Don't Kiss the Girl

[Jalen August]

Breathing hard, Jalen focused all her energy on the task at hand. Shattering a glass by sound waves had come naturally to the blond, but shattering a large dining room table full of them, took a lot of skill. Not only was power of will involved today, but some physics. The momentum of one glass shattering would affect the shattering of the next several glasses, making more soundwaves for Jalen to attempt to control.

This was her last year at The Hammel Institute, and this year the seventeen year old would be able to focus simply on perfecting her skills, and reaping the benefits of almost no side effects. Participating in workshops and classes had been no cake walk, but at least she was making significant improvement. Without progress, Jalen doubted that any teenager would push through the physical and emotional pain of dealing with and polishing off their powers.

Standing before the table, Jalen could be found clenching her fists, concentrating before starting the procedure. She wanted to try and predict where each wave would go and how strong it would be. It all depended on how much boom she wanted out of her training today. Manipulating soundwaves had more pieces than a one hundred piece puzzle. Practicing with one's talents wasn't like working out athletically, it was a different kind of exhausting. So instead of workout clothes, Jalen could be found in tight black jeans and a leather jacket with a simple dark purple t-shirt underneath.

Without hesitation, as was her personality, the blonde clapped her hands together loudly, and the first soundwave could be felt and almost seen by her bright brown eyes. It hit the first glass like she knew it would, and as it shattered, multiple sound waves formed. She could feel each one, and intricately directed them towards the surrounding glasses. There was a problem though, and that was the sound hadn't been loud enough to break all the glasses. It barely even broke a third of them. Jalen was disappointed. Not in herself, but in how it wasn't her abilities that were lacking, it was the sound she produced to begin with. She would need a louder noise to get the job done.

A smirk passed her face as a new thought entered her mind. Opening her mouth wide, Jalen let out a shriek and directed the soundwave towards the remaining glasses. The wave was large but close together, which made it easier to control in some aspects, but harder in others. Now all the glasses began to shatter as she directed the dying wave. This one had been strong enough to get the job done and leave Jalen standing there with a large smile. Perfection. Her ears weren't even bleeding, nor did she have a headache - a rare moment.

Hopefully, no one would think someone was being hurt in here. Although it was possible for such things to happen at HI.

(Open)

[JD Paerson]

JD had just finished circling the field a few times and was heading inside to the training rooms to work on his stopping. That was his hardest skill at this point. Now that he'd managed to make his speed voluntary instead of it starting up without notice, he worked to try to make himself faster and to be able to maneuver in small spaces. He still got dizzy sometimes, but most of the time he was able to work around that or through it. He had some plans to go into the training rooms and do a few suicides so that he could try to stop in a shorter time without falling over.

Inside, though, he heard someone give a short scream. It was enough to make him run forward to see if anything was wrong. He went through the doors just in time to see a girl finish breaking all the glasses and looking very proud with herself. Annoyed that he had gotten worried over nothing, he leaned back against the doorway and slowly clapped his hands.

"Excellent job," he said with a slight drawl. "You broke the cups. Very constructive. What were your next plans?" His greatest defense at this stage was his sarcasm, since he knew of no other way to approach a conversation. Especially a beautiful blond girl who looked to be about his age.

"Hey, don't I know you?" JD said, straightening. He looked carefully at her. "I think we're in the same history class," he said finally, then shrugged. "Though I guess I might be wrong."

Glancing around at the broken glass, he sighed. "I was going to do some exercises in here, but I guess it kind of needs to be cleaned up first." Then he took a better look at all the glass there. "How in the world did you even get all these cups in the first place? Wasn't that expensive?"

[Jalen August]

Hearing someone burst through the door, Jalen turned to look at the newcomer. At first, the brown haired boy seemed worried, but that soon faded into annoyance. A smirk passed over her face as he began clapping, and she took a bow, going along with his sarcasm. It was a language that every teenager at Hammel knew how to speak, and mostly without hesitation.

"Glasses, actually," Jalen said without hesitation, correcting the term. She wasn't a know-it-all, or a grammar-cop, but she was defending herself as much as he was. After all, he was the one barging in on her practice time. There were plenty of rooms, he didn't have to pick this one. "Well," she said, walking over to the table, "unless you have the ability to morph shattered objects back together, I guess I'll be cleaning this up." The seventeen year old girl was leaning on one of the dark brown chairs, smiling at the boy, half expecting him to clean up the mess she made just as quickly as he entered this room.

Giving him a once over, Jalen couldn't remember if she knew him or not. He seemed to be able to recall her though. "I don't really pay attention to anything in that class," she said with a grin. The blonde doubted that anyone did, it was dull, it didn't matter if it had to do with how certain individuals had super-human powers, while others were stuck with the mundane happenings of everyday life.

Stifling her laughter, Jalen glanced over the table to the stunned boy, holding his eyes carefully. "There are other rooms to practice in, but if it's this one you want, I was just about to leave," she said, walking across the room to the garbage bin that lay near the door. Picking it up, she quickly walked back to the table, her knee high boots clicking underneath her every step. "The glasses," she emphasized, "weren't expensive. Anything is worth getting some training done." There was no need to explain herself to someone she didn't know, but apparently knew her.

