Gifted

Chapter one

I was rummaging around in my room, groaning. Mom made me do some 'late spring cleaning' to get ready for the new school year.

"Neva! Are you done making a ruckus?" Noah, my older brother, shouted. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll be louder just to annoy you!" I shouted down, looking through a box of old books. Curious George, Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter fell out. I smiled. Ah, childhood books. I'll hide these under my disaster of a bed until Noah finds out about it.

I moved on from that box to the next, which, from the looks of it, was full of abandoned projects. There were some pieces of glass, half-finished drawings, and lots of broken pencils and paintbrushes.

I stuck my hand in (getting poked by some mystery things in the process), and pulled out a piece of glass. It was pale yellow with hints of gray and white.

I held it up to my window and the piece caught the rays and made light dance around. One of the rays landed right in my eye!

"Ow!" I complained, immediately dropping the piece. Okay, I guess it was my own fault. But still! Right after my eye recovered, I felt a warm, tingling sensation go through my body.

"Neva!" Mom shouted. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah?" I shouted back.

"Are you finished yet?" I grinned, looking around at my room that's in shambles.

"Almost!" I lied. I was nowhere close.

I ignored her response and picked up the piece of glass again. It didn't have any amazing attributes. A jagged edge, faded color, and... a painful ray. Immediately after I picked it up, a cold feeling washed over my body, making me shiver.

Once it no longer felt like I was in a refrigerator, my senses seemed heightened. I pocketed the piece of glass and went downstairs, deciding to wait to finish.

"Are you finally done?" Noah asked with a smirk. Noah had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and darker tan skin. He took after Dad. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my tongue.

"Not all of us can be nerds like you!" I tease. Noah rolls his eyes and grins.

"True," he responds.

"I'm going for a walk." I say and walk out the door before any of my family get a chance to respond.

I decided to take the scenic way to the park, passing a few of my neighbor friends. Of course, I hadn't had a true best friend since Carter... Nevermind him.

I passed Andrew, a boy with brown hair, dark brown eyes, and tan-brown skin.

"Hey Andrew." I said with a short wave. Andrew grins and stops.

"Hey, Neva. How are you doing?" He asks. I roll my eyes and reply,

"Just doing a whole-season-late-spring-cleaning. What about you?" Andrew shrugged.

"Nothing much. Just reading." He replied. "No Gift yet?" I shook my head.

"Not yet. But I'm running out of time. Then I'd have to go to another school."

"Wiltshire's always an option." Andrew offers.

"Isn't that, a town over?" I question. Andrew shrugs.

"So?"

"Maybe." I say vaguely. "Wanna join me on my lonesome walk?" I offer. Andrew shrugs and nods.

"Sure. Better than just staring at a phone or a book." I nod with a smirk.

"Phone? Yes. Book? Debatable." I argue as we keep walking and pass Colby Daz, a tall redhead with brown eyes.

"Hey Colby!" Andrew calls out. I wave along with him. Colby, who was busy mowing the lawn, just waved and continued his job.

"Anyway, where are we going?" Andrew asked after a minute.

"I was thinking the park." I answered. Soon, we turned the corner to the park only to find that there were people already there.

"Hey, that's Ebony Travers and her siblings I think." Andrew says. I nodded. My family lived about a block or two away from the Travers.

"Didn't we go to the same school in elementary?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"I think. She's going to Wiltshire's this year." Andrew replied. Phew. So, if I get lucky, I won't have to spend high school with her. "C'mon!" Andrew said with a slight laugh. "Let's say a quick hi!"

"Fine." I replied as we walked over to a tree that Ebony, a girl with bright auburn hair, emerald green eyes, and tan skin, had decided to wait at.

"Hey Ebony," Andrew said with a grin.

"Hey Andrew. And, uh, Neva..." Ebony replies with a slight stutter.

"Hey, Ebony." I say just to not make it awkward.

"So... How's life been, Neva?" Ebony says so, so awkwardly. We hadn't really talked since middle school, since we went to separate high schools.

"Good. How have you been?" I ask with a shrug, still twirling the glass shard.

"Good. Not a lot has gone on. Just high school, I guess." Ebony replies. I nod.

"Cool. Anyway, I'd better get going. Nice seeing you." I said with a quick wave, then walked away, leaving Andrew alone with Ebony.