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Early the day after the sprinkler incident the water samples, both from the sprinklers and the bottled water from the booster club, are given to Mr. Heep for analysis.  He says he'll probably have a basic idea by the end of the day.

The buzz in the hallways is about the sprinkler incident, and some people seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop on some evil plan of some sort.

With the gym closed the PE classes have moved outside.  They mix the boys and girls up for tennis, volley ball, and basketball.  Donnie ends up on a team with Jessica Sherman.  Normally Donnie would hate basketball, but there seems to be something about the team, or the day, that makes it really fun.  The fact that he's been training with Jack has improved his speed and agility, making him a pretty good player, for a freshman according to some of the other players.

Donnie spins away from an opponent and makes the shot, kind of stunned at his own capability.

He shrugs and smiles at his team. "I guess white boy got game today. Don't expect a repeat performance next week; this might be a fluke."

There are some laughs, and Jessica pats him on the back, "Nice shot."

A few plays later and Donnie and Jessica have developed a good chemistry.  She's fast on the court, but can't make good shots.  Donnie quickly learns that all he has to do is be in the right place at the right time for a pass from her and he can score.  They repeat this until the other team starts to increase coverage, then they start to get others into the rhythm.  A few passes, some fancy foot work and they start to score again.

By the end of the period they've soundly beaten the other team.  There is a group hug, since they were certain the other team was going to beat them being mostly older kids.  The mood is infectious and it's easy to see how team sports work their magic on some people.  "Hey?"  Jessica asks a few steps from the crowd, "A friend said she's seen you down at the magic shop in town.  Are you into magic too?"

Alarm bells ring in Donnie's head, and he smiles cautiously. "I'm always interested in the arcane and mysterious. Lots of story ideas to be found in that field. Why, are you a secret wizard?"

"Secret wizard?"  she smiles, "Not really, I've been in love with magic since I was little.  I'm taking a couple of distance learning courses from Berkley.  It's pretty fun, I just thought that with all your stories and stuff you'd be interested in it too."

Donnie nods. "Yeah, I'm interested. I've read a lot of books and stuff. Have any luck with practicing practical magic yet? Some people seem to have the knack, some don't."

"A little.  I managed to make one string of Christmas lights on our house work without being plugged in.  I love puzzles though, and it's really cool how some of the pieces fit together."  she almost squeals, "You wanna help me with a spell?  I want to make a dog toy that rolls by itself for our dog."

****
After the last bell some of the Usual Suspects convene at Mr. Heep's room to hear what he's learned about the water samples they gave him.

OOC: Just toss something out so I know who's there.

Sylvia is there, locker-room fresh.  She's thinking about the kiss Gladys gave Logan.  She can't help herself.

Still, she's the master of repression.  She puts some effort toward putting out an aura of casual indifference, and she keeps looking at the door, hoping Donnie will show up so she can anchor herself to him and soothe away all these jittery, unworthy obsessions with a little legit cuddling.

OOC: Not there - Sarah's still breathless and starry eyed from her sleepover with Laney .. not that anything happened.

IC:
Sarah, having no clue about the lab tests goes out to enjoy the afternoon.  Everyone knows that if they need her she'll be there in a matter of seconds.  She wanders out and about with her camera, taking pictures, here, there and everywhere.  Along the way she realizes she should offer to take Colin with her.  She had an all access pass to take shots from angles that no one else could reach.  She just had to remember to watch out for places with fragile roofs. 

Sammy found out somehow about the lab tests.

She's there, seated on a windowsill.  The window has been opened wide to let in the fresh spring air.  While she waits, she listens to some music with her eyes mostly closed.

Donnie arrives breathless and starry-eyed, flush with his happiness at kicking some major ass in basketball during Gym earlier that day. He gives Sylvia a peck on the cheek and settles down next to her at one of the lab desks, finger toying with the many gouges, burns and initials carved into the thick, black tabletop.