Sweeping the shards of glass into the garbage using her leather sleeve, Jalen looked at the boy again, this time noticing his angular jaw, and nearly welcoming eyes - handsome. She was no mind reader, but maybe he wasn't as harsh as he pretended to be. "Jalen, for future reference," she said with a kind smile, one that contrasted sharply with her exterior image. Outer layers were all about keeping people out, and delicate parts within, something that this boy probably knew. "And you are?"

[JD Paerson]

JD ignored the girl's first attempt to correct him, figuring that it didn't really matter what terminology was used, anyway. He did smile and shake his head though, when she suggested that his power might be to fix broken things. "Sorry, nope. Nothing so useful in my arsenal."

He chuckled a little when she admitted to not paying attention to history. "Not many do, I think. Only the die-hards. Or the suck-ups. The rest of us just try to stay awake in class and pass the tests. But I take the time to try to remember pretty faces, too." He threw her a grin, then looked around at the mess.

"I suppose I could help you clean up the broken cups," he said. At this point it was a little bit just to annoy her, though he did smile as he said it so it wouldn't seem like he was being a complete jerk. "Be right back."

He knew where the janitor's closet was, so he ran to grab a broom and rushed back quickly. It took him only a few seconds. Then he went through the door again and looked carefully at the glass on the floor. "I guess I'm glad I don't have to worry about trying to break things when I'm training. It's hard enough on the wallet just buying enough shoes without having to pay for everythign else. Though I kind of wish I had something better than sneakers right now." He glanced warily at his shoes, which he knew were wearing thin in the soles, and decided not to worry too much about it. Most likely the glass wouldn't be sharp enough to cause any major problems.

"Don't do that," he said as he saw her sweeping the glass with her jacket sleeve. "You'll ruin your jacket. Look, let me go ahead and get that." He quickly brought the broom up onto the table and jumped onto a chair for better leverage, then swept the glass toward where Jalen was holding the trash can.

"I'm JD," he said in response to her question. "Nice to meet you, Jalen. Now, from what I saw, I'm guessing you're some sort of sound manipulator, is that right?" He jumped off the chair once the table was clean and started rushing around, sweeping up the rest of the glass on the floor. Soon the floor was clean, or at least it appeared to be so, and he was able to straighten up and smile.

"Done. And I was hoping to use this room, because it's a really good side for what I'm hoping to work on. I don't think I can stop myself in a very small room, but if it's medium-sized, like this one, I'm hoping I can try to break before I run into a wall. Because running into walls when you're going thirty miles an hour can be incredibly painful."

JD looked around the room and grimaced. "Though maybe I can wait to do my training. It's not like it's absolutely necessary or anything..." Throwing a glance at Jalen, he gave her a half-hearted smile. "I hate this part of my training. Trying to run at top speed, easy. And fun. But this, stopping and starting all the time, it just tires me out. And I get nauseous faster. So if you have anything you'd like help with, let me know. I could always use another excuse to put off running suicides."

[Jalen August]

Jalen smiled, and so the pick-up lines commenced. What girl didn’t love being called pretty in comparison with the dullest class in school? The boy was lucky to not be retorted at; at least that’s what the blonde told herself.

Their bantering was amusing to her, and she looked at the many shattered glasses on the table. Where was he going? Did he perhaps know someone that could reform the glasses? That would be saving the school some money after all, as she was sure that she wasn’t the only student to needed to break things in order to become a better version of themselves. He came back with a broom, and Jalen smiled.

“Oh I don’t worry about it, it’s usually quite fun,” Jalen readily admitted to as he approached, “although I should have come with better cleaning supplies for the aftermath...” She always thought her power was a bit dull in comparison to others, but at least she could break a few eardrums if she ever needed to. Adrenaline was always a wildcard in real situations, when you couldn’t predict how strong your powers could really be. When would she really need to shatter a dining room table full of glasses anyways?

Jalen glanced down as he did, smirking. “Why not run around barefoot if you’re so worried about money?” She asked, wondering why he was so concerned over the financial state of nearly every object he laid eyes on. He was interesting to say the least. “Let me guess, you’re quick on your feet,” she said, continuing to clear off the table, “you must be a good dancer.” Slowly but surely the glass shards were disappearing.

Honestly, she hadn’t been expecting him to help her clean to begin with, but now he was climbing chairs just to save her the trouble of not ruining her jacket. Again, he was being money savvy. “Thank you.” Jalen said, a bright smile crept across her face, holding the garbage can near the edge of the table. JD was sarcastic and a gentleman.

Jalen nodded once, “I don’t usually scream for fun,” she said, shaking the garbage tin full of shattered glass around in her hands. Looking around, Jalen grinned up at JD. “You know, it’s almost better than being able to reform objects again,” she said, holding her grin. JD was actually quite tall when he took the time to stand still, something Jalen found strange as she was quite tall for being a female.

This time Jalen laughed, amused at the picture forming in her mind of a brown haired boy, crashing into a wall. “I think replacing a wall would be more expensive than a couple dozen shattered glasses,” she said, leaning on one leg comfortably. “I guess you don’t have super-strength too then?” It was a fair question. If JD ever did run into anything, it would hurt a lot. No doubt he had done so before, why else would he be trying to prevent it now?

