Come Wednesday morning, you find yourself giving very serious consideration to the idea of just skipping school this morning. It won't be the first time you've skipped school, although you try not to make a habit of it- you've only done it twice before, when Emma's taunts got bad enough that they actually cut you, made you need to find a place where you could go and cry.
You don't, in the end. You're pretty sure you could get away with it, especially as Dad leaves this morning with a parting call telling you that he's going to be working late again, but... you don't much feel like staying at home, either. You're twitching after several minutes alone in the house. School might be bad, but your house isn't much better at the moment.
Besides, you don't want to leave Madison alone in the library this afternoon. The thought of her disappointed expression makes you feel vaguely ill.
At least your headache has mostly faded by now. It's still there, pounding away in the back of your head, but it's better now. Barely noticeable unless there's a sudden jolt or a bright light.
You arrive just before the bell, having barely enough time to run through the halls to your locker. A grin makes its way across your face when you see that Madison's left another lunch for you, adorned with a pink card again, this time cut into the shape of a messy love heart. You're pretty sure it was hand-cut, which makes you have to stifle a dopey giggle at the image of Madison sitting at her desk cutting it out for you. Your girl really is the cutest.
The card- and the lunch- lifts your mood enough that you don't even mind too much when you walk into first period and find Emma studiously avoiding looking at you. That's fine, you tell yourself. You need some time to yourself anyway.
Madison smiles warmly at you when you seek her gaze out. You can't help but be a little resentful of Charlotte or whatever her name is, for getting to sit beside her, as silly as the feeling is. It's not her fault that she's been assigned there, and it's not her fault that she doesn't feel like requesting to sit somewhere else. Still, you want to sit there.
For a moment, you briefly consider the idea of using your power on her, and bringing her under you so you could make her swap seats-
but then your head twinges, and you hurriedly discard the idea. No, as much as you want Madison to be around you all the time right now, you also want to be able to focus during your tutoring sessions with her. They're too important to Madison for you to mess them up for something so selfish.
No. Instead, you pull out your books and try to actually concentrate on your classes. You might have read ahead, but you can't rely on everything the teachers are teaching you now having been in there.
By the time of the final bell, your headache has finally almost completely abated. Without Madison around during the second half of the day, your good mood has faded somewhat, but it's manageable still.
And it rises again almost immediately when you see Madison waiting by the entrance to the library for you. You pull her into a hug as soon as you walk up into hugging range, enjoying the way she immediately melts into you.
"Hi," she sighs happily. You tighten your arms around her in response, enjoying the warm gasp she can't quite hide, before you reluctantly let go. You still keep one arm around her waist, though, encouraging her to press herself against your side as you pull her into the library, where you locate a seat and pull her onto your lap. So far, the only other person who's come to the library during these hours was a single girl who headed off to the back of the library, and hadn't come out by the time you and Madison finished for the day.
She doesn't try to get off you, but she does twist around to give you a worried look. You just wrap your arms around her middle and give her a reassuring kiss. It doesn't make her look much less worried, but she doesn't say anything- just reaches down and twines one of your hands with hers, gently rubbing her thumb over your knuckles. It helps.
The study session itself goes well. Madison's not a stupid girl, no matter what certain whispered rumours around the school are saying; she's just not the kind of girl who learns well in class. With some individualized attention- and a much naughtier incentive scheme than any teacher could legally provide- she's proving herself a quick study. You doubt she'll ever attain your own grade level, but you're one of the top students at Winslow.
Still, despite Madison's presence in your lap, you're left feeling a little anxious when the clock ticks close to five. You try to put it out of your mind for a while, but it just builds up, and you're afraid that it's going to spill out if you don't do something about it soon.
"Hey, Madison," you whisper quietly against her neck. She shivers and lets out an inquisitive "Hm?", pencil pausing from where it's scratching against her notepad. "What are you doing after we're done here today?"
"Nothing," she says, twisting again to look at you. "Did you want me to do something for you?"
You grin and gently stroke her sides. "With me," you correct her gently, and she nods her head obediently at the correction. "Come to the park with me."
"Okay," she replies instantly. Then your words actually catch up to her; you can tell, because her face immediately flushes a furious red. "Like a date?" she squeaks.
"Exactly like a date," you purr.
Her face is a furious red, but there's a luminous smile on her face as she nods eagerly. "Yeah, of course," she says hurriedly. "Um, did you want me to do anything first? I can get Dad to take me home, I can change or cook some food or-"
You cut off the flood of words by nipping at her lower lip, causing her to squeak and blush even harder. "It's fine," you say. "I don't want you to do anything but come with me. Call your dad and let him know you'll be home later."
