Inversion Read online

  Just as quickly as it had started, everything returned to normal. No matter how he moved his hands the stone stayed in place on his desk.

  I’m just imagining things, Carson thought. It’s just an ordinary rock. I’m sick and I’m just seeing things. After nearly half an hour of trying he had only managed to give himself a headache. Carson crawled back into bed.

  That’s it. I’m losing it. I’m losing my freaking mind.

  The blanket beneath him vibrated. Carson reached underneath it and pulled out his cell phone.

  “Hello?” His voice cracked.

  “How are you feeling,” Ellie asked.

  “I’m fine,” Carson lied. He stifled a cough.

  “Well, if you’re up for it then I’m ok with you going back to school tomorrow.”

  Carson eyed the rock suspiciously. Was he ready to go back?

  “It’ll be good to get some normalcy back,” Ellie said.

  Carson laughed. “For you or for me?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Everything ok?”

  Carson thought about telling her what was happening, or rather what he thought was happening with the stone. He decided against it. She would just call him crazy and keep him out of school even longer. Maybe even make him see Dr. Taylor more. If he missed any more school then they more than likely wouldn’t let him graduate. The only thing that terrified Carson more than graduating was being held back for a year. He cringed at the thought.

  “Yeah,” Carson finally said. “Everythings good. Just tired.”

  “Try to get some sleep then.” She tried to sound motherly but Carson could hear right through it. Ever since the accident she had started acting like the caring mother that she hadn’t been in years. Give it time, Carson thought, hanging up the phone. She’ll be back to her old self in no time.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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  CARSON SPENT THE REST of the day trying to figure out how to get the stone to move. No matter how many times the thought crossed his mind he refused to believe that he was imagining it. He pulled out box after box full of stones of all shapes and sizes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get them to move. Even the strange sensation he was feeling in his hands had failed to return. Carson sat alone in his room, defeated. He looked around at the stones that littered his floor. All he felt was frustration. Hours had passed by with nothing to show for it. By the late afternoon Carson’s stomach was growling viciously. Now that the excitement was gone he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything all day.

  Walking into the kitchen he heard the crunch of gravel. Ellie’s small silver car flashed past the window. Carson stayed on task, his mind focused only on eating. He had barely pulled out a box of cereal when a voice startled him.

  “I see you’re doing better,'' Robert said.

  Carson nearly jumped from surprise. He dropped the box. Cereal spilled out all over the floor.

  Anger surged through Carson. The icy feeling made a sudden reappearance. He ignored it.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I have some work to do in town,'' Robert said..

  “You have no right being here.”

  Robert glared down at him. He didn’t appreciate being talked to like that. Especially when it was coming from someone he saw as a child.

  “You haven’t seen the news, have you?”

  Carson shook his head.

  “What happened at the museum that day wasn’t my fault. We have proof that it was caused by someone else. We were sabotaged.”

  “I don’t care,'' Carson said incredulously. He turned away to look for a bowl.

  “You built the damn thing. You don’t get to shove the responsibility of what happened onto someone else.”

  “Look. I know you’re upset but you really need to—-”

  Carson slammed the bowl onto the counter. Shards of porcelain flew everywhere.

  “I don’t care who did what. It was your job to make sure that everyone was safe.”

  “I tried,'' Robert said.

  “Well, you failed and that's on you. Stop playing the victim card.” Carson pointed a finger towards the door. “Just go.”

  Robert started to say something but stopped himself. There was no use in arguing. He didn’t know how he would even start. He had never seen Carson like this before.

  Carson’s chest rose and fell rapidly. His eyes followed Robert as he left the kitchen.

  Carson picked up the empty box of cereal and slammed it onto the counter. He could hear the shards of glass crunching beneath it. Another headache was already forming in the center of his forehead. He couldn’t believe the audacity his grandfather had showing up and how easily he expected to be forgiven. He curled and uncurled his fingers, trying to calm himself down.

  Soft thumps came from the floor above him. Carson looked up at the ceiling. The sound was barely noticeable, but he was sure it was there. Carson ran up the stairs and into his room.

  “What the?!”

  Carson slid into his room and quickly shut the door behind him. He pressed his back against the wood. The stones he had laid out earlier were now floating all around him. Some of them would drop to the floor with a dull thud before slowly rising back into the air. The stones bumped into each other and spun through the air, unaffected by anything else. Carson reached out to touch one. As soon as his finger brushed its surface they all fell to the ground. He stood there, speechless.

  I’m not crazy.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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  THE FIRST DAY BACK at school was a much needed distraction for Carson. He woke up with a sense of confidence and determination that he never had before. Perhaps it was that he was returning to school after being absent for a month, or maybe it was the discovery that the accident had somehow given him superpowers. Either way Carson felt like he was capable of anything. The excitement from the day before had bled over into the night, making it hard for Carson to fall asleep. It still felt weird to say the word aloud, let alone to even think about it.

