Sing For The Moment

[Evelyn Conner]

It was one of those unlucky moments where Evelyn's hand had brushed against someone and she had slipped into a frozen state where her expression grew blank, as if she'd drifted someplace far, far away. Standing in the middle of the hallways with an open water bottle in her hand, and her other hand freezing in position just as she brushed her hand against someone's backpack, the object's memory flashed before her eyes like a short movie.

There was music playing in the background. The backpack was on the floor, facing the bed. The lights were dim and she had to squint her eyes to see what was going on around her. It was a couple. Sitting on the edge of the bed. The boy was looking sad, while the girl was crying. She whispered something and the guy's head shook. Quickly, the boy rose to his feet. He didn't look sad anymore. He looked angry. The girl reached her hand out, curling her fingers around his wrist while her other hand was splayed over her stomach. "I didn't mean to do it!" the girl called out, but the boy pulled away. "Whore," he muttered and the girl's expression changed. "Do you even know who the father is?" The girl's head shook and she looked down at the ground. Her shoulder shook, as if she was crying. The boy threw his hands up and strode towards the door, slamming it shut after him.

The sound of the slamming door caused Evelyn to turn in an instant, quickly pulling herself out of the moment. Her hand slammed against someone, causing her bottle to drop to the floor and spill the water. Blinking out of her confused daze, the brunette's eyes narrowed slightly as she regained focus of the present world. Her brown eyes landed upon a boy; she stopped then, standing still for a brief moment as she waited for all her senses to pull out from the hold the power kept on then.

Blinking again as she felt the world go back to normal around her, one sense at the time, her lips curled upwards and she cursed under her breath. "Sorry," she muttered as she knelt down to pick up the bottle, tossing an almost annoyed glance at the water on the floor. She hated this part about her power, how it completely disconnected her from the world around her and left her feeling confused and how it took her a few moments to properly gather herself. It was so much easier when she did it by choice, because at least then she could prepare herself. This simply left her scatter brained and out of focus. Looking up at the boy again, the brunette's eyes narrowed further. He didn't expect an explanation, did he?

Tag: Akeem Ten-Amen

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Akeem was walking back from a lesson. It was weird to see all those students. Some were so young since they were still in high school. They could have built an extension to the school for the college students only. But he supposed they had all the room they needed already and saw no reason to add a building to the school, just to separate the two. There already was not much dividing the high school students’ dorms to the college ones’.

Normally, when people were walking in and out of classes, they all walked. If they were bright, one side was going in a direction and one in the other. If you wanted to stop, you did against a wall, in a corner, somewhere you wouldn’t block the way. This girl however, she stopped. Akeem tried to move around her but she moved her hand and slammed it against him. It was not strong enough to hurt him but that was certainly startling. She mustn’t have expected someone to be so close because it had her drop her water bottle, the liquid splashing and their feet.

People saw this and circled around them to avoid this little incident. Akeem stared at her. She didn’t look entirely there. He didn’t know what happened but her mind went someplace else for a while. “I’ll survive. I’m not the Wicked Witch of the West,” he said, obviously more referring to the water that slightly splashed on him than the slap she gave him. He watched her pick up her bottle. She was staring at him and he wasn’t sure what she expected. “I don’t know what made you want to hit someone but I can assure you it was not my fault.” He had a smirk. It was a joke. He didn't know how she’d take it though so he turned his smirk into a more appealing and innocent smile. Just in case.

[Evelyn Conner]

Pursing her lips, the psychometrist furrowed her brows at the apparent attempt at making a joke; it wasn't funny. Or at the very least, she didn't think it was. Then again, Evelyn's personality was as exciting as a rock. She didn't have a sense of humor, just like her brother, and the most people usually got out of her was a sarcastic response. Either that, or something totally not charming and way too blunt. He continued then, and the brunette sighed. "No, it wasn't," she agreed. Her fingers curled around the bottle and she looked at the small puddle for a moment before drawing her breath. Well, she figured someone would come along to clean that up soon enough.

