Put on your Sunday clothes [Gabriel & Uriel]

[Noralei Harris]

*--outfit

Summer was a time for children to do doing nothing. Nora wasn’t good at sitting around idle- she worked at the shelter half of the summer and then she was out with her friends for the rest of it. But this summer her friends had all scattered- some on vacation, others working- so one Monday, she found herself without plans. It was a foreign concept for her, of course. Normally she was out stapling posters onto walls or walking her dogs around. But the dogs had been walked, chickens fed, cat brushed (resulting in a scratch on her arm from his impatience) and her Phantom of The Opera cravings had been satisfied for the week. Now she had nothing to do and a craving for a slushie from the gas station downtown.

It was no secret that the downtown BP gas station made more money from its food products then its gas. With forty-four ounce drinks costing only a dollar, and their slushies costing only seventy-five cents for twenty ounce cups, teenagers flocked to the station to buy their daily caffeine fix. Nora wasn’t addicted to caffeine like some people she knew, but she did like it every now and again. With the heat index skyrocketing, now seemed like a lovely time to grab a nice, cold drink.

Hopping on her bike, she pedaled off after attempting to call her parents from her cell phone. She discovered it was dead and plugged it in to charge, calling them from the house phone instead. After that, she left. Her cell phone remained behind- she rarely used it anyway. Her brother was over at a friend’s for the whole day, so she didn’t have to worry about bringing him. It was just her and her bright red bicycle.

After a couple minutes of pedaling, Nora paused to catch her breath and found herself at the top of the town’s tallest hill, which led at a steep slope straight down to the gas station. It was an ideal spot- she literally could ride her bike into the front door if she didn’t stop. It had been done more than enough times by careless kids already; the gas station door was now made of two shatter-proof glass panels because of it.

After a moment’s rest, Nora hopped back onto her bike seat and pointed herself toward that station. The roads were quiet today- so much so that she could ride down the middle of the street. She pedaled once, twice, three times, and then sat back and let the bike carry her down. After a second, her legs hugged the frame and she removed her hands from the handle bars. Gripping the back of her seat, she let out a whoop as she hurtled down the hill, flying past other pedestrians and awed children.

Her hair streamed out behind her as her velocity increased, and her hat almost flew off- she had to hold it down with one hand to keep it from being whisked off her head. Finally She hurtled toward the gas station and, rather than grabbing the handle bars, steered with her legs, leaning slightly to the left as her bike swerved into the empty space between the gas pump and the station. It was only then that she grabbed her handle bar and applied the brake, skidding across the concrete and leaving a black rubber burn on the surface- similar to a lot of others that had been put there previously. She propped her bike up against the wall and adjusted her hat before bouncing her way into the gas station, pausing by the slushie machine as she attempted to decide what flavor to buy.

“Coke is a classic, perfect for summer, but blue raspberry is far more whimsical. Decisions, decisions...”

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

Emerging from a chemistry class, Gabriel and Uriel Raines had gone straight to... a park bench on Hammel campus, doing homework. Gabriel helped Uriel, who figured it out mostly on his own, and soon enough, they were done. What to do now? They debated exercising, but had already done that this morning. Swimming? Didn't feel like changing.

They could always sign themselves off campus and go get something to drink - like a slurpee. Yum.

But they'd just gotten back on campus, and that made them feel bad for coming back on Sunday afternoon and leaving again Monday afternoon. But once their mind had thought 'slurpee,' it's all they could think of.

They even sincerely tried to get it out of their heads! They went back to their room, they cleaned up what little mess they had in there, and then flopped onto their appropriate beds. No words were needed as Gabriel picked up their guitar and started playing, Uriel laying back and closing his eyes.

After maybe half an hour of this, it was no use. They'd given up, completely. Slurpees or bust was all that was on their combined mind.

Putting the guitar back up, they rose once again, and left their room, heading for the head office to sign out. When the secretary asked why, the both looked at each other, then down at the ground, mumbling, "Slurpees." "Slurpees." in unison.

At the agreement to be gone for no longer than two hours, the twins were free. They did a very casual fist bump as they left, walking off of campus with pride. The cheapest gas station was obviously the BP, and that was their goal. They didn't mind walking - never hurt anyone - and they had that supertwin thing going on, where they were all around just super awesome, so it wasn't like walking was any big deal for them.

