Spring Fever [Maggie]

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo missed wearing shorts. She went through this grouchy phase at the end of every winter, right before spring truly kicked in. She hated this part of the season, when it wasn’t warm yet and sometimes winter tried to sneak back in with a bit more snow.

No. Cleo didn’t do snow. Especially not in April.

Luckily, today was actually really nice, almost 60 degrees and it wasn’t even raining. Cleo learned quickly when she’d arrived in Pilot Ridge that spring didn’t come as quickly as it did in New York City, so this warm day was welcomed with open arms.

She’d spent the better part (i.e. all of it) of yesterday locked in her bedroom with the curtains drawn. Her migraines had reared their ugly head again and she hadn’t taken the Excedrin fast enough. Usually, that worked pretty well - thank you, Dr. Neville - but yesterday was just a bad day in general. It was raining and gross and cold outside, so that just really put Cleo in an awful mood. Her head did hurt, but it was really just an excuse to ignore the awful day outside and pretend it wasn’t happening.

But now, she was migraine free and ready to enjoy the sunshine while she could get it, so she took her homework assignment outside. She was reading for her English class, and it was something she was very familiar with. She’d read The Tempest before, only once though. At home they probably had a copy of everything Shakespeare had ever written, so she’d picked it up, along with several others, over the years. Having literature professors as parents did pay off though, since they always helped her come up with stellar essay topics.

Cleo brought out one of her blankets to sit on the grass with, lying her stomach as she read over the play. She'd read this one a long time ago, and had remembered liking it, but she definitely needed a refresher before she started the assignment.

[Maggie Probasco]

Maggie was walking with her nose buried in Gone with the Wind. It probably wasn't too safe on her behalf, but she couldn't stop reading. She always started reading something, and then couldn't put it down for the next two days. Ever since her powers had manifested, she had the urge to constantly read. Even if it was something really boring, she just had to read. It was almost like she was trying to memorize every word, because she constantly craved to speak different languages, and lately she'd had to focus on speaking english so that others could understand her.

When she did look up, she spotted another girl, probably around her age, laying down on a blanket reading. Maggie closed her book quickly, and ran over to where the girl was. "Hi, whatcha reading?" Maggie asked plopping down next to the girl. She tucked her book into her small bag. "I was reading Gone with the Wind in case you were wondering." Maggie hoped she wasn't interrupting. She had a tendency to do that without realizing.

Maybe this girl, whoever she was, was a reader like herself. Maybe she was reading for an assignment, whatever she was reading. It would be nice to be able to discuss books, especially since Maggie had read pretty much every book in the Hammel library over the course of four years. When she went into town, she'd also went to the bookstore and gotten a small collection of her favourites, one of them was her current read, Gone with the Wind.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo had just started Act III, right at the part where Ferdinand and Miranda proclaim their love for each other and propose to marry. Normally, Cleo wasn’t a huge fan of Shakespeare’s portrayal of women. There were several noteworthy heroines, but those characters were usually part of his less popular plays. The more well-known female characters, like Juliet and Ophelia, were weak and naive. Lady Macbeth was cunning and bold, but she was also cold and greedy and essentially the entire reason for the catastrophic events going on in the play.

However, Cleo did have some respect for Miranda. For the most part, Shakespeare portrayed her as a naive little girl who’s fate was being decided by the men around her, specifically her father. Shocker. But she has her moments where she speaks up for herself. Maybe Cleo would do her English essay on Miranda’s character this time.

Although, maybe she was also slightly attached to the character because that’s where her parents got her middle name from… Whatever.

Cleo hadn’t even noticed the small girl coming up next to her until she greeted her and sat down right next to her. She raised her eyes up from her book to look at her; she’d seen her around before, at the library and in the dorms. They’d never talked before though.

“Oh…uh…The Tempest.” Cleo said, flipping the book over so she could see the cover. She honestly really wasn’t wondering what this girl was reading, since Cleo had been minding her own business and hadn’t even been paying attention to anything going on around her until now.

“That’s cool…” Cleo nodded. She’d never read Gone with the Wind. She knew they had it at home; her parents owned most of the classics. But she’d never bothered to pick it up. “Is it good?”

