Issue 1 Downtime

A storm cloud hovered over a small section deep in the hedge maze. Theresa sat in a corner, head on her knees and soaked through from the downpour. The persistent rain still didn't hide that she was crying a lot.

"Criminy, where did all this rain come from..." she muttered, having to suddenly look for cover. She'd had to avoid her room for awhile during the repairs being made.

Huddling under some latticework in the sudden downpour, she looked around.

"...Theresa?"

Theresa glanced up. "Wonderful." She put her head back down and the storm cloud rumbled.

"Sorry, I just... well, I had to get out of my room for awhile. It's pretty messed up."

"Are you... okay?" She asked, knowing the answer almost as soon as it left her mouth.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm peachy super keen," Theresa said. There was a crackle and then a bang as a small lightning bolt struck the ground near her. Theresa didn't even flinch.

To her credit, neither did Brigid. She approached Teresa.

"Guess you don't much wanna talk about it, if you went out here."

"I just barely managed to ditch Kay, so no, I really don't." She didn't look up at Brigid.

"Okay. Fair warning though, I'm pretty hard to ditch."

She sat down next to Teresa.

"God, I feel so stupid." Another ominous rumble, but no bolt of lightning... this time.

"You're not, you know. Even if you won't tell me why."

"I must be. Otherwise I wouldn't be out here crying like some idiot over old crap."

"You're not the only one that does, sometimes."

"Yeah, but when other people cry, they don't alert everyone on the grounds."

"Actually, depending on who it is, yeah they do."

"With a storm cloud saying 'I am here' like some giant arrow?"

"Haley had a power accident last night that wrecked our room and woke up half the dorms."

"I don't think that's quite the same, but thanks for trying."

"It's not exactly the same, but I don't think anyone here's really comfortable with their powers. Not our age, at least."

"Well, powers sort of started this, but that's..." She bit her lip, "That's not what this is about. It's sort of..." She sniffled. "... complicated."

"Complicated's okay too."

The rain slackened a bit, but Theresa didn't look up.

Kay had waited a bit before following Theresa, wanting to give her some time by herself before chasing her down. And then she'd ended up in front of the maze and wandering through it aimlessly a bit until she managed to find a way towards the clouded area.

"Resa?" she asks carefully as she rounds the last corner.

Brigid looked to Theresa. "I can distract her, if you want," she said quietly.

"No," Theresa said, "It's not like I can hide from her right now and she's obviously not going to leave me alone." She beckoned to Kay.

"I... I can leave if you don't want me here..." she says, stopping as she spots Brigid.

"Come on over, Kay."

"I didn't exactly ask for Brigid to be here either, but apparently life had other ideas, so get your butt over here."

And so she does.

"Do you feel better? I... I didn't mean to make you cry..."

"You didn't." She was still sniffling. "Not really. Just dredged up old shit that still bugs me."

"Well I'm sorry anyway."

Theresa took several deep breaths and the rain started tapering off, even though the clouds remained, "There, at least we're not getting any wetter."

"Wasn't so bad," Brigid said idly.

"Don't really mind being wet, no." she tries to joke.

"Well, I might start crying again, so I should at least give you guys a break, right?" She made a vague attempt at smiling that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"It's fine, Theresa. We'll keep."

"Wanna talk about what's wrong? It's fine if you don't..."

"You guys should know at least. That way, you're not walkin' on eggshells around me. But this is between us, okay?" She took a deep breath. "Before my parents took me out of school, I got teased about being a mutant like anyone else. But before that..." Another deep breath, "I wrote a note to a girl I liked and tucked it in her locker. I still think she was the one that spread it around the school. The next day my locker was sharpied with all sorts of... names. It still hurts sometimes when I think about it. That's why our argument stung me so much Kay. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you look. Assholes will be assholes."

"That's horrible! Nobody deserves to be treated like that."

"Oh..." is all she says for a couple moments.



"I didn't... I mean I was wondering when we were talking about... yeah. I'm sorry, that must have been awful."

"Like I said, Brigid. Assholes..." She sniffled and a light, misting drizzle started. "Yeah, I know you didn't mean it, Kay. Just old feelings, you know? I'm sorry for the things I said too..."