i'm sorry it took a few hours longer than i thought to post. i really thought it was still "today" and then i looked at the clock as i was about to post and saw that in my timezone it is around 12:30am haha 

After what seemed to be the longest school day of my career so far, the realization that the day had still not ended was miserable news. I was at a point where I just wanted to crawl into my bed and relax as much as possible, but when I exited the school and noticed Serena waiting for me, I knew that my wants would not be manifested. 

Taking in a deep breath, I made the small trek to where she stood and tried my hardest to smile. "Hey," I greeted, not sure what else to say. 

"Let's get in line," she said, her tone almost bored. She whipped around and moved towards the line at the Leapmaster, expecting me to follow her--which I did. 

Usually after school my parents wouldn't care too much about me coming straight home, and would assume if I didn't come straight to the house I was either at the restaurant or Blythe's home. In case of an emergency, I figured it would probably be a good idea to contact them and explain my whereabouts, but at the same time I was hoping that my conversation with Serena would take a limited time and I could be home soon anyways. 

Once we had leaped to her home I called my mother and explained where I was as Serena's father, Dex Dizznee, greeted her and started asking her questions about how her school day was going, any homework she needed to complete, and if I was planning to stay for dinner. 

I got off the call just as the last question was asked, and Serena turned to me with narrowed eyes, as if warning me. "Sorry, but I won't be able to," I responded politely. "My parents will be expecting me back by then." 

"Your parents are the ones who own that restaurant, right?" her father questioned. "The one Keefe is doing the mural for?" 

"That's the one," I acknowledged, almost having forgotten that was happening. I remember people mentioning it to me prior, but still it wasn't something I was stuck upon. 

He smiled at me in response before turning back to his daughter. "Your mom was having trouble earlier with some shipments so I'm going to head over there to see if I can help out or to probably just bring her some food if she's hungry. We might end up out a little late, is there anything specific you want me to bring you back for dinner?" 

She smiled back, and I was almost confused at the complete innocent look on her face as she responded, "No, don't worry about me dad, I'll be alright. After Novena leaves I'll probably just head over to Mika's and eat there." I practically cringed at her use of my full first name, barely anyone called me Novena. 

Her father's eyes narrowed slightly, and he tilted his head in worry. "You and Eamon still not talking?" 

Her eyes flashed to mine for a moment before looking back at Dex. "Dad, don't worry about it. Go see mom." She practically pushed him towards the Leapmaster, and after a few moments where they said their goodbyes, I still stayed silent after he disappeared. 

"Sorry about that," she eventually broke the silence, her tone once again almost bored. 

"Your dad is really nice," I responded, giving her a tight smile. 

"I know," she responded, not smiling back and her words lacking enthusiasm. She motioned for me to follow her, which I did, and we made our way through the large house before reaching her bedroom, which was on what seemed to be the fourth floor. 

"How many floors does this place have?" I questioned, studying her room as I asked. I had never quite wondered what her bedroom would look like, but whatever I had expected is definitely not what it appeared to be. The walls were a relatively neutral creamed colors, with the finer detailing, such as door frames and the window panels, being a light pink. Her walls were covered in pictures of her family, and just above her bed she had a small collage specifically made of pictures of her with Eamon and Mika. Beside her bed was a small table which had a framed photo of her parents on what I would assume to be their wedding day. 

"Seven," she answered, sitting on her bed. She motioned for me to sit on the small green beanbag chair she had laying out next to the bed. "You can sit in Mika's spot." 

I wasn't quite surprised by the number of floors, but still a part of me was a bit shocked because the house didn't look that tall from the outside. But, it could also be the fact that the Dizznee's house was so wide that the height didn't seem as much. "Mika's?" I took the seat anyways, and noticed that there was another beanbag chair shoved under her bed, although that one was more of a maroon. Eamon's favorite color. 

"Yeah, his favorite color is green," she explained, and moved her arms so they were folded across her chest. "Listen, I don't want you here any longer than you want to be here so I say we cut to the chase." 

"Okay." My response was drawn out, and I was confused at her sudden switch in attitude. I wondered if her parents, especially her father who was known for his goofiness and outright kindness, knew of their daughter's reputation for being uptight and rude to everyone she met. 

"I told Eamon I loved him and he says he doesn't feel the same way," she told me, although I had somewhat already knew. I wasn't aware she said the words "I love you" but I did know she shared her feelings. I was kind of surprised at her admittance of love, as I took that to be a very serious thing. 

"I'm sorry," I replied, not sure of what she wanted me to say.

"He said he likes someone else, and everyone in the world knows who he's talking about." She rolled her eyes, and I was confused because apparently I wasn't included as part of the world due to the fact I had no idea. 

I didn't want to seem stupid, so I decided to ask her, "So why am I here?" 

"Eamon told me that I'm rude and callous and he doubts that I love him because I'm incapable of feelings emotion towards anything with the way that I treat people." 

"That's harsh," I responded, somewhat feeling bad for her. "I can't imagine him talking like that to someone." 

