[center][u][b]March 30th, 7:19 AM
Hub City[/b][/u]

"Look, it really wasn't [i]that[/i] big of a-"

Clarissa wouldn't even let Karen finish before she was in her face. "Not that big?! You went on a [i]date[/i] with Zoey Kasimir!"

"It wasn't a date! We just had lunch!" She protested, her cheeks growing red as she noted the other passengers on the train staring oddly at them. Whenever she got excited Clare would forget her indoor voice completely.

Folding her arms with a dissatisfied huff, the other girl eased back in her seat. Although Clarissa was a year older than herself, she could really act incredibly childish when she didn't get what she was after. "If I was dating a billionaire celebrity, I wouldn't keep all the juicy stuff from [i]you."[/i]

"The only [i]'juicy'[/i] stuff was that OJ I had!" Karen shot back. "I told you everything. There's no art for you to draw this time."

Clarissa smirked lightly at this, glancing up at the dirty ceiling of the train. "We'll see about [i]that,[/i] my friend. We'll see about that."

Great. Now her best friend was starting to sound like a supervillain. Between Wilhelm escaping earlier in the month and that weirdo guy in New York, she had more than enough of those in her life right now. It's funny, before she gained these powers she was constantly worried about her grades at school. They were her ticket out of here. Now? She barely even cared, simply going through the motions to maintain her "secret identity". All those old concerns seemed so tiny and minuscule now, when you had the weight of the world on your shoulders.

It kind of ate at the back of her head, in truth. She felt guilty for wasting time in school when she could be out helping people. There were folks out there literally [i]dying[/i] while she was hunched over a desk. Clarissa had even persuaded her to watch television with her on more than one occasion, even though she'd fallen behind on most of the shows she used to watch.

Was she letting people down by continuing to be Karen Hernandez?

"Hey, what are you acting so broody about?" Clare nudged her.

Ripped from her thoughts, Karen blinked. "Ah, sorry...s'nothing. Just thinking about how I'll be all alone at Hub City Elementary next year."

"Hey, I'll still be around [i]The Wedge,[/i] y'know!" Clarissa tried to reassure her false concerns. "And besides, it's just a year. We'll be in the same school again the next three after that!"

Letting her head lull back against the window behind her, Karen exhaled. "Yeah, just a year..."

What would their world even look like a year from now, much less three?

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