Melissa watched as the new girl sat down next to her on the bus, smiling. Her mind tasted familiar again, and she had remembered the sense of hesitancy she had felt coming from her the night before. Dess had been nervous about her 'weapon' but it had worked in keeping away the slithers. It was amazing how smart this girl was, figuring out that darklings and slithers hated new metal, and multiples of thirteen. Maybe she could survive Midnight on her own. Yet when she woke up each morning she found evidence it was real, and a panic would set in. If only Melissa could tell her it wasn't a dream.

Melissa's head was back, she had her iPod with her, and the loud music of Evanescence was pulsing through the headphones. It did distract her, just as Dess had said. The sixth grader sat down, and pointed at the headphones in Melissa's ear. Melissa smiled and nodded. Dess, instead of pestering her with questions as most people would have done, sat there with her own iPod in her ears. For the rest of the bus ride it was like that, and they parted ways without a word of goodbye. Yet her mind didn't seem disappointed that they didn't talk, almost inspired. Like Melissa had thought before, this girl was very interesting.

The rest of the day went fairly uneventful. Timmy was absent, so there were no negative run-ins. A few new teachers were annoying, but other than that there wasn't really much going on. Melissa spent most of her day listening to Rex and Dess's minds. Dess, the genius, was in most advanced classes and understanding it all. Even some of the big numbers running through the sixth grader's mind confused Melissa. But it all was clear, even boring, for Dess. There was something odd about her, but maybe she was just smart.

Rex was edgy, he had been lately. Melissa had tried to get him to cave, but he refused to. Now he put almost a barrier on his mind, keeping out any troubling thoughts. And making it difficult for her to get into his mind. In ninth period Science, the last period of the day, Melissa grimaced as the minds in the entire school grew more excited, even the teachers were impatient for the end of the day. It was too sharp, too much boxed in excitement. Then she remembered her headphones, still in her pocket. She took them out and unlaced the tangles out of them. She attached them to her iPod and, nonchalantly putting her hood up, stuck them in her ears. She managed to get through the last five minutes of class without getting caught.

At her locker Melissa grabbed her stuff and quickly made her way over to Rex's locker. "You're really starting to piss me off, you know that?" Rex looked up, trying to look confused, but his mind was racing with excuses. Melissa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was really trying to hide the panicked feeling inside?

"What are you talking ab-"

"Oh God Rex, you really think I don't know you're hiding something? You get new marks everyday, not from Darklings, you're on the edge all the time and worst of all you're keeping secrets from me!" She brushed her gloved fingers along the scar on Rex's face, from the night the darkling had struck him. "I'm worried about you Rex."

For a minute Rex stared at her, a sad look on his face. Then he sighed and stood up. "I wish I could tell you Cowgirl, I really do." He closed his locker and walked away, leaving Melissa feeling hurt and confused.

* * *

"Extraordinary" She whispered.

The little metal chain that had fallen off her ceiling fan was small, but it was metal nonetheless. Her hoard of steel had run out, so she and Rex were making a run to the dump sometime this week. Lighting had flashed just at Midnight though, and she was curious to see what it looked like frozen in blue time. She opened her window and looked out, seeing the impressive bolt to the north. It didn't look too far.

She looked at her wind-up watch. Five minutes after midnight. She jumped out of her window, curling up into a ball and covering her head. She landed in the bushes, a little prickly but unharmed. "I'll have to get a ladder one day." She muttered to herself, grabbing her bike to go meet Rex. The new electronic security system her parents had bought would go off once Midnight ended if she went through the front door.

They met up a mile away from her house, heading the same direction. They had long dreamed of a frozen bolt of lightning, and here it was. What they would do after reaching it was a mystery. They mainly rode in silence, Melissa still a little aggravated about this afternoon and Rex still uncomfortable with it.

After half an hour of hard biking, Melissa thought her legs were going to fall off. "Let's take a break." She panted. Rex nodded and slowed his bike. They pulled into a field and rested their bikes under some trees. It was dry under the tree, but the two were still soaking wet from riding through the frozen downpour. Melissa shivered, the rain had penetrated the warmth of Midnight, and she hadn't worn anything over her tee and hoodie. Rex noticed and took off his poncho.

"Forget something?" He asked, handing it over. She nodded and took it gratefully. She watched the frozen rain for a while, its beautiful crystals hanging in midair. Then she herself froze, a sudden taste reaching her. Dess.

She was getting closer, they must've be close to her house. She was walking around, amazed at the display in front of her. Then it turned to fear. Melissa closed her eyes and leaned her head back, casting farther. Rex left her alone, he knew better than to interrupt. A darkling was in front of Dess, and the psycho-kitty wasn't happy that there was a new Midnighter in town. It was young, and thought it was smart. But Dess was smarter. She pulled out a long metal pointer, stretching it out to full length. "Ventriloquism." Dess whispered and flung the pointer out like a sword, hitting the darkling on it's side. The darkling's fur began to burn as white and blue sparks flew everywhere.

"Wow." Melissa whispered, opening her eyes. She looked over at Rex. "Our little guest has skill." Rex frowned, confused. She realized that she hadn't told him much about Dess. "You're not the only one who's been keeping secrets." She muttered, then sighed. "The new girl, Dess, she's a Midnighter." Rex blinked, almost agitated.

"What?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. But she's pretty kick-ass. Just fought off a darkling with a pointer named 'Ventriloquism.'"

Rex arched an eyebrow. "What's her talent do you think?" He would get over not knowing first.

Melissa shrugged. "I don't know, what are the ones you know from the lore?"

Rex thought for a minute. Melissa knew he was happy to put his Seer knowledge to use. "Let's see, obviously Mindcasters and Seers. But I've read of two other ones, although there are probably tons more. Acrobat, which are practically weightless, and can sort of fly. Then there are Polymaths, who are really smart." Melissa nodded. Rex was right, Seer knows best.

"She definitely a Polymath, she observes everything and looks at the numbers., the little dork," They sat in silence for a while. "We'd better start heading back." Melissa said, standing up.

Rex looked forlorn. "But what about the lightning bolt?" He asked. Melissa held up her watch.

"Think we can get to it in five minutes?" For the first time Rex noticed how close the moon was to setting.

"Hell! If I come in late my dad will be pissed." Melissa frowned.

"He's not asleep yet?"

"No, he was awake when Midnight rolled around." Melissa thought about her own parents, but they were most likely asleep in bed.

"Why don't you sneak in through your window?" She suggested.

"Locked."

"Why'd you lock it idiot?" Rex only shrugged. "Well how about the skylight?"

Rex looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll try it." He stood up too and got on his bike, pedaling as hard as he could, Melissa close behind. She wondered exactly how pissed his dad got.

((Oh crap, what is Melissa gonna do? Keep reading to find out, duh!))

Another note (And I may have told you this before) This is NOT my best writing. I wrote this at least a year ago, when my writing skills were horrid. But I'm too lazy to go through and edit. ;) I 3 you all!

Yet ANOTHER note: I just realized that I swear in this story. Why does that fascinate me? Good question. xD Bai!