“Walk with me,” Jalen said, putting the wastebasket in the boy’s hands. “Might as well get rid of this hazardous material properly,” she said, making her way towards the exit of the “medium” sized training room. Why would you want to run around in small circles just to stop yourself anyways? “So do you always barge in on people when they’re training JD?” She asked blatantly, looking back at him from her spot near the exit. She had a terrible memory, so using his name as she got to know him would help her remember his name. She doubted she would forget his face though. Blatancy was one of the many qualities that Jalen possessed. At least she was honest and blunt, but that wasn’t always a good thing.

[JD Paerson]

JD started when Jalen commented about his spending habits. It was true that he didn't like to spend money, mostly because he didn't have much to spend. He did a few odd jobs, but he didn't get much spending money from his family back home, and he was too proud to ask anyone for any help. That included asking his mother to raise his allowance and secretly stealing one of Zac's credit cards, which the princess likely wouldn't miss. Just thinking about running around barefoot, though, made him shudder. "No thanks," he said. "I'd rather keep from permanently crippling myself, thanks. I have to run in the woods a lot, and there are plenty of things I don't want to step on. Plus, these have better traction." Sometimes. When it hasn't all worn away.

"Quick, yes," he responded. "Dancing, not so much. No good sense of rhythm, actually. So why I joined the band is still a mystery to me. But hey, at least it's trumpet, not drums. Just because you play music doesn't mean you have to know anything about beats, right?" And of course there was the choir, too, but there he just got to follow along with the other singers. He wasn't about to mention that he was part of the choir, though, since he was fairly certain that many people would find it geeky and possibly girlish. Better to keep those things to himself.

"Good for you. Screaming is usually an activity best employed when one is not having fun. Otherwise it tends to lead to disaster. Boy who cried wolf and all that. I, for one, do my best to avoid screaming at all costs." JD affected a very serious manner while giving this statement, trying to look very stern. It broke after a moment and he grinned.

He was glad to see that Jalen was smiling too. Tiny victories: she wasn't completely annoyed with him. Yet.

"Thanks for the compliment. But I don't know that it even comes close to being able to fix things. Imagine all the trouble you could get out of if you could only fix the antique vase you broke playing baseball in the house, instead of trying to find a replacement at the last minute. Antique vases are hard to find, you know, even if you offer to sell your brother's soul to the devil to get it." He shook his head in mock sorrow. "Of course, I couldn't sell my own soul. Did that the first time I broke a window. Still waiting for the returns on the deal, though, since I was grounded anyway." Here he looked up at her again and smiled. Once again he noticed her pretty face and beautiful hair that she left down. He wondered vaguely how it would look if she put it up into a fancy bun, like if she were going out.

"I do not have super-strength. Just the speed. And it's never been enough to send me through a wall. I just end up with a bit of bruising and possibly a concussion, depending on how hard I hit. There's not enough of me to make much of a dent in a wall, so I've never had to worry about replacing it. If I ever did, though, I can only imagine the problems I'd run into." He winced visibly, imagining the extra chores he would have to do to make some spare change. Maybe one of these days he would have to get a job in town to help cover expenses. "I usually can slow down enough that I don't run into anything at top speed. The worst I've ever done is break an arm against the wall, but I've since learned to stop braking with my hands. What about you, any horror stories about early training?"

JD took the trash can obediently from Jalen and walked behind her. "Yes, absolutely right. Perfectly dangerous this stuff is, razor sharp and deadly just to look at it. Good thing there are two of us to deal with this mess." He once again said this with a straight face. He was getting better at that. He followed Jalen toward the door, then dashed in front of her just as she turned her head to speak to him.

"No, I don't usually cut in on people's practice," he answered, opening the door for her by backing into it and gesturing forward with the trash can and a slight head bob. "But I heard a shout and thought there might be a problem. Figured I'd better check. Though I admit that had you not made any noise I probably would have walked in anyway, since I was aiming toward the room and didn't think it would have been occupied." Though he also had a tendency to forget people's names, he hadn't learned yet to use the name in conversation in order to better remember it. Still, thought he would remember the face, if not the exact name, of this person next time he saw her.

"I think the nearest outdoor trash bin is near that exit," JD said, nodding down the hallway to his right.

[Jalen August]

Jalen seemed to hit the nail on the head when it came to JD’s spending habits, or lack thereof. She wasn’t exactly “rolling in it” either, but her middle-class family supplied all that she needed, and gave frivolously when special occasions called for it. “Understandable”, she said after the boy expressed his need for the shoes. He seemed to be doing enough talking for the both of them anyways.

“So you don’t like standing out in a crowd then?” She asked him, assuming this would be true considering his being in a crowd of people playing music, others listening in wouldn’t be able to pick out whether he was on tune or not. “If you're quick,” Jalen continued, finding the boy to be quite sweet, “then you can learn quickly.” It only made sense, and for him to deny it would be going back on his word, which he already committed to. “I can teach you some time, I have a whole music library right here,” she said, patting the front pocket of her black jeans. It would be hard not to notice the square lump bulging out, which was the IPod within.

The blonde was grinning, enjoying the bantering. “It’s good to know that someone will try to rescue me if I ever scream again,” she said. Maybe she would have to scream more often, see what other handsome devils existed in the school.

