Not Long Before the End of Blackmore's Power Training Class.Beth Carson and Lucy Parker
A collab between @TaliPaendrag and @Prince of Seraphs
While Beth was waiting for her turn at the next obstacle, the Slide of Life, the girl with brown hair from the banquet the night before approached her, offering her assistance.
"I'm not sure if I'll need it for this obstacle," Beth said, looking at the obstacle to verify her statement.
"But if the offer still stands, I see several obstacles ahead that I definitely won't be able to do without help." Gratitude and relief overwhelmed the indignation that Beth usually felt whenever someone offered her assistance like she was a child, though it helped that this obstacle course wasn't some simple, mundane task.
Eventually, it was her turn to climb the ladder up to the platform and prepare herself to go down the rope. Unfortunately, she had severely underestimated the height of the rope from the platform, meaning that she wasn't going to be able to safely reach it without some assistance, preferably in the form of a boost up.
"Uhm, it looks like I'll need a bit of help after all," Beth said sheepishly, feeling like a complete idiot.
"I can't reach the rope on my own."Lucy genuinely hadn't expected the girl to accept her offer of help. It didn't really have anything to do with the girl herself more to do with Lucy. At her old school her mother being institutionalized and the fact that it was genetic through the girls in Lucy's family was common knowledge. Because of this Lucy became the subject of a lot of bad jokes and a general social leper, along with anyone that was willing to hang out with her. Lucy smiled a little at the anonymity and freedom that being at this new and much larger school seemed to have brought her.
"No problem," Lucy responded to the girl's inquiry as to whether her offer of assistance extended to the rest of the course. This whole thing was a little much for the first day of training even for someone like Lucy who was more than used to it.
"If you need help just ask. I'm Lucy by the way."When they got to the top of ladder of the 'Slide for Life' it turned out that the girl did in fact need assistance. The course was designed for someone of average height, that being said the rope they were supposed to climb across was about a foot and a half out of the girl's reach. As the girl asked for help, Lucy was overwhelmed with her thoughts of sheepishness that generally accompanied feelings of inadequacy for being unable to do something that others took for granted. In the rush of emotion Lucy also received a name, Beth. It was pretty and suited the girl quite well.
"Don't worry it's nothing to feel stupid about. Now let's see about getting you through this course." What could Lucy say, she was a sucker for kids. She'd always wanted a younger brother or sister.
"I'm going to give you a boost alright?" Lucy said making sure Beth knew Lucy was going to pick her up before she did. Lucy wrapped her arms around Beth's legs and hoisted her within reach of the rope.
"My name is Elizabeth Carson, though I prefer to go by Beth. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier," Beth said, offering a small smile to the larger girl and feeling quite glad that Lucy didn't think too poorly of her for her mistake. When she warned Beth that she was going to be giving her a boost, Beth nodded, quickly forcing as much charge as possible into her bracelet to prevent Lucy from getting shocked when she grabbed her. Once Lucy had lifted her up high enough to grab onto the rope, which honestly shouldn't have been a hard task considering how light she was, Beth grabbed onto the rope and began sliding down to the end, taking care to avoid irritating her hands too much.
Once she reached the bottom, Beth waited for Lucy to catch up, taking the time to stretch out her legs and hands to remove the aching soreness from the obstacle. Beth figured that it wouldn't take Lucy long at all, as she seemed to be quite fit and physically capable. It was a good thing that she was waiting for the larger girl too, as the next obstacle appeared tame enough towards the bottom, but would be virtually impossible at the top, where the gap between the rungs became just about as tall as her. The only real obstacles where she wouldn't need help were the ones that involved crawling, as she was short enough that she didn't even need to drop to her belly, or basic balance.
When Beth introduced herself Lucy felt slightly guilty for having already obtained the information without the girl's consent. The words 'I know' rose to Lucy's lips but she quashed them down quickly. Her friends back in high school had been nervous about her ability and they'd been friends for ages before hand. How would a complete stranger react to the knowledge that Lucy could invade there minds and what was worse was that she couldn't promise she wouldn't do it to them because she was unable to control it herself. Lucy decided she wouldn't lie about her ability even though that was her first impulse, what people don't know can't hurt them. If no one asked then Lucy wouldn't volunteer the information but if Beth or anyone else asked about her ability then she'd come clean.
Lucy watched Beth shimmy down the rope on the next obstacle with satisfaction that she'd helped make it happen. Of course Beth no doubt would have found another way up to the rope had Lucy not been there but it was nice to know she could help people if only just a little. When Beth reached the bottom of the rope Lucy clamped her headphones back on and turned on a wild song before she gripped the rope with both hands and swung her legs up, wrapping them both around the rope. This required concentration and Lucy didn't need to be bothered by stray thoughts flying in her direction.
