CHAPTER TWO – The Awakening
528 Words
The next morning, Lila tried to pretend nothing strange had happened.
No electric pulse through her veins.
No weird moment with Zane in the hallway.
No glowing eyes in her imagination.
She told herself she was just tired.
Stress. Exams. Normal teenage brain chaos.
But deep down, she knew she was lying.
As she walked into school, the hallway felt different—buzzing. People stared at her longer than they usually did, whispering behind locker doors. She tugged her backpack higher and kept moving.
Turning the corner, she saw him.
Zane Blackwood stood alone at his locker, staring into it like he was reading some invisible script. Usually he looked annoyingly confident, smirk ready, comments loaded.
Today, he looked… distracted.
He felt her eyes before she could look away. Slowly, he lifted his head, their gazes locking across the hallway.
Her stomach dropped.
That strange spark from yesterday flickered again—like something inside her recognized him.
Zane’s expression shifted.
Not angry.
Not mocking.
Worried.
He pushed off the locker and walked toward her.
Students cleared a path without him even asking—like they felt something coming.
“Everhart,” he said quietly.
Lila folded her arms. “Don’t start. I am not in the mood for your nonsense today.”
Zane didn’t smirk.
That alone terrified her more than anything.
“You felt it, didn’t you?” he asked.
Lila blinked. “Felt what?”
His voice dropped even lower.
“That shock yesterday. The air around us changed. I know you noticed.”
“You bumped into me,” she snapped. “That’s all.”
“No,” Zane whispered. “It wasn’t just that.”
Something flickered across his eyes—like he was holding back the truth.
Before he could speak again, their science teacher stepped out of class.
“Blackwood. Everhart. Inside. Now.”
They sat beside each other—the teacher’s brilliant idea of punishment for “constant disruptions.”
Perfect.
Lila stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Zane.
He leaned closer.
“Your hands,” he murmured.
She looked down.
Her fingers were glowing faintly—silver sparks dancing across her skin.
Her breath caught.
“What… what is happening?”
Zane’s eyes widened.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
She shook her head, terrified to speak.
“You’re changing,” he whispered. “Just like I did.”
Lila jerked toward him.
“You knew this would happen?”
“I hoped it wouldn’t,” he said. “Because once it starts, there’s no going back.”
Her heart slammed in her chest.
“Going back to what?”
Zane hesitated, jaw tight.
“To the girl who thought she was ordinary.”
Their teacher’s voice echoed across the room:
“Pay attention, you two!”
But Lila couldn’t hear anything else—not over the sound of her pulse, rushing like thunder in her ears.
Powers.
Real powers.
And Zane knew why.
For the first time since she’d met him, the fear wasn’t about him teasing her…
It was about the truth he was hiding.
And Lila Everhart wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it.
- Writer
