I spent my evenings after school in S.T.A.R Labs as well as my weekends. Being at home was a constant reminder of Christopher being gone. S.T.A.R Labs was far less lonely.
Having Arden back on my side made me consider telling Christopher. I was slowly beginning to understand my abilities. I had training sessions with Dr. Wells every few days, and with Cisco, and Barry when Wells wasn't available. I could tell everyone felt uncomfortable training with me, though. Having someone know every thought of yours was extremely unsettling for some.
When not training, I avoided looking at people when I could. I hoped I could control this by the time parent teacher interviews came around because I really didn't want to know each thought of my students' parents.
I was twisting Christopher's ring, which was on the chain around my neck, in my fingers when Cisco spoke.
"Whose ring?" He asked. "Got a man at home?"
"Not anymore," I answered. "Ex-fiancé." Caitlin came into the room at that point and looked uncomfortably at the exchange between Cisco and I.
"Dang. Sorry about that," Cisco cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Like I did, he thought I was crazy," I admitted. "I kept replying to his thoughts or calling him out on them. Eventually he was just done. I heard him thinking about moving and I asked about it. He snapped and this was the result," I jingled the ring on the necklace.
"When did it happen?" Caitlin asked softly.
"About two months ago," I replied.
"I lost my fiancé, too," she sighed. "He died during the particle accelerator explosion."
"I'm so sorry," I murmured. Her head filled with dark memories that made me look away from her. "What was his name?"
"Ronnie Raymond," she answered. I heard Cisco suck in a shaky breath. He was clearly affected by the death, too. "What about you?"
"His name is Christopher Lern," I told them.
"Hey, that's kind of like-"
"Yep. Arden is his sister," I interrupted and confirmed.
"Damn, girl. That's rough," Cisco raised his eyebrows, though I quickly looked away. It was hard breaking a habit of eye contact during speaking.
"Wait," Cisco paused. "You're a teacher who was going to marry a man with the last name Lern?" I sighed, unsurprised this came up.
"Yes, we considered hyphenating," I joked. "Clare-Lern was a bit much for me."
"Does Christopher know about Arden's powers?" Caitlin asked.
"No, I don't think so. Do you think he'll understand if I tell him about metahumans, considering his sister and ex-fiancé are metahumans?" I asked them, desiring an honest answer.
"Lissa, I don't think that's such a great idea," Caitlin cautioned.
"I have to try," I sighed. "Knowing there's a chance that he'll take me back is enough to risk getting hurt for."
"I'm going to try it now," I decided, standing up. Cisco and Caitlin looked at me with worry.
"We'll be waiting with ice cream and rom coms," Cisco called out as I left. My heart pounded with fear and determination in a bittersweet combination as I headed towards where Arden lived. She lived with Brooke and I definitely needed to talk to them before seeing Christopher. Besides, he changed his hours and didn't know I knew he did. I didn't know his new hours and I certainly didn't know where he lived now.
My knuckles paused against the oak door when I arrived at Arden and Brooke's place. I had never needed to knock before. Just because I was nervous didn't mean I was suddenly a stranger to my best friends. I swung open the door and stepped inside.
"Fifth time this week!" I heard Brooke cheer.
"It's about time. I mean, it has been five months since you found out," Arden replied. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and curiosity. What are they talking about? I wondered.
"Okay, I'll wait by the front door. Run through when I call you through!" Arden called then I heard her coming. She saw me in her house, winked and mouthed watch this. I rolled my eyes. She knew I was here and had the mischievous look she usually got when about to prank someone.
"Okay, Brookie!" She yelled.
"I blame you if I hurt myself!" She replied.
"Blame yourself. Focus and you'll be fine," Arden laughed. Now I was very confused. I heard the pattering of running, Brooke running. Suddenly, a yelp of surprise came from the other side of the wall Arden was facing.
A scream escaped my body as Brooke's head all the way down to her collarbone came crashing through the wall. No. Not crashing. Just through. Brooke's skin was bare from what I could see.
"You made it through one!" Arden chuckled.
