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Mal wandered downstairs ten minutes later on the dot, just as he said, and helped himself to the orange juice in the fridge. It was probably testament to how many times he’d been in King’s house that he knew where all the food, drink and kitchen utensils were – probably better than his best friend himself. Drinking from a glass because only barbarians drank it straight from the bottle, he waved awkwardly at Marie, who returned the gesture.

It was weird. Despite being an only child himself, Malcolm liked to treat King’s little sister like his own lil’ sis, though of course his own mother wouldn’t have had it any other way. She kept telling him to extend the weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) dinner invitation to Marie as well as King.

Mal rolled up the sleeves of the flannel shirt that was way too big on him in the arms – probably because he just picked it out of the pile of his stuff stowed away in King’s wardrobe for emergencies and it likely wasn’t his – and sat at the breakfast bar, lost in thought. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with King? There was an infinitely more important question to answer, because in all his years of being buddies with the overdramatic, loveable prat, he’d never seen him act like that before, especially not after a night of drinking.

Flopping over him like that did not help Mal’s little-big crush, either. Like the meaningless flirting King did to everyone, it just made it worse.

King, while Malcolm had spent a total of ten minutes preparing (how he was so quick King would never know), had taken to wandering the top floor of his family’s home. It had been quiet, maybe deathly so, and yet he still felt the overwhelming pressure of anxiety, worry, and just the tiniest bit of endearment. Something was very, very wrong and King couldn’t decipher just exactly what it was, which just seemed to add to his own panic. Maybe the booze from last night was bad, super bad, poisonous even... Can beer go bad? Malcolm seemed fine, so it probably wasn’t the alcohol. But... Malcolm… King froze at the end of the main hall and turned to watch his friend descend downstairs, leaving his bedroom door slightly ajar. As the boy had passed, King swore he could see those colors emanating off of the smaller boy’s body. And then he felt his own heart start thumping painfully and his lungs heave for air. Malcolm, Malcolm.

Were these Malcolm’s emotions?

King eventually joined his friend and sister in the kitchen, taking a seat on one of the counter stools with a slightly strained smile clear on his face. Marie greeted him with a cocked eyebrow and a devious smile, but it faded to a soft frown as she examined him closely.

”You feeling okay, Rich?” She asked cautiously, leaning over the counter as she held a hand to his forehead. Annoyed by the new and improved feeling worry he felt and saw coming off his little sister, he pushed her hand away and leaned forward, sneering playfully in her direction.

”I’m good, sis. Allll good, never better!”

”You’re lying.” Marie responded automatically, like a robot. King tilted his head slightly, a bit shocked by her quick tongue and almost sudden lack of emotion, but she soon returned to her small-smiling self. King opened his mouth to say something, but Marie lifted a hand as if to silence him before turning towards the front door, stepping away from the two as quickly as she could. ”It’s nice today…” She began, curling strands of hair around an outstretched finger as she gathered up her school supplies, ”I’m gonna walk to school today. See you two later.” And then with a small wave and a loud slam she was gone. King watched the whole exit with wide eyes, and then he forced a laugh, turning towards Malcolm with curling lips,

”That was weird, right? Hahah.” The laugh sounded forced, and his eyes were entirely too focused on the colors around Mal and not Mal himself, but a finally genuine smile had planted itself onto King’s face.

“Weird but, well, if you did try and lie to Marie, I’m not sure what you were expecting,” Mal said carefully, though the smile did make his heart go all aflutter. Malcolm stood up to put his empty glass in the dishwasher to distract himself, though the corners of his lips did turn up at seeing King get shot down completely by his little sister. Owned, would be the word. Mal decided it was probably best not to repeat what she had asked and rooted around in the cupboards for a granola bar to take with him and practically threw another one at King. “I can drive today, if you’re still feeling like crap from this morning’s mysterious plague,” Mal offered with just a dash of added worry. “But if I do you need to come to Astronomy Club with me because you haven’t been right since the eclipse.”

Mal had been trying to get him to go to the Astronomy Club with him for months, but every time they made a deal like that, he always let him back out graciously. It was empty.

King was beginning to get annoyed at the constant waves of worry that poured from Mal, and he couldn’t fight the urge to upturn his brows and stare at his friend with an intense look of concern. Honestly, he felt extremely unwell, almost sickly, just sitting so close to his friend, but he really didn’t want to go to the Astronomy Club. Going there meant he’d have to sit in the same room as Jason and his stupid owner Scout, and he had already had enough of those two, but as Malcolm put forth the negotiation he noticed a slight blip of a color and feeling appear. Perhaps it could be called… Curiosity? What was he thinking?

”... It might be best if you drive after all, and… I’ll go to the Astronomy Club if you want me to.” Usually he would have quickly shot down the idea, but here he was, following after Mal’s frantic emotions like some frantic puppy. King smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his head carefully before opening the granola bar with ease. He nibbled it at first, obviously not feeling very hungry, and tried his best to ignore the constant colors curling form Malcolm’s figure.

“Good. I knew I could make a nerd out of you,” Mal said, and smiled softly. Shades of blue pour from King’s right, and a soothing emotion filled his chest. He deciphered it as ‘relief’, and a small smile displayed on his face and he relaxed on the seat, head tumbling to the side to watch Malcolm once more. This boy was something else entirely, huh? Last night he just seemed like his usual Malcolm self, friendly and stupidly drunk-sad, but now it was like he was viewing a whole different person. This Mal wasn’t stoic or quiet, this Mal was bursting with a combination of colors and emotion and King was drowning in it all. He didn’t know whether to hate it or love it.

well it hurts so i guess i hate it huh

King leaned forward after a moment, eyes tracing the faint colors loosely. In his mind he could distinguish each one’s meaning; blue was calmness, purple was guilt, green respect but… All of them mingled together like wet paint, infecting his mind with their odd powers. King wondered briefly if his eyes had gotten infected by some mood-ring-juice or whatever was in those colorful bands, but all thoughts seemed to fade when a bright yellow seemed to outline most of Mal’s other colors. Yellow…

Lust.

Why, why lust? Reasons swirled through his mind, but his thoughts were consumed by the colors once more and he slowly let his head hit the counter, breathing as calmly as he could. Was Malcolm hiding something important? Lust meant interest, and there was no one to be interested in besides King at the moment unless Mal’s mind was thinking of… Other things. King just wanted to ask, but right now he also wanted to sit up and smooch his best friend, which was an odd but not unfamiliar feeling. Perhaps instead, he should try to experiment a bit. It wouldn’t be too hard to prove these were Mal’s emotions, but he just had to think of something to say that would perhaps shock his friend. Words filled his throat and then vanished into thin air as he sighed, mind whirring with things to do to instigate Malcolm’s mood, but as he glanced to the side and saw the shining yellow swirl just beyond his vision a question quickly came to form.

”Yooooo…. Mal…. Are you, like, gay?” The question was asked in a quiet voice, and it had all formed from the feelings emanating off of his friend. Hopefully he was either far off the mark or spot on. Either way, King assumed he was about to find out which was which.

Mal froze. He hadn’t really been doing anything meaningful before he stopped moving, other than fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and the counter top behind him. Like a deer caught in the headlights, wide-eyed, he glanced towards King without taking a breath. He’d been too obvious. He’d blushed too dark and too frequently. Maybe he did something stupid when he was drunk again.

There was an easy answer to the question – ‘no’ – that would stop the bone-deep fear that instinctively flooded his system, the same way it always had whenever he considered telling someone. Alice had been a one-off, he had told himself. But it was difficult to quell the rising tide of hope that rose like a helium balloon and lodged itself in his throat. “What...– Why?” Mal choked out. “I mean… _yes... but why?” The answer he gave was much quieter, betraying the more truthful side of himself: the shy, anxious kid that filled himself with bluster to be King’s number one friend.