Rising to her feet, she put the screw back onto the bottle and put it into her bag. "My power," she began as she tossed the boy a glance. She stopped then, not really sure what else to say about it. She figured that explained what it had to, and the boy could easily enough figure out the rest on his own. After all, it wasn't really her problem. Especially as he didn't seem at all mad or annoyed about it.

Patting her hands down the shirt of her uniform, Evelyn smoothed the fabric out with a sigh. She took a moment then to study the boy's face; he was handsome, in that vagabond kind of way. Kind of like one of those kind of people you expected to find digging through the thrash and walk around with holes in their clothes, smelling like a roasted road kill that's been lying around for far too long. Just to be sure, the brunette took a step back. "My power is the reason I froze. It does that," she added finally, her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

Well, her brother wanted her to loosen up...

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

Okay, his joke might not have been great but this girl had no sense of humour whatsoever. She barely reacted to it, didn’t even sigh at how bad she found it. Well, there was some sign on her face that showed she heard him but it was not certain that she got it. Akeem could almost sigh about this. She said nothing. He finally got a word from her when she agreed it was not his fault. Well, there was at least that. But you’d think one would feel sorry for hitting a person, especially when they pointed it out. Not her. He wouldn’t say she was stiff. Just unresponsive.

Akeem didn’t care about the water between them. Someone would clean it up and that someone was not him. Anyway, he had nothing to clean it up with other than his clothes and even if it was only water, he was not interested in wetting his uniform. My power. It was all Akeem had as explanation. It was enough, mind you, he got that her power made her hit him accidentally. Still, one would expect a little more than that.

He frowned when he noticed her step back from him. He did or said nothing wrong, he was still waiting for her to give him more or decide to leave it at that. That did not deserve for her to move away from him. He said nothing about it though and it was a good thing because she finally talked. One full sentence, of more than three words. In fact, two sentences. She must be tired now, for speaking so much.

“And you got spasms that makes you hit the closest thing around when you come back?” Akeem asked. He was slightly amused by this and the fact he was sort of forcing her to speak some more but he tried not to show it. Like he said, he was fine. She startled him, nothing more. “You’re not really expansive, are you?”

[Evelyn Conner]

Sighing, Evelyn had to fight off the urge to roll her eyes at the boy. Instead, she simply started at him stoically. "No, more like freezing," she repeated matter-of-factly. "I see the memories of objects, which pulls my consciousness away from what happens around me." She shrugged a little at that, and yes, Evelyn completely and utterly ignored his last comment. Straightening the tie of her uniform, the brunette pursed her lips; she didn't even know why she even bothered with this guy. He was clearly not the kind she wanted to be around. Then again, that didn't mean a whole lot seeing as there was few people Evelyn wanted to be around.

"And when I come back, I have very little knowledge about how long I've been out, and what happens around me." She gestured at the water on the floor before gesturing at the boy. As if that made it easier to understand exactly, what, had happened.

This was one of the good things with her brother being the front face of their businesses. Evelyn could sit in the back and do what she was actually good at. Sure, she could be incredibly charming when she wanted to, but why would she waste her time on some random student that wouldn't matter in the long run? She had a feeling her brother would toss her a exasperated sigh if he'd read her mind right then.

At least she was actually talking now, so there was that. Narrowing her eyes again, she took a moment to study the boy; he reminded her of a snake. Not the kind of person you trusted, and Evelyn was just fine with that.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

At least she was talking to him, he had to think that. Because when it came to having any emotions from her, it was apparently going to require more efforts out of him. He would have to accept that all he would get from her was a few more words. At least they were long sentences again. He wasn’t really expecting her to sum up what her power could do like she did. She probably didn’t tell him everything but it was still quite a bit of information to give someone. Akeem was not interested in telling her just yet what he could do. It wouldn’t help her resist him should he try it on her but he didn’t need to have her suspicious of his every move.