  Superpowers.

  After he had found the stones floating Carson spent the rest of the night trying to get them to lift into the air again. He was absolutely sure he had powers. The next step was to figure out how to use them.

  At first Carson was as unsuccessful as he had been all day. The stones laid lifeless in front of him, refusing to move no matter what he did. It wasn’t until Carson thought back to the argument he had with his grandfather that the rocks started to move on their own. It still baffled him that Robert could be so coy about everything. His mom and the others not wanting to talk about the accident was one thing. But the man who actually caused it? That was truly unforgivable.

  The more he thought about it the angrier he got. The more he let the anger take over him the stronger the icy feeling on the edges of his fingers became. Carson held on to that feeling of anger and willed for it to grow. He thought about everyone who got hurt in the accident. He thought about the people who didn’t make it out, the people who didn’t get to go home. Most importantly, however, he thought about Nick.

  The icy feeling grew, spreading from his fingertips, through his arms, and into the pit of his stomach.

  Slowly the three stones started to lift off of the ground.

  Anger, he thought, clenching and unclenching his fists. That's how it works.

  Despite practicing his newfound abilities until the early morning he had only managed to get them to float for only a few seconds. He didn’t care though. He was just happy that he wasn’t going crazy. With that, Carson was more than ready to return to school. He had superpowers now. He was going to be unstoppable.

  The sky was dark with heavy clouds. They reminded him of the dreams he had before the accident. They seemed like so long ago. Even the nightmares of the never-ending street stopped. Carson smiled to himself. Maybe things were finally changing for t
he better.

  It didn’t take long for him to find Jacob and Abigail at school. Both of them were mixed in with everyone as they walked to their first class.

  “Hey,” Carson said.

  Jacob’s eyes widened at the sight of him. “Hey! You’re back!”

  “I’m back,” Carson repeated.

  No one else noticed him.

  “Whats wrong with her,” Carson asked, nodding towards Abigail. She didn’t look like her usual perky self. Her hair was matted and messy. Dark circles lined the bottom of her eyes. Even her skin looked paler.

  Jacob answered for her. “She’s just tired.”

  Carson took that as a sign to keep talking. “What were you doing all night?”

  “Studying,” she said without hesitation.

  “She has a Chem test today that she didn’t study for ‘till the last minute,'' Jacob said.

  “I guess near-death experiences don’t warrant test extensions,” Carson joked.

  “Nope,” Jacob said, shoving his cell phone into his pocket. “The wheels of education just keep on spinning. Even for you. There’s a lot that we missed and they expect us to have it all done before graduation.”

  The first warning bell of the morning rang.

  “Of course they do,'' Carson said. “I’ll see you in Bio.”

  Carson had hoped for an easy day back but had no such luck. With every class period that passed his stack of homework only grew bigger. The teachers acted like they didn’t know what he had just gone through, or even worse, they just didn’t care.

  By the time Biology started Carson was both physically and mentally exhausted. Lunch was only an hour away and then he’d be able to rest. He just had to hold out until then.

  He entered the classroom relieved to find Jacob already sitting behind one of the long tables in the back.

  “How’s your first day going,” Jacob asked him. Carson threw his heavy backpack onto the desk and sat down.

  “Horrible. It’s just work, work, and more work. I thought we were graduating soon. Why are they giving us more work to do?”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  When the final bell rang an older woman walked into the room. She was dressed like she was stuck in the 50’s. She wore a long blue dress that nearly reached the floor. Her hair was short and grey.

  Carson was visibly confused.

  “Where’s Mr. Underwood?”

  Jacob looked back and forth between the woman and Carson.

  “Do you not know?”

  “Know what?”

  Jacob swallowed hard. He sat up in his seat, placing his elbows on the desk. He lowered his voice and leaned in closer to Carson.

  “Underwood died in the accident.”

  Carson didn’t know what to say. He slumped back into his chair. He had been so excited to go back to school but with everything reminding him about what happened made it seem more like a bad idea. Everywhere he looked he saw nothing but depressed looking students and adults trying their best to make sure that everyone forgot.

  Carson tried his best to pay attention to the lesson but every time he saw the substitutes face he lost his focus. The clock moved slower every time he looked up at it. He tried to distract himself by thinking about his powers but that only made him more anxious to get back home. Carson shifted his body to Jacob. At least he could count on him to keep him distracted.

  “Jacob,” Carson whispered.

  “Hm?” He stole a quick glance at Carson before continuing writing down the notes that were on the board.

  “Have you noticed anything. . . strange since the accident?”

  The lead tip of Jacob’s pencil snapped.

