And what did superheroes do when they flew? They stuck an arm out—so that’s what I did. Except, because this was a new power, I wasn’t sure if I was meant to kick my legs to go faster or how to change direction, so I decided to test it by doing what I did when I was swimming.
“Please tell me you’re recording this,” I heard Ellis snicker.
“Yup!”
“I’ve got it, too.”
“Like I wouldn’t.”
It was a relief to know I’d have proof of my superpowers when I told everyone about them.
And then my magic ran out because I was lowering myself down onto my bed. I guess it was a good place for it to happen.
Big hands rolled me onto my side, and then something soft was pressed carefully against my spine. “Thanks, man. You good to let everyone out?”
“Yeah… Uh, Garrett, are you seriously piling pillows and cushions around her like a baby?”
There was silence as more things were moved behind me, and then my heavy flying arm was lifted and put on something. I wanted to say thank you, but my trip had exhausted me.
“I don’t want her to roll off the bed and hurt her back more or her other arm. It worked last night, but I also had to swaddle her with a sheet and tie it to the bedpost.”
“You swaddled her?”
“It was the only way. She was like a fucking hurricane, thrashing everywhere, and I didn’t want her to hurt her back. I’ll teach you before the twins arrive, it’s pretty easy.”
“What’s stopping her from rolling forward?”
“Me.”
Whatever else the voices in my head had to say was lost on me, though, because I fell asleep mid-plan for future flying adventures.
Movement woke me up. For some reason, I was shifting across the mattress toward the other side of the bed.
“Sorry, pretty girl. If I lie on my bad shoulder, it hurts like a bitch, so we’re swapping sides so I can keep an eye on you.”
I would’ve asked who was there and thank him for calling me pretty, but I was focused on something beside me. It looked like a glass jellyfish covered by a dome, and every time I blinked, a flash of light would appear in a different tentacle.
Blink—light flash.
Blink again—light flash.
It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.
I was communicating with jellyfish like I was their queen.
Coolest shit ever.
Chapter Five
Garrett
It’d been five days since the accident, and I’d been on desk duty since while my shoulder healed. I was bored out of my tiny little brain.
Homelife was now a new adventure that I enjoyed a helluva lot, though, with Zuri and me swapping nights between my house and hers and just getting to spend time with her relaxing.
Every time she winced or groaned in pain, I felt guilt of unimaginable levels even though she told me to “cut that shit out” and that accidents happened.
The morning after we’d unpacked her, she’d woken up and immediately started talking about a dream she’d had about how she could talk to jellyfish now and how it was like in the movie Abyss. When I’d picked up the glass jellyfish I’d had made for her, which had lights that pulsed in each tentacle randomly, she’d thought it was awesome and made more sense than some sort of Close Encounter type thing with them.
Then she’d taken it out of the display box, turned it upside down, and spent a good twenty minutes trying to find its butt holes.
She’d also put the hoop with the jellyfish charm in her ear, and so far, it hadn’t got caught on anything. I didn’t understand that, but she seemed relieved about it, so that was good.
They were supposed to be kind of meaningful joke-type presents, but the way she stared at both of them made me feel like I’d hit the nail on the head big time.
I’d developed some new skills over the last five days, too. I could now wash a woman’s hair over the side of a bath, spray shit in it that stopped it from getting knots, brush it without making her scream, and put it in a ponytail.
See, Zuri couldn’t use her left hand to do anything, so she swore a lot instead of asking for help. That’s how the brushing and ponytail things had been added to me washing her hair.
Last night, I’d come home early just in time to hear her yelling from the bathroom. I’d panicked, thinking she’d fallen or something, but when I’d gotten to the door, I discovered that the reason for it was because she had to wipe herself with the wrong hand. When she’d opened the door and seen me leaning against the wall waiting for her, she’d turned bright red and threatened me with pain if I ever told anyone.
I hadn’t… yet. I’d made sure she knew I wasn’t helping her with that issue, though.