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Monday the US table has Rob, Dave, and Greg seated as always.  The continued cold weather has most people eating inside, so it's still a crowded lunch room.

Sammy goes into the lunch room and heads for Nick.  "El said you loaned this to him.  He asked me to give it back to you."  She kisses him, then steps back with a devilish grin on her face.

Aside from the dark, bruise-like circles beneath her tired eyes and the multitude of bandaids restricting the use of her ink-stained hands, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about Laney Monday.  She’d dressed unsupervised.  The dark green hooded sweatshirt she wears over that flowered sweater doesn’t precisely match the brown wool skirt – or the navy blue stockings - but this mismatched attire is becoming more common with her.

Directly she goes to stand at Greg’s side, smiles to those seated, and waits until there is a break in the conversation before softly asking, “Hi, Greg.  Have you spoken to Whitney about that box from last Saturday? Or know if anyone has?”

Directly she goes to stand at Greg’s side, smiles to those seated, and waits until there is a break in the conversation before softly asking, “Hi, Greg.  Have you spoken to Whitney about that box from last Saturday? Or know if anyone has?”
[/quote]

"I did.  And he built it at the request of the projectionist for a six pack of Mountain Dew and three free tickets.  So I go that matter sorted out, and there will be no charges pressed against Colin for stealing it.  Logan replaced it with one that's a bit more stable and doesn't make people cry, so that's one mystery behind us."


"Actually."  He says smiling, "That wasn't the one I loaned him.  The one I loaned him looked like this."  and he bounces on her, giving her a big wet smooch.

"The projectionist asked him to make people cry?  Stable?  I don't - Oh. It was an accident."  She blushes pink and looks away.   

"Why was it needed in the first place?  I'm glad they won't arrest Colin - or Whitney.  Is the college having funding problems?    I mean why'd they ask a student to - Isn't it kindof silly to have a theatre sound system that doesn't work properly?"

"Oh!"  says Sammy.  "I must have got them mixed up.  I'm so sorry.  This one?"  She smooches him again.

Rhys enters, holding hands with Alicia. They make their way to the US table and Rhys pulls out and holds a chair for Alicia before sitting next to her.

"Hello, all. Good weekends all around, I trust?"

Alicia smiles greetings to everyone, accepts Rhys's offer of a seat, and busies herself with disgorging her lunch from the depths of her school bag, from which the oily smell of tuna-fish salad emanates warningly.

Her eye catches Sammy playing kiss-tag with Nick, and a raised eyebrow complements her smile.

"That was the one."  he says.  He pulls out a chair for her, then sits in her lap briefly before moving back to his chair.

OOC: If she's not staying then he will skip the chair-capades.


The pair are greeted with waves and nods.  There is a general sound of yes to Rhys' question.

Sammy does indeed stay for a while, and lets herself enjoy hanging out with Nick.

She glances over at the US table.  Is Alicia wearing sunglasses?

Her questions were not rhetorical, so Laney still hovers beside Greg.   She glances up and smiles at Rhys and Alicia when they join the table.  A turn of the head, a sound, a line…something directs Laney’s gaze to the Sammy and Nick liplock, too.  If Laney had been capable of observing her classmates' behavior during the dance, she might not have been so surprised.



Sammy’s voice echoes in Laney’s mind, and memories from the study night in the Jameson’s kitchen overwhelm her senses.   One week she’s trying to dump her ex on me for the sake of her boyfriend’s rep and the next she’s – Which is the lie?

It seems natural to inquire about her friends, and wise to prepare for careful diplomacy if Elrod and Sammy have broken up. 

Laney opens her mouth to ask – but remains silently gaping for a few seconds while the color in her cheeks darkens.  Shut up. Just shut up please.

We’re like TNT: we know drama.



Instead, she tries answering Rhys, “Um…H-hi.  The w-weekend was…productive.  Th-thanks.”

After another quick smile, Laney begins to wander away, having been distracted from the reason she was in the lunch room in the first place.

Alicia is indeed still covered up, although she's acting a lot more relaxed than Sammy remembers her being at the table. At one point, she rests her head on Rhys's shoulder in response to some unheard comment.


Alicia watches Laney move off, and whistles the Looney Tunes theme song under her breath.

