Chapter 18 Part 8: Ability Control

I woke to the dinner announcement, my stomach rumbling.

I’d skipped both breakfast and lunch.

I sat up, pushing the covers aside. My hair was a mess.

A warm hand rested on my chest. I rubbed my eyes and gently removed Shine’s hand.

It fell away, limp, clutching the blanket.

My mind felt foggy. I sat there, doing nothing, watching Shine sleep.

Her face was contorted, as if she were having a bad dream.

I reached out and touched her hand. It twitched and opened, grabbing my finger.

I looked at her, startled. She was still asleep.

“Shine?” No response.

I carefully disentangled my finger and got out of bed, smoothing down my wrinkled pajamas.

I went to the refrigerator. My mouth was dry. And sticky. I needed to wash my face.

I drank some cold water. My mind felt clearer. I went to the bathroom.

My reflection stared back. I tried out different expressions.

“This is weird.” I touched my cheek, a strange sense of disconnect washing over me.

This wasn’t how it felt before. The expressions that once felt awkward now came naturally.

The girl in the mirror smiled, a captivating smile, then turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face.

“Jeff?” Shine was awake when I came out of the bathroom.

“Did you sleep well?” I asked, the greeting coming automatically.

“Yes,” she replied, a happy smile on her face.

Her easy response felt… wrong. This wasn’t right.

“Is it dinnertime already?” Shine asked.

“Yes.” I nodded, wiping my face with the towel I’d brought from the bedroom, then tossing it over a nearby chair.

“Shine.”

“Yes?”

I knew this question sounded strange, but I had to ask. Something felt off.

“How long have we known each other?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” I searched my memories. Our first meeting. “A year, maybe?”

“No.” She shook her head, frowning.

“No?”

“No.”

I rubbed my forehead. A dull ache started to form. Not a year?

“Two years, then?”

“No.”

The headache intensified. I clutched my head and sat down.

“Then…?”

“Jeff.” Shine came over and placed her hand on my forehead.

It was warm and soothing. The headache disappeared.

“Let’s go eat.”

I nodded dumbly. She smiled brightly and offered her hand.

I followed her out of the room.

The headache was gone, but the unease remained.

How long had I known Shine? The question itself was strange.

We were family. We’d always been together.

But there was a significant age gap between us.

I frowned, lost in thought.

“Hmm…”

“Jeff?” I’d stopped walking. Shine looked at me, puzzled.

“Oh, sorry.” Seeing her face dispelled my doubts. I rubbed my forehead and hurried after her.

We ordered our usual meal, enlisted the help of a passing adult to carry our trays, and ate.

I rubbed my full stomach, thinking about the beer from last night.

The hangover had been brutal, but maybe a small amount would be okay.

“Shine, let’s go to the convenience store.”

“…Why?”

“I want to drink that thing again.”

“That…?” She didn’t seem to like the beer.

“Don’t you like beer, Shine?”

“No.”

“Then you don’t have to drink any. I’ll drink it myself.”

“No.” She shook her head firmly.

I was surprised. “Why…?”

“But Jeff, you get weird when you drink that.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

I tried to remember, but my memories were hazy. A blank spot.

All I could remember was making a mess with the snacks.

“I don’t like it when you drink that.”

She cupped my face in her hands, her small fingers digging into my cheeks. Our gazes locked. I gave in.

“Okay, I won’t drink it,” I said, nodding.

She smiled. We returned to our room empty-handed.

So much time. Too much time. I’d always been busy before.

I lay on the sofa, swinging my legs, the short limbs bumping against the cushions.

The door suddenly opened. Shine and I looked up. Only one person entered our room uninvited.

Bright pink hair. Amy, dressed in a tracksuit.

“I’m back!” She sounded tired. She entered the room and looked around, her smile faltering. Her gaze settled on us.

“Welcome back,” I said, sitting up. I’d missed her.

“Where’s Victor…?” Amy asked.

“Victor’s busy,” Shine answered. I hadn’t seen him since that day. Shine seemed to know something.

“That little…!” Amy looked angry. She walked into the room and sighed.

“Who did this?” She pointed at the mess on the floor. Crumbs everywhere. I looked away.

“And what is this?” Her voice rose. She held up an empty beer can. “Who drank this?”

“Jeff did.”

“Shine drank some too!” I added quickly.

Amy stared at us, dumbfounded. I slunk into a corner, hiding behind a large teddy bear.

“How did you even buy this?”

I didn’t answer. How had we bought it? I remembered the clerk refusing to sell it to us because we were too young.

I peeked out from behind the teddy bear, watching Amy. She looked from me to Shine, then sighed.

“Was everything okay?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

“This is for grown-ups,” she said, picking up a large trash bag and starting to clean up the mess.

Why was she lecturing me? I was a grown-up. I looked down at my small hands.

“Jeff promised not to drink it anymore,” Shine said, standing beside me.

The buzzing in my head intensified. I nodded dumbly. She was right. I wouldn’t drink beer anymore.

“Did you two eat?” Amy asked.

The question broke through the fog.

“Yes.”

I cautiously emerged from behind the teddy bear.

Amy didn’t mention the beer again. She seemed to have forgotten about it. New thoughts appeared in my mind: Beer.

Bad. Don’t drink. Headache. I hated headaches.

“I need to talk to Victor,” Amy said, leaving the room after she finished cleaning.

It was quiet without her.

“Shine.”

“Yes?”

“I think something’s wrong with me,” I mumbled, touching my cheeks. They felt soft and squishy. Definitely wrong.

“What’s wrong?”

I didn’t know. I just felt… different.

“It’s the beer,” she said.

“Really?”

“Yes.” That settled it. It was the beer. Shine said so.

We sat there, waiting for Amy. She returned much later, looking furious.

“Amy?”

“I’m so sorry, girls. I shouldn’t have trusted that jerk.” She meant Victor, presumably.

“Why?”

“I asked Victor to look after you while I was gone.” She stroked our heads. “And that idiot completely forgot about you!”

It hadn’t bothered us. And the mess had been my fault.

“Victor said he was busy,” I said.

“Yes. Too busy sleeping, apparently.” Amy’s opinion of Victor had clearly plummeted.

She sighed and placed a file on the table. “Shine hasn’t been tested yet, has she?”

Shine stood up and looked at Amy.

Chizz. Crackle. The buzzing grew louder, my vision turning white.

When the buzzing stopped, I rubbed my eyes and looked around. “Shine?”

She sat beside Amy, filling out the file.

“You’ve both been tested?” Amy asked, looking at the file.

I felt a strange sense of disorientation. I nodded.

“We’ll start your training tomorrow.”