“I’m sure you could run away from any problems that arise,” Jalen went on to say, grinning at the thought of the boy breaking a window. “And I’m sure souls aren’t that important.” Now it was she who kept a straight face, her tone of voice serious. She could even hold her serious face better than JD, who broke into a smile.

Her eyes grew wide at the thought of breaking a limb. “Are you kidding me? You broke your arm?” She asked, holding her own arm as though it were in pain. That seemed to be a pretty bad mistake of judgment on his part. When he asked her if she had caused any accidents, she lowered her eyes and subconsciously ran her fingers through her hair. There was no way she was sharing with him about the hideous scar she had behind her left near running down her neck. Never would she wear her hair up. “Oh you know, I’ve split the occasional eardrum in half, no big deal,” she said with a smirk, once again using sarcasm and lies to cover how she truly felt.

“Dangerous, right.” It didn’t really make sense to have him hold the trash can as they made their way down the hall, as it wasn’t difficult for Jalen to do it herself, and now she was stuck with not doing much of anything. It was like she was keeping him company instead. He didn’t need to open the door for her either, but the gentlemanly gesture was appreciated, and JD even received a sheepish smile from the blond. She had to grin to herself as they trotted on, the only reason she had asked him to help, was because there wasn’t a perfectly good reason to get rid of him yet. Maybe later.

Self consciousness aside, Jalen could admit to herself that JD was charming and very attractive. Sure he was talking a lot now, but that didn’t bother her. She would rather people be who they were. “You’re very refreshing,” she said as they rounded the corner into the next hall. She smiled and looked down, “Uh, what I mean is that there aren’t a lot of people here who don’t use sarcasm every moment they can,” she said, wondering when exactly she turned into the talkative type. “You know, refreshing.”

They were half way down the next hall, nearing the exit by the back of the building where a colossal blue garbage bin would lay waiting for them, like some kind of starving monster. Jalen grabbed JD’s forearm in mock excitement, “What if someone stole the garbage bin outside?!” She was grinning from ear to ear and on the verge of laughter, but at least she was having fun with someone, which didn’t happen very often. “Or,” she said, letting go him finally as they reached the next door, “what if we can’t get back into the building? Hmm?” The tall blonde could be seen peeking through the exit door’s wired window, as if on some kind of mission. Being calm, cool, and collective got boring after a while. This was much more interesting, and JD had sort of inspired it.

[JD Paerson]

"No, I'm not an attention seeker. There are too many of those around here." He frowned as he thought about his friend, Zac, who was probably one of the biggest examples of these in the school. "I can't, I..." he stammered, trying to get out of dancing. He didn't exactly want to get tied into something he'd be bad at, but he couldn't think of a viable reason to say no. "I guess. You're a good dancer, then?" he said, weakly trying to shove the conversation in another direction.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people to save you around here. Just be careful, because some people are a little less...respectable than others." He could think of a few specifics but didn't want to name names. Chances were that Jalen had run into a couple of those people already and would pick up on the hint. "I'm sure, though, that you're able to take care of yourself."

He laughed a bit when she suggested running away. "You can't run away from everything, you know. Though I have definitely tried." He was impressed with her ability to keep a straight face when she retorted right back at him. This kind of easy bantering was something he enjoyed and had come to miss. Most times when he joked with people they either didn't get it or ignored what he had said completely.

"Yeah, I was pretty dumb when I first came here. I managed to run straight into one of the brick walls and tried to put my hand up to stop myself. It took a while to heal." He shrugged. When she thought about her own accidents, JD noticed that she looked downcast. He assumed that running her fingers through her hair was just a nervous gesture and didn't think much of it. "Well, so long as it's just eardrums," he said. "I hear those can even heal sometimes." Since it didn't seem to be something she wanted to talk about a lot, he let it go after that, not really suspecting that Jalen was hiding anything.

As they walked along the hallway, JD continued chatting about nothing in particular until Jalen spoke up again during one of the pauses in the conversation. He gave her a quizzical glance. He was...refreshing? Like a sports drink commercial?

"Oh, sarcasm," he said. "Yeah. It seems to be the official currency here at Hammel. If you can't dish it out and take it, you aren't worth being around. It's good to realize that you don't have to be that way all the time." He smiled at her. "And thanks for the compliment, Jay..." He couldn't remember the rest of her name exactly, but he let it lie at "Jay" and hoped that it would work as an acceptable nickname. Better than messing up entirely, he figured.

He was startled when Jalen grabbed his arm, but he kept his hold of the garbage can. Looking at her madcap grin and hearing her wild postulating, he decided to let himself have a bit of fun. "What," he said, drawing back in mock horror. "Are you suggesting that an evil garbage thief may have stolen the bin and is waiting now to attack us, just outside that door? Not while I'm around! Quickly, this way, before the villain spies us through that window." He ducked down a side corridor, still carrying the garbage can in front of him.

"Hmm," he said, putting down the bin and looking up at Jalen. "We may have to figure out something else to do with this. It's getting to be a pain to carry around."

[Jalen August]

JD was right, there were too many attention seekers around this school. Jalen wondered if they realized that they all had powers, and what was special for normal humans, was no longer special here. The boy started to protest, and the blonde watched him carefully. Her eyes seemed to say You wouldn’t go back on your word, would you? and he didn’t. “I know some moves.” She said vaguely, always leaving some mystery to her madness.

