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Sammy thinks about going outside, but its too cold.  She finds an empty music room and shuts the door firmly behind her.  On a whim she toggles her mp3 player and finds it is working again.  She finds some songs that she likes and starts singing them loudly and with feeling, letting it all out.  Since nobody else is in the room with her, she even lets herself float a few feet off the floor.


"...I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday, I'm in love

Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday, Wednesday break my heart
Oh, Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love..."

Alicia thoughtfully chews her sandwich as she examines the underneath of the desk.

She's lying on her back, eating her lunch while tucked into the footwell of the teacher's desk in one of the unused classrooms, her legs curled up against one side and her head propped against the other.

She hears the click of the door opening and freezes. A quick twitch of her nose and she realizes it's Sammy who's just walked in.

Crap! How'd she know I was here? First Colin and now her! Do I have a tracer on me or something?

She waits to see Sammy's face pop over the top of the desk, dreading what expression it will have. Strangely, instead she hears thumps and clicks that she recognizes as feet moving around and an electronic device. What's going in?

Confused, Alicia silently shimmies her head down to peek through the gap at the bottom of the desk just as Sammy's melodious voice rings out.

Sammy is listening to music on her player and singing along. After a bit, she rises up to float as she continues to belt out tunes with feeling.

In a panic, Alicia thinks, Oh God, she doesn't know I'm here. Scenarios run through her mind: sneaking out, making a joke out of it, staying hidden the whole time. They all carry the risk of greater harm. Besides, there is something in tone of Sammy's singing that speaks of pain, and a pang of guilt stabs at Alicia's gut.

Slowly, Alicia rises from behind the desk. As politely as she can manage, she addresses Sammy. "Um, excuse me, Sam?"

"...Don't think I don't wonder 'bout
Could'a been, should'a been all worked out
I know what I felt and I know what I said but
Don't think I don't think about it..."*

Sammy is startled by the sound of Alicia's voice and lets out with a frightened shriek which is quickly stifled.  "What... how long have you been standing there?"


*Darius Rucker

Alicia looks down apologetically. "I... I was here when you came in," she says, remorsefully.

She gestures helplessly. "I was eating my lunch and you came in and I thought you knew I was here and then you started singing and I didn't know what to do at first and..."

She runs down and just looks at Sammy regretfully.

"Oh."  Sammy doesn't seem angry, just surprised.  "Don't worry about it.  Do... do you want me to leave?  I mean, if you want to be alone, and since you were here first, I can go howl at the moon somewhere else."

Alicia shakes her head. "No, I'm pretty much done. You need the space, you got it."

She grabs her stuff and heads for the door. She pauses there, though, and with a deep breath, turns to Sammy.

"Back before..." She struggles to put her ordeal in simple words and finally gives up. "Anyway, back then, when I was angry or upset, I'd go find a nice private spot and dance, y'know, just to forget about it for a while. Sometimes it helped and sometimes, well, all the bad stuff just came right back afterwards."

She swallows before plunging in. "You got every right to tell me to piss off and mind my own business, but if you need someone to be a good listener, I can... well, y'know, I don't have a great track record on this touchy-feely stuff, but I owe you a lot, and if there's any way I can help..."

Alicia shrugs, giving Sammy another apologetic look.

Sammy cocks her head sideways, then smiles hesitantly.  "Stay?"  Its not an order.  Its definitely a request.  "I'm sorry, you know.  I shouldn't have talked to you like I did.  When I lost it."

Alicia relaxes a bit. She hesitantly moves to a chair and slides down onto it, dropping her stuff at her feet.

"You mean yesterday at lunch? No, I'm the one who should apologize. You were right. I laid a burden on you I had no right to. I really am sorry for that."

She looks at Sammy with a contrite expression. "I was too wrapped up in my s**t to pay attention to what anybody else was saying, know what I mean? It wasn't fair for me to dump it on you, or anyone else."

She sighs and shrugs. "I'm working on getting better. Dunno how long it'll take, but it's my problem."

Her face turns speculative. "But enough about me. What's up with you?"

Sammy smiles wistfully.  "Oh, the usual emotional overload.  I was trying to sing it out, take the edge off.  It'd be better if I could fly, but its so cold and honestly, I think I'll need a couple of hours once I get started.  Better go home and get the battery heated gloves and socks, dress in layers first, right?"

