Saint Joseph School

Pain troubled her. It was something to which she was growing accustomed, the various levels and types of pain, but it was not comfortable for her in any case. When it was someone she knew, the urgency jumped another notch. Selfish, perhaps, but she was only human (despite the rumors).

Kara quietly sat down in the quad on a bench near Brianna. She had, of course, had her differences with the blonde girl, but that did not matter that much. Kara said, “Hello, Bri,” and waited for a response. The comm was filled with the normal chatter from the school, and a few of her acquaintances cut through the buzz to say hello when she greeted them. Kara turned it down; she had other fish to fry.

“Kara...” said Brianna. She seemed to be at a loss as to how to continue.

“Are you all right?” Kara asked, knowing that she was not.

“Not really.”

“I thought not. I...do you need to talk to someone?”

“I don’t know. Why are you here?”

That was a question that Kara had been asking herself since she had sat down on the bench. The answer was as simple as to the question of why she put her neck on the line out in the city: who else? “You are upset. I thought I might be able to help.”

She wondered if Brianna was going to respond. Finally the girl said, “No kidding I’m upset. I was stupid and I thought he’d changed. In front of me!! In front of the whole damn school!!”

Kara nodded and said, “I am sorry...I wish there was some way I could help. Beyond talking, that is. You know what I mean.”

“Can you turn back time? Make it so I don’t fall for him? AGAIN!”

Kara thought of smoldering ruins and waking up in the hospital. She thought of the empty spot where her left arm had been, and the shattered ruin below her navel. “Of course not. I can help you talk through it, perhaps.” She took a breath and waded out into deeper water. “Surely...there are other options? Other boys?”

Brianna sighed and said, “You just don’t get it, Kara. I trusted him.”

“I know.” She really did know.

Brianna looked at her hands, which was sort of an improvement from staring off into space. “He was supposed to have changed. He promised me.”

Kara waded further. “Has he promised you this in the past?”

In Brianna’s eyes, a fin appeared in the water. The kind with teeth attached. “Yes. He has.”

The fire went out again. “He’s safe. I trusted him.”

“I cannot imagine.” Kara decided to brave the sharks. “What else is going on? Why is there fear?” Fear came in more than just one variety as well. This was cold and overpowering, and coming off Brianna in waves.

“I’m not scared,” Brianna said, wringing her hands. Kara reflected that even non-empaths would not have believed her.

“I do not believe you,” she said, just to make things clear. “But that is your business. I know you do not have any reason to open up to me.”

Brianna sighed. They were both doing a lot of that. “I’m just angry.”

And Kara was the Queen of England. Rather than pursue that line of thought, she said, “That is okay. But I hope you can open up to someone. I am available. And I do not blab.”

“Yeah. Sure. Poor pitiful Brianna.”

Kara was surprised by the sudden rush of anger that flooded through her. She jumped up and said, “No. Bullshit.”

Brianna said, “What?”

Kara was surprised by her words, also, but she bulled on through. “You are strong.”

Brianna laughed. “You don’t know me very well, Kara.”

“I know a little. You went through something terrible and you kept walking. Now you are going through something else terrible.” They both knew what she was talking about. Kara spoke more quickly. “I am sorry that you’ve been alone...I was hoping to lend a shoulder. Not a crutch.”

Brianna was silent again for a while, and Kara got ready to leave. She nearly missed it when Bri said, “I had Stephen before.”

Quite enough of this. “And now you do not. So what do you do?”

Bri smiled a little and said, “Freak out.”

Kara grabbed on to that. “Fine! Let’s freak out! Let’s go spray-paint some Hellions! Um...or something.”

Brianna’s shock overrode her self-pity, fear, and anger for a moment. “What?”

Kara was excited at the change. “Ha! See? Perhaps we can get a Lusca tattoo on our butts!”

Brianna’s silence spoke volumes. Kara said, “What I mean is, freak out if you have to freak out. But if you need help, then please, Bri...I am here for you. This is not pity.”

A sudden burst of chatter from the comm gave her another idea. “Actually...Stasis’s event might be just the thing.”

Brianna waved her hands. “Oh no. I can’t do another party.”

“Fair enough. But...something, Bri. I am serious, okay?” Kara did not want to lose momentum.

