Oliver and Tate
Oliver and Tate were at the gates of a new school, under the false names of Thomas and Elaina Johnson, or Tom and Elly for short.
Buzza was not there, much to his annoyance. He was a rather social creature so being separated from Tate are rather upsetting for him. Still, he made up for it by being Leroy's constant compannion instead.
Oliver and Tate would be in the same grade - the plan being that they pose as twins. With the bond that Tate had created between them, it wouldn't be as difficult as it could have been. So long as Oliver kept his thoughts straight.
Their presence was announced in roll call.
"Everyone," said the teacher, "I am pleased to tell you that we have two new students. Tom and Elly Johnson. Twins, I believe?"
Oliver nodded uncomfortably.
"Oh yes," Tate replied in a perfect English accent. "We just moved to the States from England."
"Really? What part of England?"
"On the outskirts of London."
"And how have you like America so far?"
"Wel, I think it's rather bizarre, actually. The food is different for a start, either that or you call it something different. And you drive on the wrong side of the road. Very, very weird."
"Well, it'll probably take some getting used to."
Tate nodded in agreement.
The thing was that Oliver couldn't do an American accent. His accent was decidedly British and there wasn't anything anyone could do about it. Leroy's accent was mixed English and American. Tanya was capable of doing an English accent (although every now and then she would slip back into American) and as for Tate, well, if you wanted her to do an English accent, she would do and English accent. So rather than try to explain why their supposed son had an English accent, while the rest of them were American, they all decided to do English accents and pretend they were from England. Simple.
Tate and Hunter
Hunter first spotted the cute new girl in his - as irony would have it - English class. She was seated in front of him, so he got to admire the back of her head all class.
As soon as the bell went, Hunter took the opportunity to say 'hi' to her.
"Hey," he said, "I'm Hunter. I was sitting behind you in class."
"Oh hi," Tate replied cheerfully. "I'm Elly. Is he always like that? Rambling on and on I mean."
"Yes, he is."
"Oh well, I suppose there's always some teacher who does that."
"I guess. What's your next class?"
"Drama."
"Oh."
"You don't take it?"
"Nah."
Tate shrugged.
"Well, see you later then," and she departed, leaving Hunter somewhat disapointed.
Tate, Hunter and Oliver
Hunter didn't get to see Tate again until lunch. When he did, he noticed she was sitting with another new guy. Oh, wait, didn't he hear that she had a twin? That was probably him. He hesitated for a moment then joined his group. No need to look desperate or something.
"What are you smiling at?" Oliver asked Tate suspiciously.
"That guy over there, Hunter's his name," Tate grinned. "He likes me."
"This is your first day."
"So? He's not the only one I'll have you know. I've been checked out and approached by half the guys in this school," she laughed. "But that one is an technokinetic."
Oliver looked startled.
"You can tell that? I thought that..."
"I find out what people want me to be. Sometimes that takes a bit of research. He wants to date someone he can tell he's an alien. That's how I know," Tate shrugged. "It's like how Leroy wants for me not to turn out like his sister."
"His sister?" Oliver questioned in surprise.
"Yeah."
"Why? What happened?"
"I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that she had the same power as me. And somehow she was taken advantage of," Tate looked puzzled. "I know that pathic shifters can seem easy to be taken advantage of - especially after the having being rescued from the courtroom - but really, you can't make us kill ourselves by thinking 'I want you to commit suicide' or something. Our first instinct is to survive after all."
Oliver had nothing to say to that. It sure explained a lot - espeially about the way his uncle would treat Tate.
"I'm gonna go say hi," Tate said cheerfully.
"Why?"
"Because they want me to."
"I thought you had a bond with me, not them."
Tate grinned at him.
"And you want to meet a technokinetic."
Oliver opened his mouth, then closed it again. What was the point? Tate walked over to Hunter and his group of friends.
"Hey, boys," she said, going all flirty, "mind if I join you?"
"'Course not," Hunter said, moving over so she could sit down.