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Dave has secured the Usual Suspects table, and he, Rob, and Greg are there doing what they normally do.

After several of the Usual Suspects have made it into the lunch room, John arrives with a girl.  "Hey everyone.  This is Alicia Vega, she's new and I got asked to show her around."  John makes introductions of the people at the table.

In the short period of time Alicia has interacted with John she has discovered he is incredibly polite.  He holds doors for people, pulls out chairs, says please and thank you.  Alicia has also noticed that lots of girls look at her when she's with him, in that way high school girls look at each other when a hawt boy is involved.

OOC: Surprise!  New player.

"Hi, Alicia," Sylvia says with a big PR smile, but telepathically, she hits John with--

We're picking up a lot of civilians, aren't we?  It's dangerous for them, hanging with us.

John looks at Sylvia, "I'm still."  and he stops.  "I'm still looking for that article you asked about."  he says, his face turning slightly red.  I'm still not sure why Ms. Pulowski from the office keeps asking me to show people around.  But you guys are my only friends so I'm at a loss as to what to do.  Besides, Dave and Greg seems to be doing ok. Is the thought stream he sends back to Sylvia.

Dave and Greg are immortal, didn't you know?  They'd have to cut off each other's heads to die, and they can't do that here because the cafeteria is sacred ground.  Besides, it's not that we want you to leave us and get new friends or anything, but there's the football team, the science club, and about a dozen girls in school-color spankies who'd do anything you asked.  You're Mr. Popular.

Sammy, still smiling inanely, (NOT ME!) says "Hello, Alicia?  Mind if I change your name to Sally, or call you Shia?  'cause it seems to be kind of a rule that girls who sit here have to have 'S' names.  Not that Alicia isn't a perfectly (NOT ME!)   nice name, but well, you know.  Hi John!  (NOT ME!)  How were your grandparents?  Does anybody else feel like having some ice cream? (NOT ME!)  I'm gonna go buy ice cream for everybody!  My treat!"

Oh, sweet Jesus, Sylvia tells John at the speed of thought.  She's dating someone new, isn't she?  She pauses.  It's not you, is it?

Sarah goes through the morning semi oblivious to the glances she gets.  Mornings are always a little fuzzy for Sarah when she skips her coffee but she overslept and woke up ten minutes before the first bell.  Since learning to teleport her wake up time had become progressively later.  She'd jumped into the shower, dressed and ported to school while still brushing her hair.  She was at school by the time she realized she'd forgotten her coat, and mis-buttoned her shirt.  "Idiot!" 

During math her inability to answer most of the questions seemed to be drawing more attention than usual and quite a few whispers.  "What?  They know I suck at math and I'm just a... lucky tester." 

Finally at the end of class she got up more than ready for a blissful chance at some calories and chat at the US table.  That's when every guy in the class made a point of dropping their cellphone numbers on her table as they passed.  "WTF?"  Oh god!  Love Goo! 
But none of the guys had stopped to socialize... just... huh. 

A very suspicious Sarah gathers her stuff and tromps to her locker to grab her lunch.  Finally she is aware of the notice.  One girl is clearly mouthing the word Ho in a fashion that doesn't make Sarah think she's talking about Santa's recent visit. 

She shoves her books in her locker and gets her lunch out in the same motion, knocking the door shut with her shoulder.  She zips off to the cafeteria. 

She spots the US and takes a deep breath and tries her best to pretend absolutely nothing weird is going on.  She sits down next to Sammy because she'll be the first to want to know if there's more Goo out there.  But that didn't explain the Ho thing...

"Hey guys... I think there might be another Love Goo attack going on.  Or something else happened...  Something else happened didn't it?  What happened?  I guess I'm curious because I've been referred to several times on my way to lunch as someone who offers negotiable affections."

It's about that time that she notices another newcomer to the table.  Oh God.  She looks at this new girl, Jon really needs to clear these strays with us first!, and says, "Uh, Hi.   I'm Sarah.  Nothing you've heard about me today is true."

"Aw, crap," Sylvia breathes and then starts questing around the lunch room to see what people are feeling and thinking.

Sammy's smile dims a little, and she says "I heard the story about you and Kel.  But it's okay -- its not like Colin and your friends don't know the truth, or about"  she glances over at Alicia and chooses her words carefully, "other extenuating circumstances."   Sympathy creeps onto her face and voice, but she still looks more relieved than remorseful when she says "And I really, really apologize for even thinking this, but I'm so glad its not me this time.  I don't have to do anything but dig out the source and kick its butt from here to" another look at Alicia "the garden gate.  No angst, just do.  It's so nice.  I'm so tired of staring at my own red eyes in a mirror.  So anything you need, I've got your back, okay?"  She smiles again.  "Can I get you some ice cream for starters?"   Then she looks over at Sylvia.  "Come to think of it though, I didn't think Kung Fu Kel was back."

Sylvia shakes her head, looking a little flat-aspect as she picks through the vibes in the room.  "Still at boarding school.  Sometimes he sends e-mail."

"Huh?"  Then he reddens again, "I don't think so."  he says.


"Negotiable affections?"  It's painfully obvious that the comment has lodged in his head without a definition.


The room is awash with all the same things as normal, and there are a few boys, mostly Freshman and Sophmores, that are seeing Sarah dancing on a folding table in what looks like an abandoned building.  There is a keg, red disposable cups, and Sarah with very little on whooping it up and doing what can only be identified as a belly dance with 'exclamation marks'.

Sammy nods assertively, still looking far more pleased than she probably ought.  "Exactly.  So it couldn't have been what people thought they saw.  Maybe it was one of his kung fu fighter friends with a girl who could easily be mistaken for Sarah?"

[They're seeing her dancing here and now?  They think they're not in the lunch room?]

"Wait, with Kel?  I haven't heard boo out of him in ages.  It sounds like someone left the... uh door open again.  Or maybe you're right Sylvia... someone looking like me."  Sarah sighs.  "I hope I'm not going to have to try and punch my own lights out."  

Alicia nods at the greetings. "Hey," she says, non-committally, before seating herself and picking at her food.

Her attire comprises a mix of goth and slacker. Tattered sneakers, worn jeans, washed-out black T-shirt with an unrecognizable badn name on it, Army-surplus jacket. Her hair is black with a streak of purple forming a skunk trail. Two items that stand out are the sunglasses covering her eyes and thin gloves covering her hands.

It's hard to say how much of the conversation she picks up, with her glasses hiding where she's looking. At one point, she turns her head and her nose twitches, as if smelling something, then she turns back, pausing momentarilly on Sarah, before focusing on her lunch again.

Fond memories of a party Saturday night.

Sylvia nudges Sarah.  "See those guys over there?"  Arrows point at their heads, unseen to all but the Usual Suspects.  "They remember seeing you at a warehouse last night, something about a table and an economy bottle of baby oil."

Baby Oil?  *mental click*  Sarah looks over and turns scarlet.  "Eww!  Oh god.  Dave!  Make it go away!  Sammy how have you survived this stuff so many times?  I'd have moved to Nebraska or something by now.  Okay, not Nebraska but still... eww.  I feel like I need a shower now. "

Dave looks up from his book.  He says nothing, and then looks back down and continues to read.  "Rob, field this one?"

Rob stops mid-chew of his burger.  He gives a thumbs up and grabs his phone to fire off some text messages.

Sammy gazes gape jawed from Sarah to Dave to Rob and mutters, "That's all I ever had to do?  Bastards..."   She gathers herself and puts what is meant to be a comforting hand on Sarah's shoulder.  "Why do you think I'm so damned glad its not me this time?  I'm sympathetic, believe me, but my gosh, I still feel like dancing.  Its almost indecent how happy I am about fate pointing somewhere else."

"Well, the chances of yet another you being pulled in this dimension were quite slim. Unless there's some unprecedented connection between your likes and dimensional storms, at least."

Colin has a penchant for appearing just behind people lately. He takes his usual seat beside Sarah, smiling at her as if nothing happened.

"Hi." He says to Alicia. "Nice glasses. And nice to meet you. My name is Colin Crow. Yours?"

The girl jerks a bit, as if surprised to find Colin there then covers it up with a shrug. "Alicia. Alicia Vega. I just transferred."

She takes a breath, calmly puts down her fork, and addresses the table in a low voice.

"If this is your idea of razzing the new kid, fine, you've had your fun. Now cut the s**t.

"I've been sitting here listening to you guys talk about weird s**t while pretending not to and making all sorts of faces while not saying anything.

"If something's going down, you can either let me in on it, or I'll just get up, walk over to that other table, and leave you to f**k around all you want.

"Your call."

Colin gets the newspaper out of his backpack and shows it to her. The big titles are about sightings of dimensional doubles.

"Oak Park is at the epicenter of some inter-dimensional trouble. Last week Sammy's and Sylvia's doppelgangers showed up, and caused serious distress. I'm guessing another Sarah was around during the weekend, and made a poor show of herself."

He smiles.

"I forgot to ask. Where are you from? This dimension or another one?

Sammy flinches, then remembers what she said the day before.  She puts her money where her mouth is, and responds in the same low tone, using her powers to make sure her voice resonates a little where it counts.  She'll out herself, but none of the others.

"OK.  You want to know?  Fine.  I'm a paranormal.  If I did the math right this weekend, I can fly approximately 300 miles an hour carrying one other person.  I can knock things over with a blast of air.  I don't need to breathe.  I could flatten this building if I chose to, but I don't, because I like school, and I like pretending to be like other people.  Recent events have made it more and more difficult for me to do that.  These" she gestures at the table " are my friends.  They know the truth, but they do me the courtesy of letting me pretend to be as normal as possible.  Even then, weird s**t happens to us all the time.  John brought you here because we are his friends, and he wanted to eat with us.  It just so happens that he's a nice guy, and wouldn't dump you off on your own even though it might mean you seeing or hearing things that make no sense.  If it makes you feel better to get up and move over to the next table, fine, go.  Otherwise"   she backs down a lot to a very friendly tone, "would you like to stay and let me buy you an ice cream?  I'm treating everybody at the table today."

John sits down next to Alicia "Ok.  In for a penny.  I'm paranormal too.  And the only people I count among my friends are sitting at this table.  If this freaks you out it's my fault and I'm really sorry.  I can find someone else to show you around if you'd like."

Alicia looks around at the group, then chuckles. "Coño, and here I thought I was going to have trouble fitting in."

She looks around again to make sure no one outside of the table is looking their way, then tips her shades down so the others can see what's behind them.

Her eyes are yellow-green, with slit pupils that thin out as the bright light shines on them. She pushes the shades back up. "Do I pass?"

