Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Sept 29, 2018 20:33:51 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Sept 29, 2018 20:33:51 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Ed was a bit baffled when Keke shot him a rather overwhelming smile, blinking slowly as he realised she was now saying words. He tried to focus on them, rather regretting not tuning into the sentence at an earlier point. He could only deride that it was something about the petition and his offer of assistance – acceptance, it seemed? Which was great, he was very very pleased to have the opportunity to help out a new friend.
“Of course, just send me a text when and where,” he said keenly. He hoped whatever he was agreeing to was good. Nothing bad could come out of that smile, right?
She seemed satisfied by his admission to past edginess, although it was heavily implied that she’d try to pull some juicier secrets out of him over time. Ed was perfectly happy with that so long as it didn’t jeopardise his position here at EMBA – it would be rather unfortunate to get sent back to the hostile environment for metahumans that was his home country.
Melody was eager to prove herself as a tough kid – dismissing his jokes swiftly. As much as the pair got along reasonably well, Ed was still adjusting to her blunt nature and adjusting his banter accordingly. So far, so good. She’d managed to make detention fun, after all – a solid quality in a newfound friend.
He didn’t really appreciate the weird looks and suggestive tones of voice that were creeping in on her part, but if she’d managed to convince herself that there was something going on then so be it. Obviously there wasn’t anything going on. Between Ed and Keke? He glanced up at the technopath. No, no, she was just smart and pretty – why wouldn’t he want to spend more time with her as a friend?
“Plan seems solid so far,” he confirmed with a grin. “And I know it’s a metahuman school but, honestly, I doubt the security will be too much of an issue. I think they’re relying more on the fact that we’re out here in the middle of nowhere than on any crazy security systems. You’ve got this in the bag.”
Ed rapped his knuckles on the table. Touch wood.
“Enjoy your maths lesson, hope it’s not too brutal.” Not that he imagined either of them had too much trouble when it came to the actual work. Melody definitely knew what she was doing in science and, despite her sarcasm, probably found maths a breeze compared to Ed. Being good at the subject tended to make it more tolerable, even if it was maths of all things.
“See you later, pizza squad,” he added quietly, just in case anyone happened to be eavesdropping. The grin on his face said it all – he was definitely looking forward to a gentle evening's rebellion.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Sept 8, 2018 10:30:46 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Sept 8, 2018 10:30:46 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Ed was visibly impressed that Melody’s magic eyes apparently had a third, as of yet unrevealed, setting. It seemed that she had a fair degree of control over which aspect of her power she could use, but Ed could see that it wasn’t quite as simply as quickly switching in and out of the various options. He supposed the third setting would be revealed in time – Melody seemed the type to enjoy showing off every now and then.
They completed their punishment far more swiftly than the teacher had probably been anticipating. It helped that the two had managed to find a way for their powers to combine extremely effectively for the task at hand. If Ed had been feeling generous, which he wasn’t particularly at this moment in time, he might have praised the teacher for the unintentional but highly effective lesson in team-work. As it was, he was still annoyed to even have to be here in the first place, so he wasn’t giving his teacher any credit at all.
Ed couldn’t help but look faintly smug as the teacher inspected the clear room, a small frown of disbelief evident on the man’s face. He kept his word however, allowing them their early freedom.
Melody seemed positively buoyant about the whole experience.
“It was, yeah. I’m not keen to do it again, though,” he mused. “Maybe hold back on exploding any more test tubes, yeah?”
They headed down the corridor, not towards the dormitories or the canteen, but to a door leading outside. The weather looked suitably gloomy when Ed glanced out the window, but nothing too sinister. A torrential downpour didn’t seem imminent, at least.
His eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and delight as Melody produced a packet of cigarettes from her pocket. “Oh fuck yes, how did you sneak these in here? I haven’t had one in ages.” He didn’t even pretend to hesitate before whipping one out of the pack. “One of the many drawbacks of being in the complete middle of nowhere. I was starting to think I’d have to scout out a rebellious staff member to feed the habit.”
