Zoe Find's Story

Arian watched the couple performing some...activities. A confused smile washed over her face and she chuckled. It appeared Zara wasn't as horrible as she had imagined. Even the russian spy had a soft spot...Tugging on James, she wanted to step away though, and let the two finish whatever they were doing. Not to mention what a horror Zara could turn out to be.

Hearing more people behind her, she turned to see Zoe and Hallie join their little eavesdropping club. Arian listened to James talk and wondered how he got to be so humorous, she could never really think up some of the things James did and he made her laugh. Almost falling on top of him wasn't too bad either...

Seeing Hallie double over made her quit thinking about James though. Hallie was obviously in a lot of pain and Arian didn't really know how to help. Bumping James with her elbow again, she nodded to Hallie and placed a warm hand on her back. She could just have cramp of course, but Arian sensed something worse. She wanted to get into Hallie's mind, but decided against it, not wanting to make anything worse.

Zoe

When Zoe saw James and Arian outside Mikhail's room she wondered what the heck they were doing out there. Then she heard screams of pain and was concerned, ready to run into the room to see if Mikhail was being attacked James began explaining. "Well, that's...interesting," Zoe said sarcastically. She was about to keep walking to her dorm with Hallie until Hallie buckled down in pain. Hallie began nudging Zoe, she was obviously in no form to speak. Her dorm was right next to Mikhail's so she could quickly go into her room and back with medication. But she didn't really want to leave her under the care of the two love birds while she was gone. "Let's get the medication," Zoe said picking Hallie up with her telekinesis, putting a lot of strain on herself, they made it to her room. Zoe dropped Hallie on to her bed and stumbled to her medicine cabinet. After rummaging in it for some time Zoe took out some Advil for herself and Hallie. She took out the correct dosage and gave some to Hallie, along with some bottled water. "Bottoms up," Zoe said gulping down her pill. Zoe fell onto her bed, completely exhausted, her head was throbbing, but she probably had it better than Mikhail...

Arian was about to wander away from the scene when Zara approached them. She was worried Zara would freak out at first but her emotions turned humorous when they were asked to create a sort of diversion for Mikhail. Feeling a little agitated she would even think Arian would agree to something like that, she glanced into the room. Never had Arian been so annoyed with a request, or felt like laughing at the same time. When she was about to refuse though, she heard yelp from the room. Mikhail came into view again before collapsing.

Not really knowing how to handle the situation Arian stood there, astounded. What was she suppose to do? She didn't really want to get into his mind, basically because she didn't want to feel that nor did she want to know what he was thinking. She wasn't even sure she had grasped what was happening yet.

James

All...he could do...was laugh. Zara's words, Mikhail's collapsing, Arian's astonished face, it all had his laughs tearing into his abdominal muscles terribly. He had to use the wall for support, eyes watering a bit as he looked at Mikhail on the floor. "Jesus...is he really that terrified of a girl turning him on? This...is too good."


Hallie

Taking the pills didnt help right away, but five minutes later she was scuttling to the bathroom, throwing up the pills and the last of whatever stomach acid was left in her. She was going to kill that blonde teacher...what had that plant done to her...

Laughter and voices drifted in from the hall. Able to stand, Hallie glanced to Zoe who seemed passed out, then opened the dorm door slightly, curious was all. She had felt slightly what Mikhail had experienced and she honestly wanted to see if he was okay. From where she stood, she couldnt see him, but hoped since Zara was in view that she had succeeded in taking the tape off. What a punishment. This school...was insane.

Lounging within the doorway, she wiped cold sweat from her forehead, feeling herself pale even more, but she couldnt lie down. It only made her dizzy. So she watched James laughing and listing off joke after joke. It actually made her smile a little.

Hallie

"Minor," Hallie said to answer Zara's first question. If she revealed the nature of the emotions to her, then she felt Zara would explode on her and even though the meds were finally kicking in, Hallie didnt want to be bombarded with emotions that werent hers.

Zara's suspicions grew however without Hallie revealing a thing and the white haired girl thought about leaving. "I can absorb emotions. Like...you'll stop feeling that emotion. All together. Not sure if you can replace it or what happens but...thats what I do. And yes, its happened with Misha...Mikhail." She corrected herself quickly, a strange look in Zara's eye. "He's been through some shit, obviously. Thats all I know."

