Crash Course (Open)

[Ainsley Cooper]

Just laying in the water was relaxing, it muffled the sounds and helped him forget where he was. He was laying on his back, arms and legs spread in starfish formation so he would stay afloat. He closed his eyes, letting his mind wander. Some times it was nice to forget. His violet hair surrounded his head like a halo, however a saint was the last thing he looked liked. His body was thin, malnourished and scarred, Ainsley looked more like an ad for anorexia.

He kicked himself over, swimming to the bottom and back up to the surface where he pulled himself out of the pool, dripping wet and shivering. He grabbed his towel, wrapping it around his narrow shoulders. He looked around, no one was here in the early morning and he smirked.

Digging through his bag, which had been propped up on the wall, he found a permanent marker and doodled a little skeleton with a speech bubble, it read:

"Remember kids, when you're down,
It doesn't matter.
Everyone dies eventually."

He chuckled slightly, slipping the pen back into his bag. He did another fugitive look around the pool area and didn't see anyone, so he headed to the change rooms and changed out of his damp swim suit, exchanging the shorts for a pair of red plaid skinny jeans and a too-tight shirt in black. He slipped on his violet converse with no socks and pushed open the door into the hallway and crashed right into someone.

"Jesus! Watch where your going!" He snarled. "I nearly broke a rib!"

[Exxie]

Jodie was walking to the pool from the ladies changing room. Then she saw a poster for the swim team and her eyes widened. Looking around a bit, she didn't see anyone around. What was with the posters always having the girls pictured in bikinis? Not that she was complaining, but she was uneasy that one day the wrong person would see her looking at one. That would be complicated. She didn't want people treating her differently. That was her biggest concern, really. Well, time to practice laps. Her eyes sort of glazed over thinking about how she would possibly explain that if it ever came to that. Plus, she was thinking about the poster. Next thing she knew, she had bumped into someone. Jodie started as her eyes focused. The guy yelled at her and immediately she was on guard.

"If you nearly broke a rib, then would you like me to finish the job?" She backed up a bit.

"Don't get your undies in a bundle. Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." Jodie bit her lip a little and glanced at the poster for a second before looking back at the guy before her. He was certainly a striking image. Purple hair? Skinny jeans? She liked the plaid, but not the skinny part particularly. Mind you, the guys she liked were usually wearing Wrangler or Levi. Jodie knew she was a bit biased in that way. The snarl had caught her off guard to be honest. After all, she wasn't used to that. Being at an actual school made her a little uneasy. Jodie wasn't used to it.

[Ainsley Cooper]

He sneered slightly, licking over his bottom lip with a quick flash of his tongue. "Sorry, you kinda caught me wid' mah knickers down." He said, still testily, as if a cat with it's fur ruffled. "Jus' didant expect anyone ta be right outside the door." He fiddled with the marker, which was now tucked into the front pocket of his pants, pressed up against his hip. He looked over her slowly, her eyes caught his attention, but he stayed quiet about it.

Her eyes flickered to the poster. "Kinda sick, ain't it?" He asked, "They overly sexualize woman, I think it's disgusting." He pulled out his marker and drew some mustaches on the poster. "Thur, I thank that's much bettah, dun you?" He smirked, but it was wry, dry and not really sincere. "Maybe yer into girls in bikini's but I'd much rather see the boy's swim team." He chuckled, a breathless airy sound that started him into a harsh coughing fit. He doubled over for a moment, hacking up phlegm, which he spat into a tissue he had pulled from his pocket.

"Sorry 'bout that, I ain't in the best o' health." He gave her a strained smile. "You new here?" He asked her, running a hand through his hair. "Dun thank I reckonize ya, then again, I failed last year and had to repeat Senior year again." He thrust his hand out. "Ainsley, pleasure ta meet you."

[Exxie]

The impression Jodie was getting from this guy was someone she didn't really like very much. He wasn't particularly friendly, and he was one of the very first people she had met here at the academy too. What a shame. She saw him play with the marker and then heard him comment on the poster. CRAP! He had seen her look there! How was she going to explain it...wait...she could just go along with his train of thought. But then...she didn't quite agree with him...but...oh man this was hard. Finally she settled on a response. And just as she was about to answer, he drew the mustaches on the poster and Jodie couldn't help but blink rapidly. That had certainly caught her off guard. And she had to say it made her...feelings toward the poster feel even worse. Hopefully the mustache would eventually negate what she was feeling. She sighed with the weight of it all. Then he said the next thing about her being into girls in bikinis and him liking the boys' swim team and her eyes widened. He knew about her. And he was...gay? Mentally, she was kicking herself. Of course he knew then! She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck before adjusting her black towel. Black. Most people would question why she had a black towel, especially considering her powers. But it just felt right. She couldn't explain the draw to dark colours. Then he started into a coughing fit and her eyes widened.

