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Chapter 2: Chapter 1.2 (Arcadia)
Summary:
Part 4 to part 6 of the original updates.
Chapter Text
TUE JAN 18
I got up at dawn, and spent the time before breakfast training more. I turned as much of the garden area into silty dust as I could, and tried my hand at trying to 'swim' through granulate earth. It didn't go as well as I'd wanted it to, but I learned a bit. Like how much I disliked the taste of dirt.
A quick shower before breakfast, and dad dropped me off at the library before he went to work. I spent most of the day cramming for the Arcadia tests, and dad picked me up on the way home. He'd packed the back of the truck full of refuse from around the docks, mostly old brick and mortar, concrete and asphalt chunks, drywall and plaster, along with a bucket of sand and some actual rocks.
I spent the rest of the night experimenting with them. It turned out that there was something off about man-made, or at least man-altered 'earth' that kept me from bending it right. I could still feel it, and move it a bit, but I wasn't where I needed to be to bend it properly yet.
That night, I dreamt of fire.
---
WED JAN 19
It was another slow day. I went jogging in the morning, and dad dropped me off for school study again. This time I stayed up training into the night a bit, I was pretty anxious about the testing tomorrow. I got up, jogged, showered, and dad dropped me off at the school on his way to work.
---
Arcadia / THU JAN 20
The school was... intimidating.
It was odd, one would think having fewer gang signs, prettier landscaping, an actual fence and nice buildings, would actually put my mind at ease, but it just left me worrying where the actual punches were going to be coming from. I made it in, got to the office, gave my name, and then tried meditating to calm my nerves. I knew how to, I'd done it in my dreams often enough, (and wasn't that a weird thought?) but I'd never taken the time to slow down and sit still in real life.
Soon enough, one of the assistant principles came by to collect me. They had a spare study room that wasn't in use, and hadn't been taken over as a club space yet, so lacked anything too distracting for her tests. Ms. Anderson was curt, but otherwise nice enough about the whole thing.
I was let out to lunch with a voucher for the day, and while part of me wanted to jump right in and socialize, on the whole I just wanted to be left alone today. I got a few interested looks, but my glum, intense exterior kept anyone from talking to me.
Testing resumed, and I was let out a bit earlier than the rest of the school, having just finished a test and the teacher not wanting to run too late by starting another.
I went home, dug out the dumbbells dad mentioned, and spent my time alternating weight training and Earthbending until I was too exhausted to worry about the rest of my tests.
---
FRI JAN 21
After the morning's testing, I was almost done. I had maybe one test left by the time lunch rolled around, and then I'd be free to go. I got another voucher, and this time, I decided I'd be social. Screw being a meek wallflower, I wouldn't let those bitches win.
Looking over the bustling crowd though, I hesitated. I didn't need to launch myself headfirst into the dark morass of teenage social strata to not be a wallflower. I'd just go be social outside.
...which would be easier if there was anyone outside. Aside from people coming and going, anyway. It took a bit of searching, but eventually I found someone sitting on a bench near a couple of trees, eating quietly while flicking through pages on a bulky brick of a smartphone. I headed over.
"Hey." I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. The half-dead almost-glare that resulted showed my confidence was irrelevant. "Uhhm, you... mind if I sit here?"
She glanced down at the free half of the bench and rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Free country." She went back to her phone.
...what a bitch.
Oh well, that won't stop me. I'm going to be social today if it kills someone, and I'm the one with powers, here. I plopped down on the bench, sat my food to the side, and took a silent fortifying breath. "I'm Taylor. I'm going to be starting here in a couple weeks." The one eye I could see swiveled in my direction. "Transferring in from Winslow."
"Good for you." Her voice was a droning monotone. "I hear it's a shithole."
I chuckled, "It really is." Maybe this might work, after all? "I wound up in the hospital, the place is so bad." Maybe not attributable to Winslow as a whole, but...
That got a reaction. An interested widening of her eyes. "You're locker girl?"
I flinched and sighed. "Please don't call me that." I took a second to calm down. "But yeah, that was me."
She hummed, and seemed to be thinking for almost half a minute. "Amy Dallon."
"Huh?"