[Maggie Probasco]

"Oh, is it your first time reading it? I've read it before, it's a favorite of mine." Maggie studied the cover, it was detailed, but it was a bit difficult to look at for awhile without her mind wandering. "Yup, it's good. It's just extremely long, but I like reading, so I don't mind." Maggie opened her book and began reading another page.

"Oh, and I'm Maggie." She said this while still reading. Maybe this girl was big into reading like Maggie herself, but one of the reasons Maggie couldn't stop reading was because of her power manifesting. After she finished her page, she quickly marked it with her bookmark.

"So, I've seen you around the library, do you like reading?" Maggie sat cross legged on the blanket, she hoped she wasn't interrupting her reading with her talking. Surprisingly, she hadn't really made too many friends who enjoyed reading, and she'd been at Hammel for four years, and yet she only had about two friends. Maybe if she was nice enough, she'd have three friends.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo shook her head. “No it’s not. I read it a few years ago.” She was probably thirteen when she first read the play, but her parents had told her the plot of it years before. But even as a thirteen year old, there were still elements of the play that definitely went right over her head. She liked it the first time, but Cleo found that it was much more enjoyable now. Her parents had always told her that Shakespeare’s plays got better each time you read them. “It’s not my favorite.” She admitted, “But it’s still really good.” It was definitely in her top five…well, maybe six.

Cleo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when the girl went straight back to reading after expressing her liking for the book. “I’m Cleo.” She said, still a little confused that she was carrying on a conversation while reading. That was definitely a little strange; even her parents didn’t do that.

Cleo did spend a lot of time at the library, though she spent more time dicking around and procrastinating rather than actually doing her homework. It wasn’t a good habit. “Oh, yeah I love reading. My parents are literature professors at New York University, so it’s kind of hard not to.” She laughed, sitting up. Her parents would probably disown her and her bother if either of the two hated books. Well, maybe that was a little dramatic, but they definitely would be disappointed.

Luckily, Cleo did like to read. And she was very well-read, which wasn’t to say that she liked every single book that she read. In fact, there were definitely more than a few books that were considered ‘classics’ that she wasn’t a fan of. She’d recently just finished The Bell Jar for English class and personally she didn’t see what all the hype was about that. It was just so depressing.

“I take it you like to read?” Cleo asked, though she could already tell that Maggie did. It was pretty obvious.

[Maggie Probasco]

Maggie nodded at Cleo's reply. It wasn't her favourite book either, it was probably more like her fourth or fifth favourite. "It's a good book once you understand the plot further." Maggie supposed Cleo already knew this, if she'd already read the book more than once.

Cleo must've thought it was weird that Maggie was still reading while carrying on a conversation, but she'd read so many books over the past years, that now she could remember almost every word in any book, so talking was easy while reading. "Nice to meet you Cleo." Maggie smiled politely, she wasn't going to let her mother's teachings go to waste.

"Oh, your parents are professors? My mom was a teacher, well, until we moved here a few years ago. I'm guessing your parents would be upset if you didn't like reading." Maggie joked, she laughed quietly to herself. She was sure that if her mom was still a teacher that school would be the most important thing on Maggie's mind, that and focusing her free time on studying.

"I do like to read. I did before I discovered my powers, but now I like reading even more." She lightly traced the title with her fingers, she sure did like to read, more than doing anything else.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo nodded, though she did think it was one of Shakespeare’s easier plays to understand. However, everyone was different and she supposed there were books and other readings that she found difficult that this girl didn’t. And the plot of The Tempest could be a little confusing if you didn’t read it carefully. There was a lot going on.

She thought it was strange that the two had gone so long without ever speaking. They were in the same grade, and had been here for roughly the same amount of time. They didn’t live on the same floor though and she supposed they hung out with different people, so those played some pretty big factors. Still, she was in the library a decent amount, at least when she got sick of the art wing or her dorm room. Cleo would have at least thought they would have crossed paths once or twice over the last few years.

