Chaos (Open)

[Willow Birdsong]

“Two years,” she said with a smile. That was an easy question. Willow was fifteen now, so she got her power when she was thirteen, normal timing. She couldn’t remember what life was like before she had her power. Still, he shouldn’t judge her based on what she looked like. Most people thought she was thirteen, probably because she didn’t dress like the other girls her age, or act like it. The way she went around avoiding everyone, you’d think she was a toddler trying to find her mommy’s leg to hide behind.

“You want to hitchhike.” She stated, a smirk on her face. Lani was probably a lunatic. Oh well, she highly doubted he would remember to go hitchhiking with her. Judging by the mess he made a few minutes ago, he had other things to work on. Yes she wanted to see a tornado, and if fate decided he should remember, then she would go with him. Could be fun.

Willow smiled a bit. “It’s not really a class that’s taught here,” she pushed her hair behind her ears, getting ready to explain, “I asked if there could be a way to get a credit for Astronomy, and the counsellor said they could have my do correspondence if I really want to.” Because let’s be honest, she’s completed almost every class offered at the school already. What else was she supposed to do when her power made her stay in bed all day? Willow wasn’t one to give up.

She cocked her head to the side. “You’ve already dissected them if you have a personal opinion on them.” When she read them, it was just a bunch of words. Just a bunch of nonsense, no opinion was attached, other than it was nothing. Was that an opinion if you couldn’t understand it? Well, understand it as poetry, and not just the mechanics of it.

“That doesn’t count as one of the questions, besides,” she focused on him, “I haven’t asked you anything yet.” Maybe if he answered her next one she would share. “What’s the hardest thing about your power?” Maybe then she could answer his question properly. Willow had written a paper on different kinds of powers, maybe she could just e-mail it to him or something. “Always more?” She pondered, her eyebrows furrowing. “I guess I’ll always have something to do then.” Because that’s all it was. The things she found enjoyable were few and far between.

Willow wondered why her question wasn’t followed by a simple answer. “It’s not yes or no?” She asked, eyebrows furrowing .Well, if he didn’t even know, then there would be no hope for her. Love wasn’t just something you could look up in a dictionary, or even know what the mechanics were and be able to claim you knew what it was. She knew it was complicated, but maybe she hoped it wouldn’t be. “But, don’t you like her?” Now she was confused too. If it wasn’t a yes, then maybe it was a no.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani nodded taking a moment do a quick calculation, based on her apparent age he would have believed it if she had said she just got it. Oh well, story of Lani’s life, someone younger had had their power longer than him. She must have gotten it like everyone else, early. Why was it just him? Even his sister had gotten her power at a normal time. It just wasn’t fair. It was one of these things that made Lani wonder if he was supposed to have a power at all. It had been so random and so powerful and was still very much raw in his mind that it felt like he had been blasted open rather than gradually appearing. Telekinesis would have probably been nice if he had come in less like a raging waterfall and more like a trickle.

He grinned at her, she was probably right, Lani probably was a lunatic. “Why not?” He shrugged. “I mean I suppose I could always steal a car…” He feinted seriousness for a moment before breaking his mask with a smile and a brief laughter. “Just kidding,” he wasn’t, but he added it for good measure still chuckling as if such a thing was absurd. Lani hoped he wouldn’t forget but with the start of the year looming and so many new and different things happening he might forget, but then again seeing a tornado might just be the right medicine for him. Something that was like him, explosive and powerful, and yet quick to arrive and even faster to leave. Lani didn’t run though but if he really let his power go like he had today his bursts were short and left him exhausted.

Lani listened and realized how much alike he had Willow were, and then how they weren’t. However, it was more a matter of effort. Lani understood physics simply because of his power and he loved history he just hated going to the class, he’d much rather read about it or watch documentaries, and he loved stars but he hardly knew a thing about them. “I’m jealous,” he said, “Though I could probably never stand the class. Somehow knowing how things work takes the beauty out of the mystery.” He shrugged, that was merely one reason he liked leaving Odion to do the magic. It was a sad admission though he knew it was true. He would read into it what he would but he liked learning on his own and hated curriculum. And thus he failed every time.

“But I always feel like I’m wrong,” he replied, “I think one thing and apparently it’s another thing but no matter how many times I read it I never get what they get out of it. I just can’t take one passage and divorce it from the rest of the book and dissect it. Books weren’t meant to do that.” He shrugged and looked at her. “Would you like poetry if you didn’t have an analyze it?” Language was a funny thing. It was so strong and so beautiful and so frustrating. Odion was always using words against him because Lani was too foolish to watch his.

Lani huffed and quieted when he realized she was right. “Fine,” he relented to the deal and waved a hand for her to go on. Lani scratched at his chin and took a moment leaning on the broom. He started to hum a little and he shrugged. “How close it is,” he finally said, “It’s so entwined with my mind, but the problem is…” he cut himself off, why was he saying this to a random stranger. “Well, the problem is that if I let my mind wander my power wanders and more often than not gets itself into trouble. So the hardest part is that I can’t let myself zone out. I mean not even for a second or something might go flying.” Lani looked back at her, “So how does it work?” He was not going to let this question go. Lani smiled, “Don’t look so gloomy, find yourself a nice mystery and explore it, it could be fun if you let it.”

