𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧

There was a dull ringing in my ear. The kind where I couldn't quite hear what was going on or where it was coming from but I knew right away that it was ringing. The same kind of ringing that I got in my first fight. 

Someone back in the fifth grade had made a comment that about Omisha not really being our sister because her skin was so much lighter than Nico's and I's. Without question, I punched him in the stomach because even back then, I wouldn't let anyone speak badly about my family that I had worked so hard to keep together. 

I still wouldn't to  this day.

The person who had made the comment slapped the palm of his hand on my ear creating this annoying ringing sound that followed me the last of the day. It was the only move he put on me in that fight. The only thing it was good for was missing the yelling that my mother had done after seeing my knuckles bloody and hair wild after she spent some time to lay it down. 

But this was a different type of ringing. It made my head sway and my eyes see static. The lights had turned back on in the school and vaguely I could see colors moving around, it must have been other people waking up. 

"No-Nova? ¿Estás bien?" It was calming to hear Nico's voice through the ringing. There was still a weight on my side, meaning that Omi was still out. My head was heavy, even as I tried to turn in to face her. The rest of my body was just as heavy but I had to get up. 

I caressed the side of her head carefully, using the softest voice I could, "Come on Omisha. It's time to wake up girly." 

She raised her head slightly, humming as if she were a cat waking up from a long nap. "What happened?"

Nico took the liberty to explain, still holding his arms around his stomach, "I think some lightning hit the building cutting out the current or something like that. There's so much metal in here, I wouldn't be surprised if we all got some shocks." 

Quickly, I stood up from the table, which made my head sway enough more. Something had dramatically changed since I had passed out. It was the same feeling I got when I was lucky enough to stand close enough to a lightning strike. Like some of the electricity was running through my body. But this time it was permanent. I felt faster, stronger, and simply shocking. 

The metal of the cafeteria table must have been a bigger conductor than we thought it was. All I knew was that neither I nor my siblings needed to be there anymore. I grabbed my backpack and made sure I could hear the sounds of my keys in the front pocket.

"Come on you two, vamos a salir de aquí. " 

"And go where? The days not even close to being over Nova. There are still classes to attend." 

"Look, Nico. I can't be here any longer." I slammed my palms down on the table, "Whatever happened today is a good enough reason to leave. If you want to go then let's go. If not, then call Mamá and ask her to pick you up. Me voy ahora. I'm leaving right now."

I don't know what had gotten over me at that moment. It was one thing to be skipping afternoon classes, especially since those were my favorite ones, but to be yelling at my twin brother over something that none of us had control over?

There were times when we argued, that was normal because we were siblings. I would eat the last fruit cup knowing it was Nico's and act like I didn't. Nico would take my car out to the crystal lake of Morningstar for midnight swims without letting me know first. Omisha would steal our clothes without asking and never returning them. Normal siblings stuff. 

But never in our short life together had I yelled at him for simple not blindly following. There had always been a power dynamic with us. I was the leader to say, Nico was our brains, always able to get us out of any trouble and Omi served as the peacekeeper. That's just how it worked, but now I felt like my role had been expanded by 100. 

His eyes were wide in disbelief but he still got up nonetheless. 

I should have apologized right then. But I didn't. 

Instead, I led the way out of the cafeteria, the heels of my shoes clicking with power on the marble. Catching my eye, I looked over at the table near the door. 

"It'll be cold tonight, be sure to wear a jacket Novalinda," Yao explained quickly, touching my arm as the three of us walked past where was sitting. 

His words caught me off guard for two reasons. The sun was shining so bright outside that it had to be a rising 90 degrees and the fact that he used the name my father had insisted on naming me. Of course, my mother said no and named me Nova but Papá still used it when I was in trouble. There was no way that this boy with giant glasses who had barely spoken to me the past three years could have known it.

I pulled my arm out of his touch quickly. "What did you just call me?" 

"Novalinda? That's the name your father gave you." He ruffled his eyebrows in confusion. 

"And how do you know that? That's not my government name and my absent father has never come up to the Academy."

"What are you talking about? We've known each other for years. You have three names: Nova whom most people call you by. Novalinda, the name your father wanted so bad to name you, coming from your great-grandmother's middle name. And your third: Cua Dej, storm creator."

"Don't ever call me that again. You don't know anything about me." I sneered in disbelief, "And stay out of my business. However you got that information." 

Yao said nothing more, only nodding in agreement. I walked even faster out of the school, passing teachers and admin without a care if they saw what I was doing. Nico and Omi followed behind me, avoiding the high ups gazes until we got back into the parking lot. 

I drove us home first. There was still another hour before the Salem kids cleared out of the cafe and my siblings insisted if we were skipping that they at least have something to study. What nerds. This wasn't time for studying but it was two against one and I was never one to go against their wishes. 

The roads were quiet. It was rare for anyone on this side of the wall to be on the roads at this time unless there was an emergency. 

