Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
❝ I ALWAYS GET HOME SAFE, MOM, ❞ Althea assured her mother as she stepped into her apartment. She dropped her keys onto the table by the door, along with a bag from the store.
The apartment wasn't incredibly large, but it was nice. It was a working kitchen, one bedroom, a small bathroom, and one main room that Althea worked into a living room and dining room. The landlord was quite strict about things like noise and rent, and no animals were allowed, but it was decent.
"I know, Mom," Althea sighed dejectedly into the phone. She shrugged off her jacket, hanging it on the coat rack. "I'm always careful." Althea stood, letting her mother talk. "Of course. Alright, bye mom. Love you."
She hung up, shoving her phone away into her pocket as she let out a breath and grabbed the bag she set aside. Discarding the bag, she set the book inside down onto the counter.
Althea went into her room, changing into a comfy pair of pajama pants and socks before coming back and brewing herself a coffee—black with four sugars. She then grabbed the coffee and the book, sitting down in her comfy armchair.
Setting the coffee on the side table, she turned her attention to the book; "Extra Ordinary: My Life as Number Seven" by Vanya Hargreeves. The book had been recently released and Althea picked up reading soon after Lola disappeared. It was like a way to honor her.
Why Althea was reading the book, however, was all her own decision. She was always fascinated by the Umbrella Academy and a tell-all book about one of the Hargreeves drew her in immediately.
Not before long, Althea had finished the book and she was sat, reeling. She always suspected there was something more to the Umbrella Academy—abilities were not as glamorous as one would believe, she knew that best—but to know it was so...awful was just a shock. Althea couldn't imagine being reminded how utterly "ordinary" she was, and she couldn't imagine doing that to someone. Let alone constantly being excluded.
The young woman than picked the book back up and read it over a second time, the caffeine from the coffee enabling her to stay awake. She was completely enthralled with the book, what could she say?
When word of the press tour got out, Althea was quick to secure her way to one of readings. She'd never been to anything like it before, so she was somewhat out of place. However, she lost that awkward feeling when Vanya had gotten up onto the makeshift stage to read an excerpt from the book.
Everyone gave a congratulatory clap once she had finished, and a few people got up to speak to her. Althea was not one of those people. Well, she was but she lingered behind in order to be the last one to talk to her after everybody dissipated. "Hi," Althea greeted, walking up to the shorter girl with a bright smile. "I just have to say I absolutely love your book. I actually read it twice and I definitely don't read anything twice."
"Oh, well I'm glad you liked it," Vanya responded with somewhat of a forced smile. Althea could tell she was somewhat an anxious type.
She didn't want to overwhelm her but she didn't want to squander this opportunity to talk to her. "I'm..." Althea trailed off for a moment, trying to find the words. "I'm incredibly sorry about what you went through, if you can believe that. But if it counts at all," Althea paused, holding up the book she brought with her. "This book says you're definitely not just 'ordinary,'"
Vanya seemed to be caught off guard by the statement and Althea wanted to take it back as quickly as she said it, she just couldn't help herself. She was the type to speak her mind. "O-oh, well thanks," Vanya said, chuckling nervously.
"I'm totally freaking you out, aren't I?" Althea questioned, grimacing a little.
"No, no! People just don't usually talk to me this long," Vanya explained. Gosh, as if Althea couldn't understand people anymore. Was there something wrong with Vanya that she wasn't noticing?
Althea smiled sympathetically. "Well if I could bother a little longer, would you want to go get a coffee with me? Or tea, I don't know what you drink." Vanya looked caught off-guard so Althea quickly tried to fix her mistake. "I mean, I just have a lot more that I want to say and I'm all over the place right now. I figured a cafe setting would be-"
"That'd be alright," Vanya cut her off, much to Althea's relief. "I just have to pack up here, and we can go? What's your name again?"
"Althea, Althea Mayweather." Vanya offered a smile, before going back to collect all of her things. Before long, the two trekked across the street to a nearby cafe.
They found themselves sitting at a table across from the each other, a coffee in front of each of them. "So," Vanya began. "What was it that you wanted to talk about?"
"Right, yeah," Althea recalled, setting down the coffee she took a sip from. "I guess...hearing that life around those abilities just struck a kind of chord for me." She pursed her lips for a moment, debating whether to explain.
Althea was an open book, don't misconstrue that. But, bringing up what she had done to her sister was always tough. And then explaining what it had done to her in exchange? It was tough.
"I also was born on October 1, 1989," Althea admitted finally. "Alongside my twin sister, Lola. Except things were different for us. We couldn't be too far apart for long, or else we'd get weaker and weaker. Presumably, it would kill us."
"So you were constantly by her side?" Vanya questioned. Althea nodded.
"We had a lot of issues with that. We loved each other but we would argue, a lot. Once, things got really out of hand," she admitted, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I was...trying to practice with my abilities. She got upset with me, we argued and I shoved her." She paused, as if trying to stop the memories striking her heart. "There was a reaction and she disappeared."
Vanya was silent, just staring at Althea in shock. "Oh my god," was all she could say.
Althea shook her head. "It was an accident but my abilities involved time and I think I threw her into a different time period, I'm...I'm not sure," she explained. "The point is, people view these powers as something cool and it was refreshing to read your book and to see that, for once, they weren't really."
"I'm glad it could reach you like that, but what about your sister?" Vanya asked. "I thought you couldn't be apart?"
Althea smiled sadly. "We can't. I thought I would die, but that wasn't it." Vanya furrowed her eyebrows. "I lost my powers."
