Her Inheritance

CHAPTER 16 -•- Clarity

  Jude glanced up at Kairo, unconsciously syncing with his walking pace as their school came into view down the street. Kairo was eerily quiet this morning, making Jude feel uneasy. He really knew something was wrong with him when they passed a nomadic pastry stand and he didn't even notice it. It was their first day back to school since the amusement park, and he was clearly on edge. Jude could feel an anxious, dreading feeling oozing off of him like he knew his class bully was going to meet him at the school gates.
           "You want to talk about it?" Jude questioned him softly after staring at him for a long time. Kairo just blinked towards the ground, silently gripping the straps of his backpack. Kairo frowned, looking ahead of them again. Kairo chewed his lips in thought before finally sighing.
           "Was any of that even real? I mean... I wouldn't be surprised if it was some kind of crazy, wet, fever dream..." he said, making Jude turn to his cut up, yellow-and-black, bruised face.
           "Why do you feel like that?" Jude asked him.
           "Because she kissed me, Jude... I know it wasn't like a— a regular kiss... she was biting me... she's never even let me touch her before and all of sudden she was all over me and I couldn't get enough of it," he sighed, tracing the tips of his fingers along his neck in awe. Jude squinted at the skin under his collar and gasped.
           "Is that her lipstick? It's still on you?" Jude stared at him in shock and a slight disgust, making Kairo blush as he looked back at him.
           "Ugh... dude, I can't help it... at first I was like, okay, I'm just gonna let the water rinse it off, I'm not gonna touch it, seems like a great plan, right? But the next thing I knew— I was shielding it with my arm the whole time—  and I started to panic whenever I felt the water running through it— and when I got out it was all still there and I was like... okay now I just need to take a bunch of pictures of it..." Kairo explained his thought process, lightly sticking his finger into the creamy, shimmery, pink substance still left on his neck.
           "You need a therapist..." Kairo sighed at him, shaking his head.
           "I need Severine..." Kairo responded with zero hesitation.
           "Okay... so why don't you go talk to her when we get in there?" Jude asked, looking back up at the looming building as they entered the gates.
           "That's the thing... what if the amusement park... the kiss? What if it was just a one time thing... like— you know, she did it as a mistake? Just being caught up in the moment... what if she didn't mean it..." Kairo huffed, clutching his stomach in horror.
           "Now you're starting to sound like me," Jude smiled at him, but Kairo didn't look back at him, which made him frown, "it would be incredibly cruel of her to lead you on like that..."
           "But what if she does? I mean... my memory of that night would be my most prized possession... but how could she give me a taste of her like that just to rip it away without remorse?" he huffed, his eyes getting a little glossy with emotion, "I don't know how I could live with that..." Jude sighed at his friend, pressing a gentle, affirming hand into his back.
           Jude later approached Aurora on his own after Kairo decided he was gonna go on a quick run to get his mind off things. He found her on their floor talking to SOPHIA again, as per usual.
           "Hey, Rory," he called out, and she turned to him with a slightly surprised expression that didn't go away. Aurora hadn't seen Jude since the amusement park. Her and the girls had talked about it extensively in their private chats. Severine hadn't opened up much about it, in fact, she was radio silent for most of their conversations. None of the other girls, however, could shut up about the fight. Even Marla was the one to inform the group that Sylric's parents put him in a mental hospital over the weekend.
           Aurora replayed the scene over and over again in her head over the past few days, each time getting more enthralled with her devoted image of Jude knocking people out in one, swift maneuver. She had told her dad about the incident, and all he said in response was;
           "Well, then you better take him with you everywhere you go."
           She realized she had just been staring at him in a trance, and a confused look crossed over him as he sensed her reverberating anxiety and arousal. Then he froze up, suddenly wanting to run away from it. It was moments like this where he wished he could use his endowment on her to diffuse the tension. He tried to distract himself before he got swept into the beckoning, inappropriate energy.