"Are you okay?" Then he came back, and he looked pretty pale, but he was trying to ignore it, so Jodie figured he'd want her to do that as well. She listened to what he was saying. A smile still hadn't shown itself on her face. She hadn't smiled in ages really. So much had happened.

"Jodie Ree-shar. It's French. And yeah, I'm new." Ainsley huh? She reached out to shake his hand, but suddenly what looked like a bunch of black soot and light came rushing towards her and she let go of his hand like it was made of fire. As soon as she let go of his hand, it all disappeared and she gulped. That was weird. Creepy. What was that? She wondered if he had seen it. Maybe she wasn't crazy after all.

"Uh...did you see the black and...light? Or was that just me? I'm never sure now. Never sure what's related to my powers or...real." Her blue-grey eyes betrayed the sadness she felt at not knowing what was real and what was fake anymore. It had always felt so important to her to stay in touch with reality, and now she didn't have that anymore. She needed some explanations for all of this stuff. Jodie didn't really want to end up in a psych ward. Hospitals were definitely not on her list of favourite spots to hang out.

[Ainsley Cooper]

He saw the widening of her eyes. "Dun worry, our little secret, yeah?" He said, winking at her. "I remember what it was like, but now I'm an out and proud faggot." He said proudly. Yeah, it had gotten him beat up before, but getting beat up was kind of fun, exciting at least.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, chronic smoker's cough. I'll quite when I'm dead." He muttered quietly, embarrassed. He didn't like people knowing he was sick, all the sympathy and the 'oh my gosh, I'm so sorry' it's not like it changed a damned think. "Happy as dead pigs in mud." He added, mostly to himself, a saying from his mother which meant 'doesn't really matter'. Nothing did when you knew you were dying, but you kinda got used to it.

He pulled back his hand quickly. "What the fuck was that?" He asked. "Yeah, o'course I saw it, d'ya think I'm blind?!" He asked, he didn't mean it to sound rude, but he had been surprised. He didn't like surprises all that much. He looked up and saw how sad she looked and it pulled on his heart strings. He didn't like it, but couldn't help but feel bad. "I didant mean to hurt yer feelings, come on, every dog's got it's on fleas, amiright?" He questioned, laughing awkwardly. "But you ain't seeing things, that's fer sure." Ainsley added. "And hey, that's what this schools fer, right? Learning yer powers." He added, a little softer.

"Come on, I know what ya need, ya need ta set somethang on fire." He pronouced Fire, Far. "It always cheers me up, come on, I gots me some old homework that'll work jus' fine." He added. "There's a forest jus' off the grounds, I'm sure we won' get caught there, and if we do, I can take all the blame, they know imma problem child, anyway."

[Exxie]

She heard him say that he'd keep the secret and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. He even used the derogatory term for gay. It kind of caught Jodie off guard, but then she realized. He was gay. He had his own permission to use that kind of word. He explained that he had a smoker's cough and her eyebrows arched. That was pretty bad for a smoker's cough. Why would someone ever start to smoke when there was that end-game? She wondered about the sanity of the human race sometimes. Then again, she wasn't one to talk she supposed. When he exclaimed as they touched, her face fell. But then he apologized and then she thought about it and suddenly she was fairly happy.

"It's okay. It isn't you. Honest. Actually, I'm glad you saw it too. I've seeing a lot of weird stuff lately. I think they have to do with my powers. I asked because sometimes I see the light, pardon the pun, and no-one else does." Learning their powers? Yeah, she supposed.

"I suppose it is. But that isn't exactly why I'm here. I'm here because no-one else wants to deal with me. They could care less about me learning to use my powers. A month ago, I didn't even know I had them." Then Jodie heard him suggest setting something on fire and mention the forest and her eyes widened.

"Set the forest on fire? Let's not do that. Maybe a small fire in the middle of it. But for all we know, there could be a hybrid here with squirrel powers who feels most at home in the forest. But a normal fire might be good. And if we get caught doing that, I think we can probably both take the blame. The way they're treating me, I have this feeling the person who paid for me also made a pretty big donation." Jodie shrugged. She had no idea, but she was treating him well, and normally she associated that with people being bribed. What could she say? She had been raised in a family of socialites. Sure she didn't associate with them, but her sister had taught her some stuff.

