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Lance Harbor gave John and Megan a ride to the party.  Things were already underway by the time they got there.  John is swamped with high fives and hugs right after he gets there, but manages to take it all with a smile, putting most of the credit for the teams performance on Lance, who caught almost everything John threw.

A few minutes later the party settles down some, and John pulls Megan off out of the flow of traffic to chat.

"Is Colin always so intense?"  He ask, giving her a glass of punch and taking a sip of his own.  "He seems pretty easy going, then you realize he's this fountain of intensity about to explode."

After the game, Megan had rushed home to get ready.  Letting in Brendan so he could be in place for when she returned later that night to what was likely a waiting peeping tom photographer.  She felt like she was on a strange emotional ride.  The excitement in the first half of the game had been ecstatic, but then there had been the near miss with the flag pole.  She still was not exactly sure what all had happened, but had caught a glimpse of the massive dragon looking thing, and recalling seeing Pip with Donnie the time she had taken Katie to Greg’s studio, she wondered if the save had been Donnie’s doing.  If so, she certainly had to thank him.  Now that all that was over, there was the excitement of going with John to the after party game.

Given previous experience at these after game parties since the start of the year, Megan had chosen clothes that were stylish, but not overly high priced.  Last thing she wanted was some drunk football player to accidentally spill beer on something really expensive and ruin it.  She was wearing a rather form fitting pair of Angel in Purity jeans by AG Jeans and a pecan colored long sleeve tee that was very form fitting, with a low V neckline by Joie. 

The ride to the party with Lance, his girlfriend and John was not a very long one, much of the talk about the game and everyone being glad none of the cheerleaders had been hurt in the “accident.”  Megan followed along with John as best she could when they reached the party, as he was swarmed by people greeting him and congratulating him on his performance.  The mood was very festive considering they had lost.  The blonde teen had a wide smile as she greeted people she knew. 

Finally things settled back down to a more normal level and she found herself off with John, away from the main flow of people.  When he asked her about Colin, she thought a moment, taking a sip of her punch, and then replied.  “Well, I am probably not the best person to tell you about Colin.  The amount of time I have been around him these last three days is not that far behind the amount if time I had been around him since the start of the year.  But, from what I have seen, I think it has to do with his…‘talents.”

She looked around to make sure no one was too close as she lowered her voice slightly and continued.  “The first time I saw him use them, he was able to relive what had happened in a police car that some goons had shot up to kidnap a ten year old girl that the officers in the car were taking back to Kansas.  For him it was as if he is there, he sees the events through the eyes of the participants.  For something like what happened to Darla, that has to be a very horrible experience to see from her eyes.”

"That's got to be hard on him.  I don't know that I'd have the strength to do what he does."  John seems a little distant for a minute, then he comes back to Megan's gaze.  "I get the feeling that being a superhero wasn't in your plans.  Do your folks know"?

Megan nodded as a slightly sad look came to her face.  “Yeah, he is a really nice guy.  I feel bad that he seems to have this big burden.”  The sad look fades as she looks back up at John.  “But I am glad that he and Sarah seem so happy.  Hopefully he is able to draw some strength from her, for Sarah has always been good at being there for people.”


“No, they don’t.”  Megan replied a bit sadly, shaking her head before looking back at John.  “And no, I gave up my daydreams of being a superhero a long time ago.  Sarah on the other hand…”

She stopped a moment, just letting herself feel lost in his eyes before she spoke again.  “John, I never really thanked you for what you shared with me Thursday night when we were walking to my house.”  If he tries to speak, she reaches up to gently put her fingers to his lips to stop him.  “There were already many reasons I liked you before then.  I appreciate your reasons for wanting to be honest and truthful in telling me, but that also meant so much more to me.”

“Pretty much ever since I got these powers in a lab accident on a field trip in the first week of school, I have been dealing with them on my own.  Colin had a suspicion that something might have happened to me at the lab, and told me he had powers, but I never said I did.  I was afraid of what might happen if people found out.  My father has worked hard for years to build his reputation and get where he is.  I was so afraid that if people were to ever learn about me it might somehow hurt his career, and I could not bear to be the cause of that.”

“But I could not just keep ignoring what I was finding out about myself either.  From the very first time I used my powers unintentionally, I was in a situation where my powers made a difference.  And I kept encountering more and more, and I did not want to fail to act just to protect my identity and have someone hurt because of that.  So, I made a costume and Velocity was born.”

