I'm A Fast Learner (Mia.)

[Willow Birdsong]

Willow was sitting in the library with a few dictionaries piled up in front of her. She was scouring them with her eyes, trying to decide which one would cause the smallest headache. Her hair was down, and frizzy as usual. She just couldn’t be bothered smoothing down dead cells, and let her brown locks do whatever they willed. Pushing said hair back, her nimble fingers settled upon the Italian dictionary, and just because she had to do it right, she began with A.

Learning was so easy for her. All she had to do was read things once and it was stuck in her mind forever. It wasn’t photographic memory per say, but it might as well be. Still, her powers were beyond this. Willow had found long ago that reading dictionaries often helped quell her power, gave her a sense of peace and accomplishment, and allowed her to use her powers in other ways. Her trainers had said she should trying learning martial arts, hone in her skills and use them to vent her emotional frustrations. But Willow wasn’t the fighting type, not physically. She wasn’t in shape enough for that sort of thing. She would never workout in front of others.

Flipping to the back of the dictionary, Willow found connecting words and since she believed no one was around, she began talking in Italian, every word except ‘the’ or ‘my’ beginning with A. It was fun, and Will was giggling to herself. She had no idea someone was watching her.

[Mia Bell]

Mia walked into the library and went into the section that had the popular books and picked up the first book of the hunger games series. She was getting tired of people saying she needed to read it and that it was a good book. So she figured why not read it. She had the time with the school break. She wondered how long that lasted. She wanted to get back into the school year, just so she could see what the classes were like and what the teachers were like. She just was interested in the classes part of the school. She knew she was a dork for wanting the classes to start up again but she didn’t care. She has never gotten a bad grade in her life; though she never bragged about that. She wasn’t the bragging type, unless it was all for fun.

Mia saw a girl sitting by herself with a bunch of books near her. She wondered if it would be all right to sit with her; she always felt the need to sit the ones who were sitting by themselves. Mostly because she knew, what it felt like to sit alone and always wanted someone to care enough to sit with her. She took a deep breath and walked over to the girl but stopped as she heard the girl talk to herself in another language. Now she felt a little awkward, wondering if the girl even knew English. Well if she ever wanted to embarrass herself here was the time to do it. She bit her lip and then smiled “Hmm excuse me?” She blinked but kept smiling “Is it okay if I sit with you?”

[Willow Birdsong]

Fluorescent pink hair bobbed into view as Willow glanced over the book to the once empty seat now with an occupant. The brunette smiled a bit, clearing her throat. “If you want to, but I don’t see why,” she looked at the rest of the library. There were plenty of spots to sit, why here? “I mean, I could be speaking in tongues for all you know,” Willow said, glancing down at the Dictionary that clearly said ‘Italian-English, English-Italian’. Will would totally hit her head against the desk if it wouldn’t be socially awkward.

She kept her eyes low as her face brightened with a blush, trying to keep her eyes focused on the book before her. Willow wasn’t one to seek friends, but she desperately craved them. She just didn’t know how to act, or how to trust. Everything was hard for her, and she fidgeted in her seat. Her big brown eyes glanced questioningly at the other girl. They were probably the same age, but Willow always looked desperately young because she refused to wear any kind of makeup.

Soon her powers kicked in though, and Willow adapted to the situation, her nerves settling. Maybe the girl would leave soon? Hopefully not.

[Mia Bell]

Mia sat down and frowned at the girl’s answer “You looked lonely?” She tilted her head to the side. Wondering if that would be a good enough answer for the girl. She looked around the library; she would normally go back to her room after she had picked out a book. But she thought she at least say hi to the girl who was sitting by herself. She looked at the book in the brunette’s hand with a raised eyebrow “But you’re not, you’re speaking Italian.. “ Okay that was a half guess, she could very well be speaking in tongues for all she knew. But considering the book in her hands she figured that’s what she a speaking. She smiled “then again, to me it does sound like you’re speaking in tongues.” Considering she didn’t have a clue what she was saying. Yes Mia felt a bit awkward, but tried not to show it.

If anyone wanted a friend, Mia was they’re girl. Even if they didn’t go finding her, Mia always seemed to find them. Seeing how stubborn she is, she wouldn’t even leave unless the girl told her to. Seeing this get a little more awkward, she opened her book and started to read the first page. Everyone needed time to get used to a presence they weren’t used to being there. Mia looked up from her book and smiled “I’m Mia, by the way. If you were wondering.” She gave her a slight wave, she wasn’t one for handshakes; she didn’t see why people shook each other’s hands unless they wanted to spread germs.