Lucy moved quickly down the rope. It was not a difficult exercise by any definition. Lucy had done similar antics on the monkey bars at her elementary school. Perhaps Lucy moved a little too quickly over confident in her own ability for when she reached the ground her hands were red and burning, like she'd clapped too hard at the end of a school play. She'd gotten light friction burns from doing the course too quickly.
The rest of the obstacles were each on there own relatively simple, balance on this, weave through those, climb that. It all began to stack up. Lucy helped Beth through any of the areas were height became a problem though in a handful of the obstacles appeared actually easier for Beth because of her lack of mass. By the last piece of the course Lucy's muscles were burning and her hair was sticking to her face and scalp from sweat. She stumbled on the last log of the Island Hopper nearly falling off before she successfully landed next to Beth who Lucy had insisted do the course ahead of her. That way if anything went wrong Lucy was right behind her to lend assistance.
Despite her fatigue Lucy smiled.
"Course complete." She said with a triumphant grin on her face. Lucy raised her hand for a high five before she remembered Beth's relative height compared to hers. Lucy lowered her hand accordingly so Beth could slap it.
Upon seeing the last obstacle, Beth knew that she was going to need Lucy's assistance, which made her feel a little guilty, as the other girl was surely as exhausted as she was. Still, there was no getting around the fact that jumping from stump to stump would prove more than a little difficult for her due to the fact that her legs weren't really built for jumping distances that were large relative to her body size. Fortunately, the stumps weren't too tall for her to climb up on, even with her shaky legs. As such, it was mostly a matter of picking the path that would result in the smallest distance between stumps. Eventually though, she reached the last stump in the obstacle and climbed down to the ground, taking a few steps towards the door to be out of the way while she waited for Lucy.
By the time the two of them had completed the obstacle course, Beth's legs were barely able to hold her up, and she couldn't really lift her arms more than a couple of inches. In fact, if it hadn't been for Lucy's help, she wouldn't have finished, and not just because some of the obstacles were impossible for her physically. She had almost fallen numerous times due to sheer exhaustion, only for Lucy to stretch out a hand and stabilize her until she was able to continue. It was hard to find words to describe the gratitude Beth felt towards Lucy for her help, especially because she feared what Mr. Blackmore, who appeared strict and serious even in the best of times, would have reacted.
Despite Beth's exhaustion, Lucy's smile was contagious, and Beth found herself smiling slightly as well. It had been a challenge, and she had completed it, even if it required help from another person. She deserved to feel good about it. The fact that Lucy seemed to forget about her height when offering a high five didn't even annoy her like it usually would, though that was partially because it was perfectly understandable considering how exhausting they both were. When the larger girl realized her mistake and lowered her hand, Beth slapped it to complete the gesture, the small smile on her face growing larger.
Celebratory high five concluded, the two of them made their way into the room where the other students who had completed the obstacle course, or failed as the case may have been, had gone. The room was still pitch-black when they entered, though Mr. Blackmore followed fairly soon and activated the lights to reveal the interior. Fortunately, the next exercise, demonstrating abilities, was purely optional from how Mr. Blackmore phrased it, which meant that Beth could take a break by collapsing against the wall next to the door while others, who had completed the course with considerably less effort, went forward to demonstrate their abilities.
As awful at small talk as she was, Beth couldn't think of anything to talk about with Lucy that would help pass the time until class was over. Surprisingly, she actually did want to talk with Lucy, as she felt that she had befriended the larger girl, even if it was more or less by accident. Hopefully, Lucy felt the same way and could propose a topic for conversation.
Lucy was glad that forgetting momentarily Beth's height didn't make the younger girl angry. After the obstacle course Lucy wanted to think of the two of them as friends. God knew Lucy was not particularly good at making those. She usually ended up offending people with her manor or her opinions. Though it was still very much a possibility between her and Beth, after all they'd only been in contact for a little more than an hour.
Both girls collapsed against one of the walls as Adam began to introduce the second half of today's exercise. This room is appeared would be the site for the rest of the years training. It contained, apart from the stage that Blackmore was standing on, an arena for those wishing to challenge themselves against each other, a target range for those with distance abilities and something that looked like a parkour course. If Lucy was being honest with herself she'd most likely spend most of her time on the last of the three options... but not today. Today she wanted to collapse in her room with her computer and rest, for a very long time. She did really want to explore the campus but that would have to weight till after she'd rested.
