Caitlin met me at Jitters Friday afternoon for our biweekly session. The warm summer breeze was still blowing and cause the trees to rustle comfortingly, my hoodie left tied around my waist. I smiled as the sun hit my arms, the warmth seeping through my skin after the cold of the underground.
Caitlin was sitting outside with her laptop, take-away coffee cup in hand. With hair pulled up in a messy bun and a plum-coloured spaghetti-strap singlet she looked the very picture of a college student. Not at all like the PHD graduate I knew she was.
"Hey," I said quietly, not wanting to startle her.
She looked up, closing the laptop, "Juliet! How are you?"
"Good, and you?" I responded, sitting down opposite her.
"Fine," She said smiling, "better than fine actually."
"That's great," I said, "You guys defeated Cicada, right?"
"Yeah, we did, and Killer Frost is back." Caitlin said brightly, "I thought she was gone for good, but it was just a mental block." Taking a sip of her coffee, she chanced the topic. "Speaking of mental blocks, how's that side of it going? I assume there's been no more issues?"
"Yeah, it's been fine," I admitted, "I'm getting much better at holding my walls up and I know I've got the bracelet if I start to slip up."
We talked for a while, and she mentioned the whole Deathlight thing briefly, but didn't linger on it for too long. I guess she knew I'd already got a reprimand from Flash and didn't want to double up. We ended up talking about how my school had let me stay on until graduation provided there were no complaints with regards to my powers.
"That's great!" She said, getting up to go, "I've got to get back to the Labs now, but I'll see you again in a fortnight? I know you don't technically need these sessions anymore, but it's nice to catch up, and if you do have problems, you'll have someone to listen and help."
"Of course," I smiled, it was nice having a friend who I could talk to about the whole 'meta' thing and Caitlin was really nice to be around.
"Oh, and before I forget," She added, turning back, "Do you know anything about The Pack? There's a group of teens calling themselves 'The Pack'. Thieves and vandals for the most part, but it seems fairly organised. Wouldn't normally be our problem, but Barry suspects there's metas involved."
"No, why would you think I'd know something?" I asked in confusion.
"Oh," She said, eyes wide, "Sorry! I didn't mean anything like that, I just thought that since you're a teen you might've heard rumours. Especially since you told us about Deathlight. If you do hear something, just let us know, okay?"
"Sure," I agreed easily, wondering if I should watch the news more often so I actually knew what was going on.
She left soon after that, and I sat quietly outside, wondering what to do next. I still had a few hours before I was expected back, and I didn't bring any money for coffee. I was about to leave anyway when a familiar figure in sports tights and loose dark hair strode towards Jitters. Spotting me, she grinned, a white-toothed joyful expression and changed direction.
"Hey Jules, how are you?" She asked cheerfully, glancing at Jitters, "You here for an after-school pick-me-up too?"
"Hey Layla," I said, smiling, "Coffee's not really my thing, I was just here to meet a friend."
She took an exaggerated look around, "I see no friend; were you waiting for me? You gone psychic on me, Jules?"
A bubble of laughter made it's breathy way out of my mouth, "No, she just left. So, you're here for coffee?" I asked, trying to veer the conversation away from potentially meta-related topics.
"Yeah, but they've got tea here too, so do you want to join me?" She asked, gesturing towards the café.
"I would, but I don't have any cash on me." I said, annoyed with myself for not having the foresight to bring a little spending money.
"No worries, it's on me." She said cheerfully, opening the door for me, "So, no coffee, right? You a chai fan, or full on herbal natural type?"
"Thank you so much," I said, hurrying so she didn't have to hold the door long. "I like chai, but I like most types of tea, so I don't mind."
"I normally drink flat whites, but capachinos are my favourite." She admitted as they joined the line, "The fluffy milk is just so good."
We waited in the café bustle, people moving and working and distracted in a nice sort of buzz that always got me on some sort of mild vicarious high. Ever since that day in Jitters right after I'd learned to control my powers, the emotional atmosphere of a room had interested me. So, whenever I thought the atmosphere wasn't too heavy, I'd thin my wall out a little so I could get a boost without actually hearing people's thoughts, just their tone. Coffee shops were my favourite.
Out of the blue, a discordant tone hit me, and my head whipped around towards the counter. A ginger-haired man was arguing with the barista.
"Hey, I didn't do anything? Why are you refusing to serve me?" He said, voice raised slightly over the chatter.
"I'm sorry sir, I don't feel comfortable having you in the store." The barista said with a frown, turning away to get back to work.
"But what did I do? Just tell me what I did!" The white, middle aged man exclaimed in confusion. When he received no response, the man kept badgering the barista until an ugly look appeared on the employee's face.
"It's not what you've done, it's what you might do" The barista hissed angrily.
"What, because I'm a meta?" The man said incredulously, "Look, I've been in jail, but I served my time and I'm turning over a new leaf. Just let me get some coffee please!"
"I'm sorry sir," The barista said very loudly, "but I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."
The man looked like he was going to explode, but instead, he let out a breath in frustration and left the store.
I looked sideways at Layla, wondering if she'd noticed the incident. Her eyes were glued to the barista, and her jaw was clenched.
"You know what, Jules?" She said quietly, "Never mind about the coffee, let's just get out of here."
"Yeah." I said, walking with her towards the door.
A block and a half of walking later, she finally spoke.
"You taking the train too? We can walk together."
"Yeah," I said uncertainly, still feeling a little sick after the coffee shop confrontation.
Another few tense minutes passed before she suddenly exploded, "I can't believe that happens! It's so stupid and I just-!" She stopped, seeing my wary expression. "Sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice like that."
"No, it's fine," I said, relaxing a little now I knew the anger wasn't directed my way, "I wish that stuff didn't happen."
She looks at me, considering for a moment before telling me, "I just get worried that'll happen to me if someone finds out I'm a meta."
I stopped in surprise, "What, really?"
She stopped with me, and suddenly her amber eyes were on mine, "Yep. My parents weren't fans, so no one really knows but you, Oli, Jinn and Dee. Please don't tell anyone. You heard what happened to that girl last year right? Almost expelled."
"I won't tell anyone- I mean-" I stammered, "I mean," I hesitate, forcing myself to be brave and trust my secret to her like she did me, "I'm a meta too."
"Really?" Her eyes were wide and still locked on mine, I looked away nervously.
"Yeah," I confirmed, a little unwilling to make myself 'that girl' from last year. Better to see if this doesn't go wrong. I felt guilty for concealing it though.
We took the train, chatting mostly about other things until it was her stop, which came far sooner than I was ready for.
"Oh, and before I forget!" She said as the train slowed, "We're having a party next Friday and it'd be great if you came. Just let me know at school if you can come."
The doors opened and people began to spill over the threshold of the train, back and forth in a flurry of impatient movement.
"See you Monday!" She said, stepping off onto the dark concrete platform.
"See you," I said with a smile.
*Cameo from one of my other short fics – Carl Fullston (a.k.a. Smasher) from The Experiment. Props to anyone who guessed it
Author's Note:
Wow, found it tricky to type this because my keyboard was acting up and spouting all sorts of symbols and absolutely no letters!
Anyway, it's stopped now, so that's good.
Sorry for being so late - had some work that could not wait. Anyone else being swamped with work?
As always, please please PLEASE tell me what you think - your feedback is invaluable!
Trix