Nodding, the girl wasn’t sure what else to say. Sure she could take care of herself, but it was nice to know that if there were a few moments where she couldn’t, at least someone would care enough to check up on her – so long as it wasn’t a pervert.

Jalen smiled simply as JD claimed that you couldn’t run away from everything. “I beg to differ...” She mumbled to herself. It wasn’t something the boy was supposed to pick up on, and she doubted he would. She was the one with super hearing and such around here. “I love running, it’s one of my favourite things to do.” She said, trying to give her negative thoughts something positive. At least she wasn’t lying this time; she really did like the activity. It was freeing, and it was good for her health, which was a bonus.

“I don’t really blame you for being naive,” she said, a small grin returning to her face, “everyone is a little slow at first. I mean, it’s only natural. Not a lot of people know what to do when superhuman powers are simply placed on their shoulders. It would take a toll on anyone.” Jalen was one to know, and since she didn’t want to draw further attention to the subject, left it at that.

The blonde smiled, it was good to know someone appreciated what she said. That never happened. “You’re welcome.” She said, not adding ‘JD’ at the end. It would just sound weird after he called her Jay, which she also let slide. Jay and JD... cute... Jalen gave the boy a sideways glance and started to laugh. “Thanks for the nickname?” She said, unsure of herself. Not everything could come as naturally to the girl.

A happy grin was on the girl’s face, totally stoked that JD was going along with this. Jalen pushed away from the door quickly following the boy, obviously not wanting to be caught by the evil thief. Taking the small bin of shattered glass, the blonde had a new idea. “I have an idea.” She voiced to the boy, holding his light grey eyes, which were startling and welcoming at the same time. “Not sure if it will work, but it’s better than being kidnapped by a crazy person.”

Walking into the nearest vacant room, Jalen but the bin on a table. Glancing at JD, assuming he had followed, she warned him, “Hopefully this doesn’t hurt you.” Jalen hurried back to the door and closed it, headed back towards the table and grinned at him. “Okay, scream as loudly as you can.” She instructed, getting herself ready for the manipulation. If she could do it right, she’d magnify it just right then the glass should shatter into dust, and if she could control it well enough, neither she nor JD would hear the high pitched sound. Yet, at some point, the sound would be so high, only dogs could hear it. It was only the transition stage she had to worry about, protecting the two of them, while making the glass safe again.

[JD Paerson]

JD raised his eyebrow at Jalen. She knew some moves? Was that supposed to be code for something? He decided to leave it at the raised eyebrow and hope he hadn't made some huge blunder. It was hard to go wrong with a look, but you never knew.

He didn't hear her mumbling to herself, though had he heard he probably wouldn't have said anything. There was a while when he felt the same way. It was only more recently that he'd come to realize that he couldn't run and hide from his problems forever. He just wasn't necessarily ready to face everything yet. Baby steps. Like learning to swim, or making new friends.

"Same here," he said with a grin. "But I guess you would've gathered that I enjoy running. If you like it, there's a path out by the back gate that'll take you a ways in the wood. It's a really nice trail. You could probably make the whole loop in a couple hours." It took him twenty minutes, but he guessed it would take about 2 hours at a normal pace.

JD frowned for a moment. "Yeah. Superhuman powers. Funny how often they seem to be a curse, right? Though now, I don't know that I'd give it up if I had the chance. It at least gave me an excuse to get away from my dad."

He winced when she mentioned the nickname. "Sorry," he said. "I uh...I couldn't remember your whole name. Do you mind if I call you Jay?" In order to make it sound less like he was insulting her, he tried to explain himself. "I'm just really bad with names. It's probably why I shortened my own name. That and the fact that I really don't like the name 'Jonah.'" He wrinkled his nose in a disgusted frown.

JD stood next to Jalen in the empty hallway, glad to be truly enjoying himself. She looked so happy, and it was a smile that stretched all the way through her bright brown eyes. He nodded when she said she had an idea. He was willing to go along with anything at this point. He followed her into the empty room and watched as she set the garbage bin on the table.

She closed the door and warned him, and suddenly he wondered what exactly was going on. Was it right for him to be in an abandoned old classroom with a pretty girl he had just met? He glanced around a bit nervously and shuffled in place, but decided he wasn't ready to leave just now.

"Scream?" he said, eyes wide with surprise. I'm supposed to just start shouting in the middle of this room, and then when someone comes walking in... But then he remembered. Jalen was a sound person. She probably needed a loud noise to perform some sort of trick, though he wasn't sure what more could be done with the broken glass.

Instead of asking more questions, he decided to trust her. Taking a deep breath, he let out a huge shout and held it for as long as he could. His time in choir and playing the trumpet had given him a large lung capacity, as well as all his time running. It was a good thirty seconds before the sound started to die out. That should be enough noise for her to work with, right?

[Jalen August]

Smiling broadly, Jalen was pleasantly surprised to hear that he knew about the path in the woods as well. “An hour and a half actually,” she said, trying to hold back her smug attitude, “it only takes me an hour and half, as long as I have some good music playing.” The blonde remembered the first time she saw the path. It had been in the middle of the night, past curfew. Of course she wasn’t stupid enough to check it out during that time of night, who knew what kind of stranger could be lurking in the woods after dark.

