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[h2]Lucy[/h2]
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It had been a week since Lucy realized that she could do more than forecast the weather in a cute outfit on television and it had been two since things had started to become strange. She could remember it quite well when Vivienne had waltzed up to her on her first day on the job in high heels and a tight black skirt that was shorter than the ones Lucy usually would care for. It only took a glance or two to figure out she wasn't as sweet as strawberry shortcake. However, Lucy had planned on just keeping her mouth shut and playing nice for the sake of keeping this job. Getting a job so soon after getting out of college was not something that happened very often or to many people. She had dressed up a bit herself to give a good impression and even took out the curling iron that had been collecting dust under her bed. Her parents were even tuned in to the news channel for Atlanta despite being positioned in Pennsylvania, eager to see their daughter's first time on TV. 

"Uh, Lucy is it?"Vivienne had began, giving her one of the most fake smiles Lucy had ever seen.  "Look I know you're new here and all but could you at least wear a dress that's been in style in the last decade? You look like you walked out of a catalog from the 70s right out of a hippie bus. You even have sort of a stoned look on your face if I'm being frankly honest with you. Did you smoke pot before coming here?" 

Lucy had heard many horror stories meeting rude people at work and had run into quite a few rude managers over the years but this girl seemed like she just had a bone to pick with her. She really wanted to give her an ear full but decided it wasn't worth it. This girl wasn't relevant. Nonetheless, Lucy smiled and said sweetly, "Thank you, Vivienne. I did not smoke any pot but it's so nice of you to try and help me.  Not always easy being the new girl." She soon figured out while waiting for her turn to go on that Vivienne would be reporting the weather whenever Lucy wasn't. Vivienne looked visibly pissed that Lucy hadn't wanted to start with her. Lucy wondered what the hell she was even doing here if these weren't her hours. 

So finally, Lucy went up and prepared to go on live. She ended up doing what she thought was a good job until she realized the script she had been referring on the screen across from the set was for last week's weather. She had to stop referring to it at some point and completely rely on the map to predict the weather, making up the rest of the week as she predicted. There was no telling that weather would be exact since she had just made it up on the spot. The Vivienne woman was sitting it, giving her a malicious grin. She had glared and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her but luckily she wasn't particularly blamed for the incident. The only thing Lucy could hope was that her prediction would be somewhat close. She already knew today and tomorrow's forecast was completely wrong as she had been reading off last week's weather. 

Quite a few people ended up being pissed about her talking about weather that didn't match up with was being shown on the screen behind her. Lucy worried that her reputation was going to suffer enough to eventually be fired. Strangely enough, the entire day's weather ended up being exactly as she said: rain. It had been previously posted on the screen that it would be clear skies.  If that wasn't strange enough, the entire week that followed matched her predictions perfectly. The other cast members of the weather team were astonished how she had been so precise. 

She was walking to a coffee shop near her apartment as she usually did one morning, red umbrella in hand, gazing up tiredly at the overcast sky. It had been a torrential downpour that Sunday, the rain slamming noisily into the concrete and into the fabric of the umbrella. It was her least favorite thing to wake up at 7am and head out in the rain but this was just crazy. She wished it would stop and for some reason, it did. It was as if the clouds had heard her thoughts. She stopped dead in her tracks, confused beyond belief. The clouds started to clear too, faster than Lucy knew was possible to just happen out of the blue. Her initial reaction was to giggle at herself, wondering how she could entertain the idea that she could decide the weather. She rolled her eyes at herself, thinking about the rain starting again with a smirk. Maybe she was losing her mind. The smirk quickly faded as the clouds started to collect over the sky and rain started to drip down, hitting the ground with a soft pitter-patter and slowly growing back to the violent downpour. She quickly grabbed her umbrella with a yelp, pulling it back over her head. 

Lucy wondered if this was a dream. This was way past convenience. There was only one way to find out. It was February and there was no way the temperature could suddenly reach up to 85 degrees and sunny out of no where. However, she willed it and so it did. She had stared up at the sun, squinting as she folded her umbrella and took off her rain coat. It was becoming warmer by the second. She hurried to the news building and began taking some morning readings with the meteorologists, who now let her participate in creating predictions with them due to her astounding accuracy the last week. All she could do was swallow and stare as the temperature was reported to be 85 degrees Fahrenheit. 

It took her a day or two to get over the initial shock but it wasn't long before she started reporting impossible weather predictions for the next three days such as sudden snow and sudden heat just for fun and to perhaps get a bit under Vivienne's skin because why not. It was of course met with uproar and threats to her job. However, when it really did happen, it was met with confusion and admiration. The wild weather sensations became a news story in itself. Lucy then decided that if she really could control the weather that she should probably lay down low. The government would go crazy surely if they found out someone could do this. These last few days, Lucy had gone back to reporting more normal weather reports but the attention on her did not seem to die down. Every day felt like an interrogation from the other meteorologists and news reporters. She regretted playing so much with the weather because it was basically impossible to describe the reason. 

Today, Lucy dreaded going back to work. It was all becoming so annoying. She walked out of her apartment building in a lace skirt and black tank top along with some wedges. She subconsciously had been trying to change her style up to avoid any further criticism. She turned the corner of the road, making her way to her usual coffee shop. She had been keeping the mornings rather sunny and reasonably warm which kept going against Vivienne's weather predictions which was always fun. Lucy was slowly learning that she was pettier than she thought. She halted in front of the shop. There was a large white poster taped to the darkened windows reading: SPACE FOR RENT.

"Fuck!" She yelled, making a few people around her turn and stare. She apologetically looked over her shoulder, "Sorry."
More hastily than most, she took out her phone and began searching for another coffee shop until one with a decent rating came up. "Populi ex Machina..."She repeated to herself. It was only a five minutes walk so Lucy turned on her heels and began making her way toward it, eager for coffee. Lucy had no idea what she was getting herself into.