"Jeremiah, wait-"
He's not here anymore. I wish I could see him right now, I hate when he's upset…
My eyes are straining from how long I've stared at my computer screen, so I have to close them for a minute.
"Are you following me?"
"No, I-"
I'm actually standing in front of him right now, and he seems a little irritated. Did I do something wrong again?
"If you can just tell me what you didn't like, I can apologize."
"Did your mom know about this?"
"... I don't have a mom."
"Don't you understand how different we are from our parents?"
"Shut up, I never knew mine!"
I shove him away out of annoyance. What is he going on about? People are staring, recording.
Jeremiah grabs me by the wrist, yanking me behind a tree. It's quiet. Weirdly so.
I look from behind, and only see more trees.
"Where are we? And get off of me!-"
"You're the one not taking this seriously, Maxine!"
We're in some sort of forest. Alone. And this guy might be a psychopath.
Those thoughts don't stop me from absolutely slapping him, though.
"Don't call me that. You don't get to say that."
"This hasn't happened in centuries, and you want to throw the opportunity away?!"
"The opportunity for what?!"
I wanna go home. I'm so confused. Is Jeremiah on drugs?
"My powers evolved after that night. With you."
This guy is crazy.
"Are you okay, Jeremiah?"
I place one hand on his shoulder, and stare directly into his gaze.
"You're scaring me."
"We won't be scared if we can discover the full extent of this."
"Of what?"
"Our powers! We can utilize them, expand our influence… I wasn't able to teleport before."
"What the actual…"
I'm actually speechless. If I die right here, nobody would even hear my last words.
"I know we're not superheroes or anything, but isn't this exciting?"
"I don't have powers, Jeremiah. I can't understand any of what you're saying."
"But didn't your mom-"
"I don't have one!"
He sees the anger in my expression, and looks dumbfounded. Is he being serious right now?
"But you teleported to me, didn't you?"
"I don't know, okay?"
"Max… you know you're a cupid, right?"
I chuckle for a moment, before it grows louder. Is this some sort of sick dream? When did I fall asleep during my homework?
"Hah- hahahaha! You're hilarious, Jeremiah. If you wanted to end things between us, you could've sent a text message."
"You don't know…?"
"Right, I clearly don't know anything. I'm not the smartest one of us, remember? It might've been Luke or something… maybe he can slap some sense into me."
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing? When you're fooled more than once, you rightfully deserve the title, don't you?"
"We can go back now, if you want."
I wake up in my bed, yawning and sitting up. Did I take a rest here?
My homework is all done on my laptop, though I don't remember writing most of it. Surprisingly, it sounds like me.
"Jeremiah?"
He's eating noodles in the kitchen. It smells good.
"Can I have a bowl?"
"Sure."
We eat in silence, which is unusual for us. Jeremiah places a hand on my forehead and mumbles.
"You were sick again."
"I was?"
"I could hear your snores from outside the door."
"Huh… sorry."
"It's alright. Don't strain your eyes too hard, and try not to move your arms around so wildly."
"Are those things relevant to my illness?"
"Possibly."
I don't think I've ever had the ability to lucid dream before. Wasn't some part of what just happened real?
"I was never told anything."
"Hmm?"
"About the powers you were talking about- I think I've teleported before, but I don't know how."
His gaze softens and he sets his chopsticks down. Hopefully he isn't mad at me anymore? Or disappointed? I'm not sure what he's feeling.
"I haven't had that specific ability since that night, but I figured out you just need to close your eyes and envision yourself where you want to be. Literally."
He's gone before I can even blink, and his hand creeps up my neck. It makes me flinch.
"Ah! You- you can't just do that!"
I have to fight the urge to laugh, and Jeremiah smiles as well. This is pretty real, pretty confusing. But the burden feels a little lighter now.
"I'm sorry too, Max."
"For what?"
"For assuming that you knew everything… and for calling you a name you hated."
The words coming out of his mouth feel so genuine, and I almost feel sorry for slapping him. I still think it was deserved at the time, though. My hand comes up to touch his cheek.
"I can forgive you for that one. I suppose if we really do have "duties", I'd be frustrated if the other person acted so incompetent."
"You're not incompetent, you just haven't been taught. Good thing I'm totally qualified to be your teacher."
"Oh!-"
My vision is forcefully cut off as he smacks a hat on me, and I can hear… kissing noises? I lift my hat up, and we're in the back of a movie theater.
"Isn't this movie a little inappropriate?!"
I whisper in a hushed voice, looking away and trying to keep my cheeks from seeming pink.
"We're literally adults. It's fine. And look-"
He grabs my hand, and it takes everything in me not to panic. He waves it at some couple a few rows in front of us, and I see flowers in the air. All of a sudden, they're kissing.
"Ew, gross!-"
"That's what your powers do, deal with it."
"They cause people to make out?"
"Sometimes- though it mostly just sends the little push they need to make a move, you know? In this case, they were already together."
"So what do your powers do?"
"The exact opposite, actually."
"Have you used them… on anyone we know?"
"Not yet I haven't."
I didn't know Jeremiah was hiding this from everyone, including me! I feel like sulking from the lack of knowledge about it.
"How has nobody found out?"
"You can't see anything happening if you don't have powers yourself."
"I see… so you saw the flowers I made, but the couple themselves didn't?"
"Exactly! Aren't I such a good teacher?"
In moments, we're back at our dorm. My heart is still beating fast from everything that's just happened. My head turns to look at Jeremiah.
He seems like he wants to say something more, but hesitates. I raise an eyebrow.
"Is something the matter?"
"Cupids and anti-cupids are immortal."
"Really? We're not gonna die?"
"Yes, that's how those with powers can have descendants centuries after their own birth. So your mom-"
The revelation hits me like a ton of bricks, and my heart drops.
"My mom's still here… somewhere."
The room falls silent, and I feel a mix of emotions. Joy? Despair? Irritation?
"Should I find her?"
"Should you?"
"I wish I knew."
What if there's a reason I was abandoned. Was I never supposed to have these powers? Did I have these powers before that night?
"I'll help you look, if you want."
Jeremiah pulls me into a hug, and the overthinking thoughts halt for a moment. It feels peaceful, only in his arms.
"I don't want to find her."
"Hmm?"
"There might be a reason she didn't want me. Maybe it wasn't meant to be."
"Well, you know the butterfly effect? You might not have joined Genesis7 if you knew who she was."
"That'd be crazy, I can't see myself with a different set of friends. And not being known, haha."
"I think this timeline is my favorite one, then."
"Mine too."
"Can I show you some other things you can do?"
"Absolutely."
What's supposed to happen will happen. If my mother had to leave me, I can accept it. But I won't let it affect the decisions I make now.
I'll make good use of what she gave me, once I get the hang of it.