Location: Astronomy Club
Interacting with:

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Kata had been having a lovely dream that someone was fondling her. However, it wasn't a dream. She awoke with a squeek as she realized that ALI of all people had been grabbing her boobs to try to wake her up! She had dreamed of it before, but it was actually happening! However, this was in public, in front of everyone in the Astronomy club!

"Ali! I'm awake, I'm awake!" She sat straight up and looked over at her friend and grinned. "That was some wake up however. Remind me to sleep more around you if you're going to do that again." Kata then blushed, realizing that she was failing at flirting, and hard, in front of a bunch of people, some of which she knew personally.

Ash, her swim team buddy, had shown up for the meeting as well. "Hey Ash, didn't know you'd be here as well! Looking forward to practice later?" She waved over to him and he waved back, as per usual. Things started to settle down a bit as Jay talked. What is summed up to was, the eclipse gave some people powers. Awesome. But not Kata.

"Count me in the normal people club. I haven't noticed anything weird about myself today, aside from the fact my shower is broken, and I sat through the eclipse." Kata sighed. "Hold up, I need water." She got up from her seat and walked over to the sink and turned it on. However, that is where her 'normal' status stopped. The water stream went sideways and then up, around Kata's head and then into her bottle. In front of everyone.

"Well I guess I did get something. OH HOLY CRAP WHAT AM I DOING!?" As Kata freaked out, the water stopped being in a pleasant stream, and shot out of the sink and sprayed everything it could. Kata shut off the tap as quick as she could, but the damage was done. She, along with several others she was sure, were soaked. "Sorry." She waved her hands gently, and the water pulled out of her clothing along with the other people, and then went back into the sink.

Kata then sat down and clutched her head a little. "Well, I think there's a downside to this. I now got a headache. Awesome. So, so far we have, flying, super-speed, empathy, wind, time, anything else in our power pool?" She looked around the room curiously, and her eyes fell on Ali. She wondered if her best friend got some sort of power as well. Besides the power to make Kata forget about everything around her. ..."Not the time Kata." She pushed the thought away and waited for responses.

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Jade had a few hours to kill before that meeting that she promised Alicia to go to started, so Jade had decided to go home. When she stumbled on up to her house, she took notice to the driveway. Her uncle's Harley was gone.

As usual, he's gone again. Jade sighed, walking up to the front door. Digging into her bag, Jade got her key, and unlocked the door. She entered her house and closed the door behind her. Tossing her keys to the bowl on a table next to where one would enter the house, Jade proceeded to walk upstairs, sluggishly might one add. Entering her room, she went into her bathroom. As she caught her reflection in her mirror, she now noticed that she was all covered in bloodied clothing. Her skirt was partially ripped on the sides, her shirt had holes throughout it, and her jacket, on the back, had a large blood stain.

It hadn't occurred to Jade until that one moment she saw herself in the mirror. Whatever she had done, whatever had happened to Connor — it was her doing. Whatever happened, be it what happens when she's stressed, agitated, or whatever or something else entirely, Jade knew one thing for sure.

"I have to attend that meeting." It was right then and there that Jade mentally decided that she needed to go there. "Better change and shower. Don't need those vultures to have more reason to stare at me." Jade sighed and went to her room. Getting a change of clothes, then a shower, and then she would go.

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Lunchtime came around and Jade rolled into the school. She entered it as if she hadn't skipped the entire day. Everyone looked at her and she peaked at them through the black sunglasses she had on. Her outfit wasn't exactly glamorous. She had black of everything on. Her jeans were ripped, her hightop boots even had black laces, a black t-shirt with some kind of design on it, a necklace of some sort, and to top it all off, a black, leather jacket(unzipped).

She heard the usual whispers as she walked through the halls of Lincoln Memorial High School:

"What is she doing here?"

"Isn't she the one that hooks up with older men?"

"What a slut.."

And those are the nicer brand of comments she has heard every day. It's no wonder Jade's appearance as school was a rarity. She didn't need to hear those kinds of comments, let alone having to actually face those people. Fuck them, that's what she thinks of those bastards. If she wanted to get insulted, she would just call up Nina, or the vast amount of girlfriends and wives who caught her with their boyfriends and wives.

Through the valley of death, Jade rode walked, she found herself at the Chemistry Classroom. Apparently that's where the meeting was being held. As her hand came to the knob, Jade hesitated. She wanted to enter, but something was stopping her from doing so. What could it be? Everyone's prying eyes upon her arrival? Seeing Jay? Maybe it was the former, maybe the latter; perhaps it was a mixture of both. She knew that a majority of those in there, aside from a few of them, would instantly look at her and think 'oh my god, why is she here? She doesn't belong here?'. Jade could feel it in the pit of her stomach. She knew that everyone would judge her.

"Oh fuck it," Jade threw up the towel and turned the knob. She walked in.

And as she did, it seemed to be at the right time because Jay, standing at the front of the classroom(as usual), was talking about the eclipse. He had drawn some kind of diagram of some kind that to be tracking the kinds of powers that people were exhibiting(Jade assumes).

Glancing at everyone, Jade saw the whole gang. Everyone was present.

"Seems like it's a full house," Jade said aloud. It was loud enough for everyone to hear her.

Jade chuckled as she took a seat on a desk next to Alicia. "Jason, if you want the presentation to be proper, might want to add earthquakes to that, too, because apparently that's what I can do," Jade commented halfheartedly.

Location: Wilcox Lands
Interacting with: Everett @AcerRo
Time: 10AM~ 1PM

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After realizing that Everett would be a while, Nina decided to clean up a bit. That was part of the reason she was there, she figured, to help out. She started with the campsite, picking up any trash that was there, and putting it in a pile on the porch of the cabin. She figured that once she was done with the campsite, she’d turn her attention to the cabin itself.

After about an hour or so of picking up the campsite, she figured it was as good as it was going to get. She picked up the dutch oven that was by the fireplace and took it inside the cabin, hoping that there would be a way to clean the cooking wear inside.

Inside the cabin was impressive. There was a small kitchen like thing, as well as a bathroom. With running hot and cold water. Jackpot. She went over to the sink and started cleaning up the dutch oven, and realized there were several other dirty plates as well. She got to work on them, humming all the while.

When the dishes were set out to dry, she turned her attention to picking up around the cabin itself. Armed with a trash bag she had found under the sink, she started picking up trash, starting with the stuff she had left on the porch. She continued to hum to herself as she cleaned, however her mind did wander at times, thinking of Everett. ”So… what does it mean? I mean that kiss? And the fact that I kissed him back? Does that mean that we’re… No don’t jump to conclusions Nina. Wait… talk it over with him.”



Everett sang as he rode into the campsite. The last bit of his cigarette on his lips. He rode right up the fire and tossed the butt in. He was shocked at how good the campsite looked. It wasn't neglected by any means, but no one ever had the time to keep them up the way they should. “Well I'll be damned, girl works I'll say that much for her.“

His ears heard exactly what they wanted to hear. Snarls and growls coming from the cabin. The loud and vicious sound of an angry wolf defending what was his by force if need be. It was easy for Everett to forget just how threatening Dags was. He was used to it. He knew the rules of Dagnasty. So he smiled at the sound and sight of his angry wolf. The moment Dags laid eyes on his the anger was replaced by a wagging tale. “Wanna eat Dags?” He shouted as Dags chased after the elk meat.

Everett reached in a game bag and pulled out the bruised rib meat. Hold the lot of it in his hand. Everett gave Dags a few commands. Dags it was Dags favorite game. Dags didn't play fetch or a lot of other things dogs did. Dags wanted to hunt, protect and be respected and keep Everett and Aunt Lou happy. Everett loved Dags to the moon and back for that.

Everett cut off two pounds of meat and tossed it on the porch. “Go on and eat now. “ Everett said smiling at his companion.

Nina heard Dags snarls and growls turn to happy sounds and heard Everett return. She smiled and walked out of the cabin and then frowned, mostly from the smell. ”I see you found an elk while you were gone.” She tried not to show her disgust, but was failing as she looked him over. The smell alone was enough to probably make her vomit. ”Hope you don’t mind that I picked up around here a bit.”

Everett laughed at Nina grimace. “That bad huh? You get used to it. Being caked in blood bothers me more than smell.” Everett said as he took his boots and socks. A soak in the sink would help both hugely.

“I see you did a little more than clean up. Place looks great, hasn't look this good in a couple of years.” Everett rang the blood outta his socks. “Think you could grab me a bucket of water or three? Kinda need to clean off a little.”

”I’ll say.” Nina headed back into the cabin and looked around for a moment and soon found a bucket. She filled it with warm water from the sink, and stuck a small hand towel in there as well. She walked back out and set the bucket in front of Everett. ”Bucket number one. I’ll refill it as you need.”

Everett stuffed the hand towel in back pocket and took a couple of deep breaths as he dumped the whole of the bucket slowly on his head. When the bucket was about half empty he thrusted his hips forward a little so the water could fall over him. When the water was gone he handed the bucket back to Nina. “Many thanks sweetie. “

Using the hand towel he started wiping blood off of him. “Can I get another one? Oh there should be some small A Frame chairs in there. Can you bring two of them out?”

The chairs he was talking about were made a few years back. A pet project by Everett and his father. They didn't sit off the ground but were more like backrests. They were handy to have and made with branches and vines they'd found in the woods.

”Alright. I’ll be right back then.” Nina had been a little transfixed watching Everett pour the bucket of water over himself. There was no denying that Everett was attractive, and drenched in water just sealed that. She headed back into the cabin, trying to hide her blushing face. She found a few more hand towels, and the A frame chairs that Everett had asked her to bring. The looked very handmade. She smiled a bit as she ran a hand over them before heading back outside. ”Here you go, more towels and chairs for you.”

Everett took the chairs and moved them closer the fire. “Come on with me now.” He said as patted on of the chair and sat in the other.

He did his best to get whatever blood was left on him and him and dry off. There wasn't a lot he could do about the wet pants, the smell of Blood was gonna linger from them but he was doing the best he could with what he had. As far as he could tell the stench was leaving as well. Though it wouldn't be wholly gone till he had a shower.

When he was done with the last pass on his face with the towel. He stopped and watch the still burning fire. He was reminded for a moment, of all the times he was with parents at this same campfire. He didn't have the heart to tell Nina that she's the first person since his were killed to see this campsite.

Nina sat down next to the fire in the chair and looked around the campsite. The smell of the woods triggered some good memories for her, since her father always smelled of the trees. However, as she leaned back in the chair she looked over at Everett and frowned. SHe was sure something was bothering him, but what? ”Penny for your thoughts Everett?” She looked at him curiously, waiting for his answer.

Everett never looked at her. He just sat fixed on the fire. “When first came here. I hated it, we had nothing back in Tennessee. I was only thirteen when I was dragged here. Couldn't find no sweet tea anywhere, people didn't say sir or ma’am, no one held the door open. I thought this place was hell I thought this place was hell incarnate.” His accent was coming out again. “This was the first place we ever made camp. Since that night, I've loved every second of time in these Hills… County sheriff came out and told me what happened, I just saddled up a horse, grabbed my rifle, and came here… I was out here… bout a week. When I went back to the house. I was expecting Aunt Lou to be pissed she just said hugged me told me she loved me and said, she said you're a man now boy. Hadn't had a day off since. “ Everett said as calmly and collected as he would talk about the weather.

“Dags! Get my bag boy. Come on get it.” When Dags brought his backpack over Everett made a few comments on how smart Dags was. Everett lit a cigarette, gave Dags some jerky and handed Nina a bottle of water. After a long drag of his cigarette he pulled out a bottle of water for himself and sat the bag in between Everett and Nina, while Dags took the real estate next to Everett.

Nina listened silently as Everett talked and looked at him and sighed. She took a sip of water. ”You never looked at Petyr and me with pity. ‘Oh look it's the twins whose mom died. Their dad works all the time and they look like they got their clothing out of a trash bin.’ I know everyone doesn’t think that, but… you honestly never gave us ‘the look.’ And then… everything changed. I… I wanna be there for you Everett, but… you gotta let me in. You gotta let someone else in, even if it isn’t me.” Nina took another long swig of water and leaned back in the chair, and looked into the fire.

“I'd trade lives with you in heart beat. You got one above ground, more than I can say. At eighteen I got more more than most people for five counties around. I'd not think twice about going back to rags for one more day with my family. Hell I'd give all this up for a lunch picnic with them… Anyways it is what it is. We got to do something about that tree. Got an ideas?” Everett said taking another long drag.

Nina reached over and put her hand on Everett’s cheek. ”Ev… they’d want you to live. Not keep dwelling on the past. I know it’s hard, but… find something to live for, ok?” She pulled her hand back and blushed. ”Sorry… uh… the tree. Well, it’s pretty much dead at this point, probably just chop it up for wood? It will burn good given the type of tree it is. There isn’t too much you can salvage otherwise.”

“She means well.” Everett kept telling himself over and over again. He did his best to not get angry at her. She's just trying to help. If there was one thing Everett hated it was someone feeling bad for him. Like that one scooter girl. Always looking at him with pity in her eyes. He pushed the thoughts from his mind and took another long drag. “I'm of a mind to see if our new found toys could make this go quick. Otherwise we gonna be at it all day.”

