"What?" I opened the stall door, needing to make sure I was actually talking to sweet, cute little Madison Clements. "What do you mean, you killed Jack Slash?!"

"Well, Emma…you can't tell anyone, but when I came from, I was a Ward. Tether. You might have heard of me."

"No, never heard of you." Then I remembered why the stall door had been closed. The two shadow creatures I'd been petting to help deal with my near-breakdown in the dining hall. Oh, shit. I made the shadows go away and then said, slightly panicked, "Please don't tell anyone I'm a cape either."

"Don't worry, I won't," Madison said. "There are unwritten rules among capes. You don't just unmask somebody, that's not okay. And even if it was, you're my friend, I wouldn't do that to you."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"So, when I'm from, you're still a cape, but you don't control shadow creatures, as far as I know. Instead, you control electronic devices for a few blocks around you."

"I…sorry, I don't know what happened to you after Taylor got outed as Skitter in Arcadia. My family moved to Detroit and we sort of fell out of touch."

"Taylor was outed as who? She…she was a cape in your timeline?"
"Yeah, a …. villain named Skitter. And then she, well, she killed Alexandria, and now she's a hero in the Wards. Well, not now, now, but…"

"I know what you mean. That's so…" Madison paused.

"What did Taylor do in your timeline? Did you not find out she was Skitter?"

Madison suddenly looked really guilty and sad. "Emma…in my timeline, Taylor died in the locker. Did…did we still do that in yours?"

"Yeah, but she lived. I think…I think that might have been when she triggered."

"Oh, no." No Madison did start crying and I joined her. She stepped forward and pulled my head onto her shoulder, and we stood there crying on each other's shoulders until the warning bell rang.

"Emma…I guess I don't know anything about you, but…I can tell you're not comfortable around people, are you? And I'm guessing bright lights, either?"

"Y…yeah, light's bothered me since I…since I got my powers, and I don't go out much during the day."

"Emma, listen to me. You are my friend, I'll always be here for you, okay? If I remember correctly, we have the next class together. I'll sit right next to you, and I'll make sure to keep everyone's attention off you, okay. We can make it through this, alright?"

I gulped, wiped the tear tracks off my face, and stood up. "Alright. I think I can do this." We walked out of the bathroom and into the hallway, and as we headed to our next class, Madison's hand found mine and gave it a quick squeeze. I don't know what's going on, but I've got my friend back now, so I'm sure it will work out. I just have to get through the rest of the school day.