Secrets

Heart pounding and head throbbing, Ava searched hopelessly for words without avail. Owen stared at her expectantly, thirsty for answers.

2 days earlier...

"Everyone, please come to the table for dinner."

It was 6:00, the Neilson's usual dinner time. But today wasn't normal, not even in the least.

"Ok," Dad said, "We are adopting a child."

Ava was baffled that her parents would even think about that, not with them having magic powers. "WHY?!" Ava screamed.

A little alarmed with Ava's response, Dad calmed himself and explained. "It seems that you have been under stress lately, so we think you need someone your age to relate and talk to."

For a moment, she wasn't sure they were actually serious. "Mom, Dad, the only reason I have been under stress is because I have been trying strenuously to keep our family secret from my friends and the public!"

Dad nodded. "We know, trust us."

"Then why would you even think about getting me a sibling, just another person I would keep secrets from?" Ava exclaimed.

Dad shot a cautious glance to his wife and whispered sheepishly, "We know, we want you to tell him."

Ava laid in bed that night, eyes darting around. She was thinking about what her parents had said earlier. The same words rang in her head over and over. 'We want you to tell him.'

Those six words frightened her.

Though she did learn one thing... it was a boy sibling. Ava circled and searched through many names to name him until finally one popped up in her head. Owen.

Ava reluctantly slipped into her shoes to go adopt Owen. As she slid into their bright red convertible, she realized the car was out of gas. No problem.

Dad was fiddling with the car and trying desperately to turn it on, without it cooperating. "Dad, stop," Ava said suddenly. She flicked her wrist as the car's fuel gauge shot up, starting the car. Dad smiled and looked back at her. "Thanks." Under different circumstances, she would have beamed back, but today she couldn't get it out.

As the car pulled up to an adopting station, Ava's face turned ghost white. She knew that her parents were serious about doing this, but even then she wasn't ready to actually do it.

They clambered out of the car and out onto the front patio, cold wind whipping their scarfs around. Ava slowly followed her parents to the station and straight to the front desk. Before approaching the woman at the desk, Ava quickly recited her name idea to her parents, and they joyfully agreed.

"Hello," Dad said to the woman, "We have a reservation under the name Ava. She is looking for a brother, the same age as her, 14."

As Dad said those words, Ava considered that maybe this idea wasn't so bad after all. She was getting a brother that was her same age, and could probably help her with various issues.

The woman went into the back room and brought along with her a tall and skinny boy that was smiling broadly, eager to join a family.

Next Day

Owen fitted in very well.

He and Ava had gotten along well too... but something wasn't right. It seemed as if Ava could do unthinkable things. In the past few hours, she had already done all of her 17 farm chores. Owen was new, but was still in the family. He did chores too.

It also always seemed as if she could fix endless things. It was almost like she had magical powers or something. So Owen set off to find her and ask her about her magical powers…

Next Day

Owen had finally finished his chores from yesterday and sprinted to find Ava. He looked everywhere until at last he found her in the barn, sweeping up hay. “Hey,” Owen said, “ I feel like you do stuff way too fast and well. I wanted to ask you how you do that kind of thing.”

Ava remained silent, reluctant to answer. “Hello?” Owen asked. Ava grimaced. “I just do it. I do it fast and get it done.” 

Owen still didn’t look pleased. “But it sort of seems… unhuman. Do you have magical powers or something?”

Ava’s face turned the color of fresh snow in a freezing blizzard. She calmed herself and replied, “No. But thank you for the… uh… ‘compliment’.”

That didn’t satisfy Owen, but he realized he should just leave her alone. “Okay, okay.” Owen replied, walking towards the door. “See you later.”

As soon as Owen was out of earshot, Ava breathed a sigh of total relief. She made sure Owen was gone and couldn’t see her, and with a flick of her wrist cleaned up the rest of the hay.

It was true, she did have magical powers, but she wasn’t going to tell Owen. Even if her parents wanted her to.

Ava finished her chores and sprinted inside, ready to help with dinner. She ran up the creaky white steps. She circled the corner and went into the kitchen. “Hey, Mom. Do you need any help making dinner?” 

“Sure,” Mom replied. “Can you, you know…”

Ava understood. With a raise of an eyebrow, she flicked her wrist and finished dinner. “Dinner!” Mom called. 

Owen came in from outside and sat eagerly on a chair. “Wait.” Owen said. “How are you done already? I came in a few minutes ago and you weren’t even close.” 

Mom replied, “I cook fast.”

Owen quickly scarfed down his dinner and went outside to finish his chores. Ava decided to help him, so she devoured her dinner and went outside to help Owen.

“Here,” Owen said to Ava after she told him she would help him. He handed Ava a broom. “So apparently,” Owen started, “You can do this very fast. Let’s see.” Owen started sweeping. Ava did seem fast, but not as fast as before. 

They were almost halfway done when Owen needed to get a tool. He sprinted to the back room.

Ava cleaned up everything with the flick of her wrist. She smiled, satisfied. Her smile totally disappeared when she looked up and found Owen staring at her wide eyed.

Heart pounding and head throbbing, Ava searched hopelessly for words without avail. Owen stared at her expectantly, thirsty for answers.

“How did you do that?!” Owen exclaimed. “So you do have magical powers!!”

 Ava calmed herself with a long breath and replied, “Yes. It is only me, though. My parents don’t have powers.”

Owen stared at her as if he didn’t believe her. He looked kind of frightened with the whole situation. “So you’re the only one?”

Ava thought for a second. “That I am aware of, pretty much. But don’t worry. My powers can help you, not hurt you. And I will help you.”

At the hearing of her words, Owen’s tense ceased. He sighed and said, “Ok. I won’t tell anyone. But make sure you don’t let anyone else find out.”

“I won’t. I have kept this a secret all my life. I’ll be fine.”

“Do our parents know about your powers?”

Ava seemed a little taken aback. “Of course! There is nothing I wouldn’t tell them.”

Later that evening, Owen sat down on a wooden chair to join his new family’s dinner. His mouth watered looking down at the bowl of delicious dumpling soup. 

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I am hungry.” Dad said.

There was an aura of agreement throughout the room, and everyone dug in. When they were finished, Ava and Owen went upstairs to go to bed.

“Well,” Ava started, “ I liked this day, even if you found out about my powers.”

“Yeah,” Owen said, “ It would be cool to have powers.”

Awkward silence filled the room. Then suddenly Owen got up and started making an impersonation of Ava’s powers. “HYA!” He flicked his wrist. 

Ava smiled and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I say.”

Owen spent the next 3 minutes making impersonations. He flicked his wrist and smiled. It had been a fun day.

He laid in bed. “I wish I had that book!” Owen said in a British accent. He flicked his wrist. The book shot out of the bookcase and straight into his hands. Ava’s eyes widened. She thought maybe Owen had powers and was secretly hiding them from her...but Owen looked as confused and surprised as she did.