Except this heat was pretty dreadful, and the BP was an awfully long way away.

They were both in shorts, Uriel in khaki and Gabriel in navy blue, Uriel wearing a red shirt and Gabriel in a white one. So it really wasn't such a big deal, with the colors or the heaviness of the fabric, it was just that it was so. Warm. For Vermont, at least. If they were back in Texas, they felt they'd have happily adapted to the heat by now, and this would be nothing.

But living up here for six years? Made it a little harder.

As they finally reached the BP station, they at first just stood at the front, basking in the cool air. It was just so nice! Who wouldn't love it? A nice air conditioned building was something to appreciate at all times. Gabriel check his phone, taking note that it was a 30 minute walk to get here, leaving with an hour before they had to walk back.

Their eyes rested on the machine at the same time, and their brain could only rejoice at the big SLUSHIE sign. It was pretty much what they imagined heaven looked like.

Walking towards it, both with big grins, they saw what they hoped was a familiar person. And of course, their eyes were very rarely wrong, so they felt they should try and sneak up on her. Uriel magically seemed to disappeared in moments, as Gabriel walked silently up behind her.

Hearing what she had to say, he couldn't just scare her - she was speaking madness! It had to be a heatstroke. With an aghast look on his face, and his chest almost touching her, he spoke.

"Coke be the classic?! Are you mad, woman? Starking mad?" He clicked his tongue disprovingly, shaking his head, and giving the best stern, disappointed face he could make. "Young lady, obviously the classic flavor is cherry. You must be having a heatstroke." Gabriel said, putting the back of his hand to Noralei's forehead to make sure she wasn't feverish.

As she was turned facing Gabriel, Uriel had snuck up behind her, as close as Gabriel had been - chest just almost touching her. "Nahh, she's just young! I feel like the younger generation is just so confused these days.." He said, shaking his head with remorse as he pat Noralei patronizingly on her head. Well, her hat.

[Noralei Harris]

In mid-reach for a slushie cup, Nora suddenly felt the presence of someone behind her. She whirled around just in time to see one of the twins she had met on Friday standing there, clucking at her like he was one of her hens. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back so she could see him properly. A quick glance to his right cheek proved that Gabriel was the one insulting her tastes. “Cherry is disgusting! Tastes just like cough syrup.” She cried out in mock indignation, pausing in her frown only as he pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. It was a nice, cold sensation and she rather liked it. She realized how odd she must look through and pulled her head away from his hand, effectively stepping back into Uriel.

Nora turned on her heel so they were on her left and right rather than in front of or behind her. This way she could keep an eye on both of them. Uriel patted Nora on the head and she rolled her eyes, fixing her hat. “I think blue raspberry is a fantastic flavor, and so that is what I shall buy.” She said, stepping around Uriel to grab her cup and fill it. As she did, she realized she was supposed to be texting them but had completely forgot. She would have to make up for it somehow in a way not involving disgusting cherry slushies.

After the cup was filled to the brim, Nora took a sip and nodded in approval before sticking the dome-shaped lid on it. “So what takes you two out of school?” She asked, stepping aside so they could get their beverages. “Campus boring you, or are you just out for a leisurely stroll, terrorizing impressionable young girls?” She felt much more at ease with them in the gas station than she had been at the party. She was on home turf now, in much more comfortable clothes. She palmed three quarters from her pocket and handed them to the cashier, who took it while Nora waited on the twins, deciding that she’d hang out with them since she had nothing better to do than take her slushie and go home.

In all honesty she really did plan on texting them after the party, but no opportunity to hang out had arisen, and now that she did have a moment her phone had gone dead at the worst of times. She wasn’t concerned though; she expected them to be good-natured enough to let her lack of texting slide.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

Both boys gasped, throwing their hands over their heart as it they were having a stroke. "What?! Cherry taste like cough syrup?!" "What?! Cherry taste like cough syrup?!" They both asked, appalled at her awful taste in.. flavors.

Uriel sighed, looking at Gabriel sadly, as if Noralei were a lost cause. "I told you.. then younger they are, the more confused." Gabriel nodded. "Must be so, now don't get us wrong, we like blue raspberry too.." As if to prove it, he leaned over, taking a drink from Noralei's slurpee. Not a big one, but enough to make his tongue blue.