Wincing a little Lani shrugged at her question. “Eh… not exactly, I mean, yes, but also no.” Love was another thing that lived in those gray areas, because there were different types of love, there was love for family, siblings, friends and then there were lovers. All were different but fundamentally the same. Lani’s head jumped up and he laughed. “Of course I like her, I like an awful lot.” He said with a nod. “Do you have any siblings?” Lani asked wondering if he could make an analogy here to help, she seemed unusually confused about this. Oh he was not the person she needed to be asking about love.

[Willow Birdsong]

A lunatic and a thief? Hammel seemed to be harbouring some interesting characters. “It’d be safer than hitchhiking,” she said with a small smile of her own. This was all hypothetical, right? That’s what car insurance was for anyways. Willow hadn’t done anything illegal in her life, that didn’t mean she didn’t know how to hotwire a car. She just chose not to.

“Physics is the same thing. You just have to know the formulas, it’s still taking the mystery out of certain things.” That’s what knowledge was about. You couldn’t have both knowledge and mystery. Willow wasn’t sure which was more appealing. “You shouldn’t be jealous of me,” she added as an afterthought. Most people weren’t jealous of the fact that she got to take extra credits. Why was he jealous?

“You like novels then,” she said. Lani was probably very good at writing papers about one idea from a book and connecting it to the rest, like its own personal world. But she had been talking about poetry. Oh well, on to the next subject. “No, I’ve tried. It’s not meaningful to me, no matter what.” Maybe she just didn’t have enough life experience to understand the depths of poetry. She knew all about sonnets and free verse, she could even right it, but her experiment of putting together random thoughts got her just as amazing grades as the English lover, who put their heart, soul, and emotions into it. She just didn’t get it. Or maybe she didn’t and didn’t know it. Poet and didn’t even know it. Master of languages also. She understood language. She understood double entendres and using words. But because she was so caught up in that, she didn’t really get poetry. It was more than just a formula, but she couldn’t see that.

Willow listened with interest, and without looking at him. Her mind was working at top speed, but her body was busy sifting through the garbage he created and what could be salvaged for the next person. Or the janitor, whoever happened to find this room first. “Your power is meant to be close to you,” she said finally, smiling. “You should take your own advice. Telekinesis needs to be let out, like my power. I can’t just sit in a room and try not to be stimulated. Sure sometimes I overexert myself, but you can learn how to have it all around you and not have things flying,” she took a closer look at him, trying to remember what she had written about, “you’re too worried about having everything fly that you can’t relax and let it wander harmlessly. Telekinesis isn’t just about lifting things or manipulating things or people, sometimes it’s about just being there with you, like it is right now.” Lani had such a tight leash on his powers, he wasn’t doing himself any favours. It was brewing inside of him instead of having a constant outlet. “You just need to do this more often,” she said lightly, waving her finger round the room. The secret was that there was no secret. Eventually Lani’s power would get used to the free reign, like a cat in a whole house instead of just one room. But if he wanted it to be in one room, he would be able to call on its power at will.

“Yes and no?” Willow made a scrunched face before releasing it to relaxed again. Now was not the time to get a headache, not when there was stuff left to clean up. “That doesn’t make much sense,” she said, trying not to criticise him. She was just trying to talk it out. It was a faster way of reaching conclusions when you wanted one. Sometimes she even talked to herself if there was no one else around, especially for physics problems. She smirked at herself. “I guess that’s why you’re dating her huh?” He didn’t need to answer that. She was just trying to get on the same page as he was. “I have an older sister,” she said, picking up yet another twisted and broken light fixture, “do you? Have any brothers or sisters?” She didn’t see what that had to do with his girlfriend, but maybe he was getting to that. Willow loved Juniper more than anyone in the world. She was her best friend and confidant, especially when she found out the reason behind their dad leaving. She loved June, but not in the way she was asking Lani about. She wasn’t confused about that kind of love. She was talking about the love you get to choose, the one that isn’t built in with an adoring family.

[Lani Hunter]

“But think of the people we could meet,” he said encouraging her; he was such a bad influence. He laughed, “But if that is how you feel…” He gave her a sly grin and his eyes were bright and already planning what car they would need and how they would hide it. It wasn’t hard, get something generic and switch the plates and everything was fine. And not get pulled over, that was a big one. Then again Lani had realized his skill when he was flying to Boston that when a cop was hot on his trail his power was very useful at just knocking something loose in the car. A mechanical failure, nothing more.

Lani shrugged he didn’t see the connection, for it was still a mystery how he moved things. “The greatest mysteries are full of things that haven’t been discovered, I don’t think you can take the mystery fully out of something.” After all, new theories were being found and old ones broken. That was why they were theories. It only added to the grand mystery of the world around them. And history, history was merely the pathway to this day, and every day gone was another day to history. None of them would end up in history books probably, Lani wasn’t on his way to doing anything more than being the best at not getting caught. He sighed and realized that even in this crime research the only thing he would ever go down as would be his alias. The uncatchable. He had to admit that he rather liked that title, even if no one knew it was him. But he wasn’t about to be caught to give his name away.