Ed was exaggerating his smoking tendencies slightly, but he couldn’t deny that it had been on his mind on and off during his time here. In between landing him in detention and supplying him with cigarettes, Melody was starting to take shape as the very welcome devil on his shoulder – which Ed was perfectly content with.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Sept 5, 2018 18:01:31 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Sept 5, 2018 18:01:31 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]An online petition in the face of enforced physical activity was the perfect example of millennial student democracy. It was funny, Ed had never been involved in the goings-on of the school curriculum back in the UK, but apparently now that he was on American soil he was some kind of budding revolutionist. It could have had something to do with impressing his new, very beautiful friend, but Ed liked to think that maybe it was a sign of him starting to settle into his new home and make it his own. Or perhaps a bit of both.
“If you need some help putting it together, sign me up,” he said cheerfully. As though he had any experience in the matter.
Keke’s reply to his text message took a sudden turn, now demanding secrets from him. He struggled to keep the mildly panicked expression from his face, taking a half-second to smooth it over with his best challenging grin as he racked his brains for a secret that wasn’t ‘I was covertly rushed out of my home country thanks to my links with the Families to avoid persecution when my powers recently developed, having known about their existence my entire life’.
“Hmm.” He glanced to Melody, as though that would inspire him somehow, but was instead taken aback by the shit-eating grin on her face. What was that about?
Okay, something mundane. Got it! I used to have my ear pierced. You can still see the hole if you look closely. He pressed send and looked up at Keke, waiting to see if that was an acceptably interesting secret to offer. Remnants of your “edgy” phase at 14 were a great secret in Ed’s book.
Melody wasn’t overly excited about the prospect of Hawaiian – but at least she didn’t actively object to it. “Of course you would like a bit of heat, laser eyes,” Ed teased, not surprised in the slightest that she preferred a some kick to her pizza.
“Three pizzas sounds great,” he said in agreement, practically salivating at the prospect as though he hadn’t literally just finished his lunch. “At least you don’t have to worry about Melody stealing yours, Keke.”
There was a delightful sparkle in Keke’s eyes as she considered the school security system.
“You don’t have to worry about me sneaking past anyone,” Ed declared. “Being able to hover off the ground makes for veryyy quieeet footsteps.” He beamed proudly.
He nodded sadly at Melody’s grimace, also apparently not a fan of history. “Still rather that than maths. My condolences, ladies.”
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Aug 27, 2018 15:06:28 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Aug 27, 2018 15:06:28 GMT
| @kivachriston | 443 words | [attr="class","edreynolds"]A notice had been set out with fantastic news – ballet uniforms wouldn’t be ready yet for the next close, so they could wear what they wanted. Well, technically, it said they should wear comfortable and appropriate clothing for ballet class, but who cared about technicalities? Anyway, besides his pyjama bottoms, Ed didn’t quite have any trousers that fit Madam Kia’s bill, so he just selected his comfiest and most moveable pair of jeans. They were black so they could almost be mistaken for appropriate attire, if you were squinting.
Ed wasn’t exactly thinking about what footwear would be appropriate to dance in but, remembering Keke’s chunky boots from the last class with a wry smile, he’d selected his own pair of mildly battered Dr Martens. In his defence, he was so used to wearing them that they were both comfy and easy to move in, but maybe not quite what his teacher had had in mind when she stipulated “clean non-marring footwear”.
Oh well.
He made half-hearted attempts to warm up for the class whenever Madam Kia looked his way, mostly focusing all his efforts on making his closest peers laugh at whatever weird pose he could come up with next to pass off as a “stretch”. He was never going to be on Ivy’s level – none of them were – so he might as well have a bit of fun with it.
If Ivy could see his attempts, he was sure she’d be laughing. She’d witnessed his attempts at a backbend, after all. He could only hope that her roommate was also laughing – with, not at, him.
They were then sent to the corner of the room – Melody managing to pull herself away from slumping against one wall to slump against another – to watch each other dance. Without music? What? Ed quickly followed Melody’s lead in hiding at the back of the group.
