When I woke up the next morning, I expected the gash on my forehead to be gone, just like all the other injuries I ever had. But when I unwrapped the gauze to see that it was still there, I almost fell over.

I barged my way into the meeting room, where Hank and Nay already were. When they saw me, still in my pajamas with gauze in my hand and a gash on my forehead, they looked at each other with unreadable looks.

“We probably should have told her not to do that, huh?” Hank asked my other mentor, who let out an exhausted sigh before she turned toward me.

“Why isn’t the scrape gone?” I questioned, pointing to it. “My injuries usually heal overnight, but this has barely healed at all!”

“We were afraid this one wouldn’t heal as quickly,” Nay told me, cutting a concerned glance over at Hank. “I guess we were right.”

I was growing annoyed. “Why?” 

Nay looked back over at Hank, as if wanting him to answer for her instead. He said nothing.

“How am I supposed to go to school like this?” I demanded. I couldn’t even imagine facing Tom or Vanessa like this. What would I even say had happened? “I can’t go to school with gauze wrapped around my head or a big gash on my forehead!”

“Why not?” a new voice but in, and I turned to see Dex, his bandage still tied around his arm. “I’m going to school with my injury.”

I scowled at him. “Your injury isn’t where everyone can see it! You can wear a long-sleeved shirt and you’d be fine. What am I supposed to wear? A parka?”

Dex shrugged. “You could.”

I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him, so I left the meeting room to get ready without another word to Hank or Nay. I was sure they wouldn’t have been much help anyway.

When I got to school, my bandages caught the attention of almost everyone. Dex had opted to wear a short-sleeved shirt, but no one looked at the bandage on his arm. I couldn’t believe this.

“It really doesn’t look that bad,” Lena told me, but I didn’t believe her. “You only think it’s bad. You look fine.”

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw someone making their way down the hall toward me. I looked at Lena, asking her with my eyes to save me, but she shook her head and took a step away from me, leaving me all alone to deal with Tom.

“Violet!” he gasped when he saw me. “What happened? Are you okay?”

I couldn’t really tell him what had happened, so I forced a smile and nodded. “I’m fine. It was just a… car accident. That’s all.”

Tom nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad too,” I nodded, but then frowned. “I understand if you don’t want to go out with me tomorrow because of this.” 

Tom looked surprised. “I still want to go out with you,” he said, and I felt a smile make its way onto my face. “If you’re still up to it, of course. I don’t want you going anywhere if you don’t feel well.”

I couldn’t even form words at first because I was so shocked. I had been sure that he would break off the date the second he saw my head, but he still wanted to go out with me just as much as I wanted to go out with him.

“I’m definitely up for it,” I told him.

And so the next day, I was getting ready in my room for my date with Tom. I kept the bandage wrapped around my head, since Nay said I shouldn’t take it off until it healed a little, and even though I didn’t have the usual healing power I usually did, I still had the superhuman healing just like the rest of my friends did. I was just glad that Tom wouldn’t mind that I was wearing the bandages.

Kristie entered our room as I was fixing my hair. She seemed nervous about something. “So…” she started slowly, running her hands over a few of the knick-knacks on her side of the room. “Where are you guys going?”

I was surprised she asked. “Um, just a small diner in town,” I answered, continuing to examine myself in the mirror. “Why?”

But when I turned around to face her, she was already gone. That was really strange.

Tom picked me up in front of the DAU, since there was no way he could have come inside. Not only were there things that could make him question just where exactly I was living, but I was sure my teammates and mentors would have done something to make me feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. So he stayed outside.

We went to the diner just like we had planned to. It was a very nice place to have a first date, that was for sure. We took a seat in a booth, the waitress asking how she could help us. We both ordered water and she left to go get them.

“This is a nice place,” I told Tom as we looked through the menus. “I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”

Tom looked surprised. “Really?”

I nodded, not saying any more on the subject. I was sure diners like this were common, but I’d been in my room for five years and had eaten TV dinners all throughout that time. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had eaten out.

“You’re really different from any other girl I’ve ever met, Violet,” Tom informed me, and I found myself gulping. I was different from every girl he’d ever met. “But it’s a good kind of different. I like it.”

I couldn’t help but smile, pushing away the thought of what he might have done if he found out the truth. What would he do if he knew I could move things with my mind, or that I could fly? Would he like how different I was then?

I wasn’t going to let my powers ruin this for me. I was going to act like a normal teenage girl, even though I hadn’t ever actually been one.

What I wasn’t aware of, however, was that my four teammates and best friend were sitting a few booths away, hiding behind menus and other objects so I wouldn’t see them.

Lena glared at Dex. “You’re being creepy.”

“I’m not being creepy.”

“You’re being really creepy. The only thing you’re missing is binoculars.”