“I’m jealous of just about anyone right now,” Lani muttered and turned to her raising his voice to hearing level. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” He contemplated her answer and tapped his chin. That could be an unfortunate consequence of thinking of things as formulas. Even Lani in his love for Physics loathed equations. He went through math because he had to but he never went, he wasn’t even sure how he had squeaked past in Calculus. It was probably because he had passed the tests without being in class. For Lani it wasn’t hard to understand, but the equations made things complicated and he just liked to understand the concepts. That was why he and history got along but he and history class did not. They tried to shove their analysis down his throat instead of just giving him the interesting facts. There was a reason he robbed museums. “That’s too bad,” Lani said with sympathy, “perhaps you should try novels, they’re a little easier than poetry.”

Seeing Willow work guilted Lani enough to start moving the broom a little more than he was running his mouth. Or that his mouth had been running away with him. But either way, more sweeping less speaking. Lani looked at her and sighed, well that made more than one person so that concept must be on the true side. Laughing a little bit he went to another corner and started sweeping back into the middle again. “You know it sucks, but you’re not the first person to say that to me.” He shook his head, he was full of giving out advice but he never took any of his own. He frowned at her and her analysis. He shook his head, she really didn’t understand that Lani was capable of doing things without meaning it. Or at least Lani would have thought seeing him in action she would advise he never let it out, but letting it out more often now that had Lani laughed. “Wow, you really are crazy,” he shook his head, “I don’t think this is a good idea. I need control not ‘lets make everything go crazy!’” He sighed and gave her a smile, “But thanks,” he would chew on this.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he said giving her a sympathetic glance. He smiled as Adrianna came to mind and nodded his head, but he wasn’t sure why when it came to love he shied away so much. Perhaps because when that was presented he was struck by how he felt about Odion as well. Lani smiled glad she had a sibling. “I do, I have a younger sister,” Lani said now that was a love he was sure of, “And do you love your sister?” Lani asked. He was willing to take it as a yes so he moved on, “You see, it’s strange because I know I love my sister, but when it comes to Adrianna and… well things get a little fuzzy.” He shrugged, “I suppose that is why you grow to love someone instead of instantly loving them.”

[Willow Birdsong]

“If you bring someone else I’ll go with you,” she said, not willing to pass up the offer that quickly. “And if I can bring my sister. We just can’t tell her that the car’s stolen or anything, she’ll kill me.” Willow wasn’t smiling at all, she was dead serious about this. But she wasn’t about to hop into a car with someone she barely knew. That would be stupid and disastrous. Well that and she really just didn’t trust guys.

“I hope you’re right,” Willow said with a sigh. But Lani didn’t get it. She didn’t even get it. She longed for things to feel normal, but that would never happen. Part of her thought that if she could understand everything, then nothing would bother her. But because of her power, nothing would feel as great as it initially did. That’s why she was putting off her first kiss, and other firsts she wanted to save for last. The only solution to her problem would be to get rid of her power completely. They didn’t have an operation for that, especially since her power was a sensory and mind duo, but maybe she could figure something out for herself.

“Novels are boring,” Willy quipped. Yes, that’s how easy they were. Her ears perked up. “Who else told you?” She wondered. Seriously, she had done quite a bit of research for that paper. Whoever he spoke to must’ve really understood telekinesis. It was such a finicky power, probably the last one she’d be able to imitate once she got started on that big project. Maybe once she was done finishing all the classes she wanted to take, she could focus solely on adapting to every power Hammel had in house. Willow felt her ears burn as Lani laughed at her. Now she felt offended. “I got an A, I guess whoever was marking my theory thinks I’m crazy as well.” It couldn’t have been that crazy, not if he was testing it out when she found him.

“From here to the moon and back,” Willow said without hesitation. She frowned. “I thought love was a choice,” she said. Family didn’t automatically mean love. She for one didn’t love her father, and others might. “I love my sister because she’s always there for me and spends time with me and doesn’t judge me,” that, and she hadn’t abandoned her like their father had. “Maybe you’re afraid to love her?” She offered. That would make sense. It wasn’t love itself, but Lani who was confusing. Willow always leaned towards the side that made most sense.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani grinned, “Absolutely,” he gave her a sly grin, he could probably bribe Adrianna into going if it came to it. He wouldn’t take his sister, not unless he could guarantee her safety, but with tornadoes nothing was absolute. Lani laughed, “Of course, and my lips are sealed. I’ll probably bring a few friends, after all the more the merrier when you’re facing death, you know?” He didn’t realized how serious she was because he was sure she wasn’t serious about stealing a car. After all she didn’t understand that Lani was completely serious in his joking, she couldn’t be alright with that. And if she was then, well, what was the matter with her?

Lani nodded, “I know I’m right,” he said, no Lani wasn’t arrogant at all… He smiled at her. “Besides why do you think we don’t know everything yet? Everything is a mystery in its own way.” And people were perhaps the largest mystery of all; no one really understood each other fully. Things always happened to surprise them. Lani even knew that he was surprised by people all the time, one in particular but that was beside the point. It was the little things that really defined a person. Whether they would hold the door open or if they would laugh before helping someone who had fallen. Then there were people like Lani would ask if someone was alright before laughing and helping them up. He didn’t think that alone would make him a bad person but then again he had decided he wasn’t a good person either.

