"How long will you be here?" Amber's head turns to the sound of the voice in the cell across from her, the water from the sprinklers above her dripping down her face. In the other cell is a man, he seems to be sweating, the heaters surrounding him must mean his specialty is something cold. "Not long." She responds, a quiet sigh escaping her lips as the words she heard just a day ago play in her mind on repeat. "He's dead, it's time to give up.", the sentence that got her here in the first place. "What are you in for, anyways?" The man asked, prompting a scoff from Amber. "I killed somebody." Amber's admits, her gaze now fixed on the floor. "You need to let it go.." A familiar, female voice comments, Amber's head snapping in that direction. "You can't go on like this." She can hardly believe her eyes. "No.. You're dead, you're not here. G-go away!" She shouts, standing up and attempting to shoot fire near the other girl's head, only for the sprinklers to extinguish it. "You need to--- RING, RING. RING, RING. Amber jumps awake at the sound of her phone ringing. She grabs it, turning it on and placing it against her ear. "Hello? Who is this?" She asks, groggy and tired. What a weird dream.. "Hey, morning Amber! It's me, your classmate. Aero, remember?" She recognizes his voice, giving a small sigh. "How did you even get my number..?" She mumbles, trying her best not to be rude. It was just who she was, she had a hard time when it came to being genuine around others. "Uh.. You gave me it yesterday, when I was talking to you after school, and you said you had to run an errand, so-" She cuts him off, not wanting to listen to another rant. "OKAY, I remember now. What do you want?" An innocent chuckle is heard from the other side of the line, great.. he must be up to something. "Well, I wanted to ask yesterday but you were busy. I was wondering if you wanted to come to a restaurant with my friends and I?" Amber rolls her eyes at the offer, this boy was trying too hard. "Why?" She questioned, standing up from her bed. "Because! Um.. Why not?" Before Amber could say anything else, a knock is heard through the phone. "Oop- I'll be back! Meet me outside of school later, yeah? Bye!" With that, Aero hangs up. Amber shakes her head, her red eyes landing on the mirror. Her long, black hair is slightly tangled. She puts her phone down, heading into her bathroom and getting ready for the day. She grabs her backpack, being sure to put her phone in it as she exits the room. Her little sister runs up, an excited look plastered on her face. "Big sis! What are we having for breakfast?" Amber gives a small smile, she honestly forgot she needs to make that. "How about.. toast?" That answer seems good enough for Bliss, her wide smile making her joy almost contagious. She usually does that to people. "Yay!! Brother went to hangout with his friends, and I think dad is at work now.." Amber sighs, she can't believe her father left unannounced again. Well, she can, but it's still irritating. She nods, heading downstairs and starting the toast. "I'll call Lacey for you, I'm sure she'll love to play heroes again." Amber says, causing Bliss to giggle. She picks up her phone, dialing the babysitter's number. "Hey, Lacey. My dad's at work again, and I need to go to school. Would you mind coming over to watch Bliss?" She asks, hearing a small ding from the toaster. She takes out the toast, putting more bread in for herself. She smears some jelly on Bliss' toast, holding the plate out to her. "Thank you!" Bliss says, running over to the dining table. "Oh, sure, I'd love to come over! I'm on my way now." Lacey responds, earning a quiet "Thanks." from Amber. After a few more minutes, Lacey arrives and Amber heads off to school. Unfortunately, she's late. Despite this, waiting at the entrance of school is Aero.. "Amber! What took you so long? Class started a few minutes ago!" Amber scoffs, entering the school with Aero right behind her. His white hair flowing around thanks to the wind from his ability. "I had to make breakfast." She replies bluntly, her red eyes staring straight into his baby blue ones. He simply smiles, pointing towards the classroom. "It's fine, c'mon!" He gestures her to follow as he enters the room, her following shortly behind. The teacher shoots them a glare, and they both take their seats. After class, Amber is greeted by Aero once again. "What do you want now??" She questioned, her annoyance palatable. "Heh.. Well, I was going to wait until after school, but-" Aero is interrupted by a speedy set of footsteps approaching from behind Amber. "Hey! Aero, come here real fast! Nami wants to talk to you!" Amber glances towards the boy behind her, she doesn't recognize him, but he's probably just one of Aero's friends. "Oh.. Okay! Coming! I'll have to catch you later, then." Aero says with a nervous chuckle, running off with the other boy. Amber continues down the hallways, a breath of relief as she's finally in silence again. Until her phone starts ringing. It's Lacey, she answers immediately. "Is everything okay? What's Bliss up to?" She asks, trying to contain any unnecessary worry in her voice. "Everything's fine, she's just showing me one of these little books you wrote her. They're really cute! I think you should publish one of these sometime." Amber facepalms, a feeling of dread as Lacey explains. There is no way she'll ever show those to anyone. "Ugh.. no way." She mumbles, glancing