Victor calculated that he could get away with pressing the snooze button three times before having to rush to the bus stop. But on that particular morning, he couldn't be bothered to stop at such a small number.

After his alarm blared for the sixth time, he ploddingly slithered from underneath his covers. He then brushed his teeth—dedicating a whopping five seconds to the task, and applied deodorant before dousing himself in copious amounts of body spray. He put on the first t-shirt he saw, slipped on a pair of blue jeans, and then glanced at his collection of sneakers. That quick look over was ultimately for naught, since he ended up choosing a pair by random.

As he walked toward his backpack, a knock at the door stopped him in his tracks.

Victor's dad snuck his head in. "Everything okay in here?" He inspected the room with those eyes that seemingly saw everything. Now one would assume that over four decades of life experience would have given him a better poker face, but Mr. Au couldn't mask his disgust.

"I'll clean my room tomorrow. I promise."

Mr. Au put on his most convincing smile. "I know. Now hurry up before you're late."

"Any news about the girl?"

"Not a word. Maybe the police decided to brush this one under the rug."

A day after they left the hospital, his father covertly revisited the church, returning minutes later to relay to everyone that the dead woman's body was no longer there. Even the demon's ashes were gone, as if the events of that day had never happened.

Why would the police hide the death of an innocent woman? Something was off about this, but Catelyn's fate and Summer's injury enveloped Victor's headspace, leaving little room for him to dwell on this puzzling mystery.

Victor sprinted out the door. He prepped himself for his scheduled leap toward the branch hovering above the sidewalk. But to his dismay, what awaited him was a lonely tree stump sitting atop his neighbor's lawn. Grief overcame him. There was comfort in familiarity, and the loss of this admittedly childish routine wounded him more than he ever could have imagined.

A week had passed since Summer's injury, and despite Victor's many attempts at trying to rationalize his way out of feeling any guilt, he couldn't escape the self-deprecating loop he had trapped himself in.

The world spun, so he moped his way to the stump and sat down, slouching as low as humanly possible. Victor shut his eyes, allowing for Catelyn's gap-toothed smile to come into view. He studied the image of her face. He saw it then, and he couldn't help but focus on it now. The thinly veiled anguish underneath. It's in the eyes. The same look his father gave him every morning since they left the hospital. It's always in the eyes.

Victor found the whole thing ironic. His desire to use his abilities to save people was all-consuming. Yet when it came to showing basic empathy, something most humans are capable of, he failed to do so. All she needed was someone to let her know that things would get better. That if she needed someone to talk to, he would be there. I could have saved her, he thought, fighting back tears. I know I could have. He convinced himself that he had all the pieces to help Catelyn, but his self-centeredness had made him blind to the complete puzzle.

Victor was in need of comfort. Something to placate the vortex of self pity and indignity swirling within.

With his fingers crossed, he trekked toward the forested area located about a mile away from his school. As he stood before the clearing, memories of his fight against the janitor came rushing in all at once. He took a deep breath and searched the area around each tree, hoping to find the bottle of vodka he had dropped.

It was fruitless. Dejected, he collapsed onto the grass and watched as the singular cloud above listlessly drifted by. He closed his eyes, moving his attention inward—his hands resting on his chest, rising and falling with each breath.

Someone gave his shoulder a light kick. Victor violently lifted his head, raring for a fight.

"So you decided to play hooky without me? I'm hurt," Connor said. He was smiling but... it's always in the eyes.

Victor sat up and curled into a ball.

"I threw it in the water," Connor said as he sat down next to Victor.

"Threw what in the—" Then it hit him. "Of course. I should have known you were behind why my shit always ends up missing. What's it like stalking your best friend?"

"Stalking is a bit harsh."

"If the shoe fits."

Connor stood up and patted the grass from his pants. "Why haven't you come to visit Summer? Is sitting around sulking more important to you?"

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"She probably doesn't even want to see me."

"Okay, I know you're dense, but there's no way you're this stupid. She hasn't stopped asking about you."

Victor lowered his head. "I'm the reason she's in the hospital. If I would have just listened to her and treated Catelyn better—"

"Are you seriously this narcissistic? The world doesn't revolve around you. Catelyn was going through something, just like billions of other people on this planet. What happened was horrible, but please get over yourself."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement."

"I'm not here to enable your delusions. Were you an asshole? Absolutely. But beating yourself up over a girl you knew almost nothing about is madness."

"Connor, I really did like Catelyn. But because I chose to play games and pile even more bullshit onto her plate, I never got to truly show her. Now she's gone and Summer is in the hospital. Of all the people in the world to get these powers, why did it have to be a complete fuck up like me?"

