Wildflowers and Lightning

Lena had never been a standout. Just another sophomore in a sea of students, drifting through hallways lined with lockers dented from years of teenage frustration. The only place she felt truly at ease was the meadow behind her grandmother’s house—a riot of wildflowers that bent in the breeze, kissed by the sun. That’s where she had been when everything changed.

It started with a storm. A sudden, electric crack in the sky, slicing through the late afternoon light. She barely had time to react before a bolt of lightning split the oak tree nearby. The world went dark.

The next morning, Lena woke up different. She could feel it in the static tingling beneath her skin, in the way her fingertips hummed against metal. At school, the changes were impossible to ignore. The flickering of the overhead lights when she got nervous. The way the classroom TV glitched when she passed. And then there was the cafeteria incident—where every soda can in the vending machine exploded the moment Greg Larson, the school’s star quarterback, bumped into her tray and sent her lunch sprawling.

“You have got to be kidding me,” whispered Mila, her best friend, dragging her out of the cafeteria before anyone could connect the dots.

That was the thing about Mila—she knew before Lena even said a word. “Electricity? Really?” she’d asked once they were safely in the girl’s bathroom. “I mean, if you had to get powers, couldn’t it be, like, invisibility? Something subtle?”

Lena groaned, pressing her hands against the sink. “You think I had a choice?”

By Friday, the rumors had started. Lena had always been invisible to most of the school, but suddenly people were whispering about flickering lights and static shocks. She wasn’t ready for attention—especially not Greg’s. He was watching her now, curious, maybe even suspicious.

That’s when the second problem surfaced.

The scholarship results were in, and Mila—who had spent months perfecting her essay, taking extra tutoring sessions, sacrificing weekends—had lost it to Greg. The same Greg who barely studied. The same Greg whose father sat on the school board.

“It’s rigged,” Mila said, slamming her locker shut. “I know it is.”

Lena’s fingers twitched with barely contained energy. She could feel the electricity in the school’s power grid, pulsing like a second heartbeat. The idea struck her so suddenly, so naturally, it scared her.

She could change the records. A single pulse through the system, a flick of power in the school’s database, and the truth would come out. Mila would get what she deserved.

Her hands clenched. Then, she exhaled.

“Lena?” Mila’s voice was soft, hopeful.

Lena turned away from the computer lab door. “We’ll figure something else out.”

As they walked outside, the air was warm, the sun setting over the wildflower meadow in the distance. Lena knew she had power now. But she had something more important, too—a choice.