          "Kairo is acting weird today... and now, you kind of are, too," he chuckled nervously, smiling down at his feet. Aurora snapped back to reality a little bit. She had still been texting Jude all weekend, too, but they completely avoided the topic of the amusement park. Now the object of her obsessive interest was standing in front of her again, and she didn't know what to do with herself.
           "Um... the fight was crazy, right?" Aurora immediately cut to the chase in agreement, making him blink at her before nodding his head.
           "Yeah, I mean, I think that night was pretty life-changing for all of us," Jude laughed, making her nod her head back.
           "I had no idea you could fight like that," Aurora sighed towards him.
           "Me either. Kairo and I have been sparring together, but that was the first real life scenario, you know?" Jude grinned at her fluttering eyes before she suddenly snapped into an enthused gasp.
           "And what the void— Severine totally kissed Kairo, and she won't even talk about it!" Aurora squealed in a whisper, making Jude giggle.
           "I know— Kairo is losing his mind over it right now!" Jude exclaimed in exasperation.
           "I know! Severine is losing her mind too, Taya said so— I don't know all the details, but I'm so worried about her..." Aurora sighed.
           "Do you think she's gonna blow him off?" Jude asked her seriously.
           "What? I hope not! By the Gods, that would be terrible! I don't know why she's so distant and upset, but I don't think she'd really..." she trailed off, fearfully biting her knuckles.
           "Kairo is afraid that's what's gonna happen... I just wish she could see that he can handle someone with her kind of power..." Jude sighed, scratching his head.
           "Her kind of power? You mean that scary thing she did to the creepy rich guy?" Aurora questioned him, making Jude look back at her in surprise.
           "Yeah... I mean, I don't know what she did to him, but when she did it to me, it wasn't like that," Jude explained.
           "Did it to you?" Aurora looked back at him in a sudden horror and concern. Jude stared at her in shock when he realized how his words sounded.
           "Aurora, Severine's endowment allows her to read minds through skin-to-skin contact. It's how she figured out who you were after Marla tried to erase your memory... she used her abilities on mine, and saw you through my eyes. It's what made her decide to let you into HoV," he explained, making her soften up again, everything suddenly starting to make sense, "but... that's the thing... She can hear people's thoughts through any contact. The leather? Never letting people touch her? Of course she's afraid to touch Kairo, she doesn't want to violate him," Jude explained, processing his own thoughts in real time as he verbalized them. Aurora gasped in realization, everything suddenly making even more sense to her now.
           "But... Kairo already says pretty much all of his thoughts out loud..." Aurora shook her head at him, making Jude nod in agreement as she finally realized, leaving Aurora astounded, "I have to tell her," she suddenly told him, making him pause and look down in thought. Then he shrugged and nodded slightly.
           "Maybe you should..." he told her.
           Aurora's mind was racing as she sat in her grammar class. She daydreamed and planned and thought deeply about what she was gonna do as soon as she saw Severine. She suddenly turned to her other side and nearly jumped out of her seat when she saw two yellow eyes staring back at her. She huffed in shock at the familiar House of Vaedra girl sitting next to her, sucking on a sweet pop
           "Nyra? What are you doing in my class?" Aurora whispered to her.
           "This is my class," Nyra glared at her after popping the candy out of her mouth. Aurora blinked at her and looked around.
           "We've had this class together all this time, and I've never noticed until now?" Aurora questioned her, and she nodded slowly at her with an annoyed look, making Aurora blush, "I'm sorry, Nyra..."
           "It's okay," she suddenly smiled, shoving the candy back into her mouth as her double buns flopped back, "I've been practicing my stealth skills. Guess I've been getting pretty good, huh?" she said, making Aurora smile again.
           "Has Severine been doing okay? Have you seen her?" Aurora suddenly asked her, and Nyra shrugged in response, "I guess Kairo has been freaking out that she's gonna ghost him in real life..."
           "I'd say it's like a fifty-fifty chance," Nyra told her, making Aurora's jaw drop. She looked at the floor with a deep sadness for her friends.
           "Does Kairo know about her endowment?" Aurora asked, making Nyra stare at her for a long moment. She looked up in thought, and then quickly shook her head.
           "He's only seen what you've seen," she told her.
