[center][color=teal][h2]Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey[/h2][/color][/center]

[color=teal]"It's not your fault!"[/color] Jess tried to reassure Roxy, who couldn't even bring herself to look at her. [color=teal]"It's just not always perfect."[/color]

She'd been prepared for this. She'd heard that how much an anchor could block varied - sometimes they could negate all emotion, but in some cases, a little still got through. It depended on how powerful the empath was, and possibly some other factors. Even with this knowledge, Jess couldn't help but do what she'd told Roxy not to do - blame herself. If this was even her own feeling of guilt.

Her mother's brow creased, concern-filled eyes flicking from the furious anchor back to Jess. [color=aqua]"You're coping with it all, aren't you?"[/color]

Jess nodded, glancing down, not even having to look at her mom's face to know she'd failed to convince her.