Hello my fellow readers!

It is I, I'm back from the dead! I do apologize for my absence, though. I've been busy since I last updated my other story. Life got in the way. Graduated high school, started community college, auditioned for a university's music program and got into it, and now I'm cramming in 19 hours of classes for this semester per week along with a part time job working the grill in a bowling alley and bass lessons on top of that. I will try to update as much as I can, but it most likely won't be as often as I want it to be. Anyway, here's the first chapter to Second Chances. Let me know what you think because I would love to hear what you have to say! :)

-SHF95

Chapter One

Life has its moments where it can bring a gift or bring a curse. Sometimes a gift can be a curse. Sometimes a curse can be a gift. Either way, they change our lives. Mine began a little over a year ago. That night was supposed to be a triumphant victory in the field of science for S.T.A.R. Labs. Instead of changing history for the better, it changed the lives of many people.

Dr. Harrison Wells was the lead scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs. He had a vision to change everything in the world of physics, health, biology, chemistry, and evolution. He created the particle accelerator to make this vision of his into a reality. Wells hosted a press conference to turn the particle accelerator on. It was a huge success. Well, at first it was. Then something happened. No one knows the exact cause, but something in the accelerator had malfunctioned. The malfunction resulted in an explosion that killed seventeen people.

The apartment I live in is relatively close to S.T.A.R. Labs and I could see the explosion from my unit. It released something. I'm not quite sure what it was or how it happened, but it changed me. It might have changed others, too. My neighbor, Thalia Neilson, found me unconscious on the floor when she got home from work. She heard about the blast and wanted to make sure I was okay.

There wasn't any serious damage apart from a nasty bruise from falling. Then a few days later, that's when the weird started to happen. I started to hear voices. People were talking, but their mouths weren't moving. I thought I was going crazy at first. I couldn't explain what was happening to me.

Over time I began to realize the voices I kept hearing were people's thoughts. At first it was extremely overwhelming. I would get frequent headaches that would last for hours or sometimes all day. There were times that the headaches were so painful I got sick. Once I understood exactly what was going on, I tried really hard to train myself. I forced myself to focus on one sound to listen to and eventually the white noise of so many voices became background noise. Even a majority of the painful headaches went away. For now, usually the headaches happen when I'm around too many people. Rock concerts and sports games for instance.

I'm not the only one, though. There are others out there like me. There's a guy out there who can control fire, some can fly, another can change his appearance, and the most famous one is a guy who can run impossibly fast. Central City's calling him the Flash. I found out about these other people with abilities through a blog run by a woman named Iris West. She posted quite a bit ever since the explosion and it's actually interesting to read. She posted a few stories about him and how she's been saved by him a few times. In short, she sees him more as a hero than some guy who is easily capable of robbing banks.

I guess a nice thing to know is that I'm not the only freak out there. I don't know if I will ever meet others out there, but at least I know I'm not alone. For now I keep my ability a secret to myself. If someone found out, I could be captured by the military and they'll force me to use my ability for interrogation, or some lab facility would experiment on me. Hell, even some guy could be rounding us up to create an army for his personal use. Maybe the world would be afraid of us and ship us off to a facility for super powered people. Oh wait, that's basically a juiced up version of prison. Never mind. Either way, I don't want to end up being forced to do something. I'd rather keep my abilities hidden than the world being afraid of me.

The music was cranked up to a volume where it wouldn't disturb the other tenants, but still help block out everyone's thoughts. My mind reading ability made life a little difficult. I would hear secrets no one wants to hear; a partner being unfaithful, accidental pregnancies, planning for divorce, or someone planning to commit a crime or already did. Then there are the thoughts of the people who can't keep it in their pants. Most of the time it was men. They'd have day dreams of doing it with some random chick walking by and start panting like a dog in heat. It's absolutely pathetic, but it's also human nature. We can't control it.

Ever since I first got my abilities, it's made my love life nonexistent. I found out the guy I was dating was cheating on me. I caught him in act and ended the relationship on the spot in front of his fuck buddy. Obviously a blond with fake boobs, large ass, slathered in makeup, and her fake tan made her look like an Oompa Loompa from the 1970's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. After that horrible experience, I've kept to myself. This ability can be a curse sometimes. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I focused more on my artistic abilities of painting, drawing, sculpting, and photography along with piano, guitar, and the band I play in. We're terrible with names. The best we've got so far is Beefy Answer of the Haunted Library and Clan of the Something Cave. We have a horrible habit of changing names.