Panic, fear, anxiety, and then the truth. King let out a semi-relieved sigh, but the breath caught in his throat as the emotions swarmed his mind and filled his chest like water. He struggled to breath for a second, his hands shakily reaching up to clutch Mal’s shoulders, and then with a weak smile he said,

”I can just tell.” King slowly stood up from the stool, sauntering unbalanced towards the door. He gathered up his bag and grabbed a key from a hook by the door, dangling them from an outstretched finger for Mal to grab. His breathing was still shallow and his eyes were half-closed as he attempted to block out the furious colors, ”I think something happened to me last night, but… I can’t explain it. Not yet. Let’s get to school, maybe your nerd club knows something.” Banking on the Astronomy Club to know something was just a hunch, but it was also the only thing close to a lead he had.

Mal hadn’t quite regained full respiratory function, but he took the keys from King. He wasn’t quite sure what to do or say at that moment other than pretend like everything was normal, and he wasn’t feeling faint. He shook his head to clear it of any of those stray thoughts and – unable to focus on the ‘something’ that happened to his best friend last night – started towards the door. He believed him, but there was a time and a place for logical thinking, and it was not right now.

Mal let King leave the house first, and watched him go. He supposed that what he was feeling in the pit of his stomach was disappointment. Yeah, King liked everything with a pulse, but there was no way in hell that he like-liked Mal. The display earlier was just a side-effect of a much worse problem. Feeling all too much like a ball of negativity, he headed out to the car. The two would be officially late for class in a matter of minutes, but neither said anything, and as the car seemed to steam with an unhealthy amount of negativity for King to just soak in, they went off to school.

Moon had a parental cleverness about her, though sometimes this maternal instinct was drowned by her natural teenage enthusiasm and vitality. She really did want to help Jay. And still planned too, no question about it. So her plan, which initially wouldn't expose Jay, seemed to have put on hold when she saw Alicia come in with red paint on her hands. A mischievous smile was plastered over Alicia's face, which reactively made Moon step back away from the stall door and lean herself against the sink counter top. Alicia must of gotten the message as well she figured.

Quietly, Moon stood still in fascination and watched with a subtle smirk hidden behind two fingers that rested against her lips--her other arm rested across her torso. She relinquished command to Alicia. And though she would not participate, she surely wouldn't intervene in the girl's prank.

And then...

Grab, Squeal, Roll! It happened in the blink of an eye. Moon had no idea Jay could get so high-pitched. Must be the pink hair, she thought playfully. Chuckling within the palm of her hand, she leaned off from the counter-top and picked up Jay's skateboard that managed to escape from under his stall like a runaway car. As she rested it against the wall so it couldn't roll away again, her friend Gerard barged in. She raised a peculiar eyebrow at his abrupt presence and also in reaction to his comment, which as a feminist, didn't particularly sit right with her. Half-halfheartedly, she let out a slightly irritated huff.

Making her way over to him, she had her left arm crossed over chest and the her right pointer finger pressed against his chest--"Gerard, have you also lost your way? This is the girl's lavatory, less we forget", she hounded him in a motherly manner, her pointer finger poking him repeatedly in the chest as she said so.

She lifted her hand from his chest and walked back over to the stall Jay was 'trapped' in, "Besides, those names you came up with were sooooooo empty", she teased. Moon leaned her ear against the stall, and knocked on it once. "Honestly hun, you better go before a girl comes in here and sees you. This is sacred space. Feminine mystical energy only", she remarked to Gerard, pointing at the female only sign plastered on the door behind him.

"Speaking of feminine energy...", she mumbled, turning back to Jay's stall and knocking once more. Moon bit her lip mischievously and gave Alicia a big sister kind of wink.

"Emily! Emily!", she affectionately proclaimed from outside the stall, jumping up to get a brief glance at him. Moon managed a quick wave to Jay before she landed on the ground. She jumped again, forming her hands together into a heart. And on her third jump to look at his handsome face, she put up a peace sign, but this time, something else happened that immediately made her lose her mental focus. Instead of coming back down as normal, a gentle swirling of colourful iridescence flowed around her body and she floated upwards above the stall. The girl in the stall next to Jay shrieked as Moon, in a gasped attempt, gripped onto the top hinges of his stall to stop herself from floating up to the ceiling.

Moon's countenance was like that of someone who just saw a flying pig and when she looked to Jay in desperation, the girl in the next stall busted out in fright. She looked up at Moon hanging on for her dear life, let out a perplexed "Holy sh...", and then fainted near Alicia's feet. Moon, who was quite confused, but simultaneously scared and intrigued at the same time, looked to Gerard, then to Alicia, and then back to Jay. "Jay my love...please text Alice for me", she mumbled fearfully. And then for a brief moment, she thought back to last night when she swore she was floating above her bed for several seconds. But she had thought it was a dream. And now, she knew it was real. Unless this was a dream as well. Perhaps one of the Native American dream walks.....

Nah. Probably not.

Her body was still fighting to float up as she looked down at her friends calmly, but also terrified. "Okay---this is definitely happening, soooo..if someone could please help me get down before she wakes up. Or worse...someone else comes in here..."

She prayed to the divine spirits that no one would come in--unless it was Alice of course.

Interacting with: Everett @AcerRo
Location: Everett’s truck -> Wilcox Hunting Lodge

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As Nina looked out of the window of Everett’s truck, she did have to wonder what she had gotten herself into. Sure, she was happy to spend time with Everett and be there for him, but she seemed to have sign herself up for being involved in some illegal stuff for the moment. However, she pushed that out of her mind and looked over at Everett. ”So, where are we headed to next that involves me getting ‘dirty’ as you said?”

“Well that's a bit of a loaded question. Aunt Lou need helps getting some stuff ready and I gotta go kill and butcher an elk. You game?” Everett said with a smile, knowing full well that was not something she was expecting to hear.

“Well, not sure how well I’ll do with hunting and butchering, but I’d be more than happy to help out Aunt Lou while you do that. Unless you were hoping that I’d come with you. And if that was the case… I’m gonna need different clothing.” Nina blushed a bit. Hunting had never really been her thing. Like, at all.

“That is completely up to you sweetie. You can… “ Everett trailed off as he saw something the trees passing by. He slammed on the breaks hoping he was wrong. But somehow he knew he wasn't. He never said as a word as he jumped out if the truck.

He ran hard and fast into the woods. He was only ten feet in before he yelled. “DAGS YOU MOTHER FUCKER! GET IN THE G-D DAMN TRUCK!” A moment later a wolf came jumping out of the tree line and jumped on the back of the truck with ease and grace.

As Everett got closer the wolf only became happier and more excited. Everett knew better than to hit him. The two were close but Dagnasty was still a wolf a heart. Through gritted teeth and Everett spoke to the dog with pure anger in his voice. “Leroy St. Germaine Dagnasty. What. The. FUCK. Are you doing out here. Stop don't say a word, we're not done with this you hear me? We're gonna talk about this when we get home. “ Everett said as he got back onto the truck and opened the sliding glass window. Dags slowly poke his massive head through the window. It was clear the wolf dog was scared.

Dags looked at Nina and let out a growl and snarls. Dags growls and snarls were deep, loud and nothing short of evil sounding. “Aye, be nice asshole.” Almost like magic Dags was as happy as he could be. “Nina this is Dags, Dags this is Nina. Give her a kiss. “ Everett said as he petted his beloved Dagnasty.

Nina giggled a little and held her hand out for Dags to sniff. Sure, she didn’t have any pets herself, but she knew how to act around them. ”Hi Dags. As Everett said, I’m Nina. Nice to meet you boy. You’re a good boy huh?” She smiled as she turned to look at Everett. ”So… sweetie. That’s new. Why the sudden change in what you call me?”

“Let him smell your hand so he knows you don't mean him any harm. Pet him if let's you. “ Everett said more concerned about what Dags might do.

Nina smiled, having already done as Everett said, and smiled as Dags let her pet him. ”Aww yeah, you are a good boy. So, are you avoiding my question or did you not hear it?” Nina continued to look over at Everett as she pet the large wolf.

“I've said that to every waitress and most woman I've ever met. It's just… a southern thing.” Everett said as he drove off. Secure in the hope that Dags wasn't gonna hurt her.

