Seeds of Doubt

My alarm clock buzzes me awake at noon. It’s the weekend, so sleeping in is my first priority. I quickly roll out of bed and put on street clothes, preparing for our meeting.

I arrived at our usual cafe with Sarah and Dylan. We have our appointment with the mysterious emailer soon. We thought it would be best if the three of us met up first so that we can all arrive together. The location is pretty shady too. We’re supposed to meet at an old abandoned school building. It's very small and probably only has a few rooms. It has laid vacant for decades now.

After some brief chatting we hop in Sarah's car to head to the meeting place. She says she can drive us there, so Dylan and I accept her offer.

She drives carefully and is very attentive.

"Thanks again," I smile.

"Of course. Anytime."

"I hate having to make you drive us though."

I have my license but not my own car. I would borrow my dad or mom's, but Sarah had already offered.

"Yeah," Dylan chimes in. "It's really helpful. I don't even have my license."

Really? Hopefully the surprise isn’t showing on my face. I got mine as soon as I was able to. I was super excited even though I barely got the opportunity to actually drive.

"Eh? Why not?"

"Well… I failed the test a few times, and I wouldn't be able to get a car anyway."

Uh-oh. That was insensitive of me. He lashed out at those kids the first time I met him because they were calling him poor. His situation is probably complicated.

The conversation falls to silence. I carefully follow the signs flying by with my eyes. This is nerve-wracking. We are all so nervous about how it will go.

Suddenly, I realize that I have forgotten my gem at home. It's too late to go back, though. I'm sure it'll be fine.

The car slows down, and we park in a lot a ways off from the building. I eagerly hop out of the car. Even though there’s a chance for this to go poorly, it’s still exciting to see more people like us.

"I hope there's someone there who has fire like me!"

Dylan is talkative now that we’re getting close to our destination.

Sarah watches her feet closely and doesn't look up. Maybe she's scared? Or is she just being shy like usual?

I put my hand on her shoulder, and she jerks her head up at me. I give her the most reassuring face I can.

"What are you doing? You look like you just got an awful Christmas present."

"Rude!"

Looks like operation Reassuring Face was a failure.

Dylan laughs at that comment, which causes me and Sarah to chuckle too.

Sarah looks forward and walks a bit ahead of us. Maybe I could call it a success after all? She faces up and seems to be in a better mood.

When we arrive at the old school, I knock on the door. It’s a very small building made of brick. There are windows, but they are cracked and deeply stained a mossy green. The door has an old style to it that is entirely composed of slightly rotting wood.

This place is a dump.

I stop and notice voices on the other side. There are two distinct voices that sound happy. They continue to carry on their conversation without moving any closer. Seems they didn’t hear me.

Turning the knob, I walk in and wave the others to follow.

The inside of the building is a little better than the outside. It is a short hallway with two rooms. One on each side. Those must have been classrooms. The voices come from the room on the left, so we all go there first.

There’s no door on the hinges to this class, so I immediately make eye contact with the people inside.

Two school kids are sitting next to each other around a circular table. A loud girl is hanging off of a male younger classman with her arm around his shoulder. The boy seems to be in around the eighth grade, so the age difference is significant. He is short and cute with short brown hair. His wrist has a bandage wrap on it.

The girl looks a bit older than me, but she’s probably still in school as well. She is tall, hot, has tan skin and long blonde hair. She’s laughing while putting all of her weight onto the boy with her arm around him. She gradually stops laughing as we walk in, and they both turn to look at us.

There is a long silence. Awkwardly, I turn my eyes to avoid eye contact, and that's when I notice the third person in the room. He is tall with long black hair and is playing on his phone. The phone is a relatively old model. He has completely ignored us and sits alone.

I turn to my friends, and Dylan seems a bit shocked but regains his confidence quickly. I feel Sarah's hands on my back as she hides behind me to avoid direct eye contact with the people she doesn't know.

If she doesn't want to be seen badly enough, she may have accidentally turned invisible. I look at her concerned, and she seems to know what I mean without me saying it. She simply shrugs it off. Her control over the power must already be pretty solid.

Dylan says the first word to break the silence.

"Yo."

The girl's face is serious, but she still hangs off of the much smaller boy casually. She analyzes us for a second more and then laughs a bit. Every time she moves, the boy seems slightly uncomfortable.

"Hey, you're the ones who called the meeting, right? Why'd you leave us hangin'? The girl seems upset, but not to a point where it would last.

"Oh, so they called you guys too? We didn't make the meeting; we're guests too."