Uriel grinned. "Hope you're not a germophobe." He winked. Gabriel shook his head at how she had made her icee. "You even make them wrong, I didn't think it was possible.." He laughed. "Look, here's how you do it." He instructed, putting the lid onto the cup first, before beginning to fill it. "Look, see? It's why the things are shaped like that, also, you get more slushie this way."

Gabriel filling up the largest slushie cup offered, starting a second one and handing the first to Uriel. Uriel grabbed two straws, and paid for the two slushies, beginning to drink his, almost moaning. "Mmph! Mm, Slurpee.." He said, happiness all over his face.

At the question about campus, Gabriel glanced to Uriel, taking a drink of his new topped off slurpee. "Ruining impressionable young girls, definitely." He said, nodding with the most serious face he could muster. Uriel laughed. "We got bored, and wanted a slushie, and once you think it, it just doesn't go away.. so we signed out to go off campus and came here!"

"Lucky us, we didn't have to go looking for those impressionable young ladies, she came right to us!" He said with a smile to Noralei. "So what brings you out here? The lovely weather has to be a part of it, and you're strong desire to be.. impressioned.." It was totally a word. Definitely.

[Noralei Harris]

Even though they were twins and she sort of anticipated their reaction, the simultaneous outburst made Nora laugh out loud. “How do you two do that?” she asked light-heartedly, not really expecting an answer, evident from her wide smile and her dissipating chuckling. The idea of the two of them being metas never even crossed her mind, if only because she had never seen a meta-human in her life. If she ever did think about what such an experience would be like, she imagined it to be a lot like meeting a superhero, only real, and not in a strange costume. If not that, they would at least exude some form of identification- showing their powers, or something. She doubted any metas lived in Pilot Ridge. What a silly thought. Why would they come here? There wasn’t anything important to be found in such a small town anyway.

The teen rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, trying to play the part of the misunderstood and angst-ridden teenager they were making her out to be. She was certain she was only a year younger than they were, so they shouldn’t be judging her, but she knew it was all in good fun. She didn’t even mind Gabriel taking a sip of her slushie. “Hey now, get your own!” She laughed, watching as he did just that.

“I don’t mind.” She didn’t even bother wiping off the straw, merely shrugged and took another sip. She realized her error in filling the cup and shrugged it off again, smiling. She normally didn’t drink all of it anyway, even with her improper filling method. When it got all melted and syrupy, she pitched the whole thing into the trash- the cups were biodegradable, but the straws and the cap were not, which was yet another reason why she didn’t drink them as much as other people. It was the little things that she did that made the biggest impact, in her eyes.

Nodding at their jointed explanation to why they were out wandering, Nora felt that it was a good time to apologize for not texting. “Sorry for the lack of texting you, I had a busy weekend.” She had pulled a five hour shift at the shelter on Saturday because of an organized adoption event, that was why she had forgotten. It was longer than she was used to, but worth the effort. They had managed to get fifteen dogs and twelve cats adopted- that had freed up a lot of space for the remaining canines and felines.

“Me? I just biked down to get a slushie. I was going to probably bike back home to watch a movie.” She jerked her thumb toward the window and the bike across from them, the red paint gleaming in the sun. She wondered if they had seen her, bike in or if they had missed it. Judging by their lack of excited questions about how she could ride a bike and steer with no hands, they had missed it. She wasn’t really all that concerned about it. “If you two aren’t busy-”

She paused, realizing that inviting them over wasn’t an optimal idea. They were rich and had a nice house, hers was, well, not as nice. It wasn’t messy- her mother would never allow such a thing- but it wasn’t nearly as big, or as polished and primed for guests. Still, maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. She could introduce them to her pets. “You could... Come over. To watch a movie. If you want.” She sounded so lame, even the cashier snickered- a senior from high school that figured Nora to be way out of her league.

Taking a sip of her slushie, Nora pretended not to notice and instead focused on the wonderful flavor of her icy confection.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

They both just sat there, drinking their slushies without taking a breath as she talked, nodding and listening. After they'd both finished easily a quarter of their slushies, they looked at each other, sticking their tongues out at each other, Gabriel's a purple and Uriel's a red - and they told each other so, in unison.

"Red." "Purple." Before chuckling. At her apology for texting, Uriel waved his hand. "It's no big, we were at home doing homework and drink copious amounts of champagne. Just kidding." He added, Gabriel rolling his eyes and batting a hand to Uriel's head.

