History. Sally wasn't exactly a fan of history. But the project that they had been assigned was quite interesting. They were to try and find where the X-Gene originated. Why they teamed the students up, she wasn't sure, but didnt mind in the least. They had paired her up with Aya, which would be interesting, to say the least. The girl was so quiet and reserved. They had only spoken a select few times, and even then, they weren't long conversations.
So, Sally had gone to the girl and invited her back to her room later that evening to begin working on said project. She had already gone to the library and selected a few books that may help, and had her phone on hand. Google was magic sometimes.
While she waited for Aya, she went to the kitchen to grab a few snacks. Popcorn, pretzels, some snack cakes. Your typical teenage junk food. She quickly made her way back to her room and opened up a cake, snacking while she waited.
Aya walked down the girls' hall, repeating Sally's room number to herself in her head. She hadn't interacted with the other girl much but that wasn't surprising -- Aya had barely talked to more than a handful of people in her time at the institute. When the history teacher had assigned them as partners though, Aya hadn't been too worried. She was slowly getting more comfortable at the school, and Sally seemed sweet enough. Hopefully the project would go well. Aya wasn't very enthusiastic about doing a research based scavenger hunt on where and when the first mutants might've appeared, but she supposed it wasn't a bad first project for the school year.
Finally finding the proper door, Aya gave a light knock before turning the doorknob. Finding it unlocked, she poked her head in.
"Hey, it's me," she said before immediately feeling like an idiot. Of course it was
her, Sally could see that very clearly.
"Umm, you ready?"Sally had just opened one of the many books she had checked out from the library earlier that day. She flipped through the pages, mostly doing quick scans of the words while she waited. Taking another bite of her snack cake, her eyes snapped up to her door just as she heard a knock. Moments after, Aya poked her head inside. Sally smiled, her cheek puffed out, full of the cake she had in it.
"Come on in," she said around a mouth full of food.
She leaned back against the side of her bed (she was seated on the floor crosslegged) and quickly chewed the food and swallowed it.
"Yep. I checked out a bunch of different books, and brought snacks. Wasn't sure what you liked, so I just brought an assortment." Sally winked and gestured to the snacks that lay about on the floor.
Aya blinked in surprise.
"Oh, that's so thoughtful. Thank you." Aya felt silly for not thinking of it herself - her parents would've been ashamed. Slipping through the door, Aya closed it behind her and went to sit on the floor, leaning against the bed opposite Sally. She crossed her legs and pulled her laptop from her bag.
"I did a bit of research before and found a couple of articles that might be what we're looking for. We can take notes on what we find and cross-reference?"Sally watched as Aya came into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her grin grew while she watched the dark haired girl sit down and pull her laptop out. She was silent for a moment, just watching, at least until Aya spoke. With a nod, Sally replied with,
"Yeah totally. I've actually found a few things in a couple of these books." She picked one up and opened it to the page she had sticky posted. Laying it down on the floor, Sally looked up at Aya once again.
"So... have your eyes on anyone, yet?" Yeah, yeah, she knew they needed to work on the project, but Sally didn't get girl talk alot, and this was a perfect opportunity. Plus, she wanted to know more about the girl. Best way to start a conversation... boys.
Aya had just unlocked her laptop screen when Sally's question pierced the air. She jolted up, eyes wide.
"Uh -- no?"
Smooth.Aya cleared her throat and focused intently on her laptop and the many tabs of research articles she'd found.
"What... uh... what about you?" Her face felt like it was on fire.
She couldn't help but laugh at Aya's reaction. That was definitely a lie. Sally wasn't going to push the girl for information though. Just knowing was good enough... for now anyways. And she had been ready for the question to come back to her, so when it did, she just shrugged.
Unfolding her legs and stretching them out in front of her, crossing one ankle over the other, Sally leaned her head back against the bed. She looked up at the ceiling and grinned.
"I've had my eye on several, though haven't exactly made any moves for any sort of relationship." It was true... to an extent.
"That Professor Pierce, though..." Sally trailed off and glanced down to Aya, waiting for her reaction while maintaining a stoic composure.
Aya glanced up at Sally, the corner of her mouth quirking up and a breathy laugh bubbling in her chest.
"You aim high." It was true, Professor Pierce was dreamy. And intimidating. But then, she supposed that was the case with most of the teachers here.
"You think being hot is a requirement to work here?" she mused aloud. Aya smiled to herself, imagining his résumé.