She leaned towards him, echoing his thoughts in a low murmur. “Does she really expect us to just dance randomly with no music or training?” he hissed back incredulously. Ed shook his head at the whole situation, wondering where their teacher’s high expectations had come from. “She did say ‘whatever dance we want’, what happens if what I want is nothing? Can I sit out?”
Certainly there was no way he could come up with something for a whole three minutes but – if forced – Ed was just going to spin around in circles for a bit with his arms stretched wide and the most serious expression he could manage. Maybe he’d even start flying for good measure.
He waited with interest to see who the first victi- volunteer would be.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Aug 15, 2018 23:05:06 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Aug 15, 2018 23:05:06 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Keke was completely in agreement with his outlook on ballet classes. “An elective, yeah, that’s a thing! Right?” Ed wasn’t exactly knowledgeable when it came to the American education system, but he wasn’t so thick as to be unable to deduce the optional nature of an ‘elective’. “You could set one up and then broadcast it to everyone’s phones – we’d have a full house in minutes,” he said excitedly, exaggerating somewhat in his eagerness.
He shrugged at Keke’s naïve confusion that not everybody had a gold credit card. “My parents have made sure I’ve got enough to survive, but I don’t think I’ve ever even seen one of those in real life.” Ed laughed, trying to dispel any tension that would arise from Keke thinking he was jealous. “It’s fantastic that you have one! We’ll keep your secret,” he added, nudging Melody conspiratorially.
It was incredible to watch Keke’s power in action – he’d never met a technopath himself – and his delight was clear on his face. Members of the Families were surprisingly few and far between, especially in the UK, so he just hadn’t had the opportunity to encounter someone with Keke’s power. There was a light thrill that started in his stomach and twisted up softly into his chest as he read the text message before quickly saving the number into his contacts.
Melody obviously had no shame in reading over his shoulder.
“You’re such a wimp, what’s wrong with mushrooms?” he teased her, before turning back to his phone and sending a quick reply. He spoke aloud as his fingers flew across the keyboard – his speed not quite matching the instant nature of Keke’s ability.
I’m a big Hawaiian fan, but that’s not everyone’s cup of tea ☕ Meat feast is always a good shout!
He looked up at both girls, seeking their approval in his taste in pizza.
Keke’s ballet studio idea was so inspirational and so perfect that Ed half-rose from his chair, gasping in over-enthusiastic joy. “YES we have to go there, it’ll drive her mad and she’ll have no idea!”
Melody’s question brought him back to earth as he pondered his timetable. “I don’t think so… I think I might have history of some kind.” He pulled a face. “I think it’s US History though because in my last lesson I had absolutely no clue what was going on.”
It wasn’t Ed’s fault – he hadn’t even taken GCSE History, so he was playing a lot of catch-up. Unfortunately for Ed’s grades, he wasn’t exactly in the mood to exert the effort required to achieve said catch-up, so he would remain confused and silent in the back of every class until he inevitably failed his way out. Or passed by some multiple-choice miracle, he supposed. Stranger things had happened.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Post by Ed Reynolds on Aug 9, 2018 15:45:28 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Ed grinned broadly at Melody’s low-key praise. He’d take “kinda cool”, especially from somebody whose eyes could fire laser beams. Especially from somebody who gave Ed the impression of not handing out praise to her peers particularly often (if at all). He moved to another section of the room to continue forcing bits of glass towards the vague centre of the room when Melody stopped him, closing her eyes for a moment.
He was a little confused, but too intrigued to say anything to break the awkward silence. Ed didn’t think Melody was the type for thinking-time when it came to plans, more of a roll-with-the-punches kind of a girl, but maybe this was like in the movies when a super genius started seeing numbers scrolling wildly around their head while they concocted a brilliant plan.
Then her eyes opened, and Ed noticed that the golden blaze of amber had faded away entirely to silvery crescent moons, just as they had earlier. Melody hadn’t had the chance to explain the shift earlier but, now that he’d seen it happen twice, Ed was even more intrigued by her power set. If sunshine eyes equalled lasers, what did moons bring to the table?
“That’s so cool,” he declared, upping her “kinda”. Before he could ask the purpose, Melody had set to work forming some kind of weird, force-field arrangement, perhaps? It was hard to tell but, as he did what he was told, it certainly seemed to be the case.