”Just one thing before we start then. Why did you kiss me?” Nina turned to look at Everett. She wasn’t just going to sit on that forever and let it linger.

“Careful Everett, this could be a trap.” He thought to himself. Everett looked over and met her eyes. He was silent for a long moment. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know why he did it. He did it cause he wanted to, was that the right answer? Could you say that to a girl? “Well I… “ Everett stammered out. “G-d fucking damn it dude, stop being such a chicken shit. Say something fuck nut. Go now say something. You kill bears and make shit explode with your hands. Don't let her shut you - oh fuck it.” Everett thought to himself.

Without another thought Everett leaned in and kissed her again. Longer than the other two previous combined. Slowly he pulled back and met her eyes. Softly he whispered in her ear. “I wanted to.” He quickly rolled to his other side got to his feet. Expressions of relief and fear all crossed his face.

“Dear Sweet Baby Jesus. Please, help me, let this be over. I'll do shit for the needy. Please let this be over.“ His inner monologue droned on.

“Well then, let's uh… Yeah… let's see if we can figure out these powers huh?” The normally calm and collected Everett said obviously shaken.

Nina was a bit stunned. He wanted to? That just left her more confused, but she was also happy. Even if he tasted a bit like an ashtray, kissing him felt really really good. She stood up and walked over to Everett and looked up at him. “So… you wanted to huh? Well good. However, if you’re going to keep kissing me, its as my boyfriend… sound fair?” She blushed. ”What was that? Where the hell did that come from? When did I start acting like this? Oh god what is happening…”

“Making demands is how you wanna start a relationship is it?”Everett said as held his hand up fixated on it. Slowly but surely light gathered and formed a rather odd shaped orb in his hand. Slowly and mind full of each and every step, he walked over to the tree and lowered his hand on top of it. With a deep breath he sat the orb down and walked away quickly. As soon as he stopped moving it exploded.

”Not really… I mean I prefer if you’d ask me, but I mean… only if you want.” Nina sighed, mentally kicking herself, and walked over to the fire and stuck her hands in. She pulled her hands out, a small orb of fire in each of her palms now. She walked over to the tree, after it had exploded, and focused. She took a deep breath in and out, and started by transferring one of the orbs in her hand to the tree, and kept the flame small for the moment.

He watched as she laid the orb on top of the tree. He ignored her last statement. He wanted to get away from this topic. It bothered him too much. “So.. What can you do with that?” He asked still a tad bit shaken.

Nina felt a bit hurt as he seemed to ignore what he had to say, but took it as a sign. However, the little orb on the tree grew bigger, and soon started burning away at the tree. ”Oh no!” When she realized what it was doing, she tried to calm it down, but it was out of her control and quickly. ”Can you get some water please!?” done

Everett rushed to get the two bottles of water. He poured one on Nina’s hand first. But the second one, the second one he couldn't help himself. He tossed it up and the same gun hand me had made the day before shot the bottle in the air using his light powers. Most the fire was out the rest he kick out, mindful of his bare feet.

He looked at the tree for a moment and thought if I can make a bullet and a bomb can I make a beam outta it? Seemed simple enough, he held his hand out as it started to glow. More and more light filled his hand. As he let loose the blast the recoil from it threw his hand back. But the tree, the tree didn't manage so so well. It was clear where beam had it, there wasn't anything left.

In his excitement, he ran over to Nina spun her to the fire. “Okay I think I'm on to something. I think this more about focus and concentration than anything else.” Standing behind her he lowered his head and said softly, “Fixate on the fire. Think about what you want it to do. Worry only about the fire and you want it do.”

”Easy for you to say… You… forget about him Nina. I think we got his answer… So fire. Focus on the fire. Only on the fire. What do you want it to do? Fire…” Nina looked at the fire, her eyes narrowed. She lifted a hand and the fire took shape. She moved her other hand and the fire twisted itself, becoming a small pillar. She moved her hands and the pillar smashed, and the fire divided into four little fires within the pit. She flicked her wrist and the fire was suddenly just one simple campfire again.

“Haha, see I told you. You got this. Look at you acting like it's all hard. That's more than I can do.” Everett said giddy as a schoolgirl. “Well that tree is about gone. You wanna ride back or keep going?”

Nina sighed to herself. ”I think I’ll head back… I’m sure that Petyr is freaking out, and well… Yeah. I’ll head back.” Nina walked over to the horses and paused. ”Huh, seems my horse is occupied.”

“We can stay sweetie, ain't a one gotta run off. But we'll go if that's what you want.” Everett was a little hurt, he thought things were going pretty good for the most part. Still he put on his boots and shirt. The A frames were put on the porch. When he was done he took the reins mounted his horse. He offered his hand and stirrup for her to climb on. “Gotta ride with me, I'm afraid.” Everett said with a smile.

Nina took his hand and got up on the horse behind Everett and loosely looped her arms around him. Not as tight as she would have wanted to hold him, but… didn’t matter. She kept herself up straight and looked off to the side. ”Whenever you’re ready then.”

Everett removed her hands from his body and moved them tighter. Bring her closer to him. He never said anything other than calling for Dags. As they rode off Everett started singing his little song again.



Nina closed her eyes and kept close against Everett as they rode back to the lodge.

As the road up the lodge Everett ready for the coming onslaught. Aunt Lou was at the back porch. He knew what was coming.

Alicia couldn't help but giggle at Kat's reaction to the sudden groping and sat down next to her friend looking at her for a moment. "That was some wake up however. Remind me to sleep more around you if you're going to do that again." She couldn't but blush slightly rubbing the back of her head. "Well then maybe I should be your alarm clock from now on." Alicia flirted winking to Kat playfully. She then reached over and gently gave her friend a pat on the back, she turned her attention now towards Jay as he wrote a web diagram onto he chalk board. She listened intently as he asked everyone in the room if they felt weird, or something strange happened around them, King surprisingly was the first person to step up apparently he had empathy which didn't really fit him but decided to not say anything about it.

Olivia had created that sudden gust of wind, Gerard time control, Jay teleportation, and Moon had flight Jade also could make the earth shake from what she could tell and Austin with super speed. "I have been feeling slightly dizzy all day since that eclipse, and earlier I found I could do this." Alicia said looking around the room for something metal, and spotted an opened can of soda right in front of Jay and held out her hand as she concentrated and the can suddenly flew off of the table and directly into her hand. Though the sudden use of her ability made her groan slightly feeling a massive headache come over her.

Alicia turned her attention towards Kat as she went up to get a drink and suddenly water came shooting out spraying some people and watched Kat with interest. "Looks like we have ourselves a Katara here." Alicia said with a smile referring to the old TV show Avatar the Last Airbender, she turned her attention to Jade and smiled glad to see her friend coming to the meeting and sat on the table.

"So yeah that eclipse must have given us powers or something I am guessing." Alicia said shrugging slightly unless it was some sort of will from the gods somewhere out there.

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"Tess is fine." Tessa told Gerard. She was used to be called a recluse by a few people. It wasn't that she was, it was just that she preferred avoiding people. "And I'm here aren't I, that's not something a recluse would do."

It took Tessa some time to soak up everything everyone was saying. It was an incredible concept. Everyone gaining superpowers because of a solar eclipse. A part of her already wanted to find out if Nina had a power, and if so what? And maybe even Petyer. The idea of the four of them... right not four. Tessa pulled her legs up to herself. Her headache started up again and then she was sprayed with water.

Katalina was at the sink. Tessa's headache lessened as she smiled at Katalina. "That's a lot of water." Katalina was waving her hands and all the water that had gotten on Tessa was now gone. "Impressive." Did she even have a power? Tessa doubted it, unless it had something to do with not getting called on by teachers... or noticed by her grandmother.

The memories of that day and how people's eyes just seemed to slide right off of her all day came to mind. It wasn't that they looked through her, it was just that they didn't notice her, as if she wasn't there. Invisible, but perfectly able to go about her day, and wear clothes thank god.

"I think I can turn invisible." Tessa finally said, her hand raised just slightly as if she were afraid to say it. Afraid that she was invisible right then and wouldn't be noticed. For the last four years she had wanted nothing more than to be invisible, and now that she had her wish she was terrified she'd disappear all together. Terrified she'd be forgotten and not even be a name for someone to read years down the road.

Moon's left hand, with the peacock quill securely gripped, was moving swiftly across her sheets of paper, like a fluid river or stream. The words were flowing in a whimsical and magical manner as she thought of everything weird or unusual that had occurred that day so far. Teleportation, check. Levitation, check. And when Olivia accidentally caused a gust of wind, Aerokinesis was next to be checked off the list, followed by Katalina's water accident. Aquakinesis, check. People began filing in, many she knew, some she didn't, and some who seemed extremely out of place. Other than writing down the confirmed abilities, she had also been planning out a training guide, exploring the possible ideas on where they could practice their powers, safety precautions, and possible ways to test someone to see if they have a power or not. It would be better to find out someones power in a safe environment instead of them accidentally discovering it by blowing up a school bus on the way home from school.

As much as she wanted to relish in her own flying ability, she thought it would be best if everyone, who could, to limit their ability usage until they had a better grasp and understanding of how it worked and its limitations. Moon made sure that Alice would be the first person tested for any signs of magical activity. The room was quite full now and with the majority of the seats full, her crush went to the board and commenced the meeting.

She listened with an intrigued expression on her face, Jay seemed so, 'cool' up there. And one by one, people began revealing what they believed to be their special ability--and meanwhile, Moon was jotting down each one with an extreme vigor, detailing the name of the person and a brief description of what she believed encompassed the possible capabilities of their power. And under each, possible testing scenarios.

Moon tried to ignore the slight drama that had formulated amongst some of them, naturally of course with the people in the room--but when it subsided and a brief silence finally filled the room, Moon stood up, and gripped several papers in her hand as she placed the peacock quill back into her ponytail. She traversed through the crowd of now relatively quiet individuals and stood on the opposite side of the blackboard across from Jay. She winked at him dotingly before turning to her peers and pointing her finger to the word on the board deemed as 'Gravity'. "This here is me..." she proclaimed as a matter of fact, jabbing her free finger to the word several times over to get the point across. "Since last night, I've been able to levitate. And...as of an hour or two ago, I nearly got stuck on the ceiling of the girl's lavatory".

Her harmonious and romantic sounding voice rang out through the room as she explained her prior situation, making sure that she enunciated past her french accent so everyone could hear and understand here. Looking back to the group, she raised her handful of papers above her head and rattled it slightly, "And these here are just a safety guide for each of you who have proclaimed to have a power--how it may work, potential ways to practice using it, potential safety precautions, practice locations, etc. But, these are just ideas I formulated off the top of my head. We still don't know the extent of what we can do sooo...".

Moon paused cautiously, pacing to the center of the chalkboard and bringing the papers down until they were securely held within her crossed arms as if she were holding schoolbooks. An ambiguously leery, but comforting expression manifested upon her countenance. "I highly advise my darlings.....that we try to use our abilities as little as possible in public. At least for now. Who knows what could happen if we lose control or hurt someone or even ourselves. I think its best that we keep our powers a secret. If you suspect someone of having a power, be very cautious about how you approach the subject. Remember, this isn't a game."

She spoke in a very warm, heedful, and motherly manner, an air of reassurance and parental protection claimed each sentence that she conveyed to them, hopefully not to scare them, but to instill a level of leeriness about their power. It wasn't a toy--this was something that could very well change everything about their lives for better or for worse. Her intuition just said they should be on the more careful side for now. "So, feel free to get your respective power analysis sheet from me when the meeting is over. And feel free to text or call me if you need advice or help. From this point on, we NEED", she emphasized, "to stick together. We are all connected now, whether we like it or not". And with that, she wrote her name and number on the chalkboard and stood off to the side, raising her palm to Jay indicating he could continue.

Moon just really, really hoped people would heed her caution.

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As they rode up the house, Everett saw Aunt Lou standing in the back porch, with a look on her face that said “I know what you two been doing back there.“

He signed and they stopped next to old woman. “Yall two love birds have fun?” Aunt said smiling a wide toothy grin and handing Everett a folded sheet of paper. Damn boy, you smell like death warmed over. You got yourself a keeper if she ain't ran away yet.” Luella said waving the smell away from her noise.

Nina hopped off the horse, blushing a bit at what Aunt Lou was saying. ”Well as much fun as one could have cleaning. The site and cabin look all shiny now. As for the smell, my father is a lumberjack, and well… sometimes he forgets what hygiene is. Doesn’t mean I don’t wanna gag. Anyways, speaking of cleaning up, I should probably change back into my clothes. And maybe shower. I’m sure I smell of soot, and well, Petyr is already gonna be pissed at me.” She smiled at Aunt Lou, but didn’t seem to confirm the old woman’s theory. Nina still felt a little stung from earlier, and the word ‘lovebird’ made it hurt again.

“Always the charmer Aunt Lou.” Everett said after Nina was finished. He didn't want her to leave, but he didn't know how to ask her to stay. With a sigh he unfolded the paper to read it's content. “It's a wonder we ain't been strung… WHAT THE HELL LUELL!” Everett roared when he realized what he was looking at.

“Don't you sass me boy! You asked and I did it. Now don't you give me no greif.” She responded sharply.

Everett was pissed but he knew she was right. He mumbled under his breath something angry and kept mumbling as he turned both horses around and made way for the barn.