[Ainsley Cooper]

"Trust me, here, ya ain't going crazy, it's probably a power or someone else's." He said, he tried to sound reassuring, but he wasn't sure it sounded convincing. After all, was a world sane when a kid not even twenty could have lung cancer and be dying? He wasn't sure, but it seemed pretty crazy to him.

"Ah, dun worry, I've seen the light." He smirked, then loudly. "Can I hear a HALLELUJAH?!" He laughed breathlessly, coughing a little, but there was a smirk on his lips. "Just ignore me," Ainsley told her. "I'm a lunatic too." He gave her a quick wink. "I thank you'll fit in here, jus' fine." He started walking. "Naw, we ain't setting the WHOLE forest on far, just some papers, I dun wanna burn down the whole thang! I like the forest."

Ainsley shrugged. "You paid ta come here?" He asked quietly, wondering if his mother was paying for him, but she didn't have any money, maybe he had been taken on as a charity case. Jesus, they didn't even have a T.V let alone money for school. "Ah, but I guess that'll mean you'll be fine if yer caught breakin' rules." Ainsley let her outside and into the forest. "And aside how it got paid fer, this school ain't that bad, they don't watch us all that close, ya ken?"

He walked into the forest, and sat down about twenty feet in. There was a bit of a clearing here. "So besides the light, what else are ya noticing? Maybe I can help ya figure out what yer powers are."

[Exxie]

She listened to him speak and joke around, and a hint of a smile showed itself. Just tiny, but a start. And he said they wouldn't burn down the whole forest and she nodded. Then that was okay. Jodie heard him ask the question and it made her wonder. Had she just been dropped here? Had she been paid for?

"I don't really know. I assumed. But then I think the donation was made either way. People in the offices are acting way too nice for there to not be some kind of money involved. Plus, my situation is complicated and this is a bit of a hiding place for me." Fine to break rules, yeah. Except if she did that, the record might go into their computer and her parents might hack the computer and...wait...she had specifically requested them to keep all her files on paper and not digital. Oh well. That was fine then. She followed Ainsley into the forest and sat down across from him, crosslegged. Jodie heard his question and tried to think of an answer.

"The weird thing is, I know what my powers are. I just don't know what they can do. My parents somehow knew I had light-based powers. At my sixteenth birthday party, everyone else ducked, but they just donned some sunglasses. They were calm, and they had the tools to avoid my light. Somehow they knew I had those powers. But that was the first time my powers had shown up. The whole situation is...really weird." Jodie adjusted her ponytail elastic as she thought about this.

"But why would they have known?" Then she looked up and grimaced.

"I hope you won't spread this talk around. Because too much gossip, and my parents could find me again. I was taken away from them for my own safety. And they have some really good connections. I have to stay off the grid, like, majorly." She sighed. It was such a pain. Why did her parents have turn into psychos? Every teenager thinks their parents are crazy at some point, but Jodie knew hers really were. They had had psychiatric evaluations they had hidden from her.

[Ainsley Cooper]

"Well I guess heres good a place as any, amiright?" He said, leaning over his backpack. It was a wretched canvas bag, it had been patched back together in places and showed signs of the straps having been resown. "Our school is fairly... Not well known, kinda secret." He told her, "So it doesn't show up in internet searches, trust meh, I tried." He dug around in his bag and pulled out a pile of papers. It was math homework from a few days prior. The grades on the top of the page were abysmal.

10/95, F --, Ainsley, PLEASE see me after class.
20/60, F, Have you not been paying attention at all?
0/100, Seriously kid? You didn't even try, please see me after class.

And the rest were all similar. Ainsley didn't have time for homework anymore. Passing didn't matter any more. Nothing mattered. He held out a matchbook for the girl. "Would you like to do the honors?" He inquired with a slight tilt to his head.

"Oh, trust meh, I'm a dead end, dead men tell no tales." He said, his voice gravelly. He coughed lightly again. "I dun know anyone this year, all my friends graduated last year, and I failed sos I got stuck here again this year." He shrugged. "And maybe they had powers, and you inherited them, sos they knew you'd have them." Ainsley suggested, looking at the pathetic pile of papers between them. "Ah, come on already, I could have done it faster than two shakes of a sheep's tail." He moaned, indicating the papers.