Sammy waves a little wave at Alicia, then moves her hand up by her eyes.  She adjusts imaginary sunglasses.  She cocks her head sideways as if to say "Well?"

Alicia waves back, and gives Sammy an apologetic shrug, mouthing, Not yet. She then points at Nick, pouts her lips to mime an exaggerated kiss, and wags her eyebrows suggestively with a questioning look.

Sammy looks at Alica uncertainly, not quite understanding what the girl wants to say.  She puts a hand on Nick's arm.  "I think Alicia wants me to kiss you.  Or maybe you to kiss me.  I'm not sure what she's trying to mime..."

Alicia facepalms at Sammy's words, audible to her thanks to her sensitive ears, then breaks into a fit of giggles, to the confusion of her tablemates.

Sammy sees the face palm.  "Oh.  Huh.  I guess she definitely wants a show.  Gimme some sugar, baby!  Just don't get us suspended."

The giggles become outright guffaws and Alicia collapses off her chair laughing.

"Always happy to please an audience."  Nick says, then recites the line from a movie, and gives Sammy a long and tender kiss.  They break the kiss when one of the other people at the table says, 'Ok, cut, and that's a print!' and claps their hands together.  This is followed by lots of laughter.


She's just out of the lunch room when John finds her.  "Hey, I know a spot where we can go and eat if you'd like?"

On hearing John, Alicia's laughter dies off and, from the floor, she takes a quick look in John's direction and then Sammy's. Can her friend see John and Laney?

In the hall, Laney sidesteps John and smoothly turns to face him in one graceful motion.   She would've danced around and past him without recognition, if he had not spoken.

One blink.   Two.   Then she smiles, tilting her head to one side - the better to see him through the curtain of frizzy, black curls.

"Hi, John.  Spot?  I - Oh!  Eat.  Um...right.  She said I was - Um...Sure.  My phone must not have - How're you?"   

He loses her attention briefly while she checks her cell phone to see if the alarm had failed.   Judging by her puzzled frown, the alarm had gone off as set.

Sammy laughs too, but she's got a fuzzy look in her eyes.  "I always liked that movie," she says dreamily.  She takes a bite out of her sandwich, then recites a line by the same actress in a different part in a different movie, aiming the line at the guy on the other side of her. Then she almost kisses him,  but stops short.  She smiles,  and leans back against Nick.  "I forgot.  Different leading man," she explains.

Seeing that Sammy is acceptably distracted, Alicia gives a small sigh of relief, then arches her back, eeling back to a standing position.

She calmly dusts herself off and, with a smug expression, regains her seat and resumes her eating.

John leads the way to one of the science class rooms, where the two can eat.  "I know I probably shouldn't dodge the lunch room, but I'm not really up to it.  You don't mind eating here with me, do you?"

"Not telling me just makes me worry, you know.  Will you tell me, now?  Are you tired?   I - Of course, I don't mind.  It saves me from making an ass of myself, walking back into the lunchroom.  Almost went right to my next class without eating.  Oh, nono.  It's not as pathetic as it sounds.  I'm crammed full of vitamins and supplements when I'm at home.  Just one of those things.   Dodging is a funny word to use.  Makes it sound like -

"Even if it weren't lunch time I wouldn't mind.  Sitting with you, I mean.   I'm sorry.  It's much quieter here, and I'm ruining it.   You don't have to talk, at all.  It's alright.   Are you?"  Laney's nervous stream of whispers gradually decreases in volume, ending in a small but sincerely patient smile.   

She's silent once she's seated with her head bowed over the brown paper sack in her lap, and she sneaks a look at what John brought for lunch.

John eats the same sort of lunch as any growing boy his age.  And he chases it down with three power bars.  Once he's got his lunch out he looks at Laney.  If she doesn't get the idea, he gently takes her lunch and unpacks it.  "I ran into a few people Saturday.  Some needed help.  Some just needed directions.  Everywhere you sent me had something.  Nothing that required worry on your part, but I appreciate it."


"Dang."  the boy says, "How did I get cast as the unlucky second banana?"

"Type casting."  is the answer blurted out by a few of the group, and there is some more laughter.

Laney had been staring at the bag in her lap.  Something about using the science lab's desks seemed "off."  They weren't the right color, dimensions; the room was wrong.  Once she sees John's comfortable eating here, she starts nibbling on her apple.  After a few minutes, she's munching and swinging her legs happily.