JD might have been a little more in tune with when it was appropriate to keep probing a situation with questions, but Jalen didn’t. Perhaps this was why she was unable to keep friends. Her good intentions often didn’t sit well with others. This is why she had no problems asking the boy, “Why? What’s wrong with your dad?” She wasn’t trying to pry, if anything she was concerned. Maybe his dad was ill and Hammel was a kind of escape. Jalen did her best never to judge a book by its cover. She would, however, stop asking questions if he asked her to.

Jalen continued to chuckle, so that’s where he got the nickname from - his terrible memory. “Sure, Jay works just as well,” she said, not giving any hint as to what her full name was. He would have to figure that out for himself now. “What’s the D stand for?” She asked, curious now. Honestly, just from looking at him, Jonah seemed to suit him perfectly, but if he didn’t like it she wouldn’t use it when referring to him. Maybe when she was just thinking about him...

Sensing his hesitation upon her request, Jalen grinned. “Don’t worry so much, I’m not going to get you into trouble or anything,” she said, as it finally dawned on her why he was so nervous and worried. She was about to say he didn’t have to if he didn’t want to, he could just run away if he wanted to, but then he took a deep breath, preparing himself.

Jalen stood still, concentrating on the sound that would be coming from JD’s mouth soon. He had a deeper voice than hers, but that would make the waves that much easier to control. Then he was screaming, and Jalen was happy that he could hold it for so long. The sound waves became squashed, much like an accordion being pushed together. At the same time, she controlled the many sound waves around her ears and JD’s ears to create a kind of barrier. That was the easy part. Now she had to control his voice to make the sound reach so high a point that it would cease to be acknowledged by anyone other than her, and maybe a dog or to.

Watching the bucket below her on the table, Jalen watched as the glass started vibrating, and then it broke further until it couldn’t break anymore. At that point she relinquished the sound, a satisfied smile on her face. “Thanks for the extra practice,” she said, glancing at JD. Now, there appeared to be something that looked like white sand in the bucket. Jalen fearlessly reached down and felt the powder between her fingers, a relaxed smile on her face. “It’s actually pretty cool, I can’t believe I pulled that off...” She said, her mind drifting to memories of a beach her family had visited once. Snapping out of it, Jalen returned to the present and looked up at JD, giving him a warm smile, “With your help of course.”

[JD Paerson]

JD wasn't sure if he wanted to talk a lot about his family life, but he figured a simple explanation wouldn't hurt. It wasn't like his dad was all that bad--he certainly knew worse. So he just shrugged. "My dad's in the military, and he had really strict rules around his house. He was pretty upset when he found out I was meta. He seems to think being metahuman is some sort of crime against humanity, probably an infection created by the communists." That had come out sharper than he had meant it to, and he immediately shut up afterward, inwardly wishing to draw his words back into his mouth. "I mean," he tried to explain, "he loves me and everything, but it was hard for him. I still don't talk to him much. Mostly it's just me and my little brother, since he also ended up coming here."

He could feel himself getting upset and starting on a rant, but he didn't think that Jay deserved that. Instead he forced himself to take a few deep breaths and smile at her. "Anyway. It's not something I have to deal with a lot. My bigger problems on a daily basis lie with certain people at Hammel who have decided to become my friend."

She was clever, not to give away her full name. It meant JD would have to turn to his only source of information in this school, and any information that came from Zac's mouth would have to be double-checked. But so long as she didn't mind being called Jay, he figured he could probably survive. "Dennis," he told her. "Jonah Dennis Paerson. It was my grandfather's name. And it sounds like a grandpa name. At least if I go with 'JD' I can associate myself with more modern references. Like Scrubs."

When he started shouting, he wasn't exactly sure what would happen. Then, to his ears, the sound started to die away. He knew he was still shouting, but he couldn't actually hear it. Which meant, if he was correct, that she was dulling the sound around his ears--not his head, otherwise it wouldn't be working. When he finished and stood quietly, he could see the glass in the bucket vibrating. There were windows in the room that he was a bit worried might break, but they seemed to be under control. He watched in astonishment as the glass in the bucket turned to dust in front of his eyes.

He stepped forward with her and dipped his hand into the bucket. "That was pretty cool," he said, running the glass through his fingers. "Glad I could help, though of course I didn't really do anything." He was still looking at the dust. "Returned it to the sand from whence it came," he said quietly. "Dust to dust."

Then he glanced up at Jalen with a grin. "Safe forever from the evil garbage thieves. But we should still probably dump it outside." He straightened up and dusted his hands on his pants. "I think it's my turn to show off. And you can help me work on something I have been thinking about. I can run on my own pretty quickly and for a good distance now, but I don't know how I'd do if I ever had to carry someone. Would you like to help me?" He'd gotten fairly strong from toting around Zac all the time, as well as lifting weights in the gym, but he knew that he would have to adjust differently if he was carrying someone piggy-back while going at super-speed.

JD picked up the bin of glass dust and looked at it thoughtfully. "The forest path is totally different when you're traveling at high speed. And there's a spot out in the woods where we can dump this and no evil thief will ever find it and use it against us." He said this last bit with mock seriousness, trying to turn it into another game and hoping that she would be willing to play along.

[Jalen August]

(OOC: Yay Penny! XD JD is adorable!)

