Fantasy (Book #1 in the Superpowered series)

4

Serenity woke up feeling groggy.

"Probably that awful dream," she said, voicing her thoughts. "More like nightmare..."

But she had to force her eyelids to stay open and shake off the feeling that the dream was not a dream 

Logic was against it. Serenity had woken up in her pajamas. The scarf was back in its rightful place in the closet. The outfit was neatly folded in her dresser.

But it had seemed real. In most of her dreams, unexplainable things happened, and she never questioned them. Serenity had questioned everything in the so-called dream

And if a middle-schooler could send people into fantasies that she controlled, a lot of other things could be possible.

No one bothered to wake Serenity up. It was the weekend. But she couldn't go back to sleep; there was a feeling of dread lurking around her that refused to let her heavy eyelids close.

Fantasies...

Fantasy. Serenity had forgotten about that name that she'd given herself. It was a bit of a joke, but it made her feel special. As if she was like the Flash or Black Panther or the Wasp, who were using their abilities to save people. What was Serenity doing?

Meeting strange people in the dead of night, being controlled by something unknown. 

It was just a dream! Serenity yelled mentally.

But her dreams had a way of being misty and unlogical. There was some messed-up logic in that 'dream.'

Serenity stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. She knew it wasn't a dream; why bother lying to herself?

I don't want this to control me. I won't use my power unless I have to, Serenity promised herself. But she made sure to add that loophole. Just in case.

***

Serenity rode on the bus to school. She had decided to go.

There were only a few, strangely subdued kids on the bus. Serenity's power must've freaked out people.

At school, it was the same. It was painfully obvious how few students there were. And most of them looked afraid.

And no one talked to Serenity unless they had to. Her name was mentioned several times in the hallway. 

Until lunch.

Serenity sat at an empty table. She munched on a sandwich she had packed. It was grilled cheese, and the familiar taste was a comfort.

"Hello!"

It was a boy, sitting across from her. He had flat brown hair, similar colored eyes, and fair skin. He looked rather... ordinary. And at the same time, very, very different. 

"Er. Hello." She tried to figure out why he was here. He certainly wasn't flirting with her. The look in his eyes was too serious.

"I'm Alex," he introduced.

"Serenity." She went back to eating her sandwich.

"Fantasy."

Serenity's head shot up. "What?"

Alex smiled. "Fantasy. That's what you decided on, right?"

This was impossible. Even if he, Alex, if that was even his name, was some sort of stalker, she'd never said the name aloud. Did they have a superpower too?

Then Serenity was looking at herself. She looked down at her hands, which were not her own slender hands, but bigger, male hands.

She looked at the table. Then at herself. Serenity's lips were curled up in a slight smile.

She was Alex.

Serenity's body got her phone from her pocket. "What—" she began, but Serenity's body put her finger to her lips. She put in the fingerprint, then did something.

Suddenly Serenity was in her own body. And there was a new contact in her admittedly small list of people.

She looked up.

"Uh..." Alex muttered. "How did I get here?"

Serenity instinctively sent him into a fantasy. In it, the world was the same. But Serenity was not there, had never been there. 

She strode out of the cafeteria, onto a bench in the hallway. No one tried to stop her.

Who are you? What are you? Serenity thought as if Alex could read her mind and answer the questions.

Bring!

A text message.

Call me after school.

Serenity stared at the screen as if the message would reveal its true meaning if it were stared at long enough.

If this Alex could help her with her power... 

Sure