Gasping Lani put a hand over his heart. “Egad!” He exclaimed, “Well, that’s just judging a book by its cover.” He raised a brow and grinned a little at his own joke. Really sometimes it was about the story, and if one missed the story and the meanings inlaid in those he supposed it could be boring. But not everything had to be educational in order to be entertaining. And as a story telling novice Lani was rather insulted, he wondered if they stories he had told his sister when they were young would get a similar assessment. “A friend,” he said with a shake of his head, a friend with more observational skills than were good for him. “He’s rather… analytical of everything, and he caught onto something like that.” Lani laughed and muttered, “You can get an A on anything if you are good enough at bullshitting.” Lani for one was a brilliant at putting a whole lot of nothing into something that looked rather impressive. “Not that I’m saying it was bullshit,” Lani amended quickly, “I’m sure it was very good and considering that you’re not the only person to think so it seemed like you’re really onto something. I’d love to read it.” He smiled holding his breath hoping he hadn’t just made himself sound like an ass. Well, wouldn’t be the first time his tongue got him into trouble.

A smile crossed Lani’s face. “Love is a choice, but could you not love you sister if she did something really horrible? No.” He nodded. “It’s being there for you that makes you love her, and it’s the fact that if everyone else were to leave she would still be there. There is no choice there, I think.” He looked at Willow and her offer and wrinkled his nose. “I’m not afraid of anything,” he boasted. But it kind of sucked that she was right, he was afraid but mostly of being tied down and now things were even more confusing. He hated to think of it but things with Adrianna made sense but the emotions were confused, things with Odion made no sense but the emotions were what was making the other emotions more confusing. Everything was confusing.

[Willow Birdsong]

“At least you wouldn’t die alone,” Willow said, the very thought making her shiver. No, Lani was right. If they were going to die from seeing something awesome, it was best to do it with people you loved. She couldn’t say she loved him, but her sister she definitely did. Some things were worth stealing cars over.

Everything was a mystery? Now she knew that didn’t make any sense, but Lani was adamant to win every conversation for some reason, so she decided to let that be. It wasn’t people she wanted to understand completely anyways. People were loathsome, save for a few angels like her sister.

“How else would you judge it?” She asked, wondering what he was getting at. If books weren’t meant to be judged by their covers, then why would bookstores spend so much time on the displays they were on? Or editors on the covers themselves? Why did people care so much about appearances. No, everything was about the cover. Willow wondered about this friend of Lani’s – maybe that’s why he wanted to win every conversation. Analytical people tended to want to be right. “Does he judge books by their covers?” She asked. She only wanted to know so that she could cross reference the books he used to gain his knowledge, this friend of Lani’s. Willow’s face reddened. Lani didn’t understand her, just like everyone else. “I tried really hard on that paper...” She said, her fists clenched. He really didn’t want to read it, now he was just making fun of her.

“You can’t ever choose to stop loving someone? What about people who date for a while, fall in love, and then have to get over one another? Are you suggesting that once they move on, they still love each other while loving someone else?” It was a legitimate question, and she was only testing out his theory. Or maybe she really wasn’t getting it. In either case, she wasn’t trying to find flaws in his logic, no, her power was doing that for her. “She doesn’t have to love me...” Willow mumbled. Her father didn’t. “I’m not afraid either,” she said, crossing her arms as she glanced over the room. The only thing left to do, would be to fix the broken items. She glanced at him. Was he planning on doing that as well, or was she the one with the knowledge to repair a broken light. “Do you know where the school keeps extra lightbulbs?” That was something she hadn’t poked around in.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani shrugged, accepting that. That would be horrible, but then again he’d rather die alone than taking someone down with him. “I’m pretty sure we could bribe enough people into it and make a party out of it. We’d have to keep it on the D-L from the man.” He pressed a finger to his lips and looked around as if someone were listening right this second. And in reality who was to know that someone wasn’t? He didn’t know if that person with super hearing was still around or not but he wasn’t about to take the chance that someone else had that power and just so happened to be a security guard or go running for a security guard.

“You could judge it by the story,” he pointed out, “And the meanings that it gives.” Lani finished with his sweeping and replaced the large broom and set to work sifting through the rubble. There could be some rather spectacular findings in there or rather something that could be sold. Lani almost burst out in laughter at her question but thankfully contained it to a chuckle and a shake of his head. “Hardly, he’s one of those people who will keep on poking and looking even when there is nothing else there.” He wondered if Willow had caught onto the fact that they weren’t talking about books anymore. Honestly though, that was what he liked most about Odion, he didn’t stop and usually there was something else there it was just that the person under the microscope didn’t realize it.

Lani frowned and looked up at her rising to his feet. “No, I know, I’m sorry,” he said opening his hands hoping to convey that he was, simply put, an idiot and said things without thinking. “I didn’t mean it like that, not at all,” he shrugged, “I guess it just annoys me when people know more about my power than I do.” Lani’s eyes flashed, really if she didn’t let him read the paper now he was more than likely to steal it. She had waved answers under his nose and was now, granted because Lani was being an ass, taking away the potential for knowledge. “I do want to read it, you seem to really know what you’re talking about.”