"Raise your head."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Victor complied, and Connor pointed to a faint scar on his neck. "Do you remember how you got that?"

Victor rubbed the scar and thought back to his time in elementary school. "Skylar."

"Skylar tripped Lucas as he was walking to the front of the class with his science fair project. When it broke, he pointed and laughed."

"And then I kicked that asshole's desk over." Victor allowed himself to smile.

"Everyone started laughing. He got so mad that he grabbed some scissors and slashed your neck."

"And then I decked him in his fucking jaw. I still don't get why I got suspended. He's the one that cut me." Victor shook his head. "Why did you bring that up?"

Connor pointed to Victor's hand. "Do you remember how you sprained your hand?"

"Oh yeah. Colton sucker punched me after I told him to stop stealing people's lunches, so I retaliated."

"And then he dodged your punch and your hand slammed against the wall behind him."

"Finish the story."

Connor rolled his eyes. "I'm blanking on the details."

Victor stood up and swung at the air. "And then I used my other hand to pound him. He never stole anyone's lunch after that."

"Good people use the power they have to help others. Every single fight you've been in was against a bully. Now I know you can be self centered, bullish, arrogant—"

"Get to the point."

"The point is, you never sat back and condemned bullying in silence. You always chose to act. Did getting injured stop you from throwing a punch at the next bully that harmed someone? Of course not. V, this is just another scar. It'll heal."

"But—"

"Who said I was finished? Now, let me ask you a question. Do you think humans are born with a base nature? That one's core personality never changes?"

"I guess I never really put much thought—"

"Wrong!"

"If you cut me off one more time."

Connor guffawed. "Hear me out. Personality is not static. Who you are now is not who you have to be. If there are parts of yourself that you want to change, do it. Make a conscious effort to be better. Now, stop sulking like a little bitch!"

Victor knew exactly what Connor was trying to do. But despite seeing right through his attempts, the tsunami rampaging within had reverted to still waters. "Did Summer teach you that?"

"Surprisingly, that one was all me. Just one of the many observations I've made while on this plane."

"I guess I have been acting pretty weird lately."

"Pretty weird? Collin's won every single game in gym class this week. It's sickening."

"Every morning I've had to watch my dad act like my room being a mess doesn't bother him."

"You're going to give him an ulcer."

"Well, we don't have any tardy notes, so going to school isn't an option."

"I could forge us one."

"Who are you again?"

"How about we go to your house and ask your dad to drive us to the hospital? It's about time you paid Summer a visit."

"There's no way my dad is gonna be okay with us ditching."

"He knows it's been a tough week for you. I don't think you're giving him enough credit."

"Famous last words."

***

Victor and Connor showed up at the house covered in grass stains. Mr. Au glared at the two teenagers standing on his front porch in the middle of a school day. But when they asked to visit Summer, he found it difficult to maintain any semblance of anger.

On the car ride to the hospital, he caught a glimpse of his son's first genuine smile in what felt like ages. Mr. Au had visited Summer several times throughout the week, and each time he asked Victor to tag along, he always came up with some ridiculous excuse. He knew that pushing his son to face his emotions head on was a pointless endeavor, so he let time, the supreme healer, work its magic.

He then turned his attention to Connor, smiling even harder than Victor.

Maybe in this case, time wasn't the cure.

***

Thanks Connor, he thought as he watched the two boys enter Summer's room.

"V!" Summer exclaimed. She grimaced, but smiled through the pain. "You came!"

Victor shot Connor a quick glance. "I'm really sorry—"

"I know."

"How are you feeling?"

"A lot better now that you're here."

"So I guess me showing up everyday doesn't mean much," Connor said, smiling with his eyes downcast.

"Well, I am the leader of the group, so it makes sense for things to get better when I show up," Victor said.

"The what?" Summer asked.

Victor looked genuinely flabbergasted. "I'm the leader of the group. I thought we established this."

"I think I can speak for the both of us when I say we have no idea what you're talking about," Connor said. "Besides, you're too impulsive to be the leader. If anyone is the leader, it's me."

"Oh please," Summer moaned.

Mr. Au couldn't help but smile as they continued to argue. He was never a particularly spiritual person, but the existence of angels, demons, and a plethora of other mystical nonsense opened him up to many possibilities. One of them being the existence of bonds that transcend the physical realm.

He fancied himself a skeptic, but as he watched his son glow in the presence of his friends, he truly believed that those three were soulmates.