Short Stories Volume 2

The Press Conference pt. 1

There was no amount of showers that I could take to get the stains of blood from my skin. I could bathe in bleach and it still wouldn't be enough. But why would I want to erase the memory of tonight? Their faces will forever be engrained in my brain. It was priceless when their smiles began to disappear.

Let this be a lesson for everyone. Two lessons in fact.

One, never assume that just because someone has powers that they will automatically be your hero. Super strength and speed doesn't mean they want to spend every second of the day saving people for the rest of their lives.

Two, life's a bitch. Everyone knows that but everyone has their breaking point. When they reach it you have no right to cry about it when you were the one who pushed them over the edge. Now if you were one of the good ones then you should have nothing to worry about. If you're scared, you should be.

I'm getting ahead of now so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nexia. I won't bore you with all the details since it's all basics and clichés anyway. I'll just summarize and hopefully you won't be too confused.

I was nine years old when I was diagnosed with multiple brain tumors. The first three surgeries were successful. It was the fourth one that started my origin story if you will. The tumor was too big to perform on and since I was only a child they told my parents that the best option was to try implant radiation therapy. The implant was supposed to stay in until either the tumor went away or it lost its radiation. I had to stay in the hospital for a few days afterwards but once I was given the green light to go home.

Life seemed to have been getting better but this is life that we're talking about here. Since when has it ever given anyone a real break?

My parents wanted to help boost my moral by taking me to the beach. The weather was nice enough to enjoy the cool water but not get cranky with the heat of the sun or get badly burned. I had enough energy to swim out as far as I could safely. The sandwiches and hot dogs that we had brought I was able to keep down. Though to be honest what really made me jump with joy was able to eat chips again.

Then we saw it. All at once, those on the sand pointed out to the sea and began retreating. Dad came running up behind me to pick me up and started running himself with ma following. With the way he was carrying me I could see what made everyone scared.

Just like us the water was retreating from the shore. I could see the ones that were still in the water frantically fighting their way back to land. Further out I could see the wall of water starting to build.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital again. Start of the never ending bad news.

I was informed two days after I had woken up that while they found my father's body my mother's was still missing. Most likely though she was dead so I was now an orphan. One check for the orphan cliché.

Then I was placed with my aunt and her various boyfriends. I say various because none of them lasted long once she brought them home. One look at me and they assumed that I was her kid and they didn't want me as a responsibility. Which meant that my aunt no longer wanted me either since I was beginning to interfere with her life. That led to me being put into the foster care system.

Now here's my double whammy. I was already an older kid by this point. The chances of a family wanting an older kid are about the same as winning the lottery twice. The other part was that given my medical records, no one wanted to deal with a sick kid. Even though I was still cleared of my tumors there was always the chance that they would return and no one wanted to take that chance. So I remained in the system.

Jumping from home to home until I finally was able to get a job legally and make my case with the state that I was able to take care of myself so I no longer needed a guardian. That meant that I couldn't complain no matter how hungry, cold or tired I got. I had to make my own money to pay for the food on my table, the clothes on my back and my own bed. It meant dealing with shitty jobs and shitty pay.

I feel like this goes along with the last one since I had get my own roof I had to deal with terrible landlords. They were either nasty horny old men or spiteful cruel bitches. One threw all my things out on the street and the other actually had sold some of my things. Cops didn't do diddly since it was my fault for not paying my rent on time or coming up short.

Now it's time for the first encounter with my powers.

Call me petty but it's unfortunate that common sense isn't all that common anymore. Don't know if it was to begin with to be honest.

One of my jobs was working as a waitress in one of the fine diners this city has to offer. It wasn't a bad job. I got discounts on the food I ate from there and I got to keep all my own tips. Management was nothing too bad either. The only downside was dealing with some rude and dumb customers. For instance, if I tell you the plate is hot then that means that the damn plate is hot. It's not for you to check if I'm lying and touch it, burn yourself then put the blame on me. Though I give warning, I shouldn't have to when you see and hear the food literally sizzling.

So, it's one thing to put the blame on me. Every waiter knows who's really at fault and this is where management is actually good because they don't believe in that whole "the customer is always right" bullshit. I know that my coworkers would have my back which was something new to me since my parents.

However, it's another thing to take out your anger out on me based on your stupidity by flinging the hot food all over my face and torso. The pain from the heat only lasted for a brief moment before the pain came from my head. It felt like all the surgeries I had were happening all at once but without the anesthesia.

I clutched my head, falsely thinking that somehow that will stop it.

Not only did it actually stop but something else happened as well.