"And would me telling you a secret make ya feel any better? Kinda like, for trades or sumpthang."

[Exxie]

She saw him take out the homework and then took the matchbook he offered to her. She saw the grades on them and the comments. Then he said about being a dead end and she frowned. His comments bothered her for some reason. Except she honestly didn't know why because she was feeling pretty miserable herself. But putting it into words and telling someone...it was different. It was something she wasn't able to do. He explained he had no friends and he sounded like he knew what having friends was like. Jodie looked down at her hands. The small match. The small, insignificant match. She heard his explanation for her powers and she shook her head.

"No, I was adopted." Wait...maybe they had known that way...

"Maybe they wanted me because I had powers. It sounds like them." She didn't know what made her feel worse. That her parents had taken her in because she had powers, or...oh she could probably take her pick of problems. But she finally had someone to talk to, so she was going to focus on this conversation. And right now he was moaning about her not lighting the papers. She chuckled at his tone a little. Jodie looked down at the match again. She struck it and a flame appeared. She brought a bit of the paper up to the match and lit it, then put it on the rest.

"Even a small match can start a huge blaze. I dunno...even if it's small and insignificant, it can do so much. Maybe that should give me some sort of hope. Don't give up yet, dude." Jodie watched the flames. Someone was being friendly towards her. It made her feel good to know that the whole world wasn't the cold place she had found it so far. Someone looking at her would have seen her powers manifesting at that moment. She didn't feel anything, but Jodie looked down at her hand and could see it glowing a pure sort of white. Her eyebrows rose as she looked at it, turning her hand over to look at it from all angles.

"Wow. This is only the second time it's happened. And only if you want to share something. It was my decision to share that last thing. It'll therefore be my fault if you share it. Besides, you just said. You don't know anyone this year. I didn't realize you were a loner when I said that." She smiled slightly.

[Ainsley Cooper]

His eyes stayed on the fire for a moment before they flickered up to her glowing hands, then back down the the fire. "Well at least two misfits can sit around a pile of burning papers and have a good time." He said quietly. He pulled up his knees to his chest and sighed deeply. There was so much inside of his chest that he didn't know how to let go of, or even voice. Being with someone he vaguely related to made it harder. But she didn't want to hear about his problems... He looked back up at her, a frown touching his lips.

He took the light around her hands to delay another few moments. "Can you do anything with it? Or do you just generate it?" He questioned, fingers running over his bottom lip, tugging on his lip ring. He smiled a little bitterly when she mentioned he was a loner. "More by circumstance than by choice." He told her.

He leaned forwards again, wrapping his arms around his knees. He rested his chin on the top of one bony knee and half shrugged. "I ain't joking when I said Imma dead end, I'm dyin'." He nearly whispered it. He hadn't told anyone yet. Only the teachers knew about it, and his ma, of course. "Need a double lung transplant." He grinned tightly. "Seems like finding a match is nearly impossible, sos I'm just shit out of luck." He shrugged his shoulders, trying to seem indifferent about it, but even he hadn't come to terms with it. "Cancer. Had it before I started smoking. Started smoking cause it didn't matter, my lungs are gonna give out no mattah what." As he said that, he fished a pack of smokes out of his bag. "Want one?" He offered. "If you don't smoke yet, I dun suggest it." He leaned down, lighting his smoke on a lick of flame from their fire.

"Guess we're kinda friends now, ain't we?" He laughed, it was a little watery. "Man both of our lives suck, I'm dyin' and yer going crazy." His laugh was stronger this time, a bray like a donkey. "Dun we make a cute pair."

[Exxie]

She watched him and knew he was feeling sad. But she didn't know how to help that, and it made her sad to think she couldn't do anything really. The glow subsided eventually. She heard his question and thought about it silently for a moment.

"I don't know. It hasn't showed up much. This is the mos my powers have showed in a day yet I think. Except maybe my party, but that was their big debut. I haven't tried doing anything with it because it doesn't really show up much. Plus, just because it's a part of me doesn't mean I like it." Jodie sighed. It meant normal people were scared of her. Her adoptive family...or second adoptive family if you thought about it...basically got rid of her as soon as they found she had powers. The counselors all said she was 'special'. To her, that word just meant she was different, weird and unwanted. She understood perfectly about being a loner by circumstance.

"So am I. All my life, a loner. At least you know what having friends is like. Still though, that means you and I are loners." Then he dropped the bombshell about how he really was dying and she felt her mouth drop open a little. She closed it in quick order, but she couldn't believe it. Well, she could, but she couldn't believe life was that unfair. He offered a smoke and she shook her head.