Aunt Lou wasn't done with him yet. As he walked up to Nina, she told her to watch what was about to happen. “Hey boy, where you going with them horses?”

“Barn!“ Everett shouted back.

“Don't you wanna give us the meat first.” Aunt Lou shouted at him. He turned and quickly made his way back. Only says the word “Don't” to Aunt Lou. With a sour look in his face.

“Help me now child.“ Aunt Lou said to Nina as she knocked off the game bags from the saddle of the spare horse. Picking up and dragging two legs to the porch.

Nina looked between Everett’s retreating back and Aunt Lou and sighed, and got the game back and hefted it over her shoulder. She walked over to Aunt Lou and looked at her. ”So, may I ask what happened, or is this a private family fude? Because if so I’ll back off.”

“Oh I just did something without telling him boys too fun to windup. Don't you mind him.” she said as the last if the game bags were brought. “You like Everett, don'tcha?’ Luella said as she watched her charge from a window.

Nina paused and let out a sigh. ”I do, but it’s really confusing right now. I mean, I know he’s got stuff going on, I mean, who doesn’t, but…” She trailed off, her cheeks now perma-red. ”I think he feels the same but… he won’t let me in. Just like Tess…”

“Oh he all hot and bothered by you girl. Yes ma’am he is. I know these Wilcox boys all my life from his granddaddy to him. Ain't a one of them ever said a lick of nuttin bout their feelings. They're all hard men. Just how they are. Everett though, he's just bothered by all the goings on. His parents… what happened to them, ain't no sunshine there. Give him time child, he'll come around.” Luella Marchbanks said with certainty on her voice.

Nina nodded and gave the older woman a half-smile. ”Will do. Thank you Luella. So… about that shower? Think I can borrow somewhere to clean off before I head out?”

“Up the stairs, second door on the left. Every you'll need is there. I'll fetch your clothes from the cellar. Go on, best get going before he sees you beet red and he throws a hissy fit again.” She stated pointing to where the stairs where.

Nina giggled a bit and thanked Luella and headed upstairs. She turned to the left and shortly found the bathroom. She closed the door and quickly undressed and showered. Once she was done, she wrapped herself up in a nice towel and let out a happy sigh. She found her clothing shortly and got dressed and tugged up her hair into a loose bun. She did however realize that her jacket was not amongst her clothing. She headed back downstairs. ”Thanks for bringing me my clothing, but I think you still have my jacket Luella.”

Everett was standing in the kitchen when Nina came down, he stared for a moment too long before going back to eating the food in his hand. Lost in his own world before snapping out of it. “Oh shit.” Everett said as he grabbed a plate of food and handed it to Nina. “Here eat. I gotta shower, won't be long.” Everett said handing off the plate before running upstairs.

“They don't know how to say sorry,either.” Aunt Lou said with a smile. “Excuse me child, I gotta help that boy before he fucks something else up. Aunt disappeared only to come back with a back pack.

Everett hurried his shower. Eager to get back to Nina, fearful of whatever Aunt Lou might tell her while he was. He was nervous for some reason. A reason he couldn't place. Was it Nina leaving? Or Aunt Lou being Aunt Lou? Either way this wasn't to dally around.

He ran down the stairs dressed in jeans, a t-shirt and riding boots. From the closet by the door, he pulled out two jackets. Both were armored riding jackets, he put one and handed the other to Nina. “You ready sweetie?“ he asked Nina.

”Almost… still need my jacket, unless it’s in the backpack Luella brought up for you. Thanks.” Nina took the riding jacket and slipped it on. It smelled like Everett and the woods, a lovely combo. She zipped it up and slung her own backpack over her shoulder.
“... Uh… Yeah I got it. Let's head out.” Everett said as he turned to leave he was stopped by Luella, telling him that everything he needed was in his backpack. He was shocked at how heavy it was, it had to be almost thirty pounds. He shot Luella a knowing look, but didn't say anything for fear what else might happen.

Everett walked out of the door, and started his motorcycle. It was gonna take a a few minutes for the bike to warm up. He grabbed a helmet, and handed it too Nina. “Are you sure you wanna leave?” Everett asked with the hum of the motor in the background. The aftermarket exhaust system gave it a deeper rumble slander a harder sound.

Nina nodded, and pulled down her hair, letting it loose, since she knew the bun would not fit under the helmet. ”I can’t stay here all day... I have a few things I need to make sure get done before tomorrow.” She looked at Everett, wondering if there was a motive behind the question and then shook her head lightly, and tugged on the helmet.

“I understand.” Everett said as put on his helmet and mounted his bike. He motioned for her do the same. “Hold on as tight as you can. Otherwise you might fall off. I don't wanna scrap you off the pavement.”

Nina nodded, mounting the bike with ease and wrapped her arms tightly around Everett and leaned up against him. ”Trust me… I don’t wanna be scraped off. However, warn me before you do any tricks.” She giggled a bit and smiled, not that he could see it under the helmet.

Everett slammed the visor shut and smiled. He slowly let off the clutch and off they went. When he hit the main road, he patted her leg three times before slamming in the gas and clutching up the front wheel. He held that wheelie through the first three gears. He could have held it longer but there was more bike than skill for two people. As the the front wheel touched down he slammed on the front break causing the whole of the bike raised up in the front wheel. He didn't hold it as long as he could, he was somewhat mindful of person on the back.

As they hit town Everett made a note to slow down. He could more than likely get away with it but there was no chance fate anymore than he had already. His first stop was a dry cleaners on the other side of town. Everett killed the engine and rolled to a stop in front of the shop. As he came to a stop he flipped his visor and asked Nina how she was doing.

Nina seemed rather giddy as she flipped up the visor of her helmet. ”I’m doing just fine. Though I am curious as to why we stopped here. Do you have some dry cleaning to pick up?”
“Something like that. Hop off we can get this done.” Everett said winking at her.

”Alright then.” Nina hopped off the bike and removed the helmet, and shook her hair free a bit.

Everett put the kickstand down and pulled his helmet off. “Come on, this shouldn't take too long.“ Everett said as he dismounted the bike and walked inside the cleaners, hold the door open for Nina.

When she was through the door, the guy behind the counter simple asked if Everett had “The good” as they were called. Everett looked into his backpack and saw a bag labeled “cleaners.” It had to be heaviest part of his pack. Everett never said a word as he tossed it on the counter. When the contents were checked the man nodded and left. Everett turned and winked at Nina.

When the man came back he was holding two bags, one held a leather coat, the other was a dress, pretty to even Everett’s eye. “These would be your days wages. Honest pay for honest work.” Everett said as he held them out for her inspection.

Nina looked at the bags and blinked. Her coat looked like it was almost brand new again, cleaned and fixed. She then looked at the dress. There was no way normally she could afford anything like that unless it was second or third hand. ”I uh… this is… Thank you.” She now had a good idea what Everett had been yelling at Aunt Lou about… but she wasn’t going to argue. Sure, it was way more than a days pay for sure, but, both garments looked great. [done]
“You ain't all that articulate are yah?” Everett said knowing full well what he sounded like. “Don't let touch that jacket for awhile… You'll see why later. Toss those in you pack and tell me where you need to go.” Everett said hoping for a little more of a reaction from… Maybe he was just hoping for too much.

Nina leaned over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. ”Thank you again. As for where I need to go... “ She paused for a moment and checked her phone. ”Simon’s coffee shop. I’m going to meet a friend there once he get out of practice.” She gently tucked the jacket and dress into her backpack and looked at Everett. ”Are… you going to be at school tomorrow? Or ditching again?”

Everett held the door open and waited for her walk out. “Truth be told, it depends on how much I get done today.” He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. Knowing he wasn't gonna be able to finish it. Or at least it would buy him a little more time with Nina. “I still got a little bit of daylight left to get some work done for the party. You and your brother coming?” Everett asked before another drag.

Nina paused for a moment. ”Depends on who all is there. There are some people I’m sure would love to make sure I’m not there… Also depends on how Petyr feels.” Nina shifted a bit as she looked up at Everett. done

“I want you there. Besides, I own the house, the land and all rights to it. You guys wanna come your welcome anytime. Let me worry about the noise.” Everett said, taking one last drag and flicking the cigarette away. He walked over to the bike and got. “Well come on then. Let's get you to your nameless friend.” He said putting on his hello and starting the bike.

Nina pulled on the helmet quickly to conceal her blush. She flipped down the visor and mounted the bike behind Everett. ”I’ll see what I can do, but might have to hitch a ride with someone.”

Everett looked behind her. “Nina, all you have to do is ask.” He was talking about more than just a ride, never once realizing the same could be said of him. He popped the bike into gear and headed to the coffee shop. He gave thought to getting a drink while he was there but decided against it.

When they arrived Everett pulled up in the sidewalk,killing the engine Everett again looked behind and said “door side drop off. We thank you for rising Air Wilcox, please dismount safely and fly with us again.” Everett smiled under the helmet, one that couldn't seen.

Nina pulled off the helmet and handed it to Everett. ”Thank you, for everything today. I’ll let you know if Petyr and I need that ride to the party. Do take care Ev… I'd hate for anything to happen to you.” Nina looked at him, a little sad that his face was hidden by the helmet.

Everett took off his pack and put it on the tank. He reached in and pulled putt some elk meat and traded Nina for the helmet. Replacing the meat.. Putting his pack back on. “I'll be fine. I always am sweetie. Take care… Oh, do you know where about a I can find your daddy? I need some trees cut out. It'd be nice to have have some help.” Everett said. “You fucking chicken shit.” he thought to himself.

Nina raised her eyebrows. ”He’s outta town till Wednesday. Big job up North. Surprise surprise. I’ll let him know about your trees when he gets home. If he’s not too tired.”
“Don't worry about it, there's no burning rush. I'll stop by sometime and talk to him. You take care now.” Hs slammed the visor down and pulled off. Heading back home. Kicking himself for not asking her out right there. What the hell was his problem. Moose, bears and bobcats didn't scare him. He lived with a fucking wolf for fuck sakes. But some little girl who he could fling like a sack of potatoes was whopping his ass like it wasn't nothing.

When he got home, Luella was waiting for him. Ready no doubt to feed him a rash of shit he didn't wanna hear. “How'd it go?” she asked seemingly already knowing the answer.

“Fine, I think she figured out why I was pissed off though.”

“Say she did?”

“Don't start, the jacket and dress I was fine with, the meat was a little much but did you really have to give her that much?” Hd asked.

“Boy if your momma would have seen those rags, she'd a took her and her kin shopping in the stop. We'll make the money back, don't you worry.” Aunt Lou said somewhat shocked.

“It ain't the money that gives me pause. I don't want her to think I'm trying to buy her… Or people to talk and say she's gold digging. You know how people around here.” There was genuine concern in Everett.

“They gonna talk either way. That girl and any girl you touch I'd gonna be a gold digger. Unless you star dating those rich girls you hate so much. That Snow White girl is cute.” She said with a hint of sass in her eyes.

“I gotta clean those saddles. I'll be back in a few hours.” Everett said trying to get away from the conversation.
“Everett Ulysses Wilcox. That girl has got it for you something awful, you know how you get around about now. Don't drag her into your shit.” She said trying to protect both at the same time.

“Yes ma’am.” His only response before disappearing to the barn. To do anything but think about Nina or what Aunt Lou had said.

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Jade noticed what Jason had put down. She scoffed, but didn’t say nothing about it. She didn’t need to. It was up there along with the rest of the folks.  ”Seems there’s a lot of different ... powers,” Jade couldn’t but gag a little. All of this was ridiculous. From the company that she was near(don’t even get her started on that) to the fact that everyone — well, almost everyone. It seems that King’s fuck-buddy, Mal, didn’t have any problems.

Jade turned her head around and looked at Malcolm. “Oh what’s wrong sunshine? The eclipse didn’t share with you?  You poor baby,” Jade teased him, laughing.

Before anything could be said back to her from Malcolm, Verona’s Resident Psychic started to rant on about how they needed to stick together because they were connected. As if bitch. What made Immanuel think that, just because they were granted these powers, that it suddenly made them best friends or something. Nope, Jade wasn’t going to have that.

“Yeeeaahno, that’s not going to happen,” Jade said, tossing aside Moon’s little paper, “you think just because we all have these special powers that we’re suddenly going to be best friends? Bitch please!” She exclaimed, “the only reason that I’m even here and listening to this nonsense is at the request of Alicia, but quite frankly,” Jade paused, eying a few of them, “about eighty percent of you haven’t even spoke to me since Skater Boi and I parted ways,” Jade obviously was referring to Jason. 

As she was going to continue, Jade felt her emotions starting to swell up. Past memories of when everyone in the room was, at one point, all best friends, was starting to come to the surface. The happiness of time’s past; the laughs that everyone shared; the dumb shit that they did for the sake of fun — all of it was resurfacing and Jade’s eyes started to water because of it. Her mascara started to run down her face. Jade quickly shook her head to get rid of the incoming tears.

Alicia listened to Moon as she stood up next to Jay as she had written down everyone's abilities and good places where to practice them and to keep it secret or even keep an eye out on those who might not have discovered their abilities earlier. Her eyes then looked over towards Jade as she had an outburst, she stood up looking over towards her friend.

