*~Ambition and Love Wearing Boxing Gloves~*

~ T H I R T Y ~

Hand in Hand

Jeremy lay unconscious on Michael's bed, having just been given some Mountain Dew Red.
He woke up momentarily to scream in pain, and then passed out again.

"This is going to be so hard on him when he gets up."
Michael sighed.

He looked over at Y/n and Rich, all 3 of them sitting on the floor.
Y/n was tiredly fiddling with her hair, and Rich was nursing a bottle of Mountain Dew Red.

"Why don't you jutht drink thome now?" He asked Y/n, scratching behind his ear and taking another sip.

He still looked nervous.
"Not till I'm sober." She mumbled. "No way of knowing if it'll still be active."

Michael squinted. "N/n, you're about to fall asleep. Just drink some."

"But what if-"
"Y/n."
"It could-"
"Y/n!"

She flung her arms dramatically.
"I don't want to!"

When she did, several miscellaneous items flew off his dresser and on the floor.
She stared in surprise.

"Okay fine, I'll sleep."
Michael giggled, "Awesome."
She grabbed the bottle from Rich, drinking a big sip, leaving some for him.

When she did, nothing happened.
"Isn't it supposed to hurt?"

Michael leaned over and grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her tightly in a hug.
"Give it a second."

She sighed and hugged him back, before the motorcycle of static and pain ripped through her head.

It was so intense she almost couple times register it at first. The rapid pin-pricks and hot zapping from her neck up her head and over to her eyes.

Michael pulled a hand over her mouth and squeezed his eyes shut while she screamed a piercing scream.
His dim lamp flickered, and the door shook.

Her eyelids twitched, her whole spine engulfed in the burning-electric sensation.
She felt so drained, so much pain, she couldn't scream anymore.

It fizzled out into a tired groan/sob, Michael's TV flashing on static and the door shaking more violently now.

Rich looked around, shocked by the power flowing through the room.
Finally she passed out, and everything stopped.

The TV shut off, the door stopped, and the lamp returned to its dim-orange.
Michael sighed in relief, still not letting her go.

Rich stared at them, holding the Mountain Dew Red tighter.
He blinked, "Wow. I can thee why they tried tho hard to get her now."

Michael stared down at her.
"Yah." He sighed, kissing the top of her and brushing the hair from her face; the tears from her cheek.

"You think they're all gone? Cauthe they were thynced with Jeremy'th?"
Michael nodded. "Probably," he stood up, carrying her and laying next to Jeremy on his bed.

"We'll find out at school tomorrow."
Rich winced, sucking a breath through his teeth. "Ooh, I haven't been to thchool in like a week."

Michael shrugged. "I don't think many people have either."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

They had a big group.
A large, finicky, scared, anxious group, waiting outside of school.

"Well somebody has to go first."
Rich looked at Y/n, who looked at Michael, who looked at Jeremy, who looked at Christine, who gulped and looked back at her friends.

Despite their evident fear, her voice was pepper as always. "I vote the one with superpowers goes first."

They all looked at Y/n, who sighed and rubbed her eye, yawning.
"Make the mutant go first, I get it."

They followed closely behind her, as she hesitantly pushed open the broken glass door to student parking.

When they got in, it looked relatively normal.
Kids all stared down at phones, which could be normal or could strange.

The group walked slowly and hesitantly.
Y/n could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

She flinched as a really tall kid in a red jacket approached, raising his hand at them.
Y/n gasped and backed up, holding her arm out.

Michael laughed awkwardly and grabbed her arm, pushing it down seconds before she threw the poor boy across the hall with her mind.

"Heh, hey Jake." He smiled.
Jake stared down at Y/n with a weird smile.
"Hey man, dude everyone got that Squip thing again!"

The way he said it so casually made Y/n squint.
"Didn't we get those at the play too? They're like... terrible ecstasy. But... not. You know?"

They looked at him with sarcastic expressions.
"Yep. Yah, exactly Jake." Michael nodded.

He laughed only the way Jake could, and smiled down at Rich.
"Hey man, let's go."

Jake grabbed Rich's hand, making Rich's cheeks dust red before he was dragged off by his greatest bromance.
He shyly waved before they're were gone off down the hall.

The other 4 smiled and sighed, looking around.
"You heard him." Michael giggled, grabbing Y/n hand and starting to walk.

But he was pulled back when Y/n didn't move.
He looked at her, where her feet stayed firmly planted on the ground and her eyes darted around.

"Y/n...? You comin'?"
She looked at him, biting her lip.
"No." She shook her head. "Not yet, no."

He nodded and held her other hand, leaning down to catch her lips with his.
He took a long second to scan her face, before smiling.

"Wanna go get stoned in my basement?"
She grinned and squeezed his hand.
"Totally."

The teens walked out of school, out to the car, and into the world.
They felt safe, as long as they had each other.
They felt loved, and safe, and happy.

They learned about love, trust, and intelligence. They grew.
But most important, they walked out into the real world:

Hand in hand.