To Sammy, she says, "Ice cream sounds good. No frozen yogurt, though; that stuff tastes rotten."

To John: "No sweat; you're cool. Thanks for bringing me over."

To Colin: "I don't know. How could I tell?" Her tone is semi-serious.

"I need to check on something."  John says, standing and leaving the room.


"We helped before."  Dave says with nods towards Rob and Greg.  "You guys never have to ask.  We've got your backs."  Rob and Greg nod in agreement.  "It takes a while for things to cool though.  These things don't go away overnight, as Sammy can testify to."

Sarah pipes up, "Ultra cool eyes.  Guessing not contacts then?  Heh, in Star Trek the calling card of another dimension was little goatees on everybody but visitors from this other dimension seem to be experience some sort of localized increase in gravity that makes it difficult for anyone crossing over to keep their pants on."

Back to Sammy she says in shock, "Oh my gosh!  You didn't know that Dave and Rob can fix just about anything?  They're like totally Deus Ex Machina.  The Easy Button.  I just always thought you liked this whole 'Sammy Drama' stuff so we all played along until you were ready to resolve things.  Oh and I want strawberry if you're buying."

Alicia smiles an evil grin. "So I take it you totally don't deserve being called a 'skanky ho.'"

She points in the direction of two girls a few tables over. "Those two have been saying some really nasty things about you. If I were you, I'd kick their asses, but that's just me."

She taps her chin with a finger as if in thought. "Then again, that'd be the perfect excuse for letting loose. 'Hey, that wasn't mel It was my evil twin.' I might have to think on that one."

"Interesting. Cat-like? What comes with them?" Then he catches himself. "Sorry. This is not an interrogation. Though it makes me wonder if the teacher that keeps asking John to show the new guys around is on to something..."


He seems to look at her in a strange way for a moment. Maybe there's a flicker of light in his eyes as well.

"According to your aura, you look local. Then I can ask you where you are from in the more traditional sense."



Colin frowns. "Uh-oh."



He looks in that direction and, unfortunately for them, he memorizes their faces.

Alicia shrugs. "Hey, no biggie, I show you mine..." She flashes another evil grin.

"I can hear sounds real well and pick up smells, too. I got moves; y'know, quicker and all that. And, plus..."

She places a hand, palm up, on the table. She flexes and, through previously unnoticed slits in the gloves, wickedly sharp curved claws extrude from her fingertips. "I don't need to carry a knife."


"Oh, my mom and I moved out from downtown." her voice betrays reticence on the subject.

Sammy rolls her eyes.  "Yeah.  I'm still ironing out the last mess.  I'm not sure some of those wrinkles are going to come out though.  I might just have to live with it."


"Fun."  Sammy stands up.  "I'm going to go get that ice cream.  Back in a few..."  She makes her way up to the line.

"Wait," Sylvia says, coming back from whatever mental space she was exploring.  "You smell good?  I mean, 'well'?  You smell well?  Can you track a smell?"

Sarah whistles softly, "Wow with those things you'd better not have contacts on.  You'd slice your eyeballs."
Glancing at the girls she shrugs.  "It's a little embarrassing to hear people talk about me but if I started kicking the asses of the people that deserved it on general principal my leg would have fallen off by now and there'd still be a line around the block.  Besides, the important people know the truth.  Plus we're a pretty understanding group and even if I was a tramp I think they'd keep me around."

"You mean, like a blood hound? Not really. But I can recognize a scent, y'know, I can tell who someone is, what they've eaten, who they kissed, just by the smell."

Donnie strolls in, late as usual, and drops into an empty seat. "Hey new blood. Welcome to the Usual Suspects table."  

He leans his head on Sylvia's shoulder and makes snoring noises before he pulls his packpack into his lap and pulls out a dog-eared notebook and the chewed remains of several pencils. He frowns and rummages around until he finds several more.

Alicia can hear him murmur "dammit, pip!" under his breath.

Sylvia smooches his hair and murmurs, "Now Sarah's got a double, did you hear?  I'm thinking interdimensional duplicate from the same batch as the other two.  Oh, and by the way--"  She points.  "Alicia.  Donnie.  Donnie.  Alicia."

Another flex, and the claws slide back in. "That's why they only come out when it gets serious." She's quiet for a moment, as if caught in a stray memory.


Alicia shrugs, "No sweat, 'mana.  You're cool."

"Hey," she greets the new arrival. Craning her head to try and see what's in the bag, she comments, "What'chu got in there? A pet lizard?"

[OOC: I'm assuming Pip has a scent, so she'd pick it up.]

Donnie freezes, looking up at Alicia and then over at Sylvia. "Um."  is his brilliant response.

Privately Sylvia gives Donnie a 1.5x repeat of the previous minute or two.  She dwells on the highlights like a football commentator, circling Alicia's weird eyes and claws in instant-replay white.  Now they're bussing us in.

Unaware of Sylivia's mental brief, Alicia's face crinkles into a smile. "Oh, I'm sorry? Did I bust your cover? I've already gotten the skinny on some of you guys', ah... unusual abilities. It's cool; us freaks gotta stick together."

Donnie perks a near invisible eyebrow. "Meow, kitty-kat? No, Pip is not in here at the moment, but he likes nibbling on things. You should have seen the mess he made of a fresh pack of pens. I had to replace the whole backpack."

An eyebrow peeks over her shades as a slow smile spreads on her face. She leans over, placing her head on her folded hands. "I've been known to purr if I'm petted right," she says, her voice dripping with promise.

With a sudden shift of mood, she leans back. "So, what's your schtick, if you have any? I mean, besides keeping your lizard in your bag." Her mouth quirks at the innuendo.

Donnie flushes slightly, unused to someone other than Sylvia ever flirting with him. He looks over to Colin. "Is she in, or simply a spy for the enemy?"  

Sylvia's hitherto untested jealousy response kicks in full-swing, but it shows only in the slight frost that grows on her smile--and the sudden explosion of "Oh, no, you di'n't!" two tables over.  A pair of Paris Hilton wannabes begin swiping at each other with their chromed inch-long nails, and a pair of teachers has to head over to subdue them.

"Note to self: no more onions at lunchtime."


Colin seems perfectly serious. "Of course she's a spy for the enemy. You might have missed it, but she's a girl."

Sarah raises an eyebrow and asks Colin in a chill tone,  "So we're the enemy now?"

She can't keep a straight face for more than a second though.  With a grin she shrugs and gives Colin a kiss on the cheek.

"Whew. Just wanted to make sure." He looks back at Alicia. "Sorry, but I am just your ordinary, everyday teenaged boy who thinks of nothing but video games and sex every six seconds or so." Smiling innocently, he stands, tucking his notebook under one arm.

"Excuse me, but I think I will be having the tuna fish sammich today. Or the tuna melt. It seems suddenly very chilly in here." He brushes his fingertips along Sylvia's neck as he leaves for the lunchline.

Sammy is in the lunchline somewhat ahead of Donnie.  She's loading a tray down with those cardboard cups of ice cream.  She happens to see Donnie, waves, and adds a few more to the pile.  Then she carries the load over to the cashier, who says something to her.  "I need the cups for an art project," Sammy replies.  "I'm going to spray paint them different colors and make a mobile."  She pays and carries the filled tray back out into the cafeteria.

Alicia's attention shifts to Syliva and her nose twitches.


Alicia laughs, her mood switching gears again.


Alicia calls out to Donnie as he leaves, "I wouldn't try the tuna, it smelled funny today."

She waits until the boy is out of earshot, then turns, her face serious now, to Syliva. In a low voice, she says, "Sorry, I didn't realize he was taken."

She pauses, then asks, "Does he know?"

Sylvia's jealousy is fleeting--and so unwonted that it leaves her a little confused.  "Yeah, I hope so, or I've been wasting a lot of time shaving my legs.

"Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what brings you to Oak Park?"

Alicia shrugs, obviously trying for an air of indifference. "My mom got a better job, so we moved further out of the city."

In a valiant attempt to veer the conversation back to another track, she asks Sylvia, "So, have you and Donnie gotten past the huggy-kissy?"

"There's something past huggy-kissy?  But he's good at huggy-kissy.  I don't want to push my luck."

Alicia snorts. "Oh-kay. Not going there."

She continues, "So help me out here, anyone else in the group hooked up? Anyone I should avoid on general principles? Anyone with a waiting list I need to get on?"

"Sarah and Colin win schmoopiest couple of the year.  Sammy's, um, considering her possibilities--chiefly Elrod Janush and Nick [surname, please?].  Greg's seeing my sister, Virginia, although I doubt Ginny would mind the opportunity for tearful break-up and several heavy dramatic scenes.  Jakob's available, but he's a civilian.  You might break him.  John's pined after by the entirety of the cheerleading squad, but he'd make a great scratching post--"  Then she catches herself.

"Does it bother you?  The cat thing?  Should we not joke about that?"

Alicia waves it off. "Heh, chica, if that s**t bothered me, I wouldn't have lasted this long. Besides, you'd be amazed how many guys get off on the freak thing..."

She stops, as if suddenly stepping off into an abyss she hadn't expected to be there.

In an instant, she's back, as if nothing had happened. "Anyways, if something bothers me, trust me, you'll know."

She flashes a feral smile, displaying slightly-prominent canines.

Sylvia isn't sure how to take that, but she doesn't have to be psychic to realize that Alicia has issues.  "Dave and Rob are cool," she goes on.  "Dave has his own van, so there's potential there.  Rob--well, Rob has no van, but he looks like the huggy-kissy type, doesn't he?"

Donnie returns with a ham sandich, Baked Lays and milk. He pauses at the table before sitting down, looking over to Colin and back to Sylvia. "She's still alive? Sylvia didn't melt her head in or something?"

Donnie's not always as clueless as he seems to be. He'd seen the scuffle at the other table and the intensity of Sylvia's stare.

Sammy arrives back at the table shortly after Donnie.  For one reason or another, she wound up taking a longer path back.

A tray of various flavors of ice cream is deposited in the middle of the table, far more than just one per person.  Sammy grabs a chocolate one and digs in.

"Is Rob a... 'civilian'?" Alicia asks, trying to pick up the group lingo.

Alicia takes a cup, Neapolitan flavor, takes the lid off and, in an (apparently) unintentionally suggestive way, proceeds to slowly lick the ice cream off the lid.

Once the lid has been denuded of any treat, she devours the cup's contents as if it was going to be taken away any second.

The cup emptied, she licks any escaped ice cream from around her lips with an expression of sated bliss then looks guiltily at Sammy. "Oh. Um, thanks."