"Jade, Moon does have a point, even though we don't like half of these people in the room. We might not have to like them, but what if something were to happen and someone finds out about these abilities we may have like some creepy government types?"

Jade's mascara-run, tear-semi-filled eyes went towards Alicia. "You can say that because everyone in this room — whether they're willing to admit it — doesn't hate the sight of you." Jade said bitterly. 

"I'm not saying that you have to like them Jade, but maybe now we can sort of have a chance to try and get along since we all have something in common now." Alicia said looking over towards King and Gerard for a moment as an example. "King probably doesn't enjoy me all that much, Gerard we don't talk much. But we just need to all get along."

"Alicia, I love you to death, but you're wrong on so many levels," Jade bluntly said, "no one in this room aside from you, Ash, and probably Scout, wants a chance to get along with me anymore." Jade said, the same bitter, pessimistic tone in her voice, "not since Pinky and I broke up, anyways." Jade said, turning once again to everyone, "yeah, I'm not going to be apart of this. You all can enjoy your marry band of X-Men or whatever you're going to call yourselves. I'm going to have no part in it." Jade said, not waiting for anyone to respond to her. 

The next — and last — thing everyone would see and hear, respectively, would be Jade's backside and her promptly leaving the room.

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They say that deep rivers run quiet. Nobody knew how true that saying was more than Grant Wells did. For all of his life — well, his high school life, that is — he was the one that often listened, never spoke. He’s always full of thoughts, but never had the courage, or confidence, to speak up. It’s not like there was ever any reason for him to do so. Grant never had any use for that when in class or in debates for the wallflower never spoke, just observed, listened, and when the time came for it, review their notes. Yes, a wallflower they called him. That was probably the most accurate anyone could call him.

And the halls of Lincoln Memorial High School was no different. People didn’t notice him. They never even knew that he was there. These people — the ones that went on about the latest gossip — never knew he was next to them, listening to every word that they spoke. Whether it was about the latest gossip, the homework from the hardass, Mrs. Miller, how much homework that Professor Jones gives out. Whether it’s about how hot Ms. Arlington was or how cute Mr. Fender was, Grant was always listening, taking in everything and collecting and reviewing everything whenever he could.

Yes, Grant Wells often went unnoticed

Even though he had no problem with that, he sometimes hated it. Aside the times at lunch where he got to see some of his closest friends such as Olivia and his cousin Tess, which would be the highlight of his day today, but as his rotten luck would have it, they seemed to be at that mandatory Astronomy Club meeting that was sent out on a mass tweet by Jay. Though he considered going to that meeting just for the sake of seeing his cousin and Olivia, Grant decided against it. A tweet that got as many favorites and retweets like that one, Grant would probably just be uncomfortable with that many people being in the same room.

As Grant found a spot at an empty table in the caf, he began to unwrap his turkey club from the plastic that it was concealed in. He then proceeded to start to eat it, taking small bites as he would swallow it. About halfway into it, Grant found himself into deep thought. “I wonder if she’s free today..“ Grant said quietly so only he could hear himself.

Pulling out his phone, Grant went to Olivia’s name. She had always been his best friend aside from his cousin Tessa.

Hey, Liv, you want to play some Final Fantasy XIV today after school? My dad won’t be home, so he won’t bother us. I mean, only if you want to. If you’re going to be busy, we can do it another time.

Grant sent the message and pocketed his phone, smiling slightly. The prospect of getting to hang out with Olivia today was a happy one.

Her sudden and rather unexpected display of power had gone and went. Gerard had forgiven and accepted her apology, despite a period of mourning the loss of his beloved cheese bread and coffee. Olivia was not expecting to be bestowed with powers or any kind, but then again she suspected that the feeling she was had was a common sentiment among her peers in the room. None of them had expected it as well and were understandably puzzled by sudden occurrence. It was the solar eclipse. It had to be. It was the only phenomenon that was highly out-of-the-ordinary in the last couple of days, and pretty much the only explainable reason anyone possibly see or pin-point it too.

Following up shortly after her rather bemusing display was the scene of Jay firing up his enthusiasm and began scribbling a series of theories on the black board. Gravity, Wormhole and Weather. Gravity, must have been referring to the incident earlier in the girl's restroom where Moon had floated up towards the ceiling. Wormhole was most possibly a theory of his to explain his teleportation powers. Weather. She didn't really thought hers fitted under weather, but then again she had barely seen much about her own power so far. The room was rather packed today, filled with plenty of confused people looking for answers. Even Jade was present, someone who was normally not seen in school, let alone the astronomy club. She must have been really curious about her sudden powers to even come in the first place.

Soon she discovered that she wasn't one of the few who had powers, but just one of the many. Richard and Jade both voiced out that they had powers of their own as well. King's one was rather amusing though, empathy. It was just funny thinking about it. It was as if a cruel joke was played on the guy himself. Scout, one of her besties made a dig on King, and she couldn't help but let out a stifled snigger.

She just loved the girl when she did that, heh. Her phone vibrated and played her super mario message tone. Curious, she slipped it out of her pocket and glanced at it. What she saw brought a wide smile to her face. It was Grant. Her other bestie and one of her closest friends ever. Olivia didn't tend to have many friends, and Grant was one of the best and closest. He was kinda like the brother she never had as the only child in her family. He wanted to play Final Fantasy over at his house. Video Games, just another of the common interests the pair shared with each other. Without any hesitation, she began typing out a message to her bestie.

Heyyy Grant! Yaaas, Final Fantasy sounds great! I'm still stuck in the Astronomy Club meeting though, but I'm definitely up for it later after the meeting ends. Do you want to meet up in school, and go back to your home together or will be you be going back first?

Location: Astronomy Club ->
Interacting with: Eachother and Jay @McHaggis

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Katalina wanted to yell at Jade as she left. She didn't hate her, but apparently, in Jade's mind, everyone was against her, except three people. And what was that about it being a result of Jay and her's break up? They had dated? She let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose and looked at Ali. She put a hand on Ali's shoulder and rubbed to comfort her a bit. She had taken a brunt of Jade's anger, and didn't really deserve it.

As she listened to Jay she paused. "Um, you know, I noticed that there were several people that cut class today, so they might not be in the loop that they are not the only ones with powers. Also, there could be a few others that just arn't a part of Astronomy club, like me, who didn't get the memo that we were meeting over the eclipse. Do you think we should try to reach out to people?

"I guess... but what if they snitch? Or worse, what if they think we're, like, psychos?" Jay wondered, then frowned pensively. His brows furrowed too. His expression was the epitome of seriousness. "Maybe try, yeah. They shouldn't be alone. What if there's side-effects or something?"

"Thanks Jay. That was all I had to say at the moment." Kata turned to Alicia and rubbed her shoulder again. "You okay pretty lady?"

Alicia watched as Jade turned around and stormed out of the classroom letting out a quiet sigh, she sat back down in her seat turning to look over at Kat and smiled as she gently patted her shoulder. Her attention went over towards Jay as Kat asked him a question for those who werent apart of the astronomy club, which was a good question.

Alicia looked back at Kat asking if she was alright and nodded towards her friend. "Yeah i'll be fine." Alicia smiled gently patting her on the shoulder and stretched slightly seeing Mr. Fender coming in, the bell was about to ring. "I'll text you later Jay and I can help out plan something if you need me to." Alicia said, and turned to look over at Kat and smiled. "Should we go?"

"Probably a good plan. Should we head to class or do you wanna do something else with your afternoon? Kata stood up and streched a bit, and looked at Alicia.

Alicia thought for a moment whether to skip class or go back to them, a lot on her mind and tomorrow was going to be rather gloomy for the memorial service. "If you want to risk getting in trouble we could ditch the rest of the classes for today?" Alicia suggested.

Katalina paused for a moment. It wasn't her normal MO to skip classes, but today had been a weird day, and tomorrow was the memorial service. "Sure, let's ditch. However, if your mom asks, it was all my idea." Kata offered her friend a smile and her hand.

Alicia smiled as she took Kat's hand. "Thanks Kat, and don't worry about taking the blame, its my own idea anyway." Alicia said as she got up from her seat and started to head out of the classroom and down the hallway looking over towards her friend. "So where do you want to go sexy?"

Kata blushed at that and smiled, still holding Alicia's hand. "Hmm well in our little town there arn't many places to go... so... how about the coffee shop? Wait you work there, I'm sure your boss would be suspicious. Hmm, we could hang out at my house? Family is working, like usual. Unless you have somewhere else you wanna go?" She turned to looked at Alicia as they headed out of the school.

"Yeah my boss would instantly call my mom, I swear she has her own little spy ring. Your place works for me." Alicia said with a laugh seeing Kat blush at her compliment and snuck out of the school and walked along side her best friend. "So kind of a weird day huh?" Alicia said softly.

"Yeah, I mean now it makes sense why I couldn't get my hair wet in the shower. Also, you got this Magneto thing going on it seems. You arn't going to turn evil on me now, are you?" Kata chuckled a bit as she and Alicia walked to her house.

"Oh yeah I am so totally going to go evil and fight for mutants and try and take over the world." Alicia started laughing and shook her head walking backwards to face Kat as they walked along the street. "I honestly wont ever do that though, besides you can keep me in line if that happens."

"I know, I was joking, but I will keep you in line if needed. Besides if anyone will misuse their powers, its probably going to be King, given how he acts at times." Kata rolled her eyes as they continued to walk. "Empathy man. He could really mess someone up with that."

"I knew that you were joking silly." Alicia said running a hand through her hair and shrugged slightly. "King's ability would be more creepy he could see what others are feeling, but I guess its completely harmless. You can whip someone around with water if you could."

"I guess that is true. However, that just isn't me. I don't think I could whip people around." Kata frowned a bit in thought as they continued to walk. "You could do some serious damage to someone with piercings, just yanking them out. Not that you would do that. Man my mind is going to dark places today."

Alicia took a step closer and gently wrapped an arm over her friend's shoulder as they continued to walk alongside one another. "Well what do you want to talk about then that isnt all dark and gloomy?" Alicia asked seeing that they were getting closer towards Kat's house now. "And I wouldnt use my powers to do anything like that, I probably wont even use them at all."

Kata blushed. A million things popped to her mind that she wanted to say, but she wasn't sure it was the time. "Hmmm oh well, oh any new games you've been playing that I need to get in on? I think I need to update my Steam wishlist soon." As they approached the door of the Hargraves house, Kata pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. She held it open and let Alicia in first, and once they were both in the house, she closed and locked the doors.

Alicia smiled as she walked into Kat's house being inside hundreds of times before she quickly took off her shoes and thought about the many games coming out. "Ive been mainly playing Xbox One lately, not to many games are out right now that peeked my interest except for Halo 5 coming out next month, and then Fallout 4 the following month after that."

Kata took off her shoes as well and nodded. "Yeah, and then Tomb Raider at Christmas. Mmm Lara can raid my tomb anyday." Kata coughed a bit and slung off her backpack and headed for the kitchen. "You want anything to drink or eat? I'm starving, but I did skip both breakfast and lunch on accident."

Alicia giggled as she started to follow Kat into the kitchen, she then pulled herself up onto the counter looking down at Kat. "Lara is really hot way better then what she looked like in the older games. And Ill just some Coke or whatever soda that you have." Alicia said lightly swaying her feet back and forth and stretched slightly. "Why did you skip breakfast? Lunch I understand since the meetng was during lunch."

"Story as old as time Ali, I woke up late and had to run out the door." Kata walked over to the fridge and opened it, and pulled out a Blue Sky soda and handed it to Ali. She then pulled out some bread, peanut butter and jelly. She started making a sandwich and set it on a plate. "You wanna chill and watch something or do you wanna play something?" She picked up the sandwich and took a bite as she waited for Ali to reply.

"Well at least you got a little bit of extra sleep, during the school week my mom always forces me to get up so early." Alicia smiled taking the Blue Sky from Kat's hand and pulled the tab and took a sip from the soda. "I wouldnt mind watching something, just a movie or whatever is on the TV?" Alicia asked as she pulled herself off of the counter.

"Works for me. Speaking of tale as old as time, wanna watch Beauty and the Beast? Been having a craving for it recently. And honestly I only got extra sleep since I forgot to reset my alarm for the weekday. Silly me." Kata chuckled and headed into the living room and set her sandwich on the table before digging around in the movie cabinet her parents had.

"Beauty and the Beast works for me, I used to watch it so many times when I was little that my dad and brother were sick of it." Alicia said with a laugh and followed Kat and sat down on the couch stretching out on it while she watched Kat closely as she searched the cabinet of movies blushing slightly as she stared at Kat's behind.

Kata soon pulled out a Blu-Ray, and walked over to the PS4 and popped it in, and then sat down on the couch. "Well, I love this movie, so no worrys on me getting sick of it. Just to warn you, this movie will make me cry at the end." Kata blushed a bit and scooted close to Ali.

Alicia blushed slightly when Kat scooted closer to her and smiled softly and rested her feet on the coffee table in front of them. "Well its a good thing that we are best friends and like the same movies." Alicia said as the movie started.

"Yes, best friends." Kata sighed a bit, and turned her attention to the movie as it started. There would be time for lamentations later, but right now, it was movie time.