I think we sound alright for a small group. We usually do covers of songs of other bands, but we write our own material as well. We've had a few gigs every now and then within Central City and it hasn't been too bad. There was one gig we had where everyone looked pissed off at us and gave me the death glare. That was before I had my abilities. Thinking about it now, I wonder why they acted like they had sticks shoved up their assholes. I could've been able to read their thoughts to understand why they acted like such pricks.

As my brush moved across the canvas my mind wandered off. It tended to happen whenever I was painting or drawing. Unfortunately that was when my mental barrier was down and I could hear everything. The smell of the paint reached my nose. It was getting to my head a little since I've been painting for a while.

The painting was acrylic and vibrant colored. Working with paint was one of my personal favorite mediums. I liked the texture of the paint and mixing the colors. Sometimes it took a bit to get the right shade of color, but only if you know how much of one color to mix with the other then it wouldn't take so long. The painting I was currently working on was of a mountain landscape that overlooked crystal blue lake.

It was a lovely painting. At least I thought it looked nice. I would have to let art galleries here in Central City be the judge of that. Lately, though, their judgment in art has been quite poor. They've chosen simple designs and call it art. I've seen one painting where the canvas was painted in three different colors all divided up in thirds and it was still 'art'. It looked like the friggin' flag of Italy. It pisses me off.

I pulled myself out of my work and studied it. Doesn't look to bad. Then again, biased opinion. I gathered my brushes and headed to the sink and rinsed them off. My hands were smeared with paint from hours of working. My ratty clothes I paint in were also smeared with paint. I don't think there has ever been a time where I painted something and didn't make myself a huge mess.

Once my hands were rinsed off and my mess was cleaned up, I flopped on the couch lazily. My phone buzzed, alerting me that I had a text message. Wonder who that could be? I sarcastically thought. Seventy-five percent of my text messages came from my best friend Natalie Winters. The other twenty-five percent came from my band mates Todd, Chloe, Adam, and Matt. Chloe and Matt were high school sweethearts while Todd met his girlfriend in college. Adam and I dated way back in high school, but broke up when he went to Julliard for percussion and I went to Central City University. He and I are still pretty good friends.

I met Natalie while I was in college. She was my roommate all four years and she has a degree in theater performance. I found out quickly that Natalie was a party animal. And that she had difficulties trying to find the right guy. When we shared an apartment together she had guys over several times, but she also respected my privacy when I was dating Grant the Cheater. She helped me the most when I caught him. She even offered to kidnap him and cut of his junk so he couldn't reproduce. It was an extremely tempting offer, but I declined.

I checked my phone and found a text from Natalie. Surprise, surprise.

You, me, clubbing tonight. Not buts. We need to get you a man in your life.

I let out a groan. I hated going to clubs. The music was too loud, loo many desperate people, and the guys were a little too grabby. On a regular level that's what they were like. On my level with the mind reading, it was much worse.

Blaaaaaaah I don't want to be social with other people. I'd rather be an antisocial introvert and stay home to binge watch Harry Potter stead of watching people awkwardly grind their bodies against each other on the dance floor to horrible music.

NU-UH I WILL ACCIO YOUR ASS TO MY SIDE RIGHT NOW! You chickened out the last few times.

You're right outside the door, aren't you?

Yes :)

I hate you…

No you don't, you love me.

Give me a bit to open the door.

There was no way to argue with Nat. She was headstrong and always argued until she was right. I heaved myself off the couch and headed to the front door. I looked through the peephole and found Nat standing there.

"Nat, I'm not liking this idea." I replied and opened the door.

"Too bad." Nat stood there with a smile and was holding a garment bag and her purse. I moved aside and let her in. "Tonight is going to be fun."

"The only fun thing about tonight is the drinking involved." I replied.

"Riley, you're such a Debbie Downer." Nat laughed and draped the garment bag on my couch. I closed the door behind her.

"No, I'm just not a party animal like you." I folded my arms across my chest. "God, how did we survive living with each other in college?"

"Because I spent my time going out to parties and drinking." She answered. "I felt too cramped inside." I shifted a little. After college Nat left to head to Metropolis for acting opportunities. That plan didn't exactly go well. She came back to Central City and moved in with her brother Ben. I owed it to her, though. I sucked up the inner pain of being forced to go out.

"So where are we going tonight?" I asked.