"Special skills: smoldering eyes."Sally simply rose an eyebrow in response to Aya's first comment. Her second comment earned a twitch of the corner of her lips. It was getting harder to stay serious. Her last comment though... that broke her. Sally burst out in laughter, unable to contain it any longer. After a moment, she lifted her head and looked at Aya, nodding in agreement.
"For real. They're so deep. Sometimes they're almost scary when he looks at you, and others... well... " Sally trailed off and shrugged.
"No, I'm kidding though. Not that age is a thing, but he's the teacher... And that's just weird. By the way, did you get a look at the new one? At least, I think he's a teacher. Uhm... St. John?" Sally furrowed her brow, trying to remember if the name was correct or not. She was sure it was, but couldn't remember.
Aya nodded, an impish smile on her face.
"Cole St. John. He's security or something, I think." He'd walked into Professor Everose's office during one of their sessions, once. The mood of the room when he'd entered had been... interesting, to say the least. She raised an eyebrow.
"Not a teacher, if you were interested," she teased.
Sally stared at Aya for a moment. Security? What did they need security for? They hadn't had it before.
"Security, huh?" The devious little smile came back.
"Think he looks good in a uniform?" Security, though? For the protection of the students? Or from them?
The playful manner suddenly fell from her face and she picked a book up. Drawing her knees to her chest, she pulled the book to her face, but left her eyes visible. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She was dangerous. Nik. Uná. Drake. Isaac. She then wondered what Aya's ability was. Her eyes glanced up at the girl, and remained on her for a moment, but she didn't ask. She would wait until she wanted to speak of it.
Aya glanced up to quip back at the other girl, only to pause. The mood had changed. Sally seemed to retreat into herself, face pensive. Aya pressed her lips together, guessing at the thoughts in her head. Aya already missed the easy atmosphere that now seemed so far out of reach. She focused her gaze back on her laptop screen, though her focus was still on Sally. After a long moment, Aya shrugged.
"All schools have security," she said softly. But the words were hollow. Most schools only had security officers to protect the students from the outside world.
Aya clicked on the trackpad of her laptop to go to another article. Finally she broke the silence again.
"We can see what we find for the project in an hour then see if we can make an outline?"Glancing up at Aya, Sally nodded in response to her last question.
"Yeah, sounds good to me," she replied, trying to bring back the easy going to they had moments ago. Her mind still swirled with thoughts of needing security. She wanted to know why.
Several hours had passed, and the pair had managed to get back into friendly conversation. Joking and laughing, teasing. It seemed to come so natural to them. At one point though, Sally had managed to fall asleep. All those cakes had apparently made her crash. She was still seated on the floor, legs out in front of her, though they weren't crossed anymore. Her head was tilted back, mouth slightly open. Soft snoring could be heard coming from her.
She looked quiet and peaceful, for the most part on the outside, but on the inside, a war was being waged. One that was unknown to her. Again, was dreaming, not of Isaac this time.
Something much worse.
When Aya heard the first light snoring she glanced up to see Sally sound asleep. An amused smile found its way to her lips. She looked at the time on her laptop to find it had become evening without her noticing -- the sky had already lost most of its sunset warmth, bleeding dark.
She should probably get going, then. They could finish their project later. Aya placed her laptop on the ground and stretched her arms up, wincing at the pops that sounded down her spin. Aya stood with a soft groan. Sitting for so long in the same position had done a number on her legs. Aya looked around the room, a mess of empty wrappers and books. Another soft snore came from Sally.
With a tired sigh, Aya began gathering up all the wrappers and stacking the books on a desk, even removing one carefully from Sally's lap. With the wrappers thrown away and the floor cleaned, Aya looked down again at the other girl. A soft laugh escaped her. Sally'd regret falling asleep like that when she woke up. Walking to the bed, Aya grabbed a folded up blanket and placed it as best she could to cover Sally's legs and torso.
It wasn't perfect -- the blanket couldn't quite stay up on her chest, and didn't reach the end of her legs. But it was better than nothing, Aya supposed. She winced at the angle of Sally's neck, her head back on top of the bed. Aya grabbed the pillow and as carefully as she could, slipped her hand under Sally's head, fingers weaving through her bright hair. Lifting, she folded the pillow and wedged it between the bed and the nape of Sally's neck. Aya slowly pulled away to inspect her work.
The angle of Sally's spine looked less painful, at least. Her mouth was still open but Aya supposed there was nothing she could really do about that. Her pink lips were parted as her chest rose slightly with each breath, her hair like fire framing her face... Aya found herself frozen, for a moment, looking down at her.
