fish for breakfast -open-

[Piper Crumin]

She didn't even know why she came to cafeteria.
Sure; it was nicer than most schools' cafeterias. It was bright and had comfortable seats and tables that seemed more secluded than the long picnic tables that her other schools had had. It was more like a large restaurant and felt very homey. That's probably why she had come there.

Plus she was feeling awfully lonely since she left her godfather's house. And even though she hadn't really gotten any friends, just being around people made her feel much better. Not really, but she liked to think that those around her were similar to her. She liked looking at each of the students, and wondering what they could do. What they had to do to keep their weaknesses at bay, and what they had to do to control their gifts.

Piper picked at her fish. Fish was not a good breakfast food. The cafeteria was serving something else, but really Piper couldn't take a risk on food that had been made for the masses. She couldn't risk something being slightly undercooked, or for the fruit to be a few days too ripe.

The fact was, that she was scared, or Piper would probably eat like a normal kid since she was out of the watchful eye of her father. She was scared that she could do all these fantastic things; things that she had dreamed of when she was on the streets of Chicago, running away from some gang whose territory she had stumbled upon to. She was scared that getting a tiny virus would be the death of her. Perhaps if she got the chickenpox again the little red dots would destroy her body. Piper had been in bed too much and knew how badly her body reacted to what would only be a sniffle for someone with an average immune system.

So she picked at her fish, secretly wanting pancakes and bacon and eggs like the other kids were having, but she wouldn't dare.

The brunette girl sighed, forcing herself to eat the lukewarm cod. If she had been normal, she would have gone without, but her body couldn't do that. And the only thing that Piper thought about as she choked down her imperfect breakfast food was how unfair it was.

It was unfair that the other kids didn't have to watch what they ate, or how little or much clothing they were wearing. Sure, she could walk across a laundry line no problem, but it was times like this that she really wondered if it would be too terrible to go back to the way things were. To be a normal teenage girl, not stuck in some school for the freakish. To be able to share sodas and have sleepovers in tanktops and panties.

Piper also thought about other things. Would she ever be able to be in love with someone? If she could, would she be able to kiss the girl she would fall in love with? Even if she could, would she be able to have the bravery to do so?
It took bravery to kiss someone when you were a teenager.
When you were a teenager who got sick so easily, it took even more bravery.

-At least, that's what Piper thought. She looked down at her plate; her fish was half-gone, and her mouth had an icky taste in it. She knew the fish was fine, but the taste was something that she didn't really like that day. Then again, when you were thinking about kisses, fish didn't really live up to what your mouth expected.

Not that Piper knew that, she just thought that being kissed would be something wonderful.
She knew how stupid and cliche` it sounded, but she still liked to daydream about it.

She growled a bit, picking bones out of the bloodless meat. She hated herself when she thought about such things. When she thought about love and life and wondered if she would ever have something so spectacular when she already had a gift so spectacular. It was selfish of her to want more. It was selfish to want something ordinary when she was so extraordinary.

Piper put another bite into her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully, looking over the room of people. Cliques formed in all places, she guessed, as the groups in the tables looked very similar to her old schools. Yeah, this school was very different with a unique kind of people there, but Piper was still alone.

She took another bite of her fish, it felt mushy and dry at the same time on her tongue, she swallowed anyway. She would leave the cafeteria soon, and go about doing her crazy stunts that made her superficially happy for awhile.

"Damn." She whispered to herself, stabbing her remaining fish violently with her fork. Not even thinking about what she could do made her feel better about the lack of companionship.

Stupid world.
Stupid gift.
Stupid sickness.
Stupid fish.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“Excuse me. Could you please tell me what is being served for breakfast?”

The voice was slow and dream-like, soft in a gentle, non-intrusive way. Alice generally spoke softly to avoid talking to people, who weren’t there, but the girl she had approached seemed deep in thought, and Alice didn’t really want to disturb her. After all, who knew better than Alice the power of a day dream?

Normally Alice would have just continued speaking, and she thought about doing so, but her common sense (shocking that she had it) dictated she did no such thing. This girl was sitting alone, so there was the chance she wanted to be alone. Granted, it made her more approachable than the chattering groups of wild-eyed youth, but there was still the possibility that Alice wasn’t welcome in the brunette’s personal world.

