ALLI
Alli slid into the booth across from the brown-eyed blonde, she'd quietly befriended while her sister was in rehab. She'd met her sister's interpreter on accident, during visiting hours. She'd come with Yuuta while he sparred with Scout, mostly spending the time keeping her melancholy dad company. Well, until he became her sensei again.
Scout's training time with Yuuta gave Devon a break, and the woman would come out to the visiting area to be supportive. Alli's dad had been in an unusually dark place and kind of pined near the door, hoping Scout would walk through. She never did. But Devon often would, and the three would play rummy and make idle chat. It helped. Maybe Alli more than her dad, but she'd made a friend out of it.
She hadn't paid any attention to the signs then. Too absorbed in worrying about her dad, sister and mooning over Anton. In a lot of respects Alli could really kick herself for the shitty friend she'd been to Yuuta.
She was about to greet Devon when their waitress approached. "What can I get for you ladies?"
"Oh, uh, I'll have a decaf mocha, skinny please. No whipped cream." Alli smiled, then looked at her friend.
"I'll have a regular mocha, full of fat and with gobs of whipped cream." Devon grinned.
"Coming right up." The server nodded.
"So, I haven't heard from you in weeks! I miss seeing your family." Devon gushed. "How's your sister? Your dad? Your mom? Your brother?" She blushed then added, "Yuuta?"
Embarrassed that she'd not done this sooner, Alli shook her head. Maybe it's that she didn't want things to change any more than they had. But now that Devon toyed with a lock of her hair, blushing as she asked about Yuuta, Alli was a little ashamed of herself. The opportunity had been right there.
Although, Yuuta was particularly sensitive about girls. Setting him up was off limits. Maybe that was another reason she'd not gone there. But... her bringing a friend home for a game of cards wasn't unheard of. And this friend was special indeed.
"Scout's doing great." Alli nodded. "She's getting ready for a competition. Which means my dad's super happy, since he trains her. My brother is about to release an actual album with two of my cousins, and my mom's still slinging pizzas with my dad. My family is doing well. How's yours?"
The waitress returned with their coffees and Devon licked her whipped cream, ending up with some on her nose. The girl could be messy, but was undeniably cute.
"My family is good." She smiled, picking up a napkin to wipe her mouth, inadvertently getting her nose too. "My mom was just given some fancy award for accomplishments in science, blah-blah-blah. So, she's thrilled. My dad is still giving lectures at different colleges about the evolution of mutants and the big hybrid boom." She giggled. "You know, the one that Scout and Jem undoubtedly came from?" Her eyebrows lifted and dropped. "Not me. I'm an original freak. I came along a few years before the drugs were in the water." She licked off some more whipped cream. "You didn't say anything about Yuuta?"
"He's fine." Alli sipped her coffee. She had to play this down in a big way, neither could suspect anything. Or Yuuta would get pissy. "Would you want to come play cards with us tomorrow night? Spades? It's our favorite game, but there's only three of us, so we're usually shy a person."
"That's sound like a lot of fun. But, I don't know how to play." Devon toyed with the handle of her mug. "Do you think Yuuta could teach me?"
Alli grinned.
She was counting on it.
CHANE
Chane leaned back in the thinly-padded guest chair of Ceci's cramped office, warily eyeing the towering stacks of folders that threatened to fall and bury her.
Ceci sat across from her, in a cheery, yellow pantsuit with matching nail polish. One hand twirled a pen, while the other excavated her keyboard from the flood of paper spilling across her desk. Maybe it was time Ceci went digital, if not to save the environment, then at least to spare her a hoarder's end.
"So, we have our court date set. It's going to be a bit of a media circus, which might mean the end of your personal privacy. Are you sure about this?" Ceci asked, although Chane could almost feel her eagerness to sink her teeth into this case.
Her stomach knotted at the thought of all the public exposure. People who wanted to resist the change she pursued would drag her through the mud for this. But she'd been publicly humiliated before. Her mom had seen to that. So at least she knew she could endure it.
"Yes. Let's move forward."
Ceci grinned a blindingly-white smile. "Excellent. Let's take this system down."
Chane stood up with more certainty than she actually felt. "I should get to school. If you need anything from me, give me a call."
"Mmhmm." Ceci answered, already digging into a fresh stack of files like it was a three-course meal.
Chane turned to leave. Hopefully she didn't end up regretting this.
SHEN
Shen saved the finishing touches with a sense of pride. In a little over a month, they'd managed to pump out another six original tracks, for a total of eleven on their debut album. It was a visual album with audio-only option, to best showcase her contributions.
Their parents might be less than thrilled when they discovered the sudden plummet in their grades, but it was worth it. Nik had never been a strong academic, and the intensive composing hadn't helped him to overcome his shortcomings. But even she and Jem had majorly neglected their schoolwork.
Her videos were a time-intensive project. They'd jumped head first into teaching themselves audio engineering, with Jem handling the technical equipment side, and her taking on the software end. Between that and Jem's new love life, their academic standing would probably require a parent-conference in the near future. Totally worth it. Who needed to be in the running for valedictorian when they'd already made it.
Their high school diplomas seemed like a formality at this point. Though she, at least, still planned on college. There was a lot she wanted to learn. And she suspected Jem would follow Mimi wherever she went. Nik...well college might be a compromise with his parents. She knew Uncle Donnie had always wanted to go, but never had the chance, not that he really needed it. But he wanted it for Nik. Only the future would tell.
The apartment door opened and she set her tablet beside her on the couch to wave Nik in. "So, have you heard the final version?"
He grinned. "Yes. It sounds amazing. Looks pretty good too."
Good to know for their sound-viewing audiences. Who knew, maybe some of their patrons would be on something and able to appreciate it the way Nik did.
"Check out the cover art I made." She lifted the tablet proudly.
"Uh, I can tell that the screen is emitting light energy." He pointed out.
She pouted and set the device down. "You're no fun. Where's Jem?"
"Here." Their turtle cousin dragged his shell into their apartment, dark rings under his eyes.
"Tada." She held up the tablet.
He blinked at it tiredly.
"It's the cover art. You know, for our album." She clarified.
"Uh..." He was still blinking uncomprehendingly, until eventually shaking his head. "Sorry. Dad crashed my date last night. We kept watching old Bradford movies until two in the morning. Mimi went home at nine. Dude really cannot act."
More responsible parenting from Uncle Mikey.
"Mom and Scout were bushed and went to bed right after coming home, so there was no one to call him out on the 'five more minutes' promise he broke." Jem spoke through a yawn. "Also, I'm apparently banned from unchaperoned dates in the foreseeable future." He added dejectedly. "Don't ask."
"Well shake yourself awake. We have to get to school. And let's try this again. Proper response this time." Shen demanded unsympathetically as she held up her tablet once more. "Tada."
Jem pasted on a smile. "Looks awesome."
She tucked the device into her bag. "Great. Let's go before they hit us with more tardies."
Jem shook his head, yawning again. "Yeah, great. School woohoo."
Shen rolled her eyes and pushed passed them to the door. "Come on. Maybe you won't get detention for falling asleep in class."
Nik and Jem followed, Jem rubbing his eyes and muttering. "Yeah. And maybe the sky will turn purple and start raining cupcakes."