Lady Iris

Good for You ~5

Dean had on a burgundy jacket, his glasses, sweatpants, and a black beanie. It looked like he had just woken up.

"Hmph?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes. When he realized who was at the door he widened his eyes.

"Oh my god," he whispered. "Skye?" He seemed like he was so shocked he didn't know what to do, so I walked up and awkwardly hugged him.

Yup. 8 years...

My mom walked past us, and when I let go of him, she grabbed his shoulder.

"It's so nice to see you again!" She exclaimed, "It's been so long! Where's your mom? I'd like to speak to her."

Dean, still in shock, pointed down the hall towards the living room, where we could hear a TV blaring.

My mom rushed down the hall, and Dean and I slowly followed.

"Why are you acting all surprised? We told you we were coming..." I asked. Dean seemed to ignore what I had just said.

"Why are you here? You shouldn't be here..." He quietly asked.

"What do you mean why?" I asked, confused. "Don't you want to see me again?" I then remembered the incident that made Dean move away from our town. How could I forget it? I stopped, and then he stopped with me. "Is it-"

"No, no. I'm happy to see you, but why Magna City? Just to see me? Are you living here now? Because the Skylene I knew wouldn't want to move to a 'dumb city', as you have said in the past."

I was going to outright tell him all about Nova, but then I hesitated. You weren't supposed to tell anyone, not even your family, but since I wasn't even old enough to live alone, I needed to tell my mom.

Whatever. He's my best friend. I then paused. Well, at least he was.

He guessed it before I could tell him. "Is it for your... 'special powers?'" I could feel a hint of malice in the way he said it, and I knew why.

"Yes, it is. It's a division under the government using... 'Superhumans' to take down large forces. They think it will be even more effective than the army, and they have recruited every one they could find. No clue how they found me, but I found a letter at the front door step."

"Mhm. Good for you." Dean answered sourly, and walked ahead into the living room, leaving me behind. I narrowed my eyes. There was something wrong with him that I couldn't quite put my finger on... He seemed a lot more sour and distrusting than he was before.

~ December 24, 2022 ~

I was sitting in a tree, reading To Kill a Mockingbird for school- well, my homeschool. I was so peaceful up in the tree, the cool breezes of winter, and the blissful noises of nature-

"SKYE!!"

I groaned. Dean came running through the forest- right past me. I let him go until he was right on the edge of earshot, then I yelled "DEAN!"

He jumped around, and made his trek back to the tree, me smiling the whole time.

"I didn't see you there! You're like a ghost! Where have you been, you've been missing for like two weeks! Don't tell me you've been moping around..."

"No," I snapped, and I shut my book. "I have not been missing, because my mom knows where I am. Also, I am absolutely not moping! I'm just trying to read. In peace."

"Since when do you read anything besides comics?"

"Since I was assigned it for homeschool."

"If I remember, every time you were assigned a book for school, you never-"

"That doesn't matter! I'm reading it now!"

Dean smiled cheekily, and then continued, "Ooookay, but just so you know, I did not come over here just to bother you-"

"Well it seems like it-"

"- I have actually come here to say, GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS!"

I was puzzled for a moment.Oh no, is it Dean's birthday and I forgot? I started getting really nervous. My mom's birthday? Anniversary? Davyn's birthday? His anni-

"Oh, for God's sake," Dean rolled his eyes. "IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE!"

I let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't something for someone personal, but then asked, puzzled, "How could I not know it was Christmas Eve?"

Dean put his hand on his chin. "Hmm, I don't know. Maybe because you've been sitting up in this tree for four days!"

"Hmm," was all I said. I grabbed my bag hanging from a branch and shuffled through it. I was almost out of my week-stock of food, so I would need to be getting down anyways. I put my almost-finished book into my bag, and I slung my bag around my shoulder and climbed down. For a backpack with no food in it, it weighed like bricks.

"I mean, I checked our friendship tree about a million times in case you got lost and decided to show up there. I mean, you obviously chose that tree to hide from me. What were you even doing up there?" Dean asked, as we started walking back towards his house. I was glad he found me in the morning and not afternoon, because we had annual cookie decorating and special things we did on Christmas Eve. I would need to get changed and showered first though, because someone who has been in the wilderness for four days is not someone you would want to be around.

"Reading."

"For four days?!"

"Yes! You know how long it takes me to read a book, when I actually pick up a book. I was even reading at night."

"I didn't see a light in the forest... I mean I think I even walked past your tree a couple of nights."

"I don't need a light. I found out I can see in the dark. Night vision."

Dean stopped, and I stopped with him. "Oh, woah!" He was smiling. "Good for you! It'll get you to start reading again."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Look what else I can do!" I dragged him to a flat boulder, and I went to the other side of it. I stood for a moment, then outstretched my hands. I had done this a few times, and even with how small and low-quality it was, it was a lot of work. I focused all my energy on it, and suddenly it was there.

"Woah!" Dean exclaimed, and jumped back. "Woa... whaaaa?"

"What do you see?"

Dean still awestruck, answered, "A red rectangle?"

"I tried for a brick. But yeah, I think after the incident now I can make illusions of some sort."

"It's an illusion?" he asked, then went to touch the brick. His hand passed right through it, causing a ripple in the brick. "Woa."

"That's also what I've been doing the whole time," Out of my backpack I grabbed a heavy brick. "I don't know why I chose a brick... I thought it would be easy to do an illusion on."

Dean was studying the brick illusion. "Tsk, tsk. Up there for four days, yet you can't make it have any detail? It's all the same color, I feel like I'm in Minecraft."

I was starting to get a headache, so I waved my hand and the brick illusion disappeared. I knew he was joking, but I still answered defensively. "Well, soorry," I started walking back to my house, leaving Dean behind. "I'd like to see you try." I turned to look at him. He was smiling, but there also seemed to be something else behind it.

"I'd like to also."

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Thanks for reading!

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