The park is nice and peaceful this late in the day. Most parents have taken their kids back into the safety of their houses, and the few that haven't are off in their own little groups, trying not to draw too much attention to themselves.
It's a bad idea to walk around in public with your arms around Madison, so you restrict yourself to just holding her hand as you stroll around the park. She pouts at you, but understands; in a city with such an Empire presence, it's not a good idea to make the fact that you're gay an open one. It's risky enough at school, and that's a place where you can use your power to crush someone's mind hard enough that they won't blab, if it comes down to it. You can't do that in public, where a cape might see.
Still, it's pleasant enough. You can feel the stress slowly fading from your system, helped along by Madison's soft humming.
You wander around the park for around fifteen minutes, just taking in the sights and enjoying the fluttering feeling of being on a proper date with Madison, before you finally spot a seat that's secluded enough for your liking. Hidden behind the dropping boughs of an old willow tree and a series of rosebushes that aren't trimmed nearly often enough to keep them from overgrowing their trellises, you sit down on the bench and pull Madison into your lap again.
At her questioning glance, you shrug. "I like it when you sit on my lap," you tell her. Then, "I like it when you're that close to me."
She giggles and settles in comfortably against you. You take the chance to peer down her shirt, drawing an amused and slightly naughty smile from the girl; you're pleased to find that she's still wearing lacy black lingerie beneath her shirt.
"You said you liked it," she says simply after a moment. "Do you want me to-"
"No, no," you interrupt her. "Trust me, Madison, this is absolutely fine." You finish your sentence with a lewd smile, causing her to burrow her face against your neck again with another embarrassed flush.
"Good," she mumbles. Then, she leans up and whispers into your ear, "It feels so good to wear this for you." This time, you're the one who can't hide the embarrassed flush that creeps up your neck, causing her to let out a naughty little giggle as she settles back against you.
The two of you stay snuggled together there for a long time, exchanging little naughty comments like that and talking about your school and home lives.
Madison tells you about her adventures with her little brother, who's currently obsessed with an Earth Aleph-designed video game about... she's not actually sure; digging up blocks of dirt and building hollow cubes dirt to protect yourself from exploding monsters, she thinks, and punching spiders to death. There could be more to it, but her brother keeps getting excited about the exploding green things and forgetting whatever his other goals were.
You tell her about your day out with your Dad over the weekend. You'd gone with him before you'd seen Madison at Emma's house, but you haven't actually told her about it before now. She doesn't understand most of what you describe to her- she doesn't actually know much about the economy, she admits with a shameful blush, which causes you to stop telling your story as you gently reassure her- but she hangs attentively on your words anyway, patiently asking questions as she tries to wrap her head around your Dad's job.
In turn, she tells you about the time she's spent with her own parents. She doesn't tell you much about her mother- you get the feeling there's still some lingering resentment there- but she goes on enthusiastically about her experiments with her dad cooking in the kitchen.
"I'm sorry that the food I've been cooking for you isn't the best," she mumbles shamefacedly at one point, "but Mom got really angry when I told her I was making lunch for you, and she and Dad got in a fight over it, so I can't spend too much time in the kitchen in the morning in case that happens again."
"Don't worry about it," you tell her, pressing a kiss against the tip of her nose, "I don't care about the food, I just love that you're making it for me." She blushes a beautiful red and stammers a bit, losing track of what she was talking about.
Seeing that she's lost for words, you take the lead in the conversation again. You're tempted to use your power for this, but you refrain, trying to ignore the queasy pit of nervousness in your stomach as you describe to Madison your activities with Sophia in the bathroom yesterday.
"... and then I kissed her and ran out," you admit. "Wait, no- I grabbed her ass, too. She didn't seem to mind that much, though."
Madison doesn't speak for a moment. You search her face, and are relieved when you don't see any of the usual signs of her anger or frustration.
When she does speak, it's with a measured, determined calm.
"Was she a better kisser than me?" she asks.
You don't know- it'd only been a half-second kiss- but that's not what Madison needs to hear.
"Of course not," you mutter. She grabs onto your collar as you guide her head up again, meeting her in a gentle kiss for a moment. "You're the best kisser, Maddie."
"And don't you forget it." She pouts, then fiddles nervously with your collar for a moment, before leaning in and seeking another kiss. After that, she speaks again, seeming a bit less nervous. "You promised you wouldn't forget about me, right?"
"Hey." You surprise her by sitting up suddenly, almost causing her to tip over backwards if your arms weren't around her, holding her strongly in place where she is. "Of course I won't," you say seriously. You don't tell her not to worry, there's no way she can't worry about this, but you do your best to reassure her anyway. "I will never forget about you, Madison, no matter how many women are in my life."