We lucked out. There were no cars in the driveway which meant Mamá was still at lab. Father was overseas for the week so his car was in the garage, collecting dust unless one of us were brave enough to drive it. 

None of us were. 

"We leave in an hour, I'm taking a nap. Don't let me sleep longer than 45 minutes. Nico you're not driving Angel, so don't even try it." 

"Yea yea, whatever. I'm going for a swim. It's been a long day and I'm feeling extra dried out." He waved me off, obviously upset about what had happened earlier but never saying it directly. 

Swimming was his way of balancing out his emotions once they had been disrupted. It was easier for him to do that then explain how he truly felt. Even though he had always been a passive aggressive type of person. 

Omi disappeared through the front door, most likely going straight to her bedroom like I was going to. The stairs were always the worst part about this house. If you were tired, they seemed to go on for hours at a time. If you were trying to sneak in after curfew, it felt like they creaked louder and louder the higher up you got. They always seemed to be waxed whenever I ran down them, resulting in many broken bones as a child.

When I made the trek up to my bedroom, I threw my backpack on the ground and dove into bed without another thought. Flipping around to my back, I stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to wash over me like a calm and expected storm. It had been an awful day and I could tell I was mentally tired, but my body was saying otherwise. 

No matter how much I tossed and turned, there was an unexpected energy flying through my nerves. I closed my eyes tight enough to see lightning spread through the darkness and it still wasn't good enough. 

Or at least I thought. 

The next thing I remembered was turning left into the cafe's parking spots. I don't remember getting in the car or driving the few minutes it took to get there. I don't even remember falling asleep. I was just there.

There were still a couple of cars scattered throughout the parking lot when I pulled up to the cafe. Must have been Salem kids on their way out. We were a little bit early, I don't know why I left so early. Still, we respected the time frame and the three of us stayed in the car for a little bit.

I unbuckled and turned my body to face my quiet siblings. Nico was looking through the front windshield and into the clear windows of the cafe. Omisha had blankly looked down at a textbook and I could tell she wasn't taking in any of the information. 

I put my hand on the edge of the book, gaining her attention, "What matter's now is that we're safe, ok. All put together and in one piece. Let's keep this between the three of us and I'll buy some extra fries and maybe some onion rings." I offered, though it was unlike that our parents would even be worried about a little rainstorm and a power outage. 

They didn't need to know about the new jolts of electricity that ran through my blood. They didn't need to know that I couldn't protect either of them from whatever happened. It wasn't like they cared about the times that I did.

"I'll be quiet in exchange for some onion rings." Nico nodded in agreement, though the frown on his face was worrisome, "But we still need to talk about what happened earlier." 

"Nothing really happened Nico. I just don't think Mamá and Father would care to hear about a little power outage. The school will probably send an email." I snapped though I immediately felt bad. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. It's just confusing right now and I didn't really eat so you know how I get." 

That was only half an excuse. There were times when I got emotional if I hadn't eaten but my nerves were too all over the place for me to be hungry. Deep down, I knew why this was happening but I couldn't put my finger on it. 

Nico nodded slightly though I could tell that my words had an influence on him. We got out of Angel, Omisha walking next to me. She was looking down at her hands. I touched her shoulder and laughed slightly. 

As we walked up the sidewalk to go into Lily and Rose's cafe, there were two girls coming out of the front door. I saw them before they saw us. Salem kids. 

You could tell from their clothes, obviously hand made. They were cute in a poor kind of way. Nothing name brand and I refused to wear anything that wasn't high quality, just the rich lifestyle I had been born into. 

Maybe in another life, we could have been friends but the way that life was set up, there was no chance for that. I didn't want to be friends with people who would end up in jail for stealing. It was a miracle we were even seeing each other now. I kept my head straight, avoiding their gaze. Omi did the same, following my example, but Nico didn't. He nearly stopped walking behind us, I could hear the way his church shoes stopped suddenly. 

I didn't turn around, no I would ask him about it when we got inside the building. Maybe he dropped something on the sidewalk. 

"Nicoy. Do you want to be attacked by Salem children? Don't you know that they'll rob you with any chance that they get? Especially since you're in uniform. They know you're from Morningstar. You're bound to have a credit card on there that they can use to splurge with." I questioned as soon as the door closed behind us. I was on a roll today. This was the third time in half a day that I had come at him sideways, rather than how I usually did. 

His gaze was almost blank as if he was so deep in thought that his mind had left his body. "Eos, was that really her? But it's been centuries. How is she still alive?"

Omisha looked at him with a concerned look. She touched his hand as if it would bring him out of his trance, "Hermano? What are you talking about? Who's Eos?" 

"She's just as beautiful as I remember." 

They always did have such a wonderful relationship. 

I looked around with a cautious look. The only people around were my siblings. Lily and Rose were in the back singing songs of love to each other under the sound of hot oil. 

