“What the hell?” Ritchie heard Elayne exclaim loudly. But he didn’t care. He was too stunned to care about Elayne. He’d always been confused by randomly moving objects in their home, but he never asked Mom about it. He didn’t want her to react like Dad.
“That wasn’t me!” he cried nervously.
Elayne narrowed her eyes. Ritchie hadn’t thought that Elayne could look scary, with her short black hair and somewhat chubby frame, but right there, she looked as though she could kill him. “Yeah, it was. No wonder both abilities are so weak, but your vibe is so strong. I’ve never met anyone with two Connects that wasn’t a witch or wizard.”
Ritchie’s head ached. “Eh? Witches and wizards? They exist?”
Elayne huffed a stray hair from her face. “Uh, yeah. I did just say that, after all.”
Ritchie shrunk away from her. “That’s not possible! Prove it!”
He knew that was the wrong thing to say; Elayne moved away from him as though he’d hit her. “Shut up. I would if I could, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Elayne swallowed. “Because. I. Lost. My. Powers.”
“Are you gonna get them back?” Ritchie asked.
Elayne’s eyes glittered. “I dunno. Maybe. Maybe not. I hope so.” She rubbed her eyes, and mascara and eyeliner smeared across her face. She groaned. “Damn. Now I gotta fix this instead of getting a snack.” She sniffed. “Hey, could you swing by my apartment once you’re done doing your errand? I have something for you to borrow.” She sniffed one more time before getting back onto the elevator.
Thirty minutes later, Ritchie barely knocked on Elayne’s door before she opened it suddenly. “Hey.”
Ritchie lifted the small potato chip bag to her. “Here! You said you wanted a snack, so here you go!” he said happily.
Elayne blinked. “Oh. Huh. Didn’t think you’d notice that… Thank you!” She smiled a little more warmly at him. “Come on in,” she said. Ritchie walked into the apartment, unaware that everything was about to change.
meltingpotsandothercalamities 