My freshman year, me and another guy on the junior varsity wrestling team made it to area. We traveled with the varsity squad, got put in the same hotel and everything. In an act of what nobody was willing to call hazing, we were walking out to the pool that night when a couple of seniors on the floor above took the mattress off our bed and threw it over the guardrail at us. It was a unique experience.

A bowling ball weighs a fraction of a mattress, and if they'd dropped one of those on me I'd have died, but the mattress. Just a full body wall of impact, so spread out it didn't hurt but at the same time the force was irresistible, smashing me to the carpeted floor off the hotel. High school really sucks sometimes.

The experience had been singular, something I thought I'd never really have anything to compare to until I ran out into traffic wearing a runed hoodie. The car hit me low enough to pop me up into the air instead of rolling over me, and instead of crushing my hip and Lowden the bones in my pelvis it felt like I'd taken a mattress to the entire right side of my body.

I was up in the air and saw the world spin around me in a blur until I smacked back down to roll across the pavement, trading speed for road trash. I think I might have blacked out for a minute then, because I don't remember getting back up or making my way over to the grassy area in front of the apartment building.

I do remember vicious nausea and a spinning horizon that had me grabbing someones shoulder to keep from pitching over into my own vomit.

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"Are you okay?"

My head was pounding but the heaves had stopped and I managed to focus bleary eyes on Selvin.

"Explosion, my sister..."

"Easy man, there was no explosion. "

"Bullshit" I pushed back off him, hands up ready to fight as I looked around trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

There were still people milling around, seemingly excited but at least half of them seemed to be focused on me and Selvin. I couldn't see any signs of an explosion despite what I'd heard in the bodega. Selvin must have seen the confusion on my face because he took pity on me.

He raised his arms and made a patting motion like he was trying to soothe me. "Sonic boom, Chris. There was no explosion, everybody is okay except for the dumbass who ran out into traffic. "

When he said that I turned to look back out into the street. Traffic was flowing normally and I groaned. "They didn't even stop. "

"Would you? In this neighborhood? Get real, man. Are you okay though?"

I started to nod and stopped when it made the naseau come back. "I'm straight, dude. What's up with the sonic boom?"

He eyed me for a minute, like he was thinking before he shrugged. "You went through the trials too didn't you?"

"Too? What'd you get?"

"Yeah, we ain't that close anymore. But since the neighborhood knows now, you remember Chris Stevens."

"Other Chris?"

"Nobody but you calls him that, man. He's like comic book fast man. He was showing off his powers and it caused a sonic boom. Everybody flipped shit but el jefe got it all settled down. "

Once i knew my family was safe, the first thing that ran through my mind was wondering if Javier still had my tamales.