The next day, Zoey dropped me off a few blocks away from the school at an empty street surrounded by trees. Her last words to me were, “If you’re planning to stick to your morals, then please don’t ever hack me again.” Despite the coldness of her words, the morning after was uneventful compared to the night before.

We made small talk over our bowls of cereal, and we even shared a few laughs over small happenings that we recalled from school. Also, it was pretty apparent that she was hungover from all the drinking. Her mom also seemed to be the same as always, so I suppose that helped us pretend it was all a dream.

But to be honest, I felt guilty about not being able to mend their relationship. Perhaps it isn’t my place, and perhaps I shouldn’t have hacked her to begin with. But after hacking the two of them, I couldn’t go back to seeing Zoey as the infallible, perfect girl that I had seen her as before.

For all her wit and charisma, I’m now aware of how deeply damaged she is on the inside. And the worst part is, she probably isn’t even aware of it. She doesn’t know what real love is. Her mother never showed it to her. All she can do is bottle it up and use her hobby of peeking at others to experience it from the outside.

It might sound like I’m being an armchair psychologist. Normally, I’d frown at people who make such rash judgments about what other people feel deep down.

But in my case, I’ve actually been inside of her, so I know.

I know how empty her experiences of love and life are compared to mine.

There’s no chance that Zoey would ever love me. There’s no chance that she would love anyone. All she can do is look on at others who experience love out of envy. If I stayed with her, there’s a chance that I’ll be destroyed forever; strung along by the pain of that unrequited love.

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As much as I hated to admit it, Lance was right about Zoey.

Lance was always right…

I looked down at my phone and hit the delete button. Her number was purged from my contacts list. The only evidence of any connection I had to that girl was now gone with the wind.

“Fuck…”

I had to hold myself back from bursting into tears. It really was a terrifying power.

Just like that, I knew so much about someone I’d barely spoken to before.

Just like that, I knew that the girl I loved would never, ever be capable of loving me back.

Even if we went to the dance together, even if I were to kiss her, or if we went all the way….

It wouldn’t be real love.

And I didn’t know if my heart could handle that.

The school was in sight, but I didn’t have the strength to show my face at that moment.

I slumped against the back of a tree, out of sight of the street.

“Why did I have to get these stupid powers…?”

I prayed for them to go away.

I didn’t want them.

I didn’t want them to exist.

Sure, they might have sounded amusing at first, but after experiencing it firsthand, I decided that it would be for the best if they didn’t exist.

Something like that shouldn’t exist.

People aren’t supposed to get that close to other people.

They aren’t.

They just aren’t.

The cold autumn breeze brushed against my face.

As if beckoning me to stay strong for the upcoming winter.