hurricane → FIVE HARGREEVES ✓

𝐨𝐧𝐞

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄
—𝚠𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 & 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚜—

     𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 cold outside of the Carson household, a small breeze fluttering between the pastel leaves on the oak trees outside. Inside of the extensive home, vanilla-scented candles burned, making the air of Mariana's bedroom more warm and familiar. The sixteen-year-old sits in her window seat, staring outside from the dormer — she wished to be outside, or even on the balcony to watch as the sun slowly melted below the horizon. But for now, she would have to settle for this; keeping to her curfew, and being satisfied with what she had. Of course there were times when she got a break, and on occasion she was able to stay the night at a friend's house — her only friend's house.

Mariana had met Spencer on her first day in kindergarten; from a time back when she was free to do as she pleased, and knew nothing of what she was capable of. He was kind to her, and they had shared an immediate bond — why, they had no idea, but it didn't matter. As they grew older, Mariana was thankful to have met someone like him. She was lucky, really. Spencer understood her like no one else could, and it was a blessing that she had someone who would listen to her problems and be a support base when she needed it the most. He knew of her powers, of course, seeing as how close they were. It would be a sin to keep such a secret from him.

Yet Spencer wasn't scared of her.

He wasn't judgmental on the day she took him to the river, and brought up a wall of water right in front of his very eyes. Spencer was stunned, yes, but then he smiled. He hadn't saw her as a monster — she was the same little doe-eyed girl he had met as a child. She was Mariana; his button-nosed best friend that had grown up alongside him and spent endless nights at his home, throwing popcorn at each other and watching movies until they fell asleep. Instead of staring at her in horror, he had pulled the shaking girl into a tight embrace and murmured that he didn't care what she could do. Mariana had cried that day.

But that was years ago — now it was normal for the two of them to sit by the river while Mariana fumbled with water on her ungloved hands. On other days, mostly on the gloomy days where there was nothing but rain falling from the dark sky, Spencer and Mariana would go to Griddy's Doughnuts a couple blocks away from the boy's home. There were plenty of occasions when Mariana felt bad for Spencer, and even told him so — he should be able to spend time with his friends from school. She assumed that he got bored of her sometimes, because who wouldn't? He was seeing the same girl over and over every day, and she knew that it had to get exhausting at some point.

"Do you ever wish you were spending time with someone else?" Mariana had asked one day, poking at the jelly-filled pastry on the table in front of her. Across from her, Spencer had furrowed his eyebrows.

"No," the boy had replied, his dark honey eyes gleaming with sincerity. "Why, do you?"

Mariana had ran her fingers through her raven locks, frowning slightly. "Of course not, I just . . . I want you to be able to have fun. And with me, you're constantly held back and we're always limited to what we could do. I mean, you could even go on dates—"