"No, I don't. Never will. My dad used to smoke all the time. Put me right off. And don't just give up. You never know. I've heard of miracles. And you know there are people with healing powers out there too. You never know." Friends...yeah...that sounded good.

"Kinda. Though I probably wouldn't know how to tell even if it was blatantly obvious. If we are in fact friends now, you're only the third one I've ever had." She shrugged. She had lived under a rock for the first fifteen years of life. The other two friends were short-lived friendships that she was either forced into by her parents, or that she made while they travelled. She chuckled.

"Yeah, but they say people were shared experiences can make friends easier." Jodie smirked.

[Ainsley Cooper]

"Well I wouldant worry ovah split milk." He said, looking up at her. He puffed on his smoke, immediately feeling light headed and short of breath. "What I mean ta say is everyone gots powers here, and ain't nobody going to be scared of you, or run away screaming, afta all, there are people here that hav' scarier powers than you. "And just cuz you ain't never had friends before, doesn't mean you can't start. After all, every hog finds and acorn every once in a while."

He leaned back, thinking for a moment. His face was passive, not showing the gears that were turning in his head. Yeah, there may be others with healing powers. Didn't know how it worked though... Hadn't met any of them. "I haven't come cross them yet." He said, looking up at the sky through the trees. "I thank there should be like, wanted ads fer the school."

"Sick boy looking for healer."

Ainsley chuckled his dry laugh which ended in a weak, watery cough. "Wouldant that be somethang?" He smirked, looking back down at her. "Maybe before this year lets out, I ain't given up..." He said, but hadn't he? Wasn't that why he was smoking? Why he stopped trying in school? Stopped making friends...

He bit his lip, nodding to her last statement. "I thank it does, most of my good friends are still back home, in the trailer park, wes was all poor, but we knew how ta have fun anyway." Ainsley gave a nostalgic smile, scratching at the back of his head. "But todays the day, ain't it? So we might as well make friends, amiright?" He looked back over at her after looking quickly over the trees in the forest. "Why dun we make this year a real hoot. We'll go hog wild! Hot damn!" He slapped his knee as he over-exaggerated his accent.

"Asides, you can't pick yer family, but you can sure as hell pick your friends. You'd probably like Zeke too." He said. "Zeke is kinda... an acquaintance. We hang out, mostleh drink ta'gether. Do you drink?"

[Exxie]

His sayings were weird. She had thought that before, but it had seemed mean. But she couldn't help it. The hog and the acorn thing? Yeah, that was weird. She knew what he meant though. Everyone here had powers so she shouldn't be worried about others being afraid of her. Jodie knew that, but some habits were hard to break. She was too used to hiding things. Too used to hiding herself.

"Well maybe one day." Want ads. She chuckled. Yeah, that would be something interesting to see. So he didn't have friends around here huh?

"Well. We've both got one more friend now I guess. And yeah, life's too short to regret not reaching out and making friends." Can't pick your family. How true. Except her parents had. They had picked her, likely for the fact she had powers. They wanted to use as a weapon, most probably.

"Zeke...perhaps we would get along. You seem like a pretty good judge of character after all. But no, I don't drink. Not for the most part. The only alcohol I ever drink is a bit of wine. One thing we don't share is our backgrounds. My family was rich. I don't ever want to know exactly what they did to amass that amount of money either." Jodie shuddered a bit. Her sister was nice, but the family trade was creepy.

[Ainsley Cooper]

Ainsley nodded. "One friend is bettah than no friends." He finished his smoke and crushed it into the dirt beside him. He debated about lighting up another, but figured it would not be a good idea for him he wasn't particularly in the mood for hacking up blood. Instead, he found a pack of old poptarts and opened it. "Want one, they're s'mores flavor." He held out the package to her.

"You were rich?" He asked, quirking up an eyebrow. "That had got to be nice." He told her, honestly. "But... I guess it's got its downside. I mean, I didant always get ta eat, but at least I didant get the short end of the stick..." He paused for a moment, munching on his snack. "Mah ma loved me, and we had each other, and that was better than money, I wouldant trade it fer the world."

"I assume you had the opposite." He looked over her, his face serious. "I would like ta be in the middle." Ainsley munched around a half full mouth as he talked. "A little more money would be nice fer the bills and what not. Dun know how ma's going to even pay fer my funeral. Ww dun' got that kind of money."