Chapter 3

“So,” Hannah began as she held a plate out for me to place the cheesecake slice on. “Did you have fun?”

“What, is the fun over already?” I asked as I cut another slice. The cheesecake was chilled, thick, and had a nice crust. Everyone broke out into laughter and I felt a flush of approval. I kept putting slices on plates and soon we were all seated and digging in. It was probably one of the best treats I had ever had. Bar none. Abigail picked up the knife and served another round, and Hannah asked me the question again. “Well, did you?”

“I…yeah, I really did. I mean, the breaking and entering kind of threw me, but we really didn’t do anything bad. So yeah, I definitely had fun.” I finished my declaration and dug into the second piece.

“Good! I had a feeling you were right up our alley. There is so much more to show you.”

I realized the others were just watching us. They were still eating their cake, but just listening to Hannah and I talk.

I fell silent for a moment and finally worked up the courage to ask a question.

“Why me?”

Suddenly some of the questions I had not allowed myself to think came pouring out.

“What even is this? What would have happened if we had gotten caught? Was this some kind of hazing ritual? Are you some kind of frat? And why can I see in the dark now?”

“You can already see in the…” Abigail began.

“We are so not a frat!” John David said at the same time.

Hannah had opened her mouth to reply as well when John Willie turned his head quickly to the side and brought up a hand. Everyone fell quiet. He quickly pulled his hood down and I did too after seeing the others follow him. Hannah reached into her backpack and pulled out a small lantern, turned it on, and set it on the table. Even with the new light, the night was darker than before. But before I could begin to wonder about that, I heard footsteps coming down the path and a flashlight was shining on us.

“Well, what seems to be going on here?” As the voice got closer, I could see that the man behind the light was wearing the campus police uniform. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. The cheesecake was heavy and it didn’t taste as sweet anymore. I was going to lose my scholarship, get kicked out of school, and I had nowhere to go.

Hannah reached over and flipped the lid on the box open. “We are having cheesecake! Want some?”

We had eaten enough of it that the mascot design was almost completely gone.

The policeman hesitated. “Uh…no, thank you. Are you students here?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you have a cheesecake out here?”

“Because it’s delicious,” Hannah replied. “And the lake is pretty at night.”

“Ok, but why are you way out here this late?”

“Because it’s an adventure.”

The officer didn’t reply, but stepped up to the table and shined the light in each of our faces. He stopped for a minute on me. I did my best to not shrink away.

“How old are you?”

“18, sir.” I barely squeaked out.

He took a moment to shine the light on the ground around us and even stooped to look under the table. He then had Hannah open her backpack and saw the pack of paper plates and the plastic bag of assorted utensils.

“Hmm,” he grunted. “You do realize this is weird right? Just sitting out by the lake eating cheesecake?”

“Would you rather a bunch of underage teens be out here breaking the law? I mean, this isn’t breaking the law, right?” Hannah retorted with a laugh.

“It’s weird. Don’t leave your trash out here. And be careful, there are still snakes out here this time of year. And...just…” he turned and spoke into the radio clipped to an epaulet on his shoulder. “All clear out here. Just some students eating cheesecake, apparently. I’m heading back to the car now.”

We all just stared at each other with huge grins on our face until the officer had disappeared back up the path and his steps had receded. I felt weak with relief that we weren't in trouble. I watched as hoods were pulled back up, and I did the same. The night became clearer. Noticeably clearer.

“What…” I slowly pulled my hood back down. Then back up. Then back down again. Then back up again. Each time, I would lose visibility, then I could see almost clear across the lake again. I could even see the faces of the others at the table, watching me experiment.

“So you know how you said you could see in the dark now?” Hannah asked, her voice low but excited. There was a palpable tension around the table.

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I just nodded.

“Well, we all can. And now you can too. At least as long as you’re regularly wearing your hoodie. With the hood up.”

“This is a magic hoodie?” Even to my own ears, I sounded almost rude. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that. But what? A magic hoodie?”

“To be honest, we don’t know. That will make more sense later on. But for now, all I can tell you is that when we wear these hoodies and go on adventures, we get enhanced.”

“Enhanced,” I repeated. Maybe I was just very tired, because I still sounded like a jerk. Then I had another thought. “Wait, enhanced like acrobatics?”

“For one, yeah.”

I looked over at Abigail. “So when you did those flips off the fountain earlier today. When you jumped out of the tree. You were enhanced.” I turned to John David. “The campus police station is completely across campus from the student center. But you checked on them in like two minutes.”

“I have invested some into speed,” he stated as if he was saying a moonless night is dark. But then, I guess that wasn’t the case anymore.

“So, you’ve got really good hearing?” I turned to John Willie.

“That’s a basic sensory enhancement. You’ll get that too. We all have better vision and better hearing. Essentially the five primary senses will all get a boost. I get flickers of what’s about to happen," he replied.

“Like psychic?”

“Like Hannah said, it’s hard to explain at this point.” He sounded apologetic.