"My name." She huffed. "It's Amy Dallon."
"Oh." Why was tha- holy shit this bitch is Panacea. "Oh! Neat."
"Neat?" She asked with a smirk. "Not the usual reaction. You're not mad?"
Now I was confused. "Why would I be mad?"
"I didn't heal you."
The frustration in those words were almost a palpable force. I wasn't sure why, there were half a dozen reasons that came to mind, and none of them made sense to me right in that second. So I shrugged. "I was only hurt for about two weeks." And I got powers out of it. "Who'd care about that?"
She was looking at me like I'd just told her I was a betentacled space invader who'd impregnated her family last night. Then she huffed, shook her head, chuckled, and asked, "What's your number?"
That had me at a loss, my burgeoning good mood gone. "I... don't have a cell phone."
"What, you break it in the locker?" She snarked.
I growled. "No, I didn't have one before that."
She let out a breath and muttered, "no wonder..." before she turned back to me. "Y'ever thought that maybe if you had one, you could've called for help, and then you wouldn't be locker girl?"
A large part of me wanted to hate her for that, but the rest actually agreed with her. Plus, if I ever wanted to actually be a hero, I'd have to make calls eventually, right? "I'll have one before I start here."
She nodded, got up, dusted herself off, and grabbed her bag. "Good. Gimme your number when you do." She started back towards the school, a jaunty wave and a sing-song "Later, locker-girl." thrown over her shoulder back at me.
Stop calling me that. "Later, bitch queen!" I called back, drawing a startled squawk of laughter from her. She didn't stop or turn back, but I saw her shake her head and she seemed to be smiling.
...did I just accidentally a friend?
---
FRI JAN 21
After my last test, I went straight to dad's work. He seemed a little surprised I was done already, and told me nothing was going on for a couple hours, yet. So I'd wound up sitting in the yard by the office, sitting down and meditating again.
I'd felt something through the earth a few times while using it. I knew I had. It seemed like it'd be a useful skill to have, sensing things through the ground. So I'd sat my bony butt on the concrete and tried to feel anything around me through it. A few minutes later I'd gotten frustrated and flopped backward, huffing and trying to calm down, when I noticed I was actually starting to feel something with more of my body on the ground. So I laid myself flat and started the meditation again.
Dad wound up kicking my side lightly, probably thinking I'd fallen asleep. I'd been so focused on little bits of movement blocks away that I wasn't paying attention to the 'safe' area of the yard. Definitely needed to work on that.
"This is Gerard." Dad said, pointing me over to a wiry white guy with sandy hair. If I'd met him on the street I might've assumed he was Empire, but if he was with dad he must be fine. "He's gonna be kicking the shit out of you today." I sputtered indignantly as he turned to the man. "If you actually kick the shit out of my little owl, I'll break your arm."
That just had the man chuckling and promising we'd be sticking to light bruising today. I had the impression that dad couldn't take this guy in a fight, and they both knew it. He started telling me about 'Aikido' and using my opponent's force against them.
---
SAT JAN 22
I was almost too sore to get up the next morning. I was certainly a mass of bruises, alright. Apparently I'd surprised him by having a lot more force than a hundred pound beanpole should, and that left me eating dirt a little harder than intended when he threw it back at me. Even going over how to fall before that only helped so much. Smug asshole didn't seem like he'd had a single bruise when we left, even though I'd thrown him just as often as he had me.
Eventually we made it home and I just flopped down in the backyard to rest and practice more with sensing things. That's where I was now, too. I didn't want to do anything today. Too busy resting my bruises, and I'd have another session of training later today, too. Hurray.
I sighed. Dad would only let me get away with skipping my studies to acclimate to proper training for another day, maybe two. Had to make the most of it. Dad brought lunch and we made a picnic out of it, then he started tossing an old ball into the garden while I was blindfolded, and had me toss it back with Earthbending. I was, thankfully, allowed to stay flopped on the ground for this.
Then we went and I met Gerry.
Gerry kicked my ass harder than Gerard did.
---
SUN JAN 23
I don't know if he'd planned it ahead of time, or if he was just taking pity on me, but after two days with four hour stints of hard physical training, I was begging to get back to schoolwork. I wound up skipping my usual morning training for an extra-long, powers-free soak in the tub. Still trained my sensing in the evening after studying, though.