She could not help but smile a bit as she went on.  “I’ll admit it is fun running around the city in a flashy costume, pulling people from in front of cars and the like.  But I was still alone.  Colin, Sarah and the others, they all started learning about their powers as a group, so they were going though things together.  I eventually got back in contact with them, but as Velocity, so I was the outsider, the masked unknown.  It was not long before I felt a bit jealous of the connection they all seemed to have, even if there was some tension between some of them.  So, I reveled my identity to them.  That was about two weeks ago, and really, it has not overly changed things much.”

“So, when you told me about yourself, I knew I had to tell you as well.  I was tired of not being honest with people, particularly those close to me, or that I wanted to be close with.  Like you said, honesty is important.  But, I was also tired of always feeling so alone.”  She was holding his hands as she looked up at him and paused a moment, then finished, “God, that must sound so selfish.” 

"No one wants to be alone, and no one should have to be."  He looks around the room, then back to Megan, "I was in a relationship back in Maryland.  Well, as much of a relationship as kids can have.  I kept my powers from her, and it was always something she could sense, that I wasn't being totally honest with her.  I didn't want that seend to be planted between us before anything else had a chance to grow.  I've had it easier in a way, my folks have always known.  It's been a bit of a stiking point over the years, but they finally came to terms with the fact that I have these gifts and I'm going to use them, I have to."

"Have you thought about telling your folks?  I know it might be hard, but it might not be so bad.  It's certainly somethign to think about."

Megan smiled as he replied that no one should have to be alone.  As she listened to him talk about his relationship in Maryland that the secret had hurt, Megan nodded in understanding.  She was also bit envious of how he never had to keep it secret from his parents.  “Has Lance or any one else on the team told you about Calvin?”  Megan asked John.  “He and I were dating for about a month before his family moved back to Texas.  I never told him, and I don’t know how much he sensed I was hiding anything from him.”

When John mentioned the possibility of telling his parents, Megan slowly sighed before replying.  “I have thought about it some.  My mom has been trying to make sure I knew she wanted to be involved in my life, but recently she sort of really made me mad so I haven’t talked much with her.  My dad…I don’t know how he will react.  We had a bit of a heated discussion a couple weeks ago after the incident at a football game were players on both sides were using the ‘Superman’ drug.  My dad had mentioned there was discussion for genetic testing for those in school sports, and he didn’t seem too sympathetic to excluding people like us from being able to be part of those activities.”

She went quite a moment as she lowered her head and leaned closer towards him.  “But I might not be able to keep it secret for much longer, no matter what I want.  That lab I was in an accident at earlier in the year is working on settling any claims I might have against them.  Part of that is their covering medical bills related to the accident that might come up, so they want some regular medical examinations as part of the deal.  My mom wants that done by an independent examiner, through an old college friend of hers, but even then, what I am now is very likely going to come out.”

She looked back up at him, a hint of fear apparent in her eyes.  “I am afraid of what is going to happen then.  If my parents find out and I haven’t told them, if word of it somehow gets out.  But I am also afraid of what that test might tell me.  I have been told that it is extremely rare for someone to gain powers in an accident like I did and then have those powers be harmful to them.  But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen.”

"I had it a little easier.  I didn't so much have to tell them as we found out together.  I'm sure your folks would be okay with it if you told them.  I mean, they're your parents right?"

Megan wonder for a moment if she had not been pilling too much on John too fast.  After all, he was likely originally attracted to the vibrant person she was and kept up in public most of the time.  God, I hope all this depressing stuff hasn’t made him less interested.  She thought as she shrugged at his question.  “I don’t know.  I would think they accept it.  Perhaps tonight I might have a better idea.”  She stopped a moment, and then looked back up at him.  “Speaking of later tonight, that close call with that flag pole served as a reminder that up till now I have been getting by with luck when I have been out there on my own.  Are you still interested in being back up to catch this creep that should be waiting when I get home?  We would just need to figure a way for you to be able to keep an eye on things.”  She paused, looking lost in thought.

"That's not really a problem."  he said with a slight smile.  If things go wrong, just yell my name, I can be close by and come help out."

Megan gave him a warm smile back.  “Just yell your name huh?  Okay, I think I know a place you can hide in the backyard, we can work out those details later.”  She then waved her hand as if brushing something away as she went on.  “But enough of this boring talk about me.  What about you John.  Anything you want to say about your first couple of days at Oak Park?”  She asked with a grin.

