Light the fuse (Eryn)

[Ellen Banks]

For someone her took at much pride as Ellen Banks did maintain a strong sense of control and order at all times in her life. In a matter of weeks things had been spiralling quite frantically. At the start of the year the idea of somekind of rebellion on her hands was quite frankly laughable and yet here she was fighting off one.



It all started with that damned dirty laundry blog spreading rumors and lies about her life. Which of course the gullible student body ate up like the docile sheep that they were. It was sad really, how they never questioned the validity of the source before they spread rumours around the school like some kind of horrible illness, and Ellen could almost hear them laugh behind her back…and no one laughs at her….at least not for long, God the things she would do if she had just a moment alone with the mysterious blogger…



But the thing that really boiled her blood was the incident with Erika in the canteen. She wasn’t even quite sure what happened. One second she had Erika right where she wanted her the next she was screaming in her face and threatening to throw a chair at Ellen’s head…almost two decades of friendship….endless play dates and pranks all brought to an end because of some guy that Erika couldn’t see was just using her (That’s all men wanted at the end of the day) Ellen wasn’t discouraged however. Erika had been under a lot of stress recently. So it was only natural that she lashed out, once she had calmed down she’s realize that Ellen was in the right, things will go right back to normal.



For now however, Ellen had been expected to one of the teachers just to make sure she wasn’t emotional effected by the incident (A laughable concept) and if ellen and Erika’s story matched. Ellen herself wasn’t worried. As the trainer she was assigned to was Mr. White. Her personal favourite teacher, unlike most teachers here, he didn’t seem to carry around some bizarre grudge against her and actually treated Ellen with the respect she was due. With him, she knew she was safe from any punishment. He wasn’t about to send his star student down the river.



With this in mean, Ellen knocked on his office door clad in a low cut white blouse, Red frilly skirt and her hair hung back in a pony tall she slowly opened the door and poked her head in. “Mr.White. You wanted to see me sir?”

[Eryn White]

Looking up from his desk, Eryn casually gestured Ellen into his office, the door already open. "Please come in Ms. Banks." It was a habit for him to call students by 'Mister' or 'Miss' and then their last name. It helped them feel more mature, and encouraged them to be such, at least around him. He let them call him Mr. Eryn, or Mr. White, or even the brave few who called him just Eryn. It told them that he sees them as an equal, and helped ensure that they didn't get intimidated by him. "Understand, this is all just standard protocol. It'll go on your permanent record, certainly, but I'm sure that it can all just get worked around." Giving a pleasant smile, Eryn considered his options. He'd had an eye on her for a while as viable recruit for his secret cause. He'd worked on making sure to build a rapport with her. This seemed a good time to recruit her.

"So. Tell me your story. You know how I am though, so feel free to tell me anything, including spare thoughts. And I have a file on it, but I need you to also share with me your whole history with Ms. Bellefonte, please. We have as much time as we need, so don't worry about leaving out any details."

[Ellen Banks]

With a signature pleasant and cheerful innocent bright smile plastered on her face, she gilded into the office and with her usual grace and pose she lowered herself into a chair opposite Mr.White and crossed her legs getting her nice and comfortable, not in the least bit nervous or tense. Why would she? There was no evidence she had committed any wrong doing. As far as the teachers knew, they had walked in on Erika just about to attack Ellen, which looked VERY bad for her and very good for Miss. Ellen Banks, the worse possible thing that can happen is that Erika discussed what they were discussing before hand and even then she could spin it in any way that doesn’t make her seem like the aggressor and Ellen the victim.



And it wasn’t like Mr. White would ever try and probe the issue, even though she wasn’t particularly happy with the fact that, the incident was a part of Ellen’s permanent record, in a perfect world her record would be immaculate, but she supposed given the circumstances it wouldn’t be becoming to complain. “Of course Sir. Once we get all this silly mess sorted I’m sure we can deal with the record” Ellen said in her usual cheery manner.



Oh wow… the entire history of Ellen and Erika, boy wasn’t that quite a tale..to be perfectly honest Ellen didn’t see what White could benefit from knowing their entire history. Surely it would be a lot more time efforted to discuss the incident in question, but Ellen wasn’t one to turn down his request. What harm could it do her?