Lani shrugged, “Maybe, maybe not,” he was just full of unsatisfactory answers today, wasn’t he? “I’m not suggesting that at all, I’m just saying that there are some people that you just can’t stop loving, like you sister, and perhaps that one person who you really love.” Lani tapped his chin and hummed as he thought about it. “Maybe that’s the defining moment, if you fall in love and can’t get over it perhaps that is it, and they are what people call the ‘true love’.” Lani was getting dangerously close to not making any sense now. Lani snapped his fingers and pointed at Willow as if she had just won the grand prize. “But she does, that’s what it’s all about, at least with siblings,” he nodded his head as he spoke, “They love you even thought they don’t have to.” Lani grinned at her as she shared his lie, they were both afraid, “Really?” Lani couldn’t help himself, “Birds of a feather then.”

“I wanna say in the supply closest down the hall,” He looked up at the sad array of the lights, “Yeah we probably should replace them people are bound to notice.” Lani had no skill at fixing things, he was much better at the causing destruction and havoc kind of thing and leaving other people with the clean up. His power throbbed in his head but it really was as tired as he was and merely had the strength to flop around as if to show agreement in the enjoyment at causing havoc. Why else would Lani love being newsworthy? He really just liked the attention, even if he didn't want them to know his name he loved it whenever he got away with something. “Thanks for helping me clean, by the way.”

[Willow Birdsong]

“A tornado party?” She asked with a hint of a smile. “I’ll be sure to bring appropriate treats,” she said. And then, she laughed again, that strange noise she wasn’t sure what to do with that made her feel self conscious. “I think if you can get away with ruining this room, we can go on an adventure.” Besides, she didn’t really have any friend to invite. Maybe Avi? Or Mia? Hmm, she wasn’t sure about that. Would that be strange to invite them? “I have a weather manipulator friend. I’m not sure how good she is, but maybe it’d be wise to bring her in case things get out of control,” she said, getting excited.

“That means I would have to read the book,” she said, but she did get his point. “I do like reading though, do you have any recommendations?” She asked. She had milled through the Hunger Games – awful. But she didn’t mind the Uglies Series, about a three out of five. But she wanted to read something that wasn’t so formulaic. Give her something without a feisty heroine who pines over two or more men. It was getting dull really fast. “But I thought you said that everything is a mystery,” she said, curious about this friend of his. She wondered if he could be one of those people that didn’t get dull to her senses.

Willow stared at the ground. Her paper was an advanced opinionated, thesis paper on different powers. It had taken her months. She didn’t even have to do it, but she wanted to. As if the paper wasn’t hard enough, it was even harder to convince her teacher to grade it. So maybe she didn’t deserve the A, maybe the teacher was just tired of being pestered. “I wasn’t trying to annoy you, you asked...” He asked her, very interested to start, and then laughed in her face. Something was horribly wrong with him. “Do you mean it?” She asked. No one, not even her teachers, wanted to read it. “I can... e-mail it to you if you want...” She offered, still unsure if he really was interested or not, or still annoyed. Maybe both? She would have an easier time talking to him online anyways.

While Lani spoke, Willow had already decided that he didn’t have any true answers. But he seemed to be grappling his way towards one while he spoke, so, why not just let him talk? Defining moment? Well at least they were both talking about romantic love now. “I’m not confused over sibling love, I get that,” she said, trying to go back to the tangent he was on before. “But isn’t that what all love is? Loving even though you don’t have to? Giving without expecting?” It was all very scary business. Obviously he wasn’t in love with Adrianna, with all these maybes. “Have you ever fallen in love before?” She asked, a more general question. His current girlfriend didn’t have to be an example.

Willow grinned a bit. “How do you know there’s light bulbs in there? Are you using your power right now?” She asked excitedly. His power was so amazing, he just had to unlock it. “How old are you again?” She asked. Eighteen she thought, if he was repeating his last year, but maybe he was nineteen, she couldn’t be sure unless she asked. If there really were light bulbs and other things nearby, Willow could fix it. And she’d be happy to do it, it would give her something to do, and let her mind rest. That was also why she liked being outside so much. It was always pleasant. “You’re welcome,” she said. If they were going to go storm chasing, then they should probably be friends first. It would be the first male she came into contact with at the school, and she’d been here a while already.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s eyes brightened at the idea. He laughed with her enjoying the thought of a tornado party. “That would be awesome,” he bobbed his head imaging tornado cookies. He gave her a look and smiled, she didn’t seem like someone who would get into a lot of trouble usually. Maybe he was a bad influence. “If we get enough people involved we might be able to make this a Spring Break trip or something, that would be awesome. And that would be a brilliant idea, so long as she won’t give our master plan away to anyone who would want to stop us.” This was happening. Lani was too invested in planning now. There was no going back now, not if Lani had anything to say about it.

