a supernatural creature and last I checked I didn't volunteer to be poked by needles, so something is definitely wrong with me"
"Fred you're going to draw attention, you have to calm down" Chris said.
"You seem to be taking this well"
"Well, one of us has to be the bigger person in this situation" Chris replied.
It wasn't until Chris finished that statement that I realized how frantic I was, I was all over the place, pacing in a hasty manner. I tried my best to pull myself together.
I looked at a chill looking Chris giving me a raised eyebrow "Show off"
Chris smiled "It's going to be alright"
"What do we do now?" I asked.
"Tell your parents?"
"Not a chance, that's the last thing we're going to do" I answered. "They freak out over every little thing, if I tell them this they'll loose their minds"
"You're right, then I think we need to get a handle on this first, you need to learn to control your situation. You wouldn't want to sneeze and accidentally deep fry Stowe in lightning. Let's get to a place where they aren't too many people" Chris said.
Chris led the way as we walked down the slopes and farther into the woods to be sure no one was watching.
"I think we are far enough" Chris said. "Alright then, Face that direction and try to blast something"
I put my arms up in the air "So I just… try to blast something?"
"I don't know, you have to want to do it I guess. Visualize yourself throwing lightning from your palms and just do it" Chris said.
I closed my eyes for a few seconds to try to clear my head before opening them, I threw my hands in the direction of a tree, lightning bolts came gushing out of my palms and hit the trunk. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel, happy or terrified. I looked at Chris and noticed him staring.
"What?" I asked.
Chris took his phone out of his pocket and took a picture of me, and handed me the phone. I looked at the picture and to my surprise my eyes were glowing, they were electric blue and I have to admit, I looked cool.
Chris raised his fingers in my face "it's gone"
"What's gone?"
"Your eyes, they stopped glowing" Chris said. "We need to find your trigger, that's what's going to help you control this"
"Wow, this is officially the weirdest day of my life"
"We should be heading back, I have to meet my Mum later" Chris said. "I really think you should tell your parents about this"
"I can't tell them yet" I answered. "Let's get some answers first to ease their panicking"
"What of Karen?" Chris asked.
"Of course we're telling Karen"
"No argument here. You wouldn't want her finding out later and then do the thing where she acts like she's angry and starts growling with her baby fangs"
I laughed "One of these days you're going to piss her off to the point where she'll come after you on a full moon"