Nina couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by that answer, and she wasn’t sure why. ”Ah. I guess I’ve never realized that before. My apologies.” She continued to pet Dags, and let out a small sigh. ”I think I’ll help Aunt Lou around the lodge. I think I’d just be a hinderance to your hunting.”

“You’d slow me down, but I'd nice to have someone around that I didn't see it as I owed them a hunt. But it's your call.” Only a few minutes later they we're at the lodge. It made Everett feel better about where he found Dags. He wasn't gone long.

His driveway as a long gravel road. He stopped less than a 100 feet from the opening at the end. “You've never seen this place have you?” Everett said looking over to her.

”Not really. I mean, don’t really have the occasion to go hunting. Or money. Or time.” Nina gave Dags one last pet before unbuckling her seat belt, anticipating getting out of the car soon.

“Well, here's hoping you don't think ill of it.” Everett said pull the truck up into the opening. What greeted them was an opulent cabin in the woods. It screamed money. That was by design of his parents. If people going to spend the kinda money they were charging it had to look as nice and fancy as possible.

When Everett stopped the truck he asked Nina to wait there as said something quietly to Dags in the back. Dags jumped out and went trotting around the back. Everett walked around an opened Nina’s door.

“Welcome to Casa Del Wilcox. Come on in.” He said with his hand extended.

Nina took Everett’s hand and smiled. ”Thanks. It is very impressive.” Nina hated to admit it but she was a little envious. The cabin looked like it could fit at least two or three of Nina’s tiny houses in it. ”I can see why you get a lot of big names up here for hunting. The place kinda screams classy.” She didn’t seem to realize she still had a hold on Everett’s hand at the moment.

“Come on with me now. I’ll show you around back. Before we you meet the real beast of the family. Leading her by the hand they went around back which house a barn a few horses and a mule.

“Most the hunts we do around here, are on horse back. At a can't to a lot of the places we hunt at and you carry a dead elk on a dirt bike so we uses horses.” Everett said grinning ear to ear. “We got some hardcore survivalist out there now. Two weeks all by themselves. I gotta ride out there and check on them tonight. There's a few hundred acres, and fresh water supplies. It's my green heaven. “ Everett was gonna talk more about the place, rambling on in excitement. It was clear he loved the land more than the house. He was however, interrupted by a boom voice over his shoulder.

“Boy, what in the hell are you doing home. “ Aunt Luo shouted.

Everett let go Nina hand before speaking. “My Dagnasty sense was a going off. Good thing we came cause he was good three miles down the road when I found him…. Oh where are my manners, Aunt Lou this is Nina Jelen, Nina this is Luella Marchbanks. Nina said she'd helps us get ready for tomorrow and the kids.” Everett said like a child who knew he screwed up.

“Hello… wait… kids?” Nina looked over at Everett. ”Yeah, I said I’d help out but what’s this about kids?”

“Rich kids field trip outta Spokane. Just need to clear a campsite or two. Make sure the Bears and Moose ain't in area small stuff. Just between the parties tomorrow and kids we’re stretched too thin.” Everett said waiting for the rebuttal of Aunt Luo.

“You ever learn to work it'd not be a problem.” she told him.

“Love you too Aunt Lou.” Everett said somewhat hurt by that remark.

Nina raised her eyebrow a bit. ”So… this is a job huh? Funny you didn’t mention that before. So, I’m here to help as it would seem. Where would you like me then Luella?” She couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. She pushed that out of her mind and put a smile on for Aunt Lou.

“Sweetheart, there won't be much of nuttin to do around here for a few hours. Go on and ride out with Everett, keep his ass from his damn foolishness. And don't pay him no mind. He likes you a lot girl. And Everett, it's in the cellar. ” Aunt Lou said as she walked into the house. What she was referring too was his rifle.

“Let's get you some hunting clothes. “ Everett said with a smile as he walked towards the cellar door and disappeared into its abyss. He got the feeling again. That feeling that something was off…

Nina felt a burning in her cheeks at Aunt Lou’s words, and headed towards the cellar with Everett. She was thankful that there wasn’t any fire around, otherwise, she might have lost control. She bit her lip as she thought about it, her new ‘talent.’ However, she and Petyr had agreed to keep it secret.

”So what kind of clothing do I need for hunting? Besides the lovely vest.” Nina looked around the cellar with a bit of surprise. The place was almost an armory, full of guns, bows, and ammunition. ”Wow. I should not be here.”

“What size are you?” Everett said as he walked to the back of the room and through a door.

Nina paused. ”About a medium I’d say. I wouldn’t know. Been awhile since I’ve actually bought clothing.”

When Everett came back he had a box filled with a few different kinds of shirts and pants. “Just make sure whatever you pick is long and it fits well. You can change through there. Take what you like. “ Everett said setting the box of clothes on a table. “Take your time, I need to get a few things together.”

”Got it.” Nina looked over into the box and sighed a bit. She fished around for some clothing that she thought would fit and set them aside in a small pile on the table. After about ten minutes, she picked up the pile and went into the area Everett had said she could change in.

She soon came out in hunting clothing that she deemed acceptable, and pulled her hair up into a bun. She brushed her hand over the shirt, trying to press out some wrinkles. ”Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“You look good.” Everett said with a smile. In front of him on a table was his favorite rifle, empty magazines and ammo. Next to them was a backpack filled with everything Everett was gonna need for the trip. He always made sure that this bag was always ready to go. Everett quickly swapped the battle out for a longer one. At twenty inches it was the perfect length for what he needed to do. He also had changed clothes. He quickly went to get his belt rig.

The belt rig had a handgun holstered, spare magazines for both weapons, a flashlight and a huge first aid kit. By the time he was done he almost looked like he was going to war. “Well let's get going knowing Aunt Lou she probably has the horses ready to go.” Everett said absently.

”Just… don’t make fun of me when I fall off the horse, ok?” Nina looked over Everett, a bit surprised. She had never really seen him like this before, but honestly? Who’d let him come to school looking like that. ”Lead the way. I’m in your hands now.”

Alicia quickly stepped out of the girls bathroom and playfully did a little victory dance and still laughing, the prank went really well she thought, her eyes going over towards Moon and smiled at her giving her friend a thumbs up for not giving away her little prank on Jay after all it was completely harmless, well except for the bottom of his pant leg. "Whoo got you back Jay!" Alicia said playfully, she started to head over towards the paper towel dispenser taking a big roll and started to rub the dark red paint off of her hand as best as she could.

"So, the dynamic duo of the lesbian gymnast and the french is here. Should I call the Principal for harassment? No seriously though, what sort of shenanigans are you two up too?" Just as Alicia was throwing the sheet of paper towel away into the trashcan Alicia tilted her head knowing that it was Gerard, he still didn't know anything about her and got the gymnast thing completely wrong. She was grateful when Moon stepped up to him and started poking at his chest, it was true Gerard shouldn't even be in the boy's bathroom. Alicia used that time to take out her phone to text Jade.

Awesome! Thanks for waiting i'll meet you the moment first period is over love ya! :D Alicia

Alicia quickly slipped her phone into her pocket when she watched Moon walking over back to the stall where Jay was in, what she wasn't expecting was seeing her friend she had this bright colored aura flowing around her body and she was floating off of the fricken ground! Alicia then heard a girl who was apparently still in the bathroom, the poor girl had fainted and laid near her. She wasn't sure what to do Alicia then saw Alice barging into the girl's bathroom Jay must have texted her as quickly as possible. "Huh right got to Ali!" Alicia said as she kneeled down and helped the poor girl who fainted up onto her feet and looked over towards Gerard and moved over towards him. "Hey lazy ass help me out with taking her to the nurse?" Alicia asked looking over her shoulder towards Alice and Moon, she didn't want to leave her friends hanging there. "I'll be back in a few seconds okay?" Alicia said as she left the girls bathroom with Gerard, this morning was getting really weird now seeing one of her friends floating off of the ground and glowing like that was extremely weird.