"Tch. That good-for-nothing host still isn't here?"

"Don't be mean," The boy pinches her cheek, and she immediately puts her happy face on again.

"Awww, you're right," she looks back at us after her scolding, retaining her smile. "Who're you guys anyway?"

Doesn’t anyone know how to ask for someone's name? “I'm Allen, and this is Sarah. Nice to meet you."

I leave Dylan out because he'd want to speak for himself.

"Name's Dylan."

"I'm Christina and this is Simon."

"Hey! You don't have to say my name for me!"

"Sorry, sorry."

An unexpected voice comes from the corner. It's deep and gloomy, "I'm Luke."

I had already forgotten he was there! He might as well have invisibility too.

The three of us take a seat across from Christina and Simon.

As we wait for the host to arrive, there is not a moment of silence. Christina and Dylan are getting along nicely.

"So you guys have gems too, huh? Mine's an awesome red!"

"A red one? That goes well with my pink. What colors do you guys have?" She turns to Sarah and I.

"Yellow and Purple."

"Sweet. Simon here has a green one," Simon once again insists that he can speak for himself, but he’s ignored this time. "Oi! Luke, what's yours?"

The gloomy boy replies, "Blue," without even looking up.

"Have any of you figured anything out about these powers yet?" I ask.

"Naturally," Christina claims sarcastically. "I'm an insane wizard. I have some mad magic skills."

She could've just said no.

Dylan plays along.

"That’s incredible!"

"Can you demonstrate some of your abilities for us?" A new voice continues the bit from the hallway. It sounds somewhat familiar.

A girl walks in. She has brown hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes are a beautiful shade of blue. She is about average height and is very slim. Her face wears an expression that almost seems happy for no reason. Despite having a familiar voice, her face doesn’t ring any bells.

"Finally! Are you our host?" Christina looks relieved that she’s finally here, but also a bit mad.

Met with Christina’s attitude, the new girl brushes it off and plays it cool, "No. I guess that means I’m waiting on him too then?"

She casually takes a seat next to me.

"My name is Rachel. What’re your names?"

With the first proper introduction, we go around the table introducing ourselves again.

"Please show us your magic, Wizard!" Dylan still wants to continue the joke.

"I don’t normally show off, but just this once I will demonstrate my other-worldly omnipotent powers," Christina continues.

There is a dramatic pause as she slowly reaches into her pocket. Gently, her palm unfolds in front of us revealing a quarter. She grabs it between her index finger and her thumb and displays it to us.

"Now watch closely."

She sets it back in the palm of her left hand and then compresses it with her right. She squeezes down on it tightly.

Slowly, her hands open up but the coin is nowhere to be found. She displays her empty palms proudly. The coin has vanished!

Truly magic worthy of a fantasy novel.

"Incredible~" Simon sarcastically compliments her display. He reaches behind her hands and pulls the coin from between her fingers. Sitting beside her ruined the trick for him.

"Hey!"

I have to admit, this display is pretty amusing. They play-fought over the coin happily. Everyone’s nerves have to have been completely eradicated by now. At least mine are.

Sarah stifles giggles as she watches their performance.

Christina wins the quarter back after a tug-of-war with Simon. They both smile wide and laugh.

"Sorry I’m late," A man’s voice echoes through the hall before he walks in through the door-less doorway. "My name is Kyle. Nice to meet you."

He has short curly black hair and dark brown eyes that are almost black. He is a little taller than average and wears a black jacket. It is early spring, but his jacket is clearly for much colder weather. Age-wise, he seems about my age though perhaps more mature. Bags under his eyes express strong fatigue. His posture is extremely poor and he speaks like he is about to fall asleep.

"Oi! You made us wait, kid. What took you so long?" Christina’s eyebrow twitches angrily. She and Simon have waited longer than anyone else.

"Please excuse me. I wanted to give everyone some time before I started the meeting. I thought it would be best if you were all slightly acquainted before I got down to business," he speaks fluently without pausing or stumbling over his words. It’s like he’s meant to be here. Yet, the importance in the words he speaks is completely contrasted by the sound of his faintly sleepy voice.

We once again introduce ourselves to the newcomer.

He sits beside Christina and Simon. The table is now completely full with the perfect number of chairs. Eight of us sit around in total. Clockwise from Kyle, we have: Dylan the musclehead, Sarah the quiet kid, Me, Rachel the cheerleader stereotype, Luke the antisocial, Christina the party girl, and Simon the playful kid. My mind wanders helplessly curious as to what each of their powers are.