---

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Biting words from King, and then Malcolm filled Scout’s ears, mind, and perhaps even soul. Though her face remained as still as she could manage, Scout swore that her vision had shifted over to red upon hearing the two boys converse. THough their faces eventually became lost to her in the sea of chaos that was currently playing out in the lab surrounding, she silently swore to herself that she would not let KIng and Malcolm off so easily.

perhaps a prank is in order

One by one hands rose up among the bodies, and Scout took note of each face that seemed to shift with confusion or worry as their powers came into light. Moon could fly, Austin could run, Jade could make earthquakes… And soon even more odd, amazing powers popped up among the students? What was this, a Marvel TV show? Scout fiddled uncomfortably with the strings of her sweatshirt as cries of confusion and questions echoed across the white-walled room. To be completely honest, she had been quite skeptical about the whole event. Of course, just reading about a flying girl or a wormhole-walking boy in a text wouldn’t be enough evidence for Scout to feel entirely sure, but as she sat in the Astronomy Club’s room, surrounded by power-ridden teens, the skepticism melted away into curiosity. And perhaps… Jealousy?

Scout glared down at her pale hands, clenching and unclenching her fists longingly. Compared to someone like Katalina, who was throwing water around willy nilly, Scout felt ultimately useless, as if even the strange occurrence that had caused this sudden spike in superpowers had forgotten about her. Envy was something SCout felt often; she envied the jewelry in the fancy stores, the families holding hands while walking around downtown, and now she could envy all the kids around her who could simply wave a hand and produce some kind of magic. She huffed once, a feeling of anger swelling in her chest again, but she was quickly distracted by Miss Immanuelle , who went off on a tangent about sticking together and not revealing their powers to anyone else. Scout blinked a few times, glancing around the almost-quiet room before a familiar figure rose up to complain.Scout quirked an eyebrow curiously at the fiery girl’s heavy-handed dismissal of the rest of the room, and once she vanished from the lab Scout sighed and rubbed her temple. Moon had a point, but Jade was also correct in a way; why would they all need to stay close? Scout let her gaze wander again, swiftly taking in the faces of everyone in the room.

Jay seemed rather… Distraught? A nervous smile was plastered on his face, and Scout found herself smiling slightly in return. King was shifting quickly through expressions, and though she had made a dig at him for faking earlier, a faint voice in her head seemed to wonder how false her words had been. The rest of the teenagers had settled into their own groups, and they chatted quietly as Jay finished up his speech. The board was soon erased, and Scout straightened her back at the sound of footsteps in the hall beyond. Jay rushed over to the door, held it for a moment, and then the familiar face of Mr. Fender entered the room. His young face was gentle and unmoving, save for the small smile that usually curled his lips up, and his eyes were wide and intense as he gazed around the room curiously. Scout returned her hands to her sweatshirt strings, acting as innocently as possible until the teacher was gone again.

"He didn't suspect a thing,"

Scout smirked at Jay, and as he signaled for the end of the meeting she stood, wandering over to him quickly.

"Nice job up there, bud. You feeling okay?" She asked in her usual lax way, a wary hand patting his bicep as if to grab his attention even more. Out of the corner of her Eye, Scout saw the ever-so-assholeish King rise from his sweat and stretch slightly. A strained look was clear on his face, and sweat had begun to collect slightly on his forehead. If he was some kind of empath, then it would make sense that a group of people would put a strain on his body, right? Scout blinked his image from her head, returning her full attention to Jay, "sooooo, you can really teleport huh? That’s sick, teleporting is so cool! I wish I could do shit like that!"

“Wormholes,” Jay corrected, though he seemed a little doubtful. He ran a hand through his hair nervously, and then glanced at her. He was anxious, or as anxious as he could ever be, about having powers when his best friend didn’t. Jay knew Scout well, too well, and if there was anything to be worried about, it was having something that she didn’t; something that she wanted. “I travel through wormholes. Teleportation doesn’t seem very scientific, ya know? But yeah I was wormhole’d into the girl’s bathroom, then the boy’s bathroom.”

"You’ll have to show me sometime, say, after school? We could go to The Gallery to hang if you want!" She forced a lazy smile, leaning back on her heels slightly. Jay was fiddling with his hair, something he usually did when uncomfortable, and Scout quickly swallowed down any panic that had formed in her throat before leaning forward, clasping Jay’s hand casually, "don’t worry about anything, okay? I really do-" Before Scout was able to finish her sentence, however, something hard pushed into her shoulder, and she stumbled forward slightly, landing roughly against Jay’s tall form. She adjusted herself quickly and turned, small hands balled into fists as she made direct eye contact with King.

”Whoops, sorry shorty. Didn’t see ya there, as usual.” He sneered bitterly, blue eyes cloudy with an emotion Scout could not perceive. She stepped to the left a bit, acting as a sort of shield between Jay and King, and then she turned to her friend, whispering a quick ‘let’s just go’.

“Nah, I don’t think so,” Jay said, tugging on the collar of his denim jacket. “He has no right to pull shit like that. Again.” The pink-haired boy seemed seconds away from leaning over Scout to get at him, peering down at King from his (ever so slightly taller) height. Malcolm – who’d followed King over, eyebrows raised in alertness – tried to take a position like Scout’s, somewhere between them both.

For the third time during lunch, Jay shot him a betrayed look.

“C’mon, no fighting. It’ll just result in Jason getting another shiner,” Mal said, more to King than to the other two. He was half-turned away from them. King shifted his gaze to Mal’s face, and a glimmer of pink tinted his cheeks before he allowed his tight-lipped expression to shift into a devious smirk. Scout watched him intently, fists clenching and unclenching as she saw King twist and crack his own wrists. Eventually he took a step back, one eyebrow quirked as if to say ‘just try and hit me’, and he shoved his hands into his back pockets,

”I don’t want poor Jay Darlin’ here getting a worse reputation, I guess.”

“At least I don’t have a reputation for being a complete jackass and hitting girls. Though that might change,” Jay said with a pointed glance at King. Resignation was etched in the lines of his face, almost enough to be regretful. It was clear a part of him was reserved for doing it, conflicting with the determination to do right by women everywhere, or some such gentlemanly trash. “Let’s take this outside, if you’re not too… emotional or whatever.” King seemed unconvinced by Jay’s challenge, but Scout could see the rage burning in his eyes after a moment. If he really was an empath, that would mean that the probably heated emotions of her, Jay, and Mal were driving him literally mad. Scout rose up her arms in a half-assed attempt to stop King from taking a step forward, but he easily swiped his arm across her shoulder to throw her aside. Scout stumbled with a slight grunt, landing roughly against the wall and chalkboard, and her fists clenched tightly as she felt a sudden red rage claim her vision.

Jay shook his head at nobody in particular, and addressed those still in the Astronomy Club – there was a fair few. “I’ll B-R-B, guys,” he said, and charged at King, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. Almost as soon as contact was made, the world spun and they were travelling through darkness. Jay’s eyes widened, this having been the first time they were open during being sucked through a ‘wormhole’, though it was almost instantaneous.

---

The bell rung loudly, violently.

They were still somewhere in the school in a dingy set of stairs that led up to the roof, used only for the janitor’s services or sometimes for the art students to mess around and paint landscapes. Moreover, they were halfway up the stairs. The force of teleporting toppled Jay and King over the edge, and they tumbled down the last few steps. ”Fuck my life,” Jay muttered and swung a fist wildly at what he thought might have been King’s face, though they were a tangle of torsos and limbs. Jay took the brunt of the fall, and his back was killing him, but it wasn’t broken, that much he knew.

King was entirely too confused and disoriented by the sudden switch and tumble. He was almost positive a fist had connected with his shoulder, but by the time the two reached the bottom of the stairs his whole body was simply aching with bruises, thus masking any human hit that had collided with him before unfelt. King got up as quickly as he could, taking a few short steps back until his back hit an unfamiliar wall. This wasn’t the chemistry lab. King groaned, holding his head as a sudden wave of nausea, confusion, and anger consumed him, and he struggled to focus his vision on the skinnier body of Jay.

”This… Your fucking wormhole shit, Darlin’?” He shifted his weight slightly, wandering slowly over to the still grounded Jason, and then lowered down to grab the other boy by his jacket’s collar, ”you still wanna go after that fall, kid? I won’t hesitate to give you another black eye now.” Anger made King’s lips peel back in a menacing way, and his eyes and head burned with rage.

“This is my fucking wormhole shit– ah, hell,” Jay said, though he couldn’t breathe through his nose. A thin trickle of blood had started, spilling down his lips though there seemed to be no visible damage in that area. Jay staggered up, half standing with his free hand holding on to the wall for support, the other on King’s arm and squeezing as painfully tight as he could. “But, you’re a – shit! – menace, to everyone around you.”

Just one more teleport. Just one more. He could tell, through some sort of internal body clock, that it wasn’t ready yet; that it was physically impossible for him to do the same thing. Or maybe it was some weird, sixth sense and supernatural intuition that came with his power. Either way, he had to hold off. Something was burning hot on the back of his neck, willing him to keep fighting. Getting him angry.

Jay tried to kick out at King’s legs though he wasn’t very stable himself, dizzy. King grunted as Jay’s foot connected with his knee, and he felt his weight shift, once more, only not in his favor. He released the other boy in an effort to catch himself, and with a slight huff he dropped down onto one knee and clenched his fist. After a moment of attempting to collect his thoughts, King simply felt his mind split down the middle, and a crazed smile met his lips. Aaaaaah fuck it! He rushed forward, sloppily clenching the fabric of Jay’s shirt with one hand while the other reared back and connected with his jaw. It wasn’t truly a strong punch, just a quick jab. Though King was simply burning with rage, there was a slight nagging in the back of his mind, a certain voice that kept telling him to calm down and leave the kid be. That voice was keeping him, for lack of a better term, humane. King wondered for just a moment what he would be like without that voice, his fist shaking with a sudden thought of terror, and he quickly threw Jay back in an effort to stop himself from going completely mad.

With some distance separating them, Jay nursed his clearly bruised jaw. It had made a wrong-sounding click at the contact, and though he was wide open at the moment, he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at King – who wasn’t even trying anymore. “Thoug–Thought you were gonna give me a black eye,” Jay said, though it was slurred. He was amazed he could keep his head up at that moment, but adrenaline kicked in – a second wind. He hauled himself to his feet.

An internal timer dinged like a microwave oven, and he could just feel the ability to create a wormhole come back to him. It itched at his fingers. Though he was in no place to make demands, Jay tried. “You don’t – you don’t touch Silvia again, you hear me? Hear me?” There was a cut on his lip that burned with every twisting grimace of his mouth. “And you stop – fucking up Mal’s life too, man. Asshole. Jackass. Dickwad.”

He coughed, and glared at King, who glared back with twice the intensity at the mention of Malcolm. He leaned forward awkwardly, shoulders and back and chest pulsating with a familiar sensation of pain, and his head burned with a rage that was only beginning to simmer. King took a few steps forward, his right hand clenched tightly, and then with one last burst of anger he threw his balled hand forward, connecting directly with Jay’s stomach. To his own surprise, however, the punch wasn’t as strong as he intended, and frustration set in instantly. He glowered up at Jay from his awkwardly-bent-over position, and then with a hissing breath he muttered,

”stay out of my fucking business, Darlin’.”

Jay let out a huffing breath and grabbed King by the fabric of his shirt, dragging him up. He didn’t say anything, but he could feel the strain of pushing his mind to the limits – something deep within him cracked and strained like a muscle he hadn’t used before today and hadn’t yet been exercised. Darkness swallowed them whole.

It lasted longer this time, and Jay thought he was going to run out of air before they reappeared, this time somewhere a light breeze danced across his aching form. He couldn’t see anything clearly, like he was seeing the world through a lense that wasn’t quite in focus yet, but he could tell he was hunched forward on his hands and knees, leaning against concrete as the world was spinning. The statue of the school’s founder loomed overhead and the nosebleed suddenly worsened. “Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Te–text your BFF where we are, please. I don’t think I can–” Jay shakily reached into his inside jacket pocket to rummage around for his phone, but his trembling fingers couldn’t quite get a grip of it. “Before someone fucking sees.”

King struggled to maintain his balance after the second shift, and when the world finally settled around him he collapsed onto his knees. King allowed his wild eyes to settle on the suffering form of Jay, and while he was still mad, the little voice was crying out for him to feel some sympathy. With a haggard sigh, King carefully pulled his phone from his back pocket (which was now cracked in several more places due to the tussle) , and typed in a quick message to Malcolm.

To: Mally<3

i need you and miss rebel out by the founder statue asap

He shifted slightly, settling down to sit stiffly besides the probably dying Jay. He sighed a few times, the rage finally seeming to subside, and he turned slightly to watch the side of the boy’s face, ”Mal and Presley are on their way, fuckhead.” King winced as he rubbed his shoulder gently, his face contorted in pain from both his own wounds and the current emotion that Jay was expelling, ”next time we fight, though, don’t go using that wormhole shit. It’s cheaty.”

“Fuck off,” Jay grumbled. “I’m sorry I hurt your fee-fees.”

