Flipping the sWitch

Chapter 7

"Proxy, something horrible has happened!" Maddie exclaimed as soon as she saw him standing behind the counter at The Seven.

Nearly an hour had passed since Maddie had discovered her powers were missing and had texted Proxy to see if he could come over. He'd texted back that he was in the middle of a shift at the nearby restaurant, The Seven—the place where most of their classmates went to hang out and have a slice. At first, Maddie had been annoyed that her boyfriend wouldn't come to her aide when she needed him. But then she'd reminded herself that the more Diego worked, the more presents he could buy her.

And Diego had great taste.

So, she'd decided to go to him. But she'd had to change first. To do this, Maddie would have to decide on a color scheme, then find an outfit, and lastly, choose shoes and jewelry to match. It was a time-consuming task on a good day. But of course, today was not a good day. Because today she didn't have her powers. And that meant everything had to be done the hard way. Which, coincidentally, was also the long way.

By the time Maddie finally stalked into The Seven, she was completely frustrated, and Sophie and Katie were utterly bored. And hungry. As Maddie threw her arms around her boyfriend, her friends went straight to the counter to order food.

This way, both parties would be happy. Well, happy-ish.

"What's going on?" Diego asked, his eyes widening in fear. "Are you okay?"

"My life is over!" Maddie wailed, causing a few patrons to stop eating and look their way.

Diego gave them all an "everything is fine," smile and then directed Maddie over to an empty table in the corner.

"I...I...," Maddie started, so upset she couldn't seem to get the words out. "I lost my powers."

Diego blinked at her.

"Oh," he said. Then took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, that's not the end of the world, Mads. You've lost your powers before."

"Yes, but this time my mom doesn't have them!" Maddie said, getting worked up. "And I don't know who does. I asked Katie and Sophie and all they had were some used tissue..."

"You think your powers went away because...you have a cold?" Diego asked, confused.

"No! Stay on track, Proxy!" Maddie instructed. "My mom, Katie, Soph—none of them have my powers. And I know you didn't take them, because, why would you need them?"

Diego puffed up his chest a little, happy that his girl thought he was a force to be reckoned with on his own.

"And of course, because I'd break up with you if you stole them from me," Maddie added, making Diego deflate just a little bit. "So, where could they be?"

Diego thought about this for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I don't know, Maddie," he answered. "But try to calm down. Your powers have to be around here somewhere. I bet this is all just some weird cosmic mix-up and you'll have them back before you know it. I get off of work in a few hours and I'll help you look for them then. In the meantime, try not to stress out."

"Try not to stress out? Try not to stress out!" Maddie screeched. "I'm not stressing out!"

As her yelling subsided, so did the noise in The Seven. Maddie looked around the place, completely embarrassed. Everyone was staring at her, mouths agape and frothing for gossip on whatever had her all worked up. She gave a small laugh and then shrugged.

"Just rehearsing a scene," Maddie explained, her voice strangled. "For a play. It's super dramatic. I'll probably win an Oscar."

The rest of The Seven guests went back to their meals once again, though a few kept their eyes trained on Maddie and Diego.