"Are you getting this?" Claire shouted from the top of the rickety abandoned platform.

"Claire, trust me, I'm recording your every step."

"OK, just keep it aimed at me, and don't stop, no matter what happens."

"All right, all right, but be careful up there."

"Geez, Zach, sometimes you sound just like my dad. Just do what I ask, OK?"

Zach zoomed in on Claire as she stood on the dilapidated walkway. He was expecting her to drop something onto the sun-harded Texas soil below, but he was totally unprepared for what actually happened. Through the viewfinder, he watched in horror as his best friend suddenly climbed over the rail, and with no hesitation threw herself into space, landing with a sickening thud in the hard dirt.

"Claire," he screamed, running toward her twisted and broken body. Even in his panic and despair at having witnessed her apparent suicide, Zach kept his word and didn't stop recording. As he neared her body he was amazed to see Claire starting to lift herself off the ground. By the time he got to her, she was on her feet, woozy but very much alive. Zach was sickened when he saw the damage the fall had caused. There was something obviously wrong with her shoulder, and it looked like some ribs were poking out of the side of her cheerleader sweater. Zach felt a wave a nausea roll over him as he realized how badly she must be injured internally.

Zach continued recording, knowing that for whatever reason, she wanted every moment of this insanity preserved. He felt himself getting dizzy as he watched Claire push her dislocated shoulder back into place, shrugging off the obvious pain. She lifted her sweater to inspect the damage to her ribs. Zach almost fainted as he watched her ribs retract back inside her chest, and the jagged holes in her skin began to heal themselves. He continued watching, unable to speak or move, as the cuts and bruises on her face and arms began to heal in a matter of seconds.

Now Zach understood why Claire had been acting so weird the last few weeks. His best buddy, the cute little Texas cheerleader that he had known since middle school, had turned into some kind of freak. "How... how'd you do that," he squeaked, his voice cracking like a thirteen-year-old.

"I don't really know, Zach. I've jumped off that thing twice, I've stabbed myself, left my hand on the stove until I could smell the flesh burning, but every time, I just heal up."

"Does anyone else know you can do that?"

"No, and that's the way I want to keep it. I trust you more than anyone else in the world, and that's why I wanted you to be here today. Now, give me the tape."

"What? Claire, this is amazing. We should sent this tape to every news network and post it on the internet. You need to share your gift with the rest of the world. Maybe there's something unique in your genetic makeup that could..."

"Could what? Be used to help other people patch themselves up? Zach, I don't want to end up in a lab somewhere for the rest of my life, being poked and prodded. Until I get a better handle on what's happening to me, this has to stay a secret. Don't you see that?"

"I guess so," Zach muttered as he ejected the cartridge from the camera.

"You're the best friend I've ever had, Zach, and I know you'll look out for me." Claire reached up and gave Zach a peck on the cheek as she took the tape from his hand.

"OK, your secret is safe with me," he agreed reluctantly. "Best friends forever, right?"

Claire may have thought of Zach as just a friend, but Zach's feelings toward her had grown from friendship to infatuation as they had passed through adolescence and into their teenage years. Now, he was sure he was in love with her, but he had been unable to bring himself to tell Claire how he actually felt. He had decided that if he couldn't have her as a girlfriend, having her as a best friend would have to do. But that didn't stop him from masturbating almost every night with images of his favorite cheerleader flashing before his eyes.

Over the next few days, Claire tried to act as if nothing unusual had happened. Zach went along; if she wasn't ready to talk about her ability, or gift, or whatever it was, he wasn't going to push her. He waited patiently as she tried to live her normal life as a bright, pretty high school cheerleader.

But a week after her spectacular dive, Claire stopped him as he was leaving school. "Can you wait around for me until practice is over? I need your help again, to explore another aspect of my... abilities."

"Sure, I'll wait. It's not like I have a life anyway. I'm just another lonely, unloved nerd. Now, if I had a cheerleader for a girlfriend..." Zach couldn't believe he had just said that. It was a close as he had ever come to expressing his true feelings. But Claire dismissed it as another Zach joke.

"Well, aren't you having a nice little pity party. Cheer up, Zach, you might find today's project to be a little more enjoyable than the last one." She stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss, a real one this time. It was short, but oh so sweet, and unexpected. Zach knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he didn't care. As usual, Claire knew how to make him smile even when he was trying to be miserable.

The cheerleading coach didn't like a bunch of horny teenage boys standing around watching practice, so Zach found a place under a tree on a hillside overlooking the field where the squad was warming up. He pulled a book out of his backpack and pretended to read as Claire and the other cheerleaders ran through their routines for the next hour. He didn't want to seem like a pervert, just sitting in the grass and watching the girls do their leaps and splits, but it was hard not to stare at their nubile, tanned, tight young bodies going through their paces.