"We're going to the Valiant." She replied, unzipping the bag and pulled out a red dress. Nat does like to make herself presentable. Valiant was one of the biggest night clubs in Central City, which meant more people and thoughts I'd be reading. In general I don't do well in big crowds. They make me very uncomfortable. I was about to protest, but then I kept my mouth shut. She wanted to go out and have fun and I haven't done that much with her lately.

"Yay." I gave a weak smile, but Nat didn't notice.

"We are going to find you a man tonight, Riley." Nat strode around the apartment with purpose. "We are going to be hot, we are going to be sexy, and we're going to be too damn irresistible." I let out a mental moan of horror at Nat's words. This was going to be a disaster. "Come on, let's go make you look slutty!" She grabbed my hand and her dress then dragged me to my room.

"I don't have anything slutty." I replied as we hurried to my room. "Besides, it's five and they don't open until eight."

"Girl, we gonna need the time to make you look hot." She looked narrowly at me. Oh great. We reached my room and Nat laid her dress on my bed. She then skipped to my closet and browsed through it expertly. I lounged on my bed, waiting for my demise. "My God, you need to upgrade your fancy clothes."

"I'm sorry." I shrugged. "I have the wage of a starving artist who makes money on the side by playing in a band that is super shitty."

"Oh shut up, your band sounds awesome. You guys just need a better name." Nat continued her search through my closet. "Aha! I found one!"

"Which one?" I asked as I sat u. She pulled it out and held it up. It was a black dress that had thick shoulder straps that thinned in the back, held together by a rhinestone ring. It showed more of the back than the front where a V-neck cut exposed the upper chest area; not my boobs, but my collar bones. It was actually more classy and elegant than Nat's standards. I only worse it for special occasions like if my art was going to be featured at a gallery. Too bad that didn't happen often.

"You do realize that's meant to be classier than slutty, right?" I raised a brow. "It's gorgeous! It brings out your hair color quite nicely, even if it's short."

"Oi, don't diss the hair. Just means less work for me to do in the morning." I ran my hand through my auburn hair that reached along my jaw.

"We're curling your hair, too. You'll look super cute!" She squealed with excitement.

"If you do makeup, don't go overboard." I headed to my dresser to grab the necessary undergarments. "I don't want to look like a stripper or a clown. Or a stripper clown." I shuddered a little at the thought.

"Just relax and go shower." Nat shooed me away. I grabbed my dress from her, headed into the bathroom, stripped down, and took a quick shower. I scrubbed myself down, shaved, and once I got out I used moisturizer to make my skin soft. I wrapped a towel around me and proceeded to blow dry my hair. After ten minutes I finished drying off and then got dressed.

When I walked back to my room, Nat was in her red dress she brought over. It was a little too short and had too much of a plunging neckline, but Nat was Nat and could pull anything off. She had the model body every woman desired. She was athletically fit, curvy, piercing blue eyes, chocolate brown hair, and boobs she was super proud to show off, hence her cleavage enhancing wardrobe. How we clicked as roommates is something I never fully understood.

Nat's mouth dropped when I walked in. "Oh, my God, you look amazing." She let out a squeal.

"Can you zip me up? I'm not coordinated enough to do it by myself." Nat walked up behind me and zipped my dress up.

"Hair and makeup." She said, turning me around and guided me to my bed. She dug around in her bag and pulled out a case of makeup. Good God she comes prepared.

"No hooker, clown, raccoon eyes look, okay? I'm not selling myself out."

"Relax." She had me sit down. "I'm just going to curl your hair and use a purple eye shadow for a smoky look. You'll be fine." She plugged in a curling iron and set it aside to proceed on my makeup. "You should really wear a little makeup in your life, Riley."

"Too much of a hassle." I replied with a shrug. "It makes my face itchy as well." Nat grabbed the deep purple eye shadow from her bag and opened it up.

"Close your eyes." Nat instructed. I did as I was told. "You're just not used to it. That's why your face gets all itchy from it." I felt her beginning to apply the color on with the brush. She was gentle and careful. Her years of wearing makeup made the routine of putting it on very quick. "I'm not going to put blush on because you look fine without it." Within a few minutes she was done. "Now we need a bit of eyeliner." I opened my eyes as she rummaged through her bag again.

"Good God, did you bring everything?" I widened my eyes.

"A girl has a big purse, so she fills it with makeup." Nat shrugged, pulling out black eyeliner. "And then there's you." She let out a small chuckle. "You and your messenger bags filled with sketch books, pencils, and cameras."

"Those are my tools for beauty." I replied with a smile.