To their credit, King’s cling-on was fast on the ball – or perhaps he and Scout had already been looking for them. Malcolm rounded the corner a mere six minutes later with Scout on his heels, and he spared only a single second on a piteous glance for Jay before rushing to King’s side to help him up, face pale. Jay held out his phone for Scout with limp fingers, “Call my dad for me, Scout. Asshole dad. I need a lift with no questions.” Scout, who was shaking very slightly from the sight of Jay, took the phone with hesitant hands and cocked her head to the side in disbelief. Her gaze switched over to King slightly, then back to Jay, and with a dawning sense of knowledge and the very faintest feeling of complete and utter worry she dialed in the number Jay requested. King watched her stand after a moment, perhaps attempting to stand out of earshot but her quaking knees kept her close to the suffering Jason. The other line must have picked up after the first few rings, and Scout said with sudden speed,

"Jay - Jason needs a ride home from school right now." The voice on the other end probably didn’t get a chance to say anything, for as soon as Scout felt she was finished she swiped the call away and handed the phone back to Jay. King tilted his head, questions swirling in his head, but the intense waves of worry coming from both Malcolm and Scout was enough to keep him quiet. He eventually let his head droop over to where Malcolm was standing, and a tired smile parted his lips.

”Maaaaaalcolm. I’m not feeling so good, think you can, uh, get me outta here?” He asked quietly, one hand clinging onto Mal’s shoulder in an effort to keep himself from falling to the ground again. Malcolm clenched his jaw and hauled King up with a supporting arm, taking most of his weight.

”My place or yours?” Mal asked with a slight smile. The worry spiralling off him was replaced by a fierce pride, bright and loud. ”In fact, make that mine. I have a first aid kit. Hold on tight.” And the four, finding their own solace within their friends, split up. Jay went off with his father, while Scout reluctantly returned to classes, and King and Mal wandered slowly off towards King’s car.

Location: School
Time: 2nd/3rd Period
Interacting with-> Nina via text @kittyluna45

RINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRINGRING

There was the One Minute Bell. Also known as "Period break is almost over, get to class now." Everybody still in the hallways of the school started to turn their heels and make for the door of their next class, lest they be counted late late. Students were suddenly in a rush, teachers were getting impatient, and Petyr Jelen was worried sick. He and Nina had almost identical schedules, fittingly enough, save for their 1st period class; where Nina had Home Economics, Petyr had Band. After 1st hour, however, they always met at the same spot to go about the rest of their day. But Nina hadn't shown up. It wasn't unusual for her to be running behind because Home Ec ran long, but to not be there at all was nearly unheard of. As his risk of being late grew, Petyr spun and took off for 2nd Period. As he marched, dozens of scenarios and explanations ran through his head, each one worse than what preceded it.

What if something had happened to Nina? Surely she would've tried to reach him on his phone... but what if she couldn't contact him? What if she needed help, and he wasn't able to because he had no idea where she was or what happened to her? The very idea gnawed at his sanity, and the fear was only cemented when he rounded the corner into the classroom and saw what he suspected- an empty chair where Nina should have been sitting if she had skipped their meeting and gone ahead of him. As the bell sounded and the class settled, he pulled out his phone and as subtly as he could and typed out a text message.

N- Where are you? Is everything alright? Text me when you get this ~P

No sooner did he send it, however, then a response came. Error, Message not sent. Retry?

Before he could, however, the teacher had started class and he had to turn his attention toward note taking. Some time into the lesson, however, his phone vibrated softly. He pulled it out slowly and steadily, saw it was from his sister, and opened the message.

"P- I am fine. Just not in classes b/c helping Everett out at the lodge. Will explain later. Pls don't be too mad. <3 N."

Great. Everett Wilcox was involved in it. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a part of Petyr saw that as worse than her being hurt somehow. It wasn't that Petyr disliked Everett, having no particular reason to. But Everett made little to no attempt to hide his roots from down in the south, and, well... Tennessee and Washington were very different places. Some things that would be fairly acceptable in Nashville or Memphis were a far cry from anything you wanted to be caught doing in Verona. Not to mention Nina's brain practically rewired itself where he was concerned. She hid it from her brother as best she could, but there were some tells that were picked up after 17 years of living together. She fancied him, he knew it, and it was cause enough for him to be tense about it. Still, she wasn't hurt, so that was a good thing. He decided to let the matter stew for the rest of class and took to his notes again.

After 2nd period let out, his phone flew into his hand as he punched out a reply.

N- Will you be getting back to school before EoD, or should I wait for you at the shop before our shift? ~P

Either way, the siblings were in for a talk when they saw each other next...

---

---

"If you haven't noticed, I waved to everyone Gerard. Perhaps you would've seen it if you weren't busy mourning the loss of your bread." Alice replied after his comment, of course Gerard was amused and smirked. Not many notices the subtle sarcasm and teasing when he does so.
"Right, it's delicious and luscious curves will be missed." he replied, though he really did want to finish that bread.

The meeting itself was very... interesting. Many piped up of their powers. Course he was skeptic, but with what was happening to him, it was all possible. All their powers were pretty strong. "Looks like this boring town of Verona is finally getting a bit more interesting." he muttered to himself, hands in his pocket. The rest of the meeting was normal- well normal in a sense that this is how they would act against each other. Naturally the quartet was anything but getting along.

"Tess is fine." Tessa pipped up, annoyance slightly lacing her words,
"And I'm here aren't I, that's not something a recluse would do."
"A joke, a joke." he replied, holding out his hands infront of him, in mock defense.

The most striking thing was Jade, he expected her to show up since Alicia did mention so. What he didn't expect was her complete and total breakdown, Gerard was slightly taken aback. The way she generalized how everyone hated her, even though, personally, Gerard was so-and-so with her. He honestly thought she was promiscuous but not much else, since it's her life, he didn't care much what she did, as Gerard was all for free choice and all that fancy jazz.
"You know, if it wasn't for your own preconceived notion of your martyr's complex then you would get along fine, well atleast with me." he muttered out loud, matching the serious tone that permeated the room. She had already turned around so she probably didn't hear, Gerard just shrugged, while he tried and helped people, he didn't want to help people who couldn't help themselves.
"King probably doesn't enjoy me all that much, Gerard we don't talk much. But we just need to all get along." Alicia said in an attempt to comfort her, Gerard perked up and his usual smirk slid across his face,
"You're gonna make me cry Alicia." he half-heartedly said, covering his mouth to yawn.

The meeting was unofficially adjourned, well, atleast people began to leave. "Lunch lasted a long time, didn't it? he asked himself in confusion. He then just shrugged it off. Before he got to leave, the quartet got into another feud, Jay and King face to face in anger, punches where then thrown in anger. Gerard promptly got up and tried to stop their petty little grievanced fight, but they both of them teleported, leaving Gerard, Malcolm and Scout in a stupor.
"So he really could teleport, interesting."

They just stood there, then soon later Malcolm got a text and he soon sprinted out with Scout somewhere,
"Guess they don't need my invaluable assistance." he said outloud to nobody in particular. "Alright then."
He slung his rucksack on his bag, and cracked his stationary bones. Gerard had decided to spend the rest of his time, alone (Poor noodle) and with a shrug he walked lazily to the Martial Arts club. He wasn't in it, by any means, since he was already part of the Astronomy club, but he was a regular at the place.

At his own pace, he reached at the door and slid it open. Oddly enough, they had a sliding door to fit the theme of Japanese roots of what they were learning.
"Hey 'senpai's', can I spar with someone?" he called out inside, a silent shriek(s?) resounded somewhere inside the room.
"Is that Gerard?" "No no no." "Remember the last time?" were all the rather anxious reply that came from the room. "G- Gerard no, no one here at the moment can match you."
"But I just wanna stretch myself, i was sitting still for a while earlier." he replied with half-lidded eyes.
"Who is this guy?" said one of the newer, more cockier member "He looks so weak, betcha I can drop him in three seconds flat."
"Don't underes-" another voice chimed in before being cut off, "No, I'll spar with this weakling."

A smile skidded across Gerard's face, "Go easy on me, 'sen- pai'" he replied, purposely enunciating the word senpai. Even though Gerard knew that this wasn't Japan, he may as well match the theme of the place and called them senpai. He stepped in the room, and didn't even bother changing to his sparring garb. The different sea of anxious and 'regret' faces were all eyeing him. The new member had not known of Gerard and Gerard was fine with that. He walked to the center of the mat, and the newest member had this air of unbroken confidence and arrogance that surrounded him.

"Come on." he said, grinning the whole while, also taunting his opponent with hand gestures to move towards him.

---

The newest member lay on the floor, being unconscious and having opened, whitened eyes. Gerard relaxed his stance and he breathe in a chunk of fresh air. He had received a few attacks from this new member, but none too damaging.
"There we go again." "R.I.P." "What an idiot." the voices said after watching the almost one sided duel.
Gerard got next to the downed student, waving his hand infront of his face, the other members slowly gathering behind him looking on in wonder and curiosity.
Gerard clapped his hands "Comeon, you got knocked out that bad?" he said,
The beaten guy, got up and asked "W-What was that?" he asked, his voice shaking, "I couldn't block your attacks or could I go attack myself?!"
Gerard shrugged, he had been practicing martial arts for a while now, "Practice more, I mean, you got potential I guess, for a doof like yourself." he said, fixing his disorganized clothes. The limited maneuverability proved to be a disadvantge, but Gerard generally liked a challenge.

"Surprised you didn't hear of Gerard." "Your own fault." "Why would you underestimate him?" "Heard only a few people could match him like some bloke named Everett or that psycho Noah." the voices all in awe and fear said while Gerard began skulking out of the room, disinterested with these rumors. Lunch was about to be over so he decided to sate his hunger. He went over to the cafeteria and bought another Cheese bun with his money and began eating slowly and savoring the flavor whilst walking to his next class.

Yo Everett, what's been going on? Weird stuff in the school, it's finally getting interesting. Lemme confirm though, where and when is this 'party' of yours?

Ps: Itching for a good spar, none of satisfied thus yet.

-- Gerard's text to Everett.

"I wonder what's next?" he asked his lonesome, slowly stuffing his face with his new cheese bun whilst on the lookout for the Cheese bun killer.

---

---

Not even a minute went by since Grant sent that text to Olivia and the wait for a response back felt like hours. When one ate alone without anyone to interact with, time always seemed to move a lot slower than it actually did. The fact of not knowing when a response would come to your phone was torture enough, but added to that, eagerly waiting for it was even harder. Who knew when it would come? One minute from now? Ten minutes? The wait could be almost a full hour. In truth, no one could really say what the time frame of getting a much-expected response was.

Several minutes went by and the cafeteria began to diminish in numbers. The then loud crowd of people who were filling the walls of the caf with gossip and laughter soon became dull and silent, almost eerie. Grant and a few others were the only ones who were left(well, aside from the staff, that is). Some of the students left over were still kind of talking amongst themselves.

As Grant happened to look up, he saw someone come in. It was a female. Long blonde hair and black all over, but white skin. She had a plastic cup in her hand. Grant saw her and it reminded him of someone he used to know. Inspecting her more, the female seemed to have noticed him. As if it were his second nature, Grant quickly lowered his head down to his phone, trying to avoid eye contact with her, or at the very least, hoping she wouldn’t notice him looking at her observantly. However, it was too late. She walking over to his table. Before he could do anything about it, like try to move or anything she had taken a seat.

“Hey, don’t I know you?” She asked Grant, taking off her sunglasses revealing a heavy amount of eye-shadow and mascara that seemed to be ran down her face.

Grant said nothing, but only looked at her face. He didn’t know what happened to her, but he knew that level of running eyeshadow from seeing his own mother have a similar setup after arguing with his father. This woman, who was looking at him with a curious look, had been crying. Not only that, but based on how much her eyeshadow seemed to be down her face, it was obvious to Grant that a lot of crying was done.

“What? You got a hearing problem or something?” she said, looking at Grant weird, “whatever, guess I’m out then,” she said proceeding to get up.

“Wait!” Grant said all-of-a-suddenly.

The girl stopped and looked at Grant. “Yes?” She inquired curiously.

“I-uh, I mean..” Grant paused nervously, [color884dff]“are you alright?” He asked her, finally getting out his words.

The woman looked at him. “What makes you think that I’m not? Do I not look alright to you?” She asked, standing up, giving Grant a clear look at her body.

Grant got all red around his cheeks.

The woman laughed and sat back down. “You’re too cute.” She commented, but then she sighed. “Why don’t you answer my question first?” She told him.

“Oh,” Grant said, pausing as he thought. The girl did look familiar, but he wasn’t sure if she would know him. Like, who would pay attention to Grant Wells? Aside from a choice few(such as his cousin Tess and his best friend, Olivia), he was pretty forgettable to most people. “I don’t think so.” Grant said, looking at the girl slightly.

“No, I’m sure I do,” she said, tapping her fingers on the table, trying to remember where she saw him from. “Oh, that’s right! You’re Tessa’s cousin, Grant something.”

“Wells.”

“What’s that? Some odd bread name or something?”

“No. That’s my name. Grant Wells.”

The girl laughed. “Oh right.” She said, continuing to laugh a bit.

“And, um..”

“What?”

“What’s your name?”

She looked at him, saying nothing with the straightest face of all time. “Jade Taylor, you might have heard of me, right?” She asked, cocking a smirk.