"I.. didn't even know you had our numbers! Glad Uriel was smart enough to give them to you." He lied, and fairly well at that. At the invitation to come over for a movie, he paused, and had and Uriel had some quick and silent thoughts to each other. They only had an hour. One of them could sprint back and sign them out for longer - it was take five minutes, max. They did had some homework, and now had some slurpees. They didn't want to be rude.

But the thought that really won out was that they wanted to spend time with her.

"I'll... Yes! Yes, we'd love too, that sounds excellent!" He siad, grinning and meaning it sincerely. At the snicker from the cashier, Gabriel and Uriel both shot the cashier a curious glare. "I think we ought to call the front desk.." Uriel said, trailing off.

Gabriel pulled his phone from his pocket, Uriel taking Gabriel's slushie. "I got it. Be right back." He smiled. As he left, he tucked his phone back into his pocket, waiting until Uriel and Nora couldn't see, before he quite literally, bolt off. The sprint back to school was a short one, and there weren't a lot of people - a fact he was grateful for. He got there, requesting to sign out for another few hours, till nine pm at latest, before he ran back.

Meanwhile, Uriel was testing the waters about Noralei and metas, as he looked down and saw an article titled 'Metahumans among us?' in a newspaper. He chuckled, glancing down to it so Noralei would know where the question was coming from. "What do you think about the.. potential that metas supposedly live in Pilot Ridge? Crazy.." He didn't say how he felt about metas - just the rumors. And he did find the rumors crazy - why wouldn't metas hide out in a tiny town at an elite school? He didn't care what she thought about where they were - just how she felt about them. They wouldn't reveal it to her till the time was right, that was certain.

[Noralei Harris]

Nora stuck her tongue out as they did, revealing that it, along with her front teeth, were stained a lovely shade of neon blue. “Blue.” She chimed, laughing with them, and then laughing harder at Uriel’s comment of drinking ample amounts of alcohol. She doubted it from the moment he said it, they seemed way too nice and good to indulge in such ‘irresponsible behavior’. She recalled a time when her sister got drunk after her state championship lacrosse win and called Nora in an alcohol induced panic because she couldn’t drive home- not because she was drunk, but because she couldn’t find her keys. This resulted in Nora having to call her friends to help her pick her sister up and drive her home. They found the keys- they were in the ignition of her car. Nora hadn’t told her parents about it- it was only once, and Marilee’s awful hangover was punishment enough.

Blinking, she nodded. “I thought you knew. Sorry.” She thought Uriel would have told his brother about her having their numbers, but she suspected he had forgotten. That was alright though, no harm done. She had to remember to start texting now, she didn’t do it much because, unlike a lot of her geeky friends, she wasn’t tech obsessed enough to beg her parents for a full keyboard phone. In fact, her phone was so ancient that they actually kept offering to buy her a new one. She told them no, once it was dead beyond repair she would get a new device- all they could do was throw their hands up in the air, jokingly wishing for a normal teenager to spoil.

Their acceptance to her invitation excited Nora- she could make popcorn and they could watch movies on the downstairs TV in the living room rather than the little one she and Marilee had bought together for their room. Her Dad would be home from work before her Mom, but with his schedule the twins would probably already be gone by the time he got back home- even if he didn’t go to the mall and have some coffee while waiting on her Mom. They carpooled a lot these days, she’d have to check the garage to see if her Mom’s car was still inside.

As Gabriel left, Nora couldn’t help but watch him go for a moment longer than she probably was supposed to. Snapping her attention back to Uriel, she smiled before looking away, down to the chocolate bars and magazines- Cosmo had, once again, put out another issue based solely around sex. She wrinkled her nose and moved on.

Uriel’s question came as a surprise to her, and she looked at the paper, blinking, before giving a shrug. “I think they’re overreacting, honestly.” She took a sip of her drink again, pausing to look at the ceiling and think about it. “I mean, they obviously exist. You see metas on the news broadcasts when something bad happens. But I think that there aren’t nearly as many as we say, you know? I’ve never seen a meta in my life. Besides, why would they come here?” She worried her lip. “We live in such a tight knit community, coming here would be a bad idea, since a lot of people find them, I don’t know, offensive. All in all, I don’t see a point in moving here to such a random place. New York City, maybe, but here, no.” she wasn’t saying she found them offensive- she had never met one to pass judgment on. But she couldn’t see what Pilot Ridge would hold for them, other than a great view of the mountains on occasion.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

They loved her laugh, and they loved even more being the cause of it as she laughed with their tongue color-fiasco, and at their joke about drinking copious amounts of champagne - it was nice. It was a real, not some fruity giggle some girls did, not delicate or heavy or boisterous or loud or soft or gentle - it was just nice. They liked it.

