Sometime ago, there lived this guy named Murphy, who was obviously history's biggest pessimist. He came up with the law that anything that could go wrong would go wrong. And if the manifestation of a new ability in the middle of the most important date of your life counted as something wrong, then there might be some truth to what he said.
It was the evening if the school dance. The day my new life began. I stood in front of the mirror, fussing with my tie one last time. Formal dances were somewhat if a rarity these days, but they were still quite enjoyable, especially when you date was the most beautiful girl at school.
The day before, I sat down after school and told Erica everything. From my episode in the pool to the invisible guy in the AV room. I tactically left out the painting. I didn't see the point in scaring her about something that I myself didn't understand. I didn't want her to be afraid of me, and if we were going to have a future together beyond tonight, I needed to make sure that there were no secrets between us. She listened to everything I had to say, asking questions every now and then. Afterwards, she gave me a kiss on the cheek and said "I always knew that you were special, but I guess I was wrong about how special." Of course, I blushed like the wuss that I was.
Standing at the mirror, I ran my finger through my hair and smoothed my suit. I smiled to myself. "Who could imagine that I would wear a suit?" An image of me in a suit seared through my mind. I was in a suit, kneeling on grass holding a dead girl in my arms...the painting! I shook my head, as if trying to shake the images out of my mind. I ducked down underneath my bed and pulled the painting out. It had stayed there since the first day I got it. I looked at it, going over every single detail. The type of grass I was kneeling on. The lime green dress the the girl, apparently Erica, was wearing. The well lit surroundings. The road next to the patch of grass. Everything there was to see in that picture, I saw. Then I froze it, and let it fall. It shattered into a hundred little pieces. I wasn't about to let my life be ruled by a bunch randomly splattered colors. They say that the future isn't written in stone. Much less painted on canvas."The future isn't written in stone." I thought to myself as I reached for my door knob to go downstairs.All of a sudden, the smooth metal handle became rough and grainy. I pulled back my hand and stared in shock. The door knob was solid, grey stone. I pulled open the door and ran downstairs. That just did not happen.
I sat down on the couch for the next hour, mindlessly surfing channels. My mind was only focused on the night ahead. Everything had to be perfect, or I would flush myself down the toilet. I know, that sounds stupid, but that's how I felt. A car horn honked outside, causing me to drop the remote. She was here! I could hear the beating of my heart of the TV set. No going back from here. I got up and walked to the kitchen where my mom was. "Mom, that's Erica's car. I'm gone."
"A girl coming to pick up her date? How very feminist of her." she replied. I gave my mom a look and then walked to the front door. My heart rate increase to the point that I was genuinely afraid that it would burst. I reached for the front doorknob. Still metal. Good. No creepiness this time. I swung the door open and almost fainted. Standing on the porch was Erica, in the most stunning lime green dress I have ever seen. She literally took my breath away. The dress gripped all of her curves, bringing them out in a way that I had never seen before. It was so stunning! The color was also one of my favorites. The hue of green gave a suave, peaceful look. Wait. Lime green! The image from the painting flashed through my mind. The girl in the picture! She was wearing a lime green dress! Just like this one! "That dress..." I muttered. Erica's expression changed to that of slight disappointment.
"What's the matter?" she asked. "You...You don't like it?"
"No," I said, snapping back to reality, "No, I love it! It looks so good on you. But of course," I said looking at her, "anything looks good on you."
Erica blushed slightly and smiled. "Sweet talk will get you nowhere mister." she said in mock sternness.
"Well, it got me a smile." I said. At this point in time, I had no control over what I was saying. Words were just gushing out of my mouth. I thanked God that they didn't get me in trouble. "Let's go." I said, talking her arm in my own. She smiled again, and we walked off the porch, and got into the waiting limo.
An awkward silence pervaded the back seat of the limo. My constant flow of talk had stopped, and Erica seemed to be rather interested in whatever was outside her window. I had absolutely no idea what to do at this point. "Calm down." I said to myself. "Just relax. This is going to go smooth. As easy as drinking a glass of water." I breathed deeply and leaned back, trying to make myself comfortable. I rested my hand on the armrest connected to the door. I rested there for a second, and then suddenly dropped. I looked down to see what happened and gasped in shock. The armrest was gone! In it's place was a wet spot. My hand was covered in drops of water. Did I just turn the armrest into water?
"Something wrong?" Erica asked. I looked up to see her staring at me.
"Um..No. Nothing at all. Just thinking of a way to break the awkward silence." I smiled nervously. "Guess I did."
She smiled back. "It's okay." she replied. "I've never really been on a date before either."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"No reason." I replied, rather foolishly. I guess I always thought that Erica was so popular that she went out a lot. It makes sense though, seeing as hoe she had to be the one to take me to the prom. I sat there for a while, looking at her dress. It was exactly like the one in the painting, down to the seams. It couldn't be just a coincidence that I was also wearing the exact suit as well. "Erica," I began, "I have something to..."
"We're here." she said. I looked outside and saw the school. I took a deep breath. This was it. We got out of the limo and Erica turned back to tell the driver something, probably when to come pick us up. I looked at the school compound. I had never seen it in the dark before. A street light shone, illuminating the patch of grass at the side of the road. Another nightmarish idea raced through my mind. This patch of grass! This is where it all takes place! I immediately became guarded. Grasping Erica's hand tightly, we began walking towards the school.
"Your hands are cold." She said.
"Like I said, I'm nervous." I replied, scanning our surroundings
"Look at you." I said to myself. "Being worried about a painting. You're through the looking glass aren't you?" Something crunched under my foot, making me stop. I looked down to see a piece of glass. "People are so inconsiderate." Erica said. "They left glass here. Bet it's from some bottle."
"Yeah." I replied, and continued on walking with her to the school door. It wasn't from a bottle. When bent over, I realized that blades of grass had literally became glass. The signs were too clear to ignore. The invisible guy had been right. I had a new ability. This night had already become far more complicated than I thought it would be, and we weren't even inside yet.