Sylvia is feeling snuggly (read:  "clingy") and will not be denied.  She scootches closer to Donnie and snakes her body up against his, wedging her shoulders into the circle of his arm.  "I'm pretty sure someday we're going to learn that the primary goal of all the chaos in this school has been to shut down the athletic program.  It's some budding supervillain, maybe with a name like 'The Doughboy,' who wants to kill us all through adolescent obesity."  She's not talking to Donnie alone.  In fact, she's trying to catch Sammy's attention.  Sammy's been a little aloof lately.

Donnie looks over at Sylvia in mock-shock. "How did you figure it out? I thought I was so careful in hiding my secret identity!"

He mimes expanding up like a balloon, and then peeling off a large helmet, digging his chin into his chest and puffing out his cheeks to mimic an insanely obese person. In a strangled, gasping voice, he says "It would have succeeded to, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Something catches Sammy's attention, and she looks up just as Sylvia speaks.  She flashes a (breathless and starry eyed) smile, and takes the ear buds out of her ears.  "Sorry.  Did you say something to me?"  Vaguely tribal sounding music is playing.  There's something to it that is reminiscent of the medicine hut in Ajo.

"And your f**king little dog, too! Hee hee hee!" Alicia says in a falsetto-witchy voice as she steps through the door as a rejoinder to Donnie's antics.

"Quit hogging all the sun, Sam," she mock-pouts at Sammy as she drags a chair to sit by the window and drapes herself over it.

Sammy chuckles and shifts a knee to allow sunlight to shine directly onto Alicia's face.  "You can have some of the sun.  I mostly want the air."

Sylvia chortles.  "Sorry, Doughboy.  Your plan to create an army of pudgy, sedentary teens has failed.  You are the Biggest Loser."  She nudges Donnie in the ribs.  "That was pretty good, wasn't it?  Biggest Loser?  I think I'm ready for my cape and mask."


"I was just cracking bad jokes," Sylvia tells Sammy.  "You look happy.  What happened?"

Sammy looks confused.  "Nothing.  I was just listening to some new stuff I downloaded.  Some American Indian music from a big gathering last summer.  I was trying to find the music from Grandpa Adobe's medicine hut, but no luck."

Alicia, leaning back to enjoy the bright sunlight, opens one eye to regard Sammy. "All I heard was some drumming. Personally, I like those Koto drummers better."

Sammy shrugs.  "Your mileage may vary.  I guess I was remembering how good it made me feel.  Maybe it was just magic and not music."

"Taiko," Sylvia corrects absently, editorial skills reflexive.  "Koto is a stringed Japanese instrument."

Colin arrives, a little breathless, but not particularly starry-eyed. Actually he seems quite angry.

"Hi, guys. Is Mr Heep done, yet?"

Sylvia says it a split second before she turns to look at him.  "Something wrong?"

Alicia straightens from her sprawled state on the chair muttering, "Taiko sounds like a video-game company..."

She looks at Colin, trying to figure out what may be bothering him.

Mr. Heep walks in behind Colin, reading from a magazine, and bumps into the young man.  "Oh, sorry."  He looks up and sees everyone in the classroom, then looks at his watch with a bit of panic on his features, then relaxes.  "Oh.  Right."  he says, going to his desk.  He digs through his desk and pulls out a few sheets of paper, "It's strange.  The water from the sprinklers and the bottled water were perfectly normal.  Nothing in them.  Which I guess is good.  Right?"  He doesn't seem all too sure about it being good.

"Peachy keen, Mr. H.," says Alicia breezily. "Nothin' here but a bunch of paranoid kids. Y'know, better safe than sorry, just say no, this is your brain on drugs, any questions. Thanks for the assist."

She unfolds from the chair to a stand and looks expectantly at Colin, "What's up, guy?"

Donnie stops pantomiming Godzilla and looks curiously at Colin, waiting for an answer.