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The solar eclipse last night was definitely something to behold. An interesting phenomenon considering the fact that a solar eclipse does not usually occur during the night. It had been all over Facebook and Twitter and that was how it had grabbed her attention. Olivia wasn’t exactly an expert on astronomy, but she was interested in the subject, and coupled with her innate curiosity for most things, she had went out into the garden at the front of the house gazing at the sight. It reminded her of that TV show called heroes where normal ordinary people gained powers after a solar eclipse. She powered on her PC once she got back to her room, searching for possible answers to the strange sighting, but could nothing substantial. Eventually, the blonde fell asleep at her desk, her head resting on her arms that was placed haphazardly on the wooden table, cluttered with open science books and encyclopedias.



Her alarm cock failed to ring the next morning, but her body clock roused her anyway. She discovered that she had fallen asleep at her desk instead of her bed. What was I doing? Oh yeah, the Solar Eclipse last night. She tried to get up but found herself unsteady from the lack of enough sleep last night. Asn she moved, she promptly tripped herself on the leg of the chair and fell onto her bedroom floor with a loud 'thud'. What a painful start to the morning. She clutched her foot in agony before several knocks startled her from her misery.

Tne knocks on the door was accompanied by her mother as she entered. “Olivia! What are you doing on the floor! Breakfast is ready. Come on down and eat it while it’s hot, you’re due for school soon.” Groaning, she said “Coming, mom.” After washing up and finishing with her morning preparations, she selected an orange sundress from her wardrobe, combined with a peach jacket as her outfit for the day. That should be good enough, after all the memorial was tomorrow, and she already had a black outfit reserved for it.

The delicious aroma of French toast and bacon greeted her as she arrived at the dining table. Greeting her parents before wolfing down her breakfast, she placed her plate in the sink before biding her mother farewell. Her father worked at the radio station that happens to be on the way to her high school, so normal practice was to take a lift from him if they were leaving at the same time. After arriving at school, she kissed her father good-bye and headed into school. The first period was Home Economics and Olivia fairly enjoyed that class. Alicia’s mother was the teacher in charge. Halfway through class, she decided that she needed a toilet break, and started to head towards the girl’s restroom.

As she was about to enter, she could hear a commotion inside. Curiosity activated! Pushing the door open, she saw quite the group of people inside. The most peculiar sight was the girl she knew as Moon floating in the air like a balloon heading for the ceiling. Some of the other girls, whom she also knew, were trying to help her down. She didn’t even want to know why Jay was in the girl’s restroom, as the floating French girl was more of a concern, or rather curiosity. Speaking out, she exclaimed. “The Moon is in the sky. I repeat, The Moon is in the sky!” Olivia then giggled at her own joke before blushing in embarrassment at her horribly lame joke.

She blamed her father for that. His fondness for lame jokes must have rubbed off on her.

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His grin still permeating on his face, he noticed the slight distortion on Moon's at his quip earlier. After a rather irritated huff, she started stomping in his way, left hand under her arm and her right finger jabbing Gerard's chest.
"Gerard, have you also lost your way? This is the girl's lavatory, less we forget"
"This is exactly where I wanted to go too, seemed pretty interesting honestly." he replied "Course I know this is a girl's toilet, what made you think I lost my eyes?"

"Besides, those names you came up with were sooooooo empty" she continued teasingly,
"Spur of the moment type-deal, I'll be sure to come up with better sounding names in the future, yeah?" he replied sarcastically, "Hah, I wouldn't really care if a girl did see me."
He stepped in the toilet now, doubting that this person was 'Emily' since a skateboard was stopped on the floor. Before he could interject though, she suddenly started floating upwards. To which Gerard widened his eyes for, mouth slightly agape "What." was the only word he could muster. Quickly recomposing himself, he whistled and jokingly said, "I wonder how high she could go?"

Well, before he knew it, the room was suddenly joined by two notable schoolmates of his, Alice and Olivia. Alice was, as per usual, was panicky and took some form of command while holding out to Moon's hand. She had ordered Gerard to help Alicia out. Alicia quickly listened to the command, and with a rather rude comment from her.
“The Moon is in the sky. I repeat, The Moon is in the sky!” Olivia exclaimed out of nowhere, Gerard almost slipped on himself and he started to laugh. One of the most inappropriate yet appropriate things to say at times like this, he had to recompose himself again before being able to do anything.

Gerard slowly started to walk towards the girl who fainted.
"You know, a please and thank you would suffice." he said to Alicia jokingly, his voice then took a more serious tone"Before I go though, we need to have a talk later, Moon."
Looking at Alicia trying to get her up to her feet when she fainted, he sighed, "I am not sure if that's the smartest thing to do. She's fainted and all." he continued while slowly shaking his head "Well, whatever."
Gerard slowly scooped her up and held her into a princess carry, then glancing at Alicia once more "Hup we go. Lead the way to the nurse Captain Alicia."

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From: Jaaaaay
Guess which one of ur friends accidentally walked into the little girls room at Lincoln

From: Jaaaaay
Hint: his name starts with j and ends with y and it's me ok i'm stuck can somebody help

From: Jaaaaay
I'm in the last stall and theres someone in the toilets with me... I'm scared...

The string of text messages came about halfway through first period, all carrying the usual Jay-feeling most of his text messages seemed to hold. At first Scout was rather confused, maybe even a bit concerned, but then something that resembled laughter bubbled in her chest and a soft giggle escaped her lips. She chuckled softly, placing her head on her desk as she thought of something to send back. Honestly, Scout wasn’t the best at texting. The old flip phone she owned didn’t help much for her rather round fingers, and while she could be eloquent with pen and paper casual words always seemed to escape her. Blonde hair tumbled over the slightly-dimmed screen as her forehead tilted too and fro on the hard desk, and her fingers drifted over the keys delicately as she sent back and quick and playful comment;

To: Jaaaaay
sounds like quite the predicament watch out for any stray tampons <3

And then before the Mrs. Smith wandered over she straightened her back, shoved her phone into her back pocket, and glanced about the room innocently. A gleaming smirk still curled at her lips, but her eyes were as blank as they could be and her posture was one of a tired, lazy teenager. Alicia’s mother passed her table with a soft nod towards the current cooking book they were assigned to read and then went on towards the rowdier children in the class. Scout watched her walk until she was positive she was out of sight before settling down in a more comfortable position on the stool, flipping open the cooking book with a bored expression forming on her mug. She scanned the colorful pages for a total of ten seconds before her eyes began to wander again.

Most in the class were only somewhat familiar, but she always seemed to focus in on those closest to her. Olivia was the first to come into view and the first to leave. Her pretty face looked to be as cheerful as ever, and after a few moments of Scout quietly watching her she was up and out of the room. Probably heading to the bathroom? Scout leaned back in her seat and glanced to where she assumed Gerard would be sitting but her eyes were met with air instead. Odd. Wasn’t he… Didn’t he walk in this morning? Scout blinked the surprise from her eyes, a wave of deja vu swarming over her briefly before she was once again distracted by her vibrating phone.

From: Jaaaaay
Astronomy Club today and no I don't care if you're not a nerd cos something's fucky and Moon is flying and I wormhole'd into the girl's bathroom Voyager-esque and wtf is a tampon

Her eyebrows rose with curiosity as she read the text, a sense of disbelief making her lips curl nervously, but the text message seemed rather serious… Save for the last part. Her gaze shifted to the clock briefly, noting that the period was about to end soon, and then with all the grace she could muster Scout stood and gathered her items before heading for the door. The bell rang as soon as she passed through the door, and a crowd slowly began to form within the halls of Lincoln Memorial.

Scout wandered the halls semi-cautious, looking out briefly for the tall figure of Jay or, apparently, the flying shape of Moon., but in the end she simply decided to head off to her next class, Politics. If anything really exciting had happened, she would apparently find out in the Astronomy Club meeting.

Okay. So Moon was floating several feet off the ground towards the ceiling. This had been established. She didn't exactly know how and she didn't exactly know why, but she most certainly suspected some kind of mystical natural phenomenon connected to the eclipse. How exactly could science explain such a biological disturbance connected to a freak eclipse? Special Powers? This was far beyond something Moon had ever traversed in. Moon's legs were dangling hopelessly upwards when Alice busted into the bathroom, "Alice, thank the spirits!", she relished at her best-friend's sudden entrance. Moon felt a sense of relief to have her crush and her best-friend here to help. But what was even more surprising was when Alice went into full commando. It was so unlike her. Typically timid and uncertain, it was quite a shock to the air suspended Moon to see Alice take on such a dominate role. Like, a mother bear coming to rescue her cub from danger. Moon felt a comforting warmth at the thought.

