Abilities

All it took was one story for Michael to abandon all faith in having a relationship with his real father, William. It took one story about two brothers fighting because they are a representation of an Eclipse. Michael knew that William was crazy. He didn’t need another meeting. Their relationship never got a chance to grow. William believed in things that weren’t physically possible, things that had only been imagined in movies or stories. Michael turned away from his father and never wanted to look back. Little did he know the crazy father he thought he had, had seen things that could only happen in movies or stories.

February started normally with a heavy snowfall. After two much needed snow days and a nice morning of sleeping in—thanks to a two-hour opening delay—the week started on Wednesday and Michael was back at school.

Mr. Kruger and Michael had been getting along greatly. Kruger meant business inside the classroom, but in between periods, or lunch, he was a genuine guy. He gave Michael advice on good teaching techniques, ways to handle disruptive kids, and why it’s important to leave work at work.

Brittany was surviving her class as well. Her teacher, however, wasn’t as supportive as Mr. Kruger. Mrs. Ogleby was creeping up into her sixties and was grouchier than ever. Brittany wasn’t getting as many opportunities as Michael to take control of the class. For some reason Kruger had faith in Michael’s skills without ever testing them. He never had a doubt in his student, while it seemed Brittany never had a chance.

Brittany needed to be in early that morning to grade some papers for Mrs. Ogleby. Michael had no other way to school except to be driven by his girlfriend so he forced himself to get up earlier than usual and go into school with her. They sat in the teacher’s lounge and while Brittany marked away on the tests, Michael drank coffee and watched the TV monitor in the corner of the room. The only other staff member in the lounge was the gym teacher who apparently had been having trouble with his wife and was staying at the school. That was just a rumor though, they thought.

“All of these kids are doing great on their tests,” blurted Brittany in frustration.

“And that makes you angry why?”

“If they are all getting As and Bs, why won’t she let me do something? I think I need to learn more than passing out and collecting papers.”

“Give it a couple weeks. Most teachers don’t let their student teachers have complete control of the class till the second or third month.”

“Except wonderful Mr. Kruger,” she said with jealousy.

“Look, babe,” Michael started to say. He looked away from the TV and leaned in to Brittany and continued, “some teachers aren’t going to be the most pleasant people in the world, especially a math teacher,” he smiled at her. “They’ve been doing this for so many years that it’s probably hard to give up control to someone our age. In time, though, you’ll have your own class, your own students, and one day your own student teacher and you’ll let her do nothing.”

“I want that now,” the baby inside of her was calling out.

Michael laughed with her, but his laughter cut off quick, “Do you think I can borrow the car for lunch? I think I’m going to surprise my parents and take them out.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. How are they doing watching you go through all this?”

“I’m not sure. You can tell mom feels terrible. She’s trying to baby me and talk in a high-pitched voice all the time. Dad’s dad.”

“If there’s anything I can do let me know, ok?”

“Yeah, of course. I’d ask you to come but I think an hour of just the three of us will be good for them.”

“I understand. You don’t love me,” she teased.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. He kept his lips pressed against her face for a long-drawn-out kiss. Pushing into her face as much, but gently and playfully, as he could. She laughed until her eyes glanced to the door of the lounge.

Mr. Kruger looked through the door window. His head jerked back and forth like the worst spy of all time. Brittany tapped Michael secretively. Michael looked up, but Kruger ducked out of the doorframe. Michael’s eyebrows tightened. Brittany and he exchanged looks. Kruger’s strange personality was playing mysteries on people, once again living up to his reputation.

Michael hopped out of his seat and left the lounge. He entered the hallway and as he did, Kruger was taking hard steps in the other direction.

“Mr. Kruger?” yelled Michael.

Kruger did his best to turn around with a look of amazement on his face. His mouth opened wide and with that position he tried to smile, but it just looked like he was about to jam an entire watermelon into his mouth. He took a couple steps back towards Michael and waved. If there had been a white restraint jacket on him, his actions would make sense. He was twitchy and awkward.