"This is everyone that I called here. You should be aware as to why we’re all here. We’ve all come across a glittering gem and have run into supernatural occurrences since. I am confident that I found everyone in the city who has a power. I might’ve missed one but I find that unlikely. Now, may I see your gems?"

I reach into my pocket to grab mine. Oh yeah, I forgot it at home.

Or maybe not? I pull it out of my pocket, but I could’ve sworn I forgot it.

We all reveal our gems. Red, purple, yellow, pink, green, blue, gray, and one other. The last one is an outlier. It shines with many colors. The gem itself is transparent but each glitter inside is of a different color. Kind of like a rainbow, just not in order. The colors are chaotically arranged with no rhyme or reason to them. It reminds me of a colorful firework. This gem belongs to Rachel.

"I see. Now, can I confirm that each of you has a sort of ability or superpower? As of now, the ‘supernatural occurrence’ could be anything. However, from my experience, it seems we should have a controllable ability. Is that true for everyone?"

It feels official, the way this is being conducted. It’s almost like an interrogation. The atmosphere is so intense not even Dylan or Christina dare to speak. We all simply nod. Except for one.

"Yes. It seems so," Rachel appears comfortable despite the circumstances.

"Good. So there is some consistency."

Simon interjects, "Oh! Wanna know my power?"

"No.” Kyle replies fast and forcefully. “We really shouldn’t tell each other our powers."

Why not? I’m certain that’s what we’re all thinking. I still haven’t gotten used to the atmosphere yet so I can’t bring myself to ask.

"Why is that?" Simon narrows his eyebrows, confused.

"We can’t quite trust each other yet," What a stunning response. He’s expressing his distrust with people he met for the first time. It’s only natural to be skeptical, but telling others you doubt them can bring unease. "There’s too much we don’t know. While there’s no repercussion for doubting the trustworthy, the price of trusting the untrustworthy is great. Someone may use their knowledge of your power against you."

"W-why would they do that!?"

"I’m not sure yet. We know nothing about these powers. Moving o-"

Simon stands abruptly, knocking Christina off his shoulders.

"My ability allows me to heal wounds through direct contact!" Simon boldly makes direct eye contact with Kyle in defiance and then the rest of the room. His face changes from anger to embarrassment as he swiftly sits back down. "I trust you all. I hope you can trust me too."

Despite Simon’s attempt to allow trust in the entire group, Kyle has already made it clear that trust could be dangerous. The seeds of doubt have been sown and won’t leave easily. My opinion of Simon is now through the roof though. We might just be one of a kind. I need to make friends with him later.

Even still, silence follows Simon’s display of courage. Nobody would follow in revealing their ability.

Christina looks proud of Simon but also conflicted. Even she doesn’t follow him. Doubt’s roots have dug into everyone. Christina puts her arm around Simon again. It doesn’t seem playful this time. It’s as if she’s declaring, "Mess with him and you’re dead." She holds him close and gives him her protection.

"I’m glad you feel that you can trust me so much. I’m grateful and hope that I can live up to it. Although, I still will not be disclosing my power. Don’t take it personally, I’m a paranoid person," Kyle clears his throat, returning to before the interruption. "Moving on, I want to find out the significance of the gems themselves. Have any of you been without them?"

"I left mine home on multiple occasions," I inform him, finally gaining my voice after Simon gave me bravery.

"Are you certain?"

What’s that mean? I think I did. I thought I did. Speaking of, I thought I left it home today too, what’s the deal with that?

"I’ve run a few tests and it seems that I can’t escape from mine. After I got my power, I’ve been doing nonstop testing."

This guy is incredible.

"I thought I forgot mine today, but it was in my pocket."

"Exactly. The gems seem to always be with us. No matter how many times I lose it or throw it away, it will return to me when I reach for it. It seems the gem is doing something similar to teleporting. This is likely true for all of you as well. That seems to have been the case for Allen. Knowing this, to me, it means we should value the gems greatly. Something tells me that permanently losing the gem would be bad. Which leads me to a different theory: what would happen if your gem was stolen?"

All of Kyle’s tests were likely to have been purposefully leaving it or forgetting it like me, but what if it was intentionally stolen from you? You couldn’t test something like that on your own.

Dylan seems interested, "Don’t the gems teleport? Wouldn’t it just come back?"

"Let’s test it out then," Christina is on the same wavelength as Dylan.

"That would be the obvious answer, but I think it’s worth being cautious of. We don’t know how precious these gems are yet. They seem to be the source of our power, but if we lose the gem, who knows what else may go with it? These powers are still a complete unknown."