Too bad they couldn't be together in those last moments. Oh, how Eos cried when she found Dej's soul so dull and nearly lifeless. 

Omisha was busy with Nicoy so it couldn't have been her. I accepted at that point that I was making up conversations. My way of making sure everything was fine, especially after a trauma like that.  

"You hit your head pretty bad earlier, Hermano. Let's sit down somewhere." Our younger sister offered carefully. She held his arm and led him to a booth in the back. 

"What can I get you today āwhā? The usual for you and your siblings?" I knew that voice very well, almost too well. Lilly leaned over the counter with a kind smile on her face. What a pretty polyensian woman. 

In another life, I'm sure she was a mother to all, the way she cared for us all like we were her own children. I knew that she and Rose were old enough to have children, but they never did. Rose had mentioned once that their baby was the cafe and the high school students. 

Nobody could argue with that kind of logic and nobody wanted to force an ideal on them. 

"Yes ma'am. I think today we'll have to double up on the onion rings though. It's been a long day and we've got a couple more hours of studying." I sighed in disbelief. I probably had thirty minutes work of studying in me, nothing more. 

"You've got it āwhā. Let me see, two servings of onion rings for you and a strawberry shortcake shake with extra whipped cream. Hemonga wants orange soda and a grilled cheese like the sweet child that she is and wai is a wild card. But the way he's looking today, what about a chocolate milkshake hold the whipped cream and some onion rings?" 

I chuckled slightly. She always knew what we wanted or rather what we needed, especially Nico who changed his meal every other week. "Sounds like a plan." 

 "I'll bring it to you three soon enough, go study so you can get those nerouns going!" Lilly cheered, giving her energy as encouragement. "Waimarie!" 

"Waimarie!" I shouted back, hoping that her Māori good luck would help more than it seemed. 

Nicoy and Omi had taken a seat in one of the tables, taking textbooks, notebooks and pencil cases out of their bags. "Feeling any better you two? I got us a bunch of sweets so we can get a rush."

They put shook their heads, though they didn't look directly at me. It was awkwardly quiet, the turning of pages and the scrachiness of pens on paper filling the air. At one point, Rose brought us our food and left in silence as to not disrupt the atmosphere.

We were an hour into studying and I felt like throwing my chemistry book across the floor. The numbers and formulas flew around the air and I was unable to catch them. I really hated chemistry along with the feeling of running out of onion rings. The other two were focused the best they could but by the way Nico stayed on the same page a little longer than usually and Omisha's restless bouncing, it was evident that we were all struggling. 

What we needed was a distraction, a reason to stop this mindless studying. 

And that's exactly what we got. 

Almost at the exact same time, the three of us felt the same buzzing feeling. I flared my nostrils out in confusion. If all three of us were getting the same message it could have only meant two things: Mamá was wondering where we were or there was a massive email going out of the school about what had happened that early afternoon. 

Surprisingly it was neither. 

A group chat had been created. Including my siblings and I, there were seven other people in it. 

Party tonight, don't tell unless you're in this gc. I'll know if
it is shared. Everything will be provided. Just show up.
10:30 PM. Bikikoe Park. Don't be late.

"Así que eso no es espeluznante. Well, that's not creepy. It's probably some stalker trying to lure out sweet girls con piel suave." I commented taking an angry bite out of the cold onion ring in my hand. "Do you have any of the numbers in this group saved?"

Personally, I had one. That weirdo Yao Baldwin. How I had it, I couldn't remember. I had never texted it before but there it was saved with a picture and everything. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Omisha's excitement growing, "Ah! Hermana, Skye's in this too, and Lexi, and I think this other number is Aarush. All students at the Academy. We should go! I've never been invited to a party with upperclassman before." 

Maldita sea. She knows I can never say no to her.

"Well if Nico's feeling better by then, then we can all go and check it out. It's Friday after all. Not like there's a curfew to be home by."

I hoped that he would still be out of it by then. There was something off about the text and I didn't want to risk anything, though this was Morningstar students. The worst they would do would try to fight one of us, maybe threaten us for bottles of rich alcohol. But knowing Nico's love for Omi, the same love that we shared, he would tough it out anyway. 

Well let's go to a get together tonight Nova. I can pull out that new outfit I just bought and then drink away this pain. 

A/N- 

- Ah thank you so much for waiting! I'm so excited to start writing this again! This is my baby lmaoo

- I ended up changing Aponi's face claim, not that she's been that big of a character yet but we'll get there! 

- In case you wanted to know: Lilly speaks Māori which is the eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people of New Zealand. (just in case you want to translate what she's saying )Plus I'ma drop these face claims for our favorite lesbian couple finally:

Lilly is Danielle Hayes and Rose is Ebonee Davis

They're both around 28-29 and madly in love. There's rumors that they're engaged both nobody has been able to confirm or deny it.