He held out his hand. A ball of what looked like little lightning bolts zapped around his palm.

"Electricity?" Lyn asked, leaning forward. Gabriel nodded. The lightning disappeared and the lights in the room flicked off then on again. "Handy," Lyn commented.

"Your turn," Gabriel said.

"Maybe I'll keep mine a secret. You were stupid enough to go first."

"Hey! Not fair!"

Lyn rolled her eyes. She held out her own hand and the TV remote that was sitting on the table four feet away flew into her hand.

"You can attract stuff?" Gabriel guessed.

She threw the remote in the air and it hung there, as if suspended by invisible ropes.

"Telekinesis!" he exclaimed happily. "That is so cool. Can you pick up heavier things?"

"I can pretty easily pick up a car. But I haven't tried much else," Lyn said. She caught the remote as it fell.

"No wonder that gang is afraid of you," Gabriel wondered.

"So if you have the ability to electrocute people, why do you let those jocks and that gang pick on you?" Lyn asked.

Gabriel shrugged. "I wait until it's absolutely necessary," he said. "And the jocks aren't a threat. They don't bother me."

"I don't believe that for a second," Lyn said. "What's the story?"

"Oh no," Gabriel said, holding up his hands. "I was stupid enough to go first last time. Now it's your turn. Who's Damien? They didn't mean Damien McKenzie…" Lyn looked guilty. "You're Evelyn Belacqua?"

"I'm not a damned celebrity!" she snapped, getting defensive. Though she practically was. Everyone knew who Damien was; he was important and rich and enviable. And Evelyn was his tragically beautiful and slightly awkward girlfriend. She could only assume most people who associated themselves with the McKenzie's thought Damien kept Lyn around as his community service project. They were always looking at her and treating her like the family pet; she was perfectly acceptable to be around, but never to engage in conversation with.

But Damien had treated her differently. He was sweet and attentive and loving. He understood her and listened to her when she complained about school or her dad or her lack of friends. God, she missed him.

"Well, really you are," Gabriel said.

She hated him.

"Sorry. You don't want to talk about it," Gabriel realized.

"We broke up," Lyn pushed on. She should've stopped. Gabriel was a complete stranger and she normally didn't open up to anyone but Jack or her dad. And Damien. "He cheated on me."

"Why?"

Lyn was taken aback. Of course she had thought about why they'd broken up. She and Jack had spoken about it, but how would she explain that to Gabriel?

"She was prettier," Lyn guessed. She sighed. "That's not true. Damien was a lot of things, but he wasn't superficial."

"Well, he sounds pretty superficial to me…"

"He wasn't," Lyn said softly. "He was privileged. But that didn't make him any less loving or understanding."

"Then why did he do it?"

"I don't know," she answered lamely. "Because I wouldn't have sex with him," she added to her own surprise. It got quiet. "So he slept with another girl. She was prettier. She was blond."

"Katrina," Gabriel stated, remembering the jock's words.

Lyn flinched at the name. "Tommy's sister."

"You can stop," Gabriel offered. "I didn't really need to know… I pried."

"You asked," Lyn corrected. "I don't mind. It feels better to talk about it."

"What about your friends? Don't they know?" he asked.

She laughed humorlessly. "The thing about dating Damien is… was… every girl is jealous of you and every guy is either envious of Damien or scared of getting near you."

"I'm not," Gabriel replied with a small smile.

"And I'm not with Damien anymore."

"So you don't have any friends."

"Not here. My best friend is Jack. But, he's back at home."

"Which is where?" Gabriel asked. One of the greatest things Lyn realized about Gabriel was that he wasn't asking to keep the conversation going, he was asking because he sincerely cared. She was grateful for it.

"New Jersey," she replied. "Montclair."

"Is that where your family is?"

"My dad. That's it." She didn't want him prying farther into her family life.

He seemed to take the hint and said, "All right. My turn. Though there's really nothing to tell."

"Why do they call you gay?" Lyn asked.

Gabriel grinned. "I dressed up as Posh Spice once in high school. It was a bet."

Lyn started crying she was laughing so hard. It wasn't that the story was that funny (it was), it was that she hadn't laughed truly since she broke up with Damien.

"All right, all right, it wasn't that funny," Gabriel said, though he was laughing, too.

Lyn wiped a tear away and coughed.

"Are you a freshman?" he asked. She nodded. "How old are you?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm eighteen. Why?"

"You're so small." He smiled.

"Hey. I resent that," Lyn said. "You're just super tall."

He laughed. "All right, munchkin."

She rolled her eyes. "I haven't heard that one everyday of my life." Her phone rang. "I'm sorry," she said as she looked at who it was. "Hi Jack," she answered.

"Lyn! Guess what?"

"What?"

"I'm here."

"You're here?" Lyn looked up at Gabriel apologetically. "What do you mean?"

"I'm at your school! The dean wanted me here earlier," he explained.

"Oh. Oh my gosh! Um. You know where my dorm is? Meet me there. It'll only be two minutes."

"Sure thing."

They hung up.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel. My friend just transferred here and he's here much earlier than I thought he would be."

Gabriel smiled warmly. "That's quite all right. The weather's holding back now, anyway." He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't so Lyn got up.

"Thank you for letting me bother you," she said. "It was very kind."

He laughed. "You're too polite. Get out of here." He stood and followed her to the door. She said thanks again and left. He closed the door behind her.

The weather was looking marginally more agreeable. She walked quickly, afraid Jack would be waiting in the cold.