there you are

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

"There you are!" Zoe smiled as she headed through the cafeteria. She'd actually been looking for Olivia Chance for a while. It wasn't as though Zoe had forgotten about the girl she'd bumped into during the shopping trip. It was just that she had so much to do. She'd almost immediately gone on the trip, and most of her time there had been divided between Alice and a few of her friends. Then they'd come back, and Zoe had bumped up to college. There had been the art show and the fire and, well, quite a lot.

However, now, Zoe had finally been able to locate Olivia. She smiled and hurried over, sliding into a seat across from the other girl at the cafeteria. "Sorry about not getting in touch with you earlier, things had been quite hectic," Zoe smoothed her skirt out, then nodded. She smiled for a few more seconds before seeming to remember something. Zoe reached down, pulled out a sheet and extended it.

"This is an invitation to an art show that I'll be having in a few weeks," she said, nodding. "I wanted to make sure you got a personal invitation," she smiled and tapped it. "It's all my photography and poetry, and the focus was on various mutants and their abilities. I'm quite happy with how it turned out," and Zoe was still all smiled, shifting again. She looked down, her eyes widening. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting lunch?" Zoe flushed, realizing that perhaps she'd just stumbled into another one of those awkward circumstances that seemed to follow her nearly constantly.

[Olivia Chance]

She looked up from her book and saw Zoe. Her face lit up. She was nice, and understanding, and Olivia counted her a friend even if they'd only gone shopping that one time. Olivia watched as the other girl sat down across from her and handed her a sheet. Olivia looked at it and smiled, hearing Zoe's explanation. She was about to say something when Zoe apologized, asking if she was interrupting lunch. Olivia chuckled, waving her book as evidence. It was assigned reading for English. Then she looked at the table. Empty.

"It would be nice to talk to someone for a change. I can read the assigned reading for a second time some other time. I really do need to get around to seeing if the library has fiction books. And...the exhibit sounds really interesting. I'd love to come and see. I've taken quite an interest in the specifics of mutant powers lately." She put a bookmark in her book and put it down before taking a bite out of the slice of pizza on her plate.

"So how have you been? I haven't seen you around."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded, glad to hear that she wasn't bothering Olivia. Though she could certainly also comment on the library's selection, even though a few of the books had received smoke or water damage of some kind. Though Zoe waited, even as Olivia talked about the exhibit and Zoe's own enthusiasm grew, causing her to bob her head.

"Yes, it should be quite good! The exhibit, I mean," she shifted as she took a seat, attempting to get comfortable. "I've been working on it for a quite a while and I think I did a splendid job with it," she smiled, "we'll see."

Zoe turned and looked, wondering if she should have grabbed a tray herself, not that she was that hungry. Besides, people always looked at her rather meagre portions of food as though they couldn't quite believe that a human could be sustained on it.

"I've been busy," she said, turning back to Olivia and flushing. "It's not that I'm avoiding you or anything. I just, well, I have my girlfriend and the show and I just entered college," she beamed at the last, lowering her head slightly. "Oh, and there are quite a few good books in the library. The book club helps with that, though I've a few friends that offer suggestions too. I'm mostly focused on poetry myself," She smiled, lowering her eyes shyly yet again.

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia smiled.

"I wasn't suggesting you were avoiding me. The school's had quite a few things happen after all. The school's IMAC challenges, the whole catching on fire thing...it all happened and made us all that much busier. Congrats on college by the way." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"I think it'll be a while until I join you. Despite all the catch up reading I've been doing lately, I'm still pretty behind." She shrugged, laughing at herself.

"We'll have to talk so I can live vicariously, huh?" She smirked lopsidedly.

"Poetry can be pretty cool. I'm more into non-fiction myself, but to each their own. I have to say, I had no idea the science of powers was so interesting. It seems to be genetic, which makes me wonder if there was anyone in my family who had powers, or at least the potential to develop them."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded as Olivia countered, stating that she knew better. There certainly was a lot to keep everyone occupied after all. Zoe just smiled and repeated the head bobbing as Olivia congratulated her.

"Well, you never know," she said when Olivia finished her own bleak future. Zoe gestured around her. "People here come from all walks and all, and several of them have to work hard to move forward. Maybe you'll be able to? It just might take a bit, and you might be a bit behind, but it's certainly doable," Zoe nodded. She herself had caught up, after all, having lost something of a semester to her own power. And who hadn't lost something to this? Well, Zoe supposed that some were lucky, some didn't even seem to lose stride.

