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Lily called a taxi and we rode to the gardens, where we wandered along one of the shorter paths, enjoying the flowers and the general merriment of the people strolling through the park, minding their own business and not worrying about the outside world of beasts and man-eating vessels.
I tried to identify which flower my charm had been designed from, but before I could spend too much time at the garden’s extensive library, Lily returned with a Frisbee from the nearby gift shop. We headed to a grassy lawn with a view of the lake created by the nearby dam.
A number of the garden-goers had settled on the open green with blankets and picnic baskets, but Lily and I managed to spot out a section that was relatively clear of people who might get smacked in the head by any missed throws.
“So, do you want the first throw?” Lily offered me the toy. “I warn you... I’m actually kind of terrible.”
I took it and grinned. “Let’s find out.”
We gave ourselves enough distance to be a challenge and then I flicked my wrist... sending the orange blur flying well over her head and directly into the lake.
For the love of efficiency—
Once the initial shock wore off, Lily looked back at me, one hand on her hip. She cleared her throat. “I take it you haven’t played Frisbee since discovering your powers?”
My cheeks warmed. My vines wrapped around me, their leaves fanning out as if to hide me from my embarrassment. “No. I didn’t even think about it.”
She held up her hand, smug, and a small tower of water shot the Frisbee back into the air. It landed on the shore with a hollow thunk. “There’s a reason I brought us over here specifically.”
I snorted. Show off. “You could have warned me about overusing my speed power.”
“One second,” she said. “I’ll go grab—”
Nuh-uh. If she could use her powers here, then so could I. I speed-ran to the Frisbee and had it back in her hand before she could finish her sentence.
Lily blinked, her lips shaped in a satisfying “o” of surprise. I put one hand on my hip, mimicking her. “You were saying?”
She burst out laughing. “All right, this is going to be fun. But seriously, don’t make me catch all your throws using the lake. I don’t need that much practice.”
“Don’t make me use my powers to fetch your misses,” I retorted. “Frisbee tasks are about working effectively together to catch and throw the discus... not about showing how any one player is better than the other.”
“Is that what they teach you in the Community?”
“Yes.”
“Huh. They might actually be onto something. For once.” She shot the Frisbee onto the lawn. “Want to go grab that?”
“Lily!” I chased after the toy, laughing, pulling on my enhanced speed and doing a dive to catch it before it hit the ground. I rolled in the grass and then came back up, Frisbee triumphantly in hand. Tiny pinpricks tickled my elbow, and I grimaced, retracting my plant powers. Nope... wasn’t going to let that bug me. Not right now.
Lily cupped her hands around her mouth. “See? You did great!”
Out of breath but exhilarated from the chase and the determination to make this work, I sent the Frisbee flying back. This was what I had seen at the beach in Japan—all those people using their powers freely, enjoying themselves...
It was nice to be on the lawn with those people, not just observing them from a distance.
Too soon, Lily put up the Frisbee and pointed out that if I wanted to return in time for dinner with Lance, we needed to head back. Honestly, I would have preferred to stay in the gardens, trading Frisbee throws and good-natured insults. But I had already promised Lance I would test out this whole dating thing—and that meant actually going on a date.
We met up on a street corner where we’d first been dropped off. My stomach churned relentlessly. Who knew how this whole dating thing would pan out, especially without the Community’s guidance to help us determine the efficiency of our pairing?
“He should be around here somewhere,” Lily muttered. She pointed. “There!”
Lance bounced on his heels beside a street sign. My jaw dropped. He’d changed from his street clothes into something a bit nicer—a crisp brown dress shirt, probably borrowed from Jack since it was a little too big, though I couldn’t see Jack wearing anything quite so formal. Even his slacks looked like they’d been pressed, and he’d combed back his hair so that it was out of his eyes. I swallowed hard, my insides feeling like they were running from a fire beast.
Community... he was actually going for a full-on date, and here I was wearing a sweaty, smelly t-shirt covered in grass stains, which still prickled on my nerves. I hurriedly swatted away a broken blade of grass stuck to my knee.
Lily whistled under her breath, her eyes wide and tracing him from head to toe and back again. “He went all out, didn’t he?”
I nodded numbly. “Uh... yeah.”
What was I supposed to do? I wasn’t prepared for this. I’d never planned on actually bothering with dating until after I’d settled into a career and—
Lily cleared her throat, breaking me from my thoughts. “You’re staring.”
“Huh?”
She nudged her head toward Lance. He pushed himself from the street sign and strolled toward us, smiling nervously. “How’d it go?”