At her reaction, Uriel - and thus, Gabriel too - felt their hearts freezing up. Offensive? Metas were offensive? Uriel chuckled at her, grinning, acting like what she did hasn't completely freaked them out. "Haha, how would you know if you've met one? I've heard some have pretty weird or useless powers you can't see unless they specifically show you." He joked, grinning. He was freaking out. Offensive. She found them offensive? This was bad. Maybe they shouldn't go to her palce for movies.

"Offensive? Why do you find them offensive?" Trying to act like he wasn't completely invested in her answer, glancing around at the rest of the gas station. "Oh! Popcorn! Do y'all have popcorn? Also, m&ms? Have you ever put your m&ms in popcorn?" He asked, eyes alight like a little kids.

What if she hated metas? Did she hate metas? He was almost completely sure she'd met others and just hadn't known it - they were crawling all over Pilot Ridge. What if she found them offensive? They would still go to her movie thing, and then just tell her they couldn't be friends.

But they didn't want to. They had to! Maybe if she knew them as people first, and then metas.. no, then she'd call them liars. This was why they didn't like dealing with people. They loved humans, but they hated people not liking them. What if she didn't?

Uriel was getting warmer by Gabriel's exertion, him finally walking back in, tucking his cell phone back into his pocket again and maybe just a touch sweaty, as Uriel had absorbed most of the heat into his air conditioned body.

Gabriel, not letting the fear of her hating metas, clapped his hands together with a grin and a light on in his eyes. "All right! We're game, ready whenever you are." He said, taking his slurpee back from Uriel and giving Noralei and charming smile. Would befriending her as humans and then telling her they were metas make her mad..? They were just scared. They liked her, she had something special that made them want to spend time with her.. but it couldn't last much longer unless she knew the truth that they wouldn't tell her unless she could accept it.

[Noralei Harris]

The younger twin’s acting was so good that Nora didn’t even notice any change as he continued the conversation about metas. She cocked her head to the side as he mentioned some metas had obscure powers, and she blinked before shaking her head. “I don’t know. Maybe I have. If I’ve met any, they’ve done a good job hiding it.” That was true. She never had any inkling that someone she had talked to was a meta, not ever. She could think of a few people she knew at school that could be, but that kind of thinking was only as a joke, not seriously.

“I’m not all that interested in seeing things float or getting my mind read anyway, so it’s not like I’d go around asking.” If she knew she was talking to a meta, she probably wouldn’t have said that- it could be considered offensive, like she was thinking all metas were... What was the word? Telekinetic and... Televisonic? No. Telecommunic? Something like that.

Thanks to her inner debate, she had almost missed his question about metas being offensive to her. “Well, I-” He cut her off though, and she vowed to right that later, turning instead to the question about popcorn. “Popcorn, yes. We don’t have M&M’s, I think. We normally don’t have chocolate in the house- I’m not much of a chocolate lover, and Guylan will make himself sick off it if we aren’t careful.” Little children rarely knew what was bad for them, after all. “But I can look when we get back, unless you want to buy a bag.”

“So- oh hi, Gabriel.” The girl waved at the older twin’s return, once again cut off from correcting Uriel. Oh well. What did it matter, anyway? The girl adjusted her purse so it was resting at a good spot on her shoulder, and headed for the door with the two of them in tow. “I’ll lead the way on my bike then.” She said, hopping on as she pushed it away from the wall. She looked up at the hill in front of her and sighed. “Or... Not.” She climbed off again, deciding to push it up the hill instead of riding it and ending up out of breath.

Realizing that their taste in movies may be different than hers, Nora turned to look at them, smiling brightly. “Do you two like musicals?” If so, then they had no idea what was in store for them. She had musical movies up to her eyeballs at her house, and she couldn’t wait to find one they would appreciate. Uriel's question about metas was all but forgotten now, pushed to the back of her head.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

At the mention of all the problems chocolate caused her family, Uriel nodded as he bought a bag. "Got it. We'll take the leftovers with us." He winked with a grin. To add, he laughed at her joke about not wanting to see things float or have her mind read - good thing they didn't have either of those powers.. At them heading outside, Uriel and Gabriel exchanged a meaningful glanced, behind Noralei's back, before going back to being on either side of her.