In the meantime Lucy was not in the slightest interested in displaying her abilities before the entire class. This was not just because she was ready to fall over at a slight push of wind but also because Lucy didn't want people to know her powers, not yet. If people wanted to be friends with her or avoid her it would not be because they were afraid of her abilities or wanted to use them. It would be because they wanted to get to know her as a person. At some point she'd tell people her about her powers but only after they'd gotten to know her. It wasn't a conversation opener. As much as Lucy would have wanted to show up the teacher by reading something embarrassing in his thoughts it really wasn't worth it.
When Beth did say anything Lucy realized it was on her to start a conversation. She cast around for something to talk about. Asking about both Beth's power or her past would be a terrible idea given that the questions could very easily be turned back at her. Something simple was a better idea, after all Lucy barely knew the girl next to her.
"So Beth," Lucy started not quite sure how she was going to finish the sentence.
"How've you like the academy so far." Yikes that was bad, what was she a courtesy clerk? They probably had complaint forms for that type of question. Lucy waited for how Beth would react, hoping it would go better than that had sounded in Lucy's head.
"It's been pretty good, I guess," Beth replied after a moment of thought.
"My classes are going pretty well, even though the teachers are all a little strange." Of course, that didn't include reading, though Beth kept that thought to herself. The fact that she was severely dyslexic wasn't something that she wanted to toss around carelessly; it was embarrassing that she couldn't read beyond a second or third grade level, and she certainly didn't want everyone to know it.
Some of the students who had been up demonstrating their powers were starting to return to the main group, which was full of those who had been far too exhausted by the obstacle course to even think about making use of their abilities. It seemed that the class was, finally, drawing to a close, and that they would be dismissed quite soon. Even though class was ending, Beth didn't want to end the conversation, even if it was a little awkward.
"What about you? Are you enjoying your time here so far?" Beth asked, struggling to rise back to her feet so that she was ready to leave when they were dismissed. Coincidentally, they were dismissed almost immediately after Beth managed to stand up successfully, though she decided that she would wait for Lucy to join her before leaving, as she wanted to continue talking and hanging out with the larger girl for as long as possible.
Lucy nearly missed what Beth answer to her question because at that moment the little girl's thoughts flared unbearably loud for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough for Lucy to read why Beth was agitated and wish to high heaven that she could control her powers. She didn't have the right to know things this way. Something like dyslexia was personal and to a lot of people likely embarrassing. If Beth wanted Lucy to know she would volunteer the information.
Lucy recovered from this in time to get to her feet along with Beth and catch her question at Adam dismissed the class. Lucy thought about it for a moment. The school was definitely strange but overall aside from a couple of unpleasant individuals it wasn't all that bad. Drama class had been fun and while 'Power Training' was grueling it also was enjoyable mostly because Lucy had someone to share it with.
As Lucy was formulating a response a thought ripped into her like an arrow finding it's mark. A single but very powerful thought no doubt spurned by surprise.
'This is the ability Mason was so ashamed of!?' Lucy didn't get anymore than that before the intensity dissipated but it was enough to cause her headache to hit such a crescendo that Lucy placed her hand to her forehead to see if she skull was expanding. As she did so a fit of dizziness hit her with just as much intensity as the thought that caused it.
Lucy's already weakened legs slipped from under her. The owner of the thought must be a fair distance from here, or at least a room or two over. It was a good thing too, if something like that had happened right next to Lucy she would more than likely have passed out. The pain still in her head Lucy pushed herself to her knees. God this was embarrassing, collapsing at the end of class. Luckily most of the kids had already left he area along with Mr. Blackmore.
Having started walking towards the exit of the training room once Lucy stood up, Beth didn't actually witness her new friend collapsing to the ground. What clued her into the fact that something was off was the fact that the electrical field emanating from Lucy's body was getting fainter, which meant that she wasn't heading towards the exit like expected. When she turned around, ready to ask if everything was okay, she saw the larger girl push herself to her knees, clearly in a significant amount of pain.
"Is there anything that I can do to help?" Beth asked, hurriedly walking over to where Lucy had fallen. If she wasn't so exhausted, she would have been able to use her electrical powers to potentially soothe the pain that Lucy was feeling, as she could partially disrupt the nerves responsible for pain from firing. But she was completely tuckered out, so the best she would have been able to do was make Lucy's arm tingle or something, which wasn't really all that helpful given the current situation. Hopefully, Lucy had some sort of medicine or something nearby that would help.
Lucy didn't want Beth thinking she was somehow defective so when the little girl asked if she needed help Lucy shrugged her off.
"No I'm fine, it's just a headache. It's..." Lucy had promised herself she wasn't going to lie. She could make up an excuse, say she hit her head that morning but she didn't want to build a friendship on lies. Those she usually reserved for getting out of scraps with authority.