"Ehhh? What, you scared?" Christina teases him.

"Yes. I would be fine testing with your gem, though," He reaches out his open hand.

Christina looks dumbfounded at first, but slowly grows frustrated the more she stares at his open palm. Kyle’s hand mocks her attitude and puts her in her place. His method of doing so only makes us all more scared though. The simple hand gesture is a threat. His paranoia has seeped into all of us. The atmosphere of the meeting grows heavy as his outstretched palm becomes a symbol of fear. Hand over your gem, and who knows what’ll happen? It’s magic, after all. Even though there’s no indication that it’s dangerous, the mere possibility is terrifying.

I put my gem back into my pocket. Everyone else has the same idea.

Simon attempts to roll his gem to the center of the table, but Christina grabs his shoulder firmly. She really needs to be there for him. He can do some stupid stuff, apparently.

It looks like Rachel had already put her gem back in her pocket before all of this. She’s quick.

"Assuming that the gems are the source of our power, having more than one would most likely give a large increase in the potency of our magic. That’s only speculation though. It’s also possible that it would allow the use of the other’s magic. Still, we need to find out what these abilities are exactly and how to be safe with them. The point of calling this conference was to see if we could all share our information. Does anyone else have any ideas?"

Kyle casually slipped in a reason for us to steal another person’s gem. It kind of feels like he’s stirring up chaos on purpose. He seems like a very paranoid and cautious person, but his words have only caused more danger.

"I may have something," Simon speaks up.

All eyes turn to face him. The atmosphere is still tense, but he seems to have missed that.

"How do I put this…? Well, right before my first run-in with my power, I had a dream. That itself isn’t unusual, but it was a weird dream. Someone was in pain and I couldn’t stand the sight. I felt helpless but suddenly, I was able to heal them. I thought it was just a random dream at first, but a few days later, I accidentally healed a small cat on the side of the road. He was injured, but when I picked him up, he ran away fully recovered."

"Now that you mention it…" Rachel must’ve had one too.

Did I? I very vaguely remember something similar. What was that dream again? I ran to save someone really fast. Maybe super speed?

My thinking is interrupted when both Christina and Dylan say they had one too. Sarah nods along as well.

"I see… this is valuable information. Any other ideas?" Met with silence, he continues. "Well then, the next order of business is to decide if we even want to continue this meeting. The bottom line is that we now have magic powers that may give us an edge in life. It may be best for some of us to continue our separate ways. We may want to use our powers freely at our own discretion, because the only people who can regulate them is us, the ones who know."

The gloomy voice of Luke returns, "I think we should end the meeting here. We’ve learned a bit of interesting trivia, but I just want to use my powers on my own. Having an edge up in life sounds great to me."

No. No. That’s all wrong. I need to correct that thinking.

"We can’t use our powers for ourselves! Sure, the powers are ours, but we could save so many people with them! Simon’s, for example, would be incredibly helpful to humanity! We can’t just keep them under wraps and only benefit ourselves."

"That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard," Luke laughs. "You think that we’re obligated to use our powers for others? Why would that be the case? They haven’t done anything for me, so I don’t see why I should help them. Besides, how do you know my power would be helpful to anyone?"

We can’t get along.

Dylan backs me up, "We had to have been given these powers for a reason. I’m sure that they can be used to help in some way. We need to help others because it’s the right thing to do."

Kyle interrupts, "Well now I’m curious. How about we take an anonymous vote? It won’t decide what everyone has to do, it’ll just give us a good idea of where the general person stands. Would you rather leave the meetings and use your power alone, or attend them and use your power for a greater purpose?"

He hands out pens and paper, and we each write our opinion on it. They are folded and put into a hat then shuffled.

Kyle counts out how many voted on either staying or going. Surprisingly, it seems to be an even four to four mix.

How could so many of us be so evil?

How could they want to do that?

Those of us who leave are the ones who would prefer to abuse their powers. Even if you simply want no part in this, now that you know, leaving would be the same as allowing others to abuse their power. Turning a blind eye to crime is just as bad as committing it.

"It appears that it would be better to continue this conference another day. It will be optional as a few of us don’t want to come. I’m glad you all came and shared information. I look forward to seeing you all again."

Luke and Kyle are the first to leave with almost no delay. Rachel stops to smile and wave goodbye before leaving the room.

As everyone leaves their seats, I sit still with my hands over my head. I try to wrack my brain for answers. How can I use my power to help others? How can I get everyone else to do the same?

Sarah silently puts her hand on my shoulder and sits next to me while Dylan leans next to the door patiently.