The name Jade Taylor was a name that everyone spoke of around Verona. The town slut, they called her, but Grant remembered his parents talking about her a few times, mainly because she apparently tried to get with Thomas a few times. He heard from his parents and siblings that she was a slut and no one in the Wells family was to have anything to do with her. However, a few times, Grant would ask his cousin Tess about her and she told him a different story. Granted, she didn’t know much, but of what Grant remembered being said about Jade, he recalled that her life hasn’t been easy. Growing up without any parents for the majority of her life. The only parent she had was her Uncle Charlie, whom in which was one of Verona’s top criminals(or so people say).

To her question, Grant simply nodded timidly.

“Right, so why are you sitting here alone?” Jade asked him.

“People don’t usually see me.” Grant told her.

“Well, that’s stupid. You should get to know people more. Trust me, it’s better to at least try then not do anything at all, trust me.” Jade said, looking around the caf.

Grant listened to her words, but he didn’t really believe them. “but what if--”

“No what ifs. You won’t get anywhere in this town if you don’t speak up. Besides, you’re pretty hot — well, if anyone’s into that whole nerdy white boy thing, so you definitely can get the heart of some chick out there.” Jade, surprisingly, actually being helpful for once.

“Y-you really think so?” Grant asked, straightening his back. It seemed he was interested in her words at the moment.

“What do you mean ‘do you really think so’? Of course I do, dumbass.” Jade said honestly, “look in a mirror and you’ll see. Unless you got some crazy self-esteem issues.” Jade said, again, brutally honest.

“That’s not true, I just-I mean, that is to say..” Grant found himself tied for words.

“What? Tell me what it is about you that you don’t seem to value? Or is it that you just don’t want to have friends?” Jade teased him.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know!” Grant said louder than usual.

As his voice increased in its volume, he smashed his hands on the table and suddenly, something happened. Though slightly, there seemed to be some kind of pull on a plastic cup that Jade had in her hand. She felt it, but slightly. It brought her back to Alicia and when that coke can was pulled — or was it pushed? Jade doesn’t really remember. Either way, when Jade felt that slight pull on the cup in her hand, she looked at Grant.

“Whoa dude, did you see that?” Jade asked him.

“See what?” He asked her, blinking at her blankly.

“My cup dumbass. It was shaking, wanting to go to you.” She told him.

Grant blankly blinked a few more times. “What are you talking about?” He asked her.

“You really didn’t see that.” she said, “listen, you must be like me too.”

“Like you?”

“Something happened to you as well as me — and a few others.” And Jade recalled that she split out of the group due to not wanting to be with those fucktards, but Grant here wasn’t like them. Jade kind of likes him. Not in the way that she wants to fuck his brains out, but he’s someone that she doesn’t mind being around, even if like some kind of friend or whatever.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What do you mean like you? And what others?” Grant asked.

“Grant, when you got angry..or loud, this cup in my hand was acting as if it was being pulled to you,” Jade told him, “listen, I have this friend. She did something similar. Maybe she could--” and then Jade remembered how she completely flew off the handle on Alicia, “fuck!”

“..are you alright?” Grant asked her, raising a curious and nervous eyebrow.

“I just realized that I was a total bitch and I need to apologize to someone.” She admitted to Grant. She was right, though. She acted like a total c-u-n-t to Alicia. Fuck the rest of them(other than Scout, , but Alicia was probably her only best friend in the whole stinking town. She needed to make it right.

Grant didn’t say anything because he didn’t know what to say.

“Okay, listen. I’m going to do some shit, but let me give you my number. I want you to meet this friend of mine when I handle a few things. She’ll be able to clarify things for you. That sound good to you?” Jade told him, asking Grant.

Grant just looked at her and nodded. He gave her his phone and she put in her number, and Grant did the same to her phone.

“Alright, so just wait for my call.” Jade said getting up. As she was going to walk away, she stopped, “oh and tell Thomas I said hello.” She winked at Grant.

Grant shook his head and looked at his phone and saw a text from Olivia came back about ten minutes ago. He smiled instantly, but his eye caught Jade leaving the caf. He shook his head and started to respond to Liv’s text.

To: Olivia
We can walk home together, if you want to, that is. I’ll meet you outside the front steps.

---

---

The school day had finally ended. It had been an odd day in school indeed, perhaps… no. Definitely the most peculiar one in the history of all mankind, possibly. Not only was there a strange eclipse the night before, Alice had encountered floating and teleporting people, and a meeting in which she discovered that most of the people she knew had some sort of superpower! All except her, Malcolm, Ash, and Scout if she remembered properly. Which was a little discouraging, but everything was fine!

Moon had mentioned that she wanted Alice’s help in doing various experiments, rituals, sacrifices, or some sort of offering about those powers? Alice didn’t know. She wasn’t really paying attention when Moon had told her. But she did know one thing--She would be going over to Moon’s house in a bit. At the current moment, Alice was heading home to her own place to drop off her backpack and other school-related supplies before hanging out in her best friend’s garden.

Absentmindedly, she glanced down at her phone to check the time. She had to check it about 4 times before she finally registered the time. It was fairly obvious that Alice’s mind wasn’t quite there with her. She was lost in thought about the strange events that had occurred. Perhaps that’s why Alice didn’t notice that she had stepped out into the street, right into the path of an oncoming truck. Most seemed unaware of Alice’s fatal step, and only the bright, observant eyes of Scout were truly able to react fast enough to the upcoming tragedy. From her perch on school’s founder’s statue she saw the whole ordeal begin to play out, and instantly she was on her feet and sprinting towards the utterly unaware Alice Malone.

Any past troubles the two girls had shared were quickly thrown away to be replaced by a single word, ‘protect’. Scout rushed towards the street where Alice was crossing, throwing her right arm forward as she cried out, “Lissy!” in an attempt to grab the girl’s attention. This indeed, did catch “Lissy’s” attention. It was a nickname that Alice hadn’t heard in years, courtesy of a once very close friend. Alice let out a gasp as she realized how close she was to impending death. Of course, however, the truck was much too close for Alice to simply step out of the way, and Scout allowed her gaze to cross among the driver’s seat briefly. She noticed instantly that he was distracted by the obnoxiously loud music within, and Scout, finding that she was out of ideas, merely continued her quick stride until she felt her hand connect with Alice’s back.

“Watch ou-” Her words were cut off as panicked air claimed her throat. The truck was upon them, filling Scout’s peripheral, and she turned slightly, holding an outstretched hand up to where the danger was approaching. Scout wondered briefly what it would feel like to have her life flash before her eyes, but a sudden burst of pale blue distracted her thought process. Alice, on the other hand was in a state of shock and confusion. Not only was it shocking to notice that she was about to be run over, her former best friend--someone she’s barely talked to over the past few years--was at her side. Energy burned at Scout’s finger tips and a sharp pain formed behind her eyes, feeling akin to an overly intense migraine. Someone screamed, Scout wasn’t entirely sure who, and as her body finally hit the hard asphalt she awaited the impact of the truck’s bumper.

But it never came. There was a long, unyielding beeping and crashing sound, close and burning, but no pain bloomed from the impact of the truck. Scout dug her knees into the asphalt and squeezed her eyes shut, as if still preparing to be hit by the car, but a few moments passed and the two girls in the road were still in tact. “Lis- Alice…A-Are you okay?” Scout whispered quietly, sucking in quick and unsteady breaths as she turned to examine what had happened. Much to her surprise the truck was still in front of them, but a thick, cracked wall of blue light had stopped it in its tracks. The bumper of the truck was smashed, and the man in the driver’s seat was holding his head in his hands, and as Scout tried to take in the scene she found her mind couldn’t completely comprehend what had occurred. Confused and breathless, she turned her gaze to Alice and tilted her head, hoping the other girl would have answers for her.

Alice was stunned into silence for a few moments, gazing at the blue wall. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and organize what just happened. 1. Alice had nearly been run over by a truck. 2. Scout had sprinted over to come save her. 3. The truck made impact--not with them, but a blue wall that was definitely not there before. Alice moved towards the wall and hesitantly put her hand against it, testing if it’s real. “Scout… I think you just saved us. I don’t know what this is, but a lot of weird things have been happening. And I don’t think that I’m the one who caused…. Whatever this is.” Even though she was stuck in this incredulous state, Alice broke into a relieved smile before throwing her arms around her childhood friend. “Thank you.” She murmured, before she realized the awkwardness of this hug.

“Uh, uh, ah, I did that?” Scout blushed faintly as Alice pulled her into a hug, though he mind was still racing with questions about the wall in front of them. Glancing at it once more, Scout allowed her mouth to gap open as she saw the field vanish into nothingness, leaving only a few inches of air between the awkwardly embracing girls and the mashed bumper of the truck. She sat extremely still as the hug seemed to last much longer than either had intended, and eventually she untangled herself from Alice’s arms and struggled to stand. A crowd, curious about the current situation, had begun to form across the street, and Scout didn’t feel the safest while surrounded by strangers. Panic from today’s wild events finally congealed and filled her chest, and Scout sucked in one, deep breath before lowering a hand down to help Alice up.

“Let’s run.” Scout said tightly.

Alice allowed her to be pulled to her feet as she gave a nervous glance at the growing crowd. She gave an affirmative nod before the two girls took off, running as fast as they could away from the mangled truck and the onlookers. They sprinted through lawns and leapt over fallen branches, the very same way they used to do together so many years ago. Once they felt that they were safely away from the would-be accident scene, they paused. It was an unassuming little park that many of their friends would remember playing in. Alice at this point was breathing more heavily than usual, not used to running that fast.

“Okay Scout,” She said between gulps of air, “We need to figure out what exactly happened back there.” It obviously wasn’t a coincidence that the two were miraculously unhurt from an oncoming truck on the day that everyone started discovering powers like some kind of superhero movie. There could be only one explanation for this. “You said that you didn’t have any type of powers in the astronomy meeting. But, I think that you actually might!” Scout, while sucking in deep breaths to keep from panicking, settled down against an old oak tree trunk. Her eyes wandered across her hands, then connected with Alice’s face, burning with disbelief, confusion, and just a bit of amusement.

“Powers, yeah. I guess they really didn’t have any reason for them to show up until… That.” Scout motioned towards the direction of the school with a shaky hand. She pulled another hand through her wild hair, making a half-assed attempt at taming the mane before continuing on, “seems like I can, uh, make walls? Energy walls. Would that be right?” She glanced down at her fingertips again, noting that they were still warm from the initial burn she had felt before. Still not entirely convinced, she lifted the heated hand out in front of her and stared. She half expected the wall to reappear instantly, but much to her distress she found nothing appeared. Frustrated she shut her eyes tightly and huffed. Her fingers clenched briefly, and the same pain she had felt behind her eyes burned, but again her eyes opened and settled on nothing but empty air before her. Instantly, a pout settled on her lips, and she glanced helplessly up at Alice,

“I can’t do it again.” She muttered dejectedly.

Alice had observed Scout’s failed attempt to produce an “energy wall” as she had called them. Like Scout just mentioned, perhaps she needed a reason for her to make them appear? Alice got a very devious grin on her face. If Scout needed a reason, Alice was more than willing to supply it. She leaned down and plucked a pinecone from the ground before quickly hurling it at Scout. “Heads up!” She giggled, before crouching down to gather more pinecones and small rocks in her hands. She tossed them all at Scout, making sure to not hit her, just around the general area. Of course, there was a chance that Scout would get hit--Alice didn’t have amazing aim, after all--and snowballs would’ve been more ideal. But it was in the middle of September, so Alice could only hope that either her aim was so bad they all missed Scout, or there would be a magical wall in place. As the pinecones arched gracefully away from Alice and towards Scout she froze. Her eyes assessed the projectiles, and while many of the pebbles would simple scatter at her feet a select few would gladly land on her head and lap. Slightly perturbed by the the thought, Scout rose a hand to try and stop any from hitting her face, but as she did her palm flared with heat and a hand-sized line of blue energy formed above her head. The pebbles and pinecones toppled onto the surface and slide down onto the earth beside her, and an excited Scout glanced up at Alice as if looking for praise.

“See? You did it! Sylvia ‘Scout’ Presley, you’re officially a superhuman.” Alice clapped her hands with a laugh. The way Scout was looking up at her was just so adorable. Scout was looking up at Alice with her wide blue eyes with anticipation and excitement shining within them. Even though they hadn’t really talked or interacted much in years, it was the most natural thing for Alice to pat Scout’s head lightly. It was strange, yet familiar. There was no awkward tension between them now like there had been for a while.

Redirecting her attention to the issue at hand, Alice considered what Scout’s abilities meant. It looked like it was a shield of some sort, and it was sturdy enough to smash a truck. Alice shook her head slowly in disbelief. “This is too weird. What in the world is happening to all of you guys?”

“My guess is as good as yours, Li- Malone.” Scout leaned her back against the oak trunk, her head poised against rough bark as the awful migraine the force field created slowly began to fade. She pointed up at the sky that gleamed beneath the branches, briefly seeing the eclipse in her mind’s eye, “Jay may be right about the eclipse causing it, but there’s… Not enough evidence, I suppose.” She glanced up at Alice slightly, blue eyes gleaming curiously as many questions passed through her mind.