Maybe he should give up on her. She didn’t look all that interesting, aside from the fact she was a lady. That alone could make him pay more attention to her he would other people who were not a lady. But Akeem didn’t turn down an opportunity unless he saw nothing good for him in it and he could use a circle of acquaintances around him. She was as good as any other. He could still go away later if that did not turn out beneficial to him. He had no problem with that.

“I see. Apologies accepted then. And it explains why you chose to freeze in the middle of the hallway,” he let out. Again, it was not like it really hurt and if she were to have pissed him off with it, which she did not, he would have made her pay already. “I’m Akeem, by the way. In case you want to know who you’re accidentally assaulting.” Why did he keep trying to do homour? He knew she wouldn’t get it, or at least not laugh at it.

[Evelyn Conner]

"Exactly," she replied simply. At last, finally someone that had half a brain around here. It was a welcome relief from what the brunette had to spend her time around lately. Such as a certain Banks who was far too proud for her own good. Which she'd undoubtedly gotten from her father. Evelyn could hardly blame Ellen for that though, seeing as how Evelyn herself was incredibly similar to her dad, whereas her twin was a spitting image of their mother.

Reaching out her hand, a polite smile formed on the brunette's lips; she was nothing if not controversial. "Evelyn Conner." Despite not particularly understanding the boy's humor, she was raised better than to not be polite when it came to sharing names.

Now that the final remains of her power was leaving her system, the brunette's posture and demeanor visibly relaxed; she hated how her ability put her on edge. It was always so much easier when you knew it was coming. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been when she'd first manifested and ended up seeing the memories of everything she touched. Now, it was an rare occurrence, but then again, maybe that was part of why she reacted the way she did.

"Besides, I'd hardly call that assault--" she reached her hand out to pat the guy's cheek in an purposely condescending way. She then smirked. "--but don't fret. I'm sure you'll figure it out one day." And with that, the brunette brushed past him.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

One could argue that Conner was not that uncommon a name, but when you are called Conner in Bellefonte, the options as to who you could be were a lot more limited. And, of course, Akeem heard about them. Evelyn immediately became a lot more interesting to him. Without even knowing it, he ended up talking to one everyone should try to get close to. Though that was not happening just yet. Unless being expressionless yet still talk to you meant the girl liked you. She did smile as he shook her hand but he was not thinking one moment it was because she was falling for him or anything. He would need a lot more than a few puppy dog stares sent her way with a charming smile to win her over.

He didn’t try to hide that he heard of her, or at least of her name. “Ah yes. I’ve heard the name, I’m sure you’re not surprised about this, but no one ever pointed you to me to say you were the one,” he admitted. How many people she must have seen trying to be best friend with her? She probably had a few who tried that already. He had to be careful how he played what little cards he had here if he wanted that to work.

He raised an eyebrow at the tone she used. He was not going to let go of her that easily, nor let someone act that way on him. “Are you saying you’re planning to show me the true meaning of the word ‘assault’ some day?” Akeem was actually smiling at that, like it amused him. He wouldn’t let a little bump in the road make him stray from his goal. “Is that the treatment you give to everyone who dares to talk to you or am I special in some way?” He was not trying to be cocky but she was free to take that in any way she wanted.

[Evelyn Conner]

Brilliant brown eyes stared back at the boy, and as Evelyn's chin lifted, she looked a lot more like her mother than what she would have cared to admit. The sudden relaxed posture the brunette had taken now that she was no longer haunted by the after effects of her power practically oozed of confidence. "Not at all," she replied simply. After all, her last name was known across the globe; Her family's business was to say the least, true to the rumors. Being the richest (and undeniably most powerful) kid in the school along with her brother, you often got used to people wanting to be close to you.

Thankfully, both her and her brother managed to keep something of a low profile. Or, her brother had until he'd decided to date the most famous girl in the entire town.

"Of course not," she countered as she tossed him a glance over her shoulder. A smirk formed on her lips at that. After all, a Conner never did their own dirty work. All she'd have to do was pick up the phone, and voila. She wouldn't tell the boy that, of course. "And you have done nothing to be deserving of such a title." Her head tilted somewhat as she studied the boy. Despite the smirk, there was a calculating and almost cold aura surrounding the brunette.