“Like what? I don’t freak out well. It usually involves a ton of ice cream followed by weeks of exercise.”

“Hmm. What is something you love to do? That takes you out of yourself? And does not involve a boyfriend. The hell with boyfriends, for now.” Sorry, Nigel, she thought.

“I don’t know. Cheerleading? Shopping?”

“Hmm. What do you shop for?”

“Clothes, jewelry, make-up. Cute stuff for my dorm room.”

“Have you ever gone bungee-jumping?”

The shift in gears worked perfectly. Brianna said, “Gone what? No.”

“Me either. Let us go find a place and do so.” Kara was aware that her methods of speaking were occasionally hilarious to others. All part of the plan. When Brianna just stared at her, Kara said, “It is something freaky that neither of us have ever done. Why not?”

Brianna said, “I...it...you’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope. Give me a good reason why not.”

“I...it’s...I just...”

“Come on, then.”

Brianna sighed. “What the hell?”

“Great! Come on, we need to find a phone book.”

Online, of course. Kara opened up her laptop and started typing. While she searched, Brianna said, “I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this.”

“It will be good for both of us. Ah. There. Urban Adventures, Inc. They are open for three more hours. Ready?”

“No?”

“Reservations made. Excellent! Onward!” Kara shut her laptop, jumped up, and led Bri to the nearest train.

"This is insane!" The wind pulled at Brianna's hair as her fingers clung tightly, white-knuckled to the railing. "Kara, I'm standing on top of a tower, looking over the edge... and seriously considering jumping off. This isn't the kind of thing people pay for. The police call in negotiators for this!" She peeked over the edge again before taking a deep breath and pulling back and shaking her head.

"It does defy logic," the small redhead next to her said. "But that is what makes it a good freakout. Am I right?"

Bri looked over at Kara, staring at her in disbelief for what must have been the twentieth time that day. "Spending too much on shoes is a good freakout. Eating an entire gallon of Ben & Jerry's is a good freak out. Hiding in my room watching sappy Meg Ryan movies for the next week! Those are good freak outs!" She looked down as the attendant secured the harness around her ankles and realized she was shaking.

She had been doing that a lot lately. Late at night, in her drom room. She was surprised Elly hadn't started any rumors about it. The crying, the restlessness. It just all seemed to be falling apart. Her entire life was unraveling before her eyes.

She had been preparing for her testimony at JD's trial ever since she'd pressed charges. The DA told her to brace herself, because the defense would most likely attack her character and her credibility. "That's how you win a rape case," he had said. "Make the victim look like she was asking for it." Bri had started shaking then too. But through it all, she had known that she would be able to walk into that courtroom and sit there, telling her story, right in front of her attacker, because Stephen and her father would be in the front row. There was no reason to be afraid. She'd be safe with her protector there.

Now she didn't even have that. She didn't know why she had thought he'd changed. After all, Stephen had never been even the least bit loyal. That was the in the reason they were "on again, off again". Stephen would screw up and get caught making out with some girl. Bri would yell and tell him never to talk to her again. Then a few weeks later, they'd be back together and the whole proccess would begin again. And every time, he had promised that he had made a mistake and it would never happen again. Bri didn't know if she had ever really believed him.

But this time... this time he was leaving. On his way to New York to learn the ropes of his father's company. There wouldn't be a next time. He wouldn't be around to apologize and take her back. It was for the best really. But Bri was still terrified. He was her shield against the world. And without him, she felt she might as well have been going into battle naked as vulnerable as she felt.

As she slipped her arms into the body harness and let the attendant strap her in as he droned on about the safety regulations and procedures, Bri mused that as people fell from this tower, the only thing on their minds must be the speed at which the ground was racing up to them. And the prayer that the cable didn't snap. The thrill of fear and the accompanying rush of adrenaline. The attendant glanced over at her, "You ready?" Bri shook her head. "Look all you have to do is go out to the edge and push off. It's easy and we've had thousands of people safely do this every year." He motioned for the edge as Bri stepped up past the railing. "Just close your eyes and let go."

So she did. And for a few moments, as the wind rushed past her ears and the ground raced up to meet her, Brianna Landers was free.