"I certainly hope poetry can be cool," said Zoe. She reached out to tap the flyer, "Seeing as you're talking to a poet who just so happens to be putting on a show soon." She lowered her hand to the table now. "Yes, it does seem to be, um, genetic, I think? It's, ah, not really anything I know about. The Bellefontes have been mutants for years though, right?" she looked around, as if she half expected a Bellefonte to appear simply by mentioning their name. "And I think there's a few other mutant families," Zoe looked back to Olivia. "There weren't any mutants in my family though, or at least, none that we, um, talked about or anything."

Zoe would have thought something like that would have came up. Though both her parents were British, so it's possible that any of those records could be in that school or something.

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia grinned.

"You're a poet and I'd never know it." Okay that was extremely corny.

"I heard that being able to write poetry shows not only great flexibility in the mind to put thoughts into prose, but also an ability to veil feelings only slightly. You're just an artist all over, aren't you?" She chuckled.

"That's awesome." Then the Bellefontes were mentioned and Olivia tapped her chin.

"Yeah they seem to have a really dominant gene or something for it. It's kind of hard to say whether my family had any potential for it. Although thinking back my brother may have had some form of super strength or something." She thought she remembered a baseball bat but...maybe it hadn't been. Maybe it had been a superpower of some sort.

"Well mutations probably aren't things that are talked about in families unless they've been going on for generations anyways. I know this college guy Cade. You might run into him at some point who knows. Anyways, he comes from what sounds like a decently long line of mutants. And even before powers cropped up, his family was pretty awesome. Hearing about his family really gives ideas about what even humans are capable of." She shrugged. That guy had pretty much one of everything in his family. A famous hero/villain. A writer. A conqueror. And a lot of it was actually written down.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe giggled a little at Olivia's joke, joining her in the rolling of the eyes. The compliment that followed just had her flushing and lowering her eyes. Not that she hadn't heard such compliments before or anything. It just always made her feel that weird combination of pride and embarrassment. Especially as she was fairly certain that "veil emotions" was just a nice way of saying how she was extremely emotional.

Well, at least she still had the show, and it seemed as though Olivia was interested. It also seemed as though she was interested in the whole genetics things. Zoe nodded about the genes: that did sound like what she'd heard. Though she hadn't heard about this Cade person or anything. He sounded somewhat interesting... but also intimidating, which, well, was how Zoe sort of saw the Bellefontes too, really.

"It does seem as though there are an awful lot of impressive people here, doesn't it?" she said, looking around. "Sometimes it makes me wonder where we fit in." she smiled, then nodded. "Then again, I have my poetry and all. And," she smiled a little, "you could definitely have music. I talked to my friends, and they're definitely up for it."

[Olivia Chance]

"There are a lot of impressive people around. And don't sell yourself short because you're one of them. I mean, you're still technically a teenager and you're getting your own show! That's amazing. Seriously." The music was mentioned and Olivia sighed. It would be nice to do music. Listening to music and reading were her life. To be able to actually make music would be absolutely amazing.

"You still didn't have to organize all of that. I don't want to be a bother or anything. But it would be amazing to learn and eventually make my own music. So thank you."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled and lowered her eyes again as Olivia continued. "I know," she said, keeping her voice low. "I just... it doesn't feel right to brag. We all have our things," she shrugged again. It wasn't as if Zoe didn't know she had artistry. How else would she have managed to arrange things? Though: "I also got really lucky: someone did most of the work for me."

And it was a small show, but Zoe definitely didn't want to focus on herself. Especially not with Olivia sitting right there, looking almost ashamed about the music thing. "it's fine, really," Zoe insisted, waving a hand. "One of my best mates is a musician, and her fiance's one too. It really wasn't any trouble to just send them a text," Zoe nodded again, then felt her stomach rumble slightly.

"Um," she looked toward the food line, "I think I'd better grab something? Being around all the food is making me feel a bit peckish. Um, do you want to go with or did you want to wait or..." Zoe was half in and half out of her seat, paused and looking at her friend.

[Olivia Chance]

Okay, Zoe was super modest. She didn't seem like the type to let someone do most of the work. She did however seem like the type to claim that someone had. Olivia shrugged. There was really no point in arguing. When she mentioned the music, Olivia reddened slightly.

"Well...thanks though. I probably wouldn't meet them otherwise. It will be nice to meet more people, even if the whole music thing doesn't end up bearing fruit. As for food...yeah sure I'll come up with you. I need more food anyways. I only got this slice of pizza because I wasn't sure if I'd have time to eat much and read my book. But I could use more food." She stood up with a smile.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe smiled, shrugging. "You never know: the school's not that huge of a place," she was already getting up, since it seemed as if Olivia was willing enough to tag along. It took a bit for Zoe to get upright and smooth down her skirt, getting everything into position, nice and neat and ready to go.

