Chapter 4: How Not to Control Your Supernatural Strength

Ming's POV

I spent the entire next day mentally preparing for my scooter appointment with Kamon.

Which was probably why everything went horribly wrong.

"You're overthinking this," Ploy said for the hundredth time as I stood in front of our dorm room mirror, changing my shirt for the fifth time. "It's just scooter maintenance, not a marriage proposal."

"What if I say something stupid again?" I pulled on a blue top, then immediately took it off. "What if I panic? What if—"

"What if you actually act like a normal human being for once?"

If only she knew how impossible that was.

I finally settled on a simple white t-shirt and jeans—casual but cute. My reflection looked nervous but passable. I could do this. I was a strong, independent half-vampire who could handle one simple conversation about scooter engines.

How hard could it be?

3:55 PM - Campus Parking Lot

I was sitting on my bright yellow scooter, checking my phone every thirty seconds, when I heard footsteps approaching. My enhanced hearing picked up the sound long before a normal person would have noticed.

"Hey," Kamon said softly.

I looked up and immediately forgot how to breathe. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt that made his eyes look even more intense, and his hair was slightly damp like he'd just showered. He had a small toolkit in his hand and that same careful expression he always wore.

"Hi," I managed to say without squeaking. Progress!

"So this is the patient?" He nodded toward my scooter with the tiniest hint of a smile.

"Her name is Sunny."

"You named your scooter?"

"Is that weird?"

"A little," he admitted. "But it's... cute."

He thinks I'm cute. My brain immediately short-circuited.

"So, uh, what seems to be the problem?" he asked, setting his toolkit down and moving closer to examine the engine.

"She makes angry cat noises when I try to start her," I said, proud of myself for forming complete sentences.

"Angry cat noises," he repeated, and I could swear I saw his mouth twitch with amusement.

"Very angry. Like, 'I'm going to scratch your eyes out' angry."

"Show me."

I turned the key, and Sunny immediately started making the most horrible screeching, grinding sound known to mankind. Even I winced, and I had supernatural hearing that was used to picking up all kinds of unpleasant noises.

"Okay, that's definitely not normal," Kamon said, kneeling down beside the engine. "Mind if I take a look?"

"Go ahead. She's all yours."

Big mistake. Huge mistake. Because watching Kamon work on my scooter was like watching poetry in motion.

He moved with quiet confidence, his hands gentle but sure as he examined different parts of the engine. His dark hair fell across his forehead, and he had this little crease between his eyebrows when he concentrated that made me want to smooth it away with my finger.

"Found your problem," he said after a few minutes. "Your oil is completely black, and this bolt here is loose."

He pointed to some metal thing that looked important. When I leaned in to see what he was talking about, I caught that scent again—motor oil and something warm and distinctly Kamon that made my vampire instincts go crazy.

"Can you fix it?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Easy fix. Just need to tighten this and change your oil." He reached for a wrench from his toolkit. "Can you hold this steady while I work on it?"

"Sure."

He guided my hands to a metal part near the engine, his fingers brushing against mine. The contact sent little electric shocks up my arms, and I had to concentrate very hard on not letting my fangs extend.

"Just hold it right there," he said softly, his voice closer to my ear than I'd expected.

That's when everything went wrong.

A group of loud students walked by, laughing and shouting about some party. The sudden noise startled me, and my supernatural reflexes kicked in. I gripped the metal part tighter to steady myself.

Too tight.

There was a horrible crunching sound, and suddenly I was holding a piece of twisted metal that used to be part of my scooter's engine.

Kamon stared at the mangled metal in my hands, then at me, then back at the metal.

"Did you just..." he said slowly, "crush that with your bare hands?"

I looked down at the destroyed engine part, my brain scrambling for an explanation that didn't involve supernatural strength.

"I... work out?" I squeaked.

"You work out enough to crush solid metal?"

"I have very strong... grip strength?"

Kamon sat back on his heels, studying me with those intense dark eyes. I could practically see the questions forming in his mind, and none of them were good.

"Ming," he said carefully, "that part is made of reinforced steel."

"Is it?"

"Normal people can't bend it with their bare hands, let alone crush it into a ball."

"Maybe it was already damaged?"

"It wasn't."

We stared at each other in silence. I was holding the evidence of my supernatural strength, and he was looking at me like I was some kind of puzzle he couldn't solve.

"I should probably go," I said, standing up so quickly that I knocked over his entire toolkit. Tools scattered everywhere with a series of loud clangs.

"Ming, wait—"

I'm really sorry about breaking the scooter part! I don't know what happened! I have to go study! For my... archaeology... test!"

I was already backing away, leaving my poor broken scooter behind.

"But your scooter—"

"Keep it! Fix it! I'll pick it up later!"

And for the second time in two days, I ran away from Kamon like my life depended on it.

Because this time, it actually might.

Back in the Dorm Room

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Ploy shrieked.

I was face-down on my bed, pillow over my head, trying to block out the world. "I crushed a piece of his engine with my bare hands."

"How do you accidentally crush metal?"

"Vampire strength," I mumbled into my pillow.

"What?"

"Nothing. I said... I have very strong hands."

"Ming, this is getting ridiculous. First you run away claiming metal allergies, now you're apparently the Hulk. What's next? Are you going to tell him you're secretly some kind of mutant?"

I lifted my head to stare at her. "That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny! I'm trying to figure out why my roommate keeps having bizarre accidents around the one boy she likes!"

My phone buzzed with a text message. I grabbed it, hoping it wasn't Kamon asking what the hell had just happened.

Unknown Number: Is this Ming? This is Kamon. You left your scooter. Are you okay?

He was texting me. Even after I'd displayed impossible strength and run away again, he was checking if I was okay.

I showed the text to Ploy, who immediately perked up. "He got your number! How did he get your number?"

"I have no idea."

"Text him back!"

"And say what? 'Sorry I crushed your engine part with my freakish strength, please don't ask questions about my impossible physical abilities'?"

"Or you could just say you're fine and thank him for checking on you."

I stared at the text message. Kamon was worried about me. Again. Despite my completely inexplicable behavior, he was being kind and thoughtful.

Maybe I could salvage this. Maybe I could come up with a believable explanation for what happened. Maybe—

My phone buzzed again.

Kamon: I fixed your scooter. The part you... damaged... wasn't essential. She starts fine now.

He fixed my scooter. Even after I'd crushed part of it and abandoned it, he'd fixed it for me.

I was definitely falling for this boy.

And that was probably going to be a very big problem.

[End of Chapter 4]