Instead of spraying haphazardly in the general direction of the middle, the glass shards funnelled neatly into one smaller pile. Ed’s eyes lit up.
“Oh mate, we are going to be done in no time,” he announced delightedly, immediately moving on to the next area of glass to ‘sweep’. “You’re a right box of tricks, aren’t you? Any other eye colours I should watch out for?”
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Jul 27, 2018 19:25:38 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 27, 2018 19:25:38 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]There was definitely an anti-ballet agenda beginning to brew at the table. “I’m gonna try my best to just have a laugh with it but, just saying, if someone started a petition to make ballet classes optional I’d definitely sign and then never set foot in that studio again.”
It was true – as humiliating and torturous as the whole experience had been to Ed, he’d managed a few moments of laughter through it and that was how he planned to continue to endure the classes. People like Ivy may genuinely enjoy it for the dancing, but Ed was going to have to make do with clowning his way through.
Eyes still wide, Ed listened intently as Keke went into more detail about her power. She seemed very happy to talk at length about it, a smile lighting her features delightfully as she spoke. Ed hung onto every word. “That’s mad! You could just send people texts with your mind.” He scrambled for his phone. “Go on, try me. I’ll give you my number.”
The ploy was agonisingly transparent and yet… Ed managed to convince himself that he was just being fun and friendly with a new acquaintance. Was it a crime to exchange phone numbers? Please.
He laughed heartily at the idea of the two of them colliding with Melody – that definitely needed to happen eventually.
Suddenly a gold credit card entered the equation, and Ed joined Melody in staring in surprise at the sight of it.
“Okay, yeah, no, honestly – this midnight feast definitely needs to happen.” Now that he’d seen the means of payment, it had been upgraded from a snack in his mind. “And if I don’t demolish everything then… yeah, I suppose we could have the rest for breakfast.” Ed laughed. “We should sneak out with it somewhere so nobody grasses. Might be risky bringing it into the boarding house.”
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Jul 22, 2018 16:59:15 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 22, 2018 16:59:15 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Not really sure where to start, Ed followed Melody in grabbing a brush, noting the sadistically small size of them. He raked his fingers through the bristles for a moment – pausing mid-scratch to let out a sudden, harsh burst of laughter at the resentful comment Melody had just made.
“You know, I was literally just thinking that only a sadist would give us brushes these small. Might as well have just brought my toothbrush along if I knew this is what he’d give us.” Ed help the offending brush aloft, spinning it in the air as he surveyed the scene of broken glass and spilt chemicals.
Melody began where you always had to start in situations like this – anywhere. Ed also selected a random spot at the edge of the carnage, following her lead in trying to coax the tiny shards towards the middle of the room. They were about as stubborn and defiant as Melody herself, which was a layer of irony to the punishment which the teacher probably hadn’t considered but was poetic nonetheless.
“I know… there’s so much I’d rather be doing,” Ed grumbled, neglecting to mention the fact that he’d probably have just been sat in his room on either his laptop or guitar doing nothing at all productive. “We didn’t even get to do the experiment in the end anyway.”
He was starting to tap out a rhythm with his brush-sweeping – doing literally anything to make the task more enjoyable.
“Unfortunately, Melody, my Henry Hoover power is only activated under the full moon,” he quipped, beginning to enjoy the rather complex beat he was producing. “Hey! You stopped brushing! Don’t tell me you’re going to try and laser eyes this situation too.”
He paused suddenly, a dash of inspiration coming to him as he thought of Melody’s power and then his own in turn. Ed dropped the brush suddenly and placed his hands on the floor, wrists together and palms facing towards the centre of the room. “Apologies if this goes very wrong,” he said, more as an after-thought than as a genuine warning or apology. With that, he concentrated in pushing the shards away with his power, watching in satisfaction as every piece of glass immediately before him was shoved a few feet closer to the centre of the room.