"I've never really cared that much for pizza," Zoe admitted, looking over at it. She looked toward the serving area, rubbing at her arm as she did. "I've always eaten light though. I just never really cared that much for eating," she gave Olivia a small shy smile. Then Zoe nodded and headed toward the counter, weaving through to head toward the cooler options, where yogurt and salad and fruit bowls awaited.

Zoe paused before she got there though, turning to make sure that Olivia was along with her, not wanting to abandon her friend or anything. "It's strange, how used to this I am now," she commented, looking back, "It's almost been a year since I got here... since all this started..."

[Olivia Chance]

Olivia walked with Zoe, smiling.

"It isn't that big of a school, but I'm also not that big of a person. People don't really see me unless I want to be seen, or I do something stupid. Case in point, the fact that you only noticed me after I blew up a water fountain." She shrugged.

"As for the food...I have this humongous appetite. I think it has to do with my powers. I eat tons of food daily. It's ridiculous. I don't gain a pound. It's like those girls with the crazy metabolisms times...I don't know...three or four?" She shrugged. When Zoe mentioned how used to it all she was, Olivia smiled.

"It doesn't really surprise me. Humans are by nature very adaptable. What I mean to say is...well, I adapted in about a month basically. It isn't a bad place to be. It's safe."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded. "I'm not sure anyone would have noticed me if DL hadn't gotten all mean," she admitted. She smiled more as she said it though. Most of the sting of those words and what happened had left some time ago. Now it almost felt funny, as if DL was some sort of vague thing that couldn't hurt her anymore. Though Zoe knew not everyone felt the same. "I rather like it this way," though a few people did recognize her: all the camera taking and going out with a pretty girl and having her own show and all.

Didn't stop Zoe from simply winding around people and politely dodging them. Soon she was looking over the cold options, trying to figure if she wanted a salad or some fruit or what. "That does happen," she said, looking over at Olivia, "the whole food bit, I mean. It didn't with me but, well," she shrugged, "I suppose not being able to touch anyone sort of balances things out," she decided that she really just wanted some fruit and reached in to get a cup.

"Oh, it's definitely safe!" she said, looking over. "I only got shot at once I left the grounds and that was back when SPECTRE was hunting us," she fished around, holding up a cup. "Did you want one too? Or are you going to go for something heavier?"

[Olivia Chance]

"DL sunk her claws into you? How, if it's not too rude to ask? Wait..." Her face lit up with realization.

"Are you Pikachu? Like, the codename DL gives people?" So then that meant that Pikachu's ex was...the girl Cade had been staring at...

"Oh crap Devyn's your ex?" She'd met Devyn on the ski trip. Devyn had taught her how to snowboard. She sighed.

"Well, at least I was right about there being a girl underneath that heavy snowboarding gear. There's that." Olivia shrugged. Then Zoe grabbed the cup and offered and Olivia shook her head, taking a plate and piling on two grilled cheese sandwiches, a hotdog and...well a nice green salad to hopefully balance out the pizza and hotdog. She smiled. Then Zoe mentioned being shot at and her eyebrows raised.

"That sounds exciting. Harrowing, but exciting. I just meant safe from our previous lives though."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe nodded at the question. She was tempted to point out that DL sank it's claws into nearly everyone, but she caught that expression on Olivia's face. That was the look of someone who actually followed the blog, and Zoe didn't want to think about what that meant. Though she could have guessed.

"Yes, I'm, um, the Pikachu," she said, flushing and readjusting her grip on the fruit cup. "They, ah, gave me that after I sort of, kind of, paralyzed Devyn when we got... close," Zoe flushed at the memory, again fidgeting with the cup in her hand, "and, ah, it was a bit of a thing. Last year. It's all over now though," at least Zoe hoped it was. It didn't seem as though DL was quite as willing to let it go but, well, DL wasn't really willing to let much go.

Zoe reached into grab some cheesesticks to go with her fruit cup, balancing them both as she dug about. Yes, Devyn was a girl: Zoe could certainly confirm that, though she wasn't saying anything about it right now. She looked at the food and thought about talking about that but, well... "Err, yes," she said, nodding, "it's, um, it's been quite the harrowing year," she fidgeted and gripped her things, taking a sort of guilty look at Olivia's plate before nodding and heading to swipe her card and get everything properly purchased.