I sat in silence and absorbed everything that I had just been told. I didn’t want to believe it. Not one bit of it. But my eyes. I turned and looked up towards the sky. I could see the stars better than I ever had on campus before. I looked out across the lake. I couldn’t see the far side of it. I took my hood down again. I could barely make out Rockett at the far end of the picnic table. I pulled my hood up again and now I could see halfway across the lake. I closed my eyes. I heard and felt my heartbeat thudding in my chest. I realized I could also feel Hannah’s presence next to me. I heard leaves rustling and wind blowing. But that was normal, right?

I felt some of the others get up from the table and I opened my eyes. Standing a few feet from the table, Abigail, John Willie, Rockett, and John David were all striking poses.

“Are you…what…is that ‘Sailor Moon’?”

“Yes!” John David fist pumped with both arms over his head. “I knew he was cool!”

Hannah interrupted him and said, “Don’t expect all of your senses to present immediately. You’ll have to grow into them. Learn how to use them to fit your ability to cope with them. But you seem to have picked up enhanced vision pretty quickly. That’s good. We knew you were right for the hoodie, but honestly there isn’t a handbook to this stuff. So we are learning more all the time ourselves.”

I must have looked like I was about to shut down, because Hannah took my hand and looked me straight in the eyes. “Look, we know there’s a lot being thrown at you. But we want to try just one more thing. Then after that, we will try to answer any questions we can. Most of them will have to be answered later though, when we can take you to a place where most of the answers you can see for yourself. So for now, just one final thing.”

I held her gaze and I couldn’t stop myself. I was nodding before she was done talking. She smiled and her eyes held a shine I hadn’t seen in the others’ yet. She kept holding my right hand in her left hand and turned to look towards her friends.

“This wasn’t really in the plans tonight, but we want to know what all you can see. Look at them, and if you see anything, anything at all, no matter what, just say it,” she said.

I glanced over at her and she caught me looking. With a flick of her chin, she pointed me back to the rest and I turned away. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I just started describing them. John David was the most muscular, with dark eyes and olive skin. His strong jaw and I wish I had a smile like his. John Willie was taller than John David with a lankier build than even Rockett. He had the pale skin of someone who spent more time inside, or at least covered up when out in the sun. He had long fingers, a slightly Patrician nose and dark brown eyes. He pulled the ends of his hoodie out like he was showing it off and did a quick spin. Rockett was between John David and John Willie in height. He had an outdoorsman’s tan, broad shoulders, and I remembered his grip when he pulled me up the loading dock. His hands looked strong. He looked as strong as John David, now that I was taking a closer look. Rockett’s blue eyes were considering me as I stopped talking.

Abigail stepped forward. “What about me?”

“Um. Well, are you and Hannah sisters?”

“Cousins. Our moms are identical twins.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Well, you have black hair. She has blonde hair. You have blue eyes. Hannah has greenish eyes. You have the same chin. You are about the same height. Your eyes don’t make the same lights that hers do. Is that an enhancement?

“What lights?” Hannah asked excitedly?

“Your eyes have a shine to them. I’ve seen it a couple times tonight. When we were hiding in the cafeteria. And just a minute ago when you told me to look for weird stuff.”

“Well, that’s something then! I don’t know what you’re seeing, but I bet it’s written down.”

Abigail came around the table and hunched down next to me, looking into her cousin’s eyes. “Well, I don’t see anything in her eyes, but they sure are pretty aren’t they?”

I blushed hard and floundered for words. “I…no, they’re…I didn’t say that!”

Hannah glared at Abigail as she gave a girly giggle and stood back up. “Well, I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’m just about ready for bed!”

“Same!” Rockett called out.

I kept my head down, my face burning. Hannah got up from her seat and stretched. “Yeah, it is getting pretty late. We should probably go. John David, do you mind making sure he gets home?”

That made me look up. Was Hannah embarrassed to and was going to avoid me now? No sooner had I thought that then everyone was gathering in a circle and I was being called over to join them. I stepped into the open space left for me and I watched as Hannah reached into her backpack one more time and pulled out a very old looking journal. It was wrapped in what had to be real leather and had a long tie made of the same material wrapped a few times around the book. She stretched out her hand, supporting it underneath. Everyone else reached out and placed the tips of their fingers on the edge of the book. John David was next to me and he nudged me with his elbow and nodded with his head. I reached out and put my fingers on the book.

“Another day done. Another story told. Another page filled.” I realized I was speaking along with everyone in unison. I felt a warmth travel up my arm, down my chest, and settle just below my sternum. It almost burned. Then I watched the book begin to glow. Not brightly, but the ambience around the journal shifted. The burning traveled up my chest, down my arm, and I felt the book absorb whatever that sensation was. Then it was over. We all shook ourselves, John David tried to throw an arm around my shoulders, but I had at least three inches in height on him, so he settled for a back slap. As we walked back up the path, leaving the lake behind, he pulled his hood down and invited me to crash on the couch at his apartment. I accepted.