Determined to let him have some peace, Laney starts to speak and stops a few times, until she's sure the words that will come out of her mouth aren't the same she'd already asked, so as not to harrass him with questions he doesn't want to answer. 

When she speaks, at first it's slow and measured, "Thanks.  I don't know.  How to tell which.  Which is most important.  There should be a way."  Then her coherancy devolves into a low nonsensical murmur, speculative calculations, theoretical methods to prioritize...  Eventually, she shoves the apple into her mouth again and doesn't speak further until she's eaten her entire lunch.

"They weren't accidents, were they?  I mean...They were...Random.  I wish you'd gone with - I still worry.  Because I don't know.  And it would be my fault.  Thanks for...Thanks for doing that. 

"Needed directions?  That's irony, isn't it?"  She grins.

"My dad says that heroes are the people that do things knowing the risks to themselves, but doing them because they know it's the right thing to do.  I did that sort of thing all the time before we moved here from Maryland.  I haven't here to make my mom happy.  Try to live a normal life.  At least to pretend to lead a normal life.  For the record if I were to get hurt, it wouldn't be your fault.  So don't think that way."  John eats his lunch, and then pulls out a book to read.

Sammy smiles.  "Here, let me give you a new audition."  She says the line again, and this time follows through with the kiss.  The expression on his face causes her to burst into a fresh round of laughter.  "Definitely a second banana.  Leads' eyes don't bug out like that."  She sits back close to Nick again and takes another big bite of her sandwich.

"No risk to me - I mean other than my art project.  It looks nothing like my sketches.  There were more.  I wanted to call you, but... They ended up in my work.  Jean was like, 'That's interesting, dear,' and Mike went, 'What the hell is that?'  Did your mom know?  I'm sorry.  You didn't get into trouble, did you?  You don't have to do it again...except...there are so many...all the time, aren't there?"


"As if that will make me not worry."  John has a few more minutes of peace after her last mumbled statement.

Then she announces, "I finished my book report."

Colin arrives at the lunch table with a bandaged hand, and an eyebrow raised in the vague direction of Sammy.

"Good morning, guys. How was your week-end?"

Alicia catches Colin's look and gives him a wink and a big smile.

"Highly satisfying," she replies to his question, rubbing her head on Rhys's shoulder for emphasis.

She looks at Colin's hand in concern. "What happened to you?"

"No trouble.  And there is a lot, but you have to learn the first and most important rule of this sort of thing.  You can't be everywhere.  You can't stop every bad thing from happening.  And you can't let it get to you."


"I know it wont stop you from worrying.  But I wanted to say it so that it's out there."


"Good.  I can run the book back to the library.  I need to head back out there anyway.  Unless you wanted to go with me?"

"Yeah...It's out there.  You - Oh. Yes!  I'd like to go with you.  If it won't bother you.  I don't need anything. I just...If that's alright..."  She doesn't know what to do with this excited burst of energy his invitation provoked; so she fidgets anxiously, looking down at her lap again.

Colin only switches the eyebrow raised.


He tries to wave the concern away with it.

"Nothing. I realized the hard way that carving wood requires patience." There is something odd about how he says the word 'patience'. It must be a private joke.

Alicia gives him an angelically innocent look, about as authentic as a cubic zirconia diamond.


"And your healing thing doesn't work on yourself?" Alicia asks, curious.

"It's easier to remember your mistakes if there's an echo of pain or a bit of a scar to remember them by." Donnie says, collapsing into a chair next to Alicia and Rhys. "Hallo everyone."

He pulls a tupperware container out of his backpack and unseals it, revealing a mound of salad and chopped up chicken.

Alicia hears her own words, only a week ago. "I got these for being stupid. I'd be a poor student if I tried skipping the lesson." She glances at Donnie out of the corner of her eye and nods a silent greeting.

We are nothing alike. Stop it, she chides herself.

To cover her discomfiture, she asks Colin, "Have you talked to Sylvia about meeting the pep squad and seeing what Hamilton's done to them?"

Rhys offers her leg a reassuring squeeze, as if to say "Good job keeping your cool, Alicia." If she looks at him, he smiles and winks.

Sammy reaches inside her bag and finds two chocolate-covered strawberries.  "OoOoOoh!" she exclaims.  "Mom shared!"  She picks one up and offers it to Nick.