Taking a deep breath, she let go with her right hand and in a swift movement, gripped onto Alice's left. Alicia and Gerard, following the orders of commando barbie, heaved the unconscious girl onto their shoulders and proceeded to leave out the bathroom, and it seemed that in the same instance, someone else came in. An unknown girl in a dress with blonde. Shit. Moon seemed to have ignored or rather, not noticed the girl's joke. Which was such a bizarre thing to say, considering the situation. Eitherway, Moon had bigger concerns. But for a short second, something was wrong. She noticed that when she gripped Alice's hand, her body started floating upwards a bit more. Her aura was somehow saturating over to Alice and for a quick second, Alice would feel her feet lifting several inches off the ground.

Luckily, Jay quickly came to the rescue, utilizing his tall length to reach out and grip Moon's other hand. Her face changing to that of reprieve, she felt a fluttering relief to feel his hand around hers--and with a tug, his weight helped to stabilize her own elevating body and bring Alice back down to the ground before she got swept up in Moon's power. And steadily, Moon's lower half began to gently descend--until finally, her feet planted back onto the ground. Despite being back on the cold floor of the bathroom, she felt so unbelievably wobbly and disoriented. Her knees began to shake awkwardly as she tried to re-balance herself, and in something like an earthquake in her legs, she stumbled over, falling into Jay, and knocking him over with her.

There was an awkward silence when she realized she was laying right on top of him, her face only several inches away from his. She examined his face closely, her eyes met longingly with his. And in the heat of the moment, she pressed her lips against his gently. For several seconds she held them there--and then, she pulled her face away from his.

"Sorry--it's ummm...it's a french thing. And....merci.". Moon affectionately looked at Jay for several seconds longer before raising herself off of him and looking over to Alice.

Still feeling slightly awkward after kissing her crush, Moon lept over to her best friend and hugged her tightly, "Merci Alice!", she proclaimed thankfully, ending her thanks with a kiss on the forehead. She released her best friend and turned to look at all of them at once. The french girl could fly. Cool. And it seemed, she could perhaps levitate others and cause them to float too. Moon held her hands over her chest and spoke calmly in between deep breaths as she regained her composure.

"Okay. I believe you Jay", she directed towards him. "But, if you can somehow...I guess...teleport--and I can levitate, then who knows who else got some kind of special power. Hmmmm....".

She paused, tapping her lip aimlessly as her attention focused on the blonde girl. "Please don't say anything to anyone. Okay hun? We are just as confused as you are. We can't risk exposure", she suggested comprehensively. "But it still remains", she looked around to all of them in a mature and thoughtful manner, "that Jay and I have changed and others may have changed as well. So the question still stands, what do we do now?"

"You know, a please and thank you would suffice." Alicia turned her head and looked towards Gerard, she sighed slightly and knew she was slightly rude and didn't mean to be. She looked towards Moon one last time as Alice proceeded to help her friend to get back down onto the ground, she was not sure what was actually going on anymore since the eclipse last night things have gotten weird and she wasn't feeling herself either but never brought it up. "Sorry, I really didn't mean to be rude. Though you do have the whole gymnast thing wrong, I just play volley ball and its the only sport I like otherwise all other sports bore the hell out of me. I like art and video games so much more then anything else." Alicia said as she held the door open to let Gerard and the unconscious girl out. Alicia quickly started down the hallway looking over at the girl and then Gerard, she was late now for class and knew what her mother was going to be like after school and they talked.

"Let me stop by Home Ec real quick and tell Mrs. Smith where I have been." Alicia said as she started down toward her mother's classroom, she didn't want to call her mom in front of Gerard or any of the other students because it felt embarrassing and wanted to at least sound professional about it. As they got to the classroom Alicia knocked on the door. "Come in." Alicia's mother said, just as she stepped in looking at the lesson that was going on. "Hey mom, there was a girl who fainted in the classroom me and Gerard are going to take her to the nurse." Alicia was quiet about it and didn't want to mention the cause of it.

Alicia quickly left the classroom looking at Gerard and smiled slightly the walk wasn't that far to the nurse's office, when they made it inside Alicia knocked on the door. "Miss Konrad?" Alicia said seeing her tending to another student, Nurse Konrad turned over to see Alicia standing there and smiled at her motioning to her to enter. Alicia then waved her hand to Gerard to come in as well. "I found her fainted in the bathroom, luckily Gerard was close by and I asked for help." Alicia said again leaving the part out where Moon was floating in the air. "Take her over to the bed and we can check out whats wrong." Nurse Konrad said as Alicia went over and sat down on the edge of the bed, Alicia spotted the jar of candy and grabbed some of it off of her desk and ate some. When Nurse Konrad was out of earshot she turned to look at Gerard. "What do you think is going on?" Alicia asked whispering softly towards him.

Location: Home-> School
Interacting with: Alicia @Nallore via text

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Last night had been rather exciting, with the solar eclipse that had come out of nowhere. It was just like 'Heros!' However, besides the sudden astronomical anomaly, everything else seemed fine. Katalina went to bed soon after the eclipse was over and slept well.

The next morning was when everything started to go crazy. It had started simply enough, Kata's alarm went off late, because she forgot to reset it for the weekday. "Craaaaaappppp!" She bolted out of bed and ran down the hallway to the bathroom. She turned on the shower quickly, and got in. As the water started pouring on her, she realized her hair wasn't getting wet, at all. The beads of water were simply rolling off of her, much like water off a duck. She stood in the shower for several agonizingly long minutes as she tried to figure out what was going on. "Great... this must be some prank. But... who would pull it? I have no siblings, and my parents wouldn't do this. Ugh... I give up. Katalina stepped out of the shower and quickly dried herself off, though there was little water there to dry off.

She opted to leave her hair loose, since it looked fine. She got dressed in a pair of jeans and a nice looking red shirt, and pinned a red flower in her hair to match. She looked over at her calendar and frowned. Tomorrow was the memorial. That meant dressing nice and a lot of people that would be in mourning. It had been three years, but it still stuck with most of the town.

After she got dressed, she opted to simply bolt out the door, knowing that she had time to make it to class on time if she didn't pause. She didn't have time to worry about the fact that a small little puddle seemed to be following her down the road as she ran. She made it to school with some time to spare, and the little puddle stopped outside of school. Kata dashed over to the vending machines and got a protein bar to make it through the day.

In her first period class she nearly fell asleep three times due to how boring it was. She pulled out her phone to text under the table. She rolled through her contacts and landed on Alicia's name and blushed. "Hey girl! Did you see the eclipse last night? Wild, right? I know you have that astronomy club thing... can I tag along if they're having a meeting today? I kinda wanna talk about it." Kata wasn't part of the astronomy club herself, but knew Ali was. And honestly, any excuse to spend some time with Ali was welcome. She hit sent just at the bell rung for first period to be over.

All but Gerard seemed to have an reaction her joke. That was kinda a blessing in disguise as it wasn't exactly a good joke to begin with. She sucked at telling jokes, perhaps she should just keep her lame jokes to herself next time. Olivia watched as Alice went forth surprisingly like a leader, while she stretched up grabbing on the the floating girl's right hand with her left. Alice then started rising up as well, like a balloon in a sky. What a peculiar situation! There were now going to be two floating girls in the girl's restroom!

Fortunately, Jay joined in as well, fully utilising his lankiness to aid the situation. Gripping the first girl's other hand, he pulled her down, bringing both of them down at the same time. If you thought the drama ended there, you were wrong. The first floating girl who she remembered was called Moon knocked into Jay, sending them both tumbling down onto the floor with a loud 'thud'. The girl had landed face first, her face barely inches away from Jay. Olivia didn't know about the rest of the eyes in the restroom, but her eyes were fully focused on the pair.