Mia had no intentions on leaving; she was content. She would stay here, in this chair till she was done with this book. If that’s what it took to get this girl to get more comfortable around her. She wasn’t the one to give up on someone; because she wouldn’t want anyone to give up on her. She knew what that felt like, and again it wasn’t the greatest feeling in the world. “So.. You like reading dictionaries?”

[Willow Birdsong]

Willow frowned, trying to figure out how one looked lonely. “Just because I’m alone doesn’t mean I’m lonely,” she said in a level voice, though really, she really was lonely. Will had been here a while without anything to show for it, friends included. The girl’s remark made Willow smile though, and she glanced down shyly. “It’s Italian,” she admitted, finding the girl amusing.

Now Willow’s concentration was ruined. How could she keep practicing her powers with someone else interested in her? Her fingers twitched over the pages of the dictionary, her eyes rereading the first couple of words, before giving up. She looked to the girl as she introduced herself. “I’m Willow,” she said softly, but not without a smile. “What are you reading?” She asked. Might as well make use of the situation.

“Not all the time,” she said, closing the dictionary, “it helps me strengthen my power.” A power, that often left the girl crippled. “What are you capable of?” She asked, blinking her large brown eyes.

[Mia Bell]

Mia bit her lip and then shrugged “Well good point.. But you were alone and I was alone; So now we can be alone together.” She winked at the girl, in a friendly way. She could tell this girl was a natural loner, the question was, was it from her own doing or from others? Did this girl really want to be alone? Either way Mia didn’t really have any intentions on leaving. She smiled when the girl said it was Italian “Ah, Well at least I’m not going crazy.” Emotionally unstable maybe but not crazy or insane.


Mia didn’t mean to ruin the girl’s ‘training session’. She was just being friendly, wanting to get to know more people. Mia had always gotten along with the odd people, the ones that didn’t have a lot of friends. She didn’t know why, she just couldn’t stand popular people. However, there were some exceptions, where some of the popular students weren’t all that bad. Mia smiled at the girl “That’s a really pretty name.” It would be a name she would call her dog, not child. But it was still pretty. “I’m reading the hunger games” She closed the book and showed the girl the cover and shrugged. “I got tired of people saying I should read it, so now I’m reading it…”

Mia nodded “Ah okay, well that’s pretty cool. You must be super smart than.” She really didn’t know what her powers were but if she read dictionaries to help strengthen it, the girl must be smart. Even if she’s only smart from her powers. “Ah. I can control the weather.” Mia didn’t think it was a very impressive power.

[Willow Birdsong]

“I’m surprised you’d ever be alone,” Willow said. Mia had outgoing hair, and the personality to match it. Will’s dark eyes flicked from side to side in the library. “Are you sure? This might be all in your head,” a sinister, almost creepy smile spread across her face. This all might even be in her own head. What a thought. Parallel universes, that’s what she wanted to look up next.

“Thank you,” Willow said amiably. “I’m named after a tree,” she said, being reminded of her hippie parents. Her family wasn’t something she wanted to talk about, ever. An absent father, all because of her… She swallowed hard at her reverie, doing her best to push the thoughts away. Willow eyed the book, nodding a couple times. “You should read things because you want to. But that series is quite good,” she glanced up at Mia, “I won’t spoil the ending, but I didn’t like the last book.” It was a matter of opinion, but still.

Mia shouldn’t assume things. “That’s not my power. I have reactive adaptability,” she said, not too keen on wanting to explain the dynamics of it. Willow shifted slightly, leaning forward. “Every kind of weather?” She asked, intrigued.

[Mia Bell]

Mia blushed a little “Everyone is alone at some point of the day.. I would go crazy if I didn’t get any personal time..” She really would, she was a friendly person and loved being around others. But if she didn’t get some alone time just to be her, or to break down crying, or whatever it was that she happened to do she would go insane. Though she wouldn’t pass up a chance to make a new friend, like now. She tilted her head to the side “Hmm Interesting concept.. Never thought about it like that.. Your right this could all just be in my head. But there are a lot of ‘could be’s’ and ‘what ifs’ when it comes to life… So I find it better just leaving everything to do its thing and go with the flow.“ It was the reason why she didn’t think about life in general too much, it gave her a headache thinking about it all. All in all it was easier to just work with and accept whatever was thrown her way than to think of the how and whys of the matter. Or even if it was all happening, this could be a dream, there could be other universes this could even be an illusion, even now thinking about it gave her a headache.

