The next day, Rena was in higher spirits than usual. With the sudden onset of power, Rena felt that a path was revealing itself. A way out of the everyday malaise. Everything felt like it was in vivid color, but that wasn’t because of the powers. 

She woke up earlier than usual. Too excited to try and see what she could do. She had the aura down. It’s incredible how easily that came. What the hell. She went into the kitchen to get breakfast. Sylvie was there, on the couch, but this time awake. And also not glowing so brightly. 

“You’re in a good mood today” Said Sylvie, turning to look at Rena enter. Rena could not suppress the wry smile on her face. 

“Weeell…” she trailed off. Sylvie turned up an eyebrow at her stupid expression. 

“Something you want to tell me about?” asked Sylvie. It was already about 2 PM. Sylvie yawned, covering her mouth and turning away to face the now actually on TV. 

“Ok. Well…” Rena wasn’t sure how to say she had developed superpowers. “Wait crap.” she noticed she had left the poptart in the toaster. She went to retrieve it and placed it on a napkin. “Sorry about that.” she said. 

“You’re acting stranger than usual today.” Sylvie said in a sleepy voice.

Sylvie yawned, putting her hand to her mouth and turning back towards the TV. Her long, curly, light blonde hair falling around her pale features like a cloud. Her hair was uncombed, Rena noted, and individual strands stuck out in curly flyaways all over the mass. She must have slept on the couch all night.

“Is it your day off?” Rena replied from the kitchen, putting the other pop tart into the taster. 

“Yup!” The tv was on to a sitcom. Canned laughter erupted from the air around the buffoonery in the fictional world. “Probably go in tomorrow. Maybe not?”

Some time passed. Rena idly watched the television, not taking in the information. When Rena felt it was getting close to time, she watched the toaster. Studying it intently before counting down. 3 2 1 NOW. It didn’t pop. She was about to start another count when the sound and sudden motion of the pop tart being ejected from the heating mechanism startled her. She carefully lifted the hot tart out of the machine and placed it, steaming, on top of the other poptart from last night and went to the couch. 

“Ok ok. So…” Rena started, looking at Sylvie with intent. Rena’s demeanor was usually more reserved so this sudden exuberance was quite strange to Sylvie. 

“I may have developed superpowers?” Rena said with a sheepish grin. 

A few seconds passed. Sylvie looked Rena up and down. Eternally tired eyes assessing her. The pause before responding made Rena a bit uncomfortable, and a little self conscious. “Ok… what kind?” Sylvie said. 

“I don’t know what kind. I just figured out I maybe had them yesterday? You’re sure not surprised huh.” Some of the excitement left Rena and she sat back down normally on the couch, facing the television. I probably shouldn’t have gotten all excited. Why would she care? Rena felt a little embarrassed. 

“How do you not know what kind? What are they like?” Asked Sylvie, turning towards the TV as well. She lifted the remote from the little coffee table in front of the couch, and muted the program. 

“It’s kinda like… I can see… a glow around people? Like. Last night I came in and you were on the couch and I swear it looked like you were, like, on fire.” 

“Woah. I was on fire?” Sylvie turned to issue a side glance at Rena.

“Yeah like there was this huge blue light coming off of you. It was crazy. At first I thought the TV was on, that’s how bright it was! I can even see the glow around you right now but it’s not as bright.” Rena was getting more excited again. 

Sylvie paused and put her hand to her chin for a while. A longer while than the first pause. “Ok. Was it like this?” Sylvie erupted into blue flame once again. Rena recoiled and jumped out of her seat. 

“What the fuck!? What!?” Rena yelled, flabbergasted. Sylvie remained seated, looking up at the shocked woman. 

“Ok um. Lol.” Sylvie often said ‘Lol’ like it was a word. “Uh sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done that.” The flames died down again, but stayed brighter than they were before. 

“Do you… what?... You… You have superpowers!?” Rena exclaimed, stammering. 

“I mean, yeah?” 