Smiling he took what she was offering him. “You should check out some Mercedes Lackey, she’s a very good author and there is none of that fluffy stuff. I mean the stories are great and they leave you with something to think about.” Lani wasn’t really into anything recent, he hadn’t read the hunger games honestly he didn’t understand the fad of the love triangle. Lani didn’t like the idea that someone could be so invested in someone that they wouldn’t be able to live without them. Lani liked to think that even if it started like that that he would be able to get over it. However Lani wasn’t sure. But if only by sheer force of will he would make it work. “Ah…” Lani held up a finger started by how she had called him out on that one. “Um… yes, because the mystery is not knowing if there is a bottom to the issue or where it is.” Now he was making things up…

Lani nodded. “I know, I know,” he said with a sigh, way to go Lani. He mentally kicked himself for that one. What a way to say something stupid. “It’s really my fault, I did ask. I guess I just wasn’t prepared for the answer to make so much sense.” He waved his hands around his head, “Because this doesn’t make much sense.” Lani nodded enthusiastically, “Definitely. Would you mind? What did your teacher say about it?” Lani wondered, he wasn’t sure how much the teacher knew but he was interested to see where she had gone with this. He had read everything, yes including that book he had lifted from the library about crime and meta humans. That had been a rather enlightening book and he had learned quite a good spread of tricks. Things he never would have thought of.

The topic of love was a terrifying thing, especially when Lani really had no answers. He knew he loved certain people but then they were family, but when it came to falling into love, he knew he was falling but the problem was that he was falling for someone and he wasn’t sure what to do about it because the feelings were strong for Adrianna as well, but then he couldn’t help comparing them, but they were two different types of love, but he really couldn’t figure out what was what anymore. “I think that’s it…” he trailed off, but that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. He was looking for a simple answer and had yet to accept that it didn’t exist. There was no way that everyone would be happy, but then again, would it be better in the end… Lani blinked called back to reality by her question. He shook his head slowly, he was falling, oh yes he was falling.

Lani laughed scratching his head embarrassed. He shook his head, “No, I’m just saying that these aren’t the first light bulbs I’ve broken.” His power and mind were tired and the combination of exhaustion and heavy conversation was starting to get to him and he doubted his power would listen if he asked it to so much as pick up a pin at the moment. “I’m eighteen,” Lani said with a smile, “How about you?” That was a strange and sudden switch in topics. Lani smiled and went back to sifting through the objects. “Hey, check this out,” Lani said pulling something out of the pile. It glinted in the light and caught his thief’s eye, which was always keen for shinny things. He held up a small ring, it was silver and he realized with a little laugh, that it had a small gem that looked like an eye in it. He had seen that before, his mother had something similar but it was just a charm on the wall. The ring was covered in dust and the silver a little tarnished. “Someone must have left it here.”

[Willow Birdsong]

Trouble wasn’t something Willow sought out intentionally, but she had been in some before. Nothing too glamorous. Maybe she’d been somewhere at the wrong time or overheard an adult conversation not meant for her. But Lani was only as bad an influence as she allowed him to be. She’d always wanted to see a tornado. “And once that’s done, I’ll have to see a hurricane,” she said. It was strange, to be fearless. She knew she would adapt to the harsh weather better than anyone else could. “I’ll make sure Spring Break is kept open,” she said with a grin. How shocked would he be to find she had really put it all together by the time Spring rolled around?

“Merecedes Lackey,” Willow said with a nod, storing that into her ever expanding memory. This friend sought out mysteries that apparently weren’t there when Lani claimed everything had a mystery. It couldn’t be both, so which one was it? Either everything had a mystery forever, or there were answers out there somewhere. And indeed, the human race had come a long way and had figured much out. But hopefully there would still be ideas to question and ponder, some adventure still left to be had. That was the fun of getting lost in a good novel. Willow was ready for something enticing.

“Not everything that makes sense seems like a good idea to start,” she offered, throwing his words back at him from earlier. She couldn’t help it, her memory honed in on things to make her points stronger, just like her essay. He had said letting his power loose wasn’t a good idea, but then why was he doing it before? Obviously there was something to be explored there. “The comments were sparse. He didn’t appreciate marking it as much as I enjoyed doing it,” she said with a shrug. If she could, she would be going to university right now, but they wanted to keep her social life that of a normal fifteen year old. She had reactive adaptation, and in her opinion, that was beyond normal already.

“Does it hurt? Falling in love?” She asked, wondering what the experience would be like. If it hurt, her powers would adapt and make it so that she wouldn’t hurt anymore. Would that help her to care about that person, or become indifferent? Could someone be hurting her without her knowing it?

“Oh,” she said to his embarrassment and to her disappointment. Oh well, so he just knew because he had done this before. That made sense too. She smiled sheepishly at him. Sometimes she got excited over the silliest things. “Fifteen,” she said. He didn’t seem very close to mastering his powers at all. She neared him a bit, concentrating on the treasure he’d found. “Well it’s ugly, I don’t really blame them.” Who wore stuff like that? She raised an eyebrow at him. “It probably fits you though, if you want it.” Clearly, she didn’t. “Or you can give it to your girlfriend,” she suggested. Because every girl wanted dirty old rings, found while cleaning up after one’s powers went haywire. “Which closet are those bulbs in?” She asked, making towards the exit. She could fix them up right away.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani laughed and shook his head. “Been thought a few of those, not nearly as exciting as you’d think, you really wanna fly through them if anything,” he raised a brow at her before grinning. Now that he was joking around about. Boston usually got the leftovers but really Lani didn’t understand the deep power in a hurricane and how it was so strong that it could self propagate. And how much energy it took for a hurricane to get going. It was truly amazing, but every one that Lani remembered it was just rainy and miserable. Nothing exciting. “Yes!” Lani cried enthusiastically and his mind started whirring and working on the preparations. They would need a van of some sort, and if Lani had any hand in things he would make sure it looked as tricked out as possible with nerdy things.