Alice could deal with that. She really just wanted to know what was for breakfast…and maybe see the girl’s face.

Technically Alice could just walk over to the window and see what was for breakfast, but she usually didn’t like to do that. The serving-ladies didn’t like it either. Every time she caught sight of something she didn’t like, or found unappetizing, she would fantasize that it was something else, and there that something else would be to fool the entire school. It never tasted like what it looked like, but it certainly upset the serving-ladies. Of late she had learned to quell this kind of projection, but the temptation to do it willingly now that she could was all too great.

No, no. Instead, Alice would ask. Perhaps something good would come of it. Perhaps she would learn that, in fact, she had no desire to eat this morning because everything was plain disgusting. Then she wouldn’t have to waist her time embarrassing herself and she could go do something else like read or sew or study.

(Alice didn’t sew, but she supposed she could learn.)

Perhaps she would find that this girl was altogether insufferable and learn to avoid her at all costs for the rest of her days, lest they butt heads and start and altercation, or Alice began to cry.

Perhaps she would make a friend.

Alice slung one of her thin, bony around her slim waist, bunching the fabric of a slouchy fabric around her ribcage with her spidery fingers. It was a nervous gesture, and true, Alice was nervous. Her toes wiggled in her flip-flops, curling and uncurling against the slick soles. Alice chewed the inside of her cheek as well, to keep from spouting unnecessary words; her face screwed up in an odd-ball stare. New people usually made her nervous, but she always tried to be cheery, just in case they needed a lift in their spirits.

The world was wonderful, after all, in Alice’s eyes.

[Piper Crumin]

Piper pushed her heavy brown hair back off of her face, looking up at the girl who had spoken to her.

It wasn't a girl. It couldn't be. It was a skeleton. Piper swore she could see the skull behind the skin; it reminded her of some kind of videogame or horror movie. The oversized clothing held onto shoulders that looked breakable so desperately; like loose litter caught on a corner of a fire escape. She probably wasn't much thinner than Piper, actually, but her tallness made her seem a lot thinner, a lot less strong. Thinness like that really scared an athletic girl like Piper.

She wasn't about to say this.

Besides, even though the girl before her was unhealthily thin, she was a lot prettier than the plain-jane that was Piper. Piper wasn't special or thin or pretty or blond. She was another girl on the street that no one paid attention to until she did some fantastic thing that people wished they could do. Piper didn't like being just another person, which was a slight contradiction to what she had been wishing just a few minutes ago.

She knew she wanted to be special without being a freak. Like the skeleton before her. Without the power, because she had to have a power, didn't she? That's why she was at this school.

The very plain short girl looked up at the pretty blond skeleton, and she smiled disarmingly.

"They're serving bacon and sausages and pancakes and eggs and wonderful breakfast things," she tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "It's probably delicious. You definitely should go have some; it's much better than fish, trust me." She speared another bite on the end of her fork, putting it into her mouth.

Piper chewed slowly, looking over the girl. She had no idea what kind of power existed and what didn't, but she still wanted to guess. If a girl was that thin, it must not be a physical power- she would probably break if she had to lift anything. She was most likely not an elemental controller- it just didn't fit. Unless it was wind. Piper could see that.

She was staring, she flinched at her own social awkwardness, "I'm Piper, by the way." She swallowed her fish, smiling again. "And you're welcome to sit here when you get your breakfast." She flinched at herself again, "that is, of course, unless you don't want to eat..."

Honestly, that wouldn't be much of a surprise, the blond didn't look much like a heavy eater, but at the same time Piper doubted that she had a disorder.

And Piper needed to stop being so analytical. Company was finally there, and all she could think about were bones.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice tilted her head when the girl shoved her hair away from her large eyes and smiled charmingly. That look gave Alice the confidence to respond in kind, and she smiled in return, a sort of squiggly, misshapen, but altogether pleasant grin. Like everything about Alice, the pleased turning-up of her lips was ever-so slightly off, another quirk to add to her menagerie of oddness.