“And you never fucking told me you had superpowers!?” Rena was incensed. 

“It never came up?” They stared at each other. “Ok listen.” Sylvie put her hands together, as if she was going to try to explain something sensitive.. “A lot of people have powers. You know that. Everyone knows that. Not everyone wants to flaunt them or really talk about them and get asked a bunch of annoying questions, you know what I mean?” 

Rena stood up straighter, still with her eyes locked to Sylvie. She was right here with powers the entire time I’ve known her and she didn’t even tell me. She could have told me how to get powers this entire time? 

It felt like betrayal, but Rena knew that was foolish. Rena had met people with powers before. It was really not that uncommon. It was generally a faux pas to ask someone how they got their powers, or how to get your own because there were many conditions to developing powers, as well as many types. Rena had read that maybe a tenth or maybe a little less, she didn’t remember, of people you see on the street had some form of power, whether they know it or not. 

“Ok um…” She squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “Sorry. Um… I have to think.” She squeezed her eyes shut and sat back down. 

A few awkward moments passed before Sylvie said “You want to talk about it?” Rena opened her eyes. 

“How long have you had powers?” Rena let out as a sigh. 

“My whole life.” Sylvie responded as if it were nothing.

“Um. What kind of powers are they? Is that rude to ask?” Rena kept on, feeling stupid.

“Uhhh I don’t know if it’s rude but like… I don’t know. Everyone’s relationship to it is different. Some people don’t care about talking about it, some do. You know?” She considered her words for a moment. “Think about it like. If someone’s power is tied to some trauma they had, or how they were treated badly, or like. If someone had an exploding fart power they probably wouldn’t want to talk about it you know?” Sylvie explained it all with her hand up as if she were explaining some basic algebra. 

“That makes sense. I hope yours aren’t like that. Shit I’m sorry.” Rena said. She slunk deeper into the soft couch. 

“It’s no problem. Really. Sorry I know this is a big deal. You just got powers! That’s awesome. Um.” she clasped her hands together in front of her face. “I’m kinda like a psychic?” Rena shifted her eyes without rising from her slouched position and looked at her with an expression like she was explaining something horrible. “I do stuff with my mind. You probably saw what you saw last night because that’s usually when I do it. It’s strongest when I’m sleeping but I can do a little bit when I’m awake. I just like using it most when I’m sleeping.” 

“So like… Can you read minds?” You better not have been reading my mind all these years or so help me. 

“No I can’t. Don’t worry. God that’s the main reason you don’t want to tell people you’re psychic.” Sylvie corrected, rolling her eyes. “I can do dream stuff. It’s hard to explain.” 

Hmm. Thoughts raced through Rena’s mind. All things considered it’s probably better to have someone with powers who already knows how to use them to help her through this and to teach her what powers are about. Rena sat up straighter. “Ok. Can you help me learn about my powers?”

“Nope.” Sylvie retorted instantly. 

Rena felt like she had been slapped in the face. “What? Why?” 

“I don’t know anything about your powers. I don’t see what you see. My thing is nothing like that.” Rena still stared at the pale, thin woman with eyes like burning coals. “Ok crash course in having superpowers. One. Most powers are different. Two. There’s like a million categories powers fall into. I’m a psychic, I guess. If you were a psychic maybe I could help you. Well. I don’t know maybe you could be a psychic. I have no idea really. Neither do you. Um.” Sylvie stopped and thought intently for a few seconds. “We psychics can do stuff with our mind, that’s like, the most stupidly basic explanation of the psychic category. As you may have guessed that includes, like, literally anything so it’s not helpful at all to define it like that. Here.” she crossed her legs in the couch, turning to face Rena fully in the process. She extended both hands, palms down towards her. “Touch my hands and try to reach into my mind.” 

Rena just stared at her, boggled. Sylvie moved her hands again in indication that Rena should touch them. Rena mimicked Sylvie’s position and reached her hands out to touch hers. 