What happened next took her entirely by surprise. She KISSED him! Right there on the restroom floor. Right now. Where everyone could possibly be looking at them. She didn't seem to care. Although she wasn't even involved in that intimate moment, a tinge of redness that was gradually increasing by the minute had appeared on Olivia's visage. Even, when the girl's lips left Jay's, she just got redder and redder. Any redder and she'll look like a tomato.

The girl, Moon then said it was a French thing. Ohmygod. She didn't really know much about the French, but do they all kiss like that? Olivia was already starting to zone out from all the blushing, the scene giving her a warmness in her heart. It was only then that she realised that the girl was actually talking to her this time. She wanted her not to tell anyone about what happened here today. Something about confused and exposure.

Olivia didn't know if Moon was embarrassed about the kiss being exposed or what. Her mind being fully occupied at the moment by the kiss, she had totally forgotten about the floating incident that had happened earlier. She replied. "Er...yeeaah of course! I won't saaay.. anything. I saw nothing." It was a horrible lie, but she didn't exactly know what else to say right now. She just said what came to her.

Moon then asked what about what was to happen next, and to which Alice jokingly quipped about wanting special powers as well. Although she did not say another word, not trusting herself to speak right now, Olivia secretly agreed with Alice. She wished she had special powers as well. Alice then suggested that they went back to class, after all they had all been gone for a while now. That was a great idea.

She need a convenient exit from this situation and this seemed like a good one. "I'm heading back to class." And with that, the blushing blonde was gone. She had to find a way to reduce the blushing before she headed back to class. Maybe taking deep breaths and taking about disgusting things would help.

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True to form, Aunt Louhad the horses ready to go. That woman was amazing. Around the saddle horn hung a bag. Everett didn't know what was in it but fair to Midland said was it something to eat.

As Everett walked to made his way to the horses, his mind did something pretty odd, it wandered away from his task. His mind never wandered away from his task, he was too obsessive for that. Yet, something in him made him go back to that red jacket. It needed to be cleaned something awful, her clothes were as ragged as his, only Nina weren't by choose.

He hurried ahead to make sure he got to talk to Luella alone. “Do something about that jacket, get it cleaned up or something.”

Luella Marchbanks gave Everett a look that would kill anyone else. Yet Everett was unfazed by it. He simply climbed the and nodded towards the approaching Nina. Luella scowled at Everett knowing he had won this round. “You lucky I like you boy.” she said quietly as Everett took the horses reins. “Food in the bags boy." Everett mouthed a thank you and trotted off to get his companion Dags.

Nina looked at Luella and thanked her for the food and looked at the horse. It was obvious she had never ridden one before.
“Sweetheart, Imma need yah to leave that red jacket here. It stands out too much in the woods, bobcat might mistake you for a wounded elk or the like.” Luella lied. Nina nodded and handed her jacket over to Luella.

“Thanks. I forgot. Habit I guess.” Nina looked at the horse again and paused. “Uh… how do I get up?” She turned to look at Luella, since Everett had walked off to get Dags.

“Just like in the cowboy movies sweetheart. Give her a kick and she'll do the rest. Pull the reins to stop her. Now you remember, don't let that boy push you around. Stay close to him, and listen to him you'll be fine.” Luella said as she took hold of the jacket.

“Thanks Luella. I’ll keep what in mind.” Nina turned back to the horse and bit her lip. She gripped the saddle, and hoisted herself up, or tried. After two more attempts, she was finally up on the horse, but looked rather nervous about it. She gripped the reins tightly, and looked around for Everett.

The collection of Dags didn't take long. He was happy to see that Nina could get in on the horse by herself. He was happy to have someone along, but he thought that someone self sufficient was a bit much to ask for. Maybe he was wrong.

He trotted over to Nina and pushed to her shoulder playfully. “Don't worry, your gonna be fine. Worst case scenario is a moose or grizzlies attack. This time of the year odds are only… nine to one? Sounds right, come on.” With that Everett kicked his horse and lead her off into the woods.

”Goodie.” Nina kicked her horse, and took off after Everett.

They rode single file for what had to be twenty minutes. He didn't expect Nina to give a monologue, but she had been really silent. Everett however had been singing to himself softly while looking for tracks. It was then he noticed something. “Nina? Nina you hear that? “ Everett said as he stopped his horse and began looking around almost in a panic.

Nina looked around, and paused. ”I don’t really hear anything Everett… what is it?” She stopped her own horse, and looked over at him.

“That's the point, nothing, no birds or squirrel or anything for that matter. Its just silent. There's something else in the area. Come on.” Everett said he turned his horse in a different direction and trotted onwards.

Nina turned her horse in the direction that Everett had and frowned. ”So when it’s too silent, means there’s something going on huh? I’ll keep that in mind.” She spoke softly, to make sure not to alert anything else as they trotted along.

“It's not always a certainty but yeah there's a there's a good chance.” Everett was hoping to find some tracks. Nina bouncing up and down in the saddle could push a few elk away but tracks were always the key. Either way there was a campsite just up ahead.

In just a few short moments it came into appearance. It had been used for some time, as a result, the leafs had gathered all over the site. Thankfully only a little TLC was needed to get the place back to peak.

The center of the site held the fire. Medium in size and tripod over it. It was used for the Dutch Oven that was in the cabin across from the fire site. The cabin want anything special. Just a wooden structure a door and two windows. Even in size it was pretty small. Though Everett knew for a fact that more than a few people could sleep inside.

Everett hopped off his horse and tied it to a tree. He intended on building a fire. The easiest way to get the human scent off of them. If something was around Everett didn't wanna make things too easy for them.

Nina took a bit, but she soon got off her horse and looked around the campsite and smiled a bit. There was something about the smell of the woods around her that soothed her a bit, it seemed.[color=d86c00]”Anything I can do to help?”[color] She asked, moving close to Everett, but not that close.

Everett walked inside the cabin and came with kindling and a rake. “Sweetie if you don't mind. Gather all the leafs up and get ready to burn them.” Everett said as he handed her the rake.

”As long as you’re the one lighting the fire, done.” Nina took the rake from Everett and started raking up the leaves. After a bit, she had a large pile and transferred them over to the fire pit.

Everett slung the backpack off and grabbed a fire steel. Scrapping his knife against the steel. The sparks flew and caught fire. Everett was just happy that the leaves were dry enough to catch fire.

It took a few minutes Everett but got the fire going. Through the crackling and pops on the fire Everett still couldn't hear anything from the wildlife. Normally he wasn't worried, but right now he had girl that had never shot anything in her life. That could be an issue later but more than likely it wouldn't be.

As the fire started poping and crackling, Nina found herself more drawn to it. However, she pushed the urges down and looked over at Everett, and found herself asking him something. ”So… uh, did you see that weird eclipse last night?” She was trying to keep her mind off the fire and what she could do with it.

“Yeah I did, it was weird ever since then, I've felt… great, could be cause it's been sunny the last few days but I dunno.” Everett said as he stretched his arms out, soaking up the sun that came through the trees. He closed his eyes and for a moment was lost in how much he enjoyed it. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he started to panic.

I'm his hands were two bright yellow orbs. When he realized it. He panicked quickly showing his hands behind his back. They glowed so bright it was almost blinding.

Nina was staring at Everett the entire time. ”So, glowing hands. That’s also new.” She said, taking it rather in stride. However, the fire flamed up for a bit, and she turned around and made a gesture and it calmed down a bit. She then turned to Everett, blushing a bit. ”Uh… you’re not the only one with an interesting new set of skills.”

“So I don't have to tell you I'm the second coming of Jesus H. Christ? Well thank my Dad for that.” Everett said as he tried to shake the orbs off his hand. A few a few shakes he got frustrated and tried to fling one into the woods. It was almost like he didn't expect the orb to go anywhere, let alone explode.

It wasn't the dirt flying or the force of the blast that rocked him. It was the silence after the blast. That and the sound the tree breaking in the woods. He quickly looked over and saw the tree was gonna fall close to if not on top of Nina. Instinct took over as he rushed her and tackled her out if the way. He landed directly on top of her.

