My silence is my super power

I walk down the hallways of my school with my head hung low, hugging my books like I always do. But yet, I could tell that today was different, I could just feel it in my bones. To be honest, it was starting to put me on edge. 

But then my best friend Ryan ran up to me and started talking and suddenly, it all made sense. 

“Are you excited for tomorrow? I know I am. If I got a super power, I would want the ability to control people’s minds. I think that would be so cool. What about you? What do you think?” He asked me. 

I had to stop and look at him for a while to remember what he was talking about and even then I was not one hundred percent sure what he meant. 

“Super power? Is that what you are calling it?” 

After I said that, he just looked at me in a state of shock. I had never said anything like that to him before. But then again, nobody really knows what they are in for when they are chosen until it is too late to do anything about it. 

“Well yea, that is what the school is calling it” Ryan said, looking from me to the hallway in front of him. 

Ryan and I lapsed into a silence walking down towards the parking lot. We decided to eat lunch before going to the assembly scheduled later today. So, we hopped into my car and drove to McDonald's. It was a ways away from the hamburgers made up for that. 

15 minutes later, we are heading back to the school with our lunch and I get a call from my Mother. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and threw it at Ryan. He didn’t say anything but I knew I confused the heck out of him. 

“Hello?” he asked.

“Who are you, you're not my daughter?” 

“I’m Ryan, Ana is driving but I have it on speaker” 

Hearing the name Ana gave me a weird feeling in my stomach but I shrugged it off. I don’t intend to get used to that name ever. But it still sends a shiver down my spine. 

“You guys are missing the Picking Assembly. They called your name Ana” She said in a distressed tone. 

When I heard that, I stopped the car. I didn’t care where I was or what Ryan was thinking at that point. I grabbed the phone and chucked it out the window, ignoring Ryan’s protests. I then did a u-turn and started heading towards the storage locker. 

“What are you doing Ana? What’s going on?” 

“Ana, stop the car” 

“Ana, I am going to call the police” Ryan cried, grabbing his phone. 

I looked at him, grabbed his phone and threw it out the window as well. I didn’t want anybody tracking our location. 

“Look, I will explain things in a minute okay? Just let me get a few things?” 

“I thought you were excited for this” 

“JUST WAIT” I cried as I parked and got out of the car. 

I got out of the car and began walking to the storage building when I heard a slam behind me. I turn around and see Ryan running towards me. I rolled my eyes and continued walking towards the storage locker.

“What's going on Ana?” Ryan asked from behind me. 

I just ignored him and punched in the code to open the gate. Once the gate opened, we were standing beside each other and speed walking to my storage looker. 

When we got there, I pulled the key from my keychain and unlocked it. 

“I’m from the future. I knew I was going to be picked at the picking assembly. The government is using the people from the picking to fight their wars. I am going to stop that” I stated as I started to pack the things I had hastily put in before. 

“Don’t just stand there! Help me” I commanded. 

“Oh, okay” He whispered. 

So together, we started to gather stuff from the floor and put it into this red and black duffel bag. I grabbed the duffel bag and handed him the water and together we ran back to the car. 

“Okay, we don’t have much time. There is a group of people meeting us at the forest on Cotton lane. We have to get there before noon or...some bad stuff is gonna happen” I said as I was speeding down the street. 

“Cotton Lane, past the sign and 5 miles in the woods to answer your question” I said, as I made a sharp turn. 

He just looked at me with this crazed look on his face. 

“Look, we don’t have time to chat about all of this. Either you are in or you are out” I said to him, my eyes never leaving the road. 

Ryan didn’t have time to speak before we pulled up to the forest on Cotton Lane. Getting out, I saw that nobody was there but soon that would change. I ran to the back, slung the duffel bag over my shoulder and grabbed the water. 

