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I tripped over something hard, landing on my face with a comical “oomph!” Groaning, I brushed myself off and stood up, squinting until the dust around me settled and my eyes adjusted to the low light. A tingle of dread made its way up my spine. Where was I?
I started to move, but something caught my foot. I looked down and realized I was standing on someone. Standing on someone? Huh? Nausea hit me as I rolled the body over to gaze into the dead, glassy eyes of Rena. I screamed and fell backward, landing on another body. Sobbing, I turned around to face Grandpa’s bloody gaze staring back at me. Before I could react, a white ball of energy was fired directly at my chest. The world began to darken as I heard Jarem’s laughter in the background—
I woke up with a start, covered in sweat. What was happening to me? Why were these dreams so lifelike? I reached over with shaky hands and grabbed my glass of water off of my nightstand. The cool liquid slid down my parched throat but did nothing to quench the sense of terror in the pit of my stomach nor to settle my pounding heart. I took a couple of deep, cleansing breaths before placing the water glass back down on the nightstand.
A wave of exhaustion hit me and I lay back down, reluctantly falling back into a restless sleep.
After my nightmare and lack of quality sleep the night before, I was in no mood to deal with anyone at school the next morning. Unfortunately, I had my final interview with my college credit group.
We met in front of the school and then took the bus to the other side of town, where Lucy Gallagher lived. Lucy was a scientific journalist for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Word on the street was that she was in line to win a Pulitzer and Mrs. Temely wanted us to interview her on her work.
We arrived at her high-rise apartment just as the sun began to lower in the sky, cooling down the temperature to bearable. Lucy was a small woman with dark brown hair and greying temples. She had warm brown eyes that sparkled when she smiled.
As soon as we were situated with cool glasses of lemonade in hand, Abby began her questioning. “So, what exactly is it that you research, Mrs. Gallagher?”
“Quantum Physics,” Lucy replied, settling in next to Jacob. “It’s the study of nature on a small scale.”
“How did you get interested in it?” Abby prodded.
“Well”—Lucy chuckled—“I’ve always had a crush on Albert Einstein. He was a brilliant scientist and when I was a kid I spent a lot of afternoons reading about his discoveries. When I was twelve, I learned he had published a paper on quantum theory. I began to research it and discovered the fascinating world of quantum mechanics.”
I scribbled notes. “Mrs. Temely mentioned that you’re also an award-winning journalist. What was your last award and why were you awarded it?” I asked.
Lucy smiled at me. “I was given the gold medal in the small newspaper category by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. I was very honored. They picked my piece on energy.” She leaned forward, cupping her glass of lemonade. “Physicists believe that everything in nature, including humans, is really just vibrating atoms that have a unique energy signature.”
“But we’re solid,” I pointed out, frowning.
Lucy shook her head. “No, we’re not. We just appear to be solid. Our atoms are made out of invisible energy, not tangible matter. It’s invisible.”
“Wait a minute,” Abby said, interrupting, “are you saying that we really don’t exist the way we think we do?”
“Exactly,” said Lucy.
“Then why don’t they teach that to us in school?” Abby asked.
“Because physics can be extremely challenging to understand and the object of grade school is to help you become knowledgeable about the basics,” Lucy replied. “Should you decide to pursue the subject further, you would do that in higher education.”
We sat quietly for a few minutes before Jacob piped up. “So your article was about atoms vibrating?”
“No.” Lucy laughed. “There are a ton of other articles about that. My article was about how we can influence those vibrating atoms and effect change.” She paused and looked at our confused faces. “What that means is that you can change something that seems to be solid. You can influence things around you...maybe with your mind.”
Nathan scoffed. “That’s impossible.”
Lucy quirked an eyebrow. “Is it?”
“Well, yeah,” Nathan argued. “If that were the case, we wouldn’t have disease. People wouldn’t die of hunger. You could just change the state of your body to not be hungry, right?”
Lucy laughed. “It’s not as simple as that, I’m afraid. But humans have shown time and time again that a few of us are indeed able to change something without realizing it. Some people attribute that to miracles.”