Sammy drifts over next to Mr. Heep.  She peeks over his shoulder to look at the lab results.  "When you say nothing, do you really mean that, or do you mean nothing unexpected?  I'm not sure how sprinklers work, so it won't surprise me if I'm wrong, but water doesn't flow through them all the time, does it?  I mean, doesn't some of it just sit there in the sprinkler heads, waiting for the valve to be switched open?  Shouldn't there be some bacteria, or higher concentrations of sediment, or something like that?  Or does so much water flow out so fast that any stuff that might be sitting gets blown out early and washed away by the fresher water... I probably answered my own question, didn't I?"  She pushes some of her hair back over her shoulder.  "I feel perfectly n-- I don't feel any different than I did before coming in contact with the water.  I don't feel like I've been goo-ed.  Unless there's some kind of delayed reaction?  Do you think blood samples would rule that out?"

Mr. Heep looks over his shoulder at Sammy.  "It's mixed with oil usually to keep the system lubricated, but I meant nothing unexpected I guess.  No romance drug, no hate and discontent chemicals.  I asked the maintenance staff about the sprinkler failure.  The valve has been border line for a while I guess.  It was due to be replaced over the summer break along with about a dozen others."

"Nah. Just a few ruffled feathers."

She gets glimpses of the locker next to his one and of an overweight girl.


When Mr. Heep explains he found nothing, he visibly relaxes.

"So it was probably just a random, unexpected equipment failure?  OK."  Sammy drifts back over to the open window.

Afternoon sunlight is the best sunlight. Sarah thinks to herself as she admires the golden light bathing a brick building and making it seem like so much more.  She took a picture even knowing that when she looked at it later it would just be a building.  The magic would be gone. 

"Okay, Col," Alicia remarks off-handedly, "but if someone needs an attitude adjustment, just point them out to me and I'll have a chat with them."

It's not hard to read between the lines of her offer.

This gets an amused snort from Sammy as she passes.

Donnie chuckles. "Sounds like Sammy doubts your ability to 'chat', Alicia."


He relents to Sylvia's persistant attemtp to snuggle and wraps his arm around her, leanign back in the chair.
"Thanks Mr. heep. I guess we are a bit paranoid after all the crap that's happened this year."

Alicia sniffs theatrically, "I'll have you know I'm very good at chatting. I've been known to keep people in stitches when we talk." She gives an evil grin.

Sammy examines her cuticles and adds, "You're a riot, that's for sure."  She looks up.  "Are we done then?  I have to go play freeze tag with some gargoyles.  Its pretty easy in daylight.  I always win."

"Let me think about that." he says, debating the pros and cons in his mind.

Sylvia frowns.  This is weird behavior from Colin.  Spill.  What happened?

Sammy has a moment of uncertainty, then she laughs.  "Good one.  You're funnier than Alicia."  She scoops up her things and makes ready to depart.

Alicia raises an eyebrow. She really did not expect Colin to treat her offer seriously, even if she gave it with honest intent. If it was bad enough to make the spirit-talker to think on the physical plane, it might be worth investigating.

She shrugs. "You need me, just whistle."

They stole her diary to make fun of her, Colin simply formulates. When she found out, it left an impression on her locker.

Sylvia frowns, considering where their, or at least her, purview begins and ends as protectors of the weak.  Bullying bullies may be satisfying, but is it ethical?  Want to take action? she asks Colin.  This may be after-school-special psychology, but people who like to share others' secrets usually have a few of their own.  I can shake them a little and see what falls out.

When I get a vision I'm not looking for, like before, it's only natural to think I should do something. It's not necessarily true, though. It looks like the world likes a zen approach. Most of the times, it doesn't need me or us to do anything.

He sighs, both physically and mentally.

They make me angry. But I only want to retrieve her diary, not get them to the hospital, or to a shrink. I trust the world to teach them the lessons they need to learn. But she could use a little help.

No sweat, Sylvia replies.  You can point out the perps, and I'll see where they have the diary.  I'm sure between us we can extract and return the thing, and if not, Alicia's not afraid of a few months in juvie for a good cause.