Hallie was sure thats partly what Zara was getting at, but she was curious still. About Zara and Mikhail, and their background. She suddenly wondered about the spy thing, because it did make sense. Was it Hallie's business, no but...god, why was she so curious? None of the information would benefit her...right?

She found herself wondering if Mikhail had put anymore thought into asking Zoe out...

Hallie straightened and looked to the blonde Russian closely, a mental pain stirring him ever so slightly, but he didnt wake. Should she steal from him? Seeing his agony was difficult, especially when she knew she could help. But with Zara here was it a good idea? She might accuse her of this or that and erupt in a rage of immaturity. Hallie didnt need that.

But he seemed so distressed.

Carefully she allowed herself to lower the walls around her and Mikhail's wavelengths, allowing his to intertwine with hers, sending happy energy, though she doubted she could impose emotions, and stealing despair from him. She buckled slightly, gripping the edge of the mattress for support, but eyes always trained on Mikhail. This was how she could help, so she was going to do it.


James

Arian seemed content with drinking more, but James shook his head at the mere thought of more of the stinging alcohol. He caught his breath and wiped the bile away from his lips, tasting acid. It nearly made him throw up again.

But eventually he stood up, glaring to the mess he made and facing Arian with a sleepily forced smile. "I'm gunna head back down...free to join but uh...I have to at least change and uh...brush my teeth."

He motioned to the stairs then waited for her response.

The sound of someone knocking at her door in the middle of the night didn't exactly make Ms. Cortez happy. She moaned loudly, rolling out of bed and putting her clothes on, she stumbled to the door, looking like a mess, fitting her ugly personality. When she opened the door to see that it was a child, she grinned wickedly. He was going to get a punishment, whether he was sent for one or not. "What are you here for?" she snapped, eyes darting to the paper her had in his hand. Swiftly, she snatched the paper and read it, smiling more ferociously. "Oh, you're here for a punishment?" Ms. Cortez asked rhetorically. "I'm glad, I just lost my slave tonight, and he was a lot of fun, I wonder if you'll be any better," she said smiling widely. Despite her excitement the woman couldn't help but yawn. "You're lucky you've caught me at such a late time or your punishment would be much more dire," Ms. Cortez said leading to the punishment, "The school's janitors want a day off so, tonight we can give them that. You'll be cleaning the whole school by 7:00 A.M. tomorrow morning, or you'll suffer sever consequences, when you go into restricted areas do NOT stay there too long, do not look around, and most certainly do not talk to anyone, okay?" Ms. Cortez said, handing him a map and cleaning supplies. "Good luck," she grumbled slamming the door shut and going back to sleep.

Zoe

Zoe woke up from her dreams panting and gasping for air. She looked around her and apparently she had been levitating objects in her sleep because multiple things fell to the floor, shattering and clumping on the floor. Zoe grasped her head, loud noises weren't doing wonders for her. Hoping no one heard the noises of the falling items, Zoe got up, sweeping up all of the remains and throwing them out. When she was done Zoe sat down contemplating to herself. "Why was I born with these powers..." Zoe thought. Maybe she wasn't born with them...maybe she was...if her parents knew they never told her. They used her, abused her...but still, they didn't deserve to die, did they? No, not only were they horrible, but they made her do horrible things, they abused her powers to cause destruction on the sly and then made her act perfect in public so she wouldn't destroy their image but why?!? What were they hiding? "Ugh!" Zoe yelled trying to brush all of her thoughts away, she couldn't spend one moment without twenty thoughts rampaging in her head! "Just be quiet for a second Zoe..." she said, tears of frustration rolling down her face.

Adrien

Adrien woke up to the announcements. As soon as he heard there was food waiting for them in the Dining Room he bolted, gathering any random assortment of clothes and putting it on. Eventually he had a white T-shirt, brown shorts, and sneakers. He put them on messily and ran to the room. There he saw something he didn't have since the first day here; a glorious, wonderful buffet! Taking the seat closest to the door he began taking handfuls of all the food close to him, gulping down every bite, he couldn't wait until more people to socialize with came!