It was astonishing how lovely some people could be.
I should go. It was a quiet, gentle thought, that broke the spell nonetheless.
Aya turned away from Sally to bend and pick up her laptop and put it in her bag.
Sally's eyes suddenly snapped open. Her usual blue iris', were covered in the blackness of her pupils. There was no focus. No indication that she was even really awake. She wasn't. At that point, things around the room began to rise into the air. The blanket that had been laid out over her. The pillows on the bed. The books that Aya had stacked on the desk. Various other items joined them.
And then again, she began to levitate. Much like she had the first night she spent at the institute. Only this time, she brought a passenger. Not only as Sally rising into the air, but so was Aya.
Sally's eyes remained open, blinking slowly, and not near as often as one should. Her back was arched, arms, legs, and head, all dangling lifelessly. Inside her body, her ability swarmed. She, Aya, and the various objects around the room, all rose until they were nearly 5 feet from the ground. Sally could feel, could see what was happening, but she wasn't the one in control. She couldn't stop it, and it terrified her.
Aya was reaching to grab her bag when suddenly... it started floating. So was the empty bed.
So was Aya.
Confusion and panic shot through her. She was floating she was floating
why was she floating --Sally.
The realization struck Aya through the fear. Sally was telekinetic -- Aya had seen it in action enough times between (or even during) classes. Aya stretched to look over her shoulder to see Sally floating several feet above the ground, eyes as black as her own.
"Sally?" Aya's frantic voice called. No response.
"Sally!"Her ability swarmed in her body, and although Sally could see and feel, what was happening, she couldn't react. Couldn't talk. Her body rose until it was only feet from the ceiling, and she stopped. Everything that was floating in the room, including the two girls, looked as if it were all underwater.
Suddenly, a wave, much like the one she had used on Isaac, resulted from her. It wasn't deadly, nor near as strong, but strong enough to knock everything in the air, away from her and into the walls
Aya cried out as she collided with the wall. She’d managed to partially turn before the pulse was emitted, meaning she hit her side — her arm, leg, and skull knocked harshly against the wall. The blanket she’d placed over Sally tangled around her legs. Disoriented, she looked around.
Sally was in the middle of the room, the space around her completely empty. Everything the wasn’t nailed down was midair and pressed against a wall.
Aya’s heart thundered in her ears.
"Sally!" she tried again. But the girl either couldn’t hear her or couldn’t do anything to respond.
An idea sprung into her head like instinct and Aya jumped on it without thinking, desperate for anything to do. Scrunching up her legs underneath her, she angled them awkwardly against the wall and
pushed. Fighting against Sally’s telekinetic wave, Aya shot to the center of the room, arm outstretched.
The moment her fingers touched Sally’s wrist Aya’s powers activated.
The two girls were thrown to the astral plane, black like night with the physical world drawn in constellations around then. Aya watched their bodies fall to the ground and winced. She’d been working on keeping a sense of connection to her body when she used her powers, but she was glad she’d failed this time — there’d be more bruises to count in the morning.
Aya remembered Sally. She’d brought Sally
here. Eyes widening, Aya rushed to grab Sally’s spirit in front of her. In the next moment the girls woke up back in the physical world, on the ground of Sally’s dorm.
"I’m sorry, I’m —" her voice shook as she pushed herself up, eyes glued to the floor. She
hated using her powers on other people. After Kainoa and then Drake — nothing good ever came of it. And doing it on Sally without her permission felt like a violation.
”Are you ok?”The time spent in Aya's astral plane, was barely enough time for Sally to really respond. She had gotten a glimpse of the world, of their bodies falling to the floor, before being suddenly thrown back into their own world again. Sally jerked awake, gasping, her eyes wide. She quickly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her breaths were shaky, and they seemed to get worse the more she looked around her room.
It was a disaster. Stuff was everywhere. And then, her eyes landed on Aya. The girl looked mortified. Sally remembered what she had done. Was that her power? Taking the soul from the body, to another world? She remembered what it looked like. Like they were in space, surrounded by starts and constellations. Their bodies were outlined in white. Eyes white as snow. It was weird, but beautiful.
The pain was just now registering in her head as Aya asked her if she was alright. Sally shook her head.
"No, no, I'm fine. Aya, Jesus, are you ok? I'm so... so sorry!" She pushed herself to her knees and quickly moved to the dark haired girl, wrapping her in a tight hug. She was shaking, terrified for Aya's well being.