           "She needs to tell Kairo about her endowment... it's the only way she's gonna be able to start opening up, and it's the only way they're going to get through this..." Aurora told her with a determined expression, making Nyra sigh.
           "I don't know... Sev is a pretty tough stone to crack... all of us have tried to talk her into trying intimacy. She doesn't talk about her past, but... she just won't do it," Nyra shook her head at her sadly. Aurora frowned down at her lap in thought.
           "Will you help me talk to her? Please?" Aurora questioned her with a small smile. Nyra turned her face away, but kept her eyes glued to Aurora's. She sighed slightly through her nose, and looked down again, thinking about her dear friend.
          "Okay..."
           The two black-haired, fair-skinned girls rushed down the hallway to find Severine after class. They found her standing in the hallway staring down at her phone in between classes. The two of them nearly jumped onto her, grabbing her sleeves as she looked up at either of them in surprise.
           "What's going on with you?" Aurora shook her.
           "We know you're flipping out about Kairo, and we need you to talk about it..." Nyra told her seriously. Severine rolled her eyes with a pained expression.
           "Girls, this is not the time and place to talk about this..." she responded sternly, and Nyra sighed as she let go, turning back to Aurora as if to say I told you so. Aurora knitted her brow and looked back at the icy, blonde queen bee.
           "Why not? It's just school! This is important— maybe more important than you even realize!" Aurora told her, making Severine recoil again in surprise, "Kairo is worried you're gonna stop talking to him, or— act like nothing even happened,"
           "It was nothing..." Severine answered coldly, making Aurora stare back at her in shock.
           "No it wasn't! Now you're just lying!" Aurora told her, finally letting go of her arm and taking a step back. Severine looked back at her in shock. She knew Aurora was right. She didn't want it to be a lie, she wished she could just shut everything off and be completely hallowed, but it was easier
to lie about her feelings than face them. Nyra was watching Aurora with a slight awe, "You saw me for the first time through Jude's eyes... and you thought I was important enough to let him keep his memory of me... To let me join your group. But after that crazy, passionate night where Kairo quite literally defended your honor... you think he's scrap after that? You think you can just discard him?" Aurora questioned her breathlessly, making the stone-cold Severine shrink down with guilt and shame. Nyra breathed sharply in surprise, never seeing anyone get into Severine's head like that. But it wasn't manipulation... and that's why it worked.
           "You don't understand..." Severine spoke softly as she began to cross her arms.
           "Sev... maybe I don't understand, maybe I could never handle intimacy with someone with your abilities, but maybe Kairo can..." Aurora huffed softly, making her blue eyes glance back at her, "you have to tell him your endowment... if he knows, then he'll at least understand you, even if you know he's not ready for you yet."
           "If something goes wrong... what if he's not...?" Severine shook her head, tears filling up her eyes. Aurora smiled at her, and took her gloved hands into her own. Severine stared down at their hands, which were trembling slightly.
           "Yeah, what if it is bad? But... what if it's good? What if it's all really, really good? And whenever anything bad happens, it's not with him... it's with him," Aurora questioned her, making her jaw drop slightly, "and what if... even if something bad does happen, it was somehow you needed to keep growing all along?" and with that, Severine had her heart stolen with sound and spiritual logic. Aurora smiled at her, realizing she had been following her own advice since she came to Orvenna, since she met Jude, since everything started happening the way it was.
           "Um... is this a bad time?" both girls turned to Kairo in shock, who had just been watching the quiet scene in an awkward awe. Aurora looked back at Severine, who looked terrified as she brought her arms back to her chest.
           "No, it's okay! Nyra and I were just talking about the other night..." Aurora told him, opening a beautiful segway into a productive conversation between the two of them. Severine just stared at her, frozen like a statue.
           "Oh... yeah... pretty crazy," Kairo chuckled, scratching his face. Severine glanced at him, but immediately looked away  and didn't say anything. Aurora blinked at her in surprise. Kairo frowned. Then he sucked in a deep breath, pulling his phone out of his pocket to flip it between his hands.
