Life Purpose
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I was going to need that. And a lot of other things too, like money and a place to live. My mom had offered me her house in Los Angeles, but I knew she was moving out there with my dad for his new job. It wasn’t the same as living on your own, but it would have to do for now.
I didn’t know where to start looking for a job or an apartment so I decided to make a list of all the places I could go—for example, a grocery store.
“How about at the liquor store?” said Andrew. He sat next to me on the couch and watched TV while I made my list. “You can sell booze to people who are clearly underage.”
“That’s illegal,” I protested.
He gave me a look. “People lie about their age all the time. You don’t think they’re gonna put down that they’re eighteen when they actually aren’t? Besides, you could just tell them you’re sixteen.”
The idea seemed a little sketchy to me but I tried to ignore how good it felt to be talking to someone again. “Is your parents’ liquor store still open?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“When do they close?”
“They close whenever they want to.”
“I’ll call tomorrow. If they’re not closed then maybe I can work there part-time until I get back on my feet. Then I’ll find something else.”
Andrew looked impressed. “That’s a pretty good plan. I’m sure they’d hire you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I said.
“No problem.”
While I worked on my list, I told him everything that had happened since he left. The crash. Having superpowers. Living on the streets. Sleeping under bushes and in abandoned buildings. Getting attacked by monsters. My mom dying. And that was just the beginning.
By the time I finished telling him about it, I realized we hadn’t really talked much about each other. We both kept waiting for the other person to talk first, and it felt weird. But I didn’t want to be rude, so I asked him what he did before the accident.
“I graduated from high school last June,” he said. “Then I went away to college—I’m a freshman at UCLA now—but I dropped out after two months. It turned into this big fight with my parents and I couldn’t handle being around them anymore.”
He paused, taking a long drink from his bottle of beer. “But I don’t hate them. They’ve been really great since the accident.”
“What happened?”
“Well, it turns out I’m not the only one in my family who’s psychic. My cousin has it too. Her name’s Jillian. She’s my age and she lives here in San Diego.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Your cousin is psychic?”
“Yeah.”
“Does she have powers too?”
“Not exactly. More like precognition.”
“So she knows what’s going to happen?”
“Sort of. Not what’s gonna happen… but what might happen.”
“Like if she sees a car crash, she’ll know it’s going to happen?”
“Something like that. She says it helps her avoid trouble.”
“That’s kind of cool.”
“I guess. But when I found out that my whole life was based on lies…”
“On lies?”
He took another swig from the beer. “It started when we were kids. My aunt and uncle got divorced and Aunt Linda moved us in with Uncle Bernard. When I was ten, he started molesting me. At first, it wasn’t anything serious. Just some kissing and stuff. But then he began touching me more and more. One night when my mother and father were out of town, he started raping me.”
He stopped talking and stared at the TV.
“Were you scared?” I asked.
“Of course I was. I thought I was going to die.”
“But you didn’t. Why not?”
“Because I had my powers already. They were stronger than any boy I’d ever met. So I pushed him off me. He hit his head and fell down a flight of stairs. That’s when my aunt Linda came home and caught him.”
“Where are your parents now?”
“Dead. In a car crash.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. They were horrible people.”
He paused for a few seconds, staring blankly at the TV.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
His eyes flickered back to mine. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m fine now.”
“Do you ever see your cousin?”
“All the time. She comes over and stays with us sometimes. Her parents won’t let her live anywhere else because they’re afraid she’ll run away. I don’t blame them. After what happened to me, I wouldn’t want to stay with anyone either.”
“Have you ever seen my mom?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s better that way.”
I was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then I remembered something strange he’d said earlier. “Wait. Your aunt and uncle are your parents now?”
“Yeah.”
“And you live with your aunt and uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t you say your parents died in a car crash?”
“Yeah, but—”
“You mean you never saw them?”
“I saw them once. Only for a few seconds. They looked really old and sad. That was the last time I saw them alive.”
“How old were you when that happened?”
“Eleven.”
“Wow. What did they look like?”
“I don’t remember very well, except that they were both wearing black suits. And they had white hair and wrinkled skin.”
“White hair? Like your aunt and uncle?”
“Yeah. Apparently, my parents were very old even when they were alive.”
“That’s crazy. Did you ever meet your grandparents?”
“Once.”
“Was it like they were just a couple of normal people, or did you know they were your grandparents?”
“Normal. I didn’t realize they were my grandparents until later. I always thought they were just two regular people.”
I opened my mouth to ask more questions but a loud knock sounded at the door.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“The pizza guy,” he replied, standing up. “I’ll get it.”
He walked toward the front door and I followed him, curious about why the delivery guy was knocking on our door.
“Hey, man, it’s not for you,” said the delivery guy as soon as Andrew opened it.
“Who is it?”
“A girl named Emma.
The End