At seeing Noralei beginning to push her bicycle up the hill, Gabriel rolled his eyes, reaching a hand up and taking it from her. "Come now, let us be the gentlemen we were raised to be." He said, with a charming grin. He wouldn't ride it, he didn't particularly want to up this hill at all, but he could take it from her.

He kept it up and going in one hand, drinking from his slurpee with the other. "So did you kids play nice while I was gone?" He teased, grinning as Uriel rolled his eyes. "You're not much older than me, I feel like you can't call me kid. Noralei has no excuse.." He added with a laugh, Gabriel nodding.

At the mention of musicals, both looked at her mischievously. "Ooh, which musicals?" "December 24th, nine pm, eastern standard time! We're on and I shoot without a script! See if anything, comes of this!" "See if anything comes of this!" The started in unison, before laughing.

"We know loads of musicals, love them. What did you have in mind?" He asked, smiling. They knew loads, thanks to their mother, but even if she had something they hadn't heard or seen - they were of course always willing to expand their horizons. Especially if it meant they could keep seeing Noralei's smile.

They both mentally, though, freaking out, talking to themselves in their heads - or rather, to each other. Should they bring it up again? Would that seem suspicious? Should they tell her? Should they tell her today? They felt like they were lying to her by leaving out such a critical part of them, but if she was offended by them..

They had to find out. One way or the other, they had to find out. Gabriel would, this time, as Uriel had already asked - and she didn't realize that they were currently all but the same person.

[Noralei Harris]

“Oh. Sure, if you want.” Passing off the bike to Gabriel without a second thought, Nora sipped her slushie and tried to remember if they had any soda in the house. Her drink would run low soon with the way she was drinking it, and she wasn’t sure how long the twins had until they polished off theirs. If they didn’t have soda, they would hopefully have something other than milk and water. Maybe her mother had pushed her cranberry juice to the back of the refrigerator on accident again. She’d have to dig through and look. The only thing she was sure of was the popcorn. She thought about making some to watch Phantom of the Opera with that morning, but had decided against it since it was so early, opting for a bowl of Rice Crispies instead.

At the mention of her age again, Nora rolled her eyes and sighed, feigning exasperation. “I’m sixteen guys, c’mon. I may be short, but I’m not a kid.” Even if her board of a chest said otherwise, she really was sixteen. Eventually she would have a real chest and could buy real bras above an A cup, and not still be able to wear kid’s clothes. At least, she hoped so. Until then, she’d make do.

The line from RENT was clever, and she nodded in appreciation. “Ah, RENT. A modern classic. No, I have something else in mind. Have you two ever seen Across the Universe?” It was a musical dedicated to The Beatles after all- in her house, it was a must have. When the movie came out, Nora had only been twelve, but she went with her parents and sister on opening night anyway, despite it being PG-13. Her Mother was pregnant with Guylan at the time, if she remembers right. The family thought it was brilliant. They had the soundtrack on CD and the DVD- their second copy, after their first one had been scratched up from their DVD player, having been watched so much. It was a fantastic movie, one worth remembering.

They reached the top of the hill fast enough, and Nora turned left toward her house, choosing the route that would take them by the elementary school. She wanted to see if the kids her brother was with for the day were there playing- if not, well, it was on the way anyway. “Or, we could watch Hello Dolly.” She pondered, humming one of the songs as they walked. She had watched the movie WALL-E with Guylan the other day when she babysat him, and the song had come up. It was her mother’s favorite musical.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

They turned with her towards the school, figuring she lived close by to them, and they weren't far from their house - you could go this way for a shortcut. They both seemed to be being awfully quiet, as they thought about whether she'd hate them or now.

They were metas - she'd acted like she was offended by metas, but she wasn't that type of girl. Would she be okay with them, but angry at them for not telling her? That was another potential problem. So many things could go wrong She could hate them, she could hate them she could hate the, or she could also kick them out of her house and hate them.

They both really liked her, and didn't want to lose her - as a friend, or as a chance at anything else. They were communicating silently to each other - more talking to themselves, but in a sense, to each other. Uriel's already brought it up. Gabriel hadn't been there and shouldn't have known.