He didn't know what to say or do as he laid on top of her. Inches away from her face. Even the ever cool and collected Everett was blushing. “... So uh, come here often? It's a nice place… really calming and the like?” His voice was calm but it was easy to see he wasn't.

Nina was blushing deeply under Everett, as she looked at him. ”...Uh....not...really.” She wasn’t sure what to do, or if she even wanted to move. ”So… good to know. Those orb things you can make can blow things up.” She could feel his breath on her face.
“I blew up a flock of pigeons and tombstone the other day… So you got fire I take it?” Everett prided himself on containing his accent. There were moments where it came out much more than he wanted, and right now it was in full swing.

Nina had to chuckle. ”Y’know… your accent is cute when you don’t hide it.” She looked away shyly and bit her lip. ”But yes, it seems I have some talent involving fire now. I burned Petyr’s and mine breakfast to crisps this morning without meaning to.” She turned to look back up at him.

Everett couldn't help but laugh as a song came across his mind. He couldn't place the name of the movie just that a Jamaican crab was telling to kiss that girl. Who was he to argue with that? He pressed his lips against hers for our as second or two. He jumped to his feet and realized that that the one if horses were gone and so was Dags.

His smile went away and we replaced by fear. He couldn't lose Dags. Not now, not this way. He screamed for Dags as he ran to the edge of the campsite. He screamed and shouted for his best friend to come back. He didn't know how long it took for Dags to come running back. Just that it felt like a lifetime.

All the pain, suffering and tears went away when Dags shoved his paws on Everett's shoulders and started to lick his face.

Nina set her hand on Everett’s unoccupied shoulder and looked at him. ”Um… I think we need to talk but I can tell that this isn’t the moment. I’ll go see if I can find the other horse. Take care of him boy.” She gently ran a hand along Dags head, and gave him a loving scratch behind the ears.

“No let me. It won't take me long I know exactly where it's heading.”

“Well before you leave…” Nina reached over and pulled Everett down and gave him a kiss. “If you don’t come back, I’m telling your Aunt on you.”

Everett smiled and softly said “promise.” He turned to his best friend and gave him a loving look. ‘Stay with the girl Dags. I need her in one piece.” With a loving scratch behind the ear of his wolf. Everett mounted his horse and winked at Nina.

He took off at a gallop. Searching for her horse. His obsessive mind kept drifting back to Nina. One phrase did draft across his mind more than once. Swiggty swooty.

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The drive to the school was a particularly stressful one. Malcolm was at the wheel, wallowing in a mixture of fear, stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions, silently suffering throughout the ordeal as a drowsy-looking King attempted to melt into the passenger seat. The Mercedes, which would usually be blaring some kind of rock song by now, was deathly quiet, the only audio being the friends’ quick breathing. It was maddening, the entire experience that is, to the touch-hungry King who was desperately craving affection while also wishing he could simply vanish from existence. It was probably the first time he had been so quiet for so long in the presence of Malcolm, the first time he had nothing snippy to say, the first time a conversation literally did not exist between the two. Despite that, however, King could say that he has never felt so close to Mal before. He literally could feel everything his friend could, he could see the mere emotions pouring from the kid’s skin, and yet it didn’t make him feel any better. Infact, it was almost suffocating.

It was truly an unwelcomed experience, feeling so close and yet so separated from a person. Honestly, King just wanted to stick his head out the window and just scream, but he managed to withhold the action by biting the inside of his cheek, and by the time they reached the school he swore he could taste a steady stream of copper flowing from where he chewed. Malcolm parked, and then with a slight nod and quick reminder to head to the Astronomy Club during lunch he was off. King assumed it was second period by now, meaning his friend would be away in Home Ec. while King himself would have to honor of hanging out with the lovely Ms. Arlington in Math class.

He walked briskly through the old halls, breathing calmly for the first time all morning. KIng glanced around quickly, hands shoved deep into his jean pockets as he realized that no one else was really around. Second period had started already, and with a lack of crowd in the halls there was also a lack of “outsider influence” on his body. He quietly put a few things together on his way to class, the first being his apparent new ability to ‘see’ emotions as colors. There was a brief, fading memory in the back of his mind, a discussion he had somewhat paid attention to in art class. Synesthesia, a sensory pathway that allows those with it to experience a second sensory stimuli during certain experiences. While it was more of a science discussion in the end, Williams had brought it up due to a very interesting artist that had been used as inspiration for the next piece, a one Carol Steen. King had fallen asleep about halfway through the lecture, but a few interesting facts had left an imprint in his mind. Like Steen’s way of seeing colors when at an acupuncture session, and his apparent ability to see the notes of a song in vivid shades. Looking at his own new-found vision, King related it easily to Steen’s own abilities, but it was the first time he had heard about seeing emotions in that light.

King stopped in front of Ms. A’s classroom, rubbing the back of his head briefly as the second point came to mind. King could see the emotions of Mal and Marie, but that didn’t mean he could see everyones emotions, right?

right?

He opened the door to the classroom casually, but as he did a swarm of varying feelings overtook him, and King very nearly dropped to the floor in surprise. The feelings festered in the light, forming reds and blues and yellows along the bodies within, and King winced against them all as casually as he could muster. Ms. A walked up to him carefully, staring up at the much taller student with her usual poker face. King shied away from her gaze (and overbearing cloud of anger) cautiously, eyebrows upturned slightly, and she merely shook her head and pointed towards his seat.

”I won’t tolerate you being late again, Richard.” She said calmly, flicking her usual ponytail over her shoulder, and King merely nodded in response and waddled awkwardly over to his seat. As he settled among the other students, his heart began to thump painfully, and an array of expressions passed across his face. Dear Lord, and he thought Malcolm had been hard to handle. A crowd of this size was enough to send his head spiraling into a mist of confusion. Was he happy or scared, mournful or excited? King glanced about cautiously as Ms. Arlington continued on with her lesson, focusing in on a few faces that seemed to beam the brightest. This was odd, he barely knew some of these kids and yet just by seeing these colors surrounding them he felt as though he was them. Talk about losing your sense of identity. King tried his best to breath normally, and attempted to block the outside emotions from his mind, but with so many of them around it was becoming nearly impossible to focus on just one to ignore.

cant make a scene just relax and ride it out

He huffed a few times, and then tried to focus in on the whiteboard, eyes tracing every curve of the equations being written down. That’s right, all he had to do was wait until lunch time. Wait until everything would come together, and hell, if he waited long enough then maybe this weird phenomenon would vanish. King gritted his teeth, forming an awkward, tense smile as someone whispered in his ear about the memorial tomorrow, and prepared his mind for the worst few hours that laid ahead.

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As gerard was waiting for Captain Alicia to set her sails, she replied to his earlier words,
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to be rude. Though you do have the whole gymnast thing wrong, I just play volley ball and its the only sport I like otherwise all other sports bore the hell out of me. I like art and video games so much more then anything else."
"Oh. Well, I guess I can dub you the nerdy lesbian?" he joked, walking through the open door that Alicia opened.

He silently nodded at Alicia's request to mention this to her mother, while still holding the unknown girl in a princess carry. He stopped for a second, Why is it still the first period? asking himself silently, another smirk plastering across his face, So I think I do have time-based powers.

Looking up, they were well on their way towards the nurse office, which surprisingly, wasn't that much of a walk. Alicia talked to the Nurse, Miss Konrad. Gerard was then made to put down the girl on a bed. He then rested his back against the wall, near the unconscious girl. His mind still full of questions and thoughts, It's finally getting interesting.

"What do you think is going on?" Alicia said, breaking his inner thoughts. "Hm?" he hummed, "Oh, yeah, I'm willing to bet it was about that misplaced Solar Eclipse last night. The Astronomy club members are going to have some form of meeting about it, though I feel that not only Astronomy members are going to be present. You may as well come, seeing as you already say this phenomenon."

