But it's OK (( Open RP ))

[Jacquelin Carter]

"Jacquelin, come on. We need to go if we're going to be on time for orientation."

"I'm coming!"

At this point, Jacquelin would have loved to come tearing down the stairs carrying her bags. She would have given anything to be able to charge into the car as she headed off to a new school, one where she could learn, and they would help her adjust to her new life.

Instead, she stopped halfway down the stairs to catch her breath. Through an effort of will she managed to drag her bags behind her. She shivered, even though her parents kept the house heated to eighty degrees for her.

"Are you sure you don't want help with your things, honey?"

"No, Mom. I've got it. This is why we're leaving so early, right?"

Mrs. Carter smiled at her brave daughter. "Well, we have to stop by the lab for your treatment, and to pick up Ms. Matthews."

Jacquelin's treatments had saved her life. After the doctors diagnosed her with leukemia, she underwent a long, arduous series of treatments that finally put her cancer into remission. Shortly afterwards, the insurance company dropped her. When the cancer came out of remission, the Carters had to pay out of pocket. They spent their retirement, mortgaged their homes, and scraped every cent they could find together, but it wasn't enough. Jacquelin wasn't going to make it.

Then the Carters had been approached with an experimental treatment that they said might save her. Of course, they made no promises, but after filling out the paperwork, and the Carters were willing to sign anything just for the hope that Jacquelin might survive, Jacquelin began her treatments.

They worked almost immediately. She felt better, had more energy, and was able to keep food down. After a time, her cancer went into remission again. As an added bonus, she seemed to be developing meta abilities, to the point where her doctors suggested she be enrolled at one of the institutions that worked with super powered children. After doing the research they selected Westbrook Academy.

As a part of being enrolled, Jacquelin needed to have someone at the school with her to monitor her and protect the intellectual property that was Jacquelin's treatment. Jaquelin was glad they chose Ms. Matthews. Molly Matthews had been Jacquelin's case worker from the beginning of the treatments. They had grown close over the year they spent together. Molly's was kind and gentle, and loving, almost to a fault.

[Jacquelin Carter]

Jacquelin woke up early that morning. The brochure for the school showed a music room with a real grand piano. Jacquelin had practiced all her life of a second hand spinnet in the living room. Her teacher said she got a good sound, for an instrument he insisted was beneath Jacquelin's talent. It never bothered her that her parents couldn't afford a better instrument, or that she was never healthy enough to go somewhere where there was a good instrument. But now...

She snuck through the halls, so as not to disturb anyone, and slipped into the music room. There is was, deep, shining black, elegant and powerful. Her heart raced as she ran her delicate hand over the silk smooth surface. Opening the lid, she saw the beautiful dichotomy of white and black keys, every one clean and in perfect condition. She slid into the bench, and played a couple of warm up scales, tears welling in her eyes at how beautiful it sounded, how quickly it reacted to the slightest change in touch.

She carefully and conscientiously went through her exercises, reveling in the sound she could make with this lovely, no, heavenly piano. She switched to Chopin Preludes, having lost track of the time. Students were up and about, getting breakfast, working out before school. Normally, she would have been self-conscious, waited to be sure no one was around to hear her. But this morning, an army could have walked by, and she would play, lost in her music.

((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt-NZMiC ... re=related ))

[Diego Mendez]

Diego had adjusted his morning routine a bit since coming back from Mexico. While he'd thoroughly hated spending Spring Break with his dad, he couldn't help but grudgingly admit that his father had made a few valid points. He needed to improve, especially if he expected to continue doing hero work after leaving Westbrook. That was why he'd been leaving his bow and arrows behind when patrolling, so that he could work on relying on his heightened reflexes. And he'd made it a point to include teleportation exercises in his morning routines now. They weren't anything major, but he was trying to increase the distance in his ports. It was too early to say whether or not the practice was paying off.

A puff dense purple smoke and he appeared in the commons.

Another puff of smoke. He appeared in the gym.

Another puff of smoke. He appeared on the observation deck of the Bunker.

Another puff of smoke. He appeared in an empty hallway lined with class rooms.

