Touched

Freshly showered, shaved, and with my hair actually combed for the first time in days, I was feeling pretty good on my way to the B Word that afternoon. It turned out that I did in fact own a belt, so in the spirit of defiance I wore my favorite, formerly fitted jeans. 

I was munching on a slice of the Colonel's pizza and approaching the door to the store when I heard raised voices. I paused, listening carefully. Arguments were rare in this part of town- it was mostly old people living alone. Sure, you'd get your odd geriatric screaming at The Price is Right and calling Drew Carey a fat Jew, but for the most part I lived in a place of peace, quiet, and hip replacements.

"Put that away! I'm not putting up with it if I don't have to!" A female voice. Coming from inside the bookstore, which was odd, unless...

"You know what, we had a really cool thing going, and you can't just-"

Wait. Buck?

  "I sure can," the female snapped, cutting him off with a determination in her voice. I realized what was coming and yanked the door open, but I was too late. Buck was slumped dreamily in his chair, eyes half open, and Lee was standing there in her full Conclave outfit, snapping her Text shut with an expression of distaste. She looked up at me as the door jingled.

"Well look here, he's almost on time for work."

"My shift starts at four fifteen. Didn't we agree that you wouldn't be Texting Buck?"

"That was before I realized I was expected to teach you with a contact high. Do you guys seriously smoke that s**t every single day?"

I blinked. "Well, yes, but thats not the point!"

"I thought you were all gung-ho to improve yourself."

"I am!"

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts, the ancient symbol of female obstinacy. "Well. A good first step would be to stop getting stoned every day. How are you supposed to accomplish anything all zonked out like that?" 

I growled. "No, that's not it either. If you think I can't smoke and be Conclave, just say so. I'll listen. This is about Buck, nobody asked him to change and he doesn't deserve to be knocked out or hypnotized every time he becomes an inconvenience. Cut it out."

Her bright eyes narrowed. "I know you're not trying to tell me what to do."

"I'm not trying anything," I snarled, hoping I sounded tougher than I felt. I could see her hand flexing on the cover of her Text, which hung on a silver chain like a handbag. "I'm telling you, no more spelling Buck. That's final."

We glared at each other for a moment, silent and tense, and when she flipped open the Text I nearly dove behind the counter. I managed to merely flinch violently, and she made a point of noticing before placing a hand on Buck's head and reading from her book. It might have sounded like "Dinmas nervat", maybe, but I forgot the words instantly. His eyes opened to three-quarters, the standard Buck expression, and he looked around in confusion at the store.

"The hell just happened?"

"You passed out, stonebag," Lee muttered, stooping to examine his eyes. "But you're okay."

He looked at me, eyes flickering back to her suspiciously. "Really?"

"Nope. She spelled you again. But," I said, raising my voice as Lee made to protest, "she promises not to do it anymore."

Buck eyed Lee with an expression of disappointment. "Lame."

"Oh, don't you start now," she sputtered. I suppressed a laugh. 

Buck picked up the fallen bong from where it had landed next to his reading chair, examining it for signs of damage. "These things aren't cheap, you know. And there's like an emotional connection too."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Lee grumbled, pacing. She seemed to settle for leaning against the counter.

"All right guys," I sighed, "this has been very entertaining. Let's do something else now." I took my place in my own reading chair, folded my fingers together, and looked at Lee expectantly. "So! What are we doing today?"

"What?"

"You're here to teach me, right? What are you gonna teach me?" I withdrew my own Text from my coat pocket, realizing for the first time that it was different from Lee's. Whereas my book had a smooth, black cover, hers was slightly brown and more textured, and a bit thicker. It looked well-loved, well cared for, and ancient.

Mine looked cooler, though. I wiped some fingerprints off the leather with my sleeve. Much cooler. Badass, even.

"Depends. What Glyphs can you read?"

"Is that what they're called? Glyphs?"

She sighed. "Whatever you like. Runes, Glyphs, Spells, Wyrds, everybody's got an opinion. And none of them really matter, it's all the same stuff."

