El didn’t want to meet him again.
But she did.
Not because she trusted him. Not because she believed him. Not because she wanted answers.
But because she needed them.
Calder’s words had lodged themselves in her mind like splinters. Connected. Center. Feel the world tilt. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. Couldn’t stop wondering if he was lying. Couldn’t stop fearing he wasn’t.
So when he texted her again — After school. Same place. — C — she went.
The Park
Calder was already there, sitting beneath the jacaranda tree, the purple blossoms scattered around him like a crown. He looked calm. Too calm. As if he’d been waiting not minutes, but years.
El approached slowly.
“You came,” he said.
“I shouldn’t have.”
“But you did.”
He stood, brushing petals from his jeans. “I want to show you something.”
El stiffened. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Calder’s expression softened. “I’m not asking you to.”
He gestured toward the far end of the park, where a quiet residential street curved around a row of houses.
“Walk with me.”
El hesitated.
Calder didn’t push. He simply waited, letting the silence settle until she felt trapped inside it.
Finally, she nodded.
The Street
They stopped at the corner, where a single car sat parked beneath a streetlamp. A man stood beside it, rummaging through his boot. He looked tired, distracted, unaware of the two teenagers watching him from across the road.
El frowned. “Who is that?”
“No one important,” Calder said. “Just someone passing through.”
Her stomach tightened. “Calder—”
“I’m not asking you to wish anything,” he said. “I’m asking you to feel something.”
El’s pulse spiked. “I don’t want to hurt him.”
“You won’t.”
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
“I want you to think about something that scares you. Something that makes your chest tighten. Something that makes the world lean.”
El swallowed hard. “Why?”
“Because I want to see if I can feel it.”
Her breath caught.
He wasn’t testing the man.
He was testing her.
El looked at the stranger again. He was still digging through his boot, muttering to himself. Completely unaware.
She turned back to Calder. “I don’t want to do this.”
“I know,” he said gently. “But you need to understand what you are. And I need to understand what I am.”
El’s heartbeat thudded painfully.
She closed her eyes.
She didn’t think about the man. She didn’t think about Calder. She didn’t think about the world listening.
She thought about the man who had hurt her for twelve years.
The fear. The helplessness. The nights she wished she could disappear.
Her chest tightened.
Her breath shook.
The familiar pressure coiled behind her ribs.
The world leaned.
Calder inhaled sharply.
El’s eyes snapped open. “What?”
He stared at her, stunned — not afraid, not excited, but overwhelmed.
“I felt it,” he whispered. “El… I felt it.”
Her stomach dropped. “What did you feel?”
Calder pressed a hand to his chest, as if steadying his heartbeat.
“It was like—” He paused, searching for words. “Like the air shifted. Like something pulled at me. Like your fear reached out and touched me.”
El stepped back instinctively.
Calder didn’t move.
“El,” he said softly, “you’re not just influencing the world. You’re influencing me.”
Her breath caught.
He continued, voice trembling with awe.
“And I think I can influence it back.”
El froze.
“What do you mean?”
Calder looked at the parked car, then at her.
“When you felt that fear,” he said, “I felt an impulse. A push. Not mine. Yours. But I could feel where it wanted to go.”
El’s pulse hammered. “Calder—”
“I didn’t act on it,” he said quickly. “I wouldn’t. But I felt it. And that means something.”
El shook her head. “This is wrong. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
Calder stepped closer, eyes bright with something dangerous.
“El,” he whispered, “we’re connected. You and me. And if we can understand how—”
“No,” she said sharply. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Calder’s expression shifted — not angry, not disappointed, but determined.
“You already do,” he said quietly. “Whether you want to or not.”
El flinched.
Calder lowered his voice.
“I’m not trying to make you dangerous,” he said. “I’m trying to make you in control.”
El’s breath shook.
She didn’t know if he was helping her…
…or manipulating her.
But she knew one thing:
Calder wasn’t afraid of her power.
He wanted to understand it.
He wanted to be part of it.
And that made him more dangerous than anyone she’d ever met.
ns216.73.216.176da2
and then Add to home screen.