October 1991

  Lunch time arrives, Chris and Paul hurry themselves to their lockers for their lunches then head to the lunchroom. Not only was he starving, he wanted to know what Paul and Ivy wanted to talk to them about. Something about a stalker or something, from what Paul mentioned earlier. Though he sounded like he was joking about it.

  They walk into the lunch room and head to their usual table. Ivy and the Prowman’s were already there.

  “Hey, took you long enough.” Ivy jokes.

  “Shut up, your css is right next door to the lunchroom.” Paul tells her, shoving her shoulder a bit.

  “Anyone see ol’ Rex tely?” Jerry asks with a snicker.

  “Maybe he’s talking to himself in a padded room somewhere.” Paul responds.

  Everyone ughs. “Come on, he can’t be that bad.” Chris says. Could he? Shit!

  Psst.

  Chris hears Elle, he looks and she moves her eyes down to her hand. He follows her eyes, she had her right index finger extended toward him. She had mentioned about testing with their power fring abilities yesterday, about how to keep testing them while in public. Chris mirrors her hand with his left, lightly touching hers. Their powers ever so lightly fre. Of course the others notice.

  “What are you guys doing?” Jackson says breaking the brief moment.

  “None of your business.” Elle tells him.

  “Hey, I know” Jerry says snickering. “Wonder dork powers activate!”

  Chris and Elle look at each other. How dare he.

  “Form of…a dork!” Jerry busts up ughing. Then takes a drink of his milk.

  Jackson leans back with his sandwich in hand. Elle smirks at Chris and winks. She watches her point her fingers at Jerry’s milk and spsh it up into his face. Everyone ughs. Even some of the students at the next table turn to look and share in the ugh as Jerry sputters and wipes his face.

  “Sis, not in public.“ Jackson tells her, although he’s ughing as well.

  “What?” Elle shrugs. “Jerry’s just klutzy with his milk. I think he needs a sippy-cup.”

  Chris watches the siblings narrow their eyes at each other. Boring holes in each other. He just shakes his head still chuckling.

  “So who’s this ‘stalker’ I here you guys have?” Chris asks the twins.

  “I don’t know.” Ivy tells him after swallowing a bite of macaroni and cheese. “There’s been a bck car outside the house for the st couple days. And we got a couple calls asking if they had the Thomas’. Then they’d hang up. I answered once and they sounded seriously scary.”

  Paul chuckles. “Maybe it’s Rex calling, wanting revenge.”

  Ivy smacks him. “Shut up, you’re not allowed to call out of the coo-coo’s nest.”

  “Yeah, and Rex is surely too coo-coo to call out.” Jerry says.

  Chris was ughing with them but that same tinge of worry returns. What if someone did call them in, or find out about them. Maybe Rex babbled something that led the wrong kind of people to the Thomas’. And how long would it take before they found his house.

  Chris, Elle and Paul say goodbye to the rest and walk to gym.

  As they walk to their next css, Paul asks Chris and Elle what they were doing.

  “Trying something with our power.” Chris tells him.

  “You guys are so lucky.”

  Chris and Elle give each other indifferent faces. “It can be kinda cool. But you can’t just go around funting it. Some people would think we’re the bad guys and hunt us down.”

  “Yeah, I guess. Unless it’s Rex. You can use it against him.” Paul says.

  Neither Chris nor Elle disagree with that.

  “But you haven’t gotten in trouble yet, right?” Paul sounds concerned.

  “No.” Chris says apprehensively.

  Elle leaves to go to her locker room to change.

  “So no one’s been to your pce either?” Paul asks.

  “No. No one’s been by or called that I know of. Maybe that car at your pce is from someone watching.”

  Gym goes as it always does, minus Rex. Mr. Granger has everyone do several different things, ps, jumping jacks, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even afterward in math, things go as normal.

  At the end of the day, Chris and everyone meet up and gather on the bus. He tells the twins to keep them posted. If anything they might be able to sneak out and come over to scope things out.

  The bus makes it’s stop at Ivy and Paul’s pce. Ivy points to the bck car sitting across the street from their house.

  “That’s the car, we’ll call you ter.” Ivy says as she stands and hurries off the bus. Paul shrugs and leaves as well.

  As the bus pulls away Chris takes a long hard look at the car. He notices the Mercedes emblem and the windows are tinted bck, no way to see in. So if there was anyone sitting in it watching, he couldn’t tell.

  “So do you guys wanna check it out ter?” Jackson whispers to the others.

  “Ooo, ninja time.” Jerry reacts with an evil grin.

  Elle groans. “You and your ninjas.”

  Chris snickers. “Actually I would like to find out who’s in that car. It does look like one of those FBI cars from the movies. But lets wait a while and see, I’ll call the Thomas’ tonight tell them to keep us posted and stuff.”

  None of them disagree.

  * * * * *

  The next few days go by as normal. School was the same, everyone joked around during lunch, and the bck car was still there outside the Thomas’. Occasionally it would leave, but it would come right back. It was almost becoming a joke. All it did was sit there. No one even got out of it that Paul or Ivy ever saw. But they were gonna settle it tonight…after Chris’ parents wanted to see him and Elle. Great, now what.

  Elle and her brothers arrive Saturday morning. Chris’ mom had told Chris which rooms they can have, so he takes them up and shows them. Once upstairs, Chris asks them if they seen anything odd on the way here.