  He looked at Carson curiously. “What?”

  “Has anything weird happened to you since you got out of the hospital?”

  “What do you mean,” Jacob asked.

  “Forget it,'' Carson said. He picked up his own pencil and started on his notes.

  “What's going on,” Jacob asked.

  “Nothing. Forget it.”

  Jacob crossed his arms. “I know you better than that.”

  Carson wished that he could tell Jacob right out what was on his mind. The last thing he needed was for Jacob to freak out and end up being some scientific lab rat. The thought of needles being stuck into him sent a chill down his spine.

  Carson thought over his words carefully. He needed to figure out a way of seeing if Jacob was going through the same things that he was.

  “Have you been having weird dreams?”

  He figured this would seem the least suspicious.

  “I haven’t,” Jacob said in a monotone voice.

  “Oh,'' Carson said, disappointed. He had hoped that he wasn’t the only one but that didn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps he’d have better luck asking Abigail.

  “Is Abigail still mad at me?” He kept looking at the board. He was almost scared to see Jacob’s reaction.

  “No,” Jacob said, surprising him.

  “What happened?”

  “Well I caught up with her and explained why you lashed out at her.”

  “You told her about-”

  “Your father? Yes.”

  Just when Carson couldn’t take any more of the lesson the dismissal bell rang. Carson quickly threw his stuff into his backpack and followed Jacob out into the hallway.

  “Hey,” he said to Jacob. “Can you meet me at my house after school?”

  “Sure. Can I bring Abigail?”

  Carson nodded. “If she wants to come, sure.”

  “Everything ok?”

  “Everythings fine. Just wanted to hang out.” It was a lie but Carson didn’t want to worry Jacob. He wouldn’t be able to dodge the barrage of questions that Jacob would throw at him if he was worried.

  “Fine, but only if you promise that you won’t go off on Abigail again. You’re already at strike two.”

  “I promise.”

  “Ok then,'' Jacob said. “I’ll see you after school.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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  AT LUNCH CARSON GRABBED his food and made a beeline straight for the large stone fountain that stood in the center of the courtyard. It was his favorite place at school to destress. Carson was already working on what he was going to tell Jacob and Abigail after school. He played every possible scenario in his head over and over again. He thought of every way they could possibly react and how he would react to all of them. He needed to be ready. Even though they were his friends he was already risking too much. Carson’s stomach gurgled loudly as he walked across the grass. The closer he got to the concrete fountain the more he could feel its pull. Ever since he had figured out the secret of how to lift the rocks the icy feeling that pooled at the far ends of his hands and feet never faded away. He was afraid that he had somehow broken himself.

  Carson told himself that everything would be different, that the wounds the accident caused weren’t just physical. He hadn’t thought that everything would have changed so much. The fountain no longer had the same calming effect on him, not with the constant icy feeling swirling through his hands and feet. He saw the stone in a whole new light and that came with the sense of familiarity being taken away. Despite this, Carson sat crossed legged on the rough stones. Cold droplets of water splashed against his bare arms.

  Carson took a much needed bite from his warm hamburger.

  “Hey loser. Did you miss me?”

  Before Carson had time to even register who was talking to him Matt’s hands were on his shoulders. He pushed Carson backwards into the fountain. The freezing cold water made it difficult for him to breathe. His anger pushed over. The intensity of the stones' pull grew. When Carson finally managed to right himself in the water he kicked hard off of the fountains’ bottom. His powers pooled in his feet and with the kick of his foot it was released. Because the fountain was so big his powers changed direction, launching him forward. He shot out of t
he water with his hand clenched into a tight fist. Matt wasn’t expecting any retaliation and was caught off guard. Carson’s well-aimed fist slammed into the middle of Matt’s face. He could feel his nose crack beneath his fingers. Matt crumpled onto the concrete, screaming in pain. Blood gushed out from between his fingers. Carson pulled himself out of the water. Other students were quickly gathering around them, their cell phones already pulled out and recording. A couple of Matt’s friends helped him get back on his feet.

  “You’re going to pay for that, freak.”

  Carson didn’t even flinch at the threat. This time he wasn’t going to run away.

  “Bring it,” Carson taunted.

  Matt pushed his friends away. He took an uneven step towards Carson. Blood was still pouring from his nose. He pulled his arm back and swung. Carson took the punch head on, Matt’s fist connecting with his shoulder. To his surprise it hurt but he was able to push through the pain. It was probably just another side effect of his newfound powers.

  Matt’s eyes grew in surprise. In a flash Carson grabbed his wrist and twisted it. Matt fell onto his knees.

  “Let go,” he cried out.

  “Not so big now, are you?”

  Matt’s friends moved in to help. Carson held up Matt’s wrist and twisted it harder. He felt the tension building up between the bones.