Thunder

Chapter 10

"Ryan, Kyleigh is here," Andrew shouts, letting me into the house.

I step inside and he shows me to the living room. "Thank you," I tell him. He nods and then sits down on a couch, picks up a tv remote and begins clicking through the channels.

I turn around when I hear thuds behind me. Ryan runs down the stairs that lead into the room, carrying a backpack. He reaches the bottom of the steps and walks over to me. "Time to go already?"

"Not quite," I answer. "We have a few minutes yet. Angela told me she was on her way there just a moment ago, so I don't think anyone is even there yet."

"I see..." He says.

Andrew stops on a news channel and sets the remote down on the arm of the couch. The meteorologist onscreen tells us that it will be sunny 80 degree weather all day; perfect weather for going swimming. "Now back to Meredith Shawn for the latest stories."

I turn to Ryan, about to ask him a question when my attention is brought back to the television.

"Believe it or not, reports have been coming in all day about a flying hero. A local Casey's store cash register was robbed yesterday by a man identified as Robert Martin. The money was returned just minutes after the robbery by a female in a black outfit and mask. No information is known about the identity of this person, but some believe it is the same person who saved a girl from a burning building a week ago. Witnesses report seeing her fly and move incredibly fast. Some saw the girl shoot what they describe as lightning from her hands. One witness caught this unbelievable sight on camera."

A shaky, pixelated video, probably taken from a cell phone, is shown on the screen. It was recorded some distance away but it shows, clearly enough, a flying person shooting bolts of lightning at a man on a motor cycle. After every lightning flash, a sound of thunder is heard. The video ends after the third strike of lightning, once the action is too far away to be caught on camera.

"This unknown," the reporter makes air quotes with her fingers, "'superhero' has been nicknamed Thunder."

"That sounds awesome," Ryan comments.

"Yeah," I say.

Thunder... I like that name...

Andrew suddenly stands up, grabs a folder off of the coffee table, and walks quickly out of the room.

"What's he in such a hurry for?" I ask Ryan.

"Probably forgot to do something for work again," he answers, shrugging. "His first week on the job has been pretty busy for him."

"Really? Where does he work?"

"At the hospital. He's a doctor-in-training. Today is his day off."

"Cool," I say. "So Andrew is pretty smart, then?"

"Oh, yeah, he's a genius."

After a moment or so, I say, "If you want to, we could probably leave now."

"Sure."

Ryan and I walk out the door and get into my car. I turn the engine on and pull out of the driveway, heading to the pool.

"Are we there yet?" Ryan whines.

I give him a strange look. "We've been in the car for 10 seconds..."

"Exactly, ugh! I hate long car trips!" He complains.

I smile and shake my head, focusing back on driving. A few minutes later, we arrive at the pool.

"Are your friends all here yet?" Ryan asks.

"Uh," I look at the pool. Several people are here already, swimming or lying out in the sun. "I don't see any of them."

I grab my bag from the seat behind me as Ryan and I exit the car. We go to the entrance, pay, and then go into the pool area.

"I'm going to go change into my swimsuit," I tell Ryan and then walk to the bathroom. Once inside, I see a familiar face framed with straight blonde hair. "Angela!"

"Kyleigh!" She says happily. "It's nice to see you! How has your summer been so far?"

How has my first week of summer been? Crazy. Unbelievable. Busy. Anything but normal. I'm a freaking superhero for crying out loud.

I decide to say, "Pretty boring, actually. The only thing that has really happened to me is that I have a new neighbor."

"That's right. You said you were bringing him. What was his name again?"

"Ryan," I answer. "I need to put my swimsuit on, so I'll meet you outside."

"Okay," she says, walking out of the bathroom.

I go into a stall and put on my swimsuit, a blue and white two piece that covers my stomach. I pull a ponytail holder out of my bag, put it on my wrist, and walk toward the mirror hanging over the sink. I comb through my hair with my fingers and quickly French braid it, securing it with the ponytail holder. I notice that my white streak peaks out of the braid at some places. It looks kind of cool in my opinion.

I haven't completely decided whether I like the streak or not yet. When I was younger, I always wanted to put some sort of a color streak in my hair, but I never would've put in it the place that my streak is. I would be fine with it if it had been somewhat on the side of my head, but it's in a random spot near the back. It just kind of looks out of place.

I walk out and join Ryan again. I search for a moment and say, "Angela is already here. Over there." I point in her direction once I find her. We walk over to her. "Ryan, this is Angela. Angela, meet Ryan."

"Hi," Angela greets. Ryan extends his hand and Angela shakes it.

Over the next few minutes, Chris, Kathryn, and Caitlyn show up. I, in turn, introduce them all to Ryan.

"Is Greg coming?" Chris asks.

"No," Angela replies. "You know how he is."

"He hates swimming," I add.

"Well, everyone that's coming is here, so let's go swim!" Angela says.

"Are we jumping?" Kathryn asks.

"Yes!" Angela and I shout in unison as Caitlyn says, "No."

"You're no fun," I tease, causing Caitlyn to roll her eyes. "You guys jumping?" I ask the boys.

"Sure," Chris says.

"Alright," Ryan decides.

All of us walk over to the deep end and stand along the edge, holding hands, except for Caitlyn who stands behind us. I'm standing between Ryan and Kathryn.

"On the count of three?" Angela suggests.

Everyone chants, "One... Two... Three!!!"

We all jump off the cement. I inhale a breath of air before my body plunges into the cool water. I emerge to the surface and tread the water to stay afloat. "That was fun," I comment.

"Yeah," Ryan agrees.

Caitlyn sits at the edge and dips her feet into the pool. I whisper something to Kathryn and the two of us swim over to Caitlyn.

"Now!" Kathryn says suddenly. We each grab one of Caitlyn's arms and pull her into the pool.

"No!" She shouts before her head dips underwater. She pops back up to the surface and glares at us. "I hate you guys. I'm going to murder you in your sleep."

"Love you too!" I reply back, laughing.

Ryan is having a conversation with Chris. He seems to be getting along with my friends pretty well. I'm glad my friends accepted him so easily.

I float on my back and rest. It's nice to have a relaxing day with my friends after everything that has happened to me.

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Hello!!! Hope you all had a good new year!! I also hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always remember to vote!! Talk to you later!!!