"Sure..." says Sammy, and pushes another one to the girl.  "You can have more if you want it.  I'm sure your fan club won't mind."  She gestures with her eyes at some stunned looking boys a few tables over and grins evilly.  "I bet if you stretched, they'd pass out from loss of blood to their brains."

Alicia smiles with a glint in her shielded eyes. "You think?"

And without further ado, she leans back, bringing her arms up, and does a back stretch that almost has her touching the floor behind her.

Her shirt rides up, displaying a tight stomach and, curiously, a whitish streak on her belly that looks like a healed scar.

She straightens back up and unconsciously pulls her shirt back down as she grins. "How was that?"

Donnie swallows the bite of sandwich he had sitting in his mouth for the last few minutes. Oh god I hope Sylvia isn't looking into my head right now. Um think of something else, magical jargon, formulae, kibbitz. Kibble. S**t. Yum yum these baked Lays sure are good. Deedle-doo. I'll leave a few for Pip. He likes potato chips. He likes the spicy ones better though. No, don't think about the ice cream. Ice cream bad. You gained back to pounds this week because you haven't done any jogging. Maybe Uther could come He hasn't had a good run through the woods in a hile. Dammit Sammy, why did it have to be ice cream. You and Sarah with the cookies. Urgh, remember sugar equals calories that you are not burning sitting on your ass in Geometry I wonder hat that scar was from. That scar on the tight muscled.. damnit. algorithms, calculations...

"That's something he refuses to clarify," Sylvia says, shooting Rob a look.

From time to time she'll throw out a guess like:  "Rob, is your super power that you can turn into a micro-mini version of yourself and sneak through the cracks in vault doors?"

"No," is always the answer, and it's always delivered with the kind of warm smile of someone who isn't being secretive to be coy but who genuinely has to keep it to himself.  It only encourages her.


Sylvia throws him a suspicious look, but he must be doing a fine job of thought juggling.  She goes back to coddling her ice cream.

"Really? I bet I could squeeze an answer out of him."

Alicia looks at Rob speculatively with a smile.

Sylvia looks dismayed.  She complains to Rob.  "Oh, c'mon!  If she uses sex, that is so unfair!  I demand a handicap!"

Alicia covers her mouth as she giggles. There's something about the way she does it that shows laughing is not something she's been able to do for a while.

Sammy laughs.  "Perfect.  If Sarah joins you, considering the rumors and all, I think you two can cause a riot."  


She listens to the exchange between Sylvia and Alicia, and gives Rob a sharp look, remembering the night of the Witches sacrifice ritual.  "And Rob is most definitely not a civilian.  He's Dave's apprentice, which automatically revokes his civilian status.  He's potentially breakable, but definitely not a civilian."

The clatter of a number of chairs loosing their occupants can be heard, but no one seems to be too injured.  and that's when John comes back to sit down, the only open spot next to Alicia.  "Why are a bunch of people talking about Alicia's stomach?"  he says, "Ohh, ice cream.  May I have one?"  he asks.

Sammy grins and pushes one of each flavor at John.  "I wasn't sure which one you'd like" she says facetiously, "so I got you one of each.  Hope that's okay?"  Donnie's problem goes away.  She looks over at the slightly damaged boys on the floor and says "Alicia was just doing her part to divert conversation away from Sarah."

Alicia looks up from the second cup of ice cream she's begun to scarf and says in a voice dripping with innocence, "I have no idea."


Alicia nods happily as her tongue flicks another dollop of ice cream from the side of her mouth. "Sammy's treat. They're good."

She suddenly stops as if caught acting out of character, then shifts to a more restrained, indifferent attitude. "Knock yourself out."

"Thanks."  John opens one and begins to eat.  It's obvious he's either oblivious to the underlying meaning sof some of the conversation, or purposefully ignoring it.

Alicia sits quietly eating her ice cream, her expression unreadable behind her dark shades, her subdued demeanor at odds with her earlier outbursts.

She still manages to make sure there is not a single molecule of ice cream left in the cup before putting it down.

"Colin."  John says as he opens the second ice cream.  "Did you want to go check out those construction sites that were vandalized today after school?"

Colin is caught a bit by surprise. He was enjoying the show immensely.

"Uh, yes, I meant to."

He takes a look around.

"Has anyone seen Jacob around?"

Jakob is in an apparently deep conversation with a couple of upperclassmen in varsity letter jackets - football players.  It seems reasonably friendly - much macho backslapping abounds - and from even from afar it seems clear that they are trying to convince him of something.
When the conversation ends he makes his way to the usual table.

"Speak of the devil... what's up guys?"

He looks over at the unfamiliar figure seated at the table, unable to entirely erase his relief at not being the FNG (f'ing new guy) anymore.

"Hi", he says.  "I'm Jakob.  Nice to meet you."

He sits down and starts taking his lunch out of its paper bag.

"Hey," she answers to Jakob's greeting. It's obvious by now it's her default response.

After a pause, she adds, "Oh. Yeah, my name's Alicia, and I'm a freak. You a freak too?"

Deleted for continuity purposes!

Alicia nods matter-of-factly, "Okay." She glances over at Sylvia with a look that says, See how easy it is?

Seemingly oblivious to the effect her words may have had, she turns to John. "So what's this about checking out a construction site?"

"We have a habit of being in the middle of things.  And I have to guess that part of the reason is we stick our collective noses into things.  Things we probably have no business sticking our nose in.  We make a difference though."  he seems to sober for a minute, looking around at the collected people.  "We're the good guys."  He pauses for a second, like he's suddenly struck by some stray thought, then he looks back at her and Jakob.  "You guys game?"

Alicia shrugs. "Sure. Sounds like it could be fun. Name a time and place, I'll meet you there."

She takes a sip from a previously-unnoticed can of soda. On the table behind her, a student looks around and says, "Hey!" She casually lowers the can out of sight below the table.

John's gaze narrows some.  "I think you must have picked up the wrong soda by mistake."  He hands one of the ice creams in front of him to the kid at the next table, but doesn't turn his head, "Accident, have an ice cream."

It takes Sammy a moment to realize what has happened, but when John passes the ice cream to the kid, it clicks.  She unconsciously echoes his words from a minute before.  "We're the good guys, Alicia."

Sarah says, "Yeah.  You're only allowed to swipe diet sodas.  On the other hand, Donnie's greedy guts lizard has snagged more food off of us than we even know."

She thinks about it, "Though that is a good way to get somebodies cold... or a cold sore.  Eww.  Stranger spit."

Sarah sticks her tongue out.

Alicia looks at John and Sammy, her expression unreadable behind her shades. Her nose twitches slightly.

She takes a breath to say something, the body language hinting it to be some sort of snappy comeback, then stops. Deflating slightly, she places the soda can timidly on the table and mumbles, "Sorry."

She sits quietly, not looking at anything, her shoulders slumped.

At Sarah's comment, Alicia's mood shifts again as she giggles once more.


Alicia stares at Sarah for a second, then laughs out loud at what can only be some private joke before she claps her hands over her mouth to stifle her outburst.

Sammy relaxes before she has a chance to notice she had tensed up a little.

"It's all right," she says, "We just tend to play things low key.  We have powers, but we generally don't go out of our way to pull attention to ourselves.  Bad guys point us out enough, and they don't need any help."  She pulls out her phone.  "What's your number so I can add you in?"

"That's because my friends spoil him utterly. Don't pretend you don't leave cookies for him in my backpack. He is a greedy pig because you encourage him to do so." He looks back at Alicia trying to gauge her reaction. Difficult to do so with her glasses covering the cat-like eyes.

Sarah counters Donnie's comment with, "Well it's not my fault Pip is so cute."  

Looking at Alicia she offers, "If you want I'll give you a ride to the construction site later."

Sammy says, kind of wistfully, "If you want him spoiled by other methods, just ask.  I'd be happy to take him out for some exercise if you're ever too busy to do it; he'd be good company.  Any of them would, really."

Donnie's eyes flash green for a moment, and he says "My weir. Mine. You fly with us. They don't fly for you, djinn."  

Alicia suddenly smells the dry scent of reptile.

Donnie shakes his head and his eyes are blue again. His faces twists into a grimace. "Sorry, Sammy, I- sorry. I don't know why I reacted like- um, sorry." He stands quickly and gathers his things "I'm -I'd better go."

He leaves, a miserable look on his face.

Sammy stares after him, saying "But I didn't... I wouldn't... I'm not...  oh hell."  She looks like she wants to cry, or throw something, or maybe both.  "I'm not trying to steal his damned weir.  I just..."  She looks over at John.  "I just want to fly with somebody.  Its fun taking you guys up, but to be able to go up and play, even if its just a stupid game of tag... never mind.  Now I know how the story of genies living in bottles started.  They probably drank themselves into them out of frustration with humans."  She digs furiously through her bag looking for something she suddenly desperately needs in an attempt to avoid looking at anybody else till she regains her composure.

Alicia freezes for a second, then tries to cover for it. "Um, I... don't have a cell yet. I can give you my home number, but I'd have to clear it with my mom first."


"No, it's all right," Alicia answers, a bit quickly. "I can get there on my own. Just let me know where to meet you."


Alicia instinctively tenses her muscles, her face tight, her lips pulled slightly back showing her teeth, poised as if ready to leap either in flight or fight. It takes her a second to relax back to a more normal pose.

She looks at Sammy, intent in gauging her reaction.


Alicia looks away, her leg bouncing in a nervous tic, her demeanor a small echo of Sammy's distress.

A cellphone slides down the table and bumps into John's hand.  Dave has looked up from his book.  "That one has everyone's number in it.  It'll hold you until you get one."  Then his gazes goes back to his book.

Rob leans over and hands Sammy a post-it with a number written on it.  "That's the number for that phone.  Just pass it around so everyone gets it."

"What the heck did Donnie say?"  John asks.  "Was it supposed to sound rude?"

Sylvia stares after Donnie.  "Pardon me," she says and heads after him.

OOC: I'm assuming you mean "bumps into Alicia's hand."

Alicia stares at the phone for a second. She looks up to Dave and, again, she acts as if she's about to shoot off some remark, then stops, unsure. She settles back down and mumbles "Thanks" as the cellphone disappears from view.

Sammy enters the number and passes it to Sarah.

While she's doing this, she says in as cold and clinical voice as possible, "His eyes turned green and he said "My weir.  Mine.  You fly with us.  They don't fly for you, djinn."  She resumes digging through her bag and says more emotionally  "If he ever puts djinn bands on me, kill me right there on the spot, ok?  Promise?  Because sometimes I don't think he could help it but torture me.  It probably wouldn't even be on purpose.  Probably."