“You have to be joking right?” Rena said putting her palms face up to touch Sylvie’s. “Wow your hands are cold.” 

“Maybe this will make it easier.” Sylvie said as her aura spiked once again. She was now burning brightly, the aura extending to engulf Rena’s hands. This is kind of scary. Rena thought. “What do you see?” asked Sylvie. 

“You are literally on fire right now.” Rena said, dumbfounded. 

“That’s cool. Right now I am extending my mind to link with yours. I’m not good at this type of thing though. I can’t read any of your thoughts. It’s very difficult to explain what I can do. In a way that wouldn’t scare you.” 

“Alright color me fucking scared now Jesus Christ.” Rena looked around Sylvie’s aura. Trying to think of something. The thought came to her mind to extend her aura just as Sylvie was doing. Maybe when the two auras intertwine something would happen, she thought. 

“I’m going to try to like… fuck. This is so dumb. I’m going to try to, like, extend my aura like you’re doing? Maybe we can… goddammit. Maybe we can make a connection or something?” 

“Damned if I know. Give it a shot.” said Sylvie, eyes closed. 

Rena closed her eyes too. And sat up straighter, trying her best to mimic Sylvie’s posture. She concentrated on that central point of her being just like the video told her. She tried to build something by focusing more and more on that point. Her brow furrowed with the effort. She opened her eyes to see… nothing. Her aura was completely the same. Not even half as wide as Sylvie’s. 

“I… I don’t think it’s working.” Rena said. No matter what she could do at this point, her aura and Sylvie’s were innately different. Sylvie’s was like a raging inferno that spread and rose from her body, hers was like her body was subtly glowing. Sylvie’s protruded unevenly like flames while hers simply clung to her body, only growing very slightly in places before returning to the same shape. Sylvie sensed Rena’s disappointment and her aura retreated once more. She pulled her hands away, setting them in her lap. 

“It’s ok. Look, that just means that you’re either not a psychic and I can’t help you, or I don’t know how to do whatever it is you’re doing and you are a psychic and I still can’t help you.” Sylvie let out a huff. “One thing I can say though, is I can tell you’re different now.” Rena looked up to meet her eyes. 

“I don’t see auras or anything like that, but what I do see, or feel rather, is people’s minds. The minds of people with power feel different than those without it. The minds of people with stronger powers sometimes feel stronger as well. The way I think about it is like a lightbulb. You can tell when a lightbulb is off, when it’s dim, flickering, or when it’s brighter than normal. It’s like that but I don’t see it, I just feel it. In my brain. Lol.” Sylvie stuck her tongue out in a stupid expression. 

“Ok I get it. I think that makes sense.” Rena said, pondering the new information, the unlimited unknowns unfolding before her. 

“Before, you were like… uhhhh.” Sylvie put her chin in her hand once again. Thinking deeply about how to formulate the next words. “Before you were like… not very bright lightbulb. If that makes any sense. Usually everyone’s mind has some amount of… light. Because you know people are always thinking and their brain is always working. God this sounds so stupid. You were what I’d expect a normal person without power or not much power to look like. Now you shine brighter. Some people can completely turn their light ‘off’. That’s when you can’t sense anything in their head. It’s like you can’t feel them. When it’s like that you know they’re probably a psychic, maybe a powerful one, or maybe one who wants to hide their thoughts or whatever etcetera. I dunno, man. Look. Nobody taught me how to be a psychic. I never went to school for this. I’ve only ever even talked to a few other psychics. I don’t really know what I’m talking about and I don’t know how to help you. I’m really sorry, Ray.” 

Understanding was beginning to dawn on Rena. “It’s ok. Actually that does help me. I’m not upset about it, I just started this last night so this is to be expected I guess.” She continued to turn over thoughts, information from past things heard or seen starting to move closer together, form connections, but only tenuous ones. “I guess what kinda freaks me out is, if what you’re saying made any sense to me, does that mean you’re way more powerful than me because your aura is so big?” 

Sylvie shrugged.