As the brunette listed a menu of run-of-the mill breakfast foods, Alice listened intently, her large eyes unblinking as she watched the other’s mouth move. She liked the way this girl moved. She was precise. Her chewing was rhythmic and her lips formed the words in a dexterous way, like she had better control of her mouth and jaw than most people. It was interesting to watch.

Unlike Piper, Alice was not ashamed or aware of her social blunder of staring. She just did it.

“Piper.” Alice mimicked right after the word left the owner’s lips. It was a good name. Cheery! Like the name Alice. “I’m Alice!” She chirped when Piper’s sentence was done, reaching down and seizing the girl's wrist (because her hand was holding a fork) and pumping it up and down once with vigor.

“Pleased to me you. I’d love to sit with you. I want to eat too, so I think I’ll sit with you after.” Alice blabbered senselessly. “Also, I like your eyebrows. They make your eyes like pretty.” She complemented, before turning on her heel and heading towards the breakfast counter.

To Alice, absolutely nothing strange had just happened. To the rest of the cafeteria, there was a very odd girl flouncing brightly away from the table with the brunette sitting alone.

As she moved away from Piper, Alice’s mind raced with the possibility of “wonderful breakfast things.” Whatever could that mean? Clearly fish wasn’t a wonderful breakfast thing, but was fruit? For that matter, were vegetables? What about ham? Or tripe? Or some altogether strange thing Alice had never seen? It was probably the word wonderful that had tripped this rapid succession of questions in Alice’s mind. To Alice, everything was full of wonder, but what foods would be wonderful?

She huffed a quick sigh and put her hands on her hips, smiling shyly at the nervous-looking serving lady. Gingerly picking up a plate, Alice selected two hard-boiled eggs, a piece of wheat bread and some jam, as well as an orange. Would Piper think these were wonderful breakfast things? Alice didn’t know.

“Thank you.” She murmured as she walked away, searching her plate with wide eyes for the answer to her question. Alice reached the table before she realized, her thigh scraping it slightly.

“Hm.” She muttered, instead of ‘ouch.’, plopping down across from Piper and setting her food down.

“I didn’t get sausage.” Alice pointed out with a frown. “Do you think sausage is wonderful, Piper?” She inquired, finally looking up from her breakfast to Piper, waiting patiently for her to respond.

[Piper Crumin]

Alice was eccentric. She took her uniqueness in stride. She stared unwaveringly at Piper, she watched things like Piper's mouth a little too closely for Piper to feel completely comfortable. She flounced and bounded, truly a testimony to the Great American Jackalope. Her existence screamed strange and unique and quirky. Piper sorta liked it.

Then again, she was getting out of the "hating everything and wishing everyone was dead" stage of her life. Alice moved without purpose, which was a very strange change to what people were.

Piper couldn't help but reach up to her brow bone and touch her left eyebrow. Her eyebrows were bushy and thick and not at all appealing like other girls'. Despite this, she couldn't help but feel flattered. After all, she felt her eyes were one of her few redeemable traits. Alice was off getting food, and Piper smiled a bit. Company? Indeed, she had gotten what she wanted.

She couldn't help but wonder if there was any catches. After all, her amazing power had one, an amazing friend had to have one, too.

Alice returned with a plate of food. Piper's mouth twitched in jealousy, but it was gone in a moment, as she was too tickled to have a companion.

She shrugged at Alice's question. Sausage being wonderful? It really smelled like wonderful. She flipped her hair back again, this time fishing a black headband out of her bookbag nearby. She put it on, shoving her hair back off of her face. Usually she only used her headbands during training so far, just to keep her hair away so she could see right, but she wanted to seem open and not hidden under her dark bangs.

"I haven't had sausage in ages." Piper admitted, popping a vitamin into her mouth and taking a swig from her bottle of water to wash it down. "It's hard to make it completely safe and sanitary. Plus, the school's food is rather generic." She sighed, leaning her palm. "But it's probably so wonderful."

Piper was feeling sorry for herself, and she caught herself at once. She shook her head, her hair going in every which direction for just a split second.