OOC: I assumed from your description of your reaction your hands wouldn't have been on the table, but John's were.  Palm down.


"No problem.  Just one of the many services we offer here.  Give me a couple days to get you a fake ID though."  he replies without looking up from his novel.  Eyes tracking the words on the page as he reads them.


John looks to Sylvia, then back to Sammy.  "I'm confused.  But...sure.  Whatever you want....I guess."  His gaze goes to the wall, and he seems to be tracking an object as it moves, but there is nothing to track.  "He's probably headed to the library."  John looks back towards Sammy.  "I'll do what I can."  he says, sliding his chair out and leaving through one of the other doors of the cafeteria.

A slow evil smile blossoms on Alicia's face then rushes off to hide. "Sure."


Once John has left, Alicia looks at Sammy. In a quiet voice she says, "I don't think Donnie said that. He didn't... smell like him when he said it." The thought obviously disturbs Alicia in some way.

Sammy says "That's because he's some sort of Dragon Border Lord, or something like that.  Dude is human on this side, but if he goes there, he turns into a dragon.  I think the Lizard leaked through, and for whatever reason, the Lizard is deeply disturbed by me.  Thing is, it's not like I bother the other dragons; they like me.  I don't get it."  An annoyed expression crosses her face.  "I was so happy when I sat down here today.  Sure, for not so good reasons, but I was happy."  She growls in frustration.

Alicia considers this for a second. "The dragons are his. He needs to make sure the dragons know this. If you play with the dragons, they may think they no longer have to be his. So the Lizard doesn't like you playing with them."

She recites this in a matter-of-fact tone as if the logic inherent in it is blindingly obvious.

Her head leans forward as she says in a conspiratorial whisper, "You can fly?"

Sammy nods.  "Yep.  I wasn't making it up when I said that earlier.  The other stuff is true too."

A Cheshire grin slowly grows on Alicia's face.

"Cool," she says, in a voice devoid of any artifice or guile.

Jakob has been taking food out of his lunch bag during the entirety of this conversation.  He looks up at Alicia.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

OOC: Um, Jeff? Didn't you already post that response? Yeah, here it is, #80. Do you want to say anything else or move on? Don't want to ignore you but I'm not sure what to do here.

Hrm. The site locked up on me when I tried to post that reply and I never saw it go through.  So ignore the other and make like you just heard the second, unless somebody has a problem with that.

Except that I did respond to the first one, and I'm not sure if the response would work the second time. If you don't mind, I vote we move on.

Alicia's grin slowly dies like a candle sputtering out. Quietly, in a whisper that only Sammy can hear, she says, "I don't think I like Donnie."

Sammy whispers back "It's ok.  Right now he scares me too."

"Aw Donnie's just a big softie.  You know, when he's not being possessed by some dragon spirit.  Mostly.  Don't worry Sammy.  I got your back no matter what.  Someone tries to put you under their control I wont be gunning for you.  I'll just show them the error of their ways at the bottom of Lake Michigan."  Sarah looks at Alicia and says, "Plus did you see how you totally fried his circuits when you talked back to him with a little innuendo?  Wish I had a camera handy."

The expression on Alicia's face on hearing Sarah's comments to Sammy is faintly like that of a hungry child looking through a window at a busy restaurant.

At Sarah's comment to her, Alicia shrugs. "Sylvia looks like she's already put the nose-ring on him, so teasing him would just piss her off."

After a pause, she adds, "Not that that would normally stop me, but I just met you guys and..."

She seems to be having a hard time finding the words. After a second, she finishes lamely, "I'd hate to miss out on what stuff you're into if I get kicked out."

Sarah offers her opinion of their social circle, "We don't all get along all the time.  Don't worry about that.  I mean Sylvia and Colin snipe each other all the time.  Sammy gets moody because mostly everything horrible happens to her.  I told you that bullseye tattoo was a bad idea.  Donnie's a really smart, creative dope.  I'm ... uh... oh crap I'm usually pretty nice to everyone.  So are Colin and John.  Jakob gave away his ice-cream so I'm totally betting he's got the boyscout gene.  Sylvia can be icy but that's only because she thinks that anyone that doesn't see things her way is totally stupid.  But she gets over it.  Dave is not a strange and powerful force of mystery in the school.  Ask anyone.  He'll also give you a ride anywhere if you need one.  Greg is a spectacular font of knowledge and a good dancer."

Jakob shrugs.  "That sums it up pretty well as far as I can tell.  Then again I was the new kid just a couple of days ago."

He slides a large chunk of apple pie towards the middle of the table.

"By the way, anyone want some pie?  My aunt makes killer apple pie."

"Pie! Great, thank you, Jacob!" he says, helping himself to a slice.

"You've got to cut Donnie some slack. Humans are beings of versatility, of tones and shades. Of layers. Dragons, on the other hand, are primal beings of intensity. Donnie is both. And the dragon's passions are hard to constrain into the complex language of human emotions. It's a bit like being handed a piano while the only instrument you ever saw is a gong." Colin says almost absentmindedly.

"Uhmm, Jacob, give my compliments to your aunt".

Alicia listens to these people she just met, talking of fighting but still remaining friends, joking and laughing, willing to listen and share. A strange pressure builds in her chest. She can feel her lip begin to quiver.

"Um," She says, trying to keep her cool. "I... gotta get going. I'll call..." She stops as the thought of the phone Dave gave her threatens to break her composure.

She swallows and tries again. "I'll call you to find out where to meet, OK?"

She stands up, hesitates long enough to stutter a quick, "Bye," and she's gone.

The next day John arrives with yet another person.  "Hey everyone.  This is..."  he looks at the young man, "I am so not going to pronounce this right.  Rhys Guffudd."  John struggles with getting it out with the proper inflections but doesn't make it sound pretty.  "Mrs. Pulowski asked me to show him around.  Rhys, these are my friends."  he says and makes the most basic of introductions.  John finds them some chairs.

"Dude, if you're gonna keep bringing people we're gonna need a bigger table before long."  Dave says with a smile.  He offers a wave and nod to Rhys.

"Welcome young Mr. Guffudd."  Greg says, and actually manages to say the name with a very close to accurate native Welsh accent.

Rob waves, his mouth full of food, yet he too mutters a greeting which is muffled by tuna salad and wheat.

OOC: Gordon will be joining us and I will leave the description of himself up to him.

Rhys has that typical "scrawny freshman" thing going on - like he's not really hit his growth spurt yet and could still be mistaken for a child. In spite of his physical build, however, there is a depth in his eyes and a maturity in his bearing that belies something more. He also has a very strange sense of fashion - a mix of 80's punk, goth/emo, and preppy. He's wearing baggy jeans and a black long-sleeve t-shirt under an unbuttoned white oxford, and black Chucks (Converse All-Stars). The sleeves of his t are pushed up to just under his elbows, revealing that his forearms are covered in intricate celtic knotwork tattoos. His hair is dyed black (the dye is obvious as his eyebrows are still the bright orange of the natural redhead), long, and held in a ponytail.

"Bore da*, everyone." In spite of his appearance, he seems cheerful and outgoing, greeting the table with a sincere smile.

{* Pronounced "BOR-ay da" it means "good morning"}

Alicia takes time from staring longingly at Rob's tuna sandwich (the fact she has one very similar to his in front of her seems irrelevant) to greet the newcomer.

"Hey," she says. She does a small double-take on noticing Rhys's tattoos. She cranes and turns her head for a better look.

"Cool ink."

"Thanks," he replies as he pulls an insulated canvas bag from his bookbag. "Cool shades." He pulls a large sandwich from the bag and begins eating, as comfortable as if he'd known everyone at the table for years.

Alicia nods, the required social exchange having been fulfilled, and goes back to nibbling on her sandwich, looking avidly at Rob's.

To be honest, everybody in the cafeteria, from the lunch proctor to the cafeteria lady to the miscreants at the table near the fire alarm, seems a little mellow and blissed out--happy to be with those they love.  Hands are held.  Conversations are held in a tender whisper befitting a candlelit restaurant.  Girls and boys share chocolate bars and idle caresses.

Sylvia strolls in with the easy, liquid gait of someone who's just had a full-body massage and a nice, long soak in the tub.  She slides into the usual seat and murmurs a hello to the usual faces, then pauses at Rhys.  "You're another one of John's new buddies?"  She leans over to offer him her hand, girl-style, palm down.  "Hi.  I'm Sylvia."

Alicia cocks an eyebrow at Sylvia, her nose twitching inquisitively.

OOC: Has she been good or naughty? You can PM me the answer if you want.

Sylvia doesn't smell excessively of, um, afterglow.  It's another day, after all.

At first, he seems a little startled by the way she offers her hand, but he stands, bows slightly, takes her hand and kisses the back. "Charmed. And I'm Rhys." He has a lilting accent that isn't quite Irish... (And if no one is familiar with the Welsh accent, quite unplaceable within the UK.)

Sylvia smiles, charmed and a little surprised.  Her gaze sweeps the faces at the table, hoping someone can tell her with a glance who this guy is and whether they need to watch what they say.  "Are you visiting?"

"Well, truth to tell, I'm not quite sure how long I'm going to be here. In America, I mean. My dad came here on business, but I don't know if it's permanent or not. Or did you mean just for lunch? John brought me 'round, so I guess it's up to you guys."

"John brings the most interesting people around," Sylvia says.  "Where are you from?"  She wants to observe that Rhys sounds like someone out of Harry Potter, but, one, she doesn't want to sound like a geek, and, two, after all the other kids John has brought over in the past week, she's afraid she might be right.

"Wales. Born in Nolton Haven, in Pembrokeshire, but spent the last four years in Cardiff. And now, America. It's very exciting."

Alicia quirks a smile. Oooh, a charmer, this one. This could be fun.

Rob's sandwich has lost all allure in the face of this new development. She watches with deceptive casualness.

Sammy wanders into the cafeteria.  She spots Nick, and instead of only quietly acknowledging his presence and moving on, she walks directly up to him.  "Hey," she smiles.  "Got a second?  There's something I want you to hear."  She hands him a set of ear buds that are plugged into her phone, and she plays the recording of her and that Bon Jovi guy singing together.

"Probably more exciting than you've imagined," Sylvia says.  Then, because she's still worried, despite the confluence of improbability, that some poor kid is going to get smushed for hanging with them, she asks, "What are you into?  Maybe we can help you find some people with similar interests."

"I'm a musician, mostly." He shows her the back of his left forearm, where the knotwork tattoos depict an elaborately stylized treble clef. "I play lots of different instruments, but my best is bass. I was in a band back in Cardiff with my mates Ioan, Geoff and Carys."

