Saint Joseph School

It was Tuesday now, some time before morning classes . He lay there in a wing out to each side staring up at the ceiling, it wasn’t the most comfortable way to lay, but there was something about looking up that made him feel slightly at ease. Something about pointing towards the sky. His face would occasionally contort as he would think and try to rationalize what was going on.

Matt was just another human who fell for a stupid pair of wings and bright smile, he had told him before, its not worth it. He had told him before, everyone who does, they get hurt. Sure enough tonight, they stood their face to face, fighting over it. He had been here before, it was the start of the long unpleasant path to losing a friend. Part of him wished he could just show Matt the memories, of others standing not unlike, with mannerisms and tones, eerily similar to his own. Each time there was a different face, but the results seemed to always be the same.

Fear, concern? Probably a combination of the two. He turned to his side staring into the wall, curling up his arms and legs lowering his head slightly, it was times like these he missed home the most. Here, the friends they seemed, something about them seemed better, but home was more stable. It lacked this near constant struggle. He remembered talking to Sam about it, how some people want or think they need it to be a part of their life, something they share with others. It doesn’t matter what or who they have, you could have a hundred close friends, it still would be there, misery. Not because there is something wrong, but that they have grown accustom to the sensation, something about it appealed to them.

After watching the hellish life of drug addicts in health and what people would put themselves through for sensations, the whole notion seemed much more reasonable. Nova smiled through the dark thoughts, as he remembered talking to her by the pool so many months ago. He had spoken to others that if he could, he would take them to visit, in his mind though, it was Sam who could show up, and never skip a beat. It was probably that goofy smile she would get. Adam and Primere would roll their eyes and say “Well she isn’t a friend of Nova’s” Sam would show them how to skate, we would show her power ball, and it would just be fun.

His mind drifted entertaining the idea until it took him to sleep, unfortunately, it wasn’t more than an hour before the alarm went off. “Ugh” he called slamming it. Today might be a good day for detention, he thought to himself, and of course he was supposed to talk to someone about that picture at the prom too. Luckily in this state, he would at best give a dopey tired nod rather than a fight about the whole thing. With that he slid out of bed, onto his knees, laying his head on the mattress for just five more minutes.

((Edited to much better reflect the character of Gemini!))

Laying his head against the locker, he spun the lock missing that final number again, a small groan escaping as he tried it again. He didn’t even notice at first pulling out some books it floated down to the floor. There was that feeling again, that came with notes in lockers, stomach twisting in knots, sickness, color fading from his face. Had it really gotten this bad? The memories of his early days here on earth seeing a neatly folded piece of paper made him smile bright, perk up, and quickly tear it open to see what would be written inside.

He slowly reached down, ignoring his own exaggerated reaction and scooped it up, missing it the first time, managing on the second. Unfolding it slowly, eyes scanned the page. A small unconscious sigh escaped him as a slight smile came to his face, tucking away the paper. The bell rung for the second time, already missing the first class he made his way down through the hall.

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Gemini sat there calmly extending a hand to some papers in her desk. "Come in Nova."

He slowly made his way to a seat, sitting down hard, the weight of things different now, his eyes barely came to meet hers. She started to speak, her voice calm but stern.

"I know you weren't born here, on this world, but if you are going to live here, specifically on this campus there are rules you have to follow"

"I'm sorry I was late for class today" he apologized " I haven't been sleeping well since prom, stuff has happened, did you.. I mean, did they give you any..."

She nodded in response to the changes that had been documented. Most of the time he has been away from the crowds this week he had been tested and re tested to see more about him now that the energy presence was gone.

'I understand that, we will as always, do what we can to accommodate the transitions of students especially at times like this, but that isn't what I called you in here for." She carefully slid the prom photo across the desk to him. He leaned in to see, smiling a bit unconsciously at memory.

"I heard people were real upset by it, I even heard we were making out like all out you know in the back of..." she didn't look impressed by the rumor that had been circulating, but allowed him to continue. "It really had me bothered they didn't show the real picture, I mean I just kissed him on the cheek. Where I'm from... and well people were telling me outside of here, its pretty acceptable as like a um.. friendly gesture you know? Me and Matt are just friends, he is like my best friend. And he had such an awesome time, and it kinda seemed like a really nice thing to do to end the night. I mean I wasn't gonna really kiss him you know?"

She nodded quietly picking up the photo. "Nova, I know you are still adjusting, more so the the subtlety's of our race, and it is a lot to absorb, even over a year, but we at the school need to maintain a certain standard. While it may not have been romantic in nature, it appeared so by taking him to prom as your date, and ending the night with a kiss of sorts in the group photo. Boys involving themselves with boys is not something we endorse as we are a Catholic School."

Nova nodded as well "I understand, I'm sorry I ruined everyones picture like that, It wasn't Matt's fault though or anything you know? I asked him and I kissed him, and I made sure to tell him we were going as friends so he probably didn't expect that or nothing so you don't gotta..."

She cut him off, it wasn't in a sharp or rude manner, but it was something that needed to be addressed "I have already spoken with Mr. Lamport"

He slumped slightly in his chair and nodded again. "We just went to have fun s'all, we were gonna go alone, but this way we wouldn't end up standing by the drinks all night waitin for someone to dance"

She acknowledged his speech quietly "You should head back to class now, I have set up a meeting with Ms. Atwood to talk about your recent changes, it should be early next week."

Nova climbed slowly from his chair looking at the picture, then to Gemini, he wanted to ask for it, but could see their business was finished. Letting out a heavy sigh, he started to make his way out, not quite making it as his eyes darted out the window, inside his mind hearing a call "Come on, lets head out" Outside the window, perched with dark wings, Adam sat motioning him down.

His face brightened as picked up jogging out of the building, Adam landing beside him. "You look starved, and sick, and miserable, and have you slept? Lets go get some food" Nova rolled his eyes and smiled, he always knew just when to show up. Linking his arm over his younger brother's shoulder Adam let out a small laugh, it had been a while since he had heard it, but it was warmer then he remembered.

"We need to talk about a few things that have happened, but first, food, what do you feel like?" Adam looked over something on his mind, though his expression let him know this would not be another lecture.