The Library of Powers

Chapter 13 - part 3

It was lunch. Jackson had just sat down with his usual brown bag when Melanie walked up to his table, wearing a blue baseball cap. He didn't know where she had been eating, but it wasn't with Selina's crew. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked.

Ivory, feet up on the table, took a cursory look at Melanie and asked, "Why?"

"I, uh..." she took off her hat, revealing soaking wet hair. "I can't eat alone. Need to be around other people. Selina teleported a water balloon over my head."

Ivory rolled her eyes. "Okay, but if this blows your cover with Sam and Chase, you only have yourself to blame," Ivory retorted. Melanie hesitantly took a seat.

"Selina framed me for backpack theft. Is she really so pissed about me not wanting to-" He stopped, realizing that Ivory didn't know all of what occurred at the party. Should he tell her? For a reason he couldn't explain, it felt wrong too.

Somehow, Ivory already knew what he had not mentioned. "To make out with her? God, Jackson, don't be so self-absorbed. She's just pissed there's a super who isn't under her beck and call. Although," she looked over at Melanie, "I'm surprised you were. Your family is even more renowned then hers. Kinda dumb you didn't ask your parents to deal with her."

"Do you have a problem Ivory?" Melanie snapped, "For your information, my parents would have never done that for me. And even if I could, how do you know that my power wasn't telling me to not do it? You don't know anything about me!"

Ivory took her feet off the table. "I know you don't listen to that voice in your head. You have such a useful power, and you do nothing with it. Do you know how many people would kill for a power that can essentially sense danger? Hell, I would! When I go out at night and fight crime, I have no idea if there's something out of my league waiting around the corner. And now that I have to train Jackson on top of it, have to keep him from dying, I could really use perfect choices. But you deliberately ignore an amazing ability and let yourself be controlled by one of the worst people I've ever met. Do you know how that feels? To see a power that would be so viciously useful to you and see it squandered by someone else? Do you?"

Ivory took a deep breath. She figured that about covered it. Jackson was floored by how quickly the situation had elevated. He figured it would be best to let the two of them sort their own problems out. Melanie looked at Jackson and asked, "You're a superhero now?"

Jackson sighed. "Not in the slightest, but I'm trying. We met your uncle though, that was kinda cool."

"Did he threaten you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, he probably liked you then. He just skips to the blackmail if he doesn't."

"Didn't sense many warm feelings in the moment."

"Eh, that's not too surprising," She chuckled, then addressing Selina, "I realize you have some problems with me. Would you believe me if I told you it was a lot more complicated then it looks from the outside? I bet your life is a lot more complicated then it looks to me, so can we just agree to assume the best?"

"I guess," Ivory answered, "But I don't really just want to assume that. I want proof."

Melanie frowned. "We'll see. Not always that easy, you know."

"Oh, I do."

"Alright."

The conversation petered out from there. They didn't eat in silence, but in comparison to their heated argument moments ago it could have been confused as such. 

"Mm, Ivory," Jackson said, mid sandwich bite.

"Yeah?"

"Been wondering. Why don't you go to superpower class?" He left the question at that. Not tacking on a 'think you're too advanced for it' or a 'Don't want people to know about your powers'. Jackson didn't want to prove a hypothesis, he wanted to form one.

Ivory chose her words carefully. "I don't think it... That attachment to... Ah, screw it. I just don't care for it. Our school's organization creeps me out enough as is, I don't want everything I say and do in that class going up the ladder to be stamped and archived."

Melanie gave her a questioning look. "Are you insinuating that the school is spying on us?"

"Maybe not the school, but our beloved Principal definitely gives me bad vibes. Dude wants to know way too much about student's superpowers."

"Yeah," Jackson added, "Speaking of which, I was called into Gonner's office earlier today about the whole backpack thing. He is definitely trying to suss out if I'm hiding something."

Hiding something. While he didn't actually admit he was, his poor wording made something click in Melanie' head. Perhaps she listened to her power, perhaps it was pure intuition. Either way, she asked Jackson. "Are you hiding something?"

Now was the time to choose. What would he do? Tell her? Or not?

"Let's talk after superpower class, okay?"

He chose to put it off a little longer.