Chapter Text
Bec Chambers never really minded being the new kid on the block. She was used to it by now.
Her parents had to move around pretty often due to the disasters that her dad tended to leave in the towns they moved to. Lucky for them, her mom was incredible with cleanup, and they’d never really been followed by the endless drama. It was a fresh start, every single time.
At sixteen years old, she’d already moved more times than she could count (though she did keep track in her journal – forty-three). Thanks to her dad, they could never manage to stay in one place for long.
Bec was just like her dad in all the wrong ways. She was just as powerful, just as unpredictable, or so they all said. She couldn’t do what he did, yet. Her father said she had potential. But for as much as her father encouraged her to always go bigger, her mother was there telling her to rein it in.
No half measures.
Don’t make the same mistakes your father does.
Please… don’t make life so hard for yourself.
All in all, she preferred not to have to use her abilities at all, though she was getting pretty good at using them with a more subtle touch. She was terrified of letting go and making a mess that she couldn’t clean up, so she was determined to keep everything she did as contained as possible.
If only people weren’t so good at pushing every single one of her buttons!
And when she walked down the street in the dim twilight on a warm August night, she was faced down with a choice. And really… what choice did they expect her to make?
All she was doing was exploring the neighborhood. Scoping out the sights, the places to go sneak a quick smoke, the neighbors that looked like they’d give out good candy at Halloween. She wasn’t bothering anyone. She wasn’t asking for trouble.
But these three boys looked like they were going to give it to her anyway.
“Hey.” The one in the middle said. He was tall and broad, like he played sports. Probably basketball or soccer, if she had to guess. Not stocky enough for football. And that sandy blonde hair was cut like his family had money. Not the type she would have expected to be a neighborhood bully, but… it wouldn’t be the first time she’d seen it.
He looked so arrogant. Something in those cold blue eyes. Either he didn’t have enough experience being told no… or he’d had too much experience, and was taking it out on her.
“Uh, hey.” Bec said, trying to keep her face neutral. If she could just get through this without incident, that would be best. She didn’t want to make a mess she couldn’t handle cleaning up. But she clenched her fist behind her, fingers tingling, just in case.
“You’re uh, new around here, aren’t you?” The boy asked, folding his arms. Bec nodded, brushing a strand of her auburn hair over her shoulder.
“Yeah. Just moved in. My name’s Bec. Becqu- uh… R-Rebecca.” She pointed down the street to the house her father was renting for the next six months. Who knew if they’d even manage to stay there that long?
“Don’t you know it’s not safe for pretty little ladies out on the streets at night?” He said, cocking his head back to look down his nose at her. She raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, thanks for your concern, but I can handle myself just fine.” She shot back, and the boy scoffed out a condescending laugh. The other two snickered, and her eyes ghosted over them.
The one with reddish-brown hair… he wouldn’t look at her, even when he laughed at the leader’s joke. His face was dusted with freckles, and the way he turned his face away from her told her he probably felt self-conscious about them. Art student, maybe?
The other one was overly loud and deferent. He was shorter than any of them – smaller than Bec, maybe, but he carried himself like he wasn’t. Shy about his height, but clearly in-shape. She’d put money on him being in wrestling.
“That’s because you don’t know the rules around here, little missy.” The blonde one said. “I’m Adam Lochner. That's Kyle Sanchez." He jerked his chin to the shorter boy with tan skin. "That's Lance Ellison." He pointed at the other boy, who looked away. "Let me tell you about how things go here at Meadow Heights, okay?”
Bec rolled her eyes.
“Thanks, Adam, but I’m pretty sure I’ll figure it out.” She turned to walk away, back to her house, but he reached forward, his hand closing around her bicep. She froze, her heart racing.
“Hey, this isn’t optional.” He said, his voice low and hard. Bec turned to him, narrowing her eyes.
“Listen, you don’t know me, so I’ll be nice, and let you know real quick that you don’t want to do this.” Bec said, her fingers tingling more. Hey, just because she didn’t want to make a scene didn’t mean she wouldn’t defend herself if she had to. “Back off.”
She definitely didn’t want to start something she couldn’t finish. If she let herself get carried away… this could get messy.
She heard her mother’s voice in her ear. No half measures. Don’t make the same mistakes your father did.
Her father’s voice shouted gleefully into her other ear. Go big! Push harder! Let it all free!