"Too bad Seth's not still around.  But we do have someone musical around."  Sylvia scans the lunchroom and tries to get Sammy's attention with a big wave.  "That's Sammy," she tells Rhys.  "She sings, and she plays the, um, tuba?  Saxophone?  It's been a while since I've seen her practice, so I can't remember."

Sammy sort of sees Sylvia's wave, and distractedly waves back.  She's more interested in talking to Nick right now.

OOC:  all those feel good lovey dovey vibes floating around cannot be ignored, and she was near Nick before getting anywhere near the US table

"She'll be over later," Sylvia tells Rhys.

Nick smiles as he listens to the music Sammy offered his, "I recognize the woman, but who is that lame guy she's singing with?"  he grins.  "How the heck did you end up singing with Jon Bon Jovi?"

"Hey, no rush." He digs back into his sandwich, clearly excited fit to vibrate by meeting so many new people.

Alicia's curiosity cannot be denied. "Wha'cha eating?" she asks Rhys, her nose twitching.

"Roast beef with horseradish, swiss cheese and a bit of tomato. I figured why come all the way to another country and not try something new? My dad recommended I give this a try." He chews for another second, looking dramatically thoughtful. "It's not bad..."

"I'm giving all the credit to pure dumb luck.  El wanted to scope out a new band downtown, and asked me if I'd go along with him.  Next thing I know, we're invited to a studio party, and all these famous people are there talking music, and for whatever reason I didn't act or sound like a total dork or a pretentious, precocious brat.  Part of the party wound up in a recording studio jam session and" she grins, "I was invited to sing along.  It was pretty awesome."

Nick grins, "That's totally cool."  he listens until the end of the song, then pulls the earbuds and hands them back to her.  "Music is totally your thing, you have the gift."

"Thanks."  She takes back the buds and tucks it all away.  "I, uh, feel like I owe you an apology.  I was way too harsh about what happened with the whole other me; I had a right to be upset, but not with you or with El.  So, if you're willing to just, you know, let all of it go forever, never speak of it or her again between us unless its absolutely necessary," she looks half afraid he'll say no, "I'd... I'd like that."

"Does this mean I can breath when you're around again, cause I was starting to turn blue."  He bumps his head into hers, which was their most common choreography mistake during rehearsals for the Winter concert.  Nick eventually adopted the practice as a sort of secret handshake.  "And maybe, movies?  U of C is having a lot of great stuff this Spring.  I'd hate to go alone."

Sammy nods her approval without wasting any time by agonizing over the decision.  "Breathing is good.  I never meant for you to stop breathing.  I highly approve of air in general.  Movies are good too.  I'd be glad to go with you."  She bumps his head back, and even though she didn't really seem burdened before, she seems lighter now.  "Thanks."

She looks back over in the direction of the US table and sighs.  "I suppose I ought to find out what Sylvia wants.  See you sometime?"

"Anytime light reflects off me and you're there to catch it."  He smiles and heads off to eat with his posse.

Alicia wrinkles her nose. "Horseradish. That's what that was..."

She nibbles some more on her sandwich. "So, do they speak English where you're from?" she asks.

"Yeah, but we're a bilingual country. We learn English as well as Welsh. A lot of our signs are printed in both, and there are some folks who refuse to speak English on principle. Nutters, if you ask me."

Sammy waggles her fingers goodbye and heads over to the US table.  Even though Donnie isn't there yet, she positions herself in an empty seat opposit Sylvia, somewhere between Alicia and John, not so subconsciously seeking some kind of protective cover.  Plus, the cafeteria is cold, and John is always so toasty warm; it's a Martha Stewart Good Thing to be near him.  This probably puts her kind of close to the n00b too.

"Hey, Sylvia." she says.  "You waved?"

"John brought us some fresh--um, a new friend.  This is Rhys.  He's a musician.  I was hoping you'd be able to introduce him to your music buddies."

Greg laughs.  "Rhys, I think she was being facetious, Alicia that is. I think she was having a little joke about your accent."  He holds up his hands, "I could be mistaken."

He laughs, too. "That's okay, it was a legitimate question. As I said, many people there don't."

He turns to Sammy. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. What do you play?"

Sammy's expression is one of cheerful interest.  "Hi, I'm Sammy.  Horns, mostly, but I sing too.  Are you signed up for Winter Orchestra?"  She starts going on animatedly about different music teachers, classes, and performance opportunities.  Her lunch sits forgotten in her backpack.

"It's my first day; I didn't even know there was such a thing. What is the 'Winter Orchestra'? Do they need a bass player? I can play other things, too." Like Sammy, talk of music has made him forget his lunch, and the sandwich now sits limp and unregarded in his hand.

Alicia chuckles. "Know where you're coming from. There're a couple of places over in West Town, you better know your Spanish if you want any service."


Alicia sticks her tongue out to Greg, as if to say, See? he knew what I was asking. She smiles to make sure to he knows she's cool with it.


Alicia takes time to greet Sammy, "Hey, sistah!" before going back to torturing her sandwich with little bites.

Sammy babbles on nearly nonstop explaining who to talk to about what and how to get connected with the other thing.  The girl doesn't ever seem to stop to take a breath, except to let Rhys reply and ask his own questions.

Sylvia listens raptly.  Today everyone is beautiful, and everyone is interesting, and she just loves them all to death.  Sammy's got a lovely voice, in fact, and the more Sylvia thinks about it, the more she thinks Sammy could be sexy in that girl-on-girl way.  There's something to be said for breath control.

Alicia makes an attempt to keep up with the talk, but she quickly loses interest. After a bit, she makes a show of stretching her arms slowly back and behind her, almost repeating her stunt from yesterday.

Coming back, she casually opens a lunchbag and proceeds to place its contents in front of Sammy. She hums a little tune as if listening to a radio no one else can hear.

Greg makes sure to see her tongue and raise her thumbs in the ears and fingers wiggling.

Jakob extends a hand to the new guy.

"Greetings, Rhys.  I'm Jakob - the twice-removed new guy."

He offers the newcomer a piece of apple pie.

Alicia raises her nose in haughty contempt to demonstrate she will not lower herself to his standards. The effect is spoiled by a snort and a giggle at seeing his antics.

Greg laughs with her and then goes back to reading, a smile plastered across his face for the rest of lunch.

"Hey Sammy, maybe you can introduce Ryhs to the band after class, so he can see if he wants to try to get involved in that?"  John asks.  One of the guys from my science class wants to show me something after class.

Once Sammy's lunch is assembled in front of her, Alicia waits, watching the exchange between Rhys and her.

Impatient, she proceeds to quarter the sandwich and rearrange the spread, then sits back and waits some more.

Finally, she mimics putting a microphone in front of her and, speaking in a monotone, says, "Ground Control to Major Sammy. Come in, Sammy."

He shakes the offered hand in between comments with Sammy. "Hey, thanks," he says in response to the pie. He immediately takes a bite and his eyes get wide. "Yn anhygoel!* This is nothing like the pie back home. This is great!"


"I'd like that, thanks!"

{* - "Incredible!"}

... and bumps into Colin. "Sorry" he says, as if it was his fault, and it kinda is. He was looking around with a slight frown. There's something odd, but he can't put his finger on what.

He maneuvers around her and notices the new guy. For a moment he raises an eyebrow, looking at John, but then he shrugs and smiles at Rhys. "Hi. I'm Colin Crow." he offers him his hand. The reddish hue of Colin's arm deeply contrasts with Rhys' paler skin, and while the welsh boy's tattoos can be blue, to get the same contrast Colin's ones have to be pitch black. Colin can't help but smile at the scene.

Alicia barely acknowledges Colin with a lazy "hey" as she continues her lunchtime ministrations.

Sammy comes back from wherever she was.    She sees the spread before her, and looks up, laughing.  "OK, I get the hint.  I'll shut up and let somebody else talk."  She takes a hearty bite of something.  With a full mouth and non-obscene finger gestures at John, she indicates that she will introduce Rhys to the OPRFHS music world.

She sends a text to Nick.  n00b at the table, musical talent.  1derful Welsh accent if U R in the market 4 1.

Rhys puts the sandwich down so he can shake Colin's hand, but he does not relinquish the pie. "Rhys Gruffudd. Pleased to meet you," he manages to say in between massive bites of the pie. For someone as small and slender as he is, he eats like a machine.

{Just for the record, Rhys' tattoos are blue. ;) That's me... gotta be difficult.}

OOC: duly noted and edited.

OOC: Need Colin and Rhys to make Will Saves DC 12

John nods a thanks to Sammy as he consumes his lunch.

Will save: 1d20+3=18 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1833056/)

Will save (1d20+6=9) (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/1833059/)

Satisfied that Sammy is, for the moment, taken care of, Alicia flows into a standing position.

"I owe you an ice cream. Be right back."

She glides down the aisle, sashaying to the beat of some unseen song, at one point doing a pirouette en pointe.

The crash of a half dozen chairs loosing their occupants can be heard over the din of the cafeteria.

Colin and Rysh shake hands, and in a snapshot Colin and Ryhs share a vision of a world totally alien to any they have ever imagined.  Ravaged by some long past war, the last survivor emerges from the rubble of a city, gliding upwards like a fountain of liquid until it's upright?  And then in a flash of brilliance it changes into light and streaks into the sky.  The vision ends with a feeling like a sonic boom, and then both boys snap out of it.  Colin needs to grab Alicia's vacant chair for support.

"Cachiad! Mae hi wedi cachi arna i. Beth was a?*" Rhys seems stunned for only a moment before he reaches out a hand to help steady Colin. "You all right, Colin?"

{* - "Shit! Well I'll be buggered. What was that?"}

Colin shakes his head and blinks repeatedly. "Yes, I'm all right, I only had a fit of dizziness. Sorry, it's not the first time it happens to me, but it always scares people off. It a sort of medical condition, but it's under control, don't worry about it."

He tentatively straightens himself. "It's ok now. I'm all right."

Rhys sits back down, but he keeps a wary eye on Colin. "If you say you're all right, then I believe you're all right." In an attempt to lighten the situation, he asks the table at large "So what's the story with Alicia? Does she always dance through the cafeteria?"

"Only on days that end in Y"  Greg says, watching her as she moves.

"Greg, you're extrapolating from insufficient data.  She's only been here Monday and Tuesday."  Sammy swigs some chocolate milk, not quite knowing where it came from since she certainly didn't get in line for it.

"And both end in Y."  He says raising a finger in triumph.

As if summoned, Alicia reappears, walking back from the lunch line with two cups of ice cream.

But while her exit had been a dance, her return is a purposeful stalk. Her forehead is creased with a frown.