At the mention of Across the Universe or Hello Dolly, the both paused. Beatles and cute, versus adorable, good music and cute. Well, actually, both were all of those. It was obvious to them, though, that the Beatles were very important to her family, so they answered in unison, "Across the Universe." "Across the Universe." before chuckling, acting like the 'in unison' thing didn't happen all the time.

After another long drink from his slurpee, Gabriel cleared his throat a little. "Soo.. anyone hear about that meta in Arizona, had some ability with fire and caused a huge wildfire...?" It was casual, at least, and it didn't sound like his and Uriel's future emotions depended on it.

The news had mostly covered the wildfires, but they had mentioned a recently-discovered meta caused it - on accident, he was young. He was also now at Hammel, but they chose not to mention that fact. Then they made them wonder - if she didn't realize how many metas were here, what did she think Hammel was for? Why did the think they were there, relocated from their home in Texas to Pilot Ridge, Vermont? Maybe she didn't know, maybe she thought Hammel was some elite school and they came here specifically for it.

Well, that wouldn't have exactly been a lie..

After the question was asked, Uriel casually took a long drink of his slurpee, so he could avoid commenting on it until Noralei had.

[Noralei Harris]

If Noralei knew the twins were metas, she probably would have gone a little more in-depth with her explanation. As it was, she happened to be oblivious to their plight. She didn’t know how much she was setting their nerves on edge. If she did know, she would have explained her views were currently neutral- she didn’t stereotype anyone, no matter what. She had friends from all over the spectrum, after all. Straight, gay, white, black, red, even blue (Yes, blue. Her friend Terra had blue hair.), all people were welcome in the Harris household. She didn’t see why meta-humans would be any different. The only problem was finding one.

They decided simultaneously and Nora had to laugh again. It was like they shared a brain, or something. She figured that was impossible anyway- her knowledge of meta powers was slim- and so she chalked it up to them living together for so long as a pair. Oh, if she only knew. If she did know, she probably would treat them the same, only she would likely ask a lot more questions about them sharing thoughts and the like. In the end, she took it in stride. “All righty, Beatles songs it is. I love Jim Sturgess. So does Jude. OH, YOU CAN MEET MY CHICKENS!”

The next sound that came from her mouth was something close to a ‘squee’ as she jumped into the air and fist pumped, excited that she got to show off her babies. She loved her chickens more than anything in the world; if anything bad happened to them she would likely fall into a state of depression that would rival the 1930’s. (Yes, that was a bad pun.) It was the same for all her animals really, except that damn cat her sister wouldn’t come back to get. She never thought she would ever hate an animal, but Viktor was really pushing her patience. She spotted him eyeing the couch the other day and had thrown him outside- yet another scratch on her arm was the result of that. If she got any more people would start thinking she was cutting herself or something.

“Oh, that’s funny. Uriel and I were talking about metas earlier.” Again, if she only knew, it wouldn’t be funny at all. “I didn’t hear about that, actually. That’s a shame- I hope everyone is okay.” She meant the meta too of course- if it was only an accident, anyway. “It was an accident, I hope. I can’t imagine anyone setting off a fire like that on purpose.” Even if the person was a meta, she couldn’t really hold it against meta-humans themselves. After all, it was like hating humans because one had set a fire using a lighter fluid and a box of matches.

As they passed the school, Nora noted her brother was not there. When they got to the end of the block she turned right- the opposite direction of the twin’s house, if she remembered right. Now they had to walk to the end of the street four blocks down, made a right at the ‘T’, then walk another two blocks two her house. All in all, it was a simple system. It was a lot faster to bike, anyway.

“So how was the party after we left? It didn’t go too late, did it?” she all but passed out in her bed when she got home afterward, she was so tired from watching Guylan. She woke up the next morning and found a new five dollar bill on her night stand though, so it wasn’t all bad.

[Gabriel & Uriel Raines]

Maybe they should give up. Maybe they should call friendship over and move on. Oh, but look at her smile, and her laugh! It was so pretty. So nice sounding. So nice. She was such a nice girl! Their parents would be thrilled if they knew they were even maybe thinking these things about Noralei.

Thrilled. Thrilled beyond understanding. Mostly because it was Noralei, and they loved her and her family. Partially because neither of their boys had brought home a girl as a romantic option, neither of them had ever had their first kiss, and neither seemed interested in girls as more than friends.