Jalen’s facial expression turned soft. Her usual callous attitude was beginning to wear away around the boy – people usually weren’t so open. She wasn’t expecting a mini life story, but she appreciated his being honest. Sensing the obvious hostility again his father, Jalen patted JD’s hand softly a couple times. “I’m sure at some point, he’ll realize you’re his son, and he loves you no matter what,” she said, offering him a smile. The blonde knew a thing or two about family dynamics, and she was lucky to be blessed with a family who was proud of her. “At least you didn’t have to tell him you were gay or anything, right?” She joked, trying to lighten the mood, grabbing the boy’s hand one last time. Jalen wasn’t a shy girl.

An area of expertise was Psychology for Jalen. She found it interesting, insightful, and generally helpful to everyday life. “You know, it’s the everyday struggles that stress us out more. Who’s giving you grief anyways?” She carried on, not wanting to let the conversation get awkward. Surely pestering friends would be easier to talk about than unaccepting fathers.

A chuckle escaped the girl’s mouth. “It’s really not a bad name,” she said with a shrug. “Someday you might actually be a grandpa and you’ll be happy to have it.” Why was she being so... intrinsic? Shaking her head, Jalen cocked her head to the side to look at the boy. “At least your last name isn’t a season.” She said, continuing the guessing games. It wouldn’t hurt to make him chase for things a little. “Anyways,” she said, “what’s scrubs?” It was an honest question, Jalen didn’t like watching TV as much as she wanted to admit. It wasn’t the most popular thing to do.

The dust JD was playing with had fallen onto her own hand, and Jalen smiled as he spoke a bit of poetry. “For the record, be careful what you say around me. It's rare that a muttered word gets past me,” she said, giving the boy fair warning. If he didn’t want his thoughts know, it would be best that he kept them to himself. “And you did help, my voice makes sound waves that are hard to control, yours were perfect.” Jalen smiled, looking up at the boy as she let the last lingering particles of glass fall from her hand. “Sorry, that probably doesn’t make any sense...” She said, not trying to say that he was dumb, but rather that she was poor at explaining things.

Excitement was practically radiating from the girl, and her eyes screamed yes before she could help it. “That sounds awesome, I’ll gladly help,” she said truthfully, deciding that JD wouldn’t care if she was giddy over something he did all the time. Walking up to the boy, Jalen put her hands on her hips. “Fastest way to get there from here is through the back in the last gym of the building,” she said, a crooked mischievous grin on her face, “but I’m not sure you can handle my weight...” It was a challenge to say the least, but she couldn’t help it. She was having fun with JD, and the thought of possibly running into something never crossed her mind.

Judging by his relative size, Jalen concluded that JD was taller than her, and wouldn’t let her feet scrape on the ground or anything. It was nice to finally meet a boy that was taller than her, as it was rare. The blonde was anything but petite. Slender yes, cute and little, not so much. “So... Am I supposed to just jump on you then?” Jalen said, resisting the urge to laugh at herself. It was a good feeling that she had around JD – free, like when she ran.

[JD Paerson]

JD managed a strained smile when Jalen reassured him about her dad. "Thanks," he said. "But it doesn't really matter one way or another. Not like I see him anymore, anyway." He didn't go home for holidays or breaks. What was the point? There were times when he would have to travel around the world to see his family, anyway, though this happened less now that his father had been promoted. He forced a small laugh when she made a joke. In his father's eyes, being meta was almost like being gay, but he didn't mention it. "Yeah, right. Not that big a confession." Then he kept going. When she grabbed his hand, though, he squeezed it and gave her an appreciative smile. She was trying to comfort him, even if she wasn't going about it exactly the right way.

He grimaced. "There's this guy here who keeps hanging off me all the time. He stalks me sometimes and forces me into uncomfortable situations. And I hope you don't ever have to deal with him. Ever." He purposely did not mention Zac's name, hoping that he wouldn't have to admit to associating with the school "prince." It would be even worse if Zac ever found out that he had talked to her, of course. Then nothing would prevent the billionaire from oozing his way into her life. He silently vowed not to say anything in Zac's presence about this meeting.

JD didn't think he'd ever be happy about his name, but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice. He couldn't go by JD forever. But he also didn't have to worry about that yet. For now, he tried to think now what her last name could be. Summer? No, that was a first name. Winter? That sounded about right. Better than Fall or Spring, anyway. Jay Winter. Maybe. Jay-something Winter-maybe. It was something to go on. "Scrubs is a TV show. Comedy with doctors and stuff. Main character's name is JD, though I swear I chose the name before ever seeing the show."

He looked up in surprise as they sat by the glass. "Right, sound. I forgot for a moment." He was a bit confused when she tried to explain that his voice was somehow better than hers...because it was deeper? "Is it because the sound waves are longer and easier to work with, or is it something to do with an unsteady frequency? Because if you just need to have one pitch a few voice lessons would work fine." He supposed that might be it--he'd done work with sound before, but never had to study it intensely. He also wasn't sure how different it might be when it was actually being manipulated. "No, that's fine. It all sounds pretty complicated, anyway."