Wasn't this the whole reason she wanted her own room in the first place?!
"Aya," she began as she pulled away from the girl, looking her dead in her eyes, her hands firmly on the girls shoulders.
"You can't stay with me when I fall asleep. Did you get hurt? What happened?"After a stunned moment, Aya returned Sally's hug. Her own arms came up to shakily wrap around Sally, the other girl's frantic words flowing over her.
"I'm alright." She'd be sore in the morning, but she was alright. She pulled away from Sally.
"Things just started floating." She didn't need to know about the pulse that'd sent Aya into the wall -- she was rattled enough as it was.
"It's alright," she repeated, like saying it enough times would make it true.
Aya forced herself to stand.
"I'll help you clean." She was already moving, needing something to do.
Sally watched as Aya pushed herself up to her feet. Her eyes then scanned over the room. Her brow furrowed the more she looked. If things had just floated, and then fell, they would be all over the place. Right? They weren't. In fact, everything was around the edges of the room. Her jaw slowly dropped open and she stood, spinning as she continued to take in the damage.
"Aya?" Sally's eyes finally landed on the dark haired girl, watching her as she picked things up.
"It happened. The- the- the shockwave thing. Didn't it?" She moved her hands in a circular motion as she tried to find the appropriate word the action.
"Tell me," she said as she rushed to the girl and gently grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from her actions and making her look at her.
"Did you get hurt?"Aya's lips parted as she struggled to find something to say.
"It wasn't bad," she finally managed. The words felt inadequate.
"I'm fine." She forced a weak smile. Aya said what she thought Sally needed to hear.
"Hey, mutant school, right? We're all here to learn control. We'll get there." Aya reached up to put her hand over Sally's. She gave it a small squeeze then stepped away, out of reach. Turning back to the mess, Aya picked up the blanket that'd been tangled around her feet and started folding.
"Just... have to be patient with ourselves.""It wasn't bad," she repeated in her head, clearly not believing the girl. If it hadn't been that bad, why was Aya so shook up? Why was everything in the room along the walls? Why did Sally feel her head start to pound? No. There was more to it than what She was letting on. Deciding not to push the issue, Sally offered a weak smile in return to Aya's, before watching the dark haired girl step away from her. She stood still for a moment before turning and looking around at the destruction.
"Yeah, I suppose you're right.". Sally felt frustrated with herself. It seemed since coming here, her ability had flared up and was getting more powerful. Pushing the thought from her head, Sally forced herself to move and began trying to tidy the room up. She would occasionally glance over at Aya, still curious about what really happened, and even though she had a pretty good idea of what
did happen, she still wasn't going to press the issue.
"I'm sorry, Aya," Sally said softly as she finished straightening one of the beds.
It seemed like everyone was always apologizing. Aya, Drake, Sally... the combination of too much power, too little control, and too guilty consciences. Aya was so
tired of feeling guilty all the time. And she was tired of the people around her walking on egg shells, self-conscious and afraid.
She wanted to be a teenager again.
Aya looked over her shoulder to watch Sally, the other girl's soft, sad voice echoing in her mind. Aya pressed her lips together. On an impulse, she grabbed the pillow from the empty bed and flung it at the back of Sally's head. It landed with a satisfying
poof before falling to the ground. Aya bit her lip, a shy, mischievous smile pulling at her.
"There," she said.
"We're even. No more apologies." There was a gentle finality to Aya's words.
Maybe even Aya would be able to stop apologizing some day. She could hope.
Sally had just stood up from picking up a stack of books when she felt something suddenly hit the back of her head. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned to face Aya, who, held a mischievous air about her. Not to mention the little grin that was on her lips.
She just threw a pillow at me, Sally thought, as a smile of her own began to slowly pull at her lips.
The words she spoke made a chuckle erupt from her, sounding almost forced, though wasn't.
"Alright," She responded as she set the books down onto the desk nearby, looking away from the girl for just a moment.
"No more apologies." Sally looked back at Aya and laughed softly. She nodded her head once, in an agreeing way, but also as a way to mark the end of that specific conversation.
After a moment longer, she looked away and began cleaning the room up again. It was spent mostly in relative silence, except for the occasional giggle from Sally when she would throw something randomly at Aya, and the other girl would throw something in return, be it a waded up piece of paper, or something of the like.
Hey Im Jordan
Musoka