Oh well…

“They would definitely be disappointed.” She laughed. Maybe not as disappointed as she always thought they would be, but she knew they’d be at least a little sad that they couldn’t share their passion with their children. Luckily, both her and her brother did enjoy reading, although Cass a little bit less so. He was just always so caught up in his athletics that he didn’t always have the time to read outside of his schoolwork.

“Well, that’s good.” Cleo’s powers sort of hindered her desire and ability to read sometimes. Her headaches and migraines made it difficult to concentrate when they popped up, which made reading basically impossible. “What can do you? That is, if you don’t mind me asking.” She wasn’t sure she knew of an ability that really enhanced anyone’s desire to read. Of course, it was possible that she did and she just wasn’t familiar with every aspect of it.

[Maggie Probasco]

Maggie did know that there was a large devotion of understanding in the plot of The Tempest, in order to read the book, you had to understand the plot, and without understanding the plot, you couldn't understand the entire book. Reading Shakespeare was pretty hard, Maggie was just now noticing this.


She was a little surprised that Cleo and her hadn't met before, they shared similar interests, from what Maggie could tell. However, the two were quite different, but everyone was, however this was no surprise to Maggie. Maggie was more surprised that she hadn't seen Cleo in the library, sure, she'd seen her, but never spoke to her before now.

"Yes, I'm sure they would be disappointed." Maggie smiled, she never joked like this, not since she was younger. But then again, she hadn't really had friends to joke around with, she'd spent most of her life alone. She was sure that if Cleo's parents were literature professors, and their daughter didn't enjoy reading, they would probably be more disappointed in her not liking to read than anything else.

"I can read, speak, write, and do a few other things with languages. It's called omnilingualism." Maggie said firmly. Her powers were pretty boring, however, she had read codes that others hadn't been able to read before. And she'd even practiced writing in old, old, ancient languages that no one on the earth spoke. "What can you do, if you don't mind me asking." Maggie smiled. If she had told Cleo what she could do, then Cleo would have to tell Maggie what she could do.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo did know a few omnilinguists at Hammel, though she didn’t know that their abilities effected their reading level. She actually really didn’t know that much about the ability at all other than the fact that the person was a whiz at languages. Though that ability did extend quite a bit further than just being able pick up languages quickly.

“That’s really cool…and useful.” She was sure there were probably tons of options for Maggie after high school. Someone who could speak so many languages would definitely be sought after in the real world.

“I’m a precog,” Cleo answered. The technical name for it was precognition, but that was the common nickname for people like her. “So I can see into the future.” Which was impressive in it’s own right, and useful as well, but she did think that there were a lot more interesting abilities around Hammel. Cleo’s ability wasn’t really very flashy.

“You’re a junior, right?” Since Cleo didn’t really know Maggie that well, she couldn’t be sure exactly what grade she was in. She thought they were in the same grade, but Maggie did look a little young to be a junior. So she could have also been a sophomore? Maybe…?

[Maggie Probasco]

Maggie wasn't proud of her ability, perse. She was used to it, but she did often switch between languages in accident. Being omnilingualism was something one just grew used to, it had become second nature. She had to practice frequently, though, that way she didn't switch languages without knowing. She was glad she didn't have any bad side effects, like most students. Only switching languages without realizing it, and having moderate to severe headaches. She was glad, and lucky, to have omnilingualism.

"Yeah, my mom thinks I should travel all over the world once I'm older, and decode unknown messages and other things. It is pretty useful, but I switch languages without realizing it a lot." Maggie said this quietly, she was happy to be outside and in the sun. She sure could use some Vitamin D.

"Cool." Maggie had always wondered what it was like to see the future. Sure, humans could see about a tenth ahead, and we basically predicted the future everyday, but being able to see the future before it even happens seemed like it'd be cool. "Are you a person who has dreams or is it like a vision or something?" Maggie knew a little about precognition, she had listened in during her training when the teacher was talking to the students with precognition.