“Oh, Michael,” his voice was staggered. “I didn’t know if you were in there not.”

“Really? I looked right at you.”

“Did you? Sorry about that. I saw Brittany in there and didn’t want to interrupt her grading.”

Michael looked back at the lounge. His eyes scrunched up and his lips protruded out. His thinking made his face resemble a duck.

“I didn’t know you knew Brittany. I never had the chance to introduce you,” Michael thought back over his time in the school.

“Well, I’m always interested when young kids come in to do their student teaching. I like to try to get to know them all so that I can pass along any knowledge I have. I know they aren’t my student teachers, but we’re all on the same team.”

“Did you give her any wisdom you haven’t given me?” asked Michael jokingly.

“Oh, no. I think the only time I talked to her was to welcome her to the building.”

Michael nodded. Kruger was sweating a lot, even for him. Beads of sweat dripped down his head and behind the lenses of his glasses.

“Is there something I could do for you, Mr. Kruger?” asked Michael

“Oh, what? No, not at all. I’m just going to start preparing today’s test. I’ll see you at 7:45.”

Kruger patted Michael on the shoulder. Michael looked at him blankly. The strange man didn’t wait for a moment; he was already taking off down the hall. Michael couldn’t take his eyes off of him. In the month he had been at the school, Kruger seemed so normal. Sure, he was a bit odd, and not exactly a people person, but he never seemed to be this rushed or thrown by anything. Kruger turned back to Michael and shot him a look just as he was turning the corner. It wasn’t a look like he just wanted to see his protégé one more time or that he wanted to see who was in the hallway, it was as if Kruger looked back to make sure no one was following him. Michael decided that Kruger was nervous about something, very nervous.

Michael found his way back to Brittany and sat in the chair next to her. She was still grading the papers. The pile next to her was filled with perfect paper after perfect paper. The paper she was setting on top of the pile was the only one with mistakes and there were only three red marks.

Michael sat in the chair backwards, rested his elbows and forearms on the back of the chair and leaned forward onto the table. The gym teacher had quietly left the two of them alone. The only noise was the writing of Brittany’s pen and the rumble from ‘People’s Court’ on the TV.

“You ok?” asked Brittany after she saw what looked like Michael figuring out the hardest math problem of all time.

“Mr. Kruger was acting weird.”

“So, what’s wrong?” she laughed at her own joke, but Michael didn’t. He didn’t show any emotion. “Seriously, it’s Kruger. He’s weird, isn't he?”

“Yea," Michael answered his girlfriend. "But this wasn’t weird. It was like panic.”

“Maybe he was late for something, I don’t know. He’s just weird.”

“He said he needed to get today’s test ready.”

“Ok, he was probably running late.”

“Kruger’s English class doesn’t have any test today. The kids have nothing due today.”

“I don’t know, Michael.”

Brittany thought nothing of it because she didn’t know the man, and she only knew he was weird based on what other teachers have said about him, what Michael had said about him, and what she overheard in the hallways from the kids. She graded the papers and was working harder because she only had a couple left. Michael sat in the chair bobbing his head up and down. His chin knocked on the back of his hand and then he lifted it up only to do it again.

“When did you guys meet?”

“Who?”

“You and Mr. Kruger. He said he talked to you for a bit.”

“Umm…no. Actually, I’ve never met him. I just call him weird because of the things you say, and he just seems strange.”

Michael stared at his girlfriend. His tongue tapped each one of his teeth like he was counting them, but he was only thinking. Maybe Mr. Kruger was just being his usual weird self and Michael never noticed how weird he truly was.

CHAPTER 32

The bell rang to dismiss all the kids from class and begin their half hour lunch break. Michael was somewhat excited to spend an afternoon with his parents. A couple years ago a lunch with his parents would have been more of a chore than a pleasure, but he was at an age now where he enjoyed their company. That’s because they now treat him like an adult and not a kid.