Zoe

Zoe woke up groggily, flashes of her nightmares swirling in her head, her father abusing her permanently engraved in her mind. Noticing the layers of sweat on her she decided to take a shower. Moving to the bathroom she watched her steps making sure she didn't step on any glass from yesterday that she may have not collected. When she made it to the bathroom she heard the announcement of a free day "Perfect," she thought to herself happy that she wouldn't have to use powers today...hopefully. Zoe turned on the shower and stepped in, planning her schedule for the day, the water felt excellent on her skin and she felt herself cool down. Finishing her shower, she dried off she put on a black blouse and dark blue ripped pants.

Leaving her dorm room to make her way to the dining room, she saw James and Arian, all over each other as usual and Hallie, Mikhail, and Zara in front of them. She pretended she didn't see them and kept moving, she didn't want to socialize until she got food into her stomach, she wasn't ready to be friendly until after that. Once she got to the dining room their was another beautiful buffet ready for them. Choosing the seat furthest away from Adrien she began eating. She didn't have much of an appetite but she knew she was hungry.

Mikhail

Zara, predictably, grabbed an ungodly amount of food. Mikhail, himself, took a little less. Ramen liked to sit in you for a while, and he hadn't burned much calories last night. He settled on some toast and cereal, and added a couple strips of bacon as an afterthought. As he sat down, he noticed Zoe sitting by herself. He excused himself briefly, a small smile playing on his lips, as he stood up, toast in hand. He walked over to her table and leaned against the surface with one hand, suggesting only a temporary visit.

"Hello, you," he greeted cheerfully, "Haven't seen you since yesterday. How've you been doing in my absence?" He took a bite from his toast and grinned through his chewing, "Hopefully better than me." He winced at the memory of the duct tape, and his groin area tingled in phantom pain.

At the moment, he wasn't thinking about asking Zoe out or anything like that. He just wanted to know how she was doing, as a friend. But as he awaited her answer, he couldn't helping looking at her a little more thoroughly.

Zara

Zara had to make two trips for all her food. Pancakes, waffles, toast, cereal, bacon, eggs--scrambled, hard-boiled, soft-boiled--bagels, English muffins, regular muffins, orange juice, milk, etc etc etc.... Starving was an understatement.

She began eating almost immediately. As she did, she took the time to examine her surroundings. She had been in the cafeteria a grand total of once, and at the time she was too worried about Mikhail and too upset with Arian to really see everything. It was definitely state-of-the-art. Like a 5-star hotel. She wistfully imagined what she would tell the others back at the MI before realizing such an event would be impossible.

Her eyes drifted towards Mikhail, talking to Zoe casually. The image, his dress-style and appearance, his more relaxed posture, that smile....for a moment, he almost looked like a normal, average guy. One that no one would suspect as a spy. And equally, one that no one would suspect as having powers, even though his position was likely a difficult one to accomplish without his gravity abilities. He looked like he was putting nearly all his weight on his one arm, but was eating the toast effortlessly and didn't look strained. Could also be his muscles working. Zara shrugged and went back to her food.

After a few mouthfuls, she looked back at Mikhail again. Was he really just talking to Zoe casually? Or was it something else? She couldn't hear from this distance, but she remembered that Zoe most likely had feelings for him, despite her response to her back at the camp. The idea that he might be asking her out was far-fetched, but she also hadn't really expected him to look the way he did today.

As she thought, she turned to look at Hallie, across from her. Again, the question of Hallie's feelings went through Zara's mind. Did she, or didn't she? Only one way to find out.

"So," Zara piped up, holding up her fork, which was stabbing a piece of pancake, "What do you think about Mikhail?" she asked, "And not just as a person, if you know what I mean...."

Hallie

Zara's question had her eyes lifting finally and she noticed Mikhail by Oe briefly. Good.

"He's...an interesting person. And do I like him like that? I don't know honestly..." Surprised by her response, Hallie allowed her hazel eyes to travel over to his blonde hair again. "Even if I did. It wouldnt work." Stabbing at her eggs, she went on, "My ability isnt easy to control and he doesnt need someone like me that needs constant emotional check on his part. Plus, as you said, he has a lot hidden and honestly I dont want to feel it anymore than he does."

