My curse

Sky

          

"Mom, I'm serious. I saw it in my vision". I say to my mom as she gets ready to leave the house. She stops in her tracks an annoyed look on her face. "You saw what exactly, Sky? Humor me." She asks in a dry tone. I flinch at her reaction and steady my voice before saying "As soon as I touched your hand I saw you... in that building... there was a fire and you died." I feel my throat closing painfully on its own. My mom upon hearing my words starts laughing hysterically. I stand awkwardly in the living room, patiently waiting for her to stop. 

"Sky, you are 15 years old now. You can go ahead and quit this joke that you've got going on." Mom announces with a sweet smile on her pretty face. "You should stop saying things like that or people will think you're crazy" She closes her mouth for a brief second looking at me strangely before continuing "Or worse: a freak".

ouch, that hurt

"What" I whisper stunned by her words. "But you said you believed me..." I say in a quiet voice feeling my eyes swim in tears. "I lied" she answers absently as she puts on her heels. At that very moment I felt my heart break, and my tears threatening to spill. 

"Anyways, I am already late and I can't have this conversation now. The food is in the fridge, you only need to heat it. I won't be back until midnight." She informs me before snatching her car keys from the counter.

"But mom-" she closes the apartment's door in my face before I say anything else. Tears start rolling down my face as I head for my room.

3 Hours and a mental breakdown later my phone rings beside me in the bed. I look at the unfamiliar number on my screen then at the time and my whole body tenses. I recall the vision I had about my mom, and the time matches exactly. My heart starts racing in my chest as I click the green icon. "Hello" I say in a small voice fearing the inevitable. "Sky Lindson?" A strong male voice asks from the other end of the phone. "Yes" I reply holding my breath. "I am officer Juan Perez, there was a fire in your mom's workplace. Unfortunately, she didn't make it..."

    I wake up drenched in sweat and gasping for air. This memory always haunts me in my sleep. Even after 4 years. This curse, this ability to know exactly how, when and where people die as soon as I touch them, has taken everything and everyone from me. My dad, my mom, my friends, my home. EVERYTHING. That's why I couldn't live the way I used to anymore. I had to make some changes to survive in this world without getting my heart shattered again. I had to engulf myself in loneliness. I had to push away everyone.

I stare at the clock on top of my nightstand. 4:58, two minutes before my alarm goes off. I look at the ceiling trying to get myself together and calm my thoughts before silencing my alarm. I leave the bed and head for the closet. I pick my workout clothes, a sports bra, an orange hoodie, an underwear and black leggings. Even if it's warm outside I need to cover my arms and hands at all times to avoid accidentally touching someone. I don't want to have a vision about them dying.

My family's inheritance has made it possible for me to rent a small flat close to college. I shut my apartment's door and start walking to the on campus gym. The light breeze plays with the strands that fell from my ponytail. My dark brown hair and green eyes compliment my olive skin. My workout journey has gifted me a slender body with nice and firm curves in all the right places. 

I enter the gym and check my card, I wave a hello to the receptionist and try to make my existence as silent and mundane as usual. I can't afford having any gym friends even though I would love to, but my curse forbids me. I've been coming to this gym for 2 years now and I've always been invisible. Not that I'm complaining, that's exactly my goal. 

After 30 minutes of working out, my plan of going unnoticed by the gym community fails miserably for the first time. As I'm running in the treadmill, the music in my headphones abruptly stops. I reach a hand to take my phone and check the cause but I stumble and fall face first in the treadmill. I'm violently thrown sideways to the ground. People gather around me trying to help. My cheeks redden as I look up and see some familiar faces. Guys and girls from my college. Of course, it's the on campus college. 

One guy, that I have never seen before, crouches in front of me and extends his hand to pull me up. His raven thick hair and brown eyes hold me captive. As I stare mesmerized at his strong jaw and high cheekbones I completely ignore his extended hand until he clears his throat. He caught me staring intently at his beautiful features which brings a smile to his face. "Do you plan on staying there forever?" He asks in a deep voice amusement dancing in his eyes. Even his voice is beautiful, not to mention his broad muscular shoulders. Pull yourself together, this encounter is getting awkward by the second.

I look at his hand in front of me then his expectant eyes. But I can't take it. My curse. I will have a vision of him dying somewhere. And everything I've been avoiding the past years will come crushing me again. As I refuse to put my hand in his, I turn putting it on the ground to stand up. But a sharp pain in my wrist makes me hiss. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the guy's hand reaching for my bare wrist. "STOP"I yell looking at him, he flinches. "You can't touch me, just leave me alone." I say in a strong voice. The first thing I notice on his face is hurt then it quickly disappears replaced by irritation and anger. UGH, I didn't mean to be rude but that was the only way to stop him.       

   I stand up and leave the scene without another glance. I go straight to the bathroom and try to calm my breathing. As I look at myself in the mirror, I gather up the courage to go and apologize to the guy. He just wanted to help me and I rewarded him with an unnecessary act of rudeness. I quickly wash my hands and face, then I get out of the WC looking for him. But he is nowhere to be found. He left and now I am feeling really guilty. I will probably never see him again and tell him how sorry I am. He definitely thinks I'm a bitch now. Great.