         "So, uh... Jude told me about Taya's boot camp training you're doing this weekend... I thought it would be really fun if we could do it with you guys," Kairo smiled as he changed the subject, glancing up at Severine, who didn't even look at him. Aurora gasped with joy.
           "Yes! That would be awesome! Can they, Sev, please?" Aurora turned to Severine, whose eyes were locked into the perfect seams around her leathery fingers. Aurora frowned at her when she didn't respond, and Kairo was beginning to panic inside.
           "Uh... I've seen that obstacle course... I think I've actually been there once when I was little, but I never ran it. I thought it would be... really cool to..." Kairo began to melt into a puddle as Severine started to look irritated, avoiding eye contact and tapping her fingers against her arm. Aurora was shocked by her behavior. Nyra just crossed her arms and looked at the ground. Kairo suddenly stumbled back like someone had impaled him with a spear to the chest. Aurora saw a look of pure heartbreak and anguish cross over him that made her sick to her stomach, "uh, well, catch you later, Aurora, I'm gonna... I'm gonna go," he quickly turned away and walked in another direction. Aurora turned back to Severine when she heard her let out a heavy breath.
           "What was that?" She questioned her.
           "I'm sorry... I couldn't... I-I wasn't expecting him to be there..." Severine shook as she spoke to her.
           "Severine..." Aurora got close to her again, looking her directly in the eyes, "do you want him or not?" Severine was shocked by her direct question, and she had to really think about it for a second.
           "Yes..." she whispered, staring down at her feet, "but—" Aurora grabbed her by her arms and started dragging her with her in Kairo's direction. Nyra stared at her with wide eyes and quickly followed them.
           "Kairo!" Aurora yelled as soon as she got a glimpse of him in the crowd, and he paused, half looking back at them, before tensing up and shooting his face back forward. Aurora and Severine stopped and watched him quickly scrub his face with his sleeves and run his hands through his hair before turning around and sticking his hands in his pockets. He slowly walked back towards them with a puffy, red, slightly wet face.
           "What's up?" He asked with a sniffle, nervously glancing away from them. Aurora looked at Severine and walked behind her before shoving her towards him. She stumbled, tensing up, but finally looking back into his eyes. They both looked at Aurora, who crossed her arms.
           "Severine needs to tell you something," Aurora stated towards her clearly, before looping her arm with Nyra's and backing away from them. Severine looked back at Kairo, and immediately looked down with shame and guilt when he brought his hands out of his pockets again and stared at her with nervous anticipation. She folded her hands out in front of her, just trying to contain her emotions. Kairo could hardly breathe, just praying to the Gods that she'd say something good.
           "I'm sorry..." Severine began, not even sure how to start the conversation. Kairo breathed out slightly, feeling his body begin to relax. Severine was freezing up again, so she tried to think back on what Aurora told her to say. All she could hear was 'you need to tell him', "I... I do... I still want you," she spoke in a whisper, but he heard every word.
           Kairo stumbled backwards with a sigh, clutching his chest. He turned and leaned his back onto the wall next to him, smiling to himself as he stared up at the ceiling.
           "You want... you want me?" his eyes fluttered closed, relief washing over all of his senses. She smiled softly at him as he panted, shocked that this actually felt like the right decision. He finally looked back at her and stood up, "you want me?" he repeated, pressing his hands to his chest as he smiled at her. She began to frown again, taking a step back, and he frowned too, "what is it? Are you embarrassed of me? Do you need me to work harder? I-I'll do whatever you want!"
           "No. It's not that..." Severine sighed, stepping back again as he got closer, making him shrink back, "I'm afraid of hurting you with my powers..." Kairo perked up again at her words.
           "You mean what you did to Sylric? I'm not afraid of that!" Kairo smiled.
           "No, I mean," Severine sighed, "if we get any closer, I-I'm going to violate you in ways that I don't know that you're ready for..." Severine looked back at him and was shocked to see his face turn a deep shade of red as his shoulders sank down in shock.
           "Violate me...?" he repeated her words in utter confusion, making Severine scoff in embarrassment at his misunderstanding.