She wouldnt meet Zara's eyes as she struggled to figure out why she was saying all this out loud.

"It wouldnt work. Besides...he seems to like Zoe. Thats a good thing."

Zoe

Zoe looked up as Mikhail walked over to her. It had been a while since they talked so she was glad to see him, but she still wasn't really feeling like herself. "Hey," Zoe responded softly to his greeting, "I've been great," she said faking a smile weakly, but her eyes showed the emotions she was trying to repress. Her nightmares shook her up, and she still didn't exactly recover...images were still flashing through her mind. Even though she wasn't exactly herself, she blushed slightly as she remembered Mikhail's "attire" from yesterday. He was smiling, so it seemed he was doing better...unless he was repressing things as well...at moments like these Zoe hated how she couldn't read people. "So...are you doing better?" she asked, blushing a little more deeply when she noticed him staring at her. He certainly looked different, and she wasn't hating it...but it was good to see he was still acting the same.

Adrien

Adrien smiled as he noticed everyone else coming in. "Hey Zara!" Adrien said waving to her, smiling widely. He didn't talk to her since the trip to the forest so he was inclined to talk to her. He didn't really socialize with Hallie, but he wasn't exactly sure if she liked him. Standing up he made his way over to the two of them and put his plates by them. "I'll be right back," he said going away to get more food, while allowing them to finish their conversation, just in case it was anything like girl talk or whatever.

Zara

Zara listened carefully, ears searching for any hiccups in her statement. The "I don't know" was intriguing...it wasn't a flat-out no. Then there was the "even if I did". And her repeating "It wouldn't work." Hmm....much to piece together.

Although Zara wasn't one for relationships, she was a bit intuitive when it came to figuring out who was with who. Maybe it was her finding things ability, since she had always been quite adept at picking out the true meaning behind someone's awkward confession about someone they may or may not like. It was probably along the same lines of why she was able to find seemingly harmless jokes offensive (more often than not, they were intended to be so, though getting someone to confess that they were took a lot of threatening and wet willies). Some of her friends back at the MI would come to her for dating advice, and even more people she didn't know would come to her about Mikhail. She could always tell whether he liked someone or not. She didn't know how, but she could. Her eyes always saw the right things at the right time that gave it away.

Hmm...maybe this finding things power was more useful than she thought...

Zara waved brightly at Adrien before returning to her thoughts. She did notice that Hallie herself had glimpsed at Mkhail as she spoke. Her reasons were understandable, though her constant negativity was a bit annoying. So she was being realistic. Didn't need to be pessimistic.

Still. The fact that Hallie was actually thinking her feelings through made Zara like her already, moreso than the hormone-driven girls at the MI anyways. Swirling her cereal around with her spoon, she spoke informatively, "Well, that's what you're at this school for, right? To control that sort of thing? Perhaps you'll let Misha go, but what about when you are thinking about a serious relationship? You gonna let that stop you as well? Things to think about." Zara tapped the side of her head with her free finger. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time he's liked someone it would be difficult to be in a relationship with." April immediately popped up in her mind. Zara decided not to get too specific, but she added, "The first, and probably only, girl he ever seriously thought about dating was a big no-no."

She slurped down her orange juice and looked over at Mikhail and Zoe. "Also, if you want my opinion, I think he's just there on the platform of friendship. Dunno if he actually has any feelings or not. But that's just me," she turned back to her cereal, "Who knows. If nothing gets in the way of them, maybe they will turn into something else." Though Zara highly doubted it. At least not right away, if she knew Mikhail correctly.

Mikhail

Mikhail cocked his head a bit at Zoe's statement. Wasn't too convincing. "You sure?" he asked, smiling, but serious, "You look a bit tired....bad dreams? I know I had some weird ones. But, for whatever reason, I can't remember them...."

He took a thoughtful bite from his toast before addressing her question. "Other than the excruciating pain of last night's duct tape, I'm great. Trying out different colors than black, for a change. Maybe you should try it too." He gestured at her own dark clothes, "Though I don't mind what you're wearing now." He winked, his mouth widening into a Cheshire Cat-like grin.