"It's certainly been exciting.  I've been lucky enough to meet some pretty cool people, and help someone.  And there's this girl I met."  he says with a grin, "She's nice and all, but I don't think she's gonna let me win any races with her."

“Really?”  Megan replied with her own grin.  “That's too bad, but I don’t know, sounds to me like you might not be working hard enough to win.”  She looked around as more people were beginning to arrive at the party.  Focusing back on John, she smiled as she said, “I hope you are ready for some dancing, shouldn’t be too long before there is some music.”

"Except that I'm not very good, so you'll have to forgive my two left feet."  John let Megan convince him to dance, and he obviously enjoyed himself even though he wasn't the best dancer.

It wasn't long before muscis and dancing were the order of the hour.  Not long after that Elrod Janush arrived with Sammy.  elrod was a regular fixture at these parties, even though he was not a member of the popular crowd he could make a party more then just a gathering.  He was usually the source of beer for these things, and tonight was no different.

Not long after his arrival Megan saw Lisa coming through the crowd towards her.  The older girl seemed happy to see Megan , and flashed a smile towards John, extending her hand.  "Hi, I'm Lisa.  You must be John Elliott."  Joh nsmiles and shakes her hand.

"Yeah, Megan's told me so much about you.  It's nice to finally meet you."

"I heard what happened today at the game, it's a good thing no one got hurt."

“That can be cured with time.”  Megan replied in response as John downplayed his dancing ability, giving him a sly smile as they made their way out to dance.  The blonde teen was quick to find the rhythm of various music being played, and stayed right in front of John, keeping an encouraging smile on her face, glad to see he was enjoying himself. 

When she saw Sammy arrive with Elrod, Megan waved to her while continuing to dance, performing a slow turning circle around John before coming back in front of him.  When she saw Lisa, Megan gave the older girl a wide smile and a quick hug.  Lisa and John were introduced before Lisa commented about the near miss at the game.  Megan’s face got a bit more serious as she replied, “yeah, it was a really near thing.  We got pretty lucky that some…thing intervened.  It’s really odd that something like this would happen so soon after Diane got hurt earlier in the week when some bleachers collapsed.”

"Yeah."  Lisa looks at John, "Could you give us a minute?"  John smiles and nods.

"No problem, I think Lance wants to talk to me about something anyway."  He looks back at Megan, "I'll be over there if you need me."

Once John was out of earshot, Lisa turned back to Megan and leaned in close, "You have got to watch your back Megan.  I'm worried that someone has it in for the squad, it's not a coincidence, the pole and the bleacher, it's the same person.  someone's trying to hurt you guys."

Megan nods at John as he heads over towards the Junior receiver.  She then focus back on Lisa as the older girl leaned in and spoke.  “Yeah, I know Lisa.”  Megan replied, her face getting more serious.  “I looked into what happened at the bleachers with some others, and there was some evidence that something had been done to them.”

The blonde teen paused a moment and then focused on Lisa’s eyes.  “Lisa, during the tryouts after Fern was kicked off the team, why didn’t you say about Candice appearing to try out?”

Sammy saw Megan waving at her.  Remembering what she had promised to Sarah, Sammy smiled and waved back.  There.  That wasn't so hard.  She waved to John too, and felt a twinge of --discomfort?  embarrassment? something odd -- remembering what had happened just the night before.  It was just the pheromones.  Just the pheromones.  She still wasn't sure if what was happening with Elrod wasn't just a carry over from that, that she wasn't really 'cured' so much as having quickly found someone who was interested back.  Best not to overthink that; it wasn't like she didn't like him before the goo got her.

She looked at the crowd around her, wondering about them, wondering why someone like Elrod hung around with them when he didn't really seem to care one way or the other about them, and remembered something else:  she had told John she wasn't invited to this party.  How odd!  One more thing to blame on the goo.

At least the music was good.  She started moving to the rhythm.  "Want to dance, or will it ruin your image?" she asked Elrod.

Elrod laughed and grabbed Sammy by the hand, leading her out to dance.  "You let me worry about my image."  he said as they started to dance.




Lisa's expression was one of shock, "What?  there is no way I'd have let that girl tryout for the squad.  She's against everything we stand for, she's tried to get the squad closed down every year she's been at that school."  Megan's pretty sure that Lisa is telling the truth, and the look of shock when she mentioned it certainly appeared genuine.

Megan found Lisa’s surprise puzzling, hearing her use the term she always used to refer to Candice when anyone else on the squad had thought to bring up Candice’s attempts to shut down the cheerleading squad.  “But Lisa,” Megan began, “her name is on the tryout list, and she had a score even.  Other than…her trying to shut down the squad, has there ever been any interaction between the two of you?”