She nodded “That’s pretty cool. I’m not named after anything.. Unless you count M.I.A” Which was something she really didn’t want to think about her being named after since people used it more in wars when they announced they couldn’t find someone on the battle field. It was quite depressing for her to think about really. She shrugged “I want to read it, because I want people to leave me alone.. Doesn’t that kind of count?” She did want to read it, she just never have gotten around to doing it, until she got sick of people telling her to read it. She placed the book on her lap, glad to have been able to have this conversation with the girl. Because it was a sign they were kind of bonding, which was a sign she was slowly making a new friend. “Ah really? Well we can discuss it when I read it? If you would like to?” She liked talking about things like that and liked hearing peoples opinion on something and why.


The girl might be right, the pink haired girl probably shouldn’t assume things. It was human nature to assume things though, at least that’s was the way she saw it. Mia blinked, apparently this girl was quite interested in her powers. She smiled warmly “well I don’t really know.. I think so.. I’m not too familiar with the power yet.”

[Willow Birdsong]

“I’m always alone,” Willow said, unwilling to let Mia think that just because everyone else needed alone time, didn’t mean she had the same luxury. Not many visited Willow on her off days when she spent the better part of her day alone in her room with a debilitating migraine. “I think it’s better to see everything in its true colors and always be wary of reality.” Willow had a strange philosophy, but at least she wasn’t stupid. She thought about everything, from perspectives to truth, it was all uncertain but she thought the more she thought about it, the closer she would get to a conclusion.

Willow smiled in spite of herself. “That’s a good reason.” There were many good reasons to avoid people, and if reading a good book was one of them, so be it. “But if anyone wants you to read Twilight, you might be wasting your time.” If Mia could joke around a bit, so could she. Willow looked around, obviously uncomfortable. “Maybe,” she said. It was easier to talk to people online, in real life, her social skills were lacklustre.

“Don’t you like your power?” Willow asked with a frown. “I’d trade you mine, if that were a possibility.” But alas, it wasn’t and wishful thinking wouldn’t make it a reality.

[Mia Bell]

Mia blinked and frowned at the girl “Well that’s no fun..” This girl really did remind her of herself the past year at her home-state school. Though she doubted it was for the same reasons. It made her wonder if this girl actually did want to be alone. “Well if you ever want to hang out, I’m always up for it.” She took out a notebook and a pencil from her bag and wrote her number and name on a blank piece of paper; she then ripping the piece of paper out, folded it and handed it to the girl “here”. She of course didn’t know if the girl had a cell phone but what teenager didn’t? Of course she didn’t have one until she came to Hammel.

Mia nodded “Yeah, that sounds reasonable.” Even if she didn’t totally get it. But facing reality was harder for her than most people; but she didn’t want to think about it. “Are you into philosophy?” The girl seemed really into it in general. She was just curious if it was a passion of the girl’s or just something, that was there.

Mia laughed “yeah I’m not going there.. I rather die than read Twilight.” Bad joke on her part but Willow didn’t know or need to know. “What fiction book would you recommend to someone?” She was curious, and the girl seemed to read a lot, as did she. She wondered how many things they had in common. She looked around the library; seeing nothing interesting “Are you looking for someone?” She didn’t get the ‘looking around’ when uncomfortable thingy. When she was uncomfortable, she would just keep looking at her hands and talk less.


She sighed, “I’m just not used to it. So at this point no I really don’t like my powers.” She was sure she had thought about this a lot but her powers just made her feel vulnerable. “Do you not like your power?”

[Willow Birdsong]

Willow nodded a couple times. “Hang out? You want to hang out with me?” She asked. There wasn’t a day that went by when Will didn’t critique herself. She was never pretty enough, smart enough, always filled with flaws. Something always went wrong or she couldn’t get it quite right. The offer from Mia seemed almost too good to be true. “What would we do?” She asked. Taking the paper, Willow smiled a bit. At least she’d have someone to add to her three contacts. Mia would be four.

Smiling just a little more, Willow nodded a couple times, pushing her hair out of her face. “It’s something I really like because there’s no real answer to anything.” It gave her power a run for it’s money, but at least there was always a way to challenge herself.

“Try the ‘Uglies’ series,” she said, her eyes lit up with a passion hard to hide for someone who liked reading. “They’re like Hunger Games, only more psychological.” Willow shook her head a few times, looking hard at the table. No, she wasn’t looking for anyone.

“Not really,” Willow admitted, “it gives me bad migraines.” Unlike Mia, Willy’s power wasn’t emotionally invested, it just happened of its own free will. “I’m always responding to my environment, and since I’m still young I’m responding to just about everything.” A worry of hers was that eventually, nothing would feel new ever again.