"So, what do you think you'll be doing on this wonderful "free" day?" He made quotation marks with his fingers when he said "free" and did so with both hands whilst still leaning in a manner that would cause a normal person to fall flat on their face. Man, was it nice to have his powers back up to speed!

Hallie

"If I ever control my powers, then maybe I could have some sort of...actual relationship...but this school doesnt seem keen on teaching us much individually. At least not yet." Her thoughts shifted to the poisonous flowers that had ailed her yesterday. "They dont seem keen on doing much with us at all. Which is where research comes in."

"Never pictured myself with anyone though," she ended with, listening to Zara's words about Mikhail only being friends with Zoe.

Adrien had left his spot beside them and she eyed the boy as he walked away. Social birdie he was. Hallie sighed, concentrating more on keeping emotions out rather than food. She wouldnt leave, even though part of her wanted to. Making friends would keep her mind occupied on something other than Mikhail.

"Who knows. If nothing gets in the way of them, maybe they will tirn into something else."

Hallie nodded, thinking this good. Perhaps one day she would control her ability and could live normally...but she doubted the time it would take to achieve such would be short. Mikhail didnt need to know about her potential feelings. Nothing could happen between them. Not for a long time, and by then...well, Hallie hoped he got over himself and found a girl finally.

Zoe

Zoe tried to put a bit more enthusiasm into it this time even adding a chuckle, "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine," Zoe said smiling. She didn't want to worry him especially after hearing that he had bad dreams as well, unfortunately for her, she could remember the dreams, they had actually happened and she could never forget them. "That sucks," Zoe said frowning after he talked about his weird dreams. Zoe passed over the duct tape statement not wanting to continue conversing about it. She returned to her blushing self when Mikhail began talking about her clothes, perhaps she did wear a lot of dark colors but what made her blush was when he complimented her. He was obviously just teasing her...he was just teasing her right? Zoe began to get frustrated, she didn't enjoy her emotions being played with but didn't show it, she didn't want to complicate things.

Zara

Zara nodded her head about the research. It had been a while since she had done it. It'd be nice to see her magic working again. She finished up the food.

To pass the time as she waited on the others, she pulled out her phone and started surfing the web. She checked her email and found that one of her MI friends had emailed her. Wouldn't you know, it was Trick.

Despite the incident with Mikhail, Zara and Trick had continued to be friends. They had actually dated years ago--back when Zara actually cared about that sort of thing--a few months after the locker-slam. She had actually liked him beforehand, and never held it against him when she ended up in the hospital due to his actions. Mikhail had never said anything about their relationship, but Zara could guess that he hadn't been entirely keen on it. Not like Zara cared too much. The two had broken up after a couple months, but stayed friends. They had grown closer after the news of Mikhail's supposed death, and Trick had been her shoulder to cry on.

Zara had also lost her virginity to Trick. It was probably one of the few things she hadn't told Mikhail, or many people in general. It was just one of those things that no one really needed to know. At least, in her opinion anyways. Trick had been quiet about it as well.

Zara read the message:

Zara,

Things have been quieter without you here. Less insults.

Did you ever find Misha? Was he really alive like you thought?

I'm not really supposed to be sending this to you....

Are you doing okay?

How is the school? I tried looking it up, but couldn't find it. What is it called again? Sai Prep? Sy Prep? Sye Prep?

The co-director hasn't been in too great a mood lately. He spends a lot of time at Sasha's memorial, but never at Misha's. I think he's mad at him. Blames him or something. Someone was talking about Misha to some others, and he got very angry and started yelling bad things about him. Nothing too personal, just nasty insults. He had to be carried away, and I think he was almost forced to resign. He's still here though, so I guess that rumor isn't true.

Not that I really blame him. Sasha was his son. It does seem kind of unfair, right?

I really need to go. Just checking up on you. Write back soon.

~Trick

Zara puzzled over the email. What was that all about? The co-director, mad at Misha? Like the explosion was his fault. He of all people should know to never blame deaths on the child agents. But, like Trick had said, the co-director was Sasha's father. It would explain his anger, but not justify it.

Zara began to worry. What if the co-director found out Mikhail was still alive? Would he hunt him down? Send someone after him? She was getting paranoid, but this was Russian Intelligence. Worse, it was a grudge. Was the Russian mafia active near here? Zara wasn't sure...