Alicia nods in sympathy. "Yeah, know what you sayin'. I usually do some rooftop runnin' when I'm in that sorta mood, but that sucks too when it's cold like this."

She rubs the back of her neck, unsure how to proceed. "I was hoping getting out of the pool would sorta lower the level of psychodrama. Is what's got you down group-related or just personal-type stuff?"

"Both, I guess.  Mostly personal, but lately it seems like most of the people I hang with are the group, so," she shrugs, "one easily becomes part of the other."  She sits down in front of a piano and starts slowly and randomly poking at keys.  "I almost kissed Nick in the cafeteria.  Then I almost kissed John when he saved me from kissing Nick -- I was fighting it.  I wouldn't do that to El.  Not again.  I almost kissed Nick because I let myself believe that he had asked Laney out, and then I let myself notice how much I miss being around him, and then, when I let myself talk to him -- see, he had asked me and El to go to a movie marathon with him, just before he asked Laney, and I wasn't sure what was going on -- well, I was so relieved about what he said, and I felt myself going toward him, like iron filings to a magnet.  But I couldn't do that, not to El.  So I grabbed on to a chair to keep myself from, well, basically falling into Nick's arms, and then John was there...  turns out this is something I'm going to have to learn to handle.  Its the djinn in me."

Alicia frowns as she tries to follow Sammy's ramble. It takes her a second to figure out that "gin" is a characteristic, not a drink choice.

"So... being a gin makes you want to kiss guys? And you're worried that'll upset Elrod? Is he, like, normally a jealous kinda guy?"

Sammy looks confused.  "Gin... djinn.  Genie.  I told you I'm not completely human... didn't I?  And no, El's not normally a really jealous guy, but if I had kissed Nick like I wanted to, I think... I think he might have been hurt."

Alicia nods. "Yeah, I know. You told me about how your mom was a genie, too, and how she had some trouble with the law... Hey, did she have the same trouble with guys? She got married and had you, so it can't be that bad."

She leans forward to talk seriously to Sammy. "Look, you made a big deal about how Elrod's goin' to college at the end of the year and you're probably never seein' him again. But at the same time, you're actin' like this thing between you is serious. Sounds to me like you need to make some decisions.

"Have you tole Elrod about this part of bein' a genie? Has he tole you he doesn' wan'chu kissin' other guys?  Do you really love him? Does he love you?"

Alicia sighs and leans back. "I had the point that I was flyin' off half-cocked without knowin' all the facts rubbed in my face. Hate to see you make the same mistake I did."

"Yeah.  Mom has the same problem.  Getting married and having kids didn't make it go away; it just made it easier for her to fight her instincts."


Sammy is floating freely above the chairs in the classroom by now.  The movement seems necessary. 

"I don't know how to explain this.  It just is.  When I'm honest with myself, the thing about Elrod going away to college is more about me than him; without knowing what I was, I think I was trying to explain to myself why I could feel so much for him and still feel so much for other guys.  By expecting that he'd move on and be with other girls, I was giving myself permission to do the same except I was doing it early, before he went away, so I felt... feel... guilty anyhow.  Like I should be a better person for him, like I'm not good enough.  He has never said or done anything to make me think I wasn't, I'm not, good enough.  It's all in here."  She taps on her own head.

"I do love him though, and he's a wonderful, caring person.  And that's why I'm trying my dangdest to color inside the lines while he's here.  It's just... not easy sometimes.  I think that's why my mom enjoys cooking so much; it keeps her mind and her senses occupied so they don't... wander."

Alicia gives a wry chuckle. "Oh yeah, 'mana, I know where you're comin' from there."


Alicia considers, leaning back and effortlessly balancing the chair on its two rear legs so that she can keep her eyes on Sammy. "So, you feelin' guilty 'bout lookin' at other guys that way is more your own hang-up than his. Even though you know it's just your genie mojo an' not any desire to hurt El-Rod, or anyone else."

She shrugs, causing the chair to shiver on its precarious position. "Maybe you should take a tip from your mom. Find somethin' to do that keeps ya... I dunno, distracted."

She drops the chair back down with a bang. "Or just accept your nature. Talk to El-Rod, find out if he does love you, all of you, even the parts you're not happy about yourself."

Alicia looks down, suddenly very attentive to picking out a loose stitch on one of his gloves. "It's what I'm plannin' to do with Ree-is this afternoon."

