Burning Skies » larry

Chapter 9

"So, how's Jacob doing?" Louis asked.

"His burns have healed, but he's definitely never going to be your friend." Zayn said.

"Who said I wanted to be his friend? One telekinetic friend is enough, thanks." Louis said.

"Will you stop messing with Katrina's bookshelf? She's going to kill you."

"She could try. I mean, we all know I'm much more powerful than her." 

"Mate, you really shouldn't be saying that." Zayn said, laughing.

"Nah. I'd like to see you and Katrina duel, though. That would be interesting." Louis said, picking through Katrina's books. She had a lot of academic science and math books, though there was also the occasional novel here and there.

They'd been waiting in Katrina's office for half an hour now and Louis was absolutely bored. Zayn was too chill and calm to be exciting company. Louis tried texting Harry, but he guessed the boy was probably in class because he wasn't responding. Harry was a good boy like that.

It had been two days since their trip to the pub where Liam performed, and Louis had taken Harry out to another pub a bit farther out of the city just yesterday, as promised. Harry seemed to enjoy the performances and even recognized a few songs that the band covered. Meanwhile, Louis had no idea if the band was even any good because he'd spent the entire night watching Harry. It was a more sweet way of watching him than creepy, honestly.

Niall and Ashley had tagged along even though Louis would've rather had Harry all to himself, but he wouldn't say no to Niall, since the boy was obviously very protective of Harry, and while Louis had a feeling that Niall trusted him, he probably shared the same worries as Louis—that there are other people out there that they couldn't trust not to harm Harry when they weren't around. Louis often wondered if Niall knew about Harry being a mutant. Because if he did and still kept Harry around after finding out, he definitely won the Best Friend of the Year Award.

Quite frankly, Louis wasn't much of a paranoid. But when he saw that group of men in the pub looking over at them, he knew something was off. Earlier that day at the Coffee Nook, that man with the snake tattoo that was paying for his book and so obviously studying Harry was also so obviously a mutant.

Not all mutants knew how to identify mutants by merely "feeling" their aura, of course. That was a skill Louis and the other mutants here at the shelter learned from Katrina.

So, if Louis was even a little more attentive and "obsessive" (as Zayn has so thoughtfully suggested) over Harry than usual, he had a very logical reason for his actions.

The door opened, and then a tired-looking Katrina walked in. Boredly, she said, "What are you two doing here?"

"Well, Louis here brought a fruit basket for Jacob which only pissed Jacob off even more." Zayn said.

"I was trying to be nice." Louis said nonchalantly. "By the way, did he try escaping again after that one failed attempt? What happened to his girlfriend?"

Katrina sighed, collapsing on her desk chair. "I had a word with him. He won't try escaping like that again. I had to get an entire hallway repaired from how you've all destroyed it. I swear, it's like I can't take a break without the entire world coming to an end."

She grabbed a folder from her desk before standing back up again, "Are you both just going to hang around here?"

Zayn shrugged. 

"Well, you might as well meet the new housemate." Katrina said, beckoning them to follow her.

They walked down the hallway until they arrived at one of the rooms on the second floor. Katrina knocked on the door before carefully pushing it open. Sitting at the foot of the bed was a young girl in pigtails, looking no older than twelve.