She took a breath and left for some water. She returned, thoughts more organized, and decided to worry about it later. Maybe during their "research" she could look it up. For now, she needed to clear her head. She opened up YouTube and entertained herself there.

Mikhail

Mikhail couldn't help smiling at Zoe's blush. Her signature. "Awww, don't blush," he said, "I just asked you what you were going to do for the day. It's not like I saw your underwear or anything." An image of Hallie's red panties flashed through his mind.

He tugged at the collar of his jersey. Zoe wasn't really talkative this morning...he wasn't sure whether to leave her be to sort things out, or to stay and help her open up some more. Maybe she just wasn't a morning person. Not that he could blame her. He leaned forward, elbows propped on the table. "Hey, you might have had a bad night last night," he said, "but that doesn't mean today has to be a bad day! Let's see a smile, hmm?" He pointed at his own cheeks and stretched them. "Like this? Please?"

Hallie

Zara's emotions were flitting between worry and sadness. Something she was reading definitely affected her greatly, but Hallie sighed, ignoring it. Her eyes remained on Mikhail while he tried to get Zoe to smile and cheer up. He really cared about others, for whatever reason, and his eyes sparkled so easily. Hallie distantly wished she was so easy going with people but her ability had hindered much of her social skills.

She stood and discarded her plate, debating going to shower or wander. They were supposed to research though, so she plopped back down, still watching Mikhail curiously. How anyone could care like he did was confusing.

She too turned to her phone for a distraction. What a great friendship she was building with Zara. She shrugged off the sarcasm though, turning her phone off before even opening an app.

"So...where you from? Poland right?"

Zara

Zara nodded. "Yep," she said crisply, "Near Warsaw. Parts of it are all right. Other parts are still recovering from the Cold War and all that good stuff. But altogether, it's not bad. Love it like crazy, even if some baggage comes along with it." Here, she was referring to her family. Not that she really cared for them anymore. Truth be told, when she was "lost" in the mall, the entire time she knew that if she just looked for them, she'd find them. It wasn't like with Mikhail, who lost his family involuntarily. Zara had consciously cut off all ties with that decision of inaction.

She stretched, arching her back, the scarred skin tingling faintly in reminder. It didn't hurt anymore, and she had gotten to the point where she didn't care who saw. Occasionally she even forgot it was there, which led to a few nosy people pointing it out to her when she went swimming. She always told the truth about it, thought. Just a small bit of revenge, on her part, towards her father.

She put away her phone, done with envying the long locks of the girls in the videos. She fingered her own subconsciously, willing them to grow back faster. Even Hallie's hair was kind of nice, though an odd color.

Mikhail

Mikhail pretended to pout. "A for effort, C for execution," he said, his own grin breaking his composure. He started to doubt what Hallie had said about Zoe liking him. It didn't really seem like it right now. Well, not like he was expecting her to be lovey-dovey or anything, and he definitely didn't stop by to say hi just for that reason, but right now it seemed that they were both on the same level: friends. Perhaps Hallie was just misinterpreting Zoe's feelings? Could you even do that with a power like hers? Well, there must be some margin of error, right?

He mentally shrugged it off. Whatever the case, he wasn't going to worry about it. He put a friendly hand on Zoe's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Well, I hope your day gets better," he said genuinely. "And that you find something fun to do. I have my own plans, but if you can't find anything to do, I'll be more than happy to help you out." He patted her shoulder a couple times and returned to the table. He plopped down onto his chair, shoveling down the rest of his breakfast before it was cold.

"So," he said, when he finished, "Ready for our research?" He couldn't help smiling at the thought. His fingers began drumming slightly in anticipation, as if they were typing on phantom keys. "I suppose the library would be the best place for info, but it might be a bit too conspicuous. Any suggestions?"

Arian smiled and kissed James on the forehead. Slipping his key back into her pocket, she tip-toed out of the room and went to search for Mikhail. She wondered if James would be okay in the room and found herself laughing. If James could survive a night of cleaning, he would probably be fine for a couple hours sleeping.

She decided to first go to the cafeteria. It smelled of breakfast foods which made her stomach clench with hunger. Grabbing a bagel, she made herself a sandwich to carry along with her. She didn't really see anyone she was looking for though and guessed he would just be in his dorm.