Donnie rubs one fingertip at the joint of nose and brow, smoothing the wrinkles there. He murmurs "What are you thinking? You talking to Colin?"  

Sylvia looks abashed.  As if Alicia can't hear Donnie mumbling.  Still, it's not Sylvia's story to share . . . aloud.

She tells Donnie:  Colin's locker neighbor had her diary stolen by a bunch of Neanderthals.  I think we're going to get it back for her.

"Are they upperclassmen? I love messing with upperclassmen." There must be some sarcasm there, somewhere. Donnie doesn't go pickign fights with upperclassmen, normally.

Dunno.  Ask Colin.

Sammy grows uncomfortable in the stretching silence.

"Well, um, see you guys.  Sometime.  Bye."  She casts a longing look out the window, wishing she could justify popping out a screen to go that way, and heads for the door.

Donnie gets up as well. "Okay, thanks Mr. Heep. We appreciate you checking it out. Tasty Dog anyone?" We can get more details from zColin there, maybe.

"Tasty Dog," Sylvia agrees reflexively.  It's like she told Logan:  they just sort of mill around until someone says it's time to go to Tasty Dog.  "Bye, Mr. Heep.  Thanks."

She's hoping that, once they get out of earshot of the adult with the criminal record, Colin will feel free to mention his problem aloud.

Sammy pauses and looks back over her shoulder.  She replies somewhat hesitantly, "Uh, yeah, sure.  I can, for a little while."

Through this all, Alicia has been standing by, looking rather significantly at Sylvia with a slight knowing smile tugging at her lips.

She damn well knows what's been going on, even without Donnie's mumble. She's learned to pick up the sllight non-verbal cues that Sylvia gives out when talking without using her mouth.

At the invitation, she quickly nods in agreement. "Sure. You're buying," she adds with a wicked grin.

She gives a thumbs-up to Mr. Heep. "Yeah, muchas gracias, Mr. H. We're off to contemplate potential mayhem on someone deserving."

Donnie facepalms. "Alicia, Jesus. Plausable Deniability! Ever heard of it?"

He follows her out, tugging gently at Sylvia's hand.

Sylvia gives Mr. Heep an apologetic look.  "That torpedo did not self-destruct.  You heard it hit the hull.  And I . . . was never here."  She disappears after Donnie.

Alicia waves a hand dismissively as she makes a rude noise. "Pffft. As long as it's only circumstancial evidence, it's not a problem. Besides, it helps to maintain a rep. Nobody is scared of Dread Pirate Wesley."

Sammy's face takes on an "Oh no, the Titanic is sinking and I'm locked in steerage" expression.

Sarah takes pictures until her camera goes beep beep beep letting her know she's filled up the memory card. 

I wonder what everyone else is up to this afternoon?

With a small shrug she flings herself up as high as she can feeling the icy air high in the sky.  She sails back down towards Oak Park faster and faster.  She jumps a bit closer... and closer until the buildings below her are only a heartbeat away.  She lands with a soft sigh on her bed. 

That's the problem with powers.  Schoolwork looks even more boring.  Why couldn't I have gotten super speed like Megan and been done everything in six seconds?  Oh right because I'd just procrastinate about everything a thousand times faster and it would still take me hours to get things done. 

I think I'll pop into Colin's room tonight. 

If this is Thursday, Miss Brennan may by now have settled within twenty feet of Mr. Heep's classroom, starry-eyed as usual, but not breathless, yet.   

If this is Friday, she's home, patiently explaining to Rick why the teacher wants him to copy the letters from his writing assignment, rather than the four letter word his friend taught him at lunch.   

Whichever day it is, sometime before lunch Cucumber Green coated nails hook into Sarah's arm in the hallway near her locker, gently trying to stall her.   She's handed a neat stack of laundered clothing.  Later, she'll discover within the folds of her returned items a new hair brush and a bottle of shiny green nail polish - thus explaining Laney's departing cryptic comment, "Sorry.  I only found sparkles."