Hyper

Choice

Harper woke up in cold sweat. Something had terrified her in her sleep, but she couldn't remember what. It wasn't that she was upset; rather, she had a sinking feeling in her chest.

She was certain something bad was approaching, and she was determined to make sure it wouldn't happen.

She got out of bed and started getting ready for the day. "A cold shower ought to sort me out. Whatever is about to happen won't get the upper hand on me."

Harper soaked the water in, but the feeling had only gotten stronger. She dressed up and left for the kitchen, where she was surprised to see Zoey and Tom eating cereal, both focused completely on their phones.

Harper was fixing her own bowl when she felt a pulling force on her belly. Within a split second, she was pulled down to the floor.

Zoey rushed immediately to help her, but Tom laughed hysterically. "That's not nice, you know," Zoey said.

"No, that was hilarious," he replied. Harper stood up slowly, and Zoey supported her arm as she did.

"Something, something is pulling me. I want to follow it," Harper said, panting. "Well, you can't drive, and I'm not doing anything interesting today; let's go."

Harper lit up at Zoey and hugged her. "Hold on, I don't like this. You shouldn't go," Tom stopped them.

"Well, what do you know? This could be about her powers. Or even her world. This could be epic," Zoey protested.

"It could also be dangerous. Is there anything I could say to convince you?" Harper shook her head. Tom sighed, "then I'm driving. No complaints," he said as Zoey was about to say something.

Tom drove the car to the countryside, taking every turn Harper instructed. It was a long drive, and he had to stop for gas after an hour on the road.

While Tom filled the car, Harper and Zoey went into the convenience store to get something to eat.

"Beef jerky is a must on road trips," Zoey rushed over the aisles. She grabbed a couple of packages and moved on to the next aisle.

As she collected items, she started throwing what she was holding up in the air, making Harper almost jump to catch them.

Harper did her best not to let any item fall to the ground, but Zoey wasn't about to stop. "Hey, come on, give me a break here," she pleaded.

Zoey just smirked and headed to the cashier gleefully. "That will be seventeen dollars and twenty-eight cents," he said with tired eyes.

"What's gotten you down?" Zoey asked without caring for social norms. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just the cashier at a pit stop; that's all I am."

Harper felt bad for the poor guy, but she knew there was nothing she could do to help. Zoey, however, had a different way of thinking.

"Cheer up; it's not the end of the world yet. You can still be whatever you want. My sister here wants to be a hero, so whatever you have planned is got to be better. Right?"

Harper was clearly offended, but then she noticed the guy chuckling a little.

"Yeah, I wanna study software; that has to be easier than this," he said. Harper smacked Zoey on the shoulder for her little joke, but her expression shifted quickly.

"Do you have a phone?" She asked, and he nodded. "You know you can learn coding for free on most sites, right?" The cashier's face lit up, and Zoey gave Harper a puzzled look.

The cashier smiled brightly as he gave Zoey her change and whipped his phone out as soon as the pair were at the door.

"How did you know that?" Zoey finally asked. "Well, I kinda know a lot about code. When I first started learning about this world, the first thing I had to do was understand to code of the tech's infrastructure."