SuperPowers

"Stop following me!"

She glared into the eyes of the teenage boy that had been following her since the bus stop. He looked shocked, and she felt her cheeks flush, a little shocked as well.

Five times out of five she was having troubles in the mornings, since her sixteenth birthday several months ago. Things were just not coming easily, and being aggressive to strange boys her own age was not going to make life any easier. She sighed, and shifted her backpack a little higher on her shoulder, and tried to focus on her aim.

The school bell had gone a while ago, and she was late. As she was 70% of her life. She hated it, and someone was going to bring it up again. Her teachers were getting frustrated with her, and she was getting annoyed with her own failings as well. This boy was just icing on the cake.

She took a deep breath to focus herself. Probably wasn't even his fault her day was already down the toilet. She took another breath and turned to him again. He was still following her.

She noticed this time that he wore the same school uniform. A summer version, she noted, feeling sorry for him.

It was not going to get over 12C today, she thought. The blood-red collared polo shirt and black shorts revealed so much skin, it was amazing that he wasn't shivering with hypothermia. She softened further and shrugged again.

"You can walk with me," she said after a moment. "We are obviously going to the same place."

She waited for him to catch up, as he had given her more space after her outburst. He looked nervous, and she couldn't blame him. Her anger was scary.

"You're new?"

He shrugged, unable to overcome his nerves to speak to her. 

"Sorry about before, it's just one of those days," she said, softly. Not only did she sleep in, but everything at home was out of place. She couldn't remember why her bag was in the garage, or why her laptop was under her younger brother's bed. She still hadn't found her phone, although it had been by her bedside table, safely charging while she slept. So annoying, she thought, shaking her head. Her personal life was in chaos.

He still hadn't spoken, and she found herself thinking of things to say to break an icy silence around them. It was giving her the chills.

"I'll show you where the shop is, you can get yourself a jacket at least," she said, wondering if his family was struggling. An urge to protect and mother him influenced her thoughts.

He shrugged. "I'm ok," he said with a whisper. "No one notices me."

What did he mean? No one notices him? She glanced at him in curiosity. He was a normal kid, a little skinny but he'd probably fill out. His eyes were a muted blue, and his skin was a strange grey colour, she would think people would notice him. He did seem like a wallflower in a crowded dance hall, but some people were like that. Boys must get self-conscious as well, she thought, he wasn't a sports-star that was for sure.

"You were creeping me out, I noticed you."

He smiled a little. "I didn't mean to creep you out, sorry. I was in a hurry. I'm late."

She smiled. So it was unintentional, of course. She was so jumpy lately. Her fault for being hypervigilant. 

"You're not cold?" She said gently. "It's not about fashion you know.  You don't need to have people notice you. You should be warm."

"I'm warm enough." The blue-grey tinge to his skin was making her very unsure that was the truth. 

She thought about her own clothes, thermal underwear, a warm, blood-red skivvy, long black trousers with tights underneath. A black beanie sat on her head, and a black scarf finished the look. She felt the cold big time and seemed to feel it even more lately. Must be a cold winter, she thought with another shrug. Fashion was a fool's game at this time of year. 

"What classes do you have?" She wondered if she should know him. Was he in the same classes as her? He seemed to be her age.

"I do history, German, geography, and legal studies. English and maths of course. I've seen you around before."

She didn't remember him at all. She did German and history. Maybe he was in the other class?

She nodded thoughtfully. Of course, he was, why would he lie to her about such a small thing? Anyway, they were almost at school. 

"I'll see you around then," she said. "What's your name? I'm Eddie, accent on the E." She wasn't about to admit her name was Edna. So embarrassing.

"I'm Daniel. Daniel Evenshade," he responded. She waved and raced into the admin block, steeling herself for the disdainful gazes of the admin staff, as she was once again half an hour late for class. She would definitely be required to see the guidance counselor sooner or later, and probably much sooner than she would like.

She lost track of him after that. Being more intent on getting to the first class on time, she skipped what was left of roll call, and raced to her classroom.

EEE

She didn't see Daniel again that day. At lunch she thought he might be around, but no. She sat with her friends in the library chatting loud enough to get a warning about being sent out. 

"Do you guys know Daniel Evenshade?" She asked. Her friends had different classes after all, and there was always a possibility that they had met him. He had intrigued her. Attracted her? She was too busy for that sort of thing. She wanted to be something first, but uncertainty reigned in her thoughts, even more so since her birthday.

"You mean Stephen Evenshade?"

No, she didn't mean Stephen. She meant Daniel, but they were so sure that she went with it.

"He's in the class above us in Maths," Sara said. "Not particularly dreamy, in my opinion. He's probably going to be Dux at the end of year 12."

"I've heard there's a Daniel."

There was an awkward silence in the library as if everyone had overheard and waited with bated breath to hear the response. 

"Daniel Evenshade was Stephen's twin. He died last year, a few months before you moved here."

Died? How did he die? 

"He was shot by a home invader and died instantly. He was ok, a nice guy. It was a shock for everyone, the school brought in counselors and police and everything."

"Hey, Eddie, you look like you saw a ghost," Megan said. "You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah. I must have met Stephen the other day," she lied. It hadn't been Stephen, she had met Stephen before. It hadn't been Stephen.

She remembered something her grandmother had said once to her when she was really little. Something about mediums in the family. She had dismissed it as a joke, one of those family stories that may or may not be true. Her mum had glanced at grandma sharply and shook her head.

"Hasn't been a medium in the family this century," her mother said as if reassuring her daughter. Maybe she had been reassuring herself.

Grandma had chuckled, with her eyes lighting up mischievously. "It sometimes skips a generation or two. My grandmother had the Gift."

"Sometimes Grandma gets confused, Eddie. No such things as ghosts, or the supernatural. Stop filling the girl's head with stories. You know how she is, Mum."

Her childhood had been full of 'imaginary' friends, and she had talked of things from a century before, things her parents had dismissed out of hand. She had talked too much at one stage and had attended a psychologist to help her distinguish reality from pretending. Maybe her parents had overreacted and dismissed her 'games' a little too quickly, Eddie thought in hindsight. Maybe fearfully dismissed, despite reality saying otherwise.

Had the Gift come to her? Was it a problem? She wasn't sure. A superpower? Maybe. Statistics showed that the majority of people in Australia believed in the supernatural, why were her parents so sure there was no such thing as ghosts?