“I could shift into binoculars, if you want,” Kristie suggested.

Aiden shook his head. “Please don’t give him any ideas.”

Dex ignored our friends, never taking his eyes off Tom and me. I still had no idea they were even there. “Maybe I could just subtly interrupt,” he said to no one in particular.

Lena gave him a look. “Dex, you’re about as subtle as a train wreck.”

“And you’re about as attractive as one.”

Lena looked like she could have strangled him right then and there. My other teammates couldn’t seem to believe they had let themselves get dragged into this. 

“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Anthony informed them honestly, and they should have known that if the smartest one out of all of them thought it was a bad idea, it was probably a bad idea. “If Violet sees us she may try to kill us all. And she might be able to succeed.”

Aiden shook his head. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing with her powers.”

This didn’t seem to make Kristie feel any better. “You don’t know what kind of damage she could do because of that, Aiden.”

“She won’t see us,” Dex assured, though he couldn’t have known that for sure. “We’ll go completely unnoticed.”

“Dex, you could go unnoticed.” Lena was not thrilled with the fact that she was here spying on her best friend. “The rest of us could not. Maybe Kristie could shift into something unnoticeable, maybe Anthony could run out, but what about me? Should I just throw icicles at them and run?”

“Same with me,” Aiden agreed. “I can’t just set the place on fire and leave.”

Dex glared at their team leader and cocked his head toward a bug crawling on the floor. “How about you just shut your mouth and try to make some friends?”

Though he could have, Aiden decided not to talk to the insect as it crawled by. Their attentions now turned back toward Tom and me.

Tom reached out for my hand. “You know, I’m really glad you said yes to going out with me,” he told me, and I smiled. “For some reason, ever since I met you, I felt this connection that I can’t even explain. That probably sounds strange, doesn’t it?”

My smile only grew. “No, no,” I assured, shaking my head. “I understand. I feel a connection with you, too.”

Dex did not like where this was going. He hated that Tom and I were touching; he hated what we were talking about. So with the brute force he had, he pushed Lena and Anthony out of the booth and said, “Interrupt them!”

Before Lena or Anthony could make a run for it, I spotted them. “What are you two doing here?” I asked, my eyes wide. I hadn’t told them where Tom and I were going.

“Um… We’re…” Lena started, looking over at our brainy friend as if to ask him for help. Without even waiting for him to respond, she wrapped her arm around his neck and continued. “We’re on a date!”

My eyes were so wide they almost fell out of their sockets. “You’re on a date?”

Anthony laughed nervously, shyly placing his arm around Lena’s waist. They definitely looked like an… awkward couple.

I just stared at the two of them incredulously. They were definitely the last people I ever expected to get together, especially after Lena had had a thing for Dex. Dex and Anthony were completely opposite of each other in every single way.

“I don’t get why Kristie and I couldn’t pretend to be on a date,” Aiden grumbled from his hiding spot. “It would have been much more believable.”

“Stop your whining,” Dex snapped, not even looking away from Tom and me.

“We were actually just about to meet some friends,” Lena now informed me, stressing the last word as if it was important. “They should be here any minute now.”

As if getting the hint, Kristie came out of hiding to join my two awkward friends. Aiden followed right after her and Dex, not wanting to be alone, followed suit.

“Hey, guys,” Aiden grinned awkwardly once he got up to us. “Fancy meeting you here.”

I made a face at Kristie, who I had told where we were going. “What a coincidence.”

Looking over at Tom, I couldn’t read the look on his face, and I grew nervous. What if he got angry and stormed out? Our date had been completely interrupted!

He then said something I did not expect. “How about we all get a table together?”

Oh, no. No, no, no! I could not let Tom sit at a table with a bunch of superhuman teenagers. Who knew what could possibly happen?

Before I could protest, Tom stood up and he and the rest of my friends were starting off to a bigger empty table. I almost tripped over my shoelace.

I sat across from Tom, Aiden and Anthony on either side of him while Kristie sat on the other side of Aiden. Dex and Lena sat on either side of me. This should have been fun.

“So…” I started awkwardly, because no one else was talking. Of course my friends chose this moment to be quiet for once. “What brings you all here?”

“Kristie and I are on a date,” Aiden answered immediately. I wasn’t surprised.

I looked at Dex, since he was the only one there that wasn’t paired off. “What about you?” I asked him. “Are you here with anyone?”

“He wishes,” Lena whispered, and Dex reached out to nonchalantly punch her in the side.

“My date hasn’t shown up yet,” he answered, not even looking at me as he studied the menu.

Silence enveloped us again. I felt incredibly awkward. I wished our waitress would come back and break this horrible silence. I was also very hungry.

“So, Tom,” Dex began, and I sunk down in my seat a little. “What kinds of things are you interested in?”

