I’ve been at it for hours. The sky has been painted by the colors of dusk. The stars peaking in as the light of the sun fades away.

My projections have gotten better too. I jumped from one building to the next over and over again. I nearly fell off of one on my third jump. I was aiming to go for a building that was a few blocks away to see if I can project with more range. I focused on the roof and ended up standing at the edge. My body was leaning backwards about to fall, my heart in my stomach, fear stricken. I was swinging my arms like wind turbines to prevent myself from plummeting to my death. Would it be death though? I eventually caught wind and threw my body on the floor of the roof. With sweat dripping down my face, my heart beating out of my ass, I couldn’t move. Fear paralyzing my entire body. That was so fucking close. 

“Okayyy.” I say aloud to absolutely no one, “Now how do I get back?” I must be at least 3 miles away from home now. I’m drained. And starving. There is no way I can project all the way back home. I look through my pockets. No phone. No wallet.

I quickly have an idea. I lay back on the ground and close my eyes. I think about being back in my apartment. I squint and peak to see where I am. Nothing. 

I try a few more things, some of those being completely idiotic. I jump into the air. Pinch and slap myself to see if pain would trigger it. I even make a wish to be back home. Nope.

Feeling defeated, I decide to walk back home. I head to the door with the exit sign and try to open it. “Of course it’s fucking locked.” To my right I see the fire escape, hope refueling my soul.

I start to descend down the fire escape. Once I reach the last stair, I realize it is not actually the ground floor. The ladder is tucked in and locked, making sure no one from the street can climb up. Although I have been projecting on top of buildings all day, this jump down seems a bit… terrifying. Must be at least 20 feet high. Alright. Am I going for a tuck and roll? I look down at the ground again. Yeah. No.

I begin to slide my body down until I’m hanging from the metal railing with my hands. I look down and realize I’m still no where near the ground. I let out a huge sigh. This is going to hurt. I brace myself, ready to make impact with the floor. I loosen my knees and let go.

There is no impact. It took me a moment to process. I open my eyes and I am slumped in the chair in my living room. Right at that second, I hear keys at the front door. Billy! Impeccable timing. I jump up from my seat. Billy comes in with 2 tote bags full of groceries. 

I stare at her hoping guilt cannot be read across my face.

Billy stares back. “What?” Billy stops herself from entering the kitchen.

“What? Nothing.” I say back, straightening up my shirt.

“What did you do Nisa?” Billy continued, placing the bags on the island counter. “I saw you sleeping on the couch when I left this afternoon” she pauses. “Are you okay? Were you sleeping this whole time?”

I walk toward the bag and begin unloading, avoiding eye contract. I find a brown paper bag with chocolate bread from my favorite bakery. I tear into it and shove a whole slice into my mouth. Billy is still giving me a scrutinizing look.

“Seriously, its nothing. I’ve been in and out of sleep while watching TV. I just woke up when you came home” food crumbs fail to stay in my mouth as I talk. “Have you eaten yet?” I ask, trying to change the topic.

“Yeah, I just came back from having dinner with Rachel” Billy answered, unconvinced. She inspects me from head to toe. “You’re acting weird but I’m going to let this one slide.”

I lean towards Billy with a grin and give her a cheek to cheek kiss.

“I’m gonna go get sushi from the corner. I’ll be right back.” I put on my shoes and run out. There is no possible way that Billy would ever guess what I was doing but I still felt like I was caught doing something bad. I will eventually tell her, but not now. Not yet. It doesn’t help that I am a shit liar.