As she approaches the table, though, she falters a slight bit. The slip would've been minor on a normal person, but with her, it comes across as blatant as a pratfall.

She arrives at the table, confused. She realizes she's holding the ice cream and hands one of the cups to Sammy. "Here, I got you some."

She doesn't sit down. Slowly, she scans the room, her head shifting is small jerks, her nose twitching, her body tensing and untensing in indecision, as if expecting an attack but unsure of its manner.

Sammy is worried by the other girl's twitchiness.  "Are you alright, Alicia?"

Alicia keeps her vigil as she answers in a vague tone. "Dunno. Something's... wrong."

All she needs is a tail lashing about to complete the image of a nervous cat.

Notice Roll 1d20+9=20

Jakob actually stops eating when he notices Alicia's apparent anxiety.  He looks all around the room - for what he has no idea but he looks anyway.

OOC: Dammit! Where's a boy when you need one? Wait, last time we checked, Colin was standing by Alicia's chair. BWAHAHAHA!!! >:D

Alicia sidles over to Colin, placing a hand on his arm. "Colin, don't you feel it? It's like there's a cloud over the room and everyone's..."

She trails off as she molds her body against Colin's resting her head against his chest (OOC: we never establsihed how tall everyone was), emitting a throaty growl that sounds suspiciously like a purr.

Sammy claps a hand over her own mouth as she exclaims "eek! I think Alicia's in heat" and starts laughing maniacally.  She sputters out "Somebody save Colin.  Don't worry John, I'll hurl myself on top of you to protect you" as she dramatically leans back against him.  She snags Rhys' arm and tugs him toward her, and flags Jakob too.  "Come quickly, I'm marking my harem, putting you under my protection.  It's your only hope.  She's ravenous."

She thinks Alicia is joking.  She hopes Alicia is joking.

John laughs, then stands suddenly.  "Ah.  Something's not right."  He begins to look around the room.  "Something is definitely not right."

Alicia purrs dreamily, responding to Sammy, "Greedy b**ch."

Her head rubs gently against Colin's chest. She seems content just holding herself against him, savoring the warmth of his presence.

She murmurs, just softly enough that only Colin can catch it, "Carajo, I was so missing this."

Sammy is suddenly sober.  She still has a grip on Rhys' arm, but its different now.  It was play before.  Now it feels like the grip of a fireman holding on to somebody who's about to be led out of an inferno.  "What is it, John?"

Sylvia, meanwhile, is coloring dreamy little red hearts in on the article she's editing.  It's Donnie's, and every misspelling gets a little valentine instead of the usual circle or strike-out.  Today Donnie's so cute when he confuses "there" and "their" or "it's" and "its."

"Gee, what gave you that idea?"

John turns red at the comment.  And then notices Sylvia's heart infested document.  "Sylvia."  John's voice is a little shaky and he puts his hand on the page she's editing, the force her attention onto him.  "Sylvia."  he says slowly.  "Are you."  He closes his eyes for a second, and tries not to think about the curve of her jaw line.  "Are you maybe a little too happy?"

Rhys leans into Sammy happily. He isn't sure what's going on, but he's determined to enjoy it while he can. "Cool. I've never been part of a harem before. I think I'm going to like this country."

Damn. If only I knew what kind of guy she really liked...

"Oh," Sammy says,  "OH!"  She smiles very nervously, and looks at Rhys.  "This is not good."  She leans in to rapidly whisper in his ear.  "I don't normally tell other people's secrets, but Sylvia... is different.  She's a super, with mind control powers.  She's, uh, very, um, happy right now, and uh, its affecting people all around her.  It could get really weird in here; you might want to run for the doors.  Otherwise... I dunno, get under a table or something."  She drops her grip on him, and advances toward Sylvia.  "Sylvia," she says in a sweet, sing song voice, "Sylvia.  You're acting like Torrance, sweetie.  Put the pen down, and talk to me, ok?"

She hopes the word Torrance is enough to get the other girl's attention.

"Well, there's a coincidence," mutters Rhys.


"Thanks for the heads up, but I can take care of myself, thanks."

He doesn't know who Torrance is, and there's obviously a great deal of history between these friends that he doesn't want to intrude on, but the presence of another super-powered teen piques his curiosity too much to just wander away now that it's made obvious that things are going strange. He looks intently at Sylvia and her interactions with the others who know about her.

Sylvia, caught up in her own happy mood, looks up at Sammy with a furrowed brow.  She puts her pen down and looks around her, then blanches and tries to contain herself.  It's a little like trying to find and patch the leak in an air mattress.  She has to close her eyes and center herself as if defending herself in one of Smith's drills, and as she does so, the blissful afterglow drops out of the air.  The kids in the lunchroom pull away from each other, mildly confused, and several make hasty excuses and leave for the bracing cold of the school grounds.

Sylvia opens her eyes.  "Sorry," she tells Sammy.  "Sometimes. . . . "  She shrugs apologetically, embarrassed.  "You know."

John puts a hand on her shoulder.  "It's ok.  I've had some mishaps too.  It happens."

"You have?"  John is Mr. Perfect as far as Sylvia knows.

"A few."  he reddens slightly, "Well, a lot when I was little."

Alicia freezes as the emotional cloud fades. She gives a little sigh, rubs her head one more time, and looks up at Colin.

She gently pats his chest as she slowly pulls away. "You're a sweet guy, Colin. Thanks."

The smile drains away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill Sylvia now."

With an inarticulate cry, she spins and leaps over the table at Sylvia, her face a mask of inhuman rage.

Sylvia imagines the twisted bars on a broken crib, cats with crushed tails, and bottles hurled through the wall.  "How do you even raise a baby who can--"  She stops and looks at Rhys, who seems either untroubled or unaware.

"All right.  Cards on the table.  What do you--"  Then Alicia is after her, and Sylvia, trained by Jack, looks startled and--poof!--disappears.

Help!

There is a wash of warmth, and then suddenly John and Alicia are gone.

Rhys sits in his chair, half-sandwich still in his hand, with a look on his face that's half "What the hell just happened?" and half "Alright, cool!"

He regains his composure after a moment and takes another bite, looking around at the remaining members of this little group of friends, waiting for someone to explain things to the poor new kid.

John has two of them.

"Not me," Sammy says.  "I'm so perfect my butt doesn't even have a crack."  She laughs kindly.  "I'm the Queen of Mistakes, Syl.  It's all right.  Do you need some fresh air?  I can take you away from...  ALICIA!  NO!"  Sammy flies fast at Alicia and grabs her.  She fwaps a force field around the two of them and holds on tight.  "A little help here..." she whimpers as she accidentally encounters some claws.

OOC: Quick mod.  Alicia, Sammy, and John are gone.

A minute later Sylvia crawls out from under the table and climbs up into a seat next to Rhys.  He can feel it; Sylvia is not superhumanly lithe.  But he can't see it.  "She has issues," Sylvia mutters, invisible.

"Apparently," responds Rhys, clearly unperturbed at speaking to someone he cannot see. "And she's not the only one, is she?" He takes another bite of his sandwich.

Sylvia pretends nothing is out of the ordinary.  She steals a slice of pickle off his plate, and it disappears the moment she touches it.  "That depends on what you mean by 'issues.'  What are your issues, Rhys?"

Rhys looks in the direction that Sylvia's voice is coming from, and after a short glance around to make sure no one else is watching, shifts his face for just a moment to look like hers. "I can change my shape - any or all of it. I can be anything I want to be," he responds quietly. "I don't want to get Sammy in trouble, but she told me you had... 'skills.' Well, so do I, so I don't mind sharing with you, since I know you'll understand. Being this kind of different comes with plenty enough issues, right?"

With the muscle gone and Colin standing there, looking utterly nonplussed, Sylvia wrestles for a moment with the paranoid concern that Rhys has something to do with TJ.  But that's nonsense, right?  If Evil TJ had infiltrated the group, he'd still pretend he were a normal kid.  "Rhys, I'm sorry to ask this, after what just happened and all, but um, would you mind if I take a little peek in your head?  Just a little peek?  It'll be like a game of truth and dare.  I'll ask you a question, and you answer truthfully, and then I don't have to worry about the weird number of new hires we've been getting over the past week."

Rhys looks concerned, but not exactly scared. "I'm not ashamed of anything, and I'm not keeping any secrets I haven't already told you, so go ahead."

For Sylvia, reading someone who's willing to be read is like dipping her hand in a sink full of warm water--easy and clean.  "Are you here to hurt anyone?"

"No." And Sylvia gets a replay of http://www.groovygamers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1907.msg211772.html#msg211772 as he remembers his father telling him they had to move.

Donnie strolls into the cafeteria, face open and happy. He tosses down his backpack in an open chair and says "Hey guys. What's up? Mr. Mathis kept me after a few minutes to talk about falling asleep in his class, again." He looks around the table. "Light crowd today. Hey, a newer new guy. I'm Donnie. Pleased to meetcha."

He reaches across the table to shake Rhys' hand.

Rhys shakes the proffered hand. "Rhys Gruffudd. Likewise, I'm sure."

Sarah sits quietly munching a sandwich in the newsroom working on a math problem.  "Stupid homework.  You want the irrational?  I'll show you irrational!  Ratza fratza no good *mumble muble*"

OOC: Running all day yesterday and so far out of the loop... I don't dare stick my head in the lunch room!

Jakob looks down at his hand and finds that the sandwich in it has been squeezed to paste.  It takes a good few seconds for the tension to leave him. 

"That was..... interesting.  You missed the fireworks, Donnie."  He relates what just happened to Donnie, shaking his head ruefully when he comes to the part about Alicia attacking Sylvia.  "I should have done something - I don't know what, but I should have."

Colin isn't quick enough to react neither to Alicia's effusion not to her attack. He stays there quite dumbfounded for a moment, then you see him blink and assume an absent expression.

He returns to this moment and place a few moments later, looking slightly unhappy.

"I like it more when we aren't the ones causing trouble." he says, to no one in particular.


"It's not your fault, Jacob. It's not like you could see it coming."

Is that ironic?

Donnie's face loses all it's animation, become unreadable. Those who know him well can see fury building in his eyes and by the tension of his clenched jaw. "Where is Sylvia?"

His eyes are green.

"Invisible somewhere."

He grabs one of Donnie's wrist.

"Donnie, the last thing we need now is for someone else to lose control and do something he might regret. Can we deal with this as human beings, please?"

Rhys, his eyes wide and his mouth shut, is learning that there seems to be quite a few supers in this crowd. Maybe he fell in with the right group by blind luck after all. Maybe he'll even get a chance to use his abilities to actually accomplish something for once.