Lena rolled her eyes from the other side of me. “What, are you the one on the date with him?”

Dex punched her again, but said nothing.

“Uh, well,” Tom began, and I couldn’t tell if he felt awkward or not, “I play basketball.”

Dex nodded. “Oh.”

This was horrible. I was going to be sick. This was bad. This was really, really bad. I already knew Dex didn’t like Tom; I thought it was obvious. Did no one else seem to think this was only going to go wrong?

“I used to play basketball,” Aiden spoke up, trying to keep the awkward conversation going so we didn’t have to sit in uncomfortable silence. “But I stopped playing because my old school cut the team to have more funding for football.”

Anthony shot Aiden a flat look. “Aiden, you played football too.”

Aiden shrugged. “Didn’t mean it didn’t sting any less.”

“Tryouts for the basketball team are next week,” Tom informed my team leader. “You could totally try out, if you want.”

Dex had an unreadable look on his face. “Really.” It didn’t sound like a question.

“Do you happen to know when track tryouts are?” Lena asked my date. I stayed silent; I couldn’t believe my friends were talking to him more than I was. “I think I’m going to try out.”

“You’re going to try out for track?” I questioned incredulously.

Lena took offense to this and glared at me. “Yeah, both me and my date.”

The skinny genius looked shocked. “What? I am?”

Lena shrugged. “Why not? You think you’re not good enough?”

We all knew Anthony was good enough. The problem was that he would be too good. I wasn’t sure it would be a good idea for him to make the team and risk exposure.

But Anthony seemed to take this as a challenge. “No, I’ll do it. I’ll try out.”

My friends playing sports concerned me. At least with Aiden and basketball, there really wasn’t much of anything that could cause his powers to be revealed. Anthony and track, however, was an entirely different story.

The waitress finally arrived, giving us all water. Dex eyed her. She was a pretty girl in a short skirt. Of course she caught his attention.

Since we had been chatting the entire time, none of us knew what we wanted, so the waitress told us she would come back later. Dex looked at her backside as she walked away.

I couldn’t help but hit him. “Will you stop being such a pervert?”

“What? If it’s there, I’m going to look.”

I felt my eye twitch. “That doesn’t mean it’s okay.”

Tom was giving us a look I couldn’t read, so I immediately stopped talking and looked down at my menu.

“Ugh, this water has, like, no ice,” Lena suddenly complained, fingering the rim of her glass. I gave her a look. She wouldn’t. “It’s too warm.”

Without even a regard to Tom, who was sitting right there, she began to form ice cubes using only her pointer fingers. Luckily, Tom wasn’t looking, but just in case he did, I used my menu to block what she was going. She smirked and I glared at her.

I couldn’t take this anymore. It was too risky having them all be there together, especially when my friends were being stupid and uncaring.

Without thinking twice about it, I purposely dropped my fork onto the floor. I then used my powers to slightly move Tom’s fork and it also fell underneath the table.

Tom looked at me, and I gave him a look and nodded toward where our forks had gone. I then slipped under the table and he did as well.

“Well,” he started, a smirk on his face, “I was not expecting this.”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, feeling horrible for what my friends were doing. “My friends are just... kind of… weird.”

I guess that was a good word to describe them, for multiple different reasons. 

“It’s okay, Violet,” he assured, even though I had no idea how it possibly could have been okay. “I’m having fun. I’m still with you, so I’m having a great time.”

I had a bandage wrapped around my head. I was a freak, compared to other girls. But for some reason, Tom still liked me. And it made me like him even more.

“Hello,” a new voice suddenly greeted, and it freaked me out so much that I jumped and smashed the top of my head on the bottom of the table. “Is there something going on down here?”

“Nope,” I answered, not even looking at Dex as I grabbed my fork and pulled myself up from underneath the table. “Nothing at all.”

Lena smirked at me once I sat back in my seat. “Didn’t know you were the type of girl who makes a move under the table.”

I hit her leg. “I didn’t make a move.”

“Hey, looked who it is!” a new voice suddenly called out, and we turned in surprised to see Nick standing before us. “Didn’t expect to come in here and see you all having a party.”

When I saw Lena, Aiden, and Kristie’s confused faces, I realized they had never met Nick before. I’d told them all about him, but they didn’t know what he looked like.

“Guys, this is Nick,” I introduced, just to get rid of the confusion. “Nick, this is—”

“Oh, I already know who they are,” he informed me, dragging a chair from another table over. “This is Aiden, this is Kristie, and this…” He placed his chair beside Lena’s and sat. “This is the beautiful Lena Maverick.”

My blonde best friend looked surprised, but then not very flattered. She was used to strange guys hitting on her, and she didn’t like it.

“Better back off, Nick,” Tom laughed. “She’s on a date right now.”