Mr. Kruger had calmed down a ton since their run in earlier that morning. During the first half hour of class, though, he kept his distance from Michael, which was hard to do considering they were together inside a small Middle School classroom. Kruger, who usually lectured from the front of the class so he had easy access to the drawing board, spent most of his time talking on the side of the room. The side that was furthest from Michael.

Once Michael got the keys from Brittany, he darted out of the building and headed to his mom’s office. That left Brittany to sit with a couple of the younger teachers and her new friend Gi.

For some reason she wasn’t deeply interested in the conversation. Whether she was tired, too into her food, or just ready for the weekend she ignored the women at her table and concentrated on people watching.

A couple of the self-proclaimed cooler kids cut their way to the front of the lunch line. Some kids raced through their food like Kobayashi in a hot dog eating competition. The most popular activity during lunch was foursquare. Kids would set up a couple of games outside the lunchroom doors and play until the bell summoned them to their next class, but since it was cold with snow on the ground, snowball fighting was a better way to kill fifteen minutes.

Ten minutes into the period, Mr. Kruger came dashing into the cafeteria. Michael had mentioned that he was a nice guy, but he had a snarl on his face that would have made it impossible to approach him. He ignored every person that crossed his path, and made a beeline straight towards the line. Brittany watched him throw a bottle of water on his tray followed by purple grapes and a ham sandwich. Five or six people were in front of him buying their food, when his phone vibrated in his pants pocket. He pulled it out and held it to his ear.

The snarl on his face turned to panic. It was the same look he had this morning. He looked upset with whoever was on the other end and, by the way he bit his lip, he was fighting back any urge to say what was on him mind. He looked around the cafeteria to see if anyone was watching him. That’s when he saw Brittany. They connected eyes for a moment, but Brittany felt like an undercover cop whose cover was blown and looked away quickly. She felt like there was a rock in her throat that she couldn’t swallow. As the women at the table began laughing, she joined in having no idea what was funny, but maintaining her cover of eavesdropping.

By the time Brittany glanced back up at Mr. Kruger only his tray remained on the counter. Kruger was halfway out of the cafeteria walking just shy of a sprinters pace. He shot Brittany a look on his way out, but didn’t stop. All the while he had the phone pressed to his ear. He was nodding and agreeing to whatever was being said. The lunchroom was so loud with kids laughing, joking, playing games, and making fun of each other. Any chance that Brittany had of joining in on the conversation going on at her table was lost. Suddenly, a feeling in the pit of her stomach overtook her.

After excusing herself from the table, she quietly moved down the hallway. With everyone at lunch or in a classroom, the halls were quiet. It was worse than being in a library. It was like walking down the halls of a prison when everyone had gone to sleep. A white sign that said “English Department” in bold blue lettering hung in the hallway. She stopped underneath it. Debating with herself whether she wanted to continue doing what she was doing or go back to lunch and forget about any gut feeling she may have. The hallways were a ghost town, though, and her conscience was screaming at her to keep walking.

From outside the cracked door, she could hear Mr. Kruger mumbling to someone inside the classroom. His choice of words; “hmph” and “mm-hmm” were being muttered under his breath. Brittany couldn’t tell if he was agreeing or disagreeing with the person on the other side of the conversation. She slowly poked her head around the doorframe. Kruger was leaning on one of the student’s desks with his back to the door. The phone was hidden between his head and shoulders and he stood so still that from behind it looked like he was staring a hole into the white drawing board in front of him.

“Look, I don’t know what he knows. It’s not something I can just ask him. It’s not something you just bring up,” Kruger was speaking with much more confidence than he had been this morning. “No, he hasn’t mentioned anything to me. Well then you need to tell him to step on it. I can’t keep this up much longer.” Kruger turned his shoulder to the door, which caused Brittany to fearfully duck behind the doorframe, but he still had no idea she was there. He just needed to pace back and forth.