“But if that’s the case, what’s the point of modern medicine?” Abby pointed out. “We wouldn’t need it if we could fix problems with just our minds.”
“It’s kind of like prayer, right?” I asked Lucy. Everyone looked at me. “Mind over matter, healing hands, that kind of thing.”
Lucy beamed. “That’s right! Some people have reported praying over the sick and having them become ‘miraculously’ healthy. How is that possible?”
“It’s possible if we’re really more powerful than we think we are,” I mused out loud. Abby gave me a funny look but didn’t say anything.
We asked Lucy a few more questions and then thanked her for her time before heading to a nearby diner to grab something to eat.
“I think I know what our project should be,” Jacob said around a mouthful of fries. His mascara was running a little from the summer’s heat, but I didn’t bother to tell him. We were all sweaty and disheveled from the walk over. “I think we should try to bend a spoon.”
We all stared at him.
“Like the boy in The Matrix?” Abby asked, her eyebrow raised.
“Yup,” he said. “One of us should try to prove Lucy’s theory about affecting change.”
“Not it!” Nathan shouted. Abby and Jacob quickly shouted it right after him and looked at me.
“Aww, come on,” I said, laughing. “I had a mouth full of hotdog!”
“Too bad, so sad.” Abby giggled. “Besides, you seemed like you were pretty into this stuff anyway. So at least you won’t have to fake it.” She quickly pulled her long, blonde hair into a ponytail before taking another swig of her large strawberry milkshake. I watched her enviously. How did she eat like that and not gain weight?
I sighed. “OK, fine. I’ll do it. Maybe that’ll prove to Mrs. Temely that I really have participated in this stupid project and she’ll get off my back.”
The others made noises of agreement. Temely wasn’t popular with anyone in our school. It was slightly comforting to know that I was in good company.
“Did you guys see the latest Vin Diesel movie?” Nathan asked, pouring more ketchup on his fries. “I hear it’s really good.”
“We saw it last night,” Abby said, blushing at Jacob. My eyes widened. They were dating?
Jacob read my face and smirked. “Yes, we. It’s possible for two human beings to hang out together, you know.”
I held up my hands in mock surrender, but Nathan interjected before I could say anything. “Man, you’ll have to tell me your secret!” He laughed. “I’d love to get a cheerleader on my arm for a movie!”
Abby playfully threw a fry at him and he threw one back. I giggled and swiped one of his, only to earn a fry in the middle of my forehead. I tossed a fried pickle slice at him, laughing at his horrified face as the pickle slid down his cheek.
A warm feeling overcame me. Was this what it felt like to be normal? I’d never had too many friends, so hanging out with a group was new to me. Was this what Nia had felt with her friends? It was so nice to be able to enjoy company without planning an attack or talking about war. I finally felt like I belonged on my own home planet.
I was busy shoveling the rest of my hotdog in my mouth when I felt my pocket warm and buzz. I excused myself to go to the bathroom, making sure no one else was around before pulling out my DiGi. It projected a screen on the wall, big bold letters flashing at me:
KAY. 911. GET TO TURGOR NOW.
The message was from Nia. My heart pounding, I placed the device back into my pocket and raced to grab my things from our booth.
Abby studied me as I quickly put on my coat. “Everything OK?”
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile. “My sister isn’t feeling well, so she asked me to swing by the drugstore on my way home. Figured I’d do it before she pummels me for taking too long.” Everyone chuckled, but mine was a little too high-pitched. I said my goodbyes before hurrying to the bus stop. When I arrived home, I saw a note from Grandma letting me know that she would be out late with her local “stitch and bitch” crew. I scribbled a quick note back that I was going to bed early with a headache and raced upstairs.
I shucked my clothes and dove into the bed, but sleep wouldn’t claim me. My mind was racing, making it hard for me to get to sleep. The more I tried to relax and couldn’t, the more I panicked. Finally, in an act of desperation I ran downstairs and mixed warm milk with a dollop of honey. It was always guaranteed to put me right to sleep. Back in my room, I put on my CD of ocean waves and chugged the milk before lying back down. Then I closed my eyes and gradually allowed sleep to claim me.