Ellen puffed out her cheeks and sat back in her chair “Well, Sir. As I’m sure you know, My family moved from New York to here and my father was old friends with Erika’s they hung out quite often so me and Erika became quite close.” An almost wisful smile appeared on Ellen’s face as she thought back to though days. It wasn’t unreasonable to call Erika the only person she truly felt….well…anything for. She couldn’t quite explain it but, but when she was around Erika she was…well…happy. Like just being in her company relieved her of all her stress….she had grown rather attached to Erika over the years to what extent she never really fully acknowledged. “Now, Erika has the bad habit of….how can I put this? Be a little too trusting. She doesn’t seem to understand that there are people here, that just what to use her name for their own personal gain…Trust me I’ve seen Erika in a flood of tears after getting her heart broken. So…” Ellen shrugged her shoulders “…I did what any good friend would do…I used my power to make sure she stayed away from boys that were only out to hurt her.” Not to mention making sure she never truly resisted Ellen…”I told her about it a few weeks ago…and I guess that just kind of built up inside her and…well…you saw the result.”

[Eryn White]

Eryn was grateful for his telepathy. It told him a much more revealing story than the young woman sitting across from him. Mentally, Eryn was actually quite proud of how clever and quick thinking Ellen was. She had plenty to learn about how to properly manipulate and control people, but for her age and experience, she was doing quite a fine job. Of course he couldn't compliment her on it or anything. No one knew about his Telepathy. Well, no one other than Bella of course, but that was a unique case. Listening to Ellen's story as well as the truth was somewhat educational. He had seen Ellen and Erika remaining best friends together since he was hired. He also knew that a large part of that was because Ellen didn't really give Erika any choice.

The fact that such a schism had occurred between the two of them was curious. He resisted the urge to begin probing in her mind. If it was someone without mental powers, he might be able to risk a short dip. But given what Ellen's power was, he dared not risk anything but eavesdropping on surface thoughts. "Ms. Banks, I must admit, the school doesn't have any explicit policies against use of powers on other people, so long as no physical harm is caused... But what you did is a questionable action. Ethically and morally." He paused and looked her in the eyes. He knew her power and how it worked. He also knew that she looked up to him, and trusted him to protect her from whatever fallout may happen here. Most importantly, he knew that even if she tried her absolute hardest to manipulate him with her gift, he could leave her a weeping, gibbering heap.

But he wouldn't have to, because before she would have a chance to consider using her power to persuade him, he spoke again. "But I do understand. I have seen Ms. Bellefonte's choice of male compatriots, and while it is not my place to pass judgement on her life choices, my opinion is that I would not approve if I had a daughter dating the same people." This was more or less a lie. Erika really had never been the sort to hang out with shady elements, as far as Eryn knew. But he also knew it'd make Ellen feel better. "I can understand her getting upset certainly though. However... Well, given the circumstances, I really think that this is just a misunderstanding. I'll make a few calls and I'll make sure this is omitted from both of your permanent records. No need for a silly fight between two friends ruin your chances in a college some day."

With a reassuring smile, he put down the pen he'd been holding to take notes. He was curious to see how this might change things between Ellen and Erika. Perhaps it'd leave him an opening to persuade one of them to his cause...

[Ellen Banks]

Some people were born with a gift for music, Others have a knack for painting. Ellen Banks? She was born with a natural devious streak infused in her. She liked to think that she gained her natural intelligence thanks to her father and mother. Little Ellen Banks was the crown jewel of their eyes. Nothing was too good for Ellen,As she was given every advantage a child her age could possible hope for. She was given violin and singing lessions at the age of nine. Her book shelves were littered with Charles Dickles, George Orwell, and John Steinbeck while other children read JK Rowling and Roald Dahl. So she had somewhat had a unfair head start against other children. As anyone could tell, natural beauty and a sharp mind was a most deadly combination. Ellen learned first hand that many people underestimated her due to her bleach blond hair and delicate features and over the years, she’s learned quite an efficient way to use her looks and her powers as a nice one two punch.



She had to resist the temptation to roll her eyes when Eryn began lecturing her about the morality of what she has done. Morality, what was so immoral about Ellen’s actions. What would be morally questionable is standing idly and watch after man after man danced into her life, hurt her and then dance out. Sure she was controlling her mind but she was so happy under her control.What was the problem?



But it seemed like Eryn seemed to understand her motivation and Ellen couldn’t help but smirk a little at Eryn White’s little assessment of Erika’s choice of boyfriend. Feeling a smirk reach her face “That’s quite a shrewd assessment. Sir” Ellen noted with some amusement, before signing with some relief that her perfect record would remain exactly that. Perfect. “Why, thank you sir. I certainly wouldn’t want this nasty little incident coming back to haunt me I would prefer to put the whole thing behind me as you can guess. Ellen managed to put on a false sad face on herself, in order to really sell how emotionally effected she was by these events “Erika…She’s going through quite a lot poor dear. I…I tried to help her but I’m worried she’s shoving me away. She’s been quite self-destructive”