“If you are not in then stay in the car and drive back home but if you are in then you have to go NOW. We don’t have time for you to process your shock. You have” I looked down at my watch which was counting down the time, “10 more seconds Ryan” 

We stood there, him with his mouth open and me with my hands full with water for the others. Honestly, I had expected this for the whole 10 months I had gone back in time but I still wanted him to have a choice. But one question always persisted in my mind: what if he didn’t want to help us? A whole lot could happen if he decided to stay and it wouldn’t help me. 

I started walking down the path to the forest when I heard that car door slam shut and I felt my heart flutter. He had decided to help me. I turned back to look at him with a smile on my face and when he caught up to me, we walked together to the NO TRESPASSING sign. 

“You came,” I said with a small smile.

“You have to explain everything to me now” 

“Is that the only reason why you came? So you could get an explanation?” 

“No- well, yes but” He cut himself off, unsure what to say. 

I just rolled my eyes and ignored the irritation I felt in the pit of my stomach. 

“At first, I was excited to be picked. I was one of the youngest and I thought it was an honor. But then I found out the real reason why they were doing the Picking. They wanted other people to fight their own wars for them. So me and three other people escaped and set up a meeting place so we could avoid the Government. I told them that you might be coming and they were hesitant to accept you but you are welcome” I finished. 

For a very long time, he didn’t say anything and just looked at the floor, choosing not to respond. We walked in an extremely awkward silence for what felt like a very long time until we met two people. Skylar and Lukas were there first but Plea was nowhere to be seen. 

“Okay Ryan, this is Skylar and Lukas. There is one more, Plea but he isn’t here yet” I said pointing them out. 

“Ana, Plea was caught trying to” his eyes wandered to Ryan, who was staring at him with wide eyes filled with terror, “ya know. I’m pretty sure he ratted us out and we need to go NOW if this is going to work” Lukas said. 

He grabbed the water from me and started to fill his red backpack with it. He did it in a hurry, trying to be as fast as he could. I looked from him to Ryan and then to Skylar. She was keeping guard, making sure that nobody official would get us. When he was done, he stood back up and whistled to Skylar. 

We came together in a circle but Ryan just stood there, frozen to the spot. 

“Come on Ryan, we don’t have much time,” I said to him. 

He just looked at me and then looked behind him, trying to decide something. 

“Ryan, you said you were with us. Is that still true?” I yelled at him, trying to get through to him. 

He just shook his head and took many steps back before running to the car in a full sprint. They just looked at me with surprise, we were sure he would stay. 

“We have to do this now Analise. We don’t have much time before he heads back to the car if he is running” Skylar reminded me. 

I nodded to her, I completed the circle and clasped their hands in mine. I focused all my energy on our destination. The year 1930. Soon, I felt my body start to vibrate and I felt the wind pick up around us. My heart started to speed up and then would slow down after 10 seconds and my hands were burning almost as well as my skin. 

But it was over as soon as it started. We stayed like that for a while though, scared to open our eyes. I knew the one question they were asking themselves. Did it really work? But the second I opened my eyes, I knew my answer. Yes, it had worked. We were in the year 1930. They only looked up when they felt me pull away from them. 

“Hey, stay still, I want water” I said, as I pulled Lukas back and grabbed a water bottle. 

“It’s a good thing they're still intact” Lukas mumbled under his breath. 

“Hey, I only did that once” 

“Once is enough for me” 

Skylar just gave us a look but she soon broke and smiled at us, laughing a little under her breath. 

“Hey, I never asked, why the year 1930?” Lukas asked, breaking the moment. 

“It was 10 years before the government started The Picking,” Skylar answered. 

A branch broke behind us and my heart dropped to my stomach. We whipped around to see a small boy with firewood in his hands. He had heard everything Skylar said. 

“What’s The Picking” the boy asked. 

I rolled my eyes and looked at Skylar who hadn't turned away from the little boy. I think what irritated me more was Lukas laughing to himself in front of me. We just couldn’t catch a break could we? 

THE END.