"And you're damn good with them." She smiled back. "Now look up." I did as she applied a bit of the eyeliner on both eyes. "There, now we're half way done. All we have to do is your hair."

"Now that I can do myself." I took my curling iron and walked over to the mirror. "You go finish getting ready." I set to work on my hair putting in small curls and adjusted them so my hair came out a bit wavy. It was a bit tedious, but I got the job done. Nat had finished her makeup that really brought out her eyes. She decided her hair was wavy enough, but she stuck pins in to hold it up in a messy bun. There were a few strands that hung down her face, but it suited her. Nat looked at me with wide eyes.

"Oh, my God." She breathed.

"What?" I panicked. "Does it look dumb?" This is why I hated dressing up.

"No. God no, Riley." She was still speechless. "You…you look very sexy. That is an honest compliment. You just need a little a little lip gloss." She handed me a light tone and I put it on. "Have you looked at yourself? I mean really looked at yourself?"

I started long and hard at my reflection. I was shocked at the person staring back at me. Nat somehow enhanced every natural feature. She didn't do anything super drastic, but she really brought out my brown eyes. The dress I was wearing hugged curves that normally would be nonexistent due to my regular casual tomboyish attire. My hair hung around my face in waves, lightly caressing my cheekbones.

"Oh, my God." I gaped at myself. "What did you do?"

"I enhanced your natural features." She replied. "If a guy doesn't approach you tonight, then they're crazy." If a guy knew what I could do, he definitely wouldn't approach me. When we slipped our shoes on and pulled our jackets on, we were ready to go. My neighbor Thalia was coming home. She was wearing her waitress uniform at a diner that was located near the Central City Police Station. She was short, petite, had short blond hair, blue eyes, and a shy, but bubbly personality.

"Going out?" She greeted with a smile.

"Hell yes we are!" Nat exclaimed.

"Help me." I mouthed, mimicking a tightening noose around my neck. Thalia laughed. She knew how thrilled I was about clubbing. I locked the door to my apartment and stuck my keys in my pocket.

"You look amazing, Riley." Thalia complimented as she unlocked her apartment. "Be careful, okay?" She tended to worry just like my mom.

"We're cabbing." I assured her.

"Good, now go have fun."

"G'nite." I waved as we headed out.

"She seems very…" Nat spoke as we were outside, trying to hail a cab. "…introverted."

"She works as a waitress, Nat." I defended Thalia. "They have a small wage and are expected to make up the rest of their salary in tips. She doesn't go out a lot because she's working her ass off to pay rent and have food."

"I know what being a waiter is like." Nat retorted. "I was one when I was seventeen."

"Yeah? How long did that last?" I raised my brows.

"About two weeks." She replied meekly. "Or one. But that's only because my boss caught me having sex in the closet with a coworker named Chuck." Her face briefly went off into fantasy land and unfortunately I could see it. "Ah, Chuck. He was damn fine with that six-pack and-"

"Nat, I don't need the mental picture!" I snapped her out of it. She pulled out of her fantasy and the torture stopped. I hate living like this.

"Right." She flushed with some remorse and embarrassment. "I'm opening up old wounds with you."

"Exactly, so your whole description of your sexual encounters don't really help." I felt a pain in my chest as the memory of catching Grant in the act. "But Grant was four months ago. I'm done with him and I just need to move on."

"Are you sure you want to go?" Did I detect concern in her voice about clubbing? This wasn't like Nat.

"We're standing out on the sidewalk in dresses and makeup. It's a little too late to back out now, especially since you were so adamant on going out." I replied. Nat was silent for a bit.

"I'm sorry." She apologized. "Hug it out?" At first I was reluctant, but then we embraced in a sisterly hug. She was there to support me and help me recover from the incident when no one else did. I owe it to her that much. We broke away and a cab pulled up. Finally. We climbed in the back and I let out a sigh.

"Where to, ladies?" The driver asked. He had a bit of a scruffy appearance; bit of a five o' clock shadow, dark eyes, and his greasy dark brown hair was mostly hidden by a hat. There was a fain scent of cigarette smoke lingering in the fabric of the seats.

"Valiant Night Club." Nat answered. I closed the cab door and buckled in.

Oh, my God, they look hot! Especially the brunette one, the driver thought. I'd like to take her home tonight and show her a good time at the club. He sat up a little straighter, every so often looking in the rear-view mirror as he drove to the club. I rolled my eyes in disgust and looked out the window.