"Yeah, I'm a junior, I'm just small for my age." In the United States, she was small, but in Germany she would have been about a normal size. "I came from Germany when I was younger, so I'm smaller like most people over there." Maggie was average in Germany, just not in the United States. She was actually more used to being able to wear kids clothes more than anything else, she could still fit in them. Here in the United States, she was the same size as a twelve year old. Her mom said it was okay, but Maggie had other thoughts about it.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo nodded, “You should if that’s what you want to do.” Cleo would love to have a job where she could travel, though she wasn’t exactly sure what she would do. Maggie had the perfect opportunity to if she wanted it; there’s a chance she wouldn’t even have to go to school after. They’d probably just accept her.

“Both.” She answered. “Sometimes I have visions while I’m sleeping, but I have them while I’m awake though.” She was still learning how to control her waking visions. She had a lot of ones that would come randomly without warning, and her trainer said she’d probably continue to have those for the rest of her life depending on the nature of her powers. But she was also getting better at looking into the future on her own accord; this usually left her with a headache though.

Cleo thought it was interesting that Maggie immigrated to the US from another country. She’d been over to Europe several times with her family since her parents were going over there constantly on extension trips with NYU. Sometimes Cleo and Cass were lucky enough to travel with them, and a few times they went on a family vacation of their own. They’d never made it to Germany though. The closest they probably got was the Netherlands or France. And the people there were definitely not small. Well, they weren’t fat, but they were definitely tall. Cleo considered herself a pretty tall person and she felt dwarfed when she was in Amsterdam.

“I always was under the impression that Germans were a pretty tall nationality.” Maybe she was stereotyping here, but she sort of doubted that everyone in Germany was as small as Maggie. She knew that she had some German blood in her as well, though she wasn’t sure how much exactly.

[Maggie Probasco]

"Eh, I don't know. I like getting familiar with my surroundings, and I would probably want to stay in one place for a while, since I've moved a lot over the past years." Maggie shrugged, she did want to stay in one place for awhile, maybe even get a regular job and be slightly normal for a little while.

"That's cool." Maggie always wished she could see the future, she wondered what she was going to do once she graduated. Maybe she would travel the world, or maybe she'd just become a translator at a school. Whatever she did, she knew there was a lot of possibilities for someone who was multilingual, especially in every language.

Maggie had always been small, in fact being small in her old neighborhood was common. She was smaller than most of the German population, she knew this, but her family came from small towns, where sometimes people wouldn't grow past five feet. But even then, Maggie was still quite small.

"No, it's like half of Germany's population is small, about five feet to five feet six inches tall. The rest of the people, mostly coming from larger, more populated areas, are around six feet tall. I'm still growing, so I'm not at my full size yet." She hoped she would grow to be at least five feet tall, it would be nice to be able to see over things that most people could see over. Like in classes, she had to sit in front because she couldn't see over other people, that was definitely a huge disadvantage. But she could fit into things that most people couldn't, that was an advantage on her half.

[Cleo Warren]

Cleo loved traveling, and would accept a job that lot her trot around the world in a heartbeat. Maggie was lucky, in Cleo’s mind, to have an ability that could guarantee a job like that. She knew that not everyone had than mindset though, and that not everyone was cut out for a life like that. Truthfully, Cleo didn’t even know if she was cut out for a life like that. Even though it sounded adventurous and amazing, it also sounded exhausting. She’d probably miss her family too.

“Where have you moved to?” Cleo asked. She’d lived in the same place for her entire life, though the City was very very different than most of the towns the people here grew up in. There were so many different parts and it was so big. Even taking the train to a different neighborhood could seem like you’re in a completely different city.

She nodded, “It can be cool.” It could also be a pain. Visions came and went randomly a lot of the time, and sometimes they were pretty inconvenient. She wouldn’t trade it for anything else though; it was a part of who she was, which was the concept that most students had adopted after being at Hammel for a few years.

Cleo did not know that half of Germany’s population was a good foot shorter than the other. That was quite the difference. Most people in the US were a variety of different heights, but the US was so big and they had so many different ethnicities mixed in that it made sense. “You’re still growing?” Cleo raised her eyebrows. She’d thought by junior year, most people would be done. She stopped growing…maybe sometimes last year? The end of freshmen year? She really wasn’t sure, but she was about 5”7 so the doctor told her it was normal if she didn’t stop until she was almost fifteen.