Diego was about to make another port when the delicate music reached his ears, causing him to pause. He couldn't help but tense just a little bit. Up until a couple weeks ago, he'd been plagued by a dripping sound, a sound no one but he could hear. Was this more of the same? No...the piano music was too beautiful to have been the result of some sort of Loa haunting. He followed the sound to the music room, and poked his head in.

A young girl was there, sitting at the sleek black grand piano in the room. The look on her face made him wish he had his sketchbook with him. The way she seemed to sway to the music, seemed so blissfully wrapped up in her own little world...this was the sort of thing he liked to sketch. He liked to catch people when they thought no one else was looking, when they dropped whatever facade they had going.

There wasn't time to teleport for his sketchpad though, as the piece she played finished and the final note seemed to just...hang there in the air. He said nothing at first...but after a moment or two of silence passed...

"That was beautiful."

[Jacquelin Carter]

Jacquelin looked up, startled. She quickly and carefully closed the lid over the keyboard, hiding her face as best she could behind the stand. After a second, she peeked out over the top. Did she break the rules? Was this piano only for the teachers? Did she need to get special permission to use the instrument?

Finally, she fought through her nervousness. "I didn't hear you come in. I'm sorry if I shouldn't have been playing."

After a beat, she realized what she had said. "Oh. Thanks! I've had a lot of time to practice, I guess."

[Diego Mendez]

Diego gave her a casual, easy smile. "It really shows. Not sure if its against the rules to practice in here, but I won't say anything if you don't..."

He doubted it was against the rules, but since he wasn't taking any music classes at Westbrook he couldn't say for sure. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he entered the room, coming to a stop at the edge of the piano bench. He had a very laidback air about him, and it showed in the way he carried himself.

"My name's Diego. What's yours?"

[Jacquelin Carter]

Jacquelin's face split into a 10,000 Watt smile, the kind that could light up the darkest room. "I'm Jacquelin. Most people here call me Jaycee, though. Unless you're Ar."

She opened the keyboard lid, and ran her hands gently over the keys. "This is a better instrument that I've ever played before. Thanks for not telling anyone. I guess I should ask if we're allowed to us it before I play again."

She stood up from the bench, sad to have to leave such a precious thing behind. Her knees were aching again, but they did that when her next treatment was coming up. "So, first day back to classes, huh?"

She gathered her books, and tried to balance them. She had read that backpacks weren't very cool right now, and she wanted to fit in. However, in her nerves at actually talking to another person, she fumbled them, and the whole pile tumbled to the ground.

[Diego Mendez]

Jaycee's smile was infectious, and he couldn't help but return it as he knelt down to pick up the books she'd just dropped. Diego wasn't sporting a backpack, but that was because he had the luxury of being able to teleport pretty much anywhere on campus to retrieve his things. It certainly wasn't out of a need to be fashionable.

"Yeah. Kind of glad that things are going back to business as usual," he replied easily as he picked up the last of her things and stood up. "You have your class list yet?"

[Jacquelin Carter]

Jacquelin took the stack of books from Diego, "Thanks."

She tucked them, securely this time, in the crook of her arm, and fished her schedule out from her biology text book. "Yeah, I did. Boring stuff, I guess. Biology, history, math, lit. I didn't get to sign up for any of the fun classes since I'm coming in so late. Maybe next time. I got a bunch of extra study halls instead. See?"

Not thinking about it, she showed Diego her schedule, showing her classes, times and rooms, but also the block every Wednesday morning, from 8am-noon labeled "Release Time."

[Diego Mendez]

Diego tilted his head and looked the schedule over. "Maybe your folks could have a talk with the school, see about at least getting you into one of the music classes."

He scanned the list, and quickly picked up on large blocks on her Wednesday mornings. "What's that all about?" he asked as he pointed to the release time block.

[Jacquelin Carter]

A sharp intake of breath indicated that Jacquelin wasn't expecting the question. All her life, she'd been the sick kid. Here, no one thought of her that way. People thought she was normal. She -was- normal. Better than normal, she was a survivor. Now, she had to make a split second decision, one that her doctors and the researchers had told her she'd have to make at some point. Was she going to be outspoken about it, or was she going to try to fade into the background. Part of her wanted both.

Trying to put off the decision, she answered, "It's nothing. Just meeting with Ms. Matthews. She's something like a specialist that works with me. You know how metalife is."