---
MON JAN 24
Today I went jogging again, and went down to the stores... and bought a phone. Not a great one, not terribly expensive, just something to make calls and texts with, and a little data just in case.
It hurt so much, caving to practicality to buy that thing.
I went to the library to study, then to dad's work to pose through a bunch of flowing forms with an older Asian woman that was apparently a secretary at one of the other unions in town. Then home to train and meditate.
---
TUE JAN 25
Felt up to running and weights, today. Dad said he'd found someone with a weight set they'd part with, and that they'd bring it by over the weekend.
More training with granny-sensei. Apparently I was one of her 'projects' now.
---
FRI JAN 28
I was starting to wonder when having a phone started to feel normal. That... felt way too fast. I'd already programmed in a bunch of emergency numbers, and knowing I had the cops or fire department a few buttons away from being on the line... maybe it wouldn't help as much, this being Brockton Bay and all, but it was still a reassurance I could've done with a lot sooner.
Now I was starting to worry about what might happen to dad if something happened. If he had a car crash, or if something happened while shopping, or any other time he couldn't get to a landline. I knew I'd feel so much better knowing he could get ahold of me, that I could get ahold of him, anytime we needed each other.
I just didn't know how I'd be able to say it to him.
---
I had a plan, now I just needed to wait for tonight. I went for my morning run, then we had breakfast and I did my usual library thing.
This afternoon was my last session training with Sue for a while, or as wouldn't get out of my head- "Granny-Sensei." I blamed martial arts movies from my childhood, but honestly part of me really liked the lectures she'd give on east Asian language and cultural identity whenever I called the tiny Korean woman by a Japanese title.
And she really was tiny. Barely five foot, wiry frame starting to turn skeletal with age, she looked at least sixty, even though she was only a few years older than dad. Stress and too many years smoking, she'd said. Quit around when I was born, but the damage was done.
When we talked, she'd always mention stress as this monolithic enemy to pick apart one day at a time until serenity kicked in. I'd asked her how long it'd taken her, and she'd just laughed. Laughed and laughed until I realized she never actually thought it could be beaten. Not here, at least.
"You're worried" Sue stated, while they were moving through Tai-Chi forms.
It was actually a little annoying how well the old woman could read my mood sometimes. "What gave it away?" I chuckled.
She hummed. "You slip into Kung Fu more often when you're worried." I wondered how that was relevant, but after a moment she continued. "I've talked with your father about you quite a bit since we started. Gerard knows Bagua and Aikido, Gerry does Judo, Krav Maga." We moved through another few stances. "Where did you learn Kung Fu?"
I froze. I wracked my brain for what she might mean, and then realized she must be talking about the stances and strikes the Earthbenders in my dreams used, the ones I'd started using, both there and physically. I'd had Kung Fu downloaded into my brain somehow, and that left me without a good answer to her question.
When I looked over, she'd also stopped, dropped out of her stance. She stared at me, her look understanding, even a bit sad. "I won't push." She said, softly. "Young girls keep their secrets, but your father worries. Too much, sometimes."
"I'm... sorry?" I was confused with how to respond to her words, and even more confused when she reached out and softly bapped my nose before I could react.
"Worry him less, so he bitches at me less." I spluttered at the words, and the tonal whiplash that came with them. "You're your parents' daughter." Knife right to my fucking heart. "Danny worries about so much he can't control, and it wears him down. Don't let it happen to you, too." Message delivered, she smiled. "Now, gonna be busy for a few weeks, so you wanna see how far you've come with a spar?"
I couldn't help it, I smiled a little too. She'd taught me a lot, but we'd never actually gotten physical in our training. I nodded.
That little old lady absolutely destroyed me.
---
When we got home, I told dad I wanted to try some new training. Which is how we wound up sitting out back on the ground. I'd figured out that my earth senses were much better via direct skin contact, which was going to make costumes interesting if I wound up needing sole-less footwear, but I'd decided to wear thin biking shorts for this. I'd sat myself cross-legged on the ground, pressing as much of my bare legs to the dirt as I could.
