Thanks to all those who have commented on my previous stories. Further feedback is always greatly appreciated.
And, as always, all characters are over 18 and fictional. If that makes any sense...
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Chapter 1 - Contact
It started with the first time she hugged me. I know this sounds lame, but at 18, it was the most intimate I had ever been with a girl. There's no real reason for it, either. At least, no good reason.
At an even 6 foot tall with dark hair and blue eyes, I guess I was attractive in some average sort of way, just not enough to ever be on the receiving end of a date request. And the idea of me asking any girl out seemed ridiculous and alien to me. I knew what my problem was.
It seems strange to attribute such a big part of my personality to something as simple as awkwardness, but it's true. Whenever I would talk to anyone I wasn't very close with, male or female, I would always get caught up in my own head about what they meant when they said certain things, or what they were really thinking. I also worried constantly about being misunderstood, about making sure people knew what I meant. This caused me to rarely speak to anyone outside my immediate social circle. I was just one of those "quiet kids".
Of course, I'd always hoped I'd grow out of it, and was fairly certain I would, eventually. But exactly how much I would grow, and how fast, was definitely unexpected. Beyond expectation. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Begin and the beginning, as they say...
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It was such a casual thing, it seemed. I was hanging around at the end of school with some friends.
But Emily was there, which was great. She was great. I didn't know her very well, or talk to her much, as I said, mostly because of complete lack of trying on my part.
But she always seemed so cheery, so bright. She had this cute little way of smiling that made my cock twitch just looking at it.
But anyway, I was being hugged. She had hugged one of her girlfriends about something, I wasn't really listening, just hypnotized by that little smirk, and my friend David joked about feeling lonely, so she gave him one too. I suddenly said that I felt left out, trying to sound light about it, despite how nervous about it I felt. It was one of those moments of rare bravery for me, the kind that usually didn't pay off.
But, luckily for me, before I knew it she was approaching me, smiling widely. My heart started pounding in my chest, and I could literally feel my mouth drying more with every inch closer she moved. I jutted my arms out awkwardly as I prepared for pretty much the best thing to happen to me so far.
But as she slid her arms around my waist, I had a...a feeling. It was something that felt so out of place and somehow uncomfortable that I knew it had to mean something. Something was happening, or something was wrong.
That was the moment my foreseeable future changed. It sounds like I'm being overly dramatic, but trust me. Shit gets weird...
I felt suddenly like I was falling, and jerking, like in that dream where you wake up just before you hit the ground, as cliché as that sounds.
But I wasn't asleep...was I? Even now I'm only fairly, but not completely certain that this is where it all began.
I felt something, some sort of heat inside me. I was becoming encased, surrounded by it. I didn't move or think, I just felt all this...energy around me. I couldn't see, and I couldn't hear. There was just this...
feeling
, like an intense throbbing all around me, and my body was gone and my mind was just...floating.
Suddenly it was gone, pulling away. The heat of her body was gone, the feeling was gone.
My
feelings were gone, replaced by the solidarity of my body rushing back to me, hitting me so hard it was as if I had just fallen a great height.
And then there was just nothing, emptiness. I was a blank slate.
I blinked.
Emily was checking the time on her phone. She was late. Her and the other girls hurried away for something, so I guess I just went home. I think I was mocked about staying so silent after being hugged. I don't remember. I didn't even make an excuse, I just started walking.
I couldn't hold my head together. It was like trying to hold fine sand with my fingertips, my every feeling and thought whisked away by even the slightest breeze or turn of my head.
I got home and collapsed around 7pm, I think, falling into bed, and immediately into unconsciousness.
===
The next morning I awoke with sunlight streaming against my eyes, and that one memory in my head. The falling, the emptiness...and the feeling of intense power, something I don't think I'd recognised at the time. Energy and power.
But that's all it was, a memory. I felt fine. A slight shiver of panic ran through me as I realised I couldn't remember doing any homework before crashing, but then soon remembered it was Saturday, with a small sigh of relief.
I got showered and dressed and made my way downstairs to where my older sister, Jessie, was eating breakfast.
I was deep in thought, so without saying anything I just plunked down at the table opposite her, staring into space.
My sister was 19, a year older than me, with the same hair and eye colour as mine. Hot, I'd been told, but I never really got it...probably because we were related. We were pretty close, and we were always looked out for each other. After our dad died when I was 12, Mom had to work all the time, so it had been just the two of us most nights. She was only a year older than me, like I said, but she really took on a lot of responsibility.
My thoughts drifted from my sister to yesterday. It seemed so strange in hindsight. Not that it hadn't been strange at the time, I mean. What had happened? I'd hugged Emily, I recalled, smiling at the thought,and then...
EnergyHeatPressureFalling-
My whole body jerked up like I'd stopped myself falling asleep. For an instant, I'd felt it again, or maybe my memory of it was just so strong. I didn't know, but my own reaction scared me a little.
"You all right lil' bro?" Jessie asked.
I was dazed slightly, trying to force my brain to function. I'd hugged Emily, and then...the feeling, the falling.
I sighed, shaking my head.
"I don't know, I think I'm coming down with something..." I said as I rubbed my eyes.
She gave me a look of concern as she started clearing the usual little mess she made along with her breakfast.
I felt fine, really, but it felt like I'd come really close to passing out yesterday. Because I hugged a girl? That'd be a great thing to discover, I finally work up the courage to hug a girl and it turns out I'm allergic to it or something. But the more I thought about it, the odder it seemed. I'd been sick enough to pass out before, and it hadn't felt like that.
Suddenly my sister was in front of me, and before I could even react, the feeling was back.
It was the same sensation, but at the same time, so different. This time there was no intense throbbing, no heat, just a fairly quiet buzzing in my own head. Well, I could feel it in my head, but I knew somehow that it was right in front of me, kind of like you can tell where a sound is coming from, even though you hear it in your head.
Just as quickly as it came, it was gone. I jerked my head up, as disoriented as ever, to see my sister pulling her hand back from my head.
"Hmm...you don't have a fever" she said, still looking concerned.
I just looked at her.
"Maybe you should go back to bed?" she suggested.
"No," I said finally, "I think I'll be OK..."
"Well, alright, but let me know if you need anything, 'K?"
"Yeah..." I replied "Hey, actually, could you do me one small favour?" I asked.
"Sure, what do you need?" she smiled, sitting back down.
"Could you, um, hold your hand out for me?"
This thing was touch related, clearly, but what exactly was it?
She gave me a strange look, but she did as I asked. I hesitantly took her hand in mine. As soon as our fingers made contact I could feel it again, the buzzing in my head.
"So...what now?" she asked.
"Nothing, just close your eyes for me." I said.
She gave me a strange look again, but complied. I closed mine too and tried to focus more clearly on the feeling. I seemed to become clearer, sharper somehow, until I could almost see it in my mind's eye. It was like a swirling mass of colours, but without actual colour, if that makes any sense, and it was pulsing slightly. I focused on it more, and I kind of felt myself fall into it. It was like suddenly remembering something you'd been struggling to recall. I immediately felt-
I felt...
I felt kind of annoyed at being asked to do this. If he was sick, was he just trying to pass it on to me? I mean, not intentionally, but still. He always was pretty weird. No, I thought, that's not really fair on him, I mean, he's never even had a girlfriend. What's with that? I was suddenly filled with a feeling of pity for him. Maybe I could hook him up with someone. One of my friends maybe? No, on second thought, that would be kinda awkward.
Imagine, one of my friends going out with my brother...
