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Sylvia is on her way to her next class when Gladys Hienkel from the pep squad catches up to her.  "I had theeee most amazing time Friday, and I owe it all to you."  Gladys says.  "He was so great.  I thought he just went with me because you sort of asked, but we talked like regular people and had coffee after, and."  she would have gone on, but squealed instead.  "It's okay if I ask him out again, right?  I mean you're not secretly like dating him or anything are you?  I only ask because a girl in my class thought you two were sort of seeing each other."

Sylvia has been in a bad mood all day, all weekend really--the kind of bad mood in which she wanted to stay home on Monday and, when Carolyn said no, the kind of bad mood in which she wanted only to skulk through her day, unseen and silent.  But Gladys caught her only a few steps from the biology classroom, and while she can't force herself to be as pleasant and cheerful as she ought, she can present Gladys with a Sylvia who is.

That Sylvia gives Gladys a funny look.  "No.  Logan's just, I dunno, someone I hang with because he says smart things, and sometimes I need someone to say smart things to me."  She pauses and dimples.  "So there were sparks?"

Gladys shrugs, "I'm not sure there were sparks, but there was."  She pauses, "I didn't feel like he was there just to be nice.  I felt like we connected somehow.  Even if it was just as friends."  She blushes, "So, if you're not seeing him then it's just a matter of me asking him out again."  She steels herself.  "I can do that.  I can."  she nods as they walk, then a stray junior stumbles over some dropped papers, he falls backwards and glances off Gladys like she were a line backer for the Chicago Bears then crashes to the floor.  Her mind is distracted on thoughts of things she might invite Logan to do, she doesn't notice.  In Sylvia's mind it's what she always expects to happen when people bump into John, only he's conscious of it and pretends to be moved.  Gladys wasn't paying attention, and she didn't even wobble as they continued to walk down the hall. 

Sylvia isn't stupid.  Between Gladys, what happened in the locker room, and reports of a black-and-red blur stopping crimes, she's thinking there may be some new players in the district.  She should probably talk to them, but all she really wants to do is sulk and be invisible.

Nevertheless, it has to be done.  Sylvia is all about doing the things she hates.

"Wait, Gladys."  She jogs to catch up, in person.  "I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"How have you been?  Has anything weird been going on?"

Gladys shakes her head, "Nope.  Other than I got a date with the most eligible senior bachelor.  Why, you feeling weird?"

"Junior," Sylvia corrects, editorial reflexes honed.  "And, no, it's just--let's step into my office."  They happen to be passing the girls' bathroom, and Sylvia steers Gladys gently toward the door.

[I thought it said 'junior' in the NPC files anyway.]

[The reference is to the fact that by his Junior year he was what he is now.  He's a Senior though.]

Gladys lets Sylvia hustle her into the bathroom.  "Are you okay?"  the other girl asks, "You seem sort of jumpy."

[Let's just mumble through that.  I don't want to go back and correct it.]


"Jumpy?  No.  Just worried.

"Did you see that kid bounce off you like a pinball?"

Gladys looks back towards the hall, "Bounce off?  I wasn't paying attention.  Did he put a sign on my back?"  she says, turning to thee her back in the mirror.

Sylvia shakes her head.  "Look, I know this is going to sound weird, but you know all the weird stuff that's been going on at school this year?  You know what a paranormal is?"

Satisfied there is no sign on her back Gladys looks at Sylvia and nods.  "Sure, I know what a paranormal is."  then there is a moment of insight, "Oh my god!"  she squeals, then looks under the stalls and around to see if anyone is there, "Logan is a paranormal?"

"No," Sylvia says, mildly annoyed and trying not to show it.  "Look, just stand there, okay?  I'm going to try to push you back, and you're not going to let me, all right?"

Gladys seems confused.  "Huh?"  Sylvia pushes once, and moves the other girl.  Then again, and finally when Gladys tries not to move it's like Sylvia ran into a wall, bouncing off and landing on her butt.  It's a dazed look on Gladys' face as she reaches down to help Sylvia up.  "What's happening?"

Sylvia dusts off her butt and looks Gladys in the eye.  "Some friends of mine are looking into it.  We don't know if it's permanent, but we know you're not the only one who was changed.  I just thought you should know so you don't get hurt, or hurt someone else.

"I think we have to talk to the rest of the squad, too, before someone gets thrown through the gym roof."

Gladys raises an eyebrow.  "Some of the other girls have mentioned finding things a lot more fragile lately.  Ah.  Sylvia.  It's not something like what killed that kid at the beginning of the year, is it?"

Sylvia thinks that through.  "Nope," she chirps.  "I'm ninety-nine percent sure the incidents aren't connected, and I'm a hundred percent sure the person responsible didn't mean to hurt anybody.  He was willing to take the chance, though, which makes him a bad guy in my book."

"Ok.  So should I say anything to the others, or do you want to talk to them?"

"Sure.  Warn them if you get a chance.  We should pow-wow before practice.

"I'm not invincible," Sylvia confesses.  "If someone tosses me into the gym roof, I'll be the one with the hole in me."

Gladys nods and makes her way from the bathroom.  She seems to be taking extra care as she moves.

And Sylvia hopes any casual observer will chalk it up to bloating.