"If it helps, when he rejected me I didn't take it too well and I took my anger out by starting to talk bad about you and your family," she responded, her voice was casual but as I was looking at her I was surprised to see guilt in her eyes. "I decided to invite you here today to inform you that this happened and to apologize, since I know Eamon won't tell you of the things I said." 

"What did you say?" I questioned, curious about her response but also worried. Yes, I've been bullied before, but I had never had someone go straight to my face and lay out all my insecurities for me to see, something Serena was known for. 

She looked as uncomfortable as I felt. "Your parents own a restaurant because the only thing they're capable of is skills everyone else has, the only difference is they capitalize on it. You don't have any abilities either, and you're really not that special. All you are is the daughter of some washed up owners who pretend to parade with the nobility who eat their food." 

I looked away from her and down at my hands, not quite sure what to respond. "Well," I started, but didn't finish right away. "I will say, you're wrong." 

"Okay," she said, shrugging her shoulders as if it didn't matter. 

That somewhat angered me, the fact she was apologizing but it seemed to not actually care about her apology. Despite Eamon's harsh words towards her, I was starting to think they could be true. But then I looked around her room once more, filled with happy pictures of her family, and the fact she took the time to buy chairs for her cousins in their favorite colors so they'd have somewhere specific to sit in her room. 

"First off, my parents hate the nobility. Like, hate the nobility. I would normally say especially my mom, but after what I recently found out about my father I've learned that he might hate them even more. Society has taken away a lot from my parents, and forced them to feel inferior despite the fact they're not, and people like you are part of the problem," I ranted to her. "And me? I agree that I'm not special, but I'm a pyrokinetic, so there must be something there." 

"You're a pyrokinetic?" Her eyes widened and she looked at me in shock. 

"You didn't know?" I asked, tilting my head. "Even in the heat of the moment, Eamon never told you?" I figured it was possible that when she was talking about me behind my back and saying things about me not having abilities, Eamon might have broken and told her. 

"No," she responded, looking off to the side. "I don't think you understand just how loyal he is." But her head was still facing away. 

I suddenly realized something. "You don't think he's loyal to you?" 

"I know he's not loyal to me." My eyes once again found the maroon beanbag pushed underneath her bed, hidden. "You know that day where you went over his house and spent the day with him? He was supposed to come over mine and we were going to work through our problems, but then he suddenly cancelled and while we were having that family dinner that night, I found out from his dad that he cancelled our plans to be with you. You mattered more to him than us working through our problems." 

"Serena," I said her name, but I didn't know what else to say. 

"And he's never had my back on any issue. All he's done is constantly try to push this narrative that we're cousins first, before anything. I'm okay that he doesn't like me back--I really am. But he won't even let me be his friend the way he's friends with Mika or now how he's friends with you, Blythe, and Lyra." She looked like she was about to cry in frustration, but she took a deep breath so no tears would spill. "He never wants to hang out with me, no matter how many times I've asked. Even before he became friends with you it was like this. He would put up this charade at school that we would hang out together, and we would be together during family events, but I could count on my fingers the amount of times he's sat in his chair." 

For the first time she acknowledged the beanbag laying under her bed. "I didn't know," I responded. "Eamon told me that he wanted to be friends with you, though." 

"Well, that's just great he told you that. It's nice to know he talks so highly of me behind my back when lately he's only ever been able to hurt me to my face." That's when a single tear did fall, and I definitely had no idea what to do. "I mean, I understand that sometimes I'm not exactly a cakewalk of a person to be friends with, but I've always tried my best with him to not be overbearing and I have never once said one thing to him about how awful he can be." 

I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything. I was put into such an uncomfortable situation here, and all I wanted was to go home. It didn't matter if I was going to be pushed to listen to twelve hours of my mom ranting about the nobility. Anything was less painful than this conversation. 

After I didn't respond, it stayed quiet before Serena let out a huff. "I know I'm not a good person," she started, her voice almost a whisper, "but Eamon used to always see through that, and he used to at least hang out with me in public so that I wouldn't feel alone. But now he only hangs out with you and your friends, sometimes meeting with Mika. And Mika's friends with everyone, so yes he'll hang out with me but usually he'll be hanging out with everyone else too." 

"I mean, but you have Gen and her girls," I offered, remembering how Gen pointed out that she would sometimes hang out with them when the boys would leave her alone. I had been aware that Serena was sometimes left out, but never to this extent. 

"They're more fake than I am," she responded with a laugh. "I mean, take Genesis herself. She parades around the school as if she's on top of the world and bullies everyone with a pulse who isn't important enough--yet behind everyone's back she hangs out with all the people she bullies." 

"What do you mean?" My eyes widened, and I wondered if she knew about Gen and Lyra being best friends. 

"Oh, please. You'd know probably better than I do. I caught her and Lyra in the bathroom having a conversation about a sleepover they were both attending that was apparently at your house." 

I looked at her in confusion. "But you didn't tell anyone?" I questioned. "Why?" 