"Sorry." She mumbled, pushing her empty plate to the side of the table, and produced an apple from her bag. The teenager took a bite, chewed quickly and swallowed. "Tell me about yourself, Alice."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“Its probably gross.” Alice retorted thoughtfully, rolling an egg between the palms of her hands. She kneaded it gently, the shell cracking and flaking as she rolled it back and forth, staring blankly into the distance behind Piper’s shoulder. “Its greasy. And….and grey. Not appetizing at all.” She murmured, putting the egg back on her plate and unfolded a napkin over her lap, clapping her hands together so that the leftover shell fell from her skin and was caught by the napkin.

She smiled as Piper tugged her hair back in a headband. “Headband. Smart.” Alice commented offhandedly. She could never tame her hair under a headband. Even now, though it was pulled into a loose ponytail, the shorter strands at the front occasionally fell into her eyes and the ponytail was far too loose around her ears, sagging like a grocery back with only a few items in it.

Peeling the last flakes of shell from her first hardboiled egg and seizing a saltshaker, Alice shook her head. “My name is Alice Constance Perette-Johnston. My eyes are green.” She flicked the shell into the napkin in her lap and turned some salt onto the egg. “My hair is blonde and I am five feet and nine inches tall. I try to ignore how much I weigh.” She said, taking a satisfied bite out of her egg.

“I was born in New Mexico…” She chewed thoughtfully, frowning a bit as she tried to come up with more things about herself. Alice inhaled quickly through her nose, quickly swallowing the bite of her egg and setting her hands on either side of the table. “Oh! I have a penpal there. His name is Peter.” Alice said proudly, nodding emphatically.

She wasn’t sure if she’d gotten everything Piper wanted to know, but was pretty sure she’d accurately described herself.

[Piper Crumin]

It was nice of Alice to tell Piper about the gross sausage. Honestly, Piper would do anything for it- it smelled so wonderful she wouldn't care what color it was if she wasn't so afraid.

And she really needed to stop moping, so she turned her attention back to Alice, who was talking about herself and headbands.

"New Mexico, huh?" Piper's leg twitched, so she brought it up to her chest. "I grew up in Chicago, though it isn't as musical as some people think." she smirked at her cleverness, "but when I was eight I had to move to my godfather's house. He lives in Northern Washington, so it's usually rather cold and rainy, but when it's sunny, it's so green and wonderful."

She looked harder at Alice. "I don't mean to pry, but I haven't really met anyone else here and so I don't know what is really normal, and I was just wondering-" She was rambling, so she stopped, took a breath and started again. "What can you do? I mean, what makes you special? What makes you here instead of another school?"

She was terrible at this.

"What's your superpower?" Piper finalized, the right words not coming, but decent replacements seemed fine.

(((sorry about the length and the wait- I'm just starting to get back in the swing of writing.)))

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“Northerner all your life, Hm?” She said with a sweet smile, leaning her elbows on the table and spinning her remaining egg on her plate. “You should visit New Mexico with me some time. Peter says the desert is beautiful, but I grew up right by the ocean.” Alice explained, nodding emphatically as though she believed there was actually an ocean in New Mexico.

Alice blinked dumbly at Piper, the lines that defined her form warping slightly as Alice concentrated on a proper answer. “I don’t have one.” was the best she could come up with, though her voice sounded distracted and distant as she gave it, her eyes flickering on Piper’s liquid form.

Was Piper showing off? Or was Alice seeing things.

I mean, what makes you special?

Special was an interesting word. Alice didn’t like it when people used it in the place of “different,” but would let Piper slide just this once.

Since second Piper mentioned that she didn't know 'normal,' Alice had decided she liked her. Piper reminded her that she wasn't alone. She was allowed feel strange in this place full of strangeness; she and Piper shared that fear of never belonging. She liked Piper, so she would let her slide.

Piper was curious and polite…and she could do that squiggly body thing!

The more Alice thought about Piper’s form being less defined, the more other things in the room responded in kind.

“Special?” Alice echoed softly after having been silent for an extended period of time. She held up the egg she was spinning on her plate, cradling it in the palm of her hand. She closed her fingers on it, trying to convince it to hold its shape. When she opened her hands again, it continued its amoeba-like dance, this time concentrating on sharing it with Piper, just as she had been taught. The projection was clear and defined, and suddenly the entire cafeteria could see Alice's egg become a morphing blob if they looked hard enough.

“My world is special.” Alice finally replied, smiling dreamily. “I guess that’s kind of a superpower.”

((No pressure. The length was just fine, the wait was shorter than some that I've had. ))

[Piper Crumin]

The world suddenly seemed to fade away, like mud off in clear stream. She looked at her apple, but it seemed that its definition was fading. Her dark blue eyes looked over toward Alice, who seemed was holding her hard-boiled egg in her palm, looking at it intensely.

Her light eyes didn't blink, so was she mesmerized by what she was watching. The egg was dancing. It was like some weird computer graphic. Things like that shouldn't happen in real life. It was... unreal. Her eyes widened and watched the white egg jiggle and dance all on its own.

"That's incredible, Alice." Piper began, "And that's not the world, that's you." She was mostly in shock. Why could Piper see this? Was it telekinesis, or was it some sort of illusion? At least Piper could understand her own power.

It was things like this that really freaked out Piper. This was whys he was so afraid of being in this school. Her heart suddenly beat a bit faster, and she reached over, putting her hand over the egg. "That's really cool," she flinched a bit at it, "Do you control it well or what?"

(((Again, sorry about the length, I'm just off my game and I don't know how to get it back.)))

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice laughed a bit and put her egg down, spinning it on her plate absently. When it finally came to a rest, the world stopped spinning with it. The room settled, and all things regained their defined, still form. She smiled, looking around her.

“It comes and goes for me. What you saw is what I see. All the time.” Alice explained, pressing her palms together and putting the sides of her fingers against her smiling lips. Looking thoughtful for a moment, Alice turned her big eyes to the ceiling.

“Mmm. The doctors here says its because I don’t sleep.” She giggled. “I live my dreams when I’m awake, since I can’t do it while I’m sleeping.” Alice leaned her elbows on the table and tilted her head, her smile fading slightly.
“I don’t know what is and isn’t, most times. So controlling it is hard.” Alice said softly. “Since I can remember, I’ve seen like this. I thought it was normal.” She sighed a bit, then suddenly shrugged and looked to Piper.

“So I assume it wasn’t you doing that….” Alice brought her hands near her face and flopped them around, making a silly face to illustrate the moment that she herself had created. “…that thing? I thought it was. It started with you. What can you do?”

[Piper Crumin]

Piper figured that's what it was about those mental and emotional abilities. It seemed that a lot of people struggled with making them work and controlling them. Alice was no exception. Piper was happy that she wasn't like that. It would be so hard for her to have something like that she couldn't control. It was frightening even thinking that, with the exception of those that had been there for awhile, a lot of the kids here didn't really know how to or couldn't control things like that.

Meaning that, people like Alice, who could change how people saw reality, didn't have a good grip on things. But to be able to project dreams and never to sleep. Piper wished she never had to sleep, but she had to, and sometimes she felt like it was a waste of time. Alice must have too much fun just being up all the time, but perhaps life only seemed like one long, frustrating day. Piper knew that's what she would feel like.

And perhaps her dreams weren't as magical as dreams should be. Piper often dreamed of her mother, but without being asleep she wondered if fathoming something like that would even be possible. She sighed, bringing a lock of her hair forward to suck on.

But, despite her fearfulness and her wonderment of Alice's gift, her ability seemed far more uninteresting. Sure, it was neat, and having something like it was cool to begin with, but it wasn't magical or cool. She felt more like Spiderman more than anything as of late. She sighed again, looking back at Alice.

"My power is far less cool, and it comes with some killer drawbacks, but basically, I can-" She paused; how could she explain what she could do without sounding stupid? She looked at her half-eaten apple, and tossed it into the air, catching it on the back of her hand. She turned it back into her palm. "I have perfect balance. I can also jump and move really fast. It's hard to explain." With her other hand she picked up a fork, and with one of its prongs she balanced it on her finger, unwavering. "My body just does what I tell it to do. It's really strange."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“Less cool?” Alice replied skeptically, screwing up her face and shaking her head. “I doubt it. I’m sure everything you do is awesome-cool.” She chirruped in a silly way; sillier than she usually was. Clearly Alice was lightening the mood with a little old fashioned teen-girl silliness. If she knew this or now was questionable, but all the same she remained raptly attentive of each of Piper’s moves.