"Lissa?!" Brooke sat up, literally going through the wall to the side not visible to me. I inspected the wall in front of me. There wasn't a single crack or hole. I poked the wall, though it blocked my finger.
"You're a metahuman, too?" I gasped. Brooke walked into the room, around the wall this time. As she entered the room, she was just slipping her shirt over her belly.
"Too?" Brooke raised her eyebrows. The two of us looked at Arden questioningly, though she just smirked.
"I guess you two have something to talk about," Arden commented. "I'm going to go make some coffee." Brooke and I sat on the couch.
"Wait, so you have powers, too?" Brooke asked. I nodded. "I can't believe I didn't know. I should have known."
"Explains the lunacy, huh?" I asked. I then realized that she had said the last part in her head, so she now looked at me with a raised brow.
"Mindreading," I muttered as an explanation.
"Seriously?" Brooke gasped. "What am I thinking right now?"
"'I wonder if she actually knows what I'm thinking right now'," I quoted her mind.
"That's awesome!" She giggled.
"Not really. I hear everything. If I see you, I can hear your mind. I can't control what I hear," I explained.
"Is that why you and Chris-," she broke off.
"Yeah. He thought I was crazy and so did I," I nodded. "He eventually got tired of me replying to his thoughts and hearing things that nobody else could."
"I'm sorry," she murmured. "That explains why you didn't want to talk about it after."
"I'm glad I finally know what's wrong, but I still hate hearing everything and I hate not being able to control it. I feel like I'm invading everyone's privacy," I shuddered.
"Well, I guess you saw my powers," Brooke switched the subjects around.
"Sort of. I don't fully understand them," I admitted.
"Neither do I," she smiled. "I still have a lot to learn."
"So what were you trying to do when I arrived?"
"Walking through walls is easy, but keeping clothes on while doing so isn't," she replied. "It takes extreme concentration to make my clothes go through as well as myself."
"That explains your shirt," I acknowledged.
"I've only ever been able to get a sock to come through with me. The first time a sock came through-" she broke off and beckoned me to follow her. She led me to her bedroom. I could see she had moved the furniture around since the last time I had been here.
Brooke pushed her dresser to the side and pointed to the wall which the dresser had covered before she moved it. There was a black object sticking out of the wall. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a sock.
"There is a sock stuck between your wall," I commented.
"Yep," she nodded. I burst out laughing and attempted to tug the sock, but it was stuck in the wall.
"So while you went through, the sock came with you partially, but not quite?"
"Exactly," Brooke chuckled. "I've mostly been practicing with a glove."
"So you walk through walls? I wish that was my power," I sighed jealously.
"There is one other thing," she grinned. Her legs suddenly disappeared from my view, then her torso, her arms, shoulders, neck then head. I loudly cursed then heard Arden burst out laughing from the kitchen. I reached out and swiped my hand out in front of me. All I could see were clothes, floating. I felt the shirt, but nothing underneath.
"This is so weird," I gasped, slowly laughing afterwards.
"Right? It was definitely weird when I found out. Actually, really embarrassing," she began to blush. I came home late one night and as I was walking up the steps to the door, I tripped and fell through the door. Arden hadn't told me she had company. She was with a guy on the couch and they were drinking and making out. So, of course when I fell through the door, my clothes didn't come with me. I was completely naked!" She was bright red in the face when she finished the story.
Arden came through then and she said, "we had to convince him he was really drunk and saw nothing. I hadn't drunk as much as he did, so I was still sober enough to kick him out and help Brooke. We had known about my powers for about four months at that point, so that helped her feel a bit more comfortable about it."
"We've been trying to get me to go through a wall fully clothed, or at least become fully invisible while clothed," Brooke added. "It is ridiculously exhausting just keeping a sock on."
"I know someone that can help you with that," I said thoughtfully.
"S.T.A.R Labs?" She guessed. I nodded.
"Arden told you?"
"Yeah. I don't know yet. I mean, I haven't suffered as much as you two with your powers, but S.T.A.R Labs caused this. I don't know if I can quite trust them yet," she admitted.