"So, I told you about how I can sense heartbeats and stepping feet and things really easily with my senses, right?" That's what I'd gotten him out here with. "Well I think if I get really good at it, I might be able to sense the rest of the body, too. Sort of like... an emotion sense?" I was reaching, I really didn't want to call it a-
"A lie detector, you mean?" Dad chuckled. Dammit, dad. "Alright, how are we going to test that? You want me to try and lie about things?"
Here we go. "I figured I'd just... talk, maybe ask things, see how you reacted."
I could see the cogs turning behind his eyes. He knew I was up to something, but couldn't figure out what. "Alright. Go ahead."
"Well, I think Sue knows something's up, maybe that I've got powers." No increase in the tiny rumble of his breathing, small perk in heartbeat before it balanced out. He wasn't really surprised, or he trusted her a lot more than I thought he did. "Aaand I made a friend at school while I was there testing." No reaction. Did he think I was actually socially competent, or something? "And she... convinced me to get a cell phone." His breath hitched, and his heart rate spiked. He didn't look alarmed or angry, though. More thoughtful. "I want you to get one, too."
Now he did look a little mad. He took a couple breaths and his heart slowed down a tad. "What's your reasoning on that?"
I decided to lead with the killing blow. "I want to be able to get ahold of you whenever I need you, no matter where you are." Oh yeah, now that was a spike in heart rhythm. His breathing was shallow, and I could feel him fidgeting. "Plus it'll help with work, and you can call emergency services if you need to." And then I thought of a knife I could twist to really get him to agree. I waited until it looked like he was stalling his reply, and added, "We lost mom because she was using her phone. I don't want to lose you because you wouldn't use one."
The look on his face made me feel like a monster. Being able to sense even a bit of what he must be feeling through his body with my senses was horrible. He started breathing harder, then he got up and started towards the house.
"Please, dad." I whined. He stopped, turned back. I saw how hesitant he was, but he gave a jerky motion that could pass for a nod before he went inside. I'd won the argument.
I just felt like a manipulative bitch afterward.
I took a few minutes to calm down before I set myself to meditating, trying to sense the bodies of people out on the street, or in houses, which didn't work as well.
---
SAT JAN 29
Dad was gone when I woke up. I'd slept in a little, then made myself some instant oatmeal because I felt like crap. I spent so long anxiously messing with it that Dad came back when I was almost done. He looked... okay. Still worked up, but not angry. He came into the kitchen and set a bag of takeout breakfast and a shopping bag on the table. I felt a spike of self-hatred, self-disgust, self-something at wasting my time making food I didn't need to and then playing with it until the morning was gone.
I took a breath and sank the first few steps into meditation. I was being emotional, irrational. I was looking for ways to get back at myself for hurting dad. That's all this was.
He dug a package out of the bag and slid it over to me on the table. It was a cheap pre-paid phone. "Remind me how these stupid things work?"
It was an olive branch, I knew. He hadn't forgotten how phones work, he just wanted me involved. So I opened it up and we turned it on, added the phone card he'd gotten for it, and fiddled with the settings until he wasn't unhappy with it.
"I'm sorry." I said when we were done.
"I know." He replied, shaking his head. "It's stupid. I know it's stupid, but..." He was getting worked up again, then he sighed. "I'm sorry, too."
We hugged it out, and decided to just get on with our damn day. Some guy named Kyle came by in the afternoon, and the three of us packed a weight bench and the individual weights down to the basement over a half-dozen trips. It was weird how little trouble I was having with them, maybe carrying a little more than the two adult men were, even. I decided in the moment that this was something to freak out about later. We set the things up, hands were shaken, and he left. We'd set the bar at about 30 pounds to start with, and I tried it out, shocked to find that it was actually pretty easy. We upped it to 40, then 50 which I was starting to need to work at, then 60 which had me struggling.
That seemed pretty odd for an untrained mid-teen girl. We dialed the weight back down to 40 and had me do reps for a few minutes. We went and got a late lunch after that, and I started looking up stuff about Brute parahumans on my phone while we ate.