If Sylvia is still tuned in to his thinking, she'll catch the drift of his excitement.

Donnie clasps Colin's arm, holdng him tight. He's an anchor for many of his friends. "Yes. I want you with me when I talk with her, but right now I need to find my Sylvia."

SYLVIA! WHERE ARE YOU? he shouts in his head.

His chest is tight with worry and he feels the powerful emotions of his draconic side pushing forward.

ooc: SO: would this be a time to utilize those mystery powers? Hmmm?

OOC: Mystery powers?  Then they wouldn't be a mystery, would they?

ooc: heh. Just testing. Wondering when our GM will pull the sheet off of the mystery box..

OOC:  Don't complain when its a Chthuluoid horror.

OOC: When it comes to Darren, the best rule to follow is: When you least expect it, expect it. :D

Damn it, Kat! Didn't you read his earlier comment about players writing the best stories! Stop giving him ideas!

Colin looks around with the ghost sight, but he doesn't think it'd work. Sylvia's invisibility works by telling his mind not to see her. Incidentally, he takes a good look at Rhys' aura as well.

[Sorry.  Sylvia's player was having lunch with the hubby.  Maybe she was caught up in the fugue of Rhys's memories.]

Sylvia extracts herself from the wash of memory Rhys seemed to want to share with her.  Old friends, strange languages, weird food, and super powers.  I'm here!  I'm okay.

A reasonable facsimile of Sylvia comes out of the cafeteria bathroom and slides into the selfsame seat that invisible Sylvia now occupies.  They become one and the same and thereby visible.  "Alicia has issues.  I mentioned that, right?"

From the roof, Sammy pulls her phone out of her pocket. She calls Elrod.  She starts talking fast as soon as he answers, and she sounds cold.

"El, I need a favor.  I need a long sleeved shirt, fast -- mine is a little bit cut up and bloody.  I'm ok, don't worry.  Do you have something here I can borrow?  Too big would be great, it'll cover my hands.  I'm on the roof right now; I can meet you pretty much anywhere..."

Colin can't deny that.

"To her partial defense, you were leaking lots of smoochiness."

He turns to Donnie.

"She's ok. You can calm down now, can't you?"

"Meet me at my car, I have some stuff there."  He says, it's obvious he's worried, even though she said she's ok.

OOC: You think this will be more than a blink or should we start a new thread?

Sylvia presses her lips together over the urge to lash out at Colin, whipping boy extraordinaire.  "It's more than that.  She's got a story to tell, and I'll be the last one to hear it, probably.

"Let's just forget about it.  I mean, don't let her kill me, but just let her be."  Sylvia sounds resigned.

As Alicia and John approach the lunch room, she looks back, biting her lip. The mask slips for a moment.

"Did I do the right thing by leaving her there? She said she wanted to be by herself, but she's hurt, but she probably doesn't need me there reminding her I did it, but it's cold and she could go into shock, but... I don't know!" The distress is evident in her tone.

*munch* *munch* "Ooh spicy," Sarah comments on her lunch.  She erases several lines of her work and tries again...

After a while she sighs and just starts writing out empty formulas that from a distance look like work.  She folds it up and tucks it into a folder.

*munch* *munch* "Ooh spicy," Sarah comments on her lunch.  She erases several lines of her work and tries again...

After a while she sighs and just starts writing out empty formulas that from a distance look like work.  She folds it up and tucks it into a folder.

OOC:  depends.  He'll see the limited damage.  She's going to change right there in his car.

"She called Elrod.  She's going to be fine."  John says, obviously he couldn't let her be alone totally either.

"Oh, OK." She doesn't sound fully reassured, but doesn't push the subject.

Just before entering, she pauses.

"OK," She mutters to herself. She takes a deep breath in, then lets it out softly, her hands joined then moving slowly apart. It looks remarkably like a meditation exercise.

The ritual complete, she nods to John. "Ready."

Colin has never seen an aura quite like it before.  The halo of shine around him bulges and shifts, like there is something inside it.  The image makes him think of someone moving around under a sheet the way the aura fluctuates.  It's a clean white, and the motion underneath it gives it spots of gray that shift in irregular ways.

John and Alicia come back into the cafeteria.

Sylvia hides in her own peculiar way.  Sure, it seems like she's sitting there next to Rhys, chatting affably with the others, but she's actually pressed up against Donnie, holding still like a mouse--or at least a displacer beast that thinks it's a mouse.  [Insert nerdy snort here.]

Alicia glides. There is grace and fluidity in her motions, but also a purposeful energy. It's challenging and alluring at the same time.

She keeps step with John without breaking stride or rushing. She's turning heads and she knows it, but doesn't seem to acknowledge their reaction.

She reaches the table and sidles over to her seat. As she passes Colin, a hand runs along his shoulder. She pours herself into a sitting position at her place, than looks at the table, daring anyone to say something.


Alicia's nose twitches, and a small smile crosses her lips.

OOC: And... I'll be AFK for the next three hours or so, so have fun, guys!

Rhys looks around the table one more time as he finishes off his sandwich. He leans in and addresses the table at large, but quietly, so as not to be heard at neighboring tables. "So do we not discuss our respective talents here? Too public? 'Cause I'm really curious now."

Decoy Sylvia rolls her eyes.  "Like it's a secret by this point.  I'm sure most people are oblivious, but I'm also betting someone in here has been keeping track of everyone John brings to the table."

"The noise generally makes it ok."  John says, grabbing his seat.  He begins to consume his lunch, and a half dozen power bars as well.  John looks at the illusion of Sylvia.  "Are you ok, physically anyway?"

She nods placidly.  "You got her.  Thank you.  Is Sammy okay?"  There's something apathetic about Decoy Sylvia's delivery.  Some things you just can't fix, like prejudice.  Or rather, you can, but that would be the line Sylvia won't cross, yet.

"I think she went to see Elrod to get a....something."

Slyvia caught the thought.  The image of the wounds and John patching them up.  He's got nothing in the way of mental defenses and things cross his mind too fast for him to even stop them if he wanted to.

She resists the urge to rib him about it.  John never fights back.  He only blushes with mortification, which just isn't as much fun as, say, prying a sour retort out of Donnie or making Colin enter into one of his preachy tirades.  "Rhys belongs here.  With us.  Which means someone should have a talk with Mrs. Pulowski and find out what the hell is going on."

Donnie rests his forehead against Sylvia's dark mane of hair. "Are you hurt? Did she cut you?" When she has reassured him of no injury his shoulder lose some of their tenseness.


"Colin, you must surely be joking. Sylvia unconsiously makes everyone around her happy, and the psycho catgirl attacks her, physically assaults her? What kind of effed up partial defense is that? Sylvia is very lucky John grabbed her, or else she might be in the hospital."


Donnie sits tensely, one hand on the table, one hand out of sight beneath it. His eyes are green, but his face is pale and determined. When he speaks it's with calm tone. Scarily calm. "Why the f**k are you smiling, you psycho? You go berserk and attack one of us the second day of school, and then prance on in here, smirking as if nothing happened? Are you cracked? If Sammy and John hadn't dragged you away, Sylvia could be bleeding out on the cafeteria floor. Let me tell you this, if you hurt any of my friends, I will have you up on assault charges before you can change your kitty litter."  

Donnie keeps his eyes intently upon Alicia the entire time, not even looking at the likely shocked looks on his friends faces.

"John, where is Sammy?"

"Awww, thanks. That's sweet, that is. Now when am I going to find out what the rest of you can do? Especially muscle boy over there - " he waves languidly at Jakob - "What's he do? Get even more sexy?" His face is completely open and honest, without a trace of guile. If he's crossed a line, he's completely unaware of it.


Rhys loses his smile and sits back in his chair, making a mental note to watch what he does - especially around the green-eyes kid. Isn't green the color of jealousy?

Sylvia, tucked up against Donnie, rubs his back in a slightly nervous attempt to placate him.  Her doppelganger, meanwhile, looks between Alicia and Donnie and then makes a determined effort to ignore the clash of the teen titans.  "You're really from another dimension, aren't you?" she asks Rhys.  "You're from that universe where TJ's mother married Seth's father, and they had a musical, shape-changing son of alternative lifestyle?"

"Yeah, Wales." He grins broadly again.


"Well, I don't know who you're talking about, but my mum scabbered off with some bloke down the pub, so anything's possible, I guess."

"Why, so you can treat her like shit too."  It's out of John's mouth before he even knows it.  Sylvia feels the rest boiling.  "It's perfectly fine for you to get pissed off at Sylvia and scare the hell out of her, but heaven forbid anyone else ever have a momentary loss of control."  It's with an effort John seals it up.  Sylvia can feel the clench as he snaps the lid back on himself.  He takes a slow breath.  "And look in the mirror next time you use the word psycho when describing someone with anger issues."

Colin is calm, serious, tired and clearly unhappy as he replies.

"Let me articulate it better. She snapped, because she has trouble controlling her instincts. She's filled with feral, violent feelings, because that's part her power, and she has trouble keeping it in check. To her partial defense, Sylvia wasn't keeping hers in check either. Sometimes controlling ourselves it's difficult. We can zap people just shaking our hand, or snarl in draconian against our friends. You can understand that, I hope."

He turns to Alicia.

"As I hope you understand that he has every right to be angry. You got us scared. You don't know us well yet, but I can assure you none of us would never try to hurt you or make fun of you. That's not how we roll here. Accidents happen, but we try to be forgiving."

He looks at all the others.

"Let's really try to be forgiving, ok?"

He turns back at Donnie.

"Sammy is fine. She's just getting changed."

"I make fun of Colin every chance I get," the doppelganger says, fearless.

Colin can't suppress a snort.

"That's right. She does. Ok, making fun of me is allowed."

"I'll remember that..." says Rhys with a sideways glance at Colin.

Sammy dashes through at the very last part of lunch, long enough to grab her stuff and hand back Alicia's coat.  She arranges a time and place to meet Rhys later, and then she's gone again.

El's shirt covers her arms and hands, so no bandages are visible.

Sarah finishes making her twelfth paper crane with it's head going the right way... because she can never get those silly things right.  Still the twelve broken necked cranes looked nice enough to her.  The bell rang.  "What an uneventful lunch.  I hope everyone else wasn't this bored."

She left her cranes scattered across one of the newsroom tables and headed off to her next class. 

Alicia's smile widens, becomes something predatory. "I'm not the one who decided to share her orgasm with the entire school. Do us a favor, next time you give her a poke, at least give us a warning so we can steer clear of her."


"Why? You're looking to go two-for-two?"

