10

“I’m not doing it anymore,” Parker said firmly. Yuan and Cole were sitting across from him at their lunch table. Drew was next to him and looked a little pained at Parker’s declaration. “I almost hurt someone else, and I may as well have told everyone in that gym what I can do.”

“It was a mistake,” Drew said after Parker explained what happened. “It’s not like you were trying to deflect the ball toward Kevin.”

Parker shook his head. “I don’t care. I’m done.” The whole incident had scared him. He’d gotten too comfortable with his ability. He’d thought he could control this power, but until now he hadn’t thought about the possibility that he could hurt himself or someone else without meaning to.

“You’ve done a lot of good,” Yuan offered. “We were just talking about how some of the bullies have toned it down because of what you’ve done.”

“Well, that’s all the good I’m going to do,” Parker said sullenly.

“C’mon, man,” Cole said. “You can’t just stop. So you made a mistake. It’s not the end of the world. You just need a little more practice controlling your ability.”

“I don’t want to control it,” Parker said a little louder than he intended to. “To be honest I don’t want it at all.”

“Well, you’ve got it,” Cole said, taking a bite out of an apple. “So I think you should use it.”

“You don’t get to decide that for me,” Parker said. “I decide what I do, and I’ve decided that I’m done. No more.”

“Maybe if you—” Yuan began to say, but Parker cut her off.

“No! I told you I’m not doing it anymore, so I’m not doing it anymore. That’s final.”

“You kind of have to,” Drew piped up. “You’re the only person who can do it. If you don’t use . . . whatever this is, it’s like knowing who committed a crime and not turning them in.”

“No, it’s not,” Parker shot back on reflex.

“It kind of is,” Yuan said quietly. “Not using what you can do for good is irresponsible.”

“You don’t understand what it’s like to be able to do this,” Parker practically shouted at his friends. “You didn’t almost get Kevin beaned in the head with a dodgeball.”

“People get beaned with dodgeballs all the time,” Drew said, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Whatever. It’s never been my fault before.” Parker crossed his arms. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve decided.”

“Well, you should re-decide,” Cole said.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Parker could feel his heart beating faster, anger boiling up.

“It was one mistake,” Yuan said. “You don’t have to make such a big decision right away. Take some time to think about this.”

The calm in her voice only made Parker even angrier. What right did she have to try to calm him down? She had no idea how he felt. None of them did.

“No,” Parker snapped, standing up. His chair screeched behind him. “You guys don’t get a say in this. You’re not my sidekicks or whatever. I’ve been the one helping kids in school, while you guys just get to watch and laugh. But really, you do nothing. You think this is a game? This is my life!”

All three stared up at him in shock. In the corners of his eyes, Parker even noticed a few kids from other tables staring at him.

“Parker,” Yuan started, “we’re just trying to help.”

“Well, don’t. I don’t care what you guys have to say about it. You aren’t a part of this—you never have been.”

He knew the moment he said it that he didn’t really mean that, but it had come out already and he was still too angry to apologize. Drew and Cole said nothing, just looked down at the table.

Yuan narrowed her eyes at him. “Fine. If that’s the way you feel.”

“Fine.” Parker picked up his lunch tray and marched over to the empty table where he used to eat. He refused to even look at his friends for the rest of lunch.

***

Everything went back to the way it had been before Parker discovered his ability. He walked the halls unnoticed by anyone. He ate alone at lunch, went to the theater after school, and did touch-ups on his props in the solitude of the workshop.

It’s better this way, he thought. I didn’t have friends before, and I was just fine. I don’t need friends now. There’s nothing wrong with being a loner. Especially if they’re going to push me to do something I don’t want to do.

He kept telling himself that, but he knew it wasn’t completely true. He missed hanging out with them. And there was a piece of him that wanted to call or text to apologize for getting so angry.

With the play’s opening night approaching, the cast started doing run-throughs of the show. In between scenes, Parker and the rest of the crew had to move set pieces around just as they would do during the performances. The actors waited offstage during scene changes, so Parker had to walk past them carrying props and furniture. He tried to avoid Yuan whenever possible.

Parker noticed Yuan seemed to be quietly avoiding him too. She wasn’t harsh about it, but she somehow managed to find places to wait backstage that were always on the opposite side of where he was. Knowing that she was mad at him—or worse, disappointed in him—made him feel even more guilty.

Two days before opening night, he stayed late after rehearsal to adjust the position of the door set piece onstage. By the time he’d finished and collected his backpack from the workshop, he was one of the only people left in the theater.

But just as he was about to leave, he heard Caroline’s voice.

“I’m just saying . . .” Caroline trailed after Ms. Frasier, who stood onstage jotting down notes on her clipboard. “I’m worried about the show.”

The director paused at that. She turned back to Caroline and arched an eyebrow. “How so?”

“I’m not trying to be mean.” Caroline widened her eyes, clasping her hands behind her. Parker rolled his eyes. “But I don’t think everyone’s performing at the same level. I just—I can’t help but notice that Yuan seems to be struggling with her character.”

Parker couldn’t believe Caroline would stoop this low. Everyone in the production knew Yuan was doing an amazing job—just like everyone knew Caroline wasn’t really looking out for Yuan’s best interests.

“We’re getting really close to opening night,” Caroline continued. “And I think it might help if a more experienced actor took over the lead role.”

Ms. Frasier gave Caroline a long look. “Thank you for your concern, Caroline. I think Yuan is doing wonderfully. In fact, I’m excited to see her in more productions once this one ends.”

Ms. Frasier turned to walk away, and Parker could see the look of panic break out across Caroline’s face. She darted in front of Ms. Frasier again.

“It’s just—I’m having a difficult time in my scenes with her.” She flashed a shy smile that Parker could tell was entirely fake. “Again, I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just saying that I think the play could be a lot more successful if things were . . . different.” Caroline looked up at Ms. Frasier as if she’d just come up with a brilliant idea. “I know all the lines. I could easily take over.”

Ms. Frasier gave her a look Parker had never seen before. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said firmly. “If you’re having trouble in the scenes with Yuan, you may consider that the problem is on your end.”

Caroline’s jaw clenched, and her eyes narrowed at Ms. Frasier. “I’m not the problem.”

“Well, everything I’ve seen from Yuan has been spectacular. Have a good night, Caroline.” Ms. Frasier gave Caroline a tight smile and walked away. The discussion was over, and Parker could see that Caroline was not happy with the result.

He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be the end of it.

***

The next day, Parker had stepped out of third period to go to the bathroom when he heard Caroline’s voice again. The hallways were empty, so her already loud voice carried easily. He slowed before he came around a corner, listening in.

“She was practically encouraging her to come out for more roles, Jen,” Caroline groaned. “I cannot believe that girl might steal even more parts from me. This was supposed to be my theater!”

Parker carefully peered around the wall. Caroline was leaning against a locker while Jennifer Kelly took a drink from the water fountain. What are they doing? he wondered. Just skipping class and hanging out? How often do they do this?

“What are you going to do?” Jennifer asked.

“I’m not losing any stage time to her.” She narrowed her eyes. “I’ve still got a couple of days to convince Ms. Frasier to give me the lead. If she doesn’t . . . I don’t want to do this, but it’ll be better for the play in the long run. Yuan may have to have an accident on opening night.”