“Bitch.” Adam said, his fingers tightening. “You wanna do this the hard way?” The shorter boy grinned.
Make them pay, Becca-baby!
Don’t make a mess you’re not willing to clean up.
“Ooh, bitch, you pissed him off!” He snickered. Adam turned to him.
Go big or go home!
Reign it in. Don’t make life hard for yourself.
“Kyle, shut the fuck up.” Adam snapped. Bec blinked at him, letting out an irritated sigh. Her eyes flicked to the other one, the quieter one, and the way his face tensed when Adam grabbed her. Interesting.
But he still didn’t say anything. Adam’s grip tightened on her arm, and she sighed.
Ugh, god… only a few days in this house and she was already going to be getting in deep. It wasn’t even school time yet! She had the summer reading list to go over! She had to at least try and catch up on the curriculum.
Her jaw was grit tight and she swallowed. She wouldn’t make the same mistakes as her father, she could do this. She could! She would make it work this time.
But… not like her father did. There was too much danger in going big.
She put her hand on the back of his, which was still closed around her arm. It hurt – the guy was pretty strong, and clearly he was preparing for more of a fight. He’d definitely done this before with other kids, maybe other girls.
How many of those kids had been afraid of him? How many had worried about what he would do, and couldn’t defend themselves?
She could feel her anger building, and with it, her power.
“Fine.” She said, looking up into Adam’s arrogant blue eyes. “We’ll do this. Just remember… I gave you a chance, okay?”
Adam opened his mouth to respond, but she didn’t give him the opportunity. Instead, she let the lightning pounding against her heart finally flash through her fingers. A flash of light, a sudden, sharp noise, and Adam was gone.
Well, he wasn’t gone, he was still there, on the street, modified beyond what any of them would have expected.
The other two immediately straightened up, and she could almost feel their panic rise. It was exciting, she couldn’t deny it.
Thanks dad, for that.
But she had to keep her cool, and be careful. They’d only been here a few days, she didn’t have the leeway to get really noticed. Still, she couldn’t suppress a little smile. It always felt good to let it all out.
And it wasn’t like this asshole wasn’t asking for it! Maybe she’d gone a little further than she meant to, but… she could always figure out what to do later.
“Bitch, w-what the fuck?” Kyle said, squaring his shoulders, staring at the expression on her face, trying to be brave. Bec wasn’t fooled, she could see him shaking even in the darkening twilight.
A streetlight flicked on, bathing both of the guys in orange, fluorescent light. It probably made her look terrifying, too.
“Lance, let’s…let’s get the fuck out of here.” Kyle said, when Bec didn’t offer any explanation.
Lance seemed frozen to the spot, unable to take his eyes off Bec’s face. She only kept his gaze, looking at him imperiously. She knew she wasn’t exceptionally pretty, but there was nothing like feats of the supernatural to catch a guy’s attention.
His bottom lip trembled delicately, and she felt a little guilty for needing to involve them all, but… she learned from her mother. She couldn’t do things in half-measures, not if she wanted to fly under the radar.
And hey, they were still a part of this! They were still going to sit there and watch whatever Adam had been about to do without stopping him.
Luckily, she could defend herself, but what about the other girls that hadn’t been strong enough? How had they felt?
“Stay still.” Bec said quietly, surging forward, careful of where she stepped. She didn’t want THAT kind of cleanup. She placed her hand on Kyle’s shoulder. Another flash, and he was gone too.
When she turned to Lance, He didn’t even try to run. He didn’t even look down, which might have given him a glance into his own fate.
“What did you do to them?” He asked, stepping back, his eyes wide. Bec shook her head.
“Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” She said evenly, placing her hand on his arm. Another flash of light, and he was gone.
Well, none of them were really gone. Just… altered in a way that none of them were expecting. She knelt to the ground, grateful for the streetlight that silhouetted all three of their bodies lying on the sidewalk.
“Dammit… as if I needed more on my plate.” She mumbled, gently gathering the three unconscious boys up into her hand. Just because she’d done this didn’t mean she wanted to hurt them! They weren’t even awake yet, that wouldn’t be fair. She wasn’t her dad!
No half measures, Bec.
Well, this was kind of a half-measure. She hoped her mother would understand, because her father definitely wouldn’t. She couldn’t just let it slide, but… she wasn’t going to let herself go crazy, either. This was okay, this was... this was just handling things HER way.
She sighed.
Well, at least she wasn’t going to be bored this summer.