“Maybe this won’t take us so long after all…” he said quietly, just in case the teacher overheard.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Jul 19, 2018 15:42:48 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 19, 2018 15:42:48 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]There was a brief pause for thought as Keke considered Melody’s question about her power, buying time with her chicken nugget. When she finally spoke, she revealed it to be something Ed hadn’t remotely expected. Not snot manipulation but the ability to communicate with electronics! The scope of the power was vast and exciting, and Ed didn’t even try to hide his enthusiasm.
“That sounds great fun! You’re like a walking console command box,” he added with wide eyes, wondering if she could help him unlock achievements. “What… what exactly have you made electronics do?” There were so many possibilities that his imagination couldn’t even start to hone in on anything.
He looked away with a rather bashful grin as she announced that’d pay to see him in a tutu. “That can be arranged,” Ed declared quietly, still rather sure that he’d beg Melody to burn the thing off him the second it was in place.
No, he couldn’t imagine flying off with a mermaid in the middle of a crowded canteen escaped people’s notice, especially once the clatter of the fully-loaded tray against the ground had successfully drawn everyone’s attention. “Let’s try not to pair up in ballet then,” he said to Keke with a laugh. “We’d trip each other up instantly and Melody would kill herself laughing so hard.”
He cast Keke an apologetic look for not being Hugh Grant, hoping that Ed Reynolds would suffice.
“I know, troublemaker,” Ed chuckled, not quite managing to dodge Melody’s punch. “That’s what I said – no Bunsen burner, so you had to improvise or we’d have been stuck watching the others. And you’d have hated that ’cause they’d have probably done it wrong,” he pointed out. He didn’t know Melody too well just yet, but he’d definitely figured out that she was a smart, smart cookie.
Melody had a point about the school food. While it was definitely better than the canteen grub he was used to, it still wasn’t anything special (except the pizza, that was pretty nice) and he could definitely get behind her longings for a takeaway. “Order some out here?” he queried, following her gaze to the rainy scene outside. “I had the impression that we were in the middle of nowhere, but I guess civilisation – and pizza – has got to be out there somewhere…”
He pondered, mouthful of chips. “Midnight snack? I guess I could try and fly out to the nearest place somewhere’ll deliver to and see if we can get some cheesy goodness…” The plan was half-formed in his head, and not a particularly good one, but it was the best he could come up with at present.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Jul 15, 2018 18:16:33 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 15, 2018 18:16:33 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Ed’s laser eyes comment had certainly caught Keke’s attention and Melody quickly explained herself in a rather vague way. “They change colour too,” he said enthusiastically. “Never seen anything like it.”
Not that Ed had seen many powers of course because he was just an average metahuman boy who had also developed his powers as a result of the Event in a sudden shock twist at the revelation that metahumans did in fact exist. Nothing to see here… Just in case a telepath happened to be eavesdropping.
He tilted his head with interest as Melody directed the conversation towards Keke’s own powers. You could never really tell just from looking at somebody… unless it was a physiology-based ability, and even then it might be well hidden. He didn’t want to formulate a guess, just in case it was offensively wrong. Maybe it was something really gross, like snot manipulation. That could probably help him be less distracted by her cuteness.
Not that he was, anyway, obviously.
“Yeah the jeans are… not exactly purpose-built for ballet,” he said with a grin as Melody threatened him with the prospect of a tutu, causing Keke to burst into giggles. “What, you don’t think I could pull off a tutu?” He winked – inwardly picturing it and hoping to god that he’d never have to wear one. He joined the girls in disgust at the thought of the stereotypical ballerina’s bruised and bloody feet. “I bet Madam Kia’s got a well weird pair of feet,” he contributed with a snigger.
Apparently Keke had heard about him from Ivy after all. “Oh, good, glad I’m that Ed,” he said jovially. “I’m trying not to make a habit of being horrifically uncoordinated but between chucking Ivy’s drink all over her and that abysmal excuse for ballet… not working too well for me!” He chuckled good-humouredly.
All the talk about ripping off panties and bringing boys back to their rooms was making Ed feel a little warm, especially with Keke sat there. Not for any particular reason, but her presence in that context definitely made him feel more embarrassed about the subject than usual. Maybe it was because she seemed too sweet and nice to be discussing such things, causing a gentle blush in her cheeks. Or maybe it was the way she’d glanced at him when Melody had brought it up.
