Freakish Abilities

Chapter One

hey guys- camp nanowrimo july is over as you can tell today is the first of august and i thought why not put up my first chapter today? i completely failed the one month challenge since i'm nowhere close to my goal but i'll manage! so, without further ado, chapter one of Freakish Abilities.

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“Adeline,” I looked up from my cup of coffee to see my best friend Hailey sit across me. She smiled cheekily at me and draped her jacket at the back of her chair. I smiled back and blew at my coffee, waiting for it to cool. We were sitting at a small café a few blocks away from my apartment and the slight tinge of autumn in the air usually calls for warm cafés and even warmer drinks. I took a sip from my coffee and watched as the waitress put down Hailey’s drink in front of her. She smiled and drew her hot chocolate towards her, wrapping her delicate fingers around the mug. As she blew the steam rising from the mug, her long brown hair swayed, following her movements. 

I love watching her, and not in a creepy or romantic way. I love watching the way people move, the way they walked and talked to each other. Hailey is one of my favourite people to watch. Her movements were elegant and soft, her bony and slim fingers suggest she played piano some time ago, and you couldn’t help but respond to her genuine smile. When you first look at a girl like Hailey, you’d think she is the epitome of polite and calm. Well, she isn’t. She’s quite the opposite. She gets riled up easily and hasn’t got much patience, she likes loud music and parties and rocks out with her fellow band mates every weekend, she’s everything I’m not. 

And I guess that’s kinda why we became friends. She was so unlike me that we clicked into place instantly, I was the logical one out of the duo so I get to keep us out of trouble, and she was the daredevil in our duo so I get to enjoy the wild side of me, which comes out often enough. We’ve been friends for four years, and I’m proud to say that I’ve seen the worst and the best of her. And she’s seen the worst and best of me. 

“I can’t wait to start senior year,” she says giddily, setting her mug down. I rolled my eyes but smiled nonetheless. 

“Me neither,” I lied, “is it just me or is autumn starting earlier than usual?” I asked. I looked out the window and stared curiously at the green and orange trees. She glared at me. 

“You’re changing the subject,” she said, lessening her glare. She shrugged and looked out the window, too. “It is chillier than normal,” she then looked up at the sky, where the clouds blocked off the sun, “maybe the sun decided to take a vacation.” She smirked and landed her gaze at me. I laughed softly and shook my head. 

“Well, it was a well-earned vacation, imagine heating up a planet for billions of years,” I smiled. She snorted then took a long sip of her hot cocoa. 

“Why don’t you wanna start your senior year?” Hailey asked, going back to our previous subject. I shrugged, took a sip from my mug, and looked at the white tabletop. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to do my last year of high school, it’s just that school is so plain. I know, I know, school is always boring, but I mean we have the same routine every single day I’m kind of getting sick of it,” I said. I trailed my fingernail around the rim of the mug. Hailey was silent, meaning I should continue my little explanation. 

“I’m just waiting for something to happen, something big and life changing,” I smiled at her. “Nothing life changing’s going on at school. Well, except graduation, I guess,” she laughed and we both took a sip. 

“Either way,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Senior year is a year full of parties and fun, and I intend to go to every one of them, with you of course,” she smiled mischievously and I rolled my eyes. 

“Do I even have a choice?" 

 “No, no you don’t.” 

*

After an hour or so, Hailey left The Coffee House. Leaving me to my own thoughts and my second cup of hot coffee. I didn’t mind though, I was used to being alone. I like being alone, I really do. It’s nice and calm and there’s no one there to bother you. Of course sometimes, I like being alone with someone, preferably Hailey. We’d sit on the hood of her Mum’s car, parked over a cliff and look at the city lights. We wouldn’t say anything, not even a hello. We’d sit and look at the lights, and then we’d leave without saying goodbye. 

Those were the sad days, when Hailey’s ex-boyfriend broke up with her and she kept crying and crying. Or when school got too hard and we’d get stressed to the point of no return, we’d go to that cliff in utter silence and it was okay. We understand each other like that. So Hailey knew that I wouldn’t mind the loneliness when she left The Coffee House, she knew I’d be okay. And I couldn’t have ever asked for a better friend. 

I got home later, by riding the bus. I love riding the bus; I didn’t have a car or the money to buy one, unfortunately. I always liked riding the bus, though; there were so many different people that I couldn’t help but people-watch. I’d always go on the top of the double-decker bus, so I can look down and see the streets and, again, people-watch like there’s no tomorrow. It was a very interesting hobby and I’m glad I didn’t have a car for once. Usually, when it’s school time, Hailey would bring me to and from school, but I don’t like taking freebies so there will be some occasions where I would take the bus.  

I walked into the apartment building and walked to the second floor. I grabbed my keys and unlocked the door and opened it. I let out a yawn as I dropped the keys into a wooden bowl placed on a table conveniently placed next to the door. I shrugged my jacket off and draped it on the coat hanger, instantly walking to the kitchen to get some snacks. I hummed a tune while opening the fridge, seeing if there’s something to eat and mentally checking if I needed to buy more groceries. 

If you haven’t guessed already, I live alone. Not like I have a choice. The thing is, I have no idea where my parents are. Seeing as I’m 18 and already legally an adult, it’s normal for kids my age to be living alone. Not for me though, they disappeared three years ago, and no one has found them since. I used to think they were running away from me but I knew that couldn’t be true, we were one of those happy families. At least I thought we were. 

I grabbed an orange and a bottle of water, turning around and simultaneously closing the fridge with my foot, still humming the tune. I walked to my room and put the bottle of water on my bedside table, unpeeled the orange and went on tumblr. 

And that was basically the rest of my last week of my summer holiday.

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a/n so here's the first chapter! hope you liked it and if you do please please please vote or leave a comment and also add this in your library or something, it'll mean the world to me! next chapter will be up next friday i hope so hang on for a little while, thanks!

-KJ