Nick reaches out, taking the offered treat, then moves it towards her mouth, "I am no longer the court jester, I will not taste your food for you."  he says with a smile, "But feeding you is acceptable."

Alicia gives Rhys a small shoulder-bump in grateful acknowledgement.


Alicia starts a bit and her nose twitches as the scent of strawberries reaches her. She glances at Colin curiously for a second, then around, then gives a small shrug and goes back to fastidiously nibbling on her sandwich.

Sammy picks up the other and mirrors his movements,  putting the second strawberry near his mouth.  "There were two," she croons.  "Would you like this one?  Or should I auction it off?"

"Pretty much." Colin nods.

"There are limits to my power. The spiritual world and the material world feed energies off each other. Part of what I do is directing the flow of some of these energies, healing both worlds when I can. A balance has to be mantained, though. I'd hate to be really in need of a favor from the spiritual side and find out I squandered that energies for something petty like a little cut. I often make up my own rules as I go, but 'don't be selfish' is one of the first ones I laid out. And it also like Donnie says, the universe has rules. I cannot change things that have a purpose."


"I tried, but I think she was a bit umcomfortable about that. She'd prefer to first check on them herself. I think she doesn't admit it to herself, but she's beginning to like them, and it's good for her to like people. I wouldn't like to mess with that. Just give her a little time to do things her way."

Colin gets out his own sandwiches, and for a moment he looks at Alicia in doubt.

"Allie... Do you make your lunch yourself?"

Alicia nods, acknowledging the point. "OK, I'll still shadow Hamilton after his classes today in case he tries anything. I forgot to ask if the pep squad has practice today." She looks toward Dave and Greg.


Alicia looks down at her food and back in confusion. "Most of the time. Um, why?" she asks with a touch of concern.

"Do you know if your tuna is Dolphin-safe?"

There is no accusation in his eyes, it's just a honest question.

Donnie snorts in amusement, coughing as a bite of his salad 'goes down the wrong tube'. He gets control of himself, wiping tears away from his eyes brought on by the coughing bout.

Alicia looks at Colin blankly. Finally, solemnly, she replies, "As God is my witness, I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about."

"Well, tunas tend to hang around dolphins to feel protected from sharks. Until some years ago the most popular way of fishing tunas was to look for a pod of dolphins and trap them in nets to get at the tuna beneath. The nets used to injure and kill many dolphins. I really like tuna, but I hate to think that my sandwich might have caused the death of a dolphin so I stick to tuna coming from strictly controlled sources."

So softly that it only nudges the bound of Alicia's sensitive hearing, her sandwich begins to squeak and chirp, and then chatter, like Flipper.  "He-e-e-e-elp me-e-e-e-e!"

Sylvia is nowhere to be seen.

As Sammy turns to 'survey' who might be interested in bidding on the second strawberry, she notices that both Alicia and Donnie are at the US table.  Better keep my promise and get over there.  Eventually.

She winks at Nick, then takes a slow careful bite from the strawberry in his fingers.  "Mmm.  So good.  Juicy.  Sure you don't want some?  Or do I get them all to myself?"

Alicia listens attentively, then takes a thoughtful bite of her sandwich. "Huh, and all this time I thought tuna just came from cans," she says, guilelessly.

Another bite. "Hey, but aren't dolphins supposed to be, like, really smart or something? You'd think after a while they'd just say to the tuna, 'Hey, f**ck off, you're cramping our style,' y'know?"


Alicia looks crossly at her sandwich, then takes a savage bite out of it and chews it with obvious pleasure.

"It takes a while to change one's habits and behavior. Even if they realized the threat, they might not know what do. it might be something ingrained with them, something that lasted for thousands of years, and they might not be ready to change it."

Colin's eyes are a little cloudy.

"In the meanwhile they die, though, just because we can't be bothered to care about them. Many evil come simply because people decide not to care."

"I'll just watch you eat them."  he says with a smile.

Alicia is silent for a moment. She says soberly, "You're automatically assuming that their deaths are a product of evil. If a lion brings down an antelope, is it evil for doing so? If a shark takes a bite out of some unlucky swimmer, is it evil for doing so?"

She pauses a moment longer then continues in a much softer voice, "If I break someone's leg to stop him from hurting someone else, am I evil?"

