justine to the rescue!

you chose fiction!

was pretty happy you did because i wanted to write something super fun and upbeat to capture your essence and happy spirit :) 

thank you for being you and for teaching me what empathy and kindness look like. there’s truly no one as caring as you in this world and i feel so lucky every single day to be in your life. i hope you’re never short of reminders of how loved you are in every direction you look.

love you forever and always jewce!

dedicated to justine de ocampo

---

as the sun went down, the room gently illuminated in gold, reflecting off all the reflective surfaces it could find -- the glossy art prints she had collected over the years, the trinket shelf she bought on facebook marketplace - holding some of her most prized blind box pulls. the light was also absorbed by the hard glass of the photo frames she had scattered throughout the apartment, depicting her and her friends in their happiest moments. the area she lived in was considered relatively safe, albeit boring. she knew that these days, boring was considered a luxury that most couldn’t afford to have. but there she was on her wednesday night, enjoying what her friends teased her as her “girl dinner” as she relaxed on her couch and caught up on the latest episode of the boys. the crisp sweetness of her golden opal apple helped distract her from her inner criticism on her predictable wednesday night, and instead helped her direct her focus on the intense action scene on the screen. as she found herself leaning into the tv, entranced by the tension, she thought to herself “man i can’t wait to debrief.”

after the episode ended and she cleared her dinner and dishes, she heard the familiar ping of her discord notifications, reverberating through the apartment from her bedroom. without a glance in the direction of her PC, she already knew it could only be one of two things: 

a) an invite from her friends to play video games, a pretend, recreational danger 

b) one of them complaining about an actual crime, danger, or immediate threat to their lives 

as much as justine loved gacha, this was a gamble she did not enjoy. she was a funny girl and could joke or make light in just about every scenario, but one thing that she refused to joke about was the livelihood and safety of her friends. her friends were arguably her family, or closer at times. they were the people she spent so much of her time experiencing life with: playing games, sharing music and meals, going to concerts.these were the people that made the mundanity of life feel so special and wonderful. 

even from a young age, it was well established among her community that justine had superpowers. after all, it was genetic. her mom literally saved peoples’ lives everyday, her sister, of course, could read minds, and her dad had the power of teleportation. but even with all of those visible superpowers in her lineage,  all her relatives, friends, teachers, and even strangers would comment on it, sensing it even when they had barely interacted with her. her own therapist had even addressed it in one of their sessions:

“there’s something so special about you, i can’t put my finger on it but…”

“you just have this aura, i can feel it…”

“magnetizing” 

“...but just what is it?” 

while she appreciated the compliments and reassurance from these people in her life, she found herself just as dumbfounded as they were. with the rise of crime, more and more superheroes felt comfortable coming forward with their abilities after hiding for years. it felt like every single day, she was reading stories or seeing news about a new superhero. but twenty years later, and she was still searching for this superpower that she was constantly being told she had. as the days of crime continued, she was beginning to believe that it was a fluke. as a previous animal sciences major, she’d taken enough science courses in her life to know the very real possibility that the genes could have skipped. 

after wiping her clean hands on a kitchen towel and taking one last glance at the kitchen, she tapped the light switch and headed for her room. the glow of her monitor displayed the new messages in her discord chat, which she immediately checked. 

8:06pm: 

“dude, not to scare anyone but i can literally hear gunshots from my bedroom. wtf” 

8:08pm

“not to pile on the bad news, but me and paulina had a bad fight and my mentals kind of shot rn”

8:08pm

“fuck bro, sorry.” 

as she scanned over the messages, a familiar helplessness sunk in. her mind raced with different ways to cheer up her friends, as her eyes filled with tears. she absolutely hated seeing her friends sad, and she wanted to make things better or safe, or at the very least to make a comfortable space for her friends to express their frustrations, hurt, and pain. she desperately wished for the ability to take the pain away, or take them to a safe place. well that would’ve been a useful superpower, she thought bitterly to herself. 

on instinct, her fingers raced over the keys, her hands going into autopilot as her brain and heart began to take over. in a matter of seconds, justine had managed to validate the experiences of all her friends, offer to play games or watch something over discord, or simply call and chat to help them pass the time. given the mixed immediate danger levels of the situations her friends were in, she wasn’t sure which would be most appropriate. they answered for her, and soon the catchy discord ringtone was reverberating through the headset resting on her desk. she grabbed the headphones, placed them over her ears, and hit answer…

…justine lifted her glasses off the bridge of her nose to relieve some of the pressure, wheeling her chair back from her desk slowly. a colorful animation slowly spread from the center of her monitor, the words victory engulfing her screen from every corner, causing her to glance over at the only other visible thing on the screen: 

2:56am

“holy shit, sorry guys. i swear it was twelve last time i looked, it’s already three am?”