Only me, Dylan, Sarah, Christina, and Simon stuck around. Simon is complaining to Christina about how selfish some of these people are.

That’s right, Simon! We think similarly. I need to make good friends with him.

"Hey, Simon. Sorry I didn’t reveal my power with you. Honestly, I still don’t know mine yet. I should’ve stuck up for you, but it was really nerve-wracking. I’m on your side though."

"You’re Allen, right? Nice to meet you. What school do you go to?"

"North East. You?"

"Oh, I live really close! I go to North high."

High school? I thought he was a middle schooler.

"Are you some kind of boy genius or something?"

With a strained smile he chuckles awkwardly, "No, no, I’m not that young. I’m probably only a year younger than you. I’m a junior."

…

It’s impossible to keep the surprise off my face. I can’t help but give him another once-over. He’s so much shorter than me and his face is still immature and cute. No wonder Christina hung around him so much. From the way they act, they must have known each other for a long time.

"Hey! Don’t be so rude! Are you tryin’ to make fun of him?"

Speaking of Christina.

"No. Sorry about that. It was just surprising. We should all hang out sometime. You’re going to be going to the next conference, right?"

"Yep! Me and Christina will be going as a package."

"Sweet. I’ll see you there."

Feeling refreshed after talking to Simon, I walk out of the old school building.

I catch Luke and Rachel in the last couple words of a conversation outside. As my eyes meet Luke’s he immediately parts ways with Rachel. Maybe I should talk to her too.

"You’re Rachel, right? That meeting was pretty intense."

"Yes. And you’re Allen. The meeting was a bit direct, but I enjoyed it. I’m excited to learn more about these powers."

She still seems pretty familiar.

"What school do you go to?"

"North East. Same as you."

Uh oh. How had I not recognized her!? I still don’t, but she recognized me apparently! I need to play this off.

"O-oh yes, of course. I remember now!"

She gives me a knowing smile that takes pleasure in my embarrassment. Damn her!

"Well, Allen, will I be seeing you at the next meeting?"

"Of course."

"Then I’ll see you there."

She walks off, still smiling about my struggle. Actually, I don’t think she’s stopped smiling since I first saw her. Rachel smiled in various ways according to the situation, but corners of her lips never fell.

Anyway… who all is coming to the next meeting? Me, Sarah, Dylan, Christina, Simon, Rachel, and of course Kyle. That’s a lot more than four! The only other person, Luke, I haven’t even asked yet. During the vote, only four people voted in favor of having more meetings. Did someone lie? But who lied and when? Was it to me when I asked if they were coming, or during the vote? Maybe a few people didn’t want more meetings but were still willing to attend them? That seems odd.

No use in thinking about it. I may as well go home for now and wait until the next meeting. Wait, when even is it? Kyle never set a date, so I guess he’ll have to message us. He has all of our contact information. I should probably get everyone’s too.

Sarah drives me back to the cafe and waves us off. I say my goodbyes and ride my bike back to my house.

It’s a weekend, so my parents are home. I hardly see them, so we aren’t too close. I have an older brother as well. He’s already out of college and has a successful career.

"I’m back! I was just out eating with some friends!" I shout from the entrance.

"Welcome home! I’m making eggs for dinner! Will you be hungry!?" Mom shouts back.

"Yeah! Call me down when it’s done!"

I don’t have any hobbies, so I just play on my computer to waste time.

I eat dinner and then mess around before bed.

My phone buzzes as I receive a group message on my phone from Kyle. He proposes another meeting tomorrow. I respond that I’ll be attending, and Dylan and Sarah agree too. The message was only to the three of us. I guess he’ll be messaging the others individually.

I lay down and try to understand what our meeting today meant.

My power is still unclear. It could be just about anything at this point. If we assume my dream had something to do with it, it could be strength or speed. Maybe something more obscure.

I need to use my power in a meaningful way that helps others. I’m certain that’s why I was given it. Maybe I can be the hero I have always dreamed of. I just need some more strength. But, that’s impossible, isn’t it? My power hasn’t even been used yet, so it can’t be too strong.

Sarah’s is amazing; she can use hers on command!

What if mine was more powerful? If I had another gem… could that allow me to accomplish my goals? Maybe the gems could allow me to make a wish like in a fairy tale. There’s no way to find out, though. Stealing the gems is out of the question.

I think of all the possibilities the powers can accomplish. I could be a hero. I could be the person I’ve always dreamed of and admired. I just need more… power.

The dream sparkles like stars in the sky, and I fall asleep.