Sammy starts to reply with something warm and silky and smooth, then stops.  Suddenly concerned, all games are dropped.  "Are you allergic to strawberries?  If you are,  I won't be able to kiss you if I eat them."

As she speaks, she takes the already bit berry out of his fingers, and puts it and the second back into their container.

"Yes, if it is unnecessary. Evil is a choice. If there is no choice, there is no evil."

The tenor of the conversation has taken a disquieting direction. Taking another careful bite, she looks steadily at Colin.

"And who gets to decide what's evil, spirit warden?" she says quietly.

"No.  Just not a fan of them is all."  Nick says. 

Colin seems pensive.

"I don't know if anyone actually decides it. Seeing both worlds, though, it is quite evident what is the effect of spreading misery."

"Ok."  Sammy seems relieved, but the strawberries are still quietly and efficiently put away.

When she's done, she gives his arm a hug.  "I promised I'd stop by the other table," she says.  "See ya.  Don't let me be a stranger."

"You couldn't get much stranger."  he comments as she goes, then waves.  "Say hi for me."

Alicia nods in admission. "No argument there. But then, I've seen people commit the most awful things in the name of what they called good, so I tend to get a bit skeptical when someone starts pronouncing judgment."

She studies her sandwich as she chews thoughtfully. "S'why I don't spend much time thinkin' 'bout it. I just let my instincts guide me."

She stops,  turns, and goes up behind his chair to hug him from behind.  "I know you're trying to be funny," she whispers in his ear, "but believe it or not, that actually stung."  She kisses the side of his neck.  "I wasn't going because I was mad about the strawberries.  I'm going because I promised I would.  If you want me to come back in a couple minutes, just whistle.  You know how to whistle,  Nick.  Just pucker up your lips and blow."  Then she slides away in the direction of the US table.

Alicia goes through a transformation. Her serious, pensive mood evaporates and a silly grin spreads on her face.

She turns to wave at Sammy as she approaches. "Having fun twitterpating the boys, Sam?" she calls in a cheerful voice to take any sting from the words.

Sammy grins and nods.  "It's my curse," she replies.  She pulls out the strawberries from the top of her pack, and finishes off the one she had started at the other table.  She contemplates the second one, turning it around and around in her fingertips before putting it back.  "I'll save you for later."

"So, what's up?"

She has not taken a seat.

Alicia places a hand to her chest and speaks in a haughty tone, "We are pontificating on the nature of good and evil." Her face splits in a truly demonic grin. Guess which side I'm taking."

Sammy raises an eyebrow.  "I'm afraid to guess."

Colin shakes his head with a smile.

"I only took a stance to defend dolphins. I dunno how we've got to this."

Sammy scratches her chin.  "Did the dolphins have laser weapons strapped to their heads?  That might make them seem evil."

"No. But it's an idea. It would make escaping nets a lot easier."

Sammy moves over and rests a sympathetic hand on Colin's shoulder.  "Uh oh.  Are you receiving visions about trapped dolphins?  That's so sad.  Poor dolphins.  Poor Colin."

Colin blinks a couple times.

"Actually, it's the kind of visions you could receive too. Like, on tv. Or the internet."

Alicia raises her eyebrows and, pinky firmly planted on the side of her lip, intones, "Or would it?"


She chuckles in a self-deprecating manner, "Naw, I got bizarre there for a moment, but Colin's too nice to rat me out."

She remarks to Sammy, with a pleased smile, "So, chica, I'm guessing you're feeling a bit better about yourself from what I noticed. You up to hangin' around with us losers for a bit?"

Alicia adopts a mournful pose. "Yes, Colin has found me out as an ecologically-ignorant consumer of tainted goods and was in the process of berating me for my lack of concern for God's creatures. I am racked with guilt and must now make penance by hugging a puppy dog or reasonable fascimile."

She turns and gives Rhys a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. She looks to Colin and says, with a melodramatic sigh, "I promise to read the label next time. Will you ever forgive me?"

"Never. When I'll lead my army of laser-armed dolphins against this wretched world, you'll be one of the first to fall." He says, seemingly perfectly serious, before breaking into a big grin.

Alicia grins back, relieved that Colin isn't offended by her antics. She returns to her meticuluous disintegration of her sandwich and looks to Sammy for her response.

