Delusion and Reality

Having Psychic powers is great and all but it gets old pretty fast. They manifested while I was in middle school which of course meant that I showed them off to everyone I knew. For the first couple weeks or so my popularity was through the roof yet before I knew it, no one cared anymore and those who did care just wanted something from me. It's not like I got bullied or anything. After all, who in their right mind would mess with the kid who had super powers?

I stopped using them at school but figured there was no reason not to at home. My parents of course had me help out a lot more around the house since I could do it all with ease. I honestly didn't mind much since it kind of evened out to the amount of effort I did for chores before. I worked on it over the years and got better control and understanding of my abilities including suppressing them.

After wrapping up middle school my Dad got a better job and we moved. Of course I missed my friends but it also felt like a fresh start of sorts. People wouldn't treat me differently just because they saw me as either an opportunity or a threat. I could still enjoy the conveniences of my powers without it getting in the way of everything else. High School was great. I made friends surprisingly fast and the year flew by. Before I knew it, I was halfway through my 2nd year.

Today things changed. Waiting for class to start I was just on my phone and then a girl I had never seen before sat in the desk next to me that was usually empty. I was caught off guard in a way I had never felt before, leaving me feeling almost frozen in time. She was kind of odd just based on first impressions. She had a bandage over her face covering one of her eyes which made me wonder what she could have been up to in order to get hurt like that. Then there was the notebook she was writing in which she had tucked close to her as opposed to just using the desk.

What on earth is she doing that could possibly be that secretive. Of all the powers I had, telepathy wasn’t one of them. Maybe she was embarrassed about it so I figured it probably was best to just move on. I tried to just focus on my work but I found myself glancing back at her until at a certain point we locked eyes and I hurriedly looked back at my textbook. The bell rang for lunch and everyone started packing up. She was the first one out the door, throwing all her things chaotically into her bag. My mind wandered to the cafeteria and what I felt like eating today. I walked out of the classroom, just about to make up my mind when she popped up right from around the corner, scaring me half to death.

“You recognized my aura didn't you?” I stood frozen, feeling confused and unsure of how to respond. She leaned in closer. “Do you have powers too? Is that how you knew?”. Oh no. Did she seriously figure that out just from looking at me? This could seriously be a hassle if people found out. I collected my thoughts and told her that she must be mistaken. She squinted her eyes seemingly doubtful, then only moments later her face lit up again like she just remembered something and then finally shifted into a proud/matter of fact sort of look. “I'm never wrong. They must not have manifested yet.”

I sighed with relief, realizing that she must be completely clueless. That being said with her so close I couldn't help but notice how cute she was. I could feel my face turning red. Shoot. I like her, don't I? I had gotten nervous with girls before sure but I had never felt anything like this. I hated to admit it but I had just fallen for her hard. Of course it had to be the crazy girl.

She waved her hand in front of my face, bringing me back to reality. “Are you seeing a vision?” I held back a laugh. “Yes. I see myself eating a sandwich and must now go and fulfill it.” She was not amused. I moved on. “All jokes aside I'm getting pretty hungry so unless you want to join me for lunch I'll see you later.” She thought about it for a moment and decided to join me. I texted my usual group of friends that I was gonna be busy since I figured it would be sort of random to introduce a girl I had literally just met to all my friends.

We got in line, grabbed our food, and sat down under a tree in the corner of campus. “I'm Nikko by the way. What about you?” I looked up and her mouth was already full despite having just sat down. She took a moment to swallow. “Well my true name is Sapphire but my public identity is Yume.” Right… She proceeded to tell me her backstory about how she was actually from another world and was reincarnated after dying in battle. After being reborn she had no memory of her past life until a few years ago when her powers awakened.

After she finished I was pretty sure she was out of her mind but seeing as I had psychic powers I decided not to rule it out. “Can you show me?” She looked a little taken aback by the request. “The powers I possess can be quite dangerous and should not be used casually.” Figures. I slouched back against the tree trunk. I had almost been hoping for something but I wasn't surprised either. She seemed to notice my disappointment.

“Well I can show you this.” She reached behind her ear where her bandage was attached. I watched as she slowly unwrapped it. “Now keep your distance or its influence might corrupt you.” As the bandages came loose she revealed a swollen black eye. I winced just looking at it. “Ouch that must've hurt.” She nodded, a serious look on her face. “It's a curse of corruption I got while defeating an evil spirit.” The bell rang and I got up. “Well that's the bell so I gotta go. Do you want to meet for lunch again tomorrow? I'd be down to hear more about this ghost.” She smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that”.

That smile. Maybe she really does have powers because holy cow I feel like I'm flying right now. I waved bye to her and went to my other classes. None of it really mattered though since she was all that I could think about the whole time. I wondered what could have gotten her so into this power fantasy Yume seemed so convinced she was living in. That's when a thought crossed my mind. I knew it was irresponsible but the thought of how excited she'd be drowned out any sense of reason I might normally have.