She wasn't trying to be condescending. Instead, she was simply stating the facts.

"As for how I treat people I talk to... I suppose you already know that." The smirk widened slightly, turning a little more coy. She felt herself slip into the old routine now and truth be told, it felt liberating. Yes, her power had proved to be immensely useful, but it did nothing if not kick the ground from beneath her feet. And with that, the brunette turned again as she started down the hallway.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

The stiffness faded away and Akeem was now seeing an Evelyn that was much more in control of herself and her surroundings. She seemed to have no problem with the fact he knew who she was. He didn’t bother asking if she really was from that Conner family. It was the kind of thing people just filled you about.

Akeem had to change his game with her now though. She wasn’t awkward anymore and she had no problem giving him full sentences of more than three words. Whatever he could have thought to try before needed to be rethought based on what he was now having before his eyes. And Akeem was not as calculating as Evelyn so he felt like he might be falling behind here. He had to correct that. For now, he would try his charm, words and everything else he could bring up to get to know her more until he found any tiny hole in her armor. If that didn’t work, he had a secret weapon. But Akeem was not lazy. This was to be used in last resort, after all else failed.

He could feel her cold aura but he refused to let it affect him and maintained his laidback attitude. “Pity,” he merely replied. He had wished this to work better but it obviously was not. How many tricks people tried on her? He wished he knew, so he could do something different, or at least do it better than they did.

“With mockery? Though there is truth in that so I suppose I should say sarcasm.” He wouldn’t have minded it as much if the joke was not on him. Though it was not bad enough to rile him up. “Just so you don’t freak out, I’m not following you. I just happened to be heading this way before you went back to reality,” he told her as he also walked down the hallway. He didn’t went very far though because he heard a little commotion behind them and he turned around to notice that someone didn’t see the water and almost fell on the ground because of it. Without finding it all that comical, a scoff still nearly came out of him, causing a smirk to show up on his traits. Maybe letting the water there was not that great an idea. But he was not the one who spilled it so he was not going to apologize for that.

[Evelyn Conner]

"Honesty," she corrected him with a steely gaze. "Or blunt forwardness if you want to get technical." She gave the boy a once over then and looked as if she was about to add something, but decided against it. After all, Eve had no need nor anything to gain from playing games with the boy. He was of no use to her. Her brow did quirk somewhat curiously as the boy started following her, but she decided against saying anything. At least, not until the boy spoke. Of course, she didn't necessarily buy it, but nor did Evelyn really care. The boy could follow her - or not as much as he liked. "If you say so," she simply replied.

The commotion didn't pass the brunette by, but she hardly bothered to turn around and look. She could already make a guess at what had happened. It wasn't like the brunette had left the pool of water there and simply forgotten. It was more so a case of not having the necessarily tools at hand to rid herself of the nuisance. Besides, she'd have to go somewhere in order to gather the necessarily items to clean it up, so the fallout from someone stepping on it was inevitable regardless.

"Besides, a boy following me around is hardly enough to make me freak out," she tossed over her shoulder. After all, Evelyn was a Conner through and through. It took more than a boy who found himself witty to scare her off. There was little in this world that could dishevel the brunette, one of which things the boy had already encountered; her power. But that was hardly something she could control. It was just how it was and she dealt with it as well as she could.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Blunt fowardness’ better. Honesty can easily be hypocritical if you ask me.” How many people were saying they were simply being honest when they crushed you? At least saying that you were blunt warned people they might not like what they hear. Akeem could go with that.

Akeem might be following Evelyn a little, but it was also true that he was heading in this direction. “I’m heading towards the south wing. Now you know. And I didn’t wait for you to tell me where you’re going to say me too so you know I’m not lying,” he told her. Not that he really cared if she thought he was forcing his presence on her. For now, he had plenty of excuses to walk alongside her without having to justify himself.

