Lincoln and Julia exchange a shared look that makes me unaccountably envious. I’m so easily jealous when it comes to her. I squash down the feeling and remind myself that the grown woman I just passionately kissed only a few hours ago isn’t going to run away with my sixteen-year-old brother. Sometimes I hate how broken my brain feels.
Julia sits on the edge of the couch and dives into the story. “I was at Quickstop and your brother was in front of me. Obviously, I didn’t know it was Lincoln yet.”
Lincoln jumps in, “There was this real asshole guy. He was riding my ass when I pulled into the parking lot.” He turns to Julia. “I meant to tell you that. He had beef with me before you even showed up.”
“What a total toolbag. He followed me around the store too,” she says to him and they’re shaking their heads at the shared experience. I already hate this strange man.
“So then tell him about the part with …” Lincoln holds up his hands and shakes them.
“I’m getting there. Patience. We need to build up the story, give some background.”
I can hardly sit still. Julia seems to sense my anxiety because she shrugs and states, “I slipped. The asshole came at Lincoln and I went all mama bear and I pushed him away. But I never actually touched him. He just fell back. Your brother saw. That’s never happened to me before.”
Lincoln plows on, “Yeah, I totally saw it. It was like mushrooms shot out of her hands, but like, made of light. It was wicked. I can’t even tell you.”
I step to Julia as realization set in. “You controlled it. More than that, you focused it! Did the rest of you glow?” I ask. A hundred questions tumble through my mind and I want to ask them all at once.
“Glow?” Lincoln is looking back and forth between us. “What does she normally do? We clearly have a lot of catching up to do.” He leans back on the couch, spreading out his arms and putting one around Julia’s shoulders. She flinches before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He smiles so openly it cracks my chest.
I can’t help the smile that spreads at the sight of him. Julia and I share a look and she must see it in me too. The simple happiness that comes from seeing somebody you love excited about something. In that moment, everything dissolves between us. The confusion, the frustration, the hurt, the misunderstanding.
“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” she says, gently lifting Lincoln’s arm off her shoulder and setting it on the couch with a friendly pat.
I nod and feel a joy at the sight of them together that makes me feel so light I almost start to float.
I make us all some coffee and we talk for hours. Julia gives Lincoln a CliffsNotes version of her life and struggles. I don’t know if it is because he has already seen her powers or if she feels comfortable with him just because he’s my brother, but whatever the reason, she shares everything.
She only pauses when talking about work, unsure how much she’s allowed to say.
“He knows a little about what I do.” I turn to Lincoln. “Now we’re trying to understand how her powers work. But we’re having trouble getting them to activate on demand in the lab. Then I had a theory that they’re triggered by high emotional situations.”
Julia and I share another look and a blush burns my neck.
“I see,” Lincoln says. Then a second later. “Oh, it’s her! She’s ‘It’s complicated.’” He looks her over appreciatively. “I totally get it.”
She shoves him with her shoulder.
“Well, my abilities definitely respond when provoked. We just need to figure out how to test it without having … using such extreme triggers,” she says. “But I think … I think I might be able to control it more than I thought.” Her gaze goes sort of fuzzy and she looks up at the ceiling. “When I was in that moment with that jerk, I was thinking so hard: just go away. Like, I had to get him away. I think I somehow focused it into my hands.”
“This is very promising.” I try to keep my voice steady but the implications of this are so exciting.
“Oh man, my brother is trying so hard not to lose his shit right now.” Lincoln laughs.
Julia smiles. “I know. Look at him. He’s practically vibrating.”
“We can do so much with this. Do you think, now that you’ve done it, you can control it more?” I ask.
She bites her lip like she’s trying to hold back a smile. “Well, I never even thought it might be in my control. Like I said, I always thought it was a response to stress, not the other way around.”
“But now?” I prompt, feeling excitement building in my racing heart.
“Now I think I might be able to. I’ve been practicing even as we sit here. Look.”
She sits up straighter and relaxes her shoulders back. Her hands rest on her knees as she slides her eyes closed. I take the opportunity to stare openly at her. Her full lips. Her beautiful heart-shaped face. Her golden skin peppered with freckles.
I glance to Lincoln and guilt flushes over me. I’ve been caught ogling her. He’s shaking his head at me.
“Is it working?” she whispers.
