Not So Natural...

Chapter 4

Lillian woke at the sound of an alarm coming from the TV screen next to the door. "All students please report to the first floor for breakfast in one hour. All new students will head to the entrance to be filmed and assigned a computer afterwards. Thank you." The monotone voice silenced and everyone slowly got up. Lillian shared a closet with a tan brunette named Hannah who current did not have the energy to escape her covers, which gave Lilli the chance to dress alone. She was happy to discover that all her clothes has been organized on one side of the closet and secretly hoped it was not Wiley who'd come through and done it. She settled on wearing a short, springy, cream colored dress adorned with large sunflowers. Heading to the bathroom to add a few curls to her plain straight hair, she overheard Kira threatening Tammy.

"I swear if you don't get down here, I'm going to get you down! Do you really think they'll let you film a permanent video on your PJs?" Kira's hands were firmly placed on her hips as she glared at the top bunk. Tammy's response was inaudible due to the fact she was hunkered down under her covers. Lillian found a curling iron and got to work on her hair. Just as she finished, an announcement warned everyone there was only 15 minutes until breakfast. This caused a burst of swears from Tammy and a string of 'told you so's from Kira. Lillian headed out to find Kira fully dressed in a cute sky blue dress similar to her own. "Oh my gosh! You look so pretty!" She hurried over to hug Lilli who blushed and nodded in thanks. "We could totally be twins right now." Kira teased giving her a nudge. Lillian could not think of the word to express how grateful she was to Kira for making her feel so at home, but Kira seemed to grin in a knowing way as if to say, ‘don't mention it.'

"I'm going to head down now." Lillian said as a 10 minute warning sounded. Kira nodded,

"Good idea, Tam's probably going to take forever anyway. Try and save us some seats, okay?" She waved to Lilli before heading off to help Tammy get dressed. Lillian closed the door behind her and headed down the empty hallway. It was long, curved and seemed to have an endless stream of doors on both sides. She headed to the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

"Hold the door!" A shout sounded around the corner just as the elevator dinged to announce its arrival. She stepped in and started looking for the button to stop the elevator just as a tall blur slipped between the closing doors. She looked up, expecting to see Kira, Tammy, or Hannah, but found it was a stranger in a suit panting in the corner. He glanced up at Lillian and smiled. "Th...thanks..."

"Oh...you're welcome! But I didn't really do anything..." She blushed. His violet eyes sparkled and a few strands of dirty blonde hair fell out of place. "My name's Lillian..." 

"James,” They both watched each other, unsure if what they were feeling was what they thought it might be. It couldn't be this easy...could it? The doors opened on the first floor and a flood of chatter washed over the silence between them. 

"Shall we?" He gestured to the open doors. She nodded and they made their way to the cafeteria. There was a squeeze to get through the large double doors, but once inside Lilli gasped at the size of it. The room was about the size of a football field with hundreds of tables and chairs surrounding a restaurant in the middle. "First time, huh?" James chuckled and took her hand, guiding her though the chaos and crowds of people. They found their way to a line that led into the restaurant and James leaned closer so she could hear him over everyone else. "Since they have to feed so many people, you get what they serve. Just let them get a good look at you when we get in there, if you have any allergies they'll be able to tell." She nodded and held tight to his hand as they were pushed around. As they got closer, the smell of omelets hit her and she sighed happily. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...

"Lilli!" Kira and Tammy made their way over to her, wide-eyed. "Is this the line?!"  Kira groaned and glared at Tammy. "This is gonna take forever!" 

"Please take my place," James cut in, his face strangely red. He released Lilli's hand and took Tammy's moving Kira into his spot. "I-I'll wait in line with you..." He smiled awkwardly at Tammy, who flushed and smoothed out her long silver dress. They disappeared in the crowd leaving Kira and Lillian confused. 

"What the hell just happened?" Kira frowned. 

"I believe that's what you all came here to find." They both jumped and spun around to find Wiley with a sly grin on his face. "Hello, ladies!" 

"It can't be that easy..." Kira gave him a sideways glare while Lillian felt a sinking feeling in her chest. She'd kind of liked James, but if that wasn't what she was supposed to feel for 'the one' then what was? 

"Yeesh, I think I killed the mood," Wiley shrunk noticing the looks on their faces. "Give it a chance! This is only your first day here! James is 19, so he's waited a whole year to meet your friend. You should be happy for them..." Wiley smiled as they nodded in agreement. "You should be more curious about their abilities. After today, they'll be moved to a building a few miles from here to be trained and-"

"What?!" Kira froze as if someone'd just slapped her. "But I thought..." She was so lost in thought, Lillian had to nudge her forward to keep the line for breakfast moving. 

"I mean, she'll be there for a while, so as soon as you find your other half, you'd be joining her! You could probably ask for a room close to hers!" Wiley quickly tried to back track as he saw his words weren't helping. 

"It's fine...I just thought we'd be spending more time together here..." Kira sighed making Lilli feel guilty about wishing James had been the one for her. She closed the gap between them and hugged her. She recalled Kira talking about how she and Tammy had been best friends and neighbors since they were little, so it made sense that she would be about her friend having to leave so soon. She looked down at Lilli and smiled. "Thanks. I'll be alright." She hugged her back and turned to Wiley, possibly to apologize, but he'd disappeared. 

"Lactose intolerant!" The person at the counter called out after giving Kira the once over. He turned and stared at Lillian for a second. "No allergies!" He shouted and turned to the next person. Kira blinked in surprise,

"How'd he know that?"

"Probably his ability," Lilli noted as they moved along in the line. As they came to the end of the counter, a waitress slid trays of food to people.

"No dairy," she smiled and passed Kira her tray, "enjoy your meal! No allergies? Lucky!" She gave Lillian her breakfast and they headed off to find some seats. They sat down next to a few people who didn't seem to mind them barging in. Obliviously they knew how hard it was to find empty ones nearby.

"Oh my god...this is amazing..." Kira sighed and dug into her food. They'd already finished when Tammy came running up holding someone's hand.

"He's the one!!" She clung to the buff, tan, dark haired male and giggled.

"What happened to James?" Kira managed to hide the jealousy in her voice as she look the stranger up and down.

"I am James," he smiled and his features shifted until he looked like the guy Lilli had met in the elevator. "I can change my looks!" Everyone close by turned to watch in amazement and curiosity.

"Check this out!" Tammy pinched the cloth on her dress and gave it a tug. Within seconds, it was shorter and gold.  Several people gasped and clapped while Lillian only felt more determined to find her other half.

"Congratulations!" Maggie made her way over and Lilli realized that her confidence had merely come from her. "I'm so happy for the both of you. Instead of being assigned your computer, both of you will go with Wiley to the next stage of your lives together and learn to harness and control your abilities." Tammy and James both smiled lovingly at one another and kissed. Everyone cheered, but Lillian heard a sharp 'tsk' come from behind her. She turned and spotted someone, standing not far off, glaring at the two lovers. He had a slim form with pale skin, shaggy maroon hair, and sharp green eyes. He frowned and started to turn away, but for a fraction of a second their eyes met. Lillian felt her heart race and her vision seemed to tunnel until she could swear she could hear the other person's heartbeat. Then he was gone, lost in the crowd, and she turned back to find Tammy, James, Maggie, and Wiley were gone. Kira nudged her and stood up.

"You alright? Come on, let's go get our computers so we can meet up with Tam!" Kira smiled and seemed to have recovered from having her best friend having to leave.

"Yeah...okay." Lillian rose shakily and set her tray on a stack of others before hurrying after Kira.