His attention didn’t linger very long on the incident. He was not responsible of it. And even if he was, he was not likely to do something about it. First, because he had nothing to clean it up. He was not going to throw his jacket on the floor to clean it, no way. But he mostly didn’t do a thing because he didn’t care. It was just water. It was not like something sticky or smelly or harmful was there, only water. Not only did this not interest him but Evelyn talked again and his focus went back on her. “Must have happened quite a few times before too, no?” he replied with a little smirk. It might be too familiar for someone he just introduced himself to but he didn’t care. She wanted to be blunt, she’ll deal with that.

[Evelyn Conner]

"Is that so," she replied absentmindedly. In all fairness, it didn't matter much where he was going, or where he wasn't. Whether or not he was following her was his problem, and not something the brunette would waste her time worrying about. She seriously doubted he was stupid enough to pull any stunts here in the open, and even if he did, there was plenty of people around. And one phone call to Alistair and he'd be there within seconds.

Evelyn lived a charmed and very well protected life. She had little to worry about, and the boy seemed more curious than wanting to cause her any actual harm.

Turning her head, Evelyn looked at the boy. "Aren't you awfully curious?" she asked with a smirk. She stopped then, half turning as she continued looking at the boy. She couldn't quite place his motives and that bothered her immensely. She supposed she would have to contact her brother later on and see what they could dig up. "Akeem, was it? Does that come with a last name?" 

She cast a quick glance towards the kids who'd seemingly walked into the pool of water she'd left behind. Her nose wrinkled slightly before she turned her attention back towards the boy. She studied his features for a moment; he was cute in a non-traditional way. Kind of what you expected a "bad-guy" to look like. His most noticeable features were his eyes and the dark hair that framed his face. He wasn't one of those faces you easily forgot. Good.

[Akeem Ten-Amen]

“Yes, it is so,” Akeem replied. She didn't seem to care at all but there was something in her whole attitude that led him to believe that, should he make one move she didn’t like, he was going to pay for it. He preferred to protect him the best he could. That probably meant that he should stop talking to her but that would also mean losing all chances with her and that was out of the question.

For now, he acted like Evelyn interested him more than the Conner girl. It wasn’t that far from the truth and she was a pretty thing to look at. He was not going to say no at a chance at her. He flashed her a grin when she called him curious. Maybe so, but there were plenty of reasons for him to be. “I can be when I’m interested,” he admitted before shrugging it off. He knew this comment could blow on him but he had several replies in mind depending on what she was going to say. For now, he would let her wonder what could be his reason to keep talking to her. Even though she was at ease now talking to him, she didn’t seem to get why he was still doing it.

He chuckled as her question. It was true that he only gave her his first name. She was the one who felt the need to point out she was ‘that Conner girl’. Evelyn would have been enough for him. Although only Evelyn might not have sparked that much of an interest. “It’s Ten-Amen. It’s Egyptian, in case you are wondering where you could get a name like that.”

[Evelyn Conner]

"And what is it that you're interested in, Akeem?" Evelyn was no stranger to people wanting something from her, her brother or her family in general. It wasn't as if their name meant nothing. They were known for getting their hands on anything a third party would want. Of course, it surely helped being one of the most powerful and renown families in the world, but somehow, she had a feeling the boy wanted something a lot more concrete. Friends on the right side, perhaps? After all, his spark of interest seemed to have come once she'd shared her last name.

Ten-Amen. She noted that down to her memory. He surely made it a lot easier for her to track down his information. Of course, she doubted he knew that was why she'd wanted his name to begin with. "I wasn't," she replied coolly. As much as Eve enjoyed playing the game of cat and mouse, it was already obvious that the boy wasn't everything he made himself out to be. He could hide behind his excuse of going the very same way she was by accident, but he was still talking to her. He was still making an effort.

And he'd made the fatal mistake of admitting that he was in fact interested in something.

"As you can imagine, Mr. Ten-Amen, I'm a very busy young woman." She tossed him a quick glance. "And you've done nothing to give me a reason to stick around, so unless you place anything worth while on the table, I'm afraid you'll find our time shared together cