Flare Up

The accident wasn't her fault. Phoebe repeated that mantra to herself as she sat in the treehouse. Her head was bowed, her chin tucked to her chest. She tapped her heels into the wooden floorboards, but the rhythm was off and jarring, a jittering cacophony. Focusing on specks of dirt staining the tips her white tennis shoes, she continued tapping, her restless energy hardly quelled when she heard the floorboards creak from the other side of the treehouse.

Coach Oleander hobbled towards her, his gait uneasy. He pressed the bandage on his cheek, smoothing it on his skin so it wouldn't catch in his moustache. In his other hand, he held his riding crop, the tip of it dragging along the floor as he came closer to Phoebe.

She willed herself to raise her head as she asked, "Is Kitty okay?"

He sat in his old, rickety chair, nodding. He pressed a few buttons on his radio and tucked the antenna down. Turning around to face her, he crossed his ankles and cocked his head, asking her what happened.

Phoebe's cheeks darkened, the red burning in her face making her appear nauseous. She certainly felt that way when her stomach flipped at his question. She wrung her hands by her lap and fiddled with the hem of her camp shirt, her eyes darting to the various drawings Oleander had hung up around his classroom.

"We're not going to get anywhere if you don't say anything," Oleander interjected, his eyes narrowing. "In interrogations, the silent treatment never works for the enemy, so you better start talking. I won't ask again."

She bit back her scorn. She wanted to tell him there wasn't any need for him to snap at her. Guilt already gnawed on her insides, and sensing his vitriol only worsened it. Sucking down a breath, she tried mentally counting to five, but Oleander cracked his knuckles, demanding an answer before she could even start.

"She was-" Phoebe cleared her throat. "Kitty was using her powers on Quentin again."

Oleander leaned back in his seat. He shifted his gaze to the entrance, natural sunlight filtering through the shadows crossing the pillows and couch. He let her continue.

"I saw her do it this time. Her pupils, I think, were spinning, but she definitely had him under her spell. He was doing her homework for her while she played with his hair," Phoebe recalled, a few strands of curly hair coming undone from her bun. They spilled on to her cheeks as she lowered her head. "I confronted her. I told her she needed to stop and leave him alone, but she-" She dug her fingernails into her palms, ignoring the faint burn marks crossing over her veins. "-she tried hypnotising me! I know she was trying to do it! She-she told me that I needed to go find someone else to bother, and-and-and she started twirling her fingers through my hair, and I felt so tired and heavy all of a sudden, and I knew I was about to really be under her control, um, when…"

Oleander crossed his arms over his chest. "'When?'"

"Well, uh, that's-that's the thing." Phoebe rubbed her neck, her face as red as a nasty sunburn. "I just flared up. I had my inhibitors on-" She touched her headphones. "-but it still happened. I just saw red and orange, and it got so hot, and the next thing I saw was Kitty holding her face and crying." She flinched, the memory of Kitty writhing on the ground in the lodge suddenly too much for her. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to remember the terror etched in Quentin's features when he snapped out of Kitty's control, realizing what she had done. He had even dropped to his knees to help Kitty, making her feel more like a monster than a person.

Oleander breathed in deeply and held it. He watched her reaction, taking mental notes on her guilt and terror. He expected that was the case. Kitty had been exerting her will over some of the more mild mannered campers, and her frequent threats to sue the camp made it difficult to punish her for it. He knew Ford kept tabs on Kitty and who she hypnotized, but when he heard that Phoebe burned her, he thought it was in retaliation for Quentin's sake. He really couldn't blame Phoebe when he had half a mind to lock Kitty in the GPC every single time he heard her causing trouble. If the impending threat of the infamous Bubai family lawsuits weren't hanging over his head, he would have done it a couple summers ago.

But Phoebe wouldn't lash out without thinking. She wouldn't attack anyone in camp without a good reason. A few summers ago, she only burned kids who tried bullying others. She almost set Bobby's hair on fire when she was seven after he tore through Quentin's favorite scarf for no reason. She was a good kid, if quick to firestart anything that moved suspiciously, and watching her stifle back a sob tugged at his heartstrings.

"I-I-I'm-I'm really, really, sorry, Coach," Phoebe said, chewing on the insides of her mouth. Her shoulders hunched as she leaned forward. "I know I shouldn't have burned her, but I just-I just got so frustrated and-"

"You burned her eyebrows off."

Silence followed. Phoebe dragged her head up and blinked. She appeared like a fish out of water as her mind processed what Oleander said.

"Did you say-? I burned-? Like…" She gestured at her face. "...clean off?"

"Clean off," Oleander replied, smirking. "Wasn't even a mark or a burn. They're just-" He snapped his fingers. "-gone. Poof. Like some kind of magic spell gone wrong."

Air puffed past her lips, and she quickly clapped her hand over her mouth. She chortled, her shoulders quaking, her heart skipping a beat. Imagining the Kitty Bubai, the girl who cared for her appearance more than anyone else in Whispering Rock, without eyebrows, made her burst into laughter. She was unable to stop while the mental image of Franke trying to draw them on for her with violet Sharpie markers fueled her fit, her lungs aching as she gasped down air and coughed up laughter.

"Oh-oh, my God! I shouldn't be-shouldn't be laughing, but I didn't know I burned them off!" Phoebe sputtered through the spaces of her fingers.

"Yeah, it's quite a sight. She can't pluck those brows during my class anymore," Oleander said and pushed himself off the chair. "So, now that I have your side of the story, cadet, I've decided that you were protecting your comrade from the wiles of the enemy like any good Psychonaut would."

She cut her laughter short, a noise of disbelief escaping her. "I'm not in trouble?" she asked, straightening her back and staring up at him, her brows furrowed.

"No, no, not at all. Between you and me…" He gave her a knowing look and grinned. "...she had it coming."

Phoebe smiled, all traces of guilt leaving her features. She swung her legs as she kicked off from her seat, saying, "Well, thanks for understanding, Coach. I was really worried you'd, I don't know, give me some more work to do or kick me outta camp."

Oleander hummed and smacked his riding crop into his hand. "I mean, if you want some extra assignments as punishment-"

"Oh, no, no, there's no need for that!" she blurted and skipped out in front of him. Backing up to the entrance, she waved her hands and tittered. "I-I'm good, and since I feel so, so, so guilty and ashamed for what I've done, I've learned a very valuable lesson. I'll work on my issues and won't flare up again! Bye!"

Phoebe hurried away, not giving Oleander time to respond. She felt like she could fly, her body so light and airy. She almost didn't know what to do with herself. Flaring up had never given her good results, but this time, the outcome favored her. She knew there was a selfish undertone in her reasoning, that Kitty still lost her eyebrows, but as she ran to Main Lodge where Quentin would be waiting for her, she told herself it was the funniest thing that had happened to her all summer. It was completely worth it.

Oleander watched her scurry down the steps, the creaking rungs growing quieter as Phoebe escaped. He rolled his eyes and smirked to himself as he returned to his radio. Turning it back on, Oleander settled back into his seat and decided that Phoebe's brain would be more than valuable in due time.

tbh this was another warm up fic to help me get going with secret santas! milla was originally gonna replace oleander, but then i remembered i haven't written anything with him in this series, so i put him in. it was originally gonna be sadder, like milla comforting phoebe and feeling kind of uncomfortable because of her trauma, but oleander going "lmao don't be upset you burned kitty's eyebrows off nice job" and phoebe going "LMAOOO" right back was a lot funnier in my head.