Jayden Cross's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Jayden Cross could make a jump shot from anywhere on the court, but he couldn't explain why two bullies flew off him yesterday like he'd shoved them with a truck. He bounced his black-and-crimson ball on the park asphalt and tried not to think about it. Basketball was the one thing that was still simple. A rumor had already started at school. Kids said he was strange, a meta, one of those freaks from the other cities. Nobody had proof. He wanted to keep it that way long enough to figure out what he was. He walked to the creek behind the park. His dad used to bring him here before he left. Jayden came here now when his head got loud. He set the ball down and held his hands out over the water. Yesterday the energy had built in his chest like pressure before it burst. He waited for it. Nothing came. His hands only shook a little, same as before. "You practice out here alone a lot?" A woman stood on the bank. Jeans, a navy blazer, short brown hair. She held a recorder low at her side, already running. He hadn't heard her walk up. "I'm Emily Foster. I write for the paper." She didn't smile to soften it. "I came to Marshville for the marsh. Six people vanished out there. But this morning I heard about a kid who threw two boys ten feet without touching them." Jayden's stomach dropped. He picked up the ball. "That's not true." "I talked to one of them an hour ago." She watched his hands. "He's scared of you. That's rare in a kid his size." Jayden said nothing. The pressure started to build in his chest, hot and fast. He pressed the ball against it like that would hold it down. "I'm not here to hurt you," Emily said. "Metas aren't supposed to be in this city. If one is, people need to know before someone decides for them." "I don't know what I am." The words came out before he could stop them. "I didn't ask for it." The pressure broke. A hard ripple of air pushed off him. The creek water rolled back in a small wave. Emily's blazer snapped against her chest. She stepped back one pace. She did not run. She looked at the water, then at him. She clicked the recorder off. "Okay," she said. "That's confirmed." Jayden stared at the dead recorder, then at her face. She knew. The one thing he needed to keep hidden was now written in someone's notebook. "What do you want?" he asked. "The truth, usually." She studied him a moment longer. "But you're a kid. So I'll make you a deal instead." He gripped the ball. His cover was gone. Now the only question was what this stranger would do with it. Emily not just thinking about his powers more of trying to to figure out if he’s connected