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.The damp soil of the forest and the heavy perfume of the tropical plants were intoxicating.That smell reminded me of Nova, and like that, he was by my side!“Nova!” I squealed, half startled and half relieved.“You made it! Great work.Come on we have a lot to do.” he said as he grabbed my hand and started forward.“Wait, what are we doing out here!?” I whispered nervously as I pulled against him.“I thought you wanted answers, Tippy?”“I do.”“Ok, then let’s go.Your answers await.”I could see his white teeth gleaming as he smiled at me and pulled me onward.As usual, he melted away my inhibitions with his charm.We walked a little ways deeper into the forest and soon I felt that we had been swallowed by the night.It was so dark that I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face.Not even the moonlight could make its way into the thick forest.Just as I was about to protest that we go any further for fear we’d never make it back out, I saw a little burst of light.At first it was large, but then it shrunk to the size of an egg and danced in front of Nova.I clung to his side not sure of what to do.As I looked closer I saw that the dancing yellow light was a flame floating directly above Nova’s open palm.“What the…?”“Pretty cool, huh?” he said happily.My eyes grew wide and my heart started pounding louder as I stared in bewilderment at what I was seeing.Was this some kind of magic trick?“How did you do that?” I whispered nervously.“This is what I was trying to tell you, Tippy.I’m special, just like you!”“What?”“I knew you’d never believe me if I just told you what I could do, so I figured I’d show you.That’s what tonight is all about!”I took a step closer to the ball of light bouncing steadily above his hand.It was amazing.It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.Everything in me was telling me to be afraid, but I couldn’t help myself, I was so drawn to Nova and his flame.I wanted to know all about it and I wanted to be able to do it myself.I circled around his hand with my eyes transfixed upon the flame.I wanted to reach out and touch it, but something held me back.I was trembling inside at the idea of it.As if he was reading my mind, he said “You can touch it.It won’t hurt you.”Startled, I froze and looked up at him.“Nova, how do you do that? You always know what I’m thinking.”“Oh, that? Ha-ha.Well yeah, I can do that, too.”I paused for a second to focus on Nova’s face.It was illuminated in such a way that it took my breath away for a moment.The light bathed his tan face enough for me to see the bright sparkle of his green eyes and the joy that radiated over him as he looked at me.His smile was dazzling and white and his dimples were in rare form.It had to hurt to smile that big I thought as I stared at him.Then I shook myself from the Nova-induced spell that he always seemed to cast on me.I was so confused.I didn’t know if I was happy or sad to learn these things.Wait, was he listening to my thoughts right now?“You can hear what people are thinking?” I asked cautiously.“Yes.I know it’s weird, but I’ve always been this way.Ever since I was little.I thought it was normal, and everyone could do it.I’ve never shared this with anyone else Tippy.”“Why me?” I asked.“Because I trust you.You’re different, you’re like me!”“Why do you keep saying that? I can’t do this,” I said pointing at his outstretched hand.“I can’t make fire or hear what people are thinking!”“I have a feeling you can do a lot more than you think you can,” he smiled.He set off again and I was forced to follow him or be swallowed up by the trail of darkness.He stopped shortly and sat on a fallen palm tree, patting the trunk for me to sit next to him.“You try it now.”“What?”“Just do whatever you did when you were with Jemma,” he encouraged.“I keep telling you all, I didn’t do anything when I was with her.”“Well, you definitely did something, maybe you just don’t know how.That’s what we have to figure out.That’s why we came out here, we can practice until you figure it out.”For the first time since I had joined Nova, I started to feel that heavy thing creep back into my chest.What if the only reason Nova wanted to be my friend was because he thought I had powers like him? Once he figured out I didn’t, would he not want to be my friend anymore? I began to feel panicky, like the air was being sucked from my lungs.I broke out in little beads of sweat along my hair line.I wiped at them with the back of my hand.“Tippy, it’s okay.I know you can do this, even if you don’t.Just believe in it.”There he went again, getting inside my head! I was going to have to remember to guard my thoughts more carefully when I was around him.“Here, why don’t you try this,” he said.He grabbed my hand and dumped his bright little orb into my palm.The instant it touched my hand it went out and we were once again bathed in darkness until Nova sparked another magical flame.My mind was reeling.I had learned so much tonight, but was more confused than ever.Nova had magical powers, he’s convinced that I do, too; and who knows, maybe I do? But my trial run wasn’t going so well.“You have to believe in yourself, Tippy.Let’s try it again, but don’t be scared this time.”I held out my right hand, palm up and open and steadied it with my left hand underneath.This time it stayed lit, but as soon as I felt the tingling sensation take hold of my hand I panicked and pulled them back to my sides, dumping the little flame, which extinguished when it hit the mossy ground.I let out a deep sigh.“I’m no good at this.Let’s just go back, okay? I’ve had enough,” I whined.“No, Tippy, come on! Concentrate! I know you can do this!”“Nova, I can’t!”“Ok, calm down.We need to think about this.Maybe you need to be in the right frame of mind to be able to do it.I’ve had years to practice so it just comes naturally to me, but you need to take your time and figure out your triggers.”“Triggers?”“Yes, that’s how you tap into your power.It’s usually tied to emotions or nature.”I just stared at him wide-eyed.It was like he was speaking another language and he might as well have been because I hadn’t the first clue what my trigger was or how to find out since I’ve never done anything magic before; well, except for when I hit Jemma apparently.“Jemma, that’s it!” he said.“Oh, you’ve got to stop doing that! I don’t like you reading my mind!”“Sorry, bad habit,” he smiled.“But I’ll try harder to stay out of your head, promise.”“So you think Jemma is my trigger?” I asked.“Maybe? That’s the first time you did anything magical right?”“Yeah, I guess.But what are we gonna do? Jemma’s not exactly my biggest fan, she’s not going to help me figure out if I have powers!”“Hmmm… let me think.” Nova said, pacing back and forth silently on the damp forest floor.I sat on the log tapping my foot impatiently.It figured that Jemma would be standing in my way of something great.She never could stand me.What did I ever do that was so awful to make her hate me so much? Ugh, I’m not going to let her take this from me.Whatever these so-called powers were, I wanted them.I stood up and paced around with Nova, too.It felt more productive than sitting at least.I stopped by a tree and gave it a hard kick to release some of my frustration.Nova’s light suddenly brightened.We both turned to look at each other.“What was that?” I asked.“I think it was you! What were you just doing?” Nova demanded.“Walking around thinking about how much I hate Jemma.I took my anger out on this poor tree,” I said, patting its trunk regretfully.“That’s it.It’s your anger towards Jemma!” he said excitedly.“Come here, let’s try it again
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