After that was training with Gerard again, which I handled much better after my week with Sue. I hadn't actually gained much training with Gerry, unlike the others. I think it had something to do with matching up training to styles like the ones already in my head? Then it was more like retraining a rusty skill, rather than learning a new one.
I wound up wandering downtown after that in sandals with the soles removed, mostly just people watching with both my eyes and earth senses. I caught a late bus home after it got dark and the crowds thinned out.
---
SUN JAN 30
Dad was sleeping in today, so I jogged down to the library for my last study session before Arcadia. I was at a table reading up on biology when I heard them.
"Oh wow, if it isn't Taylor!" That bitch Emma crooned. I grit my teeth and forced myself not to react otherwise. "Fancy meeting you, here."
"We were so worried." Madison added in, almost sounding sincere. "We thought you might be dead."
Emma scoffed. "No, she just smells dead. They cleaned that locker three times, and it still stinks whenever I walk by." Hand on the wooden table. Senses muffled by sneaker soles and carpet, the table's a little clearer. Not earth, but solid enough to get blurry shapes. Two of them, coming up behind me on either side. A third standing out in the open and not moving was probably Sophia.
They seemed done for the moment, so I took a deep breath. "Go away, Emma."
"Aww," She cooed. "You're gonna have to try harder than that. So, when are you crawling back, Taylor?"
"Not going back." I said as I gathered up my things.
She scoffed. "You're running away? I always knew you were a coward."
I smirked. "Not running away, just moving on." I'd never have to deal with her outside these unfortunate public meetings, soon. Had to keep that in mind. Had to keep looking forward to it.
When I stood, the two of them closed around me, so I'd have to push past at least one of them to leave. "Sounds a lot like running, to me, weakling."
I slipped into the first step of meditation. Clear your mind of excess clutter. Focus on what's in front of you, let everything else fall away. "Just tired of letting you hold me back."
Her eyes widened as I threw back the words she'd said to me, the day she ended our friendship. I reached out to the side without looking, nudging Madison out of position so I could slip between them. My passing out of her vision seemed to restart Emma.
"Yeah, just run away. Run like you always do!" She yelled, and I ignored her.
Sophia was between me and the exit like usual. When I tried to go around her, she moved to intercept and reached out to shove me back. I turned her hand with a flick of my own. Her eyes widened, narrowed, and she tried to grab the hand I'd used. I knocked her reaching paw away with my other hand. She growled and shot out a punch toward my gut.
I grabbed her wrist, swept her legs out from under her, and slammed her face-down into the ground with my knee on her back.
The entire library was suddenly dead silent.
Sophia seemed to be trying to silently process what'd just happened, so I glanced up to Emma and Madison, who were staring at me wide-eyed. I glanced over the staring crowd until my eyes found one of the librarians, out of her seat and watching uneasily.
I nodded to her, hopped off Sophia with my arms raised, and backed toward the exit. I couldn't keep the grin off my face as I turned and called "Later, bitches."
I couldn't help it.
I felt amazing.
---
The new instructor dad lined up for me was a slightly short, scrappy-looking Filipino man named Jake. After the revelation that I seemed to do better with styles from my dreams, we decided adding more Kung Fu, which seemed to be used by two of my bending styles, had to become a priority. He was jovial and energetic, and claimed the only reasons he agreed to this were that dad would owe him a favor, and that Old Sue vouched for my skills. A fairly glowing review despite being thoroughly trounced when I'd actually gotten to spar with her.
After that it was more people-watching downtown, before heading home.
---
MON JAN 31
First day at Arcadia. I was anxious and excited, getting there early so they could set me up with a locker and make sure I knew where all my classes were. I really had no intention of using the locker, but they had no reason to know my new thick canvas backpack was purchased both to appear slightly more stylish than my stained old one, and to help hide how little trouble carrying all of my books at once was giving me.
First period was English. It was nice getting to experience it without the constant dread of Winslow, but I figured that'd be a constant today. I kept having to remind myself to stop slouching, or ducking away from rustles behind me or motion out of the corner of my eyes. I was safer here, and as I'd shown yesterday, it wasn't like I was helpless. Even without powers, I put Sophia on the floor. I was sure I'd be fine here.