And the accent thing? Was Keke implying that Ivy liked it, or did she like it too? It felt awkward and desperate to question it, so he left it mostly unaddressed. “Ah, yeah, well we can’t all be Hugh Grant unfortunately.” He was pretty sure that was the British actor his mum liked.
He cast Melody a scornful look. “And no, I don’t get around – I’m saving myself for the day Beyonce leaves Jay-Z,” he added jokingly. Semi-jokingly.
He grinned happily at the playful arch of Keke’s brow, amused that there would even be anything at all about Keke on the dark web. Clearly she had a solid sense of humour – or some dark secrets. “Trust me – I’m Melody’s lab partner and she is definitely a trouble maker. But also, our science teacher is definitely an idiot. We didn’t have a Bunsen burner so… she had to improvise.”
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Jul 12, 2018 18:41:02 GMT
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 12, 2018 18:41:02 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Melody had the confidence to treat their teacher in the way Ed had wanted to treat him. He showed his comradery by grinning delightedly at her when the teacher wasn’t looking before joining her in staring at the floor as the teacher declared their punishment. Just great – Ed’s crime had been innocent amusement at an undeniably funny moment. What else was he meant to have done? Scolded his lab partner for improper power use? Ed was just happy to be in a country where powers could be freely used like that.
He’d spent his next lesson doing his best to give the illusion of productivity. Fortunately Melody wasn’t there to land him in any more trouble and he just about made it to the end of the lesson intact. It helped that the content was relatively simple, so he was at least able to answer questions when called upon. Ed might well be a lazy student, but he wasn’t entirely stupid.
Or so he liked to think, anyway.
The lesson ended early, leaving Ed to loiter outside the science lab with levels of boredom that surely constituted child cruelty. Eventually his science teacher appeared, looking just as enthusiastic to be there as Ed, and wordlessly let him into the room – pointing to a stool.
Ed leaned against it, dumping his bag on the seat instead in a small act of defiance. The teacher raised his eyebrows, but the bags under his eyes were a fair explanation for his decision not to say anything further. They stood across from each other – the silent wait an agonising punishment in itself.
“If she’s not here in five minutes, can I leave?”
“…I’m not going to dignify that with a response, Ed.”
Technically, that’s a response, Ed thought to himself.
Melody eventually arrived – clearly beyond the two minutes that their teacher had allowed them. She didn’t seem overly apologetic about that fact.
“So… We’re here,” Ed pointed out, side-stepping the teacher’s sarcastic greeting for his lab partner. “You want us to clean, yeah?”
The teacher indicated a couple of dustpans and brushes, some other cleaning equipment contained in a bucket nearby. “You will clean up the mess you made. I’ll be in the office.” The office door connected directly to the lab itself, so this was not quite the Get out of Jail Free card that it seemed. “It is up to you how much of your own time you choose to waste.”
Ed eyed that lab. There was glass… everywhere. This wasn’t just a quick sweep and go. Ugh, why couldn’t he have developed vacuum physiology?
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 9, 2018 18:02:25 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]He could believe entirely that Melody would indeed try to fight the poor sod who tried to put her in a tutu. Ed couldn’t even imagine her acquiescing to a leotard and tights. “I reckon the first tutu that has the misfortune of getting anywhere near you is getting burnt to a crisp before you can even finish saying ‘laser eyes.’” Ed grinned – he’d pay money to see the look on Madam Kia’s face after that.
Keke was less aggressive in her dislike for the class but she also seemed to have a bone to pick with the clothing they were going to be required to wear. It seemed that she didn’t share her roommate’s enthusiasm for skin-tight dancing attire – the white, heavy-looking Doc Marten’s were a far cry from Ivy’s leotard and leg warmers combo.