Sammy smiles and drops her hand from Colin's shoulder.   "I'm glad its only that.  I thought you were getting personal visions.  Send me an autographed picture when you become King of the Seas.  I'll frame it and hang it on the wall."  



Sammy tilts her head.  "'Feeling better about myself'?  No, not really.  'Dealing with it' might be a better phrase.  'Appreciating what I do have' is another.  But anyhow, I came over because I said I would, and I wanted to see what's going on."

She still isn't sitting down.

Alicia notices her stance and bites her lip. She has a pretty good idea that Sammy's reluctance to join them is due to the potential appearance of John and Laney. She knows, thanks to her enhanced hearing, that they've hared off to another place, but how to let Sammy know without making it obvious and ruining the mood? Crap.

Dismally unskilled at innuendo, Alicia tries her best.

"So, sit on down, girl! Make yourself at home! There's plenty of space, and I'm sure nobody else is going to show up." She hopes she's put enough subtle emphasis on that last part.

A little too much emphasis, and not enough subtle.  Sammy twitches.  "Um, yeah, sure.  Right."  She leaves a seat open for Sarah next to Colin and Dave, and another one for Sylvia next to Donnie, both sides in case she's playing InvisiGirl again, and that's where, no, not there... after a moment she sits down on the other side of Rhys.

"So, other than World Tuna Domination, what's up?"

"Be careful what you wish for," Rhys playfully responds. "I could need housetraining again..."

Alicia snorts. "I'm not getting the leash, no matter how much you whine." She gives a completely innocent look to the rest of the table.


Alicia's lips compress a moment as she picks up Sammy's reaction. With a small sigh, she says, "I am so seriously screwed up these days, I have no idea who knows what or how much. Did you hear what we found out about Sylvia and the pep squad?"

OOC: This is as much player as character confusion. I honestly don't recall how much of the Hamilton debacle Sammy is privy to.

Sammy focuses on Alicia.  "No.  I didn't."

Alicia leans in conspiratorially and begins the lecture. "OK, so we were trying to find out who could've been doing that stuff with the Love Goo and the Hate Perfume when Sylvia and I found out that the AP Chemistry teacher, some Poindexter named Hamilton, has been pumping this gas into the girl's locker room when the pep squad is in there. It's some sort of mutagen-causing chemical that's supposed to turn them into paranormals or something.

"Well, Sylvia mentioned she'd seen the girls doing some odd things, so we think whatever the pendejo's doing, it's having some effect. She's going to talk to them, try to figure things out with them, while the rest of us are working on cornering Hamilton and expose him, maybe even squeeze an antidote outa him if we need to."

Alicia sits back and looks to Colin and the rest to fill in any more details.

Sammy responds slowly, "Have we told anybody about this?"

Alicia shrugs, "Colin was going to talk to his cop friend about it, but I dunno if he has yet."

OOC: Sorry, Doc. Posted this before realizing I should've waited to give you a chance to respond yourself. My bad. :-[

Donnie waves cheerily at Sammy when sh comes over, but nothing else. Don't scare off the genasii.

Donnie makes quiet barking noises at Rhys, patting him on the head and grinning hugely. "I hope aren't the leg humping kind."

As the conversation turns towards Hamilton, Donnie scowls. "I still think we should beat it out of him. Sometimes this subtle crap is for the birds." He takes a bite of sandwich and after two chews, turns towards Colin. With a mouthful he says "No offence intended, Colin."

Alicia gives a sideways glance at Donnie. Her mind occupies itself repeating a simple mantra. We're nothing alike. We're nothing alike. We're nothing alike...

She bites back a retort, fueled more by contrariness than reason, and tries very hard not to look like she has.

Sammy rests her chin on her knuckles.  "What is it about the cheerleaders in this school?" she wonders out loud.  "Did anybody figure out if this is the first time he has tried this stunt?  We had all those troubled cheerleaders earlier in the year."

"I did. He can't bring the full force of the pcd here because of a 'hunch', though, but he's ready to come here at once as soon as we find anything."


"Let's call that plan B, ok?"


"Torrance doesn't count. She had her powers before. I don't know about Fern."

Sammy shrugs it away.  "I wasn't really expecting any other answer."