"Screw coffee," Arden said. "I didn't actually make anything. I thought about it, but I don't actually feel like making any. You remember what we did when we found out about our powers, Lis?"
"We got wasted," I remembered.
"Exactly. Let's do that again," Arden grinned.
"I'm a teacher. I can't be getting wasted all the time," I sighed.
"Says who? It's Friday!" She shrugged.
"What, really?" I looked at the calendar on the wall, noticing a strike through Thursday. "Well damn."
"We are drinking," Arden decided.
"I have to-"
"You're staying the night," she interrupted me.
"I wouldn't mind a glass of wine," Brooke shrugged. "But I don't like getting drunk."
"Deal," Arden popped open a fresh bottle from the kitchen and brought it in with three glasses.
"I can't believe all three of us are metahumans," Brooke said in wonder once we all had our glasses.
"Metahumans?" I noticed her terminology.
"Arden told me about it. It has a nice ring to it," she shrugged.
"It caught on pretty quickly for me, too," I agreed. "Especially because everyone at S.T.A.R Labs calls us that."
Arden attempted to pour me another glass once I had finished, but I declined. She questioned what I needed to be sober for after my decline.
"I'm going to go see Christopher tomorrow," I confessed. Arden raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"To do what?" Brooke asked.
"To tell him I'm a metahuman," I admitted.
"Woah woah woah," Arden almost spat out her drink. "He doesn't even know I'm one. I don't think he'll believe you. It'll make things worse and picking through his brain as evidence might anger him. I know my brother."
"I know. He always preferred keeping things hidden, but I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't try," I explained.
"That is the most cliché line I have ever heard from you," Arden shook her head. "That's why you came here, isn't it? You wanted to know where he is now."
"I miss him," I frowned.
"I know you do, Lis, but I don't want him hurting you again. I love my brother, but he isn't smart enough to realize what's going on. He is a simple guy and doesn't like complications."
"I mean, if I go and he doesn't want to hear it, fine. I tried and nothing really changed. It isn't like I can lose him again," I tried to convince both my friends and myself.
"Lissa," Brooke sighed.
"I'll call him before I get too shit-faced, okay?" Arden sighed like Brooke. "I'll try to get him to meet up with you tomorrow." She stood up and went into her bedroom with her phone in her hand. To my surprise, she left her wine behind.
"You don't look at people much anymore, huh?" Brooke commented.
"No," I shook my head. "If I see someone, I can read their mind. Their thoughts just race into my brain and I can't stop them unless I look away. I don't like reading minds. It is far too invasive for my liking."
"You used to always maintain healthy eye contact during conversations," she said sadly.
"Yeah," I agreed. "This has ruined my life enough, but I'm finally doing something good about it."
"The work with S.T.A.R Labs?"
"Yeah. It makes me feel like I belong somewhere. Finally, people that don't think I'm crazy. Work is killing me right now. The other teachers are slowly starting to treat me differently. I used to have regular conversations with the other staff, but they don't talk to me very often anymore," I ran a hand through my hair.
"If you could get rid of your powers, would you?" Brooke asked.
"Probably. It is occasionally interesting, but it made me lose Christopher. Although, I'm very slowly becoming able to tell when someone is thinking and when someone is talking. I have to pay close attention, but it is getting easier."
"I don't know if I'd get rid of my powers or not. I'm still learning and if I can now get a sock through, who knows? Maybe in a few months or a year or something, I can walk through walls completely clothed," Brooke's eyes filled with wonder. "I'm just glad Arden doesn't have my powers. She would prank everyone."
"Damn right I would," Arden agreed, walking back into the room. She turned to me. "He'll meet you tomorrow at five pm, but it took some convincing. He's worried about the meet up."
"Thanks, Arden," I breathed, giving her a hug.
"That's what best friends are for. Now, shall we drink?" She raised her glass, waiting for us to join her.
"Water, yes," I nodded. I filled a glass with water and clinked it against hers. Brooke followed my lead, with water also.
"You guys are boring," Arden rolled her eyes.
"We know," Brooke and I said at the same time.