“I get the impression sitting out isn’t much of an option at this school…” Ed said sadly. He would also have loved to just take a fail rather than have to prance around a ballet studio, but there wasn’t really anywhere you could hide when it came to bunking off lessons unless you ran away to get lost in the woods somewhere. Which, tempting, but no. “She should at least let us wear our own clothes – it’s not like we’re training to be professionals. And you looked great in those boots!”
He thought a ballerina in Docs had a certain charm to it… though he was sure Madam Kia wasn’t exactly in agreement with him on that one. She seemed to have her own ideas on how things should be done and was not about to budge on it.
Melody’s surprise had Ed flushing in embarrassment, worried he’d gotten the name wrong. He was sure that’s what Ivy had said after he’d inquired about how meeting the new roomie had gone. It had been a quick conversation though, maybe he’d misheard. The horror! Keke – or Keaira, rather – quickly cleared it up however. “Keaira, huh, nice,” he echoed, smiling around the name.
Was he well acquainted with Ivy? “Oh, er, not hugely. I just made a rather fantastic first impression on her by turning her into a mermaid in the middle of the canteen. Spilled her drink,” he explained hastily.
The look on Melody’s face was concerning in a way he couldn’t quite place – it was definitely pretty mischievous. It didn’t help that Keke decided to join her, leaving Ed feeling like he was being accused of stalking the poor girl.
“What!? No, allow it! I… ‘So much’ is definitely an exaggeration,” he protested. “I caught Ivy in the corridor and she said she’d finally met Keke and that she was really nice, that’s all. I just know your name and face, I promise.” Ed ran his fingers through his hair, feeling on the spot until inspiration hit. “Oh… and all your deepest darkest secrets, obviously, but only what came up from a quick trawl through the dark web.”
He grinned.
“It’s not me you have to worry about anyway. It’s her – she’s already landed me in one detention so far.” He pointed at Melody accusingly, his tone highly suggestive that it would not be the last. Which, in all honesty, was a pretty fair assessment.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
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Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 8, 2018 16:00:27 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]Having swiftly left the ballet studio without so much as another word to his fellow classmates for fear of mockery, Ed had made a beeline for the canteen to comfort-eat his ballet troubles away. He couldn’t figure out if the classes would be made better or worse once their uniforms arrived; he supposed at least he’d be able to move more freely in whatever atrocity they ended up with. Or maybe it wouldn’t even be that bad… he was just being dramatic.
One of the first to arrive at the canteen, Ed managed to pleadingly extract an extra generous helping of chicken nuggets from the dinner lady, despite her apparent lack of sympathy that he’d just been subjected to one whole ballet lesson. It was probably just to shut him up and keep the queue moving – it’s not like the nuggets actually contained any chicken anyway, right? He tried not to think about it.
Parking himself at one of the smaller tables by the windows, Ed began happily eating his lunch alone. It wasn’t that he was feeling particularly anti-social – and people were welcome to join him – but he was also quite happy just overloading on chicken nuggets and staring out of the window at the rain that was starting to fall. As usual.
Although Ed had initially been concerned about running into Melody, certain that she’d have something dry and witty to say about his dancing feet, he still smiled up at her when he saw her enter the canteen. They’d bonded somewhat since Melody’s antics in science had landed them both in trouble and it could certainly never hurt to be friends with someone who could do your homework for you with their eyes closed. Not that Ed was going to suggest such a thing… Yet.
His smile broadened considerably, subconsciously, when he noticed who she was standing with in the queue. Ivy’s roommate just had this friendly vibe about her, he thought. And she really was quite cute – not that Ed was thinking about that at all, obviously. Just an observation.
He caught Melody’s eye and waved them over as they collected their dinners. “Well, that was torture,” he said with a laugh as they approached, safe in the assumption that neither of them had exactly enjoyed their ballet class either. “I can’t believe we have to do it all over again, too.” What kind of school made ballet compulsory? Were all American schools like this?
“Oh – and it’s Keke, yeah?” he added with a very happy grin. “Ivy’s roommate? Hi, I’m Ed.”
If Ed wasn’t so naturally cheery with his peers, one might accuse him of being overeager. They wouldn’t, of course. He was just being friendly to an admittedly very pretty girl, but that didn’t mean anything. So there.
