Lonely (Open)

[Ainsley Cooper]

It was after class and Zeke decided to stay back and work on some of her homework. None of her friends were free, so might as well do something productive. She bent over the papers and started working on her music theory work. It wasn't hard and it came pretty naturally to her.

Today, she was in a cute blue dress that belled out at the waist. It wasn't very long, stopping at her knees. She wore purple leggings with it and black flats on her feet. Her face was plain, and bore no make up, but the blue hair made her stand out regardless. Her mouth was agape, as it usually was, showing off the gap in her front two teeth. Sometimes, she felt invisible and what a suiting power to be able to actually do it too! While she worked, she faded slightly so she was transparent, but still visible. It happened when she wasn't paying attention.

She finished up her work and started to pack her bags with a sigh. She hated to be alone, she would rather hang out with people she didn't like rather than be alone. Her ears perked up when there was a sound of approaching footsteps. Maybe they'd come talk to her... She looked through the glass window of the classroom door, she looked like a ghost, transparent, floating in the square of glass. She tried to see down the hall, but didn't see anyone.

[Nathan Stone]

He wasn't sure when he'd last bothered with music. He'd never liked it loud, but that wasn't to say he hated it outright; he simply preferred to keep his hearing for later. Deafness, even temporarily after a concert, put him at a disadvantage; he would never hear anyone behind him, and with the multiple enemies he'd made since starting high school, a disadvantage could be disastrous.

But now Nathan felt... well, a little lonely. He had very few friends, only two or three (and that was being generous), and writing wasn't giving him the same satisfaction it had before. When he was younger he could escape into fantasy worlds, could create places where nothing was wrong and everything went according to plans that only he made. But now he found himself staring at a blank piece of paper, wishing for Atticus to save him from his boredom.

Music, though, was universal. There were studies and experiments and hundreds of scientists saying it spoke to the basest instincts, and what else could override his depression? But the moment he approached the music room, he froze. There was someone there, a girl- a ghost girl? She was partially transparent, but the supernatural thought only lingered for a moment. He'd been at Stone Brook long enough to attribute it to her powers, whatever they might be. Then he saw her look up. He backpedaled instantly and ran for the classroom next door. Once inside, though, he paused. Was it really that big of an issue? As long as she kept her distance...

Nathan sighed and emerged from the classroom, then knocked on the music room door. "Uh... can I come in?"

[Ainsley Cooper]

Zeke jumped back when he saw her. She looked down at her hands. No wonder! She was partly transparent! "Gah!" She said out loud, and worked herself back to fully there, fully corporeal. She opened the door, giving the rather cute boy a smile. "Um, yeah, sure... I was just working on my theory homework before practicing."

She stood awkwardly, wringing her hands, then brightened. "Oh! Oh, sorry! Maybe I shouldn't stand right in the door so you can't get in." She laughed. "I'm so dumb." She stepped over allowing him access to the room.

"I'm sorry if I scared you in the window.... I didn't realize I had faded... " She blushed slightly, looking down at her feet. Her lips were parted, showing off the gap in her two front teeth. "I'm Zeke." She said, smiling up at him, she bit her lip slightly and "So what're you doing in the music room?" Zeke asked him. Meeting people was always weird, she hoped he liked her, she hoped he'd stick around. She shuffled her feet and went to her desk and sat down. "Not many people come here after hours."

[Nathan Stone]

The girl smiled and opened the door. Nathan returned the smile somewhat awkwardly, his arms folded defensively over his chest as he watched her. There was no way for him to get into the room without touching her. Now she was fully solid, clearly not a ghost, and she was taking up most of the doorway. He remained silent. The last person he'd directly told about his fear was Kayne, and that hadn't ended well.

Finally she moved on her own, rather cheerfully, he thought. Good. His smile strengthened a bit and he stepped past her into the room, shoving his hands in his pockets as he went. Maybe this girl was someone who understood his concerns about space, albeit for different reasons. If she could fade in and out like that, maybe it hurt to be touched when she was only half-there. Maybe she was just shy. Maybe... though he didn't dare hope... she was like him.

"Uh, no, it's fine. It wasn't you. I mean, not- not you not being there." Nathan stammered a bit, fumbling over his words, then sighed. "I just didn't expect there to be anyone here, half-visible or not. It's usually pretty quiet." He took a seat in one of the chairs near the back of the room. "I'm Nathan. I was just... wandering. Thinking."

[Ainsley Cooper]

He was a little awkward and that made her more awkward in turn. Zeke was fading back into a vague transparent. She was painfully shy, but wanted the social interaction, wanted to be apart of something. She forced her self back into fully there once again. Her power was greatly linked with her feelings and she had been working really hard to control the powers.

She shuffled her feet under her desk. "I usually hang around in the music rooms, but I'm not always visible..." She explained, licking her lips. "I find my power hard to control... So I'm usually invisible." Zeke was easily embarrassed, easily put down and when ever that happened, she usually went invisible, but she was getting better at not doing it. "But I'm getting better at not being invisible." Her voice was lower for a girl, androgynous. "What's your power?" she asked softly.

She was dressed in a baggy purple sweater and pair of black skinny jeans, further making her gender ambiguous. Zeke found most things around gender to be scary and avoided the topic at all cost. Up until the summer, Zeke had identified as male, but now, being intersex, puberty seemed to have another idea and Zeke was taking on more feminine traits: Breasts, hips, fuller lips, etc. It was awkward. Zeke smiled at the boy softly. "What were you thinking about?"

