The Florida sun was already punishing by eight in the morning, the kind of heat that made the air shimmer above the cracked sidewalks of West Beach. Marcus Hightower sat at the kitchen table, chin in his palm, staring at the math packet the school had sent home for "summer enrichment.
He sighed,his mom had left for work an hour earlier, before reminding him to "stay out of trouble, and finishing that packet."
Marcus tapped his pencil against the table, the sound mixing with the hum of the ceiling fan. He'd rather be playing on his ps4, but instead he was stuck here staring at the algebra equations that seems to be mocking him each time he looks at them.
Then it happened.
Like a light switch flicking on inside his skull, something shifted. The mental that had clouded the math problems suddenly cleared. looking down at the equations,the answer unfolded in his head step by step before his pencil touched the paper. Not just the answer, but every possible way to solve it, neat and precise.
He froze.
Before he flipped to another page. Another set of problem. Solved instantly. He looked around the kitchen like someone had snuck in and whispered the answers to him, but it was just him, the fan, and the sunlight pouring through the blinds.
His heart pounded.He knew .Although he was good with math he wasn't a genius that could solve a math equation just by looking at it. As he pondered on what was happening he caught a glance of the microwave in the corner of his eyes. Just from that glance, vivid memories of him watching youtube videos on the working part of microwaves and other household appliances , passed
through his mind.
As the memory ran through his mind. Piece by piece he somehow was understanding how his microwave worked down to the circuitry, how the fridge motor's hum meant it was at least 3 months away from burning out, how the ceiling fan blades were slightly unbalanced and would wobble more if it wasn't tightened.
Knowledge he thought were useless filled his mind rapidly like open faucet. But slowly it went quiet again however things looked different from before .
It wasn't a overwhelming change in his perspective ,but something that would take some time to adapt to.
Marcus leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling, a slow grin spreading across his face. As he realized that somehow he acquired powers that he could only dream up in his fantasies
Wanting to test these powers out even further he got up, grabbing a basketball from his room, and stepped into the parking lot connected to his apartment . The hoop leaned slightly to the left far away from the parked card , the net frayed. Normally, he missed many shots compared to the amount he made. But now, as he bounced the ball, his brain calculated every angle, every ounce of force, the exact spin needed.
He flicked his wrist. Swish.straight through the net
making sure it wasn't a fluke he tried again. Swish. Through the net again
Getting more bolder he tried from the edge of the parking . From the street. Eyes closed. Swish, swish, swish.
Marcus laughed, the sound echoing through the parking lot .
He didn't know why this had happened or what it meant, but one thing was clear,
the summer before sophomore year wasn't going to be normal.
West Palm Beach shimmered under the sun, and Marcus felt like the whole world had just opened up to him.
And nobody else knew.