           "Kairo, I don't mean I'm going to sexually violate you... not like that... every time our skin touches, I can hear all of your thoughts. That night that I kissed you..." her eyes trailed back to his neck, making his hand instinctively reach for that sacred spot, "I heard everything you were thinking... and you had no idea. I knew I would hear it, and I knew you didn't know, and I did it anyway," she shuttered, looking down at the ground.
           "Ohhhh.... Oh," Kairo hummed with realization and wonder, and then looked down in embarrassment, trying to rack his brain of his thoughts in that moment, "did I... think bad things?"
           "No, you thought good things... really good things..." Severine sighed, smiling away from him shyly. Kairo grinned at her, making her fluster when she glanced at his expression, "but I shouldn't be allowed to hear it... your inner thoughts are supposed to be your most private, sacred thing... nobody is meant to hear them but you. You're supposed to choose which ones come to light with your own voice. And I heard them without asking. I can't take that from you..."
           "Yes you can!" Kairo laughed with a smile, making her gawk at him. Then she laughed.
           "What? No, I can't..." Severine told him shyly as he walked towards her and grabbed her hands.
           "Yes, you really can! I mean... this is great! It's like, constantly over sharing without any of the guilt!" He told her, and she couldn't hold back her astonished laughter, "I mean, seriously! What are you afraid to learn? I'll tell you anything, right now! I get hemorrhoids because I'm always constipated. I slept in the same bed as my parents until I was, like, twelve! I still pick my boogers and eat them when I think nobody is watching. I had some weird experiences with an older boy when I was younger and I think it's why I'm so sexually reserved..." he mentioned the last secret quietly, only looking at her reaction after he said it. Severine was shocked and pleased by his confessions, and she didn't stop them, because if she were touching him right now she would hear them and see them just the same. He just smiled back at her warmly at her loving, unjudging eyes, intertwining his naked fingers with her gloved ones, "you'll see it all... I'll let you see it all."
           "How can you trust someone you don't even know with all of that?" Severine asked him, making him frown again. He let their hands drop down, but still held onto hers and gently massaged and pinched the tough material.
           "I feel like I know you..." Kairo told her sheepishly before looking back into her eyes, "I know your endowment, now... I've seen it, and I'm not afraid of it. I know... your favorite color is pink, even though you dress like a medieval punk. I know your favorite animal is cats, and your favorite ice cream is vanilla. I know you always act so punctual, but you're always running a few minutes late to class. You chew on pens... you always smile at dogs, and little kids... I've even seen you smile at the freshman couples that flirt in the hallways, which blew my mind, by the way... you thought nobody saw you, but I did. I know you hate when people look at you, but you love when I do it... and I never understood why, but it makes me even crazier for you..." Kairo was leaning into her, making her stare at him sensually. He sighed, and reeled himself back, "you just don't know me... but now I know... it's so easy. I want it, Severine. I want to give my entire self to you..."
           "Maybe I'm the one who's not ready, then..." Severine sighed, looking to the ground as she pulled away from him slightly.
           "That's okay," Kairo shook his head at her, grabbing her by the elbows and nearly pressing her into him, making her turn and stare at his face again, "don't run... I'll wait for you. I've been waiting for you... I'll wait a thousand years if I have to. I don't want anyone else... if you walk away from me right now, I will spend the rest of my life searching for you in someone else, and I will never be satisfied..." Severine silently gasped at his words, and looked down at her forearms which were gently lying across his chest, her hands resting on his shoulders.
           "Okay..." she surrendered, and he had to hold himself back from melting into her. He just bit his lip and stared at her instead, squeezing the fabric around her arms. Severine noticed the lipstick still stuck to his neck, and smiled down in embarrassment. She couldn't believe she was about to abandon him like that. She looked behind him at Aurora, who whispered to Nyra with excitement before grinning back at her when they locked eyes. Severine smiled back at Kairo's brown eyes and reached into his breast pocket for his handkerchief. He watched in shock as she moved it towards his neck.
