Erica, the girl in the apartment next door

It doesn't take take you long to figure out who you want to try the Sapphire's power on first: Erica, your friend who lived in the apartment next to yours. She was about the same age as you, pretty attractive, and with this being her day off she should be home right now. And most importantly, if this ends up not working after all you should be able to pass it off as a joke without freaking her out too bad.

You climb out of bed and start getting dressed. As you put on your shirt, you think about how supposedly other people aren't supposed to be able to see the Sapphire while you are wearing it. Deciding to test that out, you pull the amulet out of your collar and let it hang over your chest, making sure it would be impossible to miss. If Erica noticed it at all, you would know for a fact it doesn't work.

You make a quick stop in the bathroom to brush your teeth and make yourself look at least somewhat presentable, then grab your keys and wallet and head out the door. You walk the short distance down the hall to Erica's door and knock on it. It isn't long before Erica opens the door. She is dressed casually in t-shirt and sweats, clearly prepared to enjoy a lazy day at home.

"Hey Dylan, what's up?" she asks, brushing her brown bangs out of her eyes to get a better look at you.

"Not much, just a little bored," you reply, "You mind if I hang out here for a bit?"

"Sure, but I'm not sure how entertaining I'll be," Erica said, opening the door further to let you in, "As you can see, I only just woke up."

"Yeah, me too," you say, walking into her apartment and taking a look around. It's a little messy, but given that she wasn't expecting company you aren't too shocked about that.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asks, closing the door and locking it before walking past you to the kitchen, "I just finished making a pot."

"That sounds good to me," you reply. At this point, you're pretty certain that Erica doesn't see the amulet around your neck, as if she had she definitely would have said something by now. As is, she hasn't even glanced down at the sapphire. You're feeling more certain that this is legit, but you wanted to test out its power with something small before going all out with it.

You sit down at the small dining table as Erica grabs two mugs from the cupboard and goes over to the coffee maker. Watching her pour the coffee into them, you get an idea of what would be a good first test. You wait until she is starting to walk towards you, then focus on enforcing your will on her and say out loud, "Throw your coffee on the floor."

Even before anything happened, you knew that it worked. When you said that, your voice felt different, more powerful than it should be. Still, you waited for the moment of truth. And you weren't disappointed, as without hesitation Erica lifted her left arm and hurled the mug she was holding onto the tile floor under her. It shatters on impact, sending shards flying across the floor and getting coffee everywhere.

"Fuck!" Erica shouts, eyes wide as she sets the other mug down on the counter and looks down at the mess.

"What did you do that for?" you ask, playing dumb.

"I... I don't know," Erica says, stepping over the ruined mug to grab a broom and dustpan from the closet, "I guess it was just too hot, and I didn't have a good grip."

You know she definitely didn't just 'drop it', but it doesn't seem like she even heard you tell her what to do. Realizing how reckless that was, you ask, "You're okay though, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, other than a bad case of butterfingers," she answers while she brushes the shards of her mug into the dustpan, "Mind handing me the paper towels?"

"Sure," you say, getting up to grab them off the counter, "In fact, why don't you just focus on getting the mug while I wipe up the coffee for you."

"Really? Thanks, Dylan!" Erica says with a happy smile. You bend down to help her, and between the two of you the clean-up job doesn't take more than a couple of minutes.

As you finish up and wash your hands, you think about what you want to do next with your new gift. Now that you're certain of how much power you have at your disposal, you want to do something a bit more drastic. But what?