And she was willing to keep going with him. He grinned at her, glad to see that she was also happy and not just going along because she felt obligated. "Don't worry, I've carried heavier people than you." I almost have a human backpack, he thought wryly. "If I get tired, though, we may have to stop and walk part of the way. I'm just not sure how long I can hold out at high speed." He was good enough now that he wouldn't run into any objects. He also knew the path he was going on and could probably run it in his sleep.

"Uh, kind of," he said awkwardly. "Jump on, but let's try not to make it sound so bad." He turned and crouched slightly so that she could jump on his back. "Unless you want a chair, that's fine, too."

When everything was settled, he took a glance around the room. Jalen would have to hold the garbage bin so that he could keep hold of her legs and make sure she didn't slide off. But it wasn't a heavy burden and he was soon ready to go. He started off slowly, heading down the hall with a slow run. He still had to turn, and he was adjusting to his new center of gravity. Once he'd gone past the gym, though, and was outside, he started to pick up speed. After a quick change to regulate his breathing, he stepped out with a little more speed. In a few minutes they were by the back gate and he was slowing down.

"Are you all right still?" he asked Jalen. "I never seem to notice any wind, but if it's a problem we can stop. Or, I think if you put your head down it won't be as bad." Before he could start up again, he tried to dig into his back pocket for his iPod.

"I do better when I'm listening to something," he tried to explain. "Music helps me relax so that I can run faster and smoother." This whole thing was more awkward than he had expected, and he was frowning as he tried unsuccessfully to pull out the iPod and get set up. "No, never mind, I don't need it," he said, shoving it back down into his pocket. It was too much hassle, and he just wanted to go.

[Jalen August]

Jalen held the boy’s smile, simply for the reason that he was smiling, and not trying to get away from her as fast as possible. Had she finally said or maybe done the right thing this time? JD was a sweet boy; it seemed rather unfair that his dad couldn’t be proud of him. Maybe someday.

An image of a small monkey crawling all over JD came suddenly to the girl’s mind, and she smiled for no apparent reason. “If I ever run into such a creature, I’ll let you know,” she said, referring this supposed person who crept on JD. Whoever he or she was, didn’t sound very fun to be around. “They sound annoying, whoever they are.” Jalen commented, a thoughtful expression on her face. Maybe she shouldn’t be the one to point fingers, seeing as she was usually the clingy one in any kind of relationship – romantic or friends, it didn’t matter, the blonde would do almost anything for her friends, but what some considered over the top, she saw as loyal.

Instead of finding it out that she didn’t watch TV, JD simply explained was Scrubs was to Jalen. “Oh...” She said simply, not really sure how to follow up on that. “I guess I don’t really keep up with that kind of thing,” she said, a sheepish smile on her face. There was no point in denying her peculiar ways, everyone else probably knew what the show was about. “Give me old cartoons any day though. Bugs Bunny and I go way back,” she said with a grin, hoping that maybe this gave her some kind of redeemable quality.

Tilting her head to the side, Jalen held her grin, “Your exactly right about the waves bit, it’s all physics really,” she said with a shrug, glad to see that he was at least getting the gist of it. “As for my voice,” she said, a playful smirk dancing across her lips, “I may not be in choir or anything, but I sing just fine thank you.” Of course, JD hadn’t said anything about her singing voice, but that didn’t really seem to matter in her mind. Happy go lucky – that was the key to Jalen’s existence.

Without sounding to girly, Jalen giggled at JD. “Chairs are for sissies,” she said confidently. If she thought about it, she seriously doubted that the boy would need to stop from her being too heavy – this of course was a judgment on his body mass. Taking the opportunity, the blond put the palms of her hands on the boy’s broader shoulders, gripped them tightly, and jumped onto his back in one motion. For once, it was easier done than said. This wouldn’t be the first time Jalen had accepted to be carried around.

“Nothing to it,” she said with a grin, her legs on his waist, the rest of her body slightly pulled up from his back. Jalen was not just going to lie on him; she actually wanted to see what was going on after all. Her slender fingers still wrapped tightly around the tops of his shoulders and she grinned, “I don’t think you’ll need to stop for anything but a bathroom break.”

Taking the bin of glass dust in her left arm, Jalen decided to still hang on with her right, as it was her stronger arm. He didn’t seem to be bothered, trotting around with a girl on his back, nor did he seem bothered by the stares they were receiving. Jalen’s heart sunk a little – just what kind of rumours would she be catching wind of in the next few days? Those thoughts left just as quickly as they came once the pair was outside, and JD was starting to pick up momentum. It was interesting, and kind of fun Jalen thought to herself with a grin. Still, she knew that this was probably only a fraction of what JD was truly capable of.

She was only just starting to enjoy the wind in her hair. “I’m good,” she said, wondering why he had started to reach over and around her legs. Once he explained himself, Jalen couldn’t help but laugh – this was too funny. “Here,” she said, reaching into his pocket easily, “if you’re anything like me, you’ll need it.” A kind smile was on her face as she put the MP3 player into the boy’s hand. It was another thing they had in common. Maybe she would see what kind of music he was into once they arrived at their perceived ‘dumping destination’.

“Alright, let’s see what you got Superman,” Jalen said, bring herself a little closer to the boy, just in case he decided to give ‘er. The nickname wasn’t meant to pick fun at him, and judging by the tone of her voice, she meant it as a term of endearment. He had been her personal superhero all day, and she was definitely enjoying it.