           "Oh, no, you don't have to—" he grabbed her wrist, but just gave up and looked away from her, grunting with embarrassment as she cleaned the smudges away. She stared into his eyes again, examining all of the small scabs, healing wounds, and inflamed skin, and he smiled slightly. She tucked his handkerchief back into his pocket, gently grabbed his chin with her gloved hand, and pressed a deep kiss into his cheek, making him look forward in shock. He began to grin wildly, especially when he finally noticed all of the other kids staring at the two of them.
           NEW LIPSTICK! They're looking at us. Is she saying she's mine? Can she hear me right now?
           She heard it all, and she quickly pilled away. His heart felt like it was exploding out of his chest as he looked back at her. Severine smiled proudly at the perfect, glittery red lipstick stain she stuck to his cheek. He whipped out his phone to look at himself in the camera, and immediately bounced with excitement before snapping a dozen pictures of it. He looked at Severine, and stepped towards her, before freezing up and wrapping his arms around himself as he groaned.
           "I love you," he told her within a guttural sigh, making her giggle at him. He didn't need her to say it back.
           Kairo followed her around like a lost puppy every chance he had for the rest of the day. When he and Jude came to find her and the girls at lunch, Kairo was literally running circles around her with joy and excitement. Marla and Taya immediately noticed, and Jude did too, smiling at Aurora with suspicion, especially when Kairo wrapped an arm around Severine's shoulders, showing her kiss mark off to the girls, like he had done to him when they met up again. Severine looked amused by him, and maybe slightly embarrassed and overwhelmed. They all watched with entertainment as Kairo circled around her, incessantly toying with the loose parts of her clothes, deliberately touch every part of the leather on her arms, pressing his body into her just to quickly pull away, and and getting teasingly close to her face— all as if he was trying to irritate her, but they both knew he was just barely holding himself back from mauling her to death. She smiled through it all, even playfully leaning back in, and turning away when she saw that glimmer of hope in his eyes, like he was wondering if she was actually about to close the space between them. This dynamic between them was new, captivating, and genuinely fun to watch. It was like watching a comet orbiting a star, skimming  across its flames and ricocheting away, but never fully leaving her gravitational pull.
           "So Jude and Kairo can come with us to boot camp?" Aurora questioned Severine after the topic was brought back up. She eyed Jude, who gave her a patient, humble smile. Then she eyed Kairo, who was dragging the end of her pony tail along his chin and upper lip in a trance.
           "Of course they can..." she sighed, making Jude smile at her and Aurora. Kairo smiled too once he finally realized what she had agreed to.
           "Yes! Blood brothers to mud brothers!" Kairo exclaimed, smacking his hands together with Jude in excitement.
           "That's right, you guys better dress right, too. We're getting dirty and sweaty," Taya playfully eyed Marla, who rolled her eyes.
           "I am definitely wearing a shower cap this time..." Marla sighed, dreading the messy routine as Taya laughed at her.
           "I hate the mud too, that's why I just don't get muddy," Nyra smiled down at her black claws.
           "I still don't understand how you always finish that course without a crumb of dirt on you..." Marla shook her head at Nyra in wonder, making her smugly roll her eyes.
           "Have you ever run that course, Jude?" Aurora asked him nervously.
           "No, but Marla does it all the time. It looks pretty hard, but I think we can do it," he nudged her with his elbow. She grinned when she realized he used the word we. She squealed.
           "We're finally gonna work out together!" she bounced up and down as she held his hand, making him chuckle.
           "Work out? Ju-ju doesn't work out," Lira laughed, suddenly butting into their conversation with another brunette and blonde smiling behind her. Aurora's face dropped at the sight of her, but not as much as Jude's had, "you guys are running the obstacle course this weekend? That's crazy... we are too,"
           "Yeah? So? It's a big public event, big deal?" Kairo rolled his eyes at the annoying girl, placing his hands on his hips.
           "Well, I know Jude's not doing it... you haven't ever been the athletic type," Lira said, and Jude was about to begin arguing with her in defense, wanting to start exposing all of the hard work he had been doing, but he caught himself. He took in a deep breath and collected himself.