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 4, 2018 19:54:53 GMT
| @ivyannnelson | 255 words | [attr="class","edreynolds"]Ed laughed. “Oi, you were the one talking about using a nappy, not me!”
He wondered if his comment about ‘taking the piss’ had become lost in translation, based on Ivy’s response. He still hadn’t been here long enough to adapt the way he spoke so it was entirely possible that she’d misunderstood him. Either that, or she’d been kidding the whole time and wasn’t actually going to contain herself in a cardboard box for 24 hours. She definitely seemed amused by his disgust, so maybe that was indeed the case. He could only hope.
Her alternative video idea seemed much more hygienic (depending on the state of the lake, he supposed, but it looked clean enough) so he encouraged that one a lot more.
“Yeah, I would definitely do that. So long as you’re okay with revealing your powers in a video, I guess. It would be a funny way to do it,” he added, beaming widely. Trying to actually do any contortionist stuff? Way out of his capabilities. But dumping somebody into a lake? That he could do.
They’d finally reached the boarding house which meant that Ed finally had to go to his next lesson. The temptation to just head back to his room and ignore the world for a bit was strong, but he managed to resist and waved Ivy off at the door.
“I hope you get to meet your room mate soon, I’m sure she’ll be great,” he assured her with a confident smile. “Anyway, yeah, see you later!”
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Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
ALIAS
Ed
CLASSIFICATION
Traveler
POWER
Gravity Manipulation
AGE
16
Student
|
Post by Ed Reynolds on Jul 4, 2018 11:20:46 GMT
[attr="class","edreynolds"]At Melody’s implication that Ed may very well be idiotic enough to take a swig from the test tube, he cast her a withering look. Sure, he might not have paid attention to a single second of the lesson so far – and thus had no clue what they were up to – and nor was he apparently some kind of child genius as Melody seemed to be, but he at least had the brain cells to recognise that drinking a mystery liquid from a chemistry experiment was ill-advised.
On reflection, the two of them could probably agree that using laser eyes as a makeshift replacement for a Bunsen burner was also ill-advised. So really, it was 1-0 to Melody when it came to moments of stupidity. He wasn’t complaining much, however, as it was mostly just really really funny and nobody had gotten hurt.
The teacher did not seem to share his point of view. The two of them were sent out immediately, Ed doing his best to conceal his amusement by stifling a giggle until they were safely out the door, to await their inevitable dressing-down.
Ed leaned up against the wall, his eyes sparkling with mischief as Melody spoke.
“It’s alright, I might be able to forgive you one day,” he declared theatrically. Then he laughed. “It was funny. Did you see the look on his face!? Surely he must’ve been expecting a few explosions when he signed up to teach at a school for people like us,” he pointed out, attempting to somehow pass the blame onto the teacher himself. “And anyway I- oh, hey, your eyes are different!”
Somehow, at some point, the golden flare of her iris had faded away to grey. Ed swore he could spy a crescent moon shape defined there but – before he could say any more – the classroom door opened.
“I don’t know what you were thinking, Melody,” the teacher scolded as he confronted the pair. “That could have had very serious consequences and I hope you realise that. As for you, Ed – this is no laughing matter and nothing to be encouraged.”
Ed did his best to look contrite but it was marred by the lingering grin on his face which the teacher took for defiance, along with Melody’s unapologetic scowl.
“Both of you need to apologise right now,” he continued, his frustration evident. “And you’ll be cleaning that mess up on your own time, understand?”
Eyebrows raising slightly, Ed was almost ready to argue back. It wasn’t even like he’d done anything wrong! Sure, he’d found the whole situation funny, but it wasn’t his fault Melody had decided to use her power. And it wasn’t her fault that they didn’t have the right equipment to do the experiment. So unfair!
Still… a quiet voice in his head reminded him of the need to keep his head down. Don’t go making a name for yourself, don’t draw any unnecessary attention. He could suck it up and force out an apology – no matter how insincere.
He didn’t quite meet the teacher in the eyes, but he did manage to mumble, “Yeah, sorry.” Whether Melody could manage that task remained to be seen.
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