Walking up to the dorm, she knocked loudly and called his name. Maybe he was sleeping still. Arian was about to just head back to her room when she heard a couple hushed voices in a nearby closet. She walked around where she heard them and found an 'out of order' sign instead.

Zoe

Mikhail squeezed and patted Zoe's shoulder multiple times, wishing her a better day and offered to help her if she needed something to do over the course of their free day. Zoe decided not to finish her breakfast realizing that picking at it wasn't going to help and she obviously wasn't going to finish. Zoe went to her dorm room, and began lying down in her bed, wondering what to do..."What a boring school..." she groaned wanting to at least have a lesson. Maybe this was what she was really like...I mean she only started getting all love-struck and open when they were in the forest, so maybe it had something to do with the air, the desire to have a good time, the random nudity, or the life-or-death-ness of it all...Whatever the case it was obvious that today, Zoe was not in a good mood...

Adrien

When Adrien came back to his spot, it appeared that they all left. "Well...that's a bummer," he said gloomily. "Then I suppose I'll give myself a little tour of the school," he said smiling. Leaving the dining room, Adrien decided that to make it extremely whimsical, he wouldn't even keep track of anywhere he was going. He'd take right turn here, make a left turn there and not have a single clue of what he was doing. Eventually, he was lost in the gigantic building, not seeing or experiencing anything... "Well, this is different," he said disappointed. He immediately put a smile back on his face with the next thought, "Well, I guess it's all part of the adventure!" he cheered running through the confusing halls of Psy Prep...

Arian jiggled the door handle even more. "Mikhail?!" She was starting to question her loyalty to James. Was it really worth this stupid struggle? She was fighting to get into a closet that could have no one even in there.

Taking a deep breath and refocusing, she let her mind drift through the door to locate the people inside. The urge to take control almost overwhelmed her, but she gasped to a stop. She couldn't let herself do that and realized she wasn't healed well enough to even try.

She could tell Mikhail was inside with a few others though and she yelled a little louder this time. "Hey! It's Arian! I need to tell you something from James!" Not like saying it was from James would really help, they probably still hated her, but she gave it a go. "It's really important..."

Mikhail

Mikhail grinned conspiratorially at Hallie. "Well then. I do believe we have a teacher to go looking for." He wondered whether to bring Zara or not. If Hallie already knew where to find her, then Zara's powers weren't needed. They could split up and gather more information this way too. But, he didn't want to abandon Zara.

"Hey," he said, leaning over. She was staring at the screen intensely, but something told him that she wasn't exactly engrossed in the film. "You okay?" he asked, a shift from his original question.

She blinked and looked at him. "What? Oh. Yeah, I'm fine," she said, but she was faltering a bit. Something was eating her. For someone so honest, it was difficult for Zara to outright lie. Even her outburst at James had quite a bit of truth to it.

"You sure?" he asked, eyebrows pinching together in worry, "Your face is telling me otherwise."

"I'm fine," she repeated, a bit annoyed. "Just...you know....girl stuff."

Oh. Okay then. Mikhail wasn't one of those guys who reacted to periods like it was the plague, but he knew when to keep his distance. "All right," he said, "Just letting you know, Hallie and I are going to leave to investigate further. Would you like to come, or would you rather stay here, or perhaps research on your own?"

"You two go on ahead," she replied, "I have to attend to something as well."

Mikhail nodded, "Cool. How about we meet up again here, in an hour? Same seats." Zara agreed, and Mikhail turned to Hallie. "It's go-time," he said with a grin. The two left the theater, and he motioned in a dramatic sweep outwards. "Lead the way, Hallie," he proclaimed, "And I'll follow you around like Sputnik."

Zara

Zara waited a couple minutes before also leaving the theater. Like the other two, she also had someone she wanted to find.

She walked back to the residence side and stopped in front of a door. She knocked loudly, and called, "Zoe? Zoe, I need to talk to you."

As she waited, she thought about what she would say. How she would approach it. Should she be outright blunt about it, and demand to know her ancestry? Or should she try to be more subtle, something that was difficult for her. She started chewing her nail as she thought.