[Nathan Stone]

"...oh." She was usually invisible? He didn't usually venture down to the music room, but the thought of invisible students roaming the halls had never occurred to him. He was tempted to return to his dorm room just for that thought, but he knew if he did that he wouldn't come out until he'd devised some way to detect invisible people around him. He had to be safe, completely touch-proof, before he could wander around the school.

But for now he forced himself to remain still. Running out of the room would give a bad impression, and he'd already made enough of those to last him his entire time at Stone Brook. Speaking of bad impressions, the next thing she asked about was his power. He hesitated to answer, but before he could, she'd moved on to asking what he was thinking about. Saved by the impatience.

"I don't know." He shrugged and looked down at the desk. "...things, I guess. Graduating. What I'll do after this. I mean, we can't stay cooped up with our own kind forever."

[Ainsley Cooper]

Zeke's hair was nearly standing on end. She could tell she was making the boy uncomfortable, and she felt bad. She didn't like making people uncomfortable, it made her feel bad. She played with a piece of her hair absently, then the hand moved to tug lightly on the ring hanging from her septum. "Yeah, I've still got two years here before I have to worry. I'm hoping that my powers will... Stabilize and I can go to College or something..."

She smiled slightly, weakly, her hands now twisting around each other anxiously. "Maybe I'll take hair dressing... I cut and dye my own hair." Zeke said proudly. "It's one thing I'm good at. Essentially, as soon as I'm outta here, I'm ready to forget I have powers at all."

"I want to live a normal life..." What was normal? She wasn't sure, but she would have rather gone to a regular high school, one where everyone didn't have super powers and the like. She would rather not have powers. It just added a whole new level of complicated to her life. She sighed slightly. "Some times I wish my powers would go away."

[Nathan Stone]

Nathan nodded along as she spoke. He could see himself in the same position. Once he was out of Stone Brook, where the fact that he had powers was shoved down his throat every hour, he would happily forget he'd ever been cursed with them. It wasn't like he ever used them; in fact, he'd gone out of his way to keep them sealed inside since his last run-in with Kayne.

"Yeah..." He stared down at the desk. Her wish reminded him of the third X-Men movie; it wasn't his favorite, but it did mean something to him. What if it really was a genetic issue, something that could be solved with science? There was no explanation for what he could do or why he did it, but if they could figure out what caused it...

"Hey... um... I know this is personal... but if they made a cure, would you take it?" He looked up at her. She was one of the only students he'd met who seemed to hate their powers as much as he did. Nathan wasn't sure of his own response, but he was leaning towards a strong "yes".

[Ainsley Cooper]

Something she said must of clicked with him, because suddenly, things didn't feel so awkward anymore. She felt her heart flutter, she hadn't expected him to warm up to her. At first, he didn't seem like he would even stick around to chat for a bit. Her hand went up once again, worrying at the ring through her nose. She moved it back and forth through the hole. It was a bit of a nervous habit.

She sighed. "I dunno, it comes in handy sometimes..." She said quietly, she sat down on one of the desks, dangling her legs off the side. "But... I didn't used to like it, I would... I was..." She paused, trying to collect her thoughts, there was a pained expression on Zeke's face as this happened. "I was shy and I would disappear. I felt like no one could see me, and then no one could... It was hard, and scary, I have enough problems already without my stupid powers!" She exclaimed, voice loud. Zeke cupped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry... I didn't mean to get... worked up." The girl took a breath.

"It's just... I don't know if I would give them up now that I now how to control them better, yeah?" It was a question. "I mean, if I get back into the real world, no one has to know and I wouldn't use it around anyone... Unless maybe, they loved me for who I am." She bit her lip, and looked away, wiping under her eyes.

"I'm sorry... I guess, I dunno, you hit a sore note." She muttered, not looking at him as her eyes teared up again. "I just have other... things to judge someone with before telling them about my power... But two things? Maybe that's too much for anyone to love me. Maybe if I got rid of one or the other..." She was vague, not getting into her second, probably more complicated second secret. "Like, if I wasn't a freak with powers... Someone... you know, I'd fall in love or something."

[Nathan Stone]

He listened in silence, frozen to the desk, a statue with nothing but ears. She seemed instantly passionate, overwhelmed by emotions that he had no hope to understand. Nathan had always been something of a loner because to his aversion to touch, but he still longed for some sort of emotional connection. Atticus had been his only source of that, and after his death, there was nothing that made life worth living. Even his return could alleviate only some of the loneliness and sorrow that nested in him.

He listened carefully, taking in each detail of her speech. He had an unfortunate knack for making enemies, and it was better to have ammunition against anyone who could turn. But this girl's "second secret" seemed too personal to risk asking. He didn't want to make an enemy where there wasn't one already.

"There are other freaks to love," he quietly. "You're not the only one. There are thousands of us floating around out there. We're only here because we stick out. We can't control it. Look at me. There's nothing wrong, is there? Nothing visible. I don't have wings or a tail or purple skin. If I could control it, they wouldn't think I was a freak. But you said you can. Why don't you try again?" Normally Nathan was far from inspirational, but today he spoke as the thoughts came to him. "If you can hide it, you can belong."