Lani nodded and smiled. She was his favorite author, he was still working through a lot of her stuff but he was well on his way to being well read in them. Ok so maybe Lani was making things up now, but he wouldn’t lose. He didn’t understand it himself, all he knew was that Odion just kept picking at things, digging at them and poking at sore wounds until he had the answers. And sometimes Lani was being honest, well mostly honest, he didn’t think there was anything else there but then it was times like those that he surprised himself. Perhaps there were answers out there somewhere but Lani was of the mind that one had to travel to Delphi to find them.

He sighed, “Touche,” he said pointing at her and giving her a light glare for that one. Maybe he just made it too easy for people to throw things back at him. Maybe he really should start listening to what he was saying and making sure it made sense before he started spewing it like prophecy. Lani frowned. “You don’t sound happy about that. You know one day you’ll be published and your teacher will feel like an idiot because he didn’t realize your potential earlier.” He nodded definitively. She really was in the wrong place, Lani wasn’t sure how many people went from Hammel to college, he was sure there were plenty but what worried him the most was that when people discovered them to be meta students people would start treating them differently. Certainly Lani would never be allowed to participate or probably attend sporting events. Not that he was the sporty type but it was insulting when people assumed he would use his power for something petty like that. No what they should be worried about were the locks on the safes.

Lani let out a laugh at the question and shook his head. “I don’t know.” But he knew the answer. Yes, yes it was hurting him very much at the moment. Nothing made sense, everything was backwards. “But I have a feeling it might not hurt if someone is there to catch you.” He felt a little torn, because he cared about Adrianna and she had been there for him when all hell had broken loose, but Odion, he cared for him too but Odion had abandoned him. Well, granted he was back and Lani was starting to get used to it all. But he wished he could tear out his heart.

He grinned like a loon at her and her disappointment. No not everything had to do with his power. He loved doing things with his hands. Lani nodded at her age, she was a little younger than he had expected honestly. But then again she didn’t look very old but her well versed speech and knowledge had tricked him a little bit. Lani was looking at the ring and really she had a point it looked terrible but it could be cleaned and it would be beautiful. He snorted at her. “It’s not that bad, it just needs to be cleaned.” He examined it in the light, cleaned and sold to the right person and it would probably sell rather well. Lani shook his head at her, “It’s a charm, you know,” he commented pointing out the eye. Lani slipped it one his finger for a moment and blinked shaking his head before taking it off. No, he had too many blue eyes staring at him as it was. “She might like it,” he lied, “Well, maybe if it’s clean. Would you really suggest me giving this to Adrianna, because I will throw you under the bus for that.” He grinned at her.

“Third door on the left,” Lani told her and watched her go. Hmm, he looked closely at the ring. He pocketed it, he would have to look up how to remove tarnish. He wondered why someone had left it there and when, it didn’t look extremely old, but the tarnish made it look ancient. When Willow returned he had continued to look through stuff. “You know I bet there is an interesting story behind that ring.” He commented glancing at her. “Like why did someone leave it in a training room?”

[Willow Birdsong]

“I flew once,” Willow commented, unsure why. It was probably best not to retell a story of how she fell out of a moving car and had to save herself. No, that was not a good memory. She pushed her hair behind her ear, ready to move on. She was looking forward to Spring Break already.

Willow blushed a bit. “It’s just about powers...” She said. Yes she had done a lot of research, but she had added her own flare to it. She had been rather proud of it, but she had been taken down a few notches to realize she was the only one who gave a damn about it. Many hours, passionate hours, had gone into preparing something no one else wanted to read. So what if it was published, people still wouldn’t care.

Willow sighed a bit. “I don’t know either. Love is just something I can’t figure out, I hope I just know what it is once it happens.” It was such a confusing thing. But we all need heart to survive, and the heart was made for loving.

Lani would be wise not to judge this particular book by her cover. “Well I’m not cleaning it,” she said, a grin forming. Maybe he was planning to give it to his girlfriend. “What sort of charm?” She asked, glancing back at him. Why anyone would want an eye for a charm was too creepy for her to comprehend. Eyes were hard enough to look at as it was, she didn’t want an inanimate object freaking her out too. “I don’t know, you know her better than I do,” she said. Hadn’t he ever gotten her a gift before? “What’re you gonna do with it then?” She asked, ignoring the part about being thrown under a bus. She’d just get back up again like nothing happen, resilient little one she was.