That seems to wash away her insecurity some, but she still looks a little vulnerable. You almost lean in to reassure her with another kiss, but something holds you back. Maybe that isn't the best path right now.
"I promise," you murmur instead, leaning your forehead delicately against hers so you can stare into her eyes up close. "I could never forget about my favourite girl."
This time, she doesn't pout. Whatever she's feeling, it's too serious for her to try to hide it behind trembling lips and doe eyes as she normally does. She does, however, lean in close before kissing you, still clutching your collar with trembling arms.
Well, okay. You're going to need to deal with that insecurity somehow.
You could leave it- she's willing enough to dedicate herself to you anyway- but somehow, the thought makes that same sick nervousness as before roll around in your stomach briefly before you brush the thought away. Maybe once, you might have been willing to just ignore her insecurities and rely on her loyalty to you to overcome any reluctance she has in being one of your lovers, but now- now you just want her to willingly accept every part of you. Even the sexiness of Madison enjoying the odd threesome or foursome isn't your biggest concern (although now you're thinking about it, it is pretty sexy).
There's nothing you can do about it right now, though- at least not without using your powers on the vulnerable girl. And that just seems wrong.
So instead, you just press a gentle kiss to her nose and hold her tightly against you, reassuring her with your presence, until it gets too cold and you have to reluctantly part from her as her father sweeps in to pick you both up for the night and drop you off at home.
It probably says something about you that you're kind of glad that you're having this kind of relationship drama.
Unfortunately, as it turns out, Madison isn't available after school on Thursday- "Piano lessons with one of Mom's friends," she explains glumly when you inquire the next day. You're a bit disappointed, although also a bit relieved- you're not sure how much privacy the park really affords, and you don't want to always take Madison to the same place.
Maybe you can get a job, you think suddenly- it'll eat up time either during the week or during the weekend, but it's guaranteed income, and you might even get a job somewhere you like.
But that's something to consider later (you don't even have a resume at the moment). You need something to distract you now.
So you take some time during computer class, the one class you have free from Emma's fretful gaze, to look up hobbies online. Unfortunately, most of them sound extremely boring. Knitting, scrapbooking- what's the point of that kind of hobby? And most of the other ones that you can find require way more money than you have. Model-building has potential, but then you look at the prices listed for beginner-level models, and a little piece of you dies on the inside as you close the tab.
There isn't very much at all you can do in Brockton Bay, you soon find out glumly. If you had some money, you might be able to find a camera and take up photography, but you don't, and even if you did, who's to say you'll be good enough at it to justify the price tag? Gardening sounds promising for a moment, but even it requires money, unless you're willing to go around stealing plants and cutting- which you are, but that's a bit visible for your liking.
In the end, there's really not a lot you can do. At least, until you stumble across a simple advertisement from a clinic downtown, asking for people interested in assisting a free clinic by donating their services on weekdays. You check, of course, to make sure that it's still current; it is.
From what you can tell from a quick skim over the site, they're asking for volunteers to come and assist with basic duties unrelated to health care. Their recruitment page advertises the fact that they "have close ties to the New Wave movement", and that they're willing to consider funding volunteers for further education and training in health care matters if volunteers prove willing and capable to do their work.
Unfortunately, as you also find out, volunteering isn't an easy process. You can't just walk up to someone in a building, say "I want to volunteer here", and be told to get an immediate start- especially not as a minor. You download and email the forms to yourself, but you're going to have to fill them out when you get home, get your Dad to sign them, and ask him to ring up and make an appointment with them for the both of you to go see them. It's all complicated by you still being under sixteen- there are laws about what kind of volunteers they're allowed to take on and what minors are allowed to do, and they need to discuss them with you before you can sign anything.
Fortunately, he agrees to do that for you, and doesn't question you on your sudden interest in volunteering at a health care clinic. In fact, when you present the forms to him, he draws you into a sudden hug that almost causes you to drop the forms all over him.
"I'm proud of you, Taylor," he says when he finally pulls back.
And that makes the decision worth it all on its own.
By Friday afternoon, though, you're getting a bit antsy.
Dad had rung the clinic the next morning, inquiring about when you could come in and speak to them about volunteering. You hadn't heard the other end of the conversation, but from what he'd said, the earliest they could fit you in was after school next Monday. That didn't suit you, so he'd arranged for Wednesday morning instead. Then, hopefully, you'd be able to start volunteering in the afternoons from then on.
That still leaves you with the weekend, though, and half of next week before you can start. You're going to have to figure out a way to occupy yourself until then.
So, how are you going to occupy yourself over the weekend?
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