"It's a byproduct of my ability. It'll pass. I've got some Advil in my locker, that usually helps."Lucy pushed herself to her feet feeling really pathetic before walking out of the room and back they way they had come. In the gymnasium area she picked up her army jacket before going into the changing rooms. Inside Lucy opened up her lock and pulled a bottle of Advil out of her bag, she shook two out into her hand and swallowed them both despite the fact that she had no water. It would take a couple of minutes for it to kick in but these generally helped at least somewhat.
"Well, if you're sure you're okay," Beth replied, still concerned, sticking close by as they walked out of the training room and through the room with the obstacle course into the locker room, ready to offer whatever assistance she could if it was needed. Once they were inside, Beth left Lucy's side to get her belongings from the locker in which she had stored them and get changed out of the sweaty, bright green suit that she had worn for the class.
Once she was back into her regular clothes, which consisted of a green and black flannel shirt, a pair of blue jeans with a rhinestone four-leaf clover on the pocket, and her shoes and socks, she heaved a sigh of relief, taking a moment to enjoy the sensation before grabbing her bag and heading over to where Lucy was.
"Are ya done changing yet, Lucy?" Beth said, coming around the lockers to where she had seen Lucy go upon entering the locker room, hoping that the taller girl was feeling better while also feeling a little lousy for being unable to help at all.
After taking the pills for her headache Lucy stripped out of the suit that had been provided for Blackmore's class. It breathed surprisingly well compared to what Lucy had expected just by looking at it but it still wasn't as comfortable as her own clothing. Lucy pulled on a pair of dark jeans, a tank top emblazoned with the anarchy symbol and finally her army jacket. She snapped her headphones over her ears and started to tie up her converse. The skater gloves she always wore hadn't left her hands even during classes. She didn't need anyone asking where it was she got the little white scars that covered them.
Finally changed Lucy stuffed the suit into her locker, she was going to take a very long shower, but that could wait till later after all. There was a whole campus to explore. When Beth asked Lucy if she was finished changing Lucy nearly missed the question because her headphones nearly completely blocked out sound. Lucy moved them off her ears just enough that she'd be able to hear the little girl if she spoke again.
"Yeah I'm finished. Hey you want to get something to eat? I hear they have some great restaurants on campus.""I'm starving, so getting a bite to eat sounds great. Do you want to go anywhere particular?" Beth said, coming around a corner in the maze of lockers to meet up with Lucy. Upon seeing the taller girl, Beth noticed that she already looked better, an observation that elicited a nearly inaudible sigh of relief from her. Though it seemed a little silly to have been so concerned over a simple migraine, Beth couldn't help it. It went against her nature to be callous and unfeeling towards the plights of other people, even if she usually wasn't able to actually assist them. That's why those sappy commercials that various charity groups air to bring in donations always make her start bawling, much to her embarrassment.
Focused on how Lucy appeared health-wise, it was only after Beth joined her that she noticed the larger girl's attire. Like Beth, Lucy seemed to emphasize comfort over appearing trendy or fashionable, a sentiment that Beth could appreciate.
"That's a cool jacket," Beth said as they started making their way out of the locker room in order to make small talk, squinting at it for a moment before continuing.
"I'm not an expert, but I think that shade of gray looks good on you. Where did ya get it?" Hopefully, Lucy didn't think that she was strange for asking about her jacket, but Beth couldn't think about anything else to talk about that was less... personal.
When Beth said she was starving Lucy smiled. She was grateful that the little girl hadn't about the power that caused her to collapse in the training room. Lucy herself was feeling a lot better after the advil. Whatever the walls of the academy were made of they seemed effect at keeping out thoughts of those on the other sides of them. A quality not shared by Lucy's old school or her home. With only one mind hovering on the edge of Lucy's consciousness it was easy to keep herself away from Beth's thoughts.
As to what they could eat. Lucy could really go for some fries right now. She didn't know exactly what the school had in terms of restaurants but she could imagine it would include a MacDonalds (those things were everywhere) as well as some higher class burger places, probably a pasta place or two then of course a couple of cafes and most likely a Starbucks.
"I'm not altogether sure what the school has for restaurants. How 'bout we take a look around and see what catches our eye?"As they exited the change room Beth made a number of compliments regarding Lucy's jacket, the oddest one though was Beth commenting that grey of it looked good on Lucy. It was an army jacket and very clearly a somber green.
"Thanks." Lucy responded not wanting to be rude.
"My ah, my Dad brought it back from his tour in the Gulf." If you looked at it closely you could see a number of places were it had been carefully stitched back into one piece. It was well done work, almost invisible but Lucy could feel it every time she touched the fabric.