Brittany stuck her head out further to get a better angle on him, but she quickly realized she didn’t need to see him, she needed to hear him. She turned her back to the classroom slightly so that she was out of his line of sight but was able to pick up his every word.

“I will try my best to figure what’s going on, but you’ve got to send Talib back into play. I don’t know what either one of you is waiting for. Can we make that happen? Ok. Thank you, Paul.”

Kruger calmed down. At least from what Brittany could hear. He wasn’t yelling or aggravated anymore. It seemed like he and Paul were finally on the same page for the first time in the conversation. He quietly said goodbye and then he hung up the phone.

“Can I help you?” Kruger asked without ever looking towards Brittany.

Brittany waited for an answer but there was none. Her eyes popped open because she realized that he was addressing her. She took a breath big enough that she could swim underwater for the next five minutes. She forced herself to breathe normally which is easier said than done when one is nervous.

“Hi,” she said innocently as she entered Kruger’s classroom.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’m sorry, I was looking for Michael. I thought you two were in the middle of something and I didn’t want to interrupt. I’m really sorry.”

“No,” he said. Then after a long pause he continued, “As you can see Michael isn’t here at the moment.”

She nodded to him and smiled. He stared at her with stiff eyes. His face was still and held no emotion. It was as if he had more to say but held it back so that the silence would linger on. He was trying to get Brittany to crack. She could have left at that point but there was tension between them and it was keeping her in the room.

“How rude of me,” Mr. Kruger said as he approached Brittany with a friendly smile. He reached his hand out towards her, “I’m Mr. Kruger. Michael’s told me so much about you, Brittany. He’s been dying to introduce us.”

She smiled uncomfortably. His stories weren’t adding up and she was beginning to draw up scenarios as to why that was in her head. Their hands met. His touch was cold. His hand was firm and squeezed down tightly onto her hand. It wasn’t tight enough to make this scary or painful for her, but just tight enough that if she wanted to pull away from him, she probably wouldn’t have been able to.

“Yeah. He’s told me a lot about you,” she said through a warped smile.

“Has he?”

“He’s lucky to be learning from you,” Brittany said as he finally let go of her hand.

He had been smiling throughout the whole conversation and his face looked stuck that way. His eyes were still wide, his demeanor intense.

“Take care,” he cut off the conversation abruptly.

“Nice to meet you,” Brittany turned toward the door.

“Brittany,” he said stopping her just as she had one foot breaking the barrier of the hallway. After another seemingly long second, he continued, “It was nice to meet you as well.”

Brittany nodded. She had heard many things about Mr. Kruger, but this was the creepiest introduction she had ever had. She knew he was weird, but he had a way about him that wasn’t strange funny, it was uncomfortable. If that conversation had taken place anywhere else but school grounds, like behind a building in a dark alley in the middle of the night, she would probably have called the police.

She leaned on a hall locker and breathed short, quick puffs of air as if she just finished a quick round of cardio exercises. Much to her satisfaction, Michael was walking in her direction back to his classroom. She saw him and jumped away from the locker like it had thrown her off.

She threw herself into his arms. He didn’t ask any questions but clasped his hands behind her back and squeezed her tightly. Michael thought this would be a long embrace but she pulled herself away from him and stared straight into his eyes. It was a dead stare. The way a hypnotist would look at a person he is about to put to sleep.

“Are you ok?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Do you have any idea who Paul is?”

“Paul?”

“Yes, Paul. Do you know anyone by that name?” her hands remained tense on his arms.

“Umm…no. Why?” the tension in Michael’s body didn’t exist compared to his girlfriend’s.

“Mr. Kruger was on the phone with some guy named Paul and it sounded intense. Are you sure this guy is…” she struggled to find the words. She finally let go of his arm and pointed to her head, “sane?”

“Brittany, come on. He’s a great teacher. Just relax,” he pulled her in for another hug this time planting a kiss on the side of her head. Then he said in her ear, “I think Paul is on the school board.”