"Go to hell John. I may have anger issues, but I never, never physically attacked anyone as a result of it. I had some bastard and his thugs shooting at me and my mother in my own home. My dragons could have taken care of it permanently, but I still let the police take care of it. Notice I did not threaten Alicia physically. I am warning her of the consequences of any future assaults against my friends. I asked about Sammy because she tackled Alicia before you did, Mr super speedy invulnerable. I imagine she might have paid for her defense of her friend with blood."

Alicia's face does not move from its position as she replies.

"Forgiveness implies remorse. I haven't heard any 'I'm sorry' from anyone yet."

At some point, Sylvia will realize that Alicia is not looking at Donnie; she's staring right at her.

"Dragons?" This has perked Rhys right up.

Alicia's grin has lost any semblance of mirth; calling it a snarl would be generous at best.

"Must be so easy, to be able to hide behind dragons or others when you're threatened. Take them away, and what would you have left?

"Tell you what, Lagartijo. Let's make a deal. Keep your 'girlfriend' from mind-raping people, so I won't have the need to 'dissuade' her from it."

A kind of slow-boil, dark anger settles on both Sylvia and her doppelganger's faces, and she struggles with it, shakes with rage.  The doppelganger disappears with a flicker, and she turns to Donnie, holding his hand tight in hers.  "I'm sorry."  Her words are measured, slow, and calm even though her fixed gaze has a hard shine of fury.  "I have to go."

"You have no idea what you are talking about. This is your second day of school here and you think you understand my friendships? Why don't you learn better control youself. You damn near had your hand down Colin's pants. I wonder what his girlfriend, Sarah would have thought of that? She's darn near the nicest girl on the planet and within 24 hours of meeting her, you are all over her boyfriend. Nice."

"Oh I can handle myself."


"Mindrape? Are you kidding me? Everyone feeling happy is mindrape? Girl, you sure know how to talk out your ass. Is that one of your powers too?"

Alicia sneers.

"And yet, in the same amount of time, you've managed to fully and completely understand me to the point where you feel entitled to place me in judgment. How quaint.

"And as for Colin, what the f**k do you know? You weren't even here! Your girl decides to mind-f**k people, but God forbid it might be her fault what happens next.

"But if it makes feel any better," she turns to Colin. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier. I just wasn't myself then." The irony drips from the last sentence.

Donnie gets up hen Sylvia does. "I'll go with you. I seem to have lost my appetite anyway."  He opens his mouth to probably make some comment, but just closes it and shakes his head again. The hand that was under the table is clenched and seems covered in glimmering symbols.

Alicia ripostes with sarcasm. "I've noticed."


Alicia throws up her hands in exasperation. "Listen to yourself! In one breath you're accusing me of being a home-wrecker because I snuggled with Colin, and in the next breath, you're dismissing the very act that made it happen.

"Let me spell it out for you, Einstein. Making people do or think something against their will is a pretty damn good description of mind-rape."

Her face tightens and she drops back on her chair, her energy expended. "Trust me on this," she says softly.

Anger boils.  Anger burns.  Trying to contain it is like trying to contain fire:  you can only smother it and bank its coals and hope it doesn't leap away and escape you.

Sylvia can hear what's going on around her, and she knows she should stay and help Donnie with Alicia, help Donnie with his own rage, but she finds herself carrying her fury out through the doors of the cafeteria into the cold.  Help, she calls, but the one person who could take this off her hands is far, far away.  Donnie--no, feeding Donnie her anger would kill him, or someone.  She doubles over and focuses on the cold, on the slow gust and fade of steam from her breath.

A couple of sophomores start shoving at each other off to one side of the yard, and she clenches down a little harder.

Alicia stands up too, one of her hands holding her bag. "I've got no reason to stay here myself."

She digs into her bag and produces a cellphone that she places near John. "Give this back to Dave. I guess I won't be needing it anymore."

She chokes off the last words as she spins off and heads out. She'll be damned if she'll let them see the tears.

Rhys turns to John. "I get the feeling this isn't a normal day, then? Maybe I shouldn't judge too harshly when emotions run high, yeah?"

Her focus and determined walk lock out the world.  She finds herself leaving campus, the sidewalks seem like a calming road.  And the footsteps next to her take a while to register.  But she knows the glacial mind.

OOC: Moving this to another thread.


"No.  Not normal at all actually."  John says quietly.

"I don't suppose there's anything I could do to help, is there? I mean, being the new guy and all, I don't know the history - but that means I've got a different perspective?" He looks at the remaining faces at the table around him. "No, never mind. Just grasping at straws, me. Forget I said anything."

There are several shrugs.  "I think this is something that will have to work itself out."  John says, consuming another power bar.

"That's the approach I'm taking, Rhys.  I don't know what the hell just happened here.  I'm not even sure I'd know even if I did know.  I've only been here a few days myself but this seems like a pretty tight group.  It'll blow over - mostly because something weird is likely to happen and we're going to have to deal with it together."

He gathers his trash and turns towards the door.

"Good to meet you, Rhys.  I gotta go to gym now.  It's time for a bunch of jocks to try and convince me to join the basketball team... again."

Colin's shoulder sink in defeat. "Well, what a nice job you've done here." he says to himself.


This throws him into full alarm mode.

He quickly scribbles his number on a napkin and hands it to Rhys. "I'm sorry. Wrong day to meet us, I guess. For the thousands of questions you're likely to have, please call me later, I've got to run now. Jacob, you'd be great at basketball. Think about it."

He grabs Alicia's phone and runs out. He tries to attune himself to her, hoping to be able to find her.

On the way, he tries to call Sarah.

OOC: psst doc - Sarah wasn't in the cafeteria - she went to the newsroom. No paper cranes for you!

OOC: Oh. Well, that's an explanation. He's still calling her, then, but for a different reason. I'll edit the previous post. Thanks.

*beep beep dee doop* "Hi," says Sarah, "This is Sarah.  I can't come to the phone right now.  I'm off table dancing with random boys and stripping down to my underwear.  Please leave a message at the sound of the breathy panting.......... Hi Colin, what's up?  How was lunch?  Mine was boooring!  I secluded myself in the newsroom to get some work done.  I think I got a bunch done."

Donnie stands outside the cafeteria, vainly searching for Sylvia. Somehow she slipped away as he was making his last statement to the US table. Snowflakes drift down in lazy poetic spirals, a sharp contrast to the roiling emotions left in Sylvia's wake and the fury in Donnie's soul.

Someone attacked my mate. They must die for that.

Donnie keeps a lid on that bubbling cauldron, and tries to rationalize, but his inner arguments do nothing but fuel his anger. Twenty-four hours. That's all she's been here, and she has assaulted Sylvia, pawed Colin, and turned half of us against each other. She might have cut up Sammy, though John would not have come back to the table if she had been seriously hurt. If Alicia is here to make our lives a merry hell, she's done a damn good job of it.

The snowflakes melt to water before they strike Donnie. His eyes gradually leak back to blue, and the bell rings for the change of class. The few seniors who stubbornly continue to take advantage of the fact that only seniors can eat on the outside veranda eye him up, a frosh trespasser in their sacred territory. In the end, they leave him alone and Donnie heads off to his next class miserable, hungry, and wet.

"Aw, then I'm sorry to disturb you. I sort of need you. There's been a fight, here in the lunch room, and it's looks like almost everyone is pissed off at everyone else. I'd explain, but I've got to run now, or I'm never going to catch Alicia. Please come down, John or Dave will explain you everything. Donnie and Sylvia kind of need someone to talk to, and you're way better at these kind of things than me. See what happens when you miss a lunch?" he kids, and then he gets serious again "Really, I'm sorry. I promise I'm going to help you with that homework to make up for this. I love you, wondergirl. I'll call again later to see how things go."

"A fight?  bad guys or... but everyone's mad at each other?  Really? Oh.. okay.. give me a call if you need anything."
  Sarah blinks at her phone.  She dials Dave to get the lowdown on the cafeteria scene.  (guessing he'll fill her in as best he can) *speeddial* "What happened?  Love in the air huh?  She did what to Colin?  Seriously?  Did he blush?  I might have to try that...  Bigtime fall out.. ouch.  Go Speedy!  Sammy's okay, that's good.  Donnie and Alica and the lizard behind the eyes.  Yikes.  Ya know I'm pretty glad I missed this one.  I might have picked a side and made things worse.  Sylvia invisible jetted.  Hmm.. that explains Colin.  Huh?  Oh he asked me to hunt up Donnie or Sylvia and talk to them.  How are you doing Dave?  Still in one piece?  That's cool.  Always remember I got your back.  We all do but I knew you first so I got it most.  You know that anyway.  But if you ever need anything remember I'm around.  Not just for super stuff but anything like before.  Seriously when was the last time you asked me to drop by a couple two litres of soda or fish some spare parts from a junker or anything?  I'm feeling totally out of the loop here.  Yeah I know I'm stalling but it's good talking to you all the same.  At lunch everything always gets busy and I feel dopey saying this stuff in front of everyone.... yes I am aware I'm having this conversation on a cell phone in a hallway crowded with people.  That's different.  Okay I'm going.  Catch ya later."

*SMS* Donnie - Want to cut a class?  I'll ditch after history w/ u?

4sure. Newsrm?

np c u after class.

... after class Sarah heads back to the newsroom to find her busted cranes still flocking together on the table.

OOC:  OK, after all this:
*  Sammy still has possession of Alicia's coat
*  Sammy still somehow makes arrangements to meet Rhys after school
*  Sammy still made it back to the lunchroom to grab up her stuff, so if anybody was left there to see her arrival, they saw no signs of blood or injuries, just Sammy wearing what looks like could be her boyfriend's shirt.

Donnie enters the Newsroom, the little nearly-a-closet area with several computers, printers, and shelving. A smile cracks his face at the sight of all the pathetic origami cranes littering Sarah's usual workspace. "Math homework again?"

Donnie looks tired and worn out. His forehead is creased with worry lines.

moved to newsroom...

OOC: I dropped a thread in place for Donnie and Sarah to continue this.

Jakob is not quite as unconcerned about his new friends' apparent volatility and all of the weirdness on display over the last few days as he lets on. 

He barely acknowledges various greetings as he enters to locker room to change for gym class.  He quickly dons his PE attire and heads out to the gym.

The sport de jour is floor hockey and, not surprisingly, he's picked for a team very early on.  Once the game begins he plays all out, running all over the place - he's a terrible hockey player but what he lacks in skill he makes up for in enthusiasm.  Try as he might to shut it out, the scene in the lunchroom works its way into his thoughts - what in the hell is going on with everybody?