To be filled in as more boxes get filled in.
So tell me about them.
Who?
The kids in your home room.
Which ones?
Well, we have the full hour.
I don’t know –
This isn’t an intelligence briefing, Joey. Just tell me about them, what you know that you think is important, what you feel.
“Oh. Okay. Any --”
“Whatever order you like, Joey.”
Roy. He’s an Indian. Um, Native American. And he’s called Sequoia, like the big trees in California. He seems like a nice guy.
What about the rumors he’s stalking Mette?
Wait, what?
Paul. He’s one of the bad kids.
I know I shouldn’t say that. People think I’m one of the bad kids.
He’s the kind of guy Aunt Edie, and my folks, said I shouldn’t hang with. Though he hasn’t done anything in class except cop an attitude.
Roddy. He’s one of our group. He’s …
He’s like that little brother that other kids have. Always bugging you about what you’re not doing right. I feel I need to prove to him –
Prove to him …?
That I’m not going to live up to what he wants from an older brother.
Alan is … I mean, he’s got it bad. I –
He’s. Yeah, he’s got it worse than me.
He’s like, part invisible. Not “oooh, I’m a see-through cartoon person.” More like "Oh, my leg isn’t visible. Or “my chest isn’t visible.” Or maybe, “My skin isn’t visible,” or “my face isn’t visible.” Things like that.
The fact people can see me, what happened to me, is awful. But at least I can let them do it. They might say, “Oh, scary monkey monster.” Or, “Oooh, cute monkey.” And both of those are … awful.
But I don’t have to hide myself under wrappings and robes for fear of what people might see. Or … might not see.
1b
Vic … he seems like kind of a cool guy. I mean, I hear rumors he’s maybe not, but I also know that Hunter, who sits right behind him, is kind of a dick to him, so I think most of those rumors are probably from him. From Hunter.
Tiffani I MEAN GOTHWITCH is okay. I mean, she puts on all this “ooh, spooky” kind of thing, but I know she also really doesn’t like who she becomes when she gets all heroic and powerful, and I can so sympathize.
Chris is – well, if Tiffani I MEAN GOTHWITCH acts like she’s laboring under some sort of heavy load from parents and her own image and her stupid cutey action girl person thing she does, then Chris is in even deeper trouble because she has to fight evil but is always tempted to become evil too by an evil demon sword, and oh my god this is my life now.
Why do norms think all this stuff is so cool?
She’s nice, but even when she’s talking about farming stuff (!), there’s this weird sense that her sword is … watching … you.
Derek is okay. We got assigned a paper together on Reformation Europe, and, to be really honest, the whole thing was crazy boring (because the teacher was) and I really didn’t do what I needed to and he picked up the slack and didn’t bust my chops over it. And that was really cool.
I thanked him, and he was all, “Sure, the academics must flow,” and I don’t know what he meant but I’m still happy I got a B+ on that paper.
I keep my eye on Hunter. He’s never bugged me, but Kiln says he’s a dick. Word has it he got his powers from some sort of evil cult or something, and I can’t judge but damn that sounds right.
Anna also goes by “Poly-Anna,” and she can changer her form then change it back, which is so awesome for obvious reasons. We’re lab partners in Bio, and I ask her questions about how she does it, and asks me questions about how it feels being powerful and unrestrained and capable of breaking anything, which is kinda weird, but also kinda neat, but kinda creepy sometimes.
Alex is in the group we hang out in, but kind of … not? I always have the impression he’s, uh, they’re watching us more than hanging with us. Which, given the collection of weirdos we are, I can understand. They’ve got epic snark, but not mean with it. Well, at least not at anyone I don’t agree with.
Mette. Uh, she’s a nice person.
Is that all you have to say?
She’s hot. But she’s nice.
Tell me about hot and nice.
Can we talk about the other kids?
Nono is weird only because she doesn’t seem to have any super-powers, and doesn’t seem to want to have any of them.
And … she keeps writing stuff. She has this cool purple leather journal, and she just is always writing notes in it. People do stuff and she makes a note. People say stuff and she makes a note. I keep seeing her writing stuff in her journal and then she looks at me, and her eyebrows do this thing, and she starts writing more.
I would take her journal away and read it, except that would be so rude, and I also don’t know I want to know what she’s writing about me.
Evte – Eventif – Effeffe – Evan is the most freaking handsome guy I have ever met, or ever hope to meet. I mean, damn sexy, but also, like, charming and funny and … ugh. I hate him. Hate. Him. He does it so easy. And he sits in the desk right in front of me, so when everyone turns around when he’s answering a question, they’re all looking at him, then they’re looking at me, then back at him.
Jillian is probably the hottest girl in class, but she has such a tude about it. Everyone follows her “@Macaron” stuff, but it is so OMG shallow that I can’t believe it. Especially since, sometimes, out of the blue, she says something about someone in class that seems so on the nose I think there’s more there than meets the eye.
Did I mention she’s hot?
Kiln is in my group of friends. They’re … well, actually it’s kind of this awesome Ancient Hero thing, like Odysseus or one of those heroes that starts with an “A”. Also, they’re kind of weird, but in a good way.
Emma works really hard to make people think she’s a bad person. But she stuck up for me (in the most embarrassing way possible), and I can’t forget that.
She sits next to me, and sometimes says snarky things to me about stuff in class, most of which she does at a low enough voice that Mr. Brick doesn’t hear (but not always).
Hailey sits next to me. She’s kinda quiet most of the time, in a “I’m too cool for school” sort of way. She spent the last four, five years out in space after she was kidnapped by aliens, but she doesn’t talk about it much, except like “Oh, yeah, they had these great sandwiches on Orion 10, before–” or something, and then she stops and doesn’t talk about it any more. And sometimes she like grips the sides of her desk really hard, but when I look at her she’s all “Whatever, what are you looking at?” I don’t think she has many friends, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.