“Then what’s a ‘Talib?’”

“Some kind of fish?” he had no idea but his answer made Brittany laugh.

As they hugged, Mr. Kruger poked his head into the hallway and watched them.

CHAPTER 33

As the kids filed out of the building to catch the busses and parents’ rides home, Michael watched them gallop out of the classroom with excitement in their eyes. That final bell was like an adrenaline shot for the students. When they heard it, energy shot through their body.

“I’ll see ya tomorrow,” Mr. Kruger said as he squeezed by Michael and rushed himself down the hall.

“Ok, see ya,” Michael shouted back. There was something going on with Mr. Kruger. All day he had been acting strange from the early morning when he was spying on Michael in the teacher’s lounge to the awkward meeting with Brittany. Michael didn’t get into it too much. He mentioned to Mr. Kruger that Brittany said they met, but that was the end of the conversation. Maybe Mr. Kruger realized that his lies weren’t adding up.

Through the waves of animated teenagers Michael spotted Brittany walking in his direction. A couple of kids bumped into her without a single apology. They figured as long as they were off the clock and no longer students for the day, they could just be kids.

“Are you ready?” asked Brittany before she came in for a hug.

She looked exhausted. Her forehead was dry. The certain dry that only came after a sweat. He could tell by the hug that she had another rough day. She fell into his arms and put most of her weight on him. It pushed him up against the wall, but once he realized she was dead weight he put more muscle into it and held her up. He could feel her taking long breaths. Michael looked at her and even though she looked like she could sleep all weekend, he had never seen anyone look more beautiful than the way she looked after a long day of work.

“I’ve just got to run to the bathroom,” responded Michael.

She let go of the hug and gave the disappointed girlfriend look, “Can’t you go when we get there?”

Michael threw out his “my girlfriend is crazy” look, which worked, this time. She waved him through, which was her way of granting him permission.

“I’ll wait here,” she said. She watched him squirm down the hallway to the men’s room.

Michael popped into the restroom like he had been holding it after a six-hour car ride. He hurried to the urinal and did his business. All of his nerves and anxieties were gone. He could relax. He had spent the last hour in class tapping his heel on the ground, bobbing his knee up and down counting down the hours until the final bell rang.

He rushed over to the mirror because he didn’t want to make Brittany stand around in the hallway by herself. He stared at himself.

There were a thousand questions he had asked himself growing up. And he had answered many, but there was one question that would never be answered. Not when he was younger, not now. Maybe it would be answered in the last couple moments of his life, but maybe not. He asked himself every day, but lately it has been poking at him more and more. Meeting William made the voices asking the questions in his head louder. So loud that ignoring the question was getting harder by the day.

Who am I meant to be?

He stared into his own blue eyes seeing flashes of his life that led him to this point. His hands were rinsing under the warm water. Quicker and quicker the flashes began to jump out at him. He was in a trance. A power outage, a gunshot, or a dinosaur walking into the bathroom couldn’t pull him out of it.

As the water poured over his hands, his fingertips began to spark. It was like two rocks slamming together. An occasional drop of water on his hands created a flicker of electricity but he didn’t notice it because he couldn’t take his eyes away from the mirror. Michael turned off the faucet and cupped his face with his wet hands.

He made sure to get all of his face wet. He felt like he had just woken up, or that he blacked out. He didn’t know how long he had stood looking in the mirror. For what he thought was a moment, felt much longer. He pushed his hair back and leaned on the sink. He felt strange like some hidden force inside the bathroom was keeping him from leaving. He couldn’t pry himself away from the mirror but then he thought of Brittany, his beautiful girlfriend…who was standing in the hallway. He shook off his damp face.

The hand dryer was automatic. It was one of those Xlerators. They were powerful. There were no paper towels because the school was in a “go green” phase. Michael was going to have to stick his face under there, or just walk out with a damp face. He chose the latter. The Xlerator generated heat quickly. He had to lower his hands from the contraption because they were getting too hot, but they were still wet so he would put them closer for a couple seconds before he lowered them back down.