Box of lights in hand, Willow set them on the ground and opened them. They were exactly the same. She glanced at Lani. Too bad he couldn’t use his powers to move them where they needed to be. “How about a ladder?” She asked, having not seen one in the room she was in. Then again, maybe she missed it. “Maybe someone took it off to train,” she said simply, “or maybe she could change into something smaller than the ring and just forgot it.” She gave the crumby piece of a jewelry one final look before glancing back to the box. “It’s just a ring,” she reminded Lani. Maybe it did have an interesting story, but it wasn’t worth pursuing something that they could never know. “Or one of your mysteries you were talking about,” she offered.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani raised a brow at the comment. Interesting, Lani just figured it was a plane. He had only been in a plane once and it had been the best thing ever. Just soaring over the clouds. But he had always longed to fly and feel the wind in his hair. He smiled at her, “What other powers?” He was curious, maybe there were answers in there but then there could just be a lot of interesting things. Lani was all for research papers, so long as they interested him, and powers were something that he was interested in. Perhaps it would give him a few pointers on flight. Telekinetic flight had so far evaded him but he was bound and determined to try it.

Lani smiled sympathetically at her, “Perhaps love isn’t meant to be understood.” That was a completely unsatisfactory answer, both for her and for him. He wanted to understand it so that he wouldn’t be ruled by it. He wanted it to make sense so that he could find those yes or no answers. He was getting very frustrated by the ‘yes and no’ answers he was getting from his own heart. It was a little harder for those people who needed answers for fall into love, because love trusted feelings. And Lani didn’t trust his feelings and his emotions were on lockdown, even more so now than they had been before everything blew up in his face. He was better and worse than he had been when this whole power thing had started.

“I didn’t ask you to,” Lani replied grinning back at her. “It’s a good luck charm,” he held it up so she could see the blue eye. “It’s called the ‘Mati’, the evil eye. I wards off bad luck given by the evil eye. My grandmother has one, she’s very superstitious.” If Lani’s grandmother had her way she would make sure that everyone was warded against het evil eye. It was meant to be creepy, Lani looked at it and wondered how it had become a good luck charm. He didn’t know the history but he knew that his mother swore by the thing. Lani smiled, “I don’t know I’ll see what happens when it gets cleaned up. Hmmm, I don’t know maybe sell it, someone out there wanted this at some point in time, it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone who still wants it.” But no he was going to see how well it cleaned up, after all Adrianna’s birthday was coming up and this might just be a good gift for her. After all, that girl could use some good luck. At least enough to counteract Lani’s bad luck.

“Ladder?” He echoed as he looked around the room, no he would have known if he had destroyed one of those. Best not kept in the training rooms. “I actually don’t know, we have a stool though.” He pointed over his shoulder. He didn’t use ladders very much, but this room didn’t have rafters he wouldn’t be able to reach them. Lani shrugged at her sentiment, it was never just a ring, or just a necklace. Lani knew better, there was always a story and even if something wouldn’t give a lot of money often times it was the fact that it was stolen at all that made it worth stealing. That was where Lani’s personal stash had come from. Stuff that technically wouldn’t sell well but something that he none the less had wanted and taken. He rose to his feet and walked over to the box of light bulbs. He tried to grab one and it shook for a moment before stabbing pain in his head called an end to that. “Hmmm, I’ll go up on the stool if you wanna hand me a light,” he offered going to get the stool. Really Lani preferred himself up instead of her, not because he thought he’d get hurt but because he had broken them in the first place.

[Willow Birdsong]

“All different types and sub-types,” she said, trying to condense a rather long paper. Willow wasn’t joking around, if she was going to do something, she was going to do it properly or not at all. In her mind, all powers were interesting, and while some power’s explanations didn’t exceed a couple pages (like telekinesis), they were still worth writing about and exploring. “Oh, and it’s also about how some metas have more than one power.” Yes, she was a bit of an overachiever, a little bit of a perfectionist, and only slightly obsessive.

“I hope not,” she said, because if it was never mean to be understood, then it would never be solved, and it would always feel like something to her. Willow had no idea that Lani was having an inner battle over the subject. How would she? To her, he seemed like a well liked guy, with a girlfriend and a friend he was fond of, although she could sense a twitch of annoyance on that subject. But still, he had more than she did. She had a sister, and a mother she never saw. Anyone that tried to get close to her she attempted to push away, though she wasn’t opposed to talking to them about arbitrary things so long as they weren’t about her.

“A good luck charm that’s evil?” She asked, interested in learning something new, that was quite bizarre. She would have to do more research on it. “Are you? Superstitious?” She asked, brown eyes looking up at him. He didn’t seem very superstitious. In fact he seemed rather plain, and she liked that. The less junk you had around, the more focused you could be. She looked at the ring and then looked away again. Maybe that’s why it was good luck, maybe people looked at you and then saw that instead and didn’t want to look at you anymore. It was disgusting and caught their attention first though. Interesting... Sell it? Like on eBay? “Alright,” she said, no longer interesting in this ‘Mati’ and what Lani was going to do with it.

Frowning at the stool, Willow gauged the distance between it and the lights. “I don’t think I can reach that high.” She said, disappointed. Willow was a girl who liked getting things done, and doing them right. Willow had never stolen anything in her life. A bulb braced in her hand, she passed one over to him, and watched him, before glancing back to the light. “Just be careful, I think you broke the socket too.” If he were set on fire... Let’s just hope that wouldn’t happen.