“yeah buster but it’s not a big deal, tomorrow’s saturday so we can all just sleep in”

“aw, i have to drive to the city tomorrow at 8am for serena’s baby shower so that’s probably last game for me. sorry guys, i think i gotta go now. are you guys feeling any better?.” 

“dude what? no worries. thanks for keeping us company, i honestly feel so much better now. drive safe and have fun, make sure you get some coffee before you head out tomorrow.”

and with that closing, she clicked out of the call and dragged herself to the bathroom. she appreciated feeling clean, but that didn’t make the entire process any less dreadful or tedious in her eyes. still, she knew she had no time to waste, knowing she had to wake up in about four hours to pack, get ready, and start her drive. that thought alone motivated her to fly through her nightly routine, and she hurriedly wrapped up her skincare and changed into a comfy t-shirt. 

while she moved the copious amount of stuffed animals off her bed, she thought of her friends and the tough day they had. she appreciated knowing how they were doing, even if it wasn’t as great as she hoped for.. she wasn’t immune to them either so she resonated with the pain, but she really hoped she had done enough to help them feel better. while climbing into bed under the covers, she grabbed her phone to send out one last text in the groupchat. 

4:36am

sorry again i had to leave early. i wish there was more i could do, let me know if you guys need anything else. tbh i wish i had that stupid superpower you guys always joke about, would be super helpful right now LOL. whatever, love you pals :)

the sunlight was once again gently streaming through the blinds, coating the mountain of plushies in a pale yellow. the slight buzzing from justine’s phone on her nightstand table was a gentle nudge to wake up, causing her to stir in her sleep. she opened her eyes slightly to adjust to the light, staring up at her ceiling and mentally preparing for the long drive and day she had ahead of her, a mixture of dread for the drive but excitement to celebrate friends. she decided that she was giving up on the idea of a superpower. she loved doing the things she did to see her people, but she wondered if it was even enough to protect them from the dangers of the world around them. 

judging by the position of the sun in the sky and the brightness of her room, she knew she had to start her drive soon. without checking her phone, she ran around her apartment, throwing various dresses, shoes, skincare, haircare, and makeup into backpacks and totes. just when she was about to open the front door and pack everything into her car, she realized she had almost entirely forgotten her phone. 

settling into the driver’s seat, she plugged her phone into the cable, mentally prepared to hear the mix from her dance team’s last performance ( it would auto-play everytime she connected her phone) a running bit and well - known fact between those lucky enough to sit in her passenger seat. she went to maps and input her destination, disappointed by all of the red she saw. the red used to represent the traffic she would groan at, but now it served as a crime tracker. what was the world coming to? she thought. 

she immediately switched to her spotify app, debating between listening to music or a podcast while resting her phone into the orange stand hanging from her car’s navigation screen. music won, as it usually did, and as the guitar riff from a backseat lovers song began to play out, she reversed her car and began the drive. 

she didn’t know it yet, but she really did have a superpower: her empathy and compassion were so strong, they were able to defy physical distance or time. it was a powerful force, something that all of her friends were able to consistently rely on no matter how far they were from her. which was good, because she was well loved everywhere she went, and that meant a lot of different friends in a lot of different cities. 

her powers flowed through every detailed text, lengthy call, and all the miles she drove or flew to be around her friends. they felt it in the way she remembered all of the little details of their lives, and how they always left an interaction leaving them feeling better than when they entered. everyone who had the privilege to know her got to walk away with a little more faith in the world, because they knew people with her heart existed in the same universe. 

while she was often worried for her friends and the danger present in their everyday experiences, her powers were enough to give them enough energy to keep them going. her love was used to generate the momentum necessary to keep the earth orbiting around the sun for her friends. even when they were in their darkest moments, her love was like the sun, reaching them and illuminating the way out, reaching every corner of their lives. it’s a huge responsibility, but not for a gal like her. and hey, somebody has to do it. if not her, then who? 

:)