After a moment, it wasn’t only his hands that felt hot. It was his arms. His neck. It felt like a strand of boiling hot water flowing through his veins. It wasn’t a strong enough fire to make him scream or fall, but his teeth pressed together tightly and face scrunched up. The warm sensation was leaving his neck. It was lowering down his body like bath water draining out of the tub.

His fingers were flexing tightly as this sensation began to leave his body. His biceps were cooling off. It passed his elbows and moved below his forearms. His body was becoming normal temperature again, which now felt more cold than warm. It was the feeling of jumping into a pool after spending ten minutes in a hot tub. As it reached his hands it didn’t slowly drift out of his hands. It shot out. It shot out electricity.

BAM!

Something shot out of his hands and across the room. It went off like a gunshot. A single bullet. It wasn’t like a bolt of lightning. It was one gold ball of it. It flew out of his hands and crashed into the mirror above the sink. Michael couldn’t move. His mouth dropped. His eyes wide.

As the Xlerator stopped blowing it became silent in the bathroom until the broken pieces of glass crashed to the floor. Small pieces stuck to the wall like they were hanging for one last glimpse of life, but they too fell to the ground. Shattered, shooting small pebbles of mirror bouncing across the tile floor.

Michael took a couple steps forward, but he walked like the floor was wet cement, or quick sand. He bent over to pick up the glass. He didn’t know if this had really happened or if it was an all too real dream like when he saw the picture that Jamie drew. He figured if he could touch it, then it was most likely real.

“Ouch,” Michael’s hand jerked back. Blood dripped from his finger, a small spot of it on the glass. He put his finger in his mouth. Sucking at his own wound that was proving he was awake. This was real. While bent over he looked under the stalls. There was no one in the room with him. No one will ever know what happened. He looked at the glass that was now completely smashed. There were a couple large chunks that resembled a mirror but most of it was dust. Small particles of a former mirror.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly raising his head to the mirror above the second sink. He looked at himself in disbelief. His temperature was back to normal and his hands felt fine. They weren’t cold or hot. They weren’t sore from having electricity fly out of the palms of his hands.

He brought his hands up in front of his face. There was nothing different about them. No trace of anything that had just happened. Except for the blood that dripped from his index finger, but that was from the mirror. Not the…accident.

He placed his finger in his mouth and sucked the blood. The cut was deep. One that could probably get stitches if he went to the hospital but it would be a difficult story to explain. He took his finger out of his mouth to see just how deep the cut was, but it was gone. He put his finger in his other hand and rubbed it with his thumb like he was going to brush away his skin and find the cut underneath but it wasn’t there. There was no cut, no gash, and once he sucked it all away there was no blood.

Now he really felt like he was losing his mind. He shook his hands like they were wet and left the bathroom. Although the door slowly closes due to its own weight, Michael held until it came to a complete rest. It was like he didn’t want the door to slam shut because that would draw attention even though he knew those doors don’t slam. It would have closed quieter by itself than when he closed it.

Once he was out, the bathroom was quiet. It was empty and lifeless. The feeling that it hadn’t been used in years. But the door pushed back open. Not fully. Enough for a man to peak his head in. His shoes were casual brown shoes. Shoes that are worn with nice clothes, but are also designed to be comfortable because whoever wears them has a job with a lot of walking.

Mr. Kruger looked at the glass that covered the bathroom floor. He checked the walls and the ceiling. Not expecting anything to be up there, but just doing his job as a supervisor. He smiled at the glass and started whistling an ominous tune as he let the door close behind him.