around the hallway to make sure no one is listening. "Aw, come on, Amber! It's really amazing, kids would love them!" Amber feels a small smile on her lips, despite her annoyance. Lacey is such a sweet woman, taking care of her and Bliss more than their father ever would. "Still, no way." Amber's gaze lands on a group of gossip girls in front of her. "I'm sorry, I'll have to call you later. See ya." She hangs up, staring at the girls. The girl on the left gives a wave, smiling brightly as they walk by. Amber directs her gaze to the floor, not sure how to react. She crashes into somebody, which she knows is her fault, but she scoffs loudly anyways. She looks towards the boy in front of her, her eyes landing on his black ones. She looks him up and down, he's rather short, his hair is messy and blond. "I wonder what his ability is.." she thinks to herself, her brows furrowing in slight annoyance. "Who are you?" She questions, tilting her head. The boy's eyes are directed at the floor as she speaks. He glances up at her before smiling, signing "Sorry", and walking past her. She's visibly confused, he must've been deaf. She finds it more annoying that he left, but she decides not to go after him. She feels someone tap her shoulder, her head turning to face them. There he is again.. Aero. "I'm back! Hey, did you meet the knew kid? I didn't hear about him from the teacher, probably because we were late." Amber nods, crossing her arms. "Yeah, he just bumped into me. Any clue what his name is?" Aero nods back in response to her question. "Mhm! It's uh.. Nihilo, or something like that." Nihilo? Amber's never heard that name before. Must not be too common. "What's that name even mean?.." Aero shrugs, unsure himself. "We should ask some time. We'll have to write it.. if he can read." Amber rolls her eyes at the suggestion. "What were you saying earlier?" She asks, making a smile form on Aero's face. "Oh, yeah, um... Well- I was just wanting to remind you about the whole restaurant plan thing. You wanna come, or no?" Amber pauses for a second before hesitantly nodding. "..Fine, I'll go with you and your dumb friends. Don't expect me to be part of your group after this though." He smiles widely, clapping his hands together. "Oh, thank you! I really didn't think you'd agree to come! Next class is soon, we should get going. Come on." He says excitedly, gesturing for her to follow as he heads down the hallway. Hours later, school is over. Amber calls Lacey to inform her that she'll be out a little longer, which isn't an issue to her, and then she goes with Aero and his friends to a Chinese restaurant. "Okay, so, this is Nami," Aero gestures to a girl with medium length, bright blue hair and deep blue eyes. "Shadow," A boy with black hair and gray eyes shoots her a wave. "And that's Melody." He gestures to the last girl with purple eyes and short, magenta hair. "Everybody meet, Amber! She's been my friend for a few days now." She glares at Aero, her eyebrows furrowing. "..I never said we were friends." He smirks in response. "You never said we aren't!" Before Amber can think of a snarky remark, Nami chuckles. "Well, nice to meet you." She says sweetly just before the waiter approaches the table. "Hello, what may I get you all?" Everyone takes their orders, and the waiter leaves. "So, Mel, how are you and Copper doing?" Nami asks innocently, Melody smiles lightly, shrugging. "We've been good, we were actually going to the park tomorrow, I hear it'll be sunny." Amber glances towards Aero, an annoyed look on her face. He simply smiles, nudging her shoulder as a request for her to be nice. Eventually, the waiter returns, placing their plates on the table. The group eats, the subject of the conversation switching consistently until everyone is ready to leave. The rest of the group is taking a while to get ready to leave, to which Amber just stands up and walks out. Aero gives Nami his wallet to pay before quickly following after her. "Hey! You got to go, huh? Well, thanks for tonight! I had a lot of fun, I'm glad you came." He says, smiling at her once again. Amber doesn't really understand his liking towards her, she's always a bit distant and rude for no reason, she definitely didn't make this whole thing interesting at all past the introductions. "..No problem, I guess. See you tomorrow." She mumbles, turning around to leave, although she pauses for a second. "Um.. Goodnight, Aero." He chuckles in suprise, feeling as though he's made progress with their 'friendship'. "Goodnight, sleep well!" He runs back into the restaurant, probably to celebrate to his friends. She really doesn't get his desperation, he has plenty of other friends. She makes her way home, Lacey greets her at the door. "Thank you so much for watching Bliss all day.." Amber says, giving her a tired smile. Lacey is still as upbeat as always. "It's nothing, really. Get some sleep, your dad and brother are asleep, and Bliss is reading a book before bed. Speaking of books.." Lacey smiles, tapping Amber's forehead. "You should really consider what I said." She says with a wink, Amber sighs, shaking her head. "Whatever you say.. not happening." Lacey sighs, patting her head as she walks past her. "Just think about it! Sweet dreams, Amber. I'll see you tomorrow." With that, Lacey enters her car, driving back to her house. Amber heads to her room after saying goodnight to Bliss.
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