"Eh, screw it, I am not one for boredom." he spat out, "May as well show you what I got, cause it seems that I got hit with em' too."
He began trying to recreate what he felt during that forest trip, and, for no reason whatsoever, he snapped his fingers, maybe to try to make some sort of trigger. As he expected, everything stopped. The soft crunch of candy, the nurse tending to the unconscious girl and even the sounds. He quickly tried his theory, he touched Alicia's arm and sure enough, she began moving again. "Well here you go, ah, but be quick, I can't hold this for more than eight or so seconds." he said to her, his head feeling slightly pressured in the few seconds he had turned on his 'ability'

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Even after almost an hour had passed since she last saw Everett, Jade wondered what exactly that southern boy wanted? She knew that Everett sometimes liked to hang outside Uncle Charlie’s usual hangout(a biker bar ways away from the police and other good-doers), hoping to catch him. Jade also knew that her Uncle Charlie never was free enough to sit down and really talk with that boy. However, when Everett asked, he did so on a rare day, because Charlie was home.

“Eh, whatever. Not like he’s bothering me.” Jade shrugged the thought of Everett and her uncle.

Looking down at the table, Jade was eyeing her third cup of coffee. It was nearly gone. Jade sighed as she reached into her purse and put a twenty dollar bill down underneath the cup. Giving a sluggish wave to the barista as she left Simoné’s Café and started to head towards Lincoln Memorial High School. It was getting around the time that first period usually ended at, so Jade had to make sure that she wasn’t late as she had specified to Alicia in her text to the girl earlier.

About halfway there, Jade pulled out her phone. As she was about to check the time, she heard a whistle come from behind her. Smirking softly, Jade pocketed her phone, and walked, moving her hip in a sway, warranting even more whistles from guys who walked past her. Some were of her age, some were older, and some were men she had known to seduce. Most of them had a tall frame and built like a brick wall. Others were more leaner, but one could still see that they had some meat on their bones. The others(AKA the ones in her age group) were more lean and around her height.

As she finally reached a corner, Jade looked back, winking at anyone who might’ve seen her, and she turned. Not realizing it, she bumped into someone. “Watch where you’re going!” Jade yelled at the man. As she looked up , however, she realized she didn’t bump into a stranger.

“You're the one who bumped into me,” the man said, his frame at least half of a foot taller than Jade’s.

“Oh, Connor, I didn’t see you .” Jade said, somewhat apologizing.

Connor, the man that threw the party that Jade and her friend Danny went to last night was tall. Like, he was really tall. And intimidating. Putting aside his large, nigh-bulky frame, he looked intimidating. Long dark hair flowed down to his shoulders and a beard lightly coated his chin and lower regions of his mouth. He always dressed as he acted: cocky, confident, and in control. As such, he only wore the best of suits. They were all imported from Italy. They often were dark colored, usually with dangerous colors such as red or purple. Today, it seemed that Connor wanted to dress with purple and a dark suit.

“I guess I’ll take that as an apology.” Connor laughed, “you never were one known for making proper-sounding apologies.” Connor, again laughed. He straightened his body up and it revealed just how tall he really was.

“And you never were one for dressing like a normal person.” Jade commented honestly, “I mean, really Connor? A suit? Do you want people to think you're some hardcore gangster or something.” Jade annoyingly asked him.

“That's exactly what I want people to think.”

“Right,” Jade brushed his obvious threat as if it were nothing.

“So, why aren’t you in school? Aren’t good girls like you usually in school at this time?” Connor said, keeping a straight face.

“Really? You think I’m a good girl? Please, Connor, spare me the sarcasm.”

“Right of course.”

Jade sighed, “my uncle pissed me off, so I decided to ditch.”

“All alone?” Connor subtly inquired.

Jade narrowed her brows and looked at Connor. “No, I’m meeting Alicia in a bit.” Jade told him, “which reminds me,” she said, “I should get going. Spending all of this time talking to you has made me a little late.” Jade complained. As she proceeded to leave, she felt a tug on her arm. It was from Connor. “Um, what are you doing? I need to go.” Jade said, looking back at Connor.

“Not just yet you’re not.” Connor told her.

“What do you mean? Let me go right now!” Jade demanded.

Connor, with his other hand, slapped Jade across her face. At the time of impact, Connor let go, and Jade was sent to the ground face-first. Hard. Jade looked up, revealing a cut on her face. It drew blood.

“Jade, do you really think you’re going anywhere? You flaked last night.” Connor said, standing over Jade. He was fixing his jacket as he was going to take it off.

“What do you mean? I stayed at that party and did all of those things that you wanted.” Jade said angrily. She was trying to get Connor to understand that she did nothing wrong.

“YOU’RE LYING!” Connor yelled, livid with anger and betrayal.

He was so angry at Jade right now, Connor drove his left foot, and kicked her a few times in the back. Each kick was received with a light scream of pain and agony from Jade. As each kick from Connor’s foot went into her back, Jade’s screams got louder and louder. The foot that was kicking her had a metallic shoe on, so even the first kick would hurt greatly. Repeating that in succession of the previous one would only increase Jade’s overall pain.

“I’m--not..” Jade’s said, coughing up blood.

Due to the great discomfort she was feeling in her back and the lack of air to speak in great length, Jade could only get out two words.

“I saw you leave with him.” Connor informed her, sounding just as angry, but his voice was lower.

Connor had stopped the kicking, and rolled Jade on her back. He then grabbed her by her neck and pinned her against the black SUV that was parked to the left.

“You left with Danny. How could you do that to me? You know you’re mine.” Connor said angrily, putting more pressure on her neck and pinned her harder against the SUV. As a result, Jade started coughing up more blood, some of it landing on Connor’s jacket.

Danny?

As Jade’s thought went onto Danny, she repeatedly murmured the word “no,” over and over again.

And that was the last thing she remembered before falling into an unconscious state.

She remembered the party. It was loud(probably from the music playing). There were a bunch of sexually-attractive people dancing sexily. There was drugs. Actually, a lot of drugs and of all kinds. There was cannabis, cocaine, heroine, meth, and just about any kind of drug for anyone. These parties that Connor always threw every weekend catered to a certain brand of people — the brand of people who often were at AA every weekend and breaking their sobriety by getting high and drunk.

And Jade was at this party.

She was a special guest of Connor’s. In fact, one could say that Jade was so special to Connor that she was only to be with him. She was pretty much glued to his side for a majority of the party’s length. Either they were kissing and dancing or they were watching other people kiss and dance. Never was there a moment that Jade was without Connor’s company — or so people at the party thought.

Unexpectedly, Connor had to be pulled away from some of his…co-workers. Yeah, that’s putting it oddly. They were people he reported to were probably higher up on the food chain that he worked for. And during the time that Jade wasn’t with Connor, she took the chance to leave. Knowing that it might be her only chance, she grabbed Danny — who was like a brother to her — and urged him to take her home. At first Danny wasn’t sure why. He thought she liked it at the party and with Connor, but there was something in her eyes that made Danny agree without asking anything.

As they would leave, they had no idea that Connor saw them leave together.

And then she regained consciousness.

Jade was on the ground, sitting on her bottom as her back was against the black SUV that Connor had her pinned against. Looking around, she couldn’t believe what her eyes were gazing upon. The ground around her was split apart. Several bodies laid unmoving all around her. She saw they had guns in their hands, but it looked like they were never fired. These men had expressions of fear and disbelief plastered all over their faces.Jade didn’t know what happened to them. Hell, they didn't know what happened to them. They just stared at her as if she was some kind of monster or something.

And then, to her right on her lap, she saw Connor. He was dead. His neck looked like it had snapped and eyes wide open. His mouth was all the way open. Jade screamed and then covered her mouth to conceal her scream as much as she could.

“Did..I do this?” JAde asked herself. She wasn’t sure. Did she actually cause all of this? And if she did, why doesn’t she remember? “I-I need to go. Alicia is probably waiting for me..” Jade said, getting the now deceased Connor off her lap and she got up.

And Jade ran. She ran away from death. She ran away from what she possibly may or may have no done. Despite her back possibly being fractured and her clothes having some kind of blood stain on them, she ran as fast and as far away from all of that as she possibly could. She had to get to the meeting place where she promised to be at to get with Alicia. She had to forget about that scene of death. She just had to.