But Noralei. Look at her smile! And her eyes. Who wouldn't like those? Not these boys. They liked both things just fine. And she was just so gosh-darn cute, look at her get all excited about her chickens.

With a laugh, Gabriel shook his head. "I thought you secretly only wanted us in your house so we could meet the zoo!" He teased, Uriel nodding and adding it, "We thought the movie was just a lie so you could get us into your house with you! Both boys laughed.

"Well, Uriel, at least we know we're not being used." He said, holding his slushie holding hand to his heart in a sentimental manner. "Yes, I feel so much better, we were obviously so concerned. You look like such a malicious person-" Gabriel cut in after taking a drink of his slushie, continuing.

"Yes, in your little cropped pants and your crocheted-back shirt.." Uriel jumped in again, patting Noralei on the head once more. "And your cute little hat, aww, just look at it!" He laughed, jokingly pinching at Noralei's cheek - though certainly not hard. "Little malicious Noralei!" They teased her, both laughing.

They felt like they were doing a very good job at not panicking - especially at her response. She just didn't get it. It's okay, one day, when they told her and she liked them even more because of their meta-ness (or so they liked to hope), they would look back on this time fondly and laugh. Except Gabriel and Uriel would look back on it and just panic and be glad it's over.

They took careful note of the way to her house, as they would need to get back eventually. "It ended pretty shortly after y'all left - all the old people and young people were gone, so we had all those angry couples who either wanted a baby and were working on getting one and had to leave to go... try.. or the couples where one wanted one and the other didn't."

It was true, once you took out the old people and the people with young kids, you were left with the fun middle-aged people - who of course left eventually too, in lieu of a bed, and then the couples fighting about kids.

"Oh! Also, our parents told us they're pregnant." "Our parents told us they're pregnant." The said the end in unison once again, cursing themselves silently as they laughed outwardly as their tandem words. They had to focus on being more separated. They'd decided they didn't need to know her affiliation to metas, and in return, they could no let her know. Not. At. All. At least until they graduated, for sure. Maybe. They hoped.

[Noralei Harris]

“Oh you have to meet all of the animals. You can have the cat if you want, I insist.” Her parents would probably give her a prize for pawning that damn cat off on someone else. Marilee loved the monster, but as far as the rest of the Harris family was concerned, the thing was a menace. “You can meet my dogs too. I can’t pick any of them up for you though, of course.” She joked, referencing the way they had managed to pick up Royce like he was nothing at the party, even though she found it absolutely impossible. She could probably lift Regina still, but she was only a puppy, and she squirmed terribly.

The two of them started digging into her and she laughed, perfectly okay with having a joke at her own expense. She was used to it being much more malicious anyway, but coming from the twins she really could laugh about it and not worry. She tried to make a mean face but her expression was marred by Uriel pinching her cheek, and she broke out into another peal of laughter. She lifted her hat off her head and, as a joke, placed it on Gabriel’s cranium instead. She was confident that neither of them had lice. “Now he can be malicious. Wow Gabriel, you look so cunning in a cloche.” She joked, looking to Uriel for confirmation.

Explaining the people at the party to Noralei made her eyebrows knit together as she tried to picture angry-baby-couples. Nothing came to mind other than a really bad version of a Sims game she had played with her friends. Everyone was trying to have a kid or blow themselves up or make money, and it seemed like such a stupid concept for a video game. It was real life only not, because the relationships were almost as 2-D as the people. She thought it was stupid- almost as stupid as arguing about kids at a dinner party.

Mentioning their parents, however, made Nora excited- so much so she didn’t even think about them saying something in unison again. “Oh, that’s awesome!” She said, clapping her hands together happily. “Is it a boy or a girl? Do they know yet? What are they going to name it? What hospital do they plan on going to, my Mom knows this great one at Maddock... Are you two excited? Oh, I love babies, they’re so cuteeee.” She hummed happily, like she was the one getting a new family member rather than them. She really like kids, especially babies, that was evident from how much time she spent with her brother.

They finally arrived at the T and Nora pointed the way as they turned to the right again, pointing to her house down the street. “There’s my house down the way.” It looked so small compared to theirs. Even if it was clean, they still had mismatching furniture. Would they remember her comment about their furniture at the party? She hoped not.