“Stay back Sam, I mean it!” I shouted across the courtyard. “I don’t want to hurt you… I don’t want to hurt anyone.” The electricity zapped across my palms. I couldn’t control it. I had let the energy build too much, I should have just left before it got out of hand. But I was having too good of a time. I didn’t want to ruin our date because of my problems, I just wanted to feel like a normal girl. A girl who could go out with her boyfriend and not worry about electrocuting him every time she touches him.

I closed my eyes to concentrate. Too much more and I was going to burst. Sparks would go in every direction and I wouldn’t be able to control it. I could down a whole city block with the power in my body right now.

“Sam you need to leave. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this sooner, but I WILL hurt you if you don’t go. You need to get out of here before it’s too late.” I could feel my hair starting to stand up on its own. The electricity was flowing through every part of my body. Energy was roaring through my ears and I could barely hear anything. My senses were overpowered by the rush, and that’s why I didn’t hear him.

I didn’t realize that Sam had been walking closer. I couldn’t sense him until he was right in front of me, inches from my supercharged skin. My eyes flew open and in a panic I reached out to push him away, realizing too late that I was touching the boy I loved.

I choked on my scream, because instead of seeing pain in Sam’s eyes, I only saw laughter. Hundreds of volts of electricity were running from my body into his and he was laughing.

“Wha.. what?” I barely managed to whisper, unsure of if I was in a dream. Sam smiled and brought his hands to the sides of my face, cupping my cheeks so gently.

“Zena it’s ok, just take a deep breath. Try to relax and you’ll be ok.” He soothed me, like I was the one that was overreacting when he was being electrocuted by my touch. Panic once again fueled me as I realized we were still in touching. I struggled to pull away from his arms, not wanting to hurt him anymore.

“Zena! Zena, relax!” He yelled, trying to catch my gaze with his eyes, his grip now moving down to my arms to steady me. But I was too far gone, panic flooded my veins and I struggled in his grip. Finally managing to slip out of his hold I scrambled away from him, falling to the ground. I kept going, scooting farther and farther away, like he was the one with the electric hands and not me.

He sighed and held his hands up in defeat. He approached me slowly, cautiously, like you would when near a wild animal.

“Sam please, I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered. The electricity had drained out of me. I was tired, defeated, and so confused. Sam sensed this and came over all the way over to sit with me, slumping down on the ground in the dirty courtyard we had found ourselves in when this all began.

“I don’t understand,” I continued, looking up at him. “How did I touch you?” A smirk took over his face as he looked me over, probably checking to see if I had hurt myself in all of this, or maybe it was in disgust over what he saw. I couldn’t tell.

“You really think I didn’t know about your ‘ability’ this whole time? We’ve been dating for six months… I’ve known for a while Ze,” he smiled at me. I wanted to ask more questions but he gently placed his finger on my lips before I could speak. “I know you must be confused, and probably have a lot of questions, but let me say something first, ok?” He looked at me expectedly and I quickly nodded for him to continue.

“You’re so strong Ze… and not just with your powers. I know you’re expecting me to say something like, ‘I love you Zena, but your powers are too strong… they scare me,’ But that’s a load of bullshit because they’re one of the things that I love most about you.” He smiled, fully aware that he had just told me he loved me for the first time.

“You love me?” I asked incredulously. “I almost just killed you and you want to tell me that you love me?” I could barely wrap my head around this, and I wanted to keep on yelling at him, but then it dawned on me. “Sam? How is it that I didn’t hurt you? I had enough energy running through me to power a small village and here you are totally fine.”

“Finally got that did you?” He laughed, scorching closer to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Have you seen the movie The Fantastic Four? Where the main guy can stretch himself really long?” I nodded. I think I’d seen the movie a while ago, but I didn’t understand why that mattered right now.

“Well… so can I.” He reached his arm out, stretching it farther than it should have reasonably been aloud to go until it reached the other side of the yard, dozens of feet away from where we sat. I looked at him, then his arm, then him again. Completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words. He laughed at my face and pulled his arm back. “ I used to really hate this ability. I thought it was stupid, who would want to be made of rubber? It’s such a lame power…”

“But then I met you Ze,” he looked down at me as he spoke, “I hated being made of rubber until I met the girl with sparks in her eyes, because then I knew. I could love you. My power lets me be with you, let’s me absorb your electricity and let’s me help you. Once I realized that, I knew I was one of the luckiest guys in the world.”

He sat back, a smile on his face and a wistful look in his eyes. I could tell he’s been wanting to say that for a while, but is it true? Is it really safe to be with him? To touch him? To love him?

I mustered up what little energy I had left into my pointer finger and lightly touched his side. With a jolt he sat up from his relaxed position and looked at me with humor in eyes. It wasn’t from the pain of the touch I could tell, more from the surprise that I would actually try that after everything that just happened.

“I just had to make sure,” I laughed. The tension finally draining from my body. I looked up at him and smiled, remembering what he had said to me moments ago. “I love you too Sam.”

He leaned his head down towards mine, resting his forehead against my own. Our breaths intertwined as we breathed in this moment. Never in my life had I felt this mixture of relief and happiness. Not only was I able to tell Sam I loved him, but now I know I can be with him and not hold back. I don’t have to worry about ever hurting him or hiding part of my life from the one I love.

With that thought, I raised my lips to his and finally kissed him.