"He said it protected him out there, were his life was completely uncertain. I figured I could use a little of that." Okay that was a little deep for someone she'd just met but it was the truth. Lucy didn't want to bring up the fact that Beth hadn't been able to identify the color of her cloths. The most obvious solution was that she was color blind and that was not a subject that Lucy imagined anyone wanted to discuss. It was likely right up there with Beth's dyslexia which Lucy still felt guilty for finding out in the manor she had.
"That sounds good to me. I'm not really hungry for anything in particular," Beth replied once they had exited the locker room and were making their way out of the building that housed the training facilities altogether, glad to have something to do with Lucy. Walking around in search of somewhere to eat would also be a great way to explore the campus at the same time, and it was a beautiful day for it, with the sun shining in the clear blue sky. Her uncle had made her take several heavy coats for when winter came, but for now, it was pleasantly warm, meaning that her flannel shirt was enough.
There was a bit of a pause after Beth complimented Lucy on her jacket before Lucy replied, which was just long enough to make Beth begin feeling that she had made a mistake and asked about something that was too personal. Fortunately, Lucy didn't let the silence continue for too much longer, thanking Beth for the compliment and explaining that she got the jacket from her dad, who had received it while serving in the army, though she went further and explained that she kept it around because it was sort of like a good-luck heirloom.
"I can understand that," Beth said with a nod, though she didn't share the why.
As they walked, they approached a quaint, little cafe that seemed to have a decent number of patrons.
"Are you pretty close to your family then, Lucy?" Beth asked, looking to Lucy as they approached the cafe to see if she wanted to stop there and eat. The delicious aroma emanating from the open doorway was causing her stomach to growl, clearly disapproving of its current state. Still, she didn't want Lucy to feel obligated to stop at the cafe if she wanted to eat somewhere else, so she tried to ignore the protests of her stomach and focus on her conversation with Lucy.
Beth agreed that looking around at what their options might be would be the best way to find something they both liked. When Beth asked about Lucy's family she paused for moment, now that was a heck of a hornets nest. She could start with her clinically insane mother's whose telepathic abilities had driven her to the point of madness, her father who up until two weeks ago had no idea Lucy
had powers and was furious that she hadn't told him, then her brother who was frantically trying to mediate the dispute between them.
Of the three the most tame of course was her relationship with her brother Jackson. He at least was still on her side and while he didn't exactly approve of her lying to their father for the last five years or so he had covered for her on a number of occasions.
"You could say that I suppose, me and my brother get on pretty well, when he's not calling me a pain in his ass anyways. My Dad on the other hand, well I lied to him about my abilities. He's still angry."Lucy noticed the cafe they were standing in front of, Beth seemed interested in a pleasant aroma drifting out of it's doors and Lucy not seeing anywhere better to eat decided that it would be a decent place to share a meal. The food smelled good anyways and most of these cafes had really good apple cider.
"You want to eat here or does something else look more your speed?" Lucy asked changing the subject.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask such a personal question," Beth said, sensing that there was more to the story from the length of the pause before Lucy answered her. Unfortunately, it was also a question that Beth would be expected to answer as well in order to be fair. And her answer was about as complicated as Lucy's appeared to be, what with a mother who wanted nothing to do with her, a father who left the family when she was young, and a sister with whom she had lost all contact once she went off to college.
Beth was about to say that she was only close to her uncle when Lucy, thankfully, changed the subject by asking if the cafe was where Beth wanted to get something to eat. Nodding her assent, Beth led the way into the little cafe, taking a seat in a booth near the entrance, though she was going to have to sit on her knees in order to be able to eat. When the waitress came by to ask what they wanted, Beth ordered a serving of fish sticks with french fries and a small coke after having perused the menu to see what looked good.
"Sooo, what do you like to do for fun, Lucy?" Beth asked while they waited for their food, hoping that Lucy would forget about the topic of families and that Beth hadn't explained her family situation. While she did feel a little bad about being unfair, Beth also didn't want to go through the hassle of explaining what her family was like. Really, she hadn't even meant to ask that question in the first place; she had been distracted by her growling stomach and hadn't thought about what she was saying.
The two girls had an early supper at the restaurant. The next hour or so was spent exchanging jokes and conversation though both the girls had a tendency to shy away from sensitive topics. They stuck mostly to the casual things in there exchanges, favorite hobbies, where they came from, the kind of things that wouldn't lead to deeper personal questions. After Beth and Lucy finished their meals the girls exchanged numbers and went there separate ways. They'd see each other again soon enough, after all they had Power Training together.
