CHAPTER ONE:
LOSING CONTROL

AURELIA QUINN SAT THERE IN her room, her left hand messing with the swirled metal bracelet that was placed around her wrist. It looked like a decorative bracelet, regular people not knowing that it was truly something that helped to control her powers. Well, one of her powers anyways. The empathy and apathy she had to deal with on her own, nothing could really help that but herself and her control―︎which was non-existent.

She fiddled with the bracelet, biting her lip before swallowing thickly and letting out a shaky sigh. She closed her eyes, trying to keep herself calm and relaxed before pulling the bracelet off. She sat it down on the desk and kept her eyes closed, keeping herself focused as she felt her power come in to play. She tried to keep herself under control, slowly holding up her hands and letting the vibrations slip through her palms. She watched the vibrations smack between her hands like they were walls. She smiled. She was doing it, she was actually controlling her powers. But then, they grew more and more stronger, the weight of the vibration slamming against her hands, wanting out. And that's what happened. She lost control, the vibrations sliding through the cracks of her hand and slamming into the mirror in front of her. She was sent to the floor, her chair breaking on impact and shards of glass flying across the room. The vibrations kept coming, they just wouldn't stop and she didn't know what to do.

She struggled to breathe, a panic attack coming on as she tried to reach for the bracelet, but she was locked up. She couldn't move. She could feel the vibrations getting stronger and stronger, a burning sensations feeling her hands. And she probably would have went through the floor from the strength of them had Scott not knocked on the door, only to hear her cries and to break into the girls room. He looked at the blonde, watching as she looked at him with panic in her eyes. He looked around before noticing her bracelet sitting on the desk. He quickly grabbed it, sitting down beside the girl that was now in the floor, watching as tears fell down her cheeks. He quickly placed the bracelet around her wrist, watching as the vibrations started to weaken until they finally went away.

"Shit, Ri," He breathed. The blonde girl was shaking, tears streaming down her face. "You know that you're not supposed to take off your bracelet unless someone's around."

"I'm sorry." She whimpered, turning her head to bury it in his chest. The male looked down at his best friend, placing his arms around the blonde. He placed his chin on top of her head as she tried to calm down, her eyes were tightly closed as she felt her hands start to go back to normal, the burning sensation fading. Aurelia didn't breakdown like this, not if she could help it. Of course, it always happened when she lost control, but normally one of the teachers were there.

Aurelia was a kind girl, one that would flash a stranger a kind smile. She was known to be happy, and kind, not to breakdown and be angry at herself. People believed she had confidence, which she did, just not when it came to her powers. Scott was the only student at the school that had seen her like this, and that was because he was her best friend, and he had been there to witness her lose control on multiple occasions.

"It's okay." He softly told her. He pulled away and she looked up at him. "Why don't we go outside, take a walk? Let you relax?"

"Yeah." She nodded her head. "Okay." The two stood up and Aurelia pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear before wiping the tears from her face, blinking a few times in hopes of no one noticing she had been crying. Scott watched her do this, silently shaking his head but not saying anything as they left her room. She offered a small smile to everyone she passed, but mostly avoiding eye contact with most people as she fiddled with her bracelet. As soon as they got outside, she breathed in the fresh air, smiling in delight as she felt her shoulders almost instantly relax. She smiled at Scott before the two started to walk in a peaceful silence, a smile making its way back onto Aurelia's face.

"I don't understand you sometimes." Scott finally spoke, grabbing her attention. Aurelia furrowed her eyebrows, cocking her head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Scott glanced at the girl, sighing softly. "Ri, you know I love you."

"I know." She smiled.

"Well, then you know I'm only saying this because I'm concerned." He told her. She bit her lip before nodding her head, waiting for him to continue. "Why do you always put up a façade around everyone? I get you have struggles, and I know that you don't want anyone to worry about you. But, when you put up a mostly fake face, it makes me worry even more. It's like you're hiding your emotions for the hopes of helping others with their own."

Aurelia looked down at the ground, thinking about what he just said. She nodded her head. "Well. . . I mean, I do. I'm an empath, I'm supposed to help people with their emotions."

"Not if it means you can't express your own."The girl just shrugged her shoulders at this. Scott shook his head at the girl, a small smile falling on his face as he let out a sigh. "You're so selfless, you know that? And sometimes it irritates the hell out of me."

Aurelia let out a small chuckle before saying, "You and everyone else."

Thank you to the loml -wandascarlett for making the into gif for me!