Even at a distance, it was easy to spot Claire. She was the shortest one on the team, but her legs were full and well-muscled, as opposed to the skinny, more stylish legs of the other girls. Claire was the most athletic member of the squad. While the other girls focused on getting the synchronized movements and steps of the routines correct, Claire concentrated on handsprings and back flips. And she was the one who the four male cheerleaders used to practice their lifts and throws. Zach felt his usual pangs of jealously as he watched those lucky guys putting there hands in places on her body that he could only dream of touching. He thought briefly about trying out for the team next year, but realized that was about as likely as him making a trip to Mars.

After practice, Zach hung out by the locker room, waiting for Claire to come out. When she did, they headed home, Zach slowly riding his bike while Claire walked alongside. "Hop on?" Zach offered. That's how they had gone home together frequently when they were younger, Zach pedaling furiously while Claire perched precariously on the handlebars. But last year she had stopped doing that, preferring instead to walk beside him. She said it was easier to talk that way. Their daily chats were very important to her, she had told him, her way of decompressing from high school. "Sometimes I feel like you're like my real-life diary, Zach. I hope you don't mind," she had told him once. "Most guys would be trying to charm their way into my heart, or my panties, but you're just a really good listener. I feel like I can tell you anything."

Of course, what Claire didn't seem to notice was that Zach very much wanted to be one of "those" guys, but he still lacked the social skills and self-confidence to express his true feelings. But, as in some fairy tales, good things do come to those who wait patiently. Zach didn't know it, but this was to be one of those days.

Claire was quieter than usual. Zach had expected her to be chatting away about the project she had recruited him for, but after a few blocks he began to wonder if she was having doubts about having exposed her secret ability to him. He tried to reassure her. "Hey Supergirl," he teased, "when are you gonna start wearing a cape?"

"This is serious, Zach. I was hoping you would understand that."

"Uh, I do, Claire. I'm sorry. Hey, what's the plan today? Where are we going?"

"My room."

"Huh?" Zach knew that Claire's parents had a strict 'no boys in your room when we're not home' rule. Zach knew the rule applied to him also, regardless of how much Mr. and Mrs. Bennet liked him. "Won't your parents... ?"

"There's nobody home. I've got the house to myself for a couple of hours."

"I didn't bring my camera today. Is that OK?"

"No prob. This isn't something I want recorded anyway."

When they arrived at the Bennet house, Zach stashed his bike in the back yard, already feeling a little guilty about sneaking into her room. Claire opened the back door, and led him up to her room. As soon as they were inside, she shut the door behind her and locked it. "I just don't want us to be disturbed," she explained. "Zach, you're my best friend in the world, and you would do anything I asked, right?"

"Of course, Claire. We had this conversation the other day, right? Like I told you, you can count on me to do whatever you want, and to keep your secret."

"Good, I just wanted to be sure you still felt the same way. I'm sure that what you saw the other day was kind of a surprise, and if I scared you, I apologize. But I feel a lot better now, knowing that somebody else knows about me, and that I'm not delusional or something."

"No delusions, kiddo. I definitely saw you hit the ground, and saw what it did to you. And the way you just..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Zach, how much to you like me? I mean, we're friends and all that, but... do you like me as a girl?"

Zach hadn't seen that one coming. He started to laugh it off, but the stern expression on Claire's face stopped him. She was serious, and he knew she was expecting a serious answer. Besides, it gave him the opening he had been waiting for. He swallowed once, gathering his courage, then opened his mouth, and his heart.

"Claire, I've been in love with you for a long time now. I've... I've just been afraid to say anything."

Zach cringed, expecting Claire react with anger, or even worse, laughter. But instead, she smiled at him and said, "So, you wouldn't mind if I asked you to have sex with me?"

Zach's mouth moved, but no sound came out. When he finally recovered, he started babbling. "You mean... you want me to... wait a minute, is there a hidden camera in the room? Is this a joke? Is this some kind of cheerleader initiation, making a fool out of the nerd?"

"It's not joke, Zach. I really want you to do me. It's all in the interest of science, of course. Think of it as an experiment."

"Huh?"

"Just trust me, and follow my lead, OK? This has to do with my... gift."

Claire stepped toward him, and Zach had no choice but to wrap his arms around her. She raised her head, and for the second time in that wonderful day, he kissed his best friend. This time, it was a longer, more relaxed meeting of mouths. Zach was just beginning to feel at ease with the feel of Claire's lips on his, wondering if it would be OK with her if he slid his tongue into her mouth, when he was shocked to feel her hand grasping his erection. He had been trying not to push against her down there; he was embarrassed by how quickly his manhood had risen in response to her question, and the warmth of her body against his. But her hand was rubbing against him insistently, as if to insure that he was ready for her "experiment".