I could have sworn his voice was huskier than normal. My breath lodged in my throat. The flower charm pressed against my chest, uncomfortably sharp. I fidgeted with the charm, getting it to lay flat. “Great,” I said finally, my voice far too fast to sound normal. “We had a great time.”
“Good.” Lance offered me his arm, and I stared at it for too long, not sure what to do.
“Um... I’ll let you two lovebirds get going.” Lily edged away from the two of us, discomfort radiating from her thoughts. “Let me know if you need anything, okay?”
I nodded too fast. I really didn’t want her to leave right now, but she was already hurrying down the street toward a waiting line of taxis. I swallowed hard. Just me and Lance.
On a date.
An actual date.
“I found a place I think you might like.” Lance slipped his elbow through mine when I didn’t take the cue. He rubbed the back of his neck and tugged a tiny curl that was trying to work its way past the straight hairs. “Technically Jack spotted it. He said their boerewors rolls tasted good. Since you liked the hot dog stand in Japan...” He guided me down the street through the crowded sidewalk. Everyone was watching us, their eyes flicking toward us as if we didn’t belong. I shuddered and averted my gaze to the back of some guy’s shirt. People pressed in on us from all sides, shapeshifters whose forms were changing to the form of an airship hull—
I gritted my teeth and clamped my arm too tight around Lance’s.
He slowed and looked me over, cautious. “Jenna?”
“Memory attack.” My heart racketed against my rib cage. “It’s the crowd—”
“This way.” He pushed us a little faster past the man we’d been following and then pulled me into a small diner. Cold air blasted against my clammy skin. Tiny white lights hung from the ceiling, shining on chaotic red and yellow paintings next to each booth. The smell of hamburgers clung to the air, greasy smoke visible in the trails of evening light that came through the large window.
Lance sat me at one of the booths. “I’ll get us something to drink, okay?”
I gave a small nod, but my chest constricted and I tucked my hands between my knees. This wasn’t fair. I just wanted to live a normal, Community life, and I couldn’t even have a date without being threatened by a memory attack.
“Here.” Lance offered me a plastic cup of water. I gulped it down and let out my breath.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He scooted onto a red, faux leather-covered bench across from me.
“For ruining your plans for a date. For not thinking about having a date in the first place. Then for having a memory attack—”
He reached out and wrapped his hand around mine. “That’s not your fault. You didn’t ruin anything—”
Skin on skin...
I yanked my hand away, blood pounding in my ears. The sound of chatting customers faded to a dull roar, and all I could see was his hands on the pristine white table like the counters in the transformation facilities—
“Jen—Jenna!”
I felt my chin lift. He caught my gaze.
“Jen, please...”
I swallowed hard. Chalk circle. I needed my chalk circle. Blackness crept into the edge of my vision. I closed my eyes and rested my head against my cold arms. My whole body felt heavy, sick... I pictured Gwen’s circle in my mind, but even the thought of powdery chalk made me want to gag.
“Here’s another water,” a gentle, accented voice said. Something cold pressed against my fingertips. “Heat stroke?”
“Something like that,” Lance said. “Thanks.”
“Of course. Let me know if you need anything else.” Footsteps sounded on the linoleum floor as the lady walked away.
“You should probably drink the water,” Lance said, forceful enough to remind me that I wasn’t feeling sick for just any reason, but not that he was angry. I slid the water cup to my lips and drank. “Do you think you can eat something?” he asked hesitantly. “I was planning on getting boerewors rolls from a local braai that Jack found, but maybe they have something similar here.”
I grunted and gave him a thumbs-up, but I didn’t open my eyes. Though I was pretty sure my current condition was caused by a memory attack, I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch and I had been using my enhanced speed powers a lot today. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, there was a good chance that this was my body complaining about over-exertion without proper compensation.
Lance returned a moment later. “The waitress said she’d bring our dinner to us. Do you need another glass of water?”
I shook my head and cracked open an eye. Lance stared down at me, worried, rubbing his fingers together as if he wasn’t sure what to do with them.
I swallowed hard, and then stretched out my hand.
He twisted his lips. “You sure that won’t cause the memory attack to be worse?”
I grunted and made a grab for his hand. I didn’t quite hit the mark, but he took mine anyway. When I didn’t yank my hand back, he gave it a reaffirming squeeze. This time, the attack stayed at bay. A smile tugged on my lips.
This wasn’t the best of dates, but at least I knew he cared. He was taking steps toward making us more efficient partners. I still didn’t feel great, but we had staved off a memory attack by working together. Perhaps this would work out for us after all.
Maybe... just maybe... we could be efficient partners.
