Syra

Chapter 1

Hello. I'm Syra Peterson. I'll be telling this story. The story of how I went from the youngest of three to the one who saved my family from itself.

I'll start you off with a little bit of helpful background information. My mom's name is Kim. My dad's name was Randy, but he died ten years ago. My twin sister Braydee and I are thirteen. I'm thirteen minutes younger than her. We also have an older brother named Tyler. He's fifteen, about eighteen months older than Braydee and me.

About six months after my dad died, I started to realize I could do things the other kids couldn't. For example, I could lift things with my mind, I could make things glow, and I could make certain things teleport. When my mom found out about what I could do, she didn't want the government to find out, so we worked as best we could to control my powers. I was homeschooled until my mom was confident that I could control myself, which was third grade. I was put in Braydee's class on purpose, per Mom's request to the school, because she knew what to do if something happened.

I'll admit, there were a few people I had fun pranking with my powers, unnoticed. However, for the most part, I didn't use my powers at school.

After Braydee and I turned thirteen, Mom dropped a bomb on us.

"Hey, guys. I have some news for you," Mom said as we piled onto the couch.

"What kind of news?" Braydee asked.

"Uh, that depends," Mom replied. "Hopefully good news."

"Okay, tell us," Tyler urged.

Mom sighed, collected herself, and finally said "I'm getting married."

She was so excited, but all my siblings and I could do was stare at her with our mouths open. "Well, why didn't you tell us sooner that you were even seeing someone?" Tyler asked.

"Because I didn't know if it was gonna work," Mom replied. "He's the first one since your dad, and I didn't want to mess it up. I wanted you guys to like him. He's coming for dinner tomorrow night."

"Does he make you happy?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah. Really happy," Mom replied.

"Then it doesn't matter if we like him," Tyler said.

"It does, though," Mom argued. "He's gonna be like your new dad."

"No one can ever be our new dad, Mom," Braydee said. "But he can be your new husband. We're really happy for you."

Braydee wrapped her arms around Mom, then Tyler followed. I was still staring dumbfounded. "But what about my powers?" I said quietly.

"I haven't told him yet. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Mom replied.

"Is he still gonna want to marry you when he finds out?" I asked.

Mom didn't answer that. I wasn't expecting her to. Instead she let go of my siblings and stood up. "What if he never learns about them?"

I exchanged a confused look with Braydee. "He's gonna find out eventually," I replied.

"Not unless you only use them when necessary," Mom replied, a slight edge to her voice.

"I've gotten so used to using them freely. How am I going to get used to not using them at all?"

"He works for the police, Syra. You can't let him find out about your powers," Mom said. She looked like she was going to cry.

"That makes a difference!" Tyler yelled. "If he was just a regular guy, like a mailman or a janitor or something, that's one thing. But he's a police officer! You should've thought about Syra when you got involved with him."