“Guys, what’s going on?” I lean forward, my eyes darting back and forth between them. Out of my peripheral, I see Alice leaning forward as well, phone long forgotten in her lap.

“Caleb, we just want you to be careful about how much you use your power,” my dad says solemnly.

“‘Use my power’?” I echo disbelievingly. “I don’t use it, it just happens to me.”

“Exactly.” My mom nods. “And while that’s still the case, it’s important that you keep it as quiet as possible. We are thrilled that you’re making new friends”—my dad nods vigorously in agreement—“but we just want to make sure that you’re not being…” She fishes around for a word.

“Careless,” my dad fills in. “It wouldn’t be good for anyone to find out about what you can do unless you’re sure that you can trust them.”

“Why?” Alice asks before I can.

“Because it’s not something you want to broadcast,” my dad answers.

“But why?” I push.

“Because there are people out there who…” My mom trails off, looking at my dad, and he gives her the slightest nod. “Who might not appreciate what you can do.”

“Why the fuck would I care about them?” I snap.

“Language, Caleb,” my dad chides.

Whoops, I didn’t mean to swear in front of them, but the staticky feeling is swelling through my body and making me squirm. I feel like an exposed wire jerking through the air, ready to land in a pool of water. My parents are legit stressed and I don’t get why.

“Sorry, I just…” My brain is buzzing and I can feel my parents’ orange, warm concern pushing through the static, and that’s a toxic combination for my ability to think. I’m squeezing my eyes shut, trying to keep it together, but the stress-concern-fear loop keeps going round and round and I’m trying to catch the end of it to pull it back but it’s moving too fast for me to grab on to. The thought crosses through my mind that I wish Adam were here so I could hold on to his feelings.

“Caleb,” someone says, their voice a hot, smothering steam.

“Mom, don’t—”

“He’s—”

“Sh, just let him—”

“Alice, we can’t—”

“Okay, but let me—” A cool hand covers mine where it’s gripping the edge of the table.

“Caleb?” My sister’s voice travels with the cool breeze of calm that’s coming through her hand. “You need to breathe, dude.”

I inhale and open my eyes. My family is still sitting at the table, their eyes wide but their bodies uncharred. I didn’t explode in a fit of electric rage. I grab on to the buoy of calm my sister has thrown to me and try to use it to clear the humming in my head.