Note: All characters in this story involved in sexual situations are 18 years of age or older.
*****
I followed with Samantha off the elevator after we reached her floor. I took a quick glance at the windowed wall by the elevators to see the rain picking up.
"Man, it is coming down now," I said.
"Good thing we got out of there when we did," she replied, turning to me with a smile. "Looks like we're in for some rough weather. Don't worry though, we'll be safe at my place."
"My savior," I joked, drawing a laugh out of her.
Her apartment was all the way at the far end of the building. It was one of the biggest sizes of apartments with three bedrooms in it. She whipped out her keys and unlocked the door, allowing me to go inside first.
"After you," she politely said.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am." She grinned as I joked with her once again before I walked inside.
"Wow," I remarked as I looked around the place. "It looks
a lot
different from when I was last here. A lot less ... 'nineties.'" Previously, the place was chock-full of color. Colorful carpet, bedrooms their own individual colors, even the rugs were eye-catching. It had become a ton more modern styled. No more color - there was just a
lot
of white. Floor-to-ceiling, white. Glass tables with metallic legs. The only real color around was the accented flowers placed with an almost surgical precision so that one's eyes didn't dare catch more than one at a time.
"Yeah," she replied as she shut the door behind her. "My parents hired a designer. They told him, 'make this place look more grown-up,' and this is what he came up with. My parents love it, but I kind of miss our old rainbow theme."
"It definitely felt like a fun house for me every time I used to come over here as a kid."
"I know, right?" she concurred as she led me into the living room.
"Wow," I reiterated at the sight of the large, all-white room. It wasn't a blinding white, though, it was ... nice. It felt like a room to just relax in. I could see why her parents liked it. That's when I noticed a large, mishmash of color on the floor. It was one of those eye-catching rugs I remembered.
"I see your parents still kept the crazy rug from the old living room."
"It's a little reminder of the old look. 'A piece of the past used for the future' is what they said." We both chuckled. Suddenly, the wind whipped at the sliding glass doors, catching our attention.
"Jeez," I calmly said, "what a day I picked to go swimming."
"Same." She glanced at my towel and then held up a finger for me to wait. "Hang on just a sec."
She quickly shuffled around the corner, leaving me to gaze around the room some more and take in the sights. It was amazing how things change. I guess
I
should know that. Samantha quickly shuffled on back and handed me a fresh, very fluffy towel.
"Here," she said, drying herself off with one of her own.
"Hey, thanks," I replied with a smile whilst drying myself off more thoroughly. She also took my own towel from me.
"I'll just put this away for now," she said. "You go ahead and sit down on the couch."
"Okay," I replied while she shuffled away again. I placed the new, nicer towel on the seat of the - surprisingly - white couch and took a seat on it. I looked out at the rain pouring down hard outside, idly reminiscing about the old days with Samantha. I always knew her to be fun and really full of life. It was nice to see that coming back after the initially cold reception she gave me. I remember slipping and falling while playing in the rain one time and how quickly she ran over check on me. She genuinely cared about me, but I wasn't terribly good at realizing that when I had bloomed into my rambunctious teenage years. Being shut out by her all this time was definitely
not
on my list of life accomplishments.
A few minutes later, Samantha rounded the corner back into the living room. She still had on her swimsuit, a coffee mug held in each hand.
"Here you go," she said, handing me one of the mugs.
"Thanks," I replied with some confusion whilst looking at it. "Tea?" I asked when the steamy scent of orange hit my nose.
"Yeah, it's my favorite kind." She smiled and took a seat next to me. "I figured why not enjoy a hot cup of tea after getting out of the cold, wet rain?"
"Sounds good. Very ... cozy." She giggled before she took a sip of her tea. She then placed the mug on a coaster, sliding a spare one down the glass table for me. I wasn't terribly fond of boring, old tea but I decided to give it a sip. Then two sips.
"Mm, this is really good!" I remarked. Before long, I had finished the whole darn cup and placed it on the table with a satisfied sigh. She looked quite happy to see I enjoyed it.
"So," she said, turning to me while settling into the back cushion of the couch, "first thing's first: Are you some kind of mutant?" I laughed. She grinned and upped the volume so I could hear her over my laughter, "And, follow-up question: Are you radioactive?"
"I can definitely say 'no' to both," I replied with a big smile. "But that's the thing - I don't even know how I got this power or why."
She looked at me fondly and shook her head in disbelief.
"This is so surreal," she quietly said. "You - Anthony, the kid I tried to avoid at all costs for some time but, more important, a very good friend before that." I smiled and nodded gently. "To think that you ... you got, like,
superpowers
. ... I feel like I'm in a movie or something where I should probably be way more panicky or jumpy about this ... but I look at you and you're so relaxed, so ... casual about it. It makes me not freak."
"I've had a good amount of time to come to terms with it and get used to it."
"Maybe you're part of a government experiment, you know?"
"I thought the very same thing," I replied with an upbeat voice, causing her to laugh. "Who knows - maybe there's a microchip in my brain or something."
"That's some incredible technology!"
"Yeah," I agreed with a nod. "So, how have you been?"
"Good, actually. Been spending time with friends, working on my swimming, getting swamped with homework."
"Replace 'working on swimming' with 'managing mind-boggling superpower' and I've been doing the same." She laughed again. "Any boys you like?"
She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Uhh, there's this
one
..."
"Oh yeah? Is he the tall, dark, handsome man of your dreams?"
"No, nothing like that. He's just a boy from my swim class. I ... think he likes me, but then again, I think he
likes
to spend time staring at my boobs."
"I don't blame him," I casually replied, letting my eyes wander to her chest.