“Wow…” Alice said in a loud whisper, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re like a bird on a wire! Swift! Dainty!” She described, giving Piper a little golf clap. “I bet your high wire act is great.” Alice said with a little giggle at her own joke.

When Piper described herself as strange, Alice shook her head. “I once saw a boy accidentally loose his arm. No blood. No anything. It just fell off, like a ken doll.” Alice smiled, reaching across the table and patting Piper awkwardly on top of her head. “Nothing was strange to me to begin with…but now everything is normal.” Tucking the strand of hair Piper was munching on behind the girls ear, Alice stopped leaning over the table and flopped back in her seat.

She had no idea how Piper might feel about being touched, nor did it even cross her mind. Usually Alice just acted!

[Piper Crumin]

A bird on a wire. Piper had never thought of herself like that. She only saw herself as odd- like tree-frog among lizards- strange and able to do things that they never could. And she never really thought about high-wire-acts. Sure, she could probably become quite successful at that, but she wanted to be more normal than abnormal. But thinking about it, she wouldn't mind being in a beautiful outfit made just for her and to be higher than all and to hear people gasp and gaze up at her, entranced by her silhouette upon a paper-thin wire.

That didn't sound too terrible. To be adored by your gift instead of hated for it.

She smiled mostly to herself, "High-wire, eh? Maybe I'll try it sometime." She flicked the fork with one of her fingers, making it spin, "And that arm thing is gross. I know that some people are able to do that, and they're probably used to it, but it must be hard. I can't imagine what it'd be like if you lost your arm in the middle of the street. Would people just freak out all aruond you and you'd be lynched or something?" She sighed, "scary stuff, though."

With her eyes on her fork, her mind lingering on powers and balance and everything that Alice had said, she was not prepared for Alice's sudden touch.

Piper dropped her fork, blushing furiously. Her periwinkle eyes were wide as she just stared at the other girl. She ran an hand through her hair nervously, the heavy brown hair feeling even heavier in her hand.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“You should. I’d bet someone could even make you a costume. Maybe someone with super sight would be very good at sewing all those little sparkly things onto a bathing suit. You’d be rich!” Alice giggled at the lofty and only slightly plausible dream. Piper would make a great performer, thought Alice.

Alice blinked at Piper, picking up a piece of toast and staring at it oddly. “Mmm. I think that person could convince people it was prosthetic, so long as they didn’t wiggle-wiggle too much.” Alice added with another little giggle a bite of her toast.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” She said nonchalantly after a bit of a silence. Alice was still staring at her toast, too embarrassed to look at Piper. She forgot about personal space. Some people liked it more than others. Alice was just too laid back. Despite her embarrassment, Alice strove to make sure the moment wasn’t awkward. The best thing to do in bad situations was keep moving as if nothing had happened.

Reality that was ignored sometimes became un-reality.

[Piper Crumin]

Face still ablaze, Piper waved away Alice's worries with a flap of her hand.

"No, honestly it's fine. I'm just not used to being-" she cut off, "It's fine, I promise." she gave her best disarming smile, shaking as she picked up her fork and put it back on the tray.

Piper now wished she hadn't up the headband on, just because she was embarrassed that she had gotten so flustered over a simple touch, and he really wanted something to hide under, and her hair would be perfect for this opportunity. And it wasn't because she was an awkward teenage girl, scared of her sexuality. Okay, it wasn't just because she was an awkward teenage girl scared of her sexuality. It was because, for Piper, it was just strange to meet someone so wonderful and sweet and someone who didn't hate her. That was very odd. And to get a touch that was in kindness, none of this computed with Piper's mind. She had been an outcast for such a long time, and even meeting the magical fairy princess that was Alice, made Piper unsure how to act and behave.

She took a deep breath in, trying to make her body stop reacting so radically from something so simple.

"So.... you can't sleep. What do you do with all that extra free time?" Piper continued, trying to make her embarrassment that embarrassed Alice something less than what it was. She knew that neither of them should be embarrassed; that was just silly, but Piper's face was still quite warm.