"Other then me wanting to push in her face, not really.  She and I have had ome classes together over the years, but we've never interacted."  Lisa used the term like it might convey the transmission of a disease or something.  "She tried out?"  Lisa seems to be trying to wrap her head around the idea.  "Are you sure, maybe it's someone with the same name?"

OOC: Megan's pretty sure there is no one else with that name that goes to Oak Park.

They dance, and Sammy does exactly what Elrod suggested, and lets him worry about his own image.  She relaxes and gets into the music.  Leaning in close, she says "Why do you come to these parties?  Its not like you care what they think, and you have plenty of other things to do that you enjoy."

Megan nodded, accepting Lisa’s answer about not having much contact with Candice.  When Lisa suggested that perhaps there was another girl with the same name, Megan shook her head slightly.  “I don’t think so, but maybe.”

For the moment there did not seem to be much else that Lisa might know, or was at least willing to revel at this time.  The fact she did not remember her trying out was strange however.  “But lets forget about her for now.”  She said, smiling at the older girl.  “This is party right?  I know someone is possibly after us, and I will be careful and try to watch out for the others as well and hopefully the police might be able to catch this person.  So what do you say we just enjoy the night?”  She took Lisa’s arm and started towards where John was standing with Lance and some other players.

As they head over to the boys Lisa asks, "Hey, is Sylvia here tonight.  I was hoping I could get a dance with her boyfriend."



"Part chaparone, part observer.  My folks feel better if my sister isn't at these things alone.  Not that they really care much, but I'm sure it has to do with insurance or something.  Besides, I ant to be a writer.  to do that you have to observe people in their natural habitat."

Lisa’s comment had Megan shoot the older girl a very puzzled look.  While she knew she owed Donnie a thank you for what she thought he did at the game, Lisa mentioning wanting to dance with him was something she would never have imagined, given Lisa’s various advice about boys that Megan should (and more often, should not) date.  “You want to dance with Donnie?”  She asked.

Sammy nods in understanding. Can't argue with something that makes so much sense.  Shrugging off any lingering sense of not belonging here along with the hoodie that has become too warm to wear, she dances.

"Donnie, you mean Dylan.  She was his date to the latest Fenwick fundraisers alumni dinner."  Lisa leans in closer to Megan "And he was totally dreamy.  I asked around about him, since I didn't know him.  He's rich and gorgeous, and apparently new to school this year.  He was living in England, then moved here after his Uncle or someone died.  Anyway, is she here?"

Megan kept the surprise to the news Lisa was telling her hidden as she smiled at the description of this Dylan.  “No, I haven’t seen her yet.”  Megan replied, then smiled slyly.  “But seeing what you said this Dylan is like, maybe she wants to keep him to herself for a little while before she has to fight off any other girls that might try to get him?  Have you mentioned seeing her with him to anyone else?”

"No, I'm trying to keep possible competition to a minimum.  I got the feeling that she wasn't all that into him when we talked.  I can't imagine why though."

Megan nodded at Lisa’s mentioning keeping competition for Sylvia down, though she wondered if that also meant that Lisa was trying to compete for this Dylan.  “Well, I will not breath a word of it.  As for Sylvia, sometimes she doesn’t always let things show, or maybe she was just playing hard to get?”  The blonde teen gave Lisa a sly grin.

The two girls reached John, Lance and some other players and Megan turned her gaze towards them with a wide smile.  “Hey guys, care for some company?  Or is this a serious football discussion at the moment?”

OOC: This might be a good spot to stop.  We can pick up with Megan and John in the photographer thread and then Sammy and Elrod can move back to their thread.  I've imparted all the information I needed to, unless there is other stuff that Megan needs to talk about with Lisa?

OOC That sounds good to me, Megan probably has LOTS of things to talk to Lisa about, but likely not many important enough to do on screen :)  hehe.

OOC:  Whatever makes sense to you guys.  Its not likely that Sammy knows too many people here anyhow, other than Megan, John, and Elrod.  It might just be that Elrod suggests going elsewhere after a little while.

OOC:After some dancing he'd probably suggest they leave anyway.  There is a concert in town, a couple of live bands at some clubs, all manner of places you guys could go.

OOC: Sammy would rather go see a live band in a small club.  You can get closer to the stage that way.  Since he's driving, he gets to pick the club/band.