"Beck calls them Apps. Like with a smart phone."

"That's just ridiculous. Anyway, what can you read?" She strode across the room, coming perilously close to knocking over the bong again, and leaned down over my shoulder. I opened the Text, turning pages slowly.

There was the page that had branded me, which read like English to me now. I wasn't going to be hanging around on that page again. A few more pages were nothing but angular scrawl. On the next page, though, another Glyph (I liked that one, it was fun to say,) caught my attention.

"Why'd you stop?"

"That one," I said, pointing to a knot of lines and twists. "It's... whispering to me. Is that normal?"

"Everyone interprets them differently," Lee said, sounding in a much better mood now that we were down to business. Buck looked on with interest. "That one is a good place to start. Relatively harmless, and it won't take too much out of you."

"What's it do?" I tried not to sound too excited.

"You'll be able to move an object without touching it, for a moment. Depending on the size of the object, and how much energy you're able to expend-"

"Holy crap, it's the Force!" Buck exclaimed. Lee gave him a dirty look. I'm sure I must have looked like a kid in a candy shop, because she just shook her head at me and continued speaking like there had been no interruption.

"-You'll be able to do a variety of simple tasks. You'll knock yourself out if you get too crazy, though. Try picking up," her eyes flickered around, then narrowed, "that stupid bong."

Buck looked at me, nervous. I laughed. "It'll be okay, man."

"Why does your magic class feel like an intervention?" he grumbled, sitting up in his chair.

I looked down at the Text, spotted the Glyph, and Read aloud, "sharna!"

It was almost as odd of a sensation as the teleporting. My brand lit up with a gentle silver glow, and I felt as though, somehow, my reach extended past my hand. Does that make any sense? 

I tore my eyes away from the Text, and the odd sensation remained. Okay. So far, so good. I took a moment to examine my right hand, the softly luminous mark, then I extended my palm towards the bong at Buck's feet.

I felt my palm touch cool, slick glass, despite being several feet away from it. It honestly felt as though my arm was ten feet long, though I could see the long, empty space between. With no more effort than lifting my own hand, I lifted the glass pipe on thin air.

Oddly, the pipe felt at least twice as heavy as usual. I know I would have been able to toss the thing around with my real hands, but I could already feel it draining my strength, and it was only inches off the ground. I lowered it with a huge effort, and the light faded. My hand felt normal again, if a little tingly.

"Whoa."

Lee's eyebrows raised. "That was actually quite good, for a first try. I crushed a snow globe the first time I used that one."

"Hey Buck, you hear that? The Force is strong with me."

"That's not-"

Buck laughed and said in a Yoda voice, "There is no try."

Lee rolled her eyes. "All right, next page, come on."

I laughed, elated, trying to be cool and failing utterly. That hadn't been any chaotic fireball or vomit-inducing trip. I'd done something impossible, something otherworldly, and I'd been in complete control. 

How do I explain the feeling? The sense of... well, completion? We spend our whole lives being bombarded with movies and books and comics about people who can do all these impossible things, how could we not feel slighted?

Who hasn't read a Superman comic and thought, "Why not me? How is that fair?"

And now, well, now I was getting mine. 

It probably should have set off an alarm in my head, but I didn't feel exalted or amazing. I felt...

...right.

*

Reviews

[Ness]

I like the connection with comic book heroes and whatnot, it makes the story feel more real and makes the reader better able to relate to Trick and put themselves in his place. Also the star wars references made me laugh haha

[EarthExile]

1. Fixed, thank you.
2. Lee is another Reader. I should clarify this more, but the idea is that over time, a Reader learns to actually understand the Text's writing, rather than relying on the intuition Trick has been experiencing. (A few chapters back, Dolan mentioned that Trick would be able to read the Text as though it were English.) You're right that it's confusing, and I'm glad you're paying that much attention. It's just a mechanical point I haven't got around to explaining yet.