[Mia Bell]

Mia nodded “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I want to?” She lilted her head a bit to the side. She might be a loner and she might not have the best conversation skills but that didn’t mean Mia didn’t want to hang out with her. She thought the other girl was very nice and even sweet, she wouldn’t mind getting to know her better. She shrugged at the question “Uh, mini golfing? Shopping? Hmm we can go see a movie together? Then get dinner it can be the perfect date!” Of course she was kidding about the last thing. Though she wouldn’t mind going to see a movie and dinner with the girl, she just wasn’t into it being a ‘date’.

Mia nodded and smiled “ah okay. Yeah most of it is more opinion than anything right? “ It should be something she should look more into considering she was sure it would give her brain a challenge. “I’m more into psychology.” But psychology did that for her too, it gave her that challenge. She might actually become a psychologist for something like that. She would love to help people with their problems; just like Dr. Neville was helping her with her’s.

Mia wrote it down in her notebook, before putting it back in her bag. She gave a slight nod, “the ‘uglies series’ got it!” She was already interested in it “Ah it sounds like I book I would defiantly like." She never heard of the series but she was truly interested in it.

“Ah yeah my power gives me really bad headaches also.” She hoped the more she learned to control it the more the headaches went away. “Ah, that sounds exhausting.” She wasn’t sure how she would feel about that, she wondered if it would make past events easier for her to cope with. She sighed and shook her head; she really shouldn’t be thinking about the what ifs.

[Willow Birdsong]

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Willow said, not trying to be mean about it, just really wondering why Mia wanted to hang out with someone like her. Mia seemed... extreme, daring, everything that Willow wanted to be and wasn’t. Willy laughed a little. “A date? I’ve never been on a date before...” And then she blushed, because that thought was interesting. “I’ve also never been minigolfing,” she added, pushing her hair back behind her ears.

“Psychology is interesting, especially personality psychology,” she said, not wanting to sound like a know it all, but she did know a lot of things. “Some aspects of psychology don’t have finite answers, so it’s so of like philosophy in that way.” Willow tried not to start ranting. For someone who knew a lot about the human brain, Will was unwilling to confront her own demons.

“Maybe I could borrow the first one to you...” Willow paused. Was that too direct. “If you want to, I won’t make you,” she said, smiling a bit.

[Mia Bell]

Mia blinked and bit her bottom lip “Sorry.. I guess like. I have always been more into making friends with the loners. I just find myself relating to them more than I do with people who are more outgoing. Also I just find the popular girls who think their ‘all that’ annoying.. Does that answer your question?” She did really think they had a lot in common, and it was true she did relate more to loners and girls like Willow more so than girls who were like her. “I’ve never been on a date with a girl before..” She really didn’t want to lead the poor girl on and felt like she kind of was. “Though I haven’t been on a date in over a year… It’s just not something I’m quite found of doing in time of my life. I have some things I need to work out. Though I would still love to hang out with you!” Just not romantically. She kind of felt sorry for the girl but then again maybe it was better that she didn’t date. From Mia’s experience, it was all heartbreaking. “Then we can go mini golfing!” That was exciting wasn’t it? “And we can get pizza? Or something healthier?” She didn’t usually eat pizza, too un healthy.

She nodded “Yeah it is. I might actually go into a career that has to do with psychology. Personality psychology is very interesting. It’s something I would like to study more.. Maybe I should get a couple psychology books..” She pondered over it, maybe she could ask Dr. Neville if he could give her some lessons on it or something. She nodded “Yeah, I guess that’s why I like it.” She shrugs “It gives me a challenge.” She liked challenges, especially if it made her think. And maybe if she studied it more she could understand herself better.

Mia perked up “Oh? You wouldn’t mind?” She smiled “I would love that actually. I love reading.” It helped her keep her mind off of… depressing issues for her.

[Willow Birdsong]

"You relate more to the loners? But you're outgoing," Willow said, really just trying to understand what made Mia so interested. "Unless, you were a loner at some point and don't like seeing people feel as alone as you once felt," she tilted her head at Mia, "you don't seem like the type of person to be lonely. You're so nice." Willow was in many ways, innocent.

"Okay, we can hang out," Willow said, wondering if hanging out and going on a date were more or less the same thing. "It doesn't matter to me. My sister is always trying to get me to eat the latest healthy snack so, I wouldn't mind a slice of pizza." She admitted, a sheepish smile on her face at the prospect of junk food.

"I could borrow some of those to you too," she offered, a bit of a smile on her face. Mia didn't seem like the type of person to make fun of her for having textbooks, so she decided to share. Plus, Mia liked psychology - how much more of an invitation did Will need? Dr. Neville had recently been trying to get a hold of Mia to come into his office, but she had absolutely refused.