All I knew was that some sketchy people had recognized her and followed her off the bus, running after her when she ran. I only knew that much because my mom had told Amy and me to be extra careful, and had insisted she or Dad drive us if we went anywhere.

“They’re mad, now, apparently,” Crystal said, hugging her arms to her body. “They want to get revenge.”

“Often the case,” my dad said. “Bad begets bad.”

I could tell that my parents’ approach to things wasn’t really jibing with how Aunt Sarah had wanted to approach it. A little too serious when Eric was three years younger than me and Amy.

“It might happen to you,” my mother said. “Chances are the time it happens won’t be a time you’re capable of being your most rational, but that makes it all the more important that you make resolutions and understand things now. There’s a good chance that when you’re facing the worst day of your life, you might be in a position to do irreparable harm to someone.”

“I don’t think I’m the type.”

“I didn’t think I was the type either, Amy,” my mother said. “That makes it easier for the moment to catch you off guard.”

“It’s not all fun and games,” my dad said. He met my eyes as he said it.

Aunt Sarah opened her mouth, like she wanted to say something… but she couldn’t refute the fact.

“If I could go back—” Crystal started. She stopped, aware that every set of eyes was on her. Her eyes moving so she wasn’t looking at anyone at all, she went on, “—I wouldn’t do it again. I wouldn’t want these powers.”

“I’m so sorry, Crystal,” Amy said.

Crystal shrugged.

“That’s crazy,” I said.

“Victoria,” my mother’s voice was stern. “We were just talking about sensitivity.”

“But she can—you can fly, Crystal.”

“And every time I do, it feels a bit like I’m still running away from those people,” she said.

“That’s a reality for many of us,” my Aunt Sarah said. A woman I’d associated with warm hugs, pumpkin cookies, and all of the cool ‘my relative is a superhero’ stuff without the ‘also my parent’ crap, except now she was talking from a place of darkness and hurting people.

“I hope I never get powers,” my sister said. I saw Crystal nod.

I still wanted them. I needed them. Still, for the first time, I felt trepidation. Because my mom, the toughest person I knew, looked scared for me.

⊙

The rooftop was covered in chairs and glass tables with umbrellas sticking out of them. They were intended for sun more than for rain, but they did catch the rain from above, turning it into trickles that ran off the low points.