Sammy starts counting things off on her fingers.

"One, I didn't know about the 'genie mojo' until just the other day.  I thought I was a freak, but John figured it out, and Mom confirmed it.  Two, I've already been using music and flying as distractions.  Three, I haven't had a chance to talk to Elrod.  We don't live in each other's pockets, or even see each other every day.  It feels like it ought to a holiday when I see him at lunch.  And when I do get a chance, if I take it, I haven't got a clue what I'll say.  I'm still working on that.  What are you going to say to Rhys?  Maybe you'll give me some ideas."

Alicia stares at Sammy for a moment. For a second, there is the faintest whiff of strawberries in the air.

Alicia hangs her head for a second, then brings it up to look at Sammy. "I was being pushy again, wasn't I? I'm sorry."

She goes back to her inspection of her fingers, twisting them fretfully. "Colin helped me figure out a big chunk of my past yesterday. There's a lot there that isn't..."

She sighs explosively. "I've done some really stupid s**t in my life, the kind that could come back and bite me in the ass. It's only fair for him to know that, to know what I've found out about myself, no matter how bad it is."

Sammy listens, and nods.  "That should do it.  Most of the last bit you said.  I mean, he just needs to know bad stuff happened, that you've found out some things, and  then what the consequences might be.  All the details though -- are you sure about that?  If he doesn't ask, are you still telling?"

Alicia nods mutely.

After a second, she braves to speak. "I don' wanna sugarcoat it. He's gotta know the whole deal. Especially..." She pauses, once again caught in trying to find words to match the feelings she's trying to express.

"See, I was in love with this guy, I mean the whole nine yards, body an' soul, y'know? And he screwed me over good; he's a big part of the reason my brain got f**ked up, so... when it comes to lovin' someone, right now I'm kinda damaged goods.

"Ree-is needs to know. He keeps sayin' that it doesn' matter, but I'm not sure he unnerstan's..."

She suddenly jerks her head up to look at Sammy in concern. "Aw, crap. I'm sorry. Here I'm tryin' to help you out, and all I end up doin' is dumping more psychodrama on your lap. Don' mind me. It's my s**t; I'll deal with it."

She bends down to pick up her things and stands up. She makes her way to the door.

"Sorry 'bout that, Sammy. I'll go and leave you alone."

"It's okay if you want to stay, Alicia.  I'm sorry for what happened to you, but you should know I'm glad there are people who are able to help.  Rhys seems like a nice enough guy, and Colin, well, he's great."  She gestures at the speakers.  "I was just going to play songs and sing, nothing special.  If I remember right, Mr. Mulloney keeps... yeah.  Here they are."  Sammy pulls a deck of cards out of the desk.  "He plays solitaire during written tests.  We could just sit here and play War, or Go Fish."  She looks the cards and wrinkles her nose.  "Or I could hold up a card and you could identify the food stain.  Yecch."

Alicia giggles in spite of herself. "Taco sauce," she says, grinning. She taps her nose with a wink.

She looks at Sammy for a moment, then puts her stuff down and asks self-consciously, "If it's all right with you, I don't mind just sittin' and hearin' you sing. You have a pretty voice."

She gets comfortable on one of the school desks and adds, matter-of-factly, "Oh, and Mr. Jack is helping out, too. He came by my place last night, and we went up to his place, where he showed me the gym and beat the crap out of me."

"Jack too? That's good.  I was afraid--" Sammy cuts herself off.  "What do you want to hear?  Dancing music, listening music, laughing music, crying music, butt kicking music, I'm in love music, break up music -- I've got it all.  I was working on some Feeling Sorry for Myself music, but I don't have to stay there.  There are some songs El wants to try out."  She starts scrolling through the display.  "He's buying me a keyboard and lessons.  I think he wants me to be the band's keyboard player if it works out.  So... ooh, this one's good.  Slow dance snuggle music with good vocals."

After a moment, she closes her eyes and launches into

At last
my love has come along
my lonely are days over
and life is like a song

Ooh, yeah, yeah
At last
the skies above are blue
My heart was wrapped up in clover
the night I looked at you...

Alicia drapes over the desk, cradling her head in her hands, closes her eyes and smiles as the music wraps around her like a comfortable blanket. Pretty soon, a low vibration rumbles quietly from her chest. She is content.

{end?}

OOC: Sure. I'm good. :)