           "Uh, no, I am running it. I'm doing it with the girls," he grabbed Aurora's hand as he looked at her, making her turn to him and smile in shock. Lira looked down at their hands and began to glare.
           "Well, what the heck, Ju-ju?" she suddenly gasped with a slight giggle, grabbing his arm and suddenly pulling him towards her, "why don't we run it together, then?" she traced her finger along the seam of his jacket, still clutching his hand. He looked into her eyes, and he actually began to smile to himself when he realized how much his attention towards Aurora bothered her. There was annoyance and jealousy hidden behind her self-satisfied expression. She even began to light up a bit at the sight of his smile.
           "No..." Jude finally chuckled at her, pulling his hand away from her and taking a step back, making her face drop, "I'm already running it with Aurora," he rubbed it in her face again, looking back at Aurora and reconfirming his loyalty to her with his gentle smile, making Aurora stare at the ground, flooding him with her sweet, grateful emotions.
           "Really... I didn't expect someone like her to be uh... capable of something so strenuous..." Lira crossed her arms, speaking more to her friends, who giggled as they looked at Aurora with judgemental eyes. Everyone in the group glared at her when Aurora's face began to drop again, but Lira didn't flinch.
           "She's perfectly capable," Taya commented, making Lira and Aurora both look towards her. Lira sighed, rolling her eyes now.
           "What's so special about her anyway? I mean— I've been trying to get into the House of Vaedra for years, and you all have always rejected me. My grades are perfect! I never get in trouble at school, all of my teachers love me, I'm super popular? I love speech and debate! I want to throw myself into a live broadcast! I've been in my theatre club for years— I mean, the only reason I'm not running it at this point is because I've always tried to keep myself available for HoV! But then she shows up and does— absolutely nothing— and she just gets in?" Lira looked at Severine and Jude, gesturing towards Aurora with utter jealousy and disgust. Severine just stared her down, getting increasingly annoyed by her emotional display, which alone was proving to her that Lira was no fit for HoV, "What has she even done to deserve to be standing with you? What does she have that I don't?" Lira yelled in frustration. Aurora stared down at the ground, feeling pathetic. As much as she wanted to belong with the girls— as much as she was really starting to believe that she did— part of her still believed Lira was right.
           "Well, for one... she has integrity..." Severine began, raising a judgmental eyebrow at her, making Lira falter backwards.
           "She's disciplined," Taya said.
           "She's shockingly emotionally intelligent," Nyra smiled with a slight nod.
           "She cares about all of us more than we care about ourselves sometimes," Kairo laughed, making eye contact with Severine for a second.
           "She's just as loyal as we need her to be..." Marla smiled towards her.
           "And she's kind..." Jude finished their praise looking coldly at Lira, almost as if he was naming the very thing that made him love Aurora more than Lira could ever make him love her. Her face went red with embarrassment as she stared around the group of faces. Aurora's heart fluttered, almost overwhelmed with emotion by all of their words.
           "That's not fair!" Lira suddenly snapped, making them blink at her in shock, "I have worked so hard just to get you to notice me! I have even been hiding my endowment!" this suddenly made Aurora stare at her in confusion.
           "Uh... Isn't your endowment voice mimicry...?" Aurora pointed at her, making her stare at her in shock. Then she grunted at her in frustration.
           "She's a nobody! I'm somebody! I deserve a place in this group way more than she does!" Lira was practically screaming now, making everyone very uncomfortable. Severine suddenly began to step towards her, and they moved out of her way and Lira began to stumble back in her shadow.
           "The only place you deserve in this group is a place under my shoe when I scrape your pathetic body off of it," Severine said, making her gulp before she leant down, bringing her glaring eyes directly in front of hers, "beat it," Lira flinched when her breath hit her face, and she finally began backing down, glaring at Aurora with teary eyes before running away in a storm.
           "Ugh... I hate her..." Kairo sighed in relief.
           "Tell me about it," Jude rolled his eyes before smiling at Aurora. He took her by the hand again, leading her to the lunch line. She smiled around at her friends with reverence. She belonged here... she was safe with them.
           She was home.