CHAPTER 34

Earlier in the week Michael made plans with J.R. They were going to meet for lunch at Wings, Wings, Wings, toss back thirty wings a piece, have a couple beers, and talk more about J.R.’s decision to enlist in the Army, however plans quickly changed. Michael invited Brittany because he didn’t know how many more opportunities, she would have to hang out with J.R. before he left. Shortly after that, Brittany asked Gi to come along and the two guys chowing down wings at one of their favorite lunch spots turned into an awkward, sort of, double date.

Throughout the drive, Brittany and Gi talked each other’s ears off while Michael sat in the passenger seat staring out the window in a daze. It was amazing in itself that Brittany had never been in a car accident before. She was so invested in her conversation that her eyes never rested for a moment. They would bounce from the road, to Gi, to the mirror, to Gi, and back to the road.

Before they even got in the car, Michael offered to drive because concentrating on the road would take his mind off of what happened in the school bathroom. After a second thought, Michael knew it was best he didn’t drive. He felt so out of touch with reality at that moment he was afraid that if he were driving, the car would suddenly be falling off a cliff and then he’d panic and start turning the wheel drastically and once he blinked, he’d be stopped at a stop sign. Something like that. Some sort of mind game like the ones he’d been playing on himself in the recent months.

He didn’t tell Brittany about what happened to him in the bathroom. The last time he told her a personal secret, it concerned a realistic dream about the end of the world. Then he mentioned that a teenage girl drew a picture of his dream, which lasted only for a couple minutes because it then transformed into a picture of her dog. Those two things were enough for him to question his own state of mind, but if he told anyone that he could shoot electricity out of his hands, he’d be locked up by the time night came.

I shot electricity out of my hands. He thought to himself. How could she not think he was crazy? How would anybody not think he was crazy? His teaching career would end rather quickly unless he taught an arts and crafts class in the mental institute. His relationship would end. There would be no way in hell that a girl as beautiful and smart as Brittany would be seen dating a lunatic. So, he asked her to turn the music up and looked out the window nodding his head to the music, needing to move something to keep his composure. The second he started sitting still he was going to scream.

When the three of them showed up at the restaurant, J.R. was already standing in the waiting area. He wasn’t a member of the U.S. Army yet. He wasn’t close to being one. He read through the website and requested the necessary information to see which area of the Army would be the best fit for him. After that, he filled out a form online that would check his information to make sure he met all requirements to join. They would check his age, citizenship, education, aptitude, physical fitness, and moral character to name a few.

Next came a big part; the ASVAB test. The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Batter is the most widely used aptitude test in the world. It measures strengths and weakness and measures a potential for future success. It provides all kinds of information whether someone is going into college or a military career. The Army is J.R.’s first real chance at making something out of himself and in order to make that dream come true he needed to score a thirty-one on the test.

He already had the posture of someone that was in the military, and this was a guy that slouched as often as he could. He approached Michael and the girls even though it was backtracking towards the exit of the restaurant. His first move was towards Gi. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek followed by giving her a look of respect. It wasn’t a routine move by Jeremy. It was charming. He hugged Brittany and finally hugged his best friend.

“How’s the new you going?” asked Michael.

“I feel like it’s not a bad fit,” it was refreshing for Michael to see that J.R. still talked the same way. He held out his hand and looked to the girls, “Ladies first.”

They ordered food shortly after sitting down. Michael was happy with the way that his friend was turning out. Not that he was a bad kid by any means. His only problem was that he was ok with being another average Joe and Michael knew he could do better. For the first twenty-three years of his life he, it was fine for him to go through each day without a plan, but that changed now. He was planning to do at least two years in the army. He could go to a college after that with most of it being paid for. It was nice to see him with a plan.

During lunch they talked about typical things friends their age talked about. The girls went over their celebrity gossip and fashion trends, and the guys discussed sports, while each one of them threw in their two cents about upcoming television premieres. The only thing that was added was conversation about the military, but nothing was different. It was the same friendship it had been for years.