At this point, Alice didn’t even care about the answer to her question. Her lips curved into a smirk as she appraised Scout. “Oh, so now it’s Malone? If I’m not mistaken, you called me Lissy.” Even though it was something that couldn’t be proven, Alice was sure that it happened. She remembered the jolt and the sudden rush of nostalgia when Scout had shouted her former nickname. She placed her hands on her hips and took a couple of steps forward to peer into Scout’s face. And to make sure she couldn’t escape as well, she supposed. “Make up your mind Silvia. What’s it going to be? Sounds like you want to call me Lissy!” Alice said in a lilting, teasing tone. Scout let her eyebrows lower, blue eyes clouding slightly at her real name being mentioned, but as soon as the troubled look came it went and was replaced by a faintly pink expression. She fiddled with her sweatshirt strings slightly, somewhat embarrassed by Alice’s accusation, and then with a tiny, nostalgic smile she sighed ,

“I thought it would be weird to call you Lissy, you know.” She pulled at the pull-strings, tightening and loosening the hood that sat daintily on her small shoulders, “but, if you’re okay with it then… I’ll call you Lissy again.” Her lips parted into a slightly uncharacteristic grin, and after a moment of quietly smiling she stood and stretched. Her eyes traced the sky again, and then eventually landed on the delicate frame of Alice once more. “I’m sure you’ve got somewhere to be, then. Shall we part ways here, Lissy?” Scout asked, half-distracted as her hand dug into her sweatshirt pocket.

“It’s a little weird, but… We could make it not weird.” Alice said with a bright smile. “Before I go… Friends?”

“Friends.” Scout responded, smiling equally as bright, feeling almost rejuvenated by the calming presence Alice seemed to emit.

“It’s a promise!” Alice cried, before turning around to go meet another one of her friends. It was a peculiar day indeed, but it was turning out to be a good one. Scout watched her run off, feeling as if she could take on the world, and with a soft, happy sigh she turned her gaze down to her phone screen. Jay’s number gleamed on the worn screen, and she taped out a quick message before she started her trek towards The Gallery.

To: Jaaaaay

discovered something while saving alice malone's life today. hope youre okay, did ur dad do anything to you?

Locations: Simon's Cafe
Interacting with: Each other and Petyr via Text @Saltwater Thief

---

---

Once Nina arrived at the cafe, she felt her phone buzzing and saw a text from Petyr. "Weird...must have been out of range... uh oh."

"P- I don't have work today, but I will be at the cafe. Meeting up with Ash for a bit. Need to talk to him. We will talk later, ok? -<3 N She hit the send button and bit her lip. It was the twin thing, and she could tell that Petyr was not that happy with her at the moment. Of course, she didn't normally cut school to do things with people, so she couldn't blame him.

She chose to sit in one of the armchairs in the corner of Simon's and let out a sigh. She felt tired, from all the cleaning she had been doing earlier. It had been hard work. However, she still felt that the new dress and fixing and cleaning her jacket had been a little over the top. Not that she didn't appreciate it. She relaxed into the chair, waiting for Ash to show up.

A few minutes later, Ashton showed up, his hair was still a little wet from swimming practice. It appeared that he came here straight from school, he was still sporting his backpack. Spotting Nina in the armchair, he made his way over with a grin and a wave. "Hey Nina! Didn't see you at all during school. What's up?" He seated himself in the armchair facing Nina's and leaned on the armrest. "You look tired. You okay?"

"There is a reason you didn't see me. I kinda cut to help out Everett Wilcox at his lodge. Figured he could use a friend given what tomorrow is." Nina looked over and got up and hugged Ash before he sat down. "I can always tell when you have practice, because you smell like chlorine." She giggled a bit and sat back down and handed him a cup of hot cocoa. "So, did I miss anything crazy at school today? I bet there was something about that eclipse last night, huh?"

His expression clouded a bit. "Yeah... The memorial." He said softly. He quickly gave her a reassuring smiel before filling her in on everything that's happened. "So yeah. It's really crazy, but apparently the eclipse gave everyone freaky powers. Apparently Moon can fly, Jade can create earthquakes, Kata can manipulate water, Jay can teleport... And that's not even half of that. It's insane."

Nina's eyes widened. "Do prdele. So... it wasn't... Uh... funny story Ash. Its not just them. But what about you? You saw it right? Did you get anything?" Nina sipped her latte, and looked over at Ash.

Ash simply shrugged. "Nope, I've got nothing. Jay told me to experiment with it though because it might be more 'subtle', whatever that means." He then leaned forward as if something just occurred to him. "What do you mean, 'it's not just them'? Nina can you...?" He trailed off.

"I can't really show you here, but yeah. I can do interesting things as well..." She bit her lip in thought. She and Petyr had agreed to keep their gifts quiet for now. She would keep the fact that Petyr could as well quiet until he said otherwise. "And you... subtle? Hmmm I wonder what it could be."

Ashton raised an eyebrow. "I'll be looking forward to you showing me then, later." He then shrugged and settled back into the armchair. "I definitely haven't noticed anything. I mean... People seem to be discovering theirs in a really obvious way. Like Austin super speeded around, Livvie knocked Gerard's food over with wind... There's no guarantee that I've got anything. And I think that I'm the odd one out."

"I only figured it because I burned breakfast to bits because I got concerned and worried. Otherwise I wouldn't know I have something. So maybe you do, just haven't really triggered it yet? I don't know, this is new territory for everyone. Wait, Livvie got a power as well? Huh... What about Tess?" Nina leaned in a bit closer to Ash. She had other things she wanted to talk about, but it wasn't the time.

"Uh... Lemme think." Ash tilted his head in thought. Moments later, he snapped his fingers. "I think she said invisibility."

"Figures... seems that's all she's been wanting to do lately... I miss her. I need someone I can talk to about boy trouble... uh oh. Let me guess, you're going to ask about it huh?" Nina looked at Ash, blushing a bit. She couldn't keep her mouth shut it seemed.

Ash gave a smirk and pointed at her with a tongue click and a wink. "You said it, not me. And if I'm not mistaken... Isn't that the real reason why you wanted to hang out today?"

Nina blushed more. "Augh I'm just so confused right now! I wish it could be simple, but no, everything in my life apparently has to be so complex!" Nina sighed, and took a long sip of her latte.

Ashton chuckled sympathetically at his flustered friend. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But if you want someone to talk to, I'm here. Even though I'm not Tess. Or a girl, for that matter." He glanced outside the window for a second in thought before redirecting his gaze back at Nina. "A lot of the times, things aren't as complex as you think they are though. Human beings have a tendency to over complicate and over analyze."

Nina looked at Ash and paused, and then took another sip of her coffee. "Everett kissed me today, twice, but it seems he's also blocking me out a bit. I mean, I understand. He's going through a lot, but at the same time I want to be there for him. I don't know. It feels complex. Maybe I am overthinking it. Sorry for dumping this all on you."

Ashton blinked at Nina for a few moments. He didn't know what he was expecting, but it was certainly not that. "Wow, that is a bit complex, isn't it?" He murmured in surprise. "It's fine Nina. You know that I'm here for you. But you know what? No amount of speculating is going to figure anything out, unless you just want to freak yourself out a bit. Have you thought of maybe you know. Talking to him? I know it can be hard, but it might help." He leaned forward with a reassuring smile and patted her head. "You'll figure it out. I know you will."

Nina giggled a bit as Ash patted her head. "I think I will do that when I next get the chance. He's having some sort of party tomorrow at the lodge, I think everyone is invited, by the way." Nina took a sip of her coffee and smiled. "Thanks Ash. You really are a good friend. I needed that."

"Any time." Ash replied with a warm smile.

Everett sat in the barn. He had lost all track of time while cleaning the sadle that had transported the elk meat. He didn't know if he had been there for ten minutes or an hour. He just knew that he wasn't happy.

He didn't know how to feel about Nina. Yeah he liked her… A lot. But the idea of talking about his feelings or trusting someone was a bit more than he could handle. More than anything he wished his parents were there to talk to him. Just point him in a direction, something that would tell him what was the right thing to do. For all he had done and accomplished in his short life, this was gonna be one of the hardest.

When he was done Everett put the saddle away and went back to the house. Aunt Lou had just hung up the phone. “That was another college wantin to talk to you about play for them. Can't put them off boy.” she told him disappointment I her voice knowing he WA gonna brush this one off like he had all the others.

“Who was it this time?” He said distracted.

“Texas. Could be big for you. Really big.” She was trying to get some kinda reaction out of him.

“They're gonna be down for the next few years. Charlie Strong has kicked the best players off the time for whatever. Any calls from the SEC? “ He knew the answer before he asked. He was a top ten player in the state, but that didn't mean much as Washington wasn't exactly known for putting players in the pros.

“None you wanna go to. Ole Miss, Vandy, South Carolina, Kentucky and Missouri.” She knew he didn't wanna hear those names but he was gonna have to pick one before too long.

“Ole Miss could he fun. Don't keith that I'd ever win big there but it might be fun. Let me know if Tennessee or Alabama calls. Hell I'd consider the Pacific, if the right called. Stanford should be good this year” He said staring off into space.

“Maybe after the season. You know how it is back home.”

“Yeah, another season like last year and a state should get me some looks, I know I can't work but I don't know what they're gonna say about me owning this place. Hell I don't know that we can survive that long without the hunts.” Everett said rubbing his temple.

“We'll be good son, don't you worry.” Aunt Lou was trying to comfort him.

“Yeah… Yeah, Imma go see Momma and Daddy. You need anything while I'm out.” Everett said with a certain amount of heart arc and sadness in his voice.

“Don't get hurt. Imma need that NFL money.” She said with a laugh.

Everett just waved and got his riding gear on. On his bike he took off. Back to the graveyard his parents were buried in. He had made one stop on his way there. A gas station, full for his bike, a pack of smokes and a six pack of cokes. The kind made with real sugar. The kind his mother loved best.

Just as before he sat in his helmet. This time he lite a cigarette and opened three of the coke bottles. Placing on each gravestone. They had done this a lot, drinking cokes on a cool summer or fall day.

“So uh, how you guys doing… Yeah I know, I've seen you guys a lot lately. Once is an instance twice is a habit. Right Daddy?” Everett said before a drag.

“I know Momma, you hate when I smoke. You gotta work with me. This ain't easy. Grandma and Grandpa are still alive… You guys ain't… I ain't mad about it. Salty as Aunt Lou would say… She's doing good though, bout as ornery as ever. You'd think the old bag would have calmed down but she's still as mean as ever.” He tried to force a smile as if they were right in front of him. He took a drink from his bottle and chased with another drag.

“I wanna… I came to tell yall… I met a girl, Nina. Her Daddy's a lumberjack. They got much, Momma you if you saw her I'd brake your heart. Girl's clothes as ragged mine, but… She ain't got a choice on the matter… I wanna ask her out but ain't I gotta talk her Daddy or the like…. Man alive, I've staired down and killed just about every animal in the northwest but that girl just worries me something awful.” Everett took another after killing his cigarette and lighting another.

“...Ole Miss called the other day. I ain't called em back yet. I'm still holding out for Tennessee or Alabama. I'll worry about it at the end of the season… I know you'd be proud of me, just wish yall could be here to tell me.” He took his last drink and wiped a tear away from his. That last part hurt the most. Knowing wasn't the same as hearing it.

“I gotta run but I love you guys. I'll come back after while and let you know what happened with Nina. You guys would love her.” Everett kissed their gravestones and got on his bike. He noticed that he had a text message from Gerard. Rowdy as Everett like to call him. He wanted another ass kicking. Who Everett to deny that?

To: Rowdy.
I got drum of ass whuppin I can open up . All you got to do is say when.

Everett hint the send button and strapped his helmet on. He wasn't ready to go home. He just wanted to ride anywhere. Stopping to think about everything going on right now was more than he wanted to do.

As he pulled out of the graveyard, he pointed his bike north and hit the gas.

Alicia looked at Kat hearing her last comment, just as the movie started but didn't think to much of it at the time at some point during the movie Alicia popped some popcorn while they watched Beauty and the Beast. Two hours had past and looked down at her phone and just realized that it was well into the afternoon now and school was over by now and she had only about thirty minutes to get ready for her shift at work. "Hey Kat, I have to get ready for my shift hopefully i'll see you there at some point tonight?" Alicia asked and smiled at her friend quickly pulling her into a loving hug, she always enjoyed watching movies with Kat, only if she could have the courage to tell her how she felt and sighed slightly.

She quickly got up off of the couch and made her way towards the front door putting on her shoes and left her best friend's house, it wasn't that long of a walk from Kat's house to her house and made it there in about ten minutes. Quickly Alicia unlocked the door and tossed her house keys into the bowl of various other keys her family used and ran upstairs. On her dresser laid her work uniform a simple black collared tshirt and a dark green colored apron and a black pair of pants, Alicia quickly got changed and grabbed her apron and jacket when she received a text from her mom.

Alicia Marie, we have to talk about you skipping classes today when you get home from work. Mom

Alicia sighed slightly and rolled her eyes when she got the text, it was a pain to have your own mother as a teacher and knew when you weren't even in class. She decided to not answer it. Hanging out with Jade was worth it anyway even if she ended up bitching her out at the club meeting. Alicia quickly ran down the sidewalk. Looking at the clock it was about ten minutes before her shift actually started and ran as fast as she could. When she spotted Nina and Ashton sitting by the window at the café and quickly walked in breathing heavily. She looked over at them and quickly gave Nina a hug and smiled at Ashton. "What's up you guys?" Alicia asked looking at her phone she had just about five minutes to catch her breath and talk with her two friends.