Second period was History. It was before third, math, that I actually found Amy in the halls. I called out to her and she stopped. I dug the note I'd written before school out of my pocket and held it out to her. She looked down at it, then back at me, waiting.
"...you asked for my number, when we had lunch together about a week ago?" I tried, starting to sweat a little.
"Riiiiight." She didn't look surprised, so she'd either remembered me from the start, or didn't care. Either way, she took the note. "Anything else?"
"Do you..." Dammit, Taylor. New school, new me. Stop acting so meek! I shook myself. "Do you want to have lunch together again?"
Her lip quirked very slightly. "I suppose we could." She turned to head off. "Same place?" She called behind her, not waiting for a reply.
I couldn't decide if she was actually super cool, or one of the most unpleasant people I'd ever met. I sighed and headed off to class, deciding on the way that it was probably the latter. I just had no luck with friends, it seemed. The fact that I ignored two calls for 'new girl' and demurred away from someone that came up to me that break alone was completely lost on me. Forever alone.
Lunch couldn't come fast enough. Sure, I was actually learning now, but school was school. I went straight to the cafeteria, got my food, and was slightly surprised Amy'd beaten me to the bench anyway. "How'd you get here so fast?" I asked as I sat.
She shrugged. "Cut in line." I gave her a side look, very slight horror and disappointment. She scoffed. "I was with Vicky. People jump out of the way for her."
"Your sister, right?"
Amy nodded and smirked. "Ray of fuckin' sunshine."
I hesitated. "Are you two... okay?"
She rolled her eyes. "Me and Vicky are great, I love my sister." Another, wider smirk this time. "It's everyone else I can't stand."
That had me thinking for a moment. "If I'm imposing...?"
Her hand waved, cutting me off. "You're fine." She gave me a side-eye and took a drink, pausing for a moment after. "You haven't asked me to heal you."
I cocked my head. "No?"
She smiled and pointedly waved toward my hands. "You've got a bruise on your wrist, and a little spot on your chin." she pointed at her own, and I felt mine, finding that indeed, it was a little tender. "You're not some whiny china doll, here to have me fix you." She took another sip. "I like that." She huffed, shook her head, and pointed at me with the hand still holding her fruit juice. "Though as an honorary medical professional, I'm semi-legally obligated to ask about your home life, now."
It took me a second to get it. "Oh! No, dad wouldn't hurt me. I've been doing martial arts since I got out of the hospital. ...started about when we met, actually." I thought out loud.
She shrugged and started shoveling fries into her face. "They have me do a couple courses now and then, too." She griped. "Gotta keep their precious healer safe." She muttered something angrily.
"Actually, I asked to do it." My smile grew slightly strained. "I didn't want to feel weak anymore."
Her eyes stayed on me for a few seconds before she nodded and looked away. Maybe that stuck a chord with her? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw hers widen, her lips pressed into a thin line.
"There you are!"
I turned to the cheerful voice that was coming from the school and-
Pretty.
I couldn't help it. I blushed a little.
"Vicky..." Amy groaned.
So this was her sister. Ray of sunshine, indeed. The blonde was floating just in front of us, now.
"New friend, Ames?" Vicky asked. "Oh, we have to hang out sometime! Let's meet up after school, you're free, right?" My head lolled, and she took that as confirmation. She fished out a phone- identical to Amy's, I noted- and asked what my number was. I rattled off the digits as I wracked my brain for why that was significant. Why phone numbers would matter- !!!
"Amy!" I said, turning to her. She seemed shocked I could even remember she existed with her sister right in front of me. "I forgot to get your number!"
She blinked, and told me her number after I'd gotten my phone out, then Vicky gave me hers. Amy was dragged off toward the cafeteria after that, Vicky chattering on about something 'Kara' had said which the healer apparently needed to hear about, while the girl in question looked back to me and mouthed 'save me' overdramatically.
I just smiled and gave them a shy wave while they left. I shook my head, still needed to eat my lunch. That was really odd, though... Amy was being nice, and Vicky was so pretty...
That made me blush again, this time in frustration. Why had I been making eyes at a girl? I was straight, dammit!
I shook my head, kicked my shoes off and ate in silence while I watched the people mingle via my feet.