Well, that’s not entirely true. The highlight of the meal was when Jeremy turned to Gi and asked her out like a gentleman. He said that he didn’t know where or when he would get a free moment but that he would like to take her out to a movie and dinner. Again, this was a strange, charming moment for him, but Michael welcomed this change in his behavior.

Afterwards, the four friends huddled outside of the restaurant. They started the small talk that ends double dates. Gi and Brittany were dragging out the conversations. Michael and J.R. were itching to get on with their lives even though they would probably only see each other another time or two before he left for the next two years.

“Can I talk to you, brother?” J.R. asked. He pulled Michael aside and they walked down the sidewalk. “You feeling ok?”

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t seen you much lately, but I can tell when your mind is thrown out of whack. I’m surprised Brittany isn’t bombarding you with questions.”

Michael looked back at his girlfriend and laughed, “She’s asked a couple.”

“Well, what’s going on with you? Everything ok since…ya know?” J.R. put his hands to his face and flicked his fingers by his eyes like his hands were a detonating bomb, “That whole eye thing.”

Michael nodded his head side to side. He had no idea how to answer that question. He felt the same way about telling Jeremy that he did about telling Brittany. He couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t tell anyone about what was going on.

“I don’t know. Physically I feel fine. My eyes are fine, but I feel anxious,” his mouth moved but nothing else came out. Of all the words in the English dictionary, Michael couldn’t find the right ones. “I feel real anxious like I need to get into my car— “

“You don’t have a car,” Jeremy interrupted with a hint of sarcasm to calm Michael’s nerves.

Without a beat in between, Michael continued, “like I need to get into Brittany’s car and drive away. Leave everything behind for a couple days.”

“Why don’t you?”

“I’ve got too much going on at school right now. Plus, I couldn’t do that to Brittany. She already thinks I’m spiraling out of control. It would freak her out.”

“Maybe because you’re keeping her in the dark. She probably just wants to know what’s going on with you.”

“Yeah,” Michael looked at Brittany again. This time she looked back and smiled at him. It broke his heart. He wasn’t disrespecting her. He wasn’t being unfaithful, but keeping everything from her was still wrong. All she ever wanted was for them to be honest with each other and they always had been up until that point. As much as he wanted to confide in her, there was no way he was going to be able to. Not yet at least.

“Ok, look. You know that I wouldn’t ask unless I felt like it was very important for me to know. So here goes. Are you or are you not turning into a werewolf?” J.R. asked. They both had a way of keeping a straight face while having ridiculous conversations with each other.

“No.”

“Vampire? Be honest with me, Michael. I need to know. Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

“Honestly…” Michael inhaled taking in the mixture of cool, clean air and the delicious smell coming from the restaurant. “I feel more like Harry Potter.”

J.R. finally let out a laugh and patted his friend firmly on the shoulder. He put his hands in his coat pockets, “Just don’t beat yourself up, alright? This could be anything. I mean people get crazy adrenaline rushes all the time in chaotic moments. Maybe that’s all this eye thing was. Crazier stuff has happened, right?”

“Maybe,” Michael said. The two of them turned back to the girls who were standing at the end of the sidewalk still talking up a storm. They laughed and talked louder than they needed to be doing. If Michael and J.R. got into his car and drove away, the girls would never notice they were ever there.

“Look, I know things have been weird,” J.R. started as they walked back toward the girls. “The dreams, your eyes. I know your dad finally showing up spooked you a little bit. All I’m saying is that if you ever need anything, I’ll drop everything. I’ll be there.”

“What? You’re responsible now, too?” Michael joked.

“Like I said, it’s a nice fit.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that. I think I’ll be fine. I just…there’s something I’ve got to do, first.”

“Find Bella?” teased J.R. He tilted his head to the side like he knew that he was making one too many Twilight jokes at the wrong moment.

“I think that if I want to get some answers about what’s going on, I have to try and find William Wehde.”

“You sure you want to do that? Last time didn’t have that Hallmark type ending. You might want to think about that. Maybe go another way.”

"I don’t think there is one.”