She stares down at the table top for a minute, thinking.  "Has anybody asked Mr. Heep for help? Maybe he can figure out if Hamilton is using school owned materials for his hobby.  That would be stealing, and it might be enough to get the cops involved."

Alicia brightens. "Say, why didn't we think of that? I could do that. I got to meet Mr. Heep before and he knows I'm with you guys."

"Yay, I'm good for something," Sammy deadpans.  "He knows me too.  We could go up there together, if you want."

"Oh-kay," agrees Alicia, pausing for a second to decipher the intent behind Sammy's comment.

"What?"  Sammy is confused by Alicia's reaction.  "Oh."  She pauses a second.  "You want to do this yourself.  OK.  Sorry.  Go ahead, have fun."

Her gaze wanders back over to Nick's table.

"No!" Alicia almost shouts. "No, I mean, I'd love to have you come along, sorry." She laughs nervously. "Don't mind me. Going bizarre again."

Sammy shrugs again.  "It's ok.  I was going along just to go along.  I don't really care if I do or not."  Her voice sounds like she's telling the truth, no little passive aggressive game here.  "There will be plenty of other things for me to do."

"Okay, just sayin' I wouldn't mind the company," Alicia replies, obviously lost in the conversation exchange. She goes back to her partially-demolished sandwich.

Under the table, her hand gives a small squeeze to Rhys's thigh. There's nothing suggestive in the gesture, just the desire for comfort of physical contact.

"OK."  Sammy looks over at Donnie.  "Asked Dylan yet if he'll go flying with me?  Or is he still preoccupied?"

Donnie stops chewing and looks at her out of the corner of his eye. A small smile creeps out the edges of his mouth and he deadpans in a mirror tone to Sammy "I imagine he might be able to squeeze you into his shcedule with the other flying girls.."

"Yeah.  So many of us flying girls, so little time.  If Hamilton gave any of the cheerleaders flight, I'll never get a chance to play with fire," she mourns.  "Too much competition, and I can't seem to beat out cheerleaders.  Hey!  If they decide to keep their powers -- if they can keep their powers -- do you suppose Syl will stay with us, or will she join Team Oak Park Spirit?  They already have colors and costumes.  With a little practice, they'll have some kick ass routines too. Literally!  And you know Jack will train them, 'cause they like, want to be trained and do that cooperation and teamwork stuff."  She wrinkles her nose up at Donnie.  "We'll have to keep you with them though, with Syl.  Maybe we can get the school team name changed to the Dragons.  Then you can try out for the costumed mascot sidekick spot.  We'll get you a verrrry biiiig paper mache dragon head and you can say 'rawr'.  Rawr for me, Donnie!"

Donnie hops up from his seat and takes a very Alex-the-Lion (from Madagascar the movie) pose and says rather effeminantly "Rawr!"

He then returns to eating his sandwich.

"Fortunately that'll become more convincing by the time you're a senior." Colin says enigmatically.

Alicia does a very unfeminine snort as her soda decides to go down the wrong chute. By supreme effort of will, she manages not to have it erupt from her nose.

"Very nice," says a hugely grinning Sammy.  "Very nice.  A little more practice and you'll nail it."

Tuesday

No.  Still Monday.

Tuesday has Laney early at the lunch room.  Fewer bandaids, still pale and haggard, but she is smiling when she is led to the entrance of the room by a tall, dark-haired senior who occasionally rests her hand on the other girl's arm when she speaks and keeps her gaze steadily on Laney.  After a couple minutes, they part ways. 

Laney asks if it's alright to join whoever happens to be at the table when she arrives.  She hovers, anxiously twisting her lunch bag in her hands.

"You can stop asking."  Dave says, not looking up from his book.

"Consider yourself as having a standing invitation."  Greg says with a wave and a smile.

"Yeah, you're always welcome to sit with us."  Rob says, offering her a Cheeto.  "Cheese flavored crunch?"

Alicia arrives alone and settles into a seat at the table. She slouches and rests her chin on the table, sighing.

"That guy Hamilton has got to be guilty as sin. Nobody has that boring a routine unless he's trying to hide something."

Rhys enters and kisses Alicia on the top of her head before sitting down.

"Was it really that bad?"

