THE DAY IS JULY 22. It has been one month since the purple wave. The world has turned to chaos. Shops have been left looted and abandoned. Houses are boarded up and it's residents have long gone. Some of them are dead, sorry, most of them. It's been estimated that two thirds of the population did not survive the wave. Their bodies were left mutilated and decomposing on the streets for weeks before anybody began to do anything about it. They were the lucky ones. They didn't have to see what they rest of us would come too.
It was a few days before anybody began to realise the effect of what had happened. Maybe it was the moment they started hovering above their beds when they woke up in the morning, or maybe it was when the scar on their leg that had been there for years miraculously healed. It doesn't matter, all that matters was that this world - this tragic, grieving, world - had gained something in its loss. It had gained superpowers. Suddenly people were happy again. Sure, nobody forgot the dead or their own pain, but this was exciting!
I remember watching in envy as the few friends I had left used their newfound abilities. What was wrong with me? Why didn't I have these abilities? Well, nothing apparently. I was completely normal. Only, I wasn't. About two weeks after the wave I collapsed. There wasn't much I can remember about it, only a colossal pain near my stomach, and then...nothing. When I awoke the next day they told me. That pain, it was expected, after all, I had just grown another bladder.
So this was my superpower. Rey Parks: the girl who can hold her own pee for extortionate amounts of time. Let me tell you, if you want to feel insignificant, try entering a world of superheroes with nothing but an extra bladder. It is not a good feeling. However, if I've learned anything, it's that you should never underestimate what you have and when it could come in useful.
So now, on the 22nd July 2017, the one month anniversary of the wave, what are people doing? Are they grieving for those they have lost? Are they worrying about what these superpowers might mean for the planet's future? Of course not! What would mankind, the most developed race on the planet, do?
Have a hella-big party! Obviously.
"SHOT! SHOT! SHOT!"
The world around me spins as I toss back another shot. The world is collapsing in distress, where did all this alcohol come from, you might ask. Well, it appears Jeremy Reynolds (a spotty, blond kid who was about to enter year 10) is not totally useless. He was a total dork before the wave, but his newfound ability to produce alcohol out of thin air gave him a whole new reputation: the party thrower. And who's going to say "no" to free alcohol? Certainly not me.
I stumble away from the crowded table and towards...honestly I'm not sure, I just sort of, stumble away? People are what I want to find. Two people in particular: a bouncing blonde by the name of Jill and a auburn haired boy who likes to be called "Rex" because his mother was cruel enough to name him Rudolfus. Don't ask me how he got Rex from that, I think he just liked dinosaurs. Before the wave we were almost complete strangers. Jill spent most of her time in the library, studying to get to a university that no longer exists, or practising volleyball with her team. She was the only survivor. Oh, and did I mention she can now throw a person three times her weight across the room with incredible force? No? Well she can, trust me, I've seen it. Rex was my neighbour. Not next door, more like across the road. We would occasionally walk to school together - that's if I was on time, so not often. His best friend, Marley, survived the wave. He killed himself three days later. It took a toll on Rex, but he was lucky, he still had his mum, and his little sister, Emma, to help him through. They also helped him when he discovered he could fly. Yeah, that happened.
And what about me? What about my friends? What about my family? Honestly, I would like to know that too. My mum and dad had left me with my aunt a week before the wave. They were going to a friend's funeral in America. The wave happened the night before they were meant to come home. They never made it back. In complete and utter honesty, I do not know whether they are alive or dead. I don't know if they got superpowers or if, like me, just developed another organ. Maybe another brain or something. That would be weird. But they haven't called, and I think that scares me more than anything else. And my friends? Dead. At least most of them. The rest of them ran as soon as they found out what was happening along with half the town. I had a boyfriend too. His name was Luke. What happened to him was worse than death.
"Flood-gates let loose yet?" I startle as a tall, brown-eyed boy, with hair like whispers of mouse smoke, approaches. To be honest, I don't know why he walks when he can fly.
"Nope." I pat my belly as a dopey grin slides onto my face, "I've got hours left."
Rec smiles and shakes his wispy head, "Out of everyone, I think I understand how it was you that got the extra bladder."
"Oohhh yeeaahh, well I don't know why it was, uhh, you, that got to fly. I thought you'd be a massive, oversized dinosaur or something. But you know, the world keeps,skipping round like an old duck."
"You're drunk." He states, eyebrows arched.
"You're not." Is my genius reply.
"You're correct. But I thought you weren't able to get drunk, you know, with an extra bladder."
What?
"Uh," I don't think he understands, "I don't think you understand. Bladders hold pee. Stomachs absorb alcohol. I don't have two stomachs. Duh."
Rex's dark eyebrows furrow. He looks a bit like a goat. The music in the air changes track. This song is faster; the beat makes me sway my hips like a pendulum. Side to side, like a pro. Rex looks at me funny. I stop dancing.
I probably looked like an idiot anyway; I know that it is not an uncommon thing.
"REY! REX!" A blond ball of sunshine bounds up to us. She throws herself at Rex, tackling him to the ground. "REX! Why are we on the floor?"
Rex let's out a sigh before heaving them both up, "Oh, I don't know, maybe because a super-strength legally blonde threw herself at me?"
Jill giggles, "He just compared me to Elle Woods. I think I'm going to cry. Success, here I come."
"Wait," I slur, "who does that make me? Do I get to be successful too?"
"No. That's my job." She smirks, "You just have to stand there and look pretty."
I mimic Jill's expression, "Well, that shouldn't be hard."
Rex slaps his forehead. What an idiot.
"You go girl! Oh!" She screeches, "I need you to come to the loo with me."
Do I need to go? No. I've got hours before I need to pee. I don't know how long most bladders last before they burst, but I can normally make just over a day.
"Nope, don't need to." I smirk, "But Rex would love to."
"Rex?" She pleads
He turns his head. His chocolate eyes meet hers: baby blue, the colour of the sky.
He deadpans, "No."
Jill barrels with joy, "THANK YOU!"
"Wha-?"
There is barley time for Rex to blink, let alone run/fly away before she's got him by the arm. I watch in amusement as the tiny blonde drags the tall boy effortlessly across the room until they disappear out of sight.
Then I am alone.
And there's nobody left to judge me.
I return to swaying my hips like a pendulum.