  “No, nothing. Haven’t heard anything either.” Jackson tells him.

  “So are we going tonight?” Jerry asks, anxious.

  “Yeah, you guys bring dark clothes like we pnned?” Chris asks.

  The three of them open their duffle bags, dark blues and bcks for all. And hooded sweatshirts to hide their faces.

  “Cool.” Chris smiles. He then notices Elle’s been quiet. She must be nervous about what his parents wanted to talk to them about. The fre up thing, or as they both dubbed it, the Spark thing. Since it was their Spark that fred up. Spark, the source of the chi which drives the body and their powers. Like a cars engine, it’s the source of the horsepower which powers the vehicle forward.

  Chris shows them the rest of the second floor, bathroom, their rooms, his parents bedroom and his fathers den, then head back downstairs. His parents have Jackson and Jerry start on breakfast while he pulls Chris and Elle into the gym.

  “You're mom told me what you said about your powers fring. Now, just so you know I’ve only heard of this before so don’t quote me on this.” Larry begins. “But, back home one of my friends told me that us elemental types are different. In the fact that we are attuned to the very pnet itself. And because of that, we’re attuned to each other. In a…small way. But far more than anyone else. I'm sure the others have their own version of it, but yeah.”

  “That is so cool.” Elle says.

  “Yes, it is. Now. My friend once said that some people are more attuned to each other than normal. In some cases, two people of different elements can even use each others powers, to some extent. As long as their close by.”

  “So if me and Elle are super attuned to each other. I could use her water power? And her, my air” Chris says, in wonderment.

  “So I’ve heard. Like I said, I’ve only heard of it.” Larry has them come closer. “Here, put your hands together.” He holds out his.

  They take each others hands over his. Again the spark comes out again.

  “I definitely feel a little.”

  As they stand their holding each others hand, Chris feels a sense of peace and belonging. Belonging with…Elle. He looks into her eyes and gets lost.

  “Kids!”

  Chris’ fathers voice snaps him out of his daze. Him and Elle pull apart quickly. Chris’ cheeks flush. He doesn’t have to see Elle’s face to know hers is too.

  Larry smiles and shakes his head. “Well, I have to say that if it is true. You two are proof. I felt both your powers coming forth on their own. At least that’s what I felt.”

  Chris and Elle give each other a smile.

  “Go on back in and have some breakfast.”

  They return to see Jerry smiling. Does he ever stop.

  “So when’s the wedding?”

  Yep. There he goes.

  “Why?” Elle goes on. “Did you wanna be my maid of honor? Aww, how sweet.”

  Chris and Jackson crack up ughing, while Jerry and Elle just makes faces at each other.

  * * * * *

  Even though they had a mission ter with the mysterious car, they all go through the motions of getting ready for bed. They agreed to set their watches to go off after midnight.

  Elle finishes getting her PJ’s on and pulls out her toothbrush and toothpaste. While she gets a good ther going, the door opens.

  Chris walks in and his face quickly averts. “Oh, shoot…I’m sorry.” He says as he starts backing out of the bathroom.

  She spits out some toothpaste. “It’s okay, Chris. I’m dressed.”

  He comes in, an ’I’m busted’ look on his face. “Sorry, didn’t mean to walk in on ya.” He sets down his PJ’s and a clean towel.

  “No problem. Just brushing my teeth.” She continues brushing.

  Chris picks at her oversized pajama’s. “Little big aren’t they.”

  Elle bites down on her toothbrush and lets go of it. She turns to Chris and flops the ends of pajama top at him. He swats at them pyfully. She stops and takes her toothbrush out and spits into the sink. “I like’m big like this”

  Chris takes his towel and walks over to hang it from the shower door..

  “So, Elle. What do you think it means? Our power thing.”

  She was wondering the same thing. “I don’t know. Maybe we’ll find out soon. But,” she stops to remember the feeling, “it doesn’t feel bad. Does it?”

  “No. It’s…peaceful. Happy.”

  She rinses, then wipes her mouth clean with a hand towel. “Yeah. I say we just go with the flow.” She walks closer, putting her hand up, palm out.

  Chris puts his hand up like hers. As their hands get closer she can feel his presence, his aura. Her heart begins to pick up. Their fingers graze one another and a shiver runs through her body. Like someone tickled her. Then their palms meet. A rush of water power floods her senses. Washing over her, like a dense yet light mist.

  “Chris?” She calls out before she realizes she said it.

  She hears him call her name but it seems to come from everywhere. The next she knows, her power feels like it’s taking flight. The mist getting lighter and lighter. Souring higher and higher till it feels like a cloud. Until she feels like a cloud.

  Then, her power seems to snap back into pce. Her everyday senses returning to her and she realizes she’s kissing him. Slowly they pull apart. Their eyes hold each others gaze. Her heart racing faster then its ever been.

  “Whoa!” Is all they can say.

  Elle takes a few steps back. That was amazing.

  “Uhm, Elle. I uh…” He turns around. “I should take a shower now. Sorry.”

  “No. It’s okay.” She turns and gathers her things. “I’ll see you ter tonight.”

  “‘Kay. See ya.”

  She leaves him and returns to her room. She drops her clothes and toiletries, then touches her lips. Her first kiss. A smile slowly forms. She crawls in bed and sets the arm on her watch. She was gonna sleep quite well until it goes off.