"I'm sure his life was a lot more interesting when he worked for Pharma-Tech."  Dave says, setting his book down.  He begins to pull some photocopied pages from his book bag and slide them towards Alicia.  "He was a big shot researcher there, until they had to let him go.  Downsizing, project consolidation, blah, blah.  They had half a dozen law suits filed against their clinical trial division.  All the suits involved projects that he worked on, and all the people who sued were getting the placebo.  It was all kept really quiet.  Lots of settlement checks were written and non-disclosure statements.  And then Hamilton was unemployed for a couple years, and finally landed a gig as a chem teacher in Cleveland.  Then, a couple years later he came here."  The papers are copies of confidential court documents from one of the law suits.  They allege that Hamilton experimented on the subject of the clinical trial, trying to mutate his DNA without his consent or knowledge.  "The other suits all sort of say the same thing.  One of them, and this is sort of third hand hearsay, actually did get like super human powers."

Alicia gives a happy purr at Rhys's ministration. "'Bout the most exciting thing he did was spend 20 minutes in the can, humming to himself. Don't even want to think about what else he was doing."


Alicia perks up and picks up the papers to scan through them. "No s**t? He's done this before? And they let the pendejo teach school? Coño, I say, sic the cheerleaders on 'im and throw what's left to the cops."

"Well, no one knew he did it.  The confidentiality clause made sure of that.  I guess word of mouth kept him from getting a job in a serious science house, but schools aren't part of the same social circles, so he slipped in.  I have a buddy tagging some folks he knows online to see if there was anything weird at the school he taught at in Cleveland."  Dave says, picking up his book and going back to reading.

Laney looks up from her pile of cracker pieces and asks in a softly curious tone, "I guess that means Donnie gets to make a house call?  What about extracurricular activities?  Friends and such."

"He lives alone.  No friends that anyone is aware of.  He interacts, mostly on the geeky science forums and blogs.  Guy doesn't even have a cell phone."  Dave seems shocked by the last part.

Scowling down at her abused food, Laney mutters,
"Disconnected from the world.  How'd he end up...here?"


Then she looks up at Alicia then to Rhys. "I doubt he keeps a secret lab in the boys' restroom, but one never knows.  You might want to study for the history test Friday, instead.  If Hamilton were to do anything, odds are he'd do it around ___ (she spouts off an unlikely day and/or time of day).   But honestly, I don't know why he would.  Seems like he's in observation mode, doesn't it?   Can you really look like anyone you wish, or is it almost like anyone you wish?"

In response, Rhys shifts into a near-perfect simulacrum of Laney, including her voice when he speaks.

"I really can look like anyone I wish." He's even copied the accent almost perfectly.

He shifts back quickly enough that anybody that wasn't looking directly at him when he did it misses it.

"But when I've had time to practice, I can get it perfect," he says in his own voice and lilting Welsh accent.

With her thin hand cupped over her mouth, a red-faced Laney hunches over trying to smother a giggling fit. 

When she's able to breath again, she gasps, "Oh, I need a haircut, don't I?  It's out of sync."  With a wave Laney gestures to the space beside Rhys - or behind him. Maybe.  "But visually very good!  I guess she could have you take the test for her."  Then there are more giggles.

Alicia nods. "Yup. that's syncs pretty much with what I saw."


Alicia'eyes widen. "Friday? S**t!"

She shakes her head, dismissing the concern. "Whatever. He'd try something then, huh? OK..." Her face gets the look of someone indulging in nefarious plotting.



Rhys's stunt causes Alicia to start, and she stares at Rhys for a moment, her face pale, nostrils flared, and lips thinned. She doesn't say anything, but sits quietly, not even reacting to Laney's dig.

Rhys looks at her, concerned.

"What's wrong?"

Alicia gives a quick, sharp head shake as she says, "Nothing." She preoccupies herself with her lunch.

"Did either of them get a chance to um...visit Hamilton yesterday?  That's not food.  Thanks, though.  I have to study for it, too.  If you want to Thursday...um...you're welcome to um...with me, I mean."   Laney must have realized belatedly that her timing was off; she bows her head while her cheeks flush pink, and she mumbles, "Sorry."

Alicia for once sounds as out of it as Laney. "Huh? Thursday? Sure, whatever." The history test does not seem to be high on her priority list for concerns at the moment.

Laney sinks low in her chair, miserably wishing she were invisible.  Alas, this is not one of her superpowers.