"I'm blunt and I may not care if what I say may hurt someone, but I would never expose someone's secrets like that. You see who my parents are." She rolled her eyes. 

"That's what I don't understand the most--your family is just so nice. Why do you feel the need to be so mean to everyone you see?" I couldn't help but as the question, it was something I was pondering quite a lot. 

"I'm sure my parents ask the same question everyday," she joked, her voice taking on a lighter tone. "This has just always been my personality, but I don't personally believe I'm that bad. People just don't like me because I'm blunt." 

"You once went up to Zara and told her the reason that she had no friends was because of the fact her sister was part of the neverseen and everyone knew that she had the same thoughts as her sister and proceeded to inform her she was a freak," I replied, eyebrows raised as if testing her to prove me wrong. 

"Again, I'm blunt," she replied, not at all worried about how she had hurt Zara that day. 

"Not everyone related to someone from the neverseen is a bad person. Your uncle was part of the neverseen," I pointed out. 

"Yeah, well my uncle is long gone because everyone in my family knew that he was a bad person and cast him away," she responded, no hesitation. "Do you really think the world has calmed down? And that everything is okay now?" 

"Well, no-" I started to reply but she started to talk once more before I could get anything else in. 

"Did you know that Blythe's dad still tracks down ex-Neverseen members as his job?" My eyes widened. "It's not a secret, so I'm not too worried about telling you. But there are still, to this day, people being caught for being associated with them. Eamon's mom is in charge of the group that handles what happens to them." 

I gulped, suddenly worried. My dad was once associated with them, that was cause for worry. "All the people associated?" I suddenly questioned, worried. "Like, is there a timestamp?" 

She narrowed her eyes, growing suspicious. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, Neverseen started completely different than how it ended up. There were people there in the beginning that ended up leaving because the values changed," I responded, not wanting to reveal anything. 

"Well, I'd assume they'd probably get busted anyways because they most likely knew of all the people in the rebellion group and also knew of what was going on and never said anything to the council to try and stop it," she responded, eyes still narrowed. "Now, why would you be worried about this, Novena?" 

"You don't tell secrets?" I questioned, and she suddenly got interested. 

"No, I like to believe that I'm trustworthy." 

"I've been worried about telling anyone this because I've been worried of my friend's judgement, but I have your judgement anyways. I really need to get this off my chest, and if you keep this from everyone until I find myself ready to tell them myself I'll make sure that Eamon is aware you apologized about everything and you're not as bad as I thought you were." 

"Deal," she said without missing a beat, holding her hand out for me to shake. 

I took the time to explain everything I had gone through, talking about my pyrokineticy and then moving on to what happened with my parents over the weekend. "It was a really rough weekend for me," I finished off. "Part of the reason I went over to Eamon's that day was to get away from the weekend's events." 

She didn't say anything the entire time I was talking, and then suddenly her tone took on full sincerity as she apologized, "I'm sorry." 

"What?" I looked at her in confusion. 

"I get so caught up in all my own issues, it's never even occurred to me that you could've been going through anything. I just figured you were perfectly happy prancing around with the boy I've been in love with since we were like three. That you had Blythe and Lyra there, and eventually Genesis, to take up your company and make you happy all the time. And then you told me you were a pyrokinetic and in my head that just made it worse, because the only bad thing I could think going on in your life would be the fact you hadn't manifested into anything." 

"If it means anything, I kind of agreed with what you told me Eamon said. That you're callous and rude and lack empathy for anyone. But honestly it's so obvious how much you care for those close for you, the issue is that they're all you care about," I replied. 

"This doesn't mean we're friends," she suddenly said, eyes wide. "I mean, I'm not going to say anything rude to your face anymore, but I don't want you to think I'm going to suddenly hang out with you. I don't want your pity friendship." 

"It wouldn't be pity," I responded. "But I don't think I could ever be friends with you either. Acquaintances?" 

She nodded and held her hand out for me to shake, which I did. "I promise not to say anything you told me," she added as we started to make the small trek towards the Leapmaster so I could go home. I was interested to see if the scroll Eamon had been talking about earlier was there, wondering what could be going on with the Council that includes me. 

"Thanks. And thanks for talking with me. I'm glad we were able to air everything out." She nodded once, not saying anything else. It was awkward for a moment, but then I decided to just give her a short wave before I called out the name of my home and leaped away. 

***

what y'all think? I didn't think it would be right after all that Serena has said and done for them to end up friends, but I like the idea of acquaintances. also this was a LONG chapter. much longer than i've been making them lately. 

while i'm here, if you go onto my page you'll see a new story entitled "page turners" which is actually my new writing contest! if you have a completed book, short story, or one-shot feel free to look through the rules and if you qualify it'd be great if you could apply for the contest!! if you're not interested in writing, there's an application to become a judge :) [this contest accepts fanfictions] and even if you're not interested at all, it'd be great if you could go onto the first chapter and tag people you think might be 

Chapter question: The meeting with the council is going to be more than just them questioning if she wants to keep her ability under wraps, but what more do you think it'll be?