The smile on Nick’s face disappeared. “Really? With who?”

Tom cocked his head toward Anthony. “This guy over here.”

Nick said nothing to this. I looked from him, to Lena, and then to Anthon. Just like I always could when I wanted to, I knew exactly how they felt about each other. Lena and Anthony didn’t have feelings for each other. Nick liked Lena, but I couldn’t tell how serious it really was.

“So, Dex, was Nick the date you’ve been waiting for?” I couldn’t help but ask, wanting to get off the last subject as I smirked at him. Dex’s eyes went wide, but he wasn’t about to answer before the waitress returned to take our orders.

Dex’s eyes went to her chest. I felt my eye twitch, and in a second her nametag was suddenly flying off and landing in front of me. Her name was Holly.

“Oh, wow. That was weird,” she giggled, reaching forward to pick the nametag up, purposely moving her chest closer to Dex’s face. “I wonder how that happened.”

Damn my powers I couldn’t control.

We ordered out food, Dex flirting with the waitress the entire time. I tried to ignore it, but it was a little too obvious for me to just act like it wasn’t even happening.

“So, are you busy after this?” Holly asked him. Lena looked like she was going to fall right out of her seat. “I’m off in about an hour.”

Dex glanced at his friends. He looked at Tom and then he looked at me before turning back toward Holly.

“Yeah,” he agreed, and I found myself growing more and more annoyed. “I’m free. We should go out.”

I felt my eye twitch again. Her notepad suddenly flew across the table and hit nick in the face. I held my breath.

“Ow!” he cried out, grabbing onto his nose. “Violet!”

Lena stomped down on Nick’s foot, causing him to shout again. I smiled nervously at Tom, who was giving me a look.

Nick handed the notepad back to Holly, and she left to go put our orders in. Dex gave me a warning look, but I ignored him. He knew I couldn’t control my powers.

Holly brought Dex’s food first. I rolled my eyes, but this only caused Dex’s fork to go flying to the floor. Holly bent over and picked it up, exposing even more of her chest in the process. Dex did not look displeased.

Holly brought the rest of our food with Dex’s new fork. I refused to look up from my lap in fear that something else would go flying.

“Hey, bro,” Nick called out to Tom. “Pass me the salt, will you? Wait, no, never mind.”

My eyes bulged when he began to stretch his arm over toward the salt, right by Tom. Luckily, he turned back toward his food and Aiden slammed his fist into Nick’s outstretched arm, making it go back to its original length.

Nick thought Tom knew about our powers. That was not good! How could we tell him that Tom had no idea?

I nearly threw the salt at Nick, who looked confused with why we were acting the way we were.

The rest of lunch went by without incident. Holly would continue to flirt with Dex every time she came over, but I ignored this and focused solely on Tom. That’s who I was with, not Dex.

Once we were finished eating and paid, I got up to leave immediately. I did not want to see Dex leave with Holly, and that meant I had to leave right away. I said goodbye to my friends and hoped they wouldn’t follow me.

Tom drove me back to the DAU, which really did very much look like a boarding house from the outside. If only he knew what happened on the inside.

He walked me up to the gate. I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to let him any closer. Who knew what he could find out just by going inside?

“I had a fun time,” he told me once we got to the gate.

I made a face. “You don’t have to lie.”

He shook his head. “No, I mean it.”

“Really?” I didn’t really believe him.”You don’t think my friends are complete freaks?”

He laughed. “If they’re friends of yours, they’re friends of mine.”

I felt my heart swell. My friends were freaks—more than he could ever know—but that didn’t even bother him. My friends were completely nuts, but he didn’t even mind.

Tom suddenly frowned when he seemed to think of something. “But… That Dex guy,” he started.

I gulped. Oh, no.

“Is anything… going on between the two of you?”

I nearly swallowed my tongue. What was I even supposed to say? I had no idea what was going on between Dex and me. We had kissed before, a few times actually, but we never discussed what that meant. We’d never said we were anything more than friends. He was off with some other girl as Tom and I spoke.

“We’re friends,” I answered after what felt like a million years of silence. “We’ve… kissed a few times before. A while ago. But nothing ever came from of it.”

Tom nodded, a look I couldn’t read on his face. I stayed silent.

“Well,” I started after what felt like hours. “I’ll see you at school on Monday.”

Tom finally smiled back at me. “Alright.”

I turned away from Tom and made my way inside the gates of the DAU, an entirely different world from his own.

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I know I'm on a break, but I wrote all of this chapter in my notebook during every free moment I had at school. I wanted to update something for you guys because I feel bad for being on hiatus because of AP testing and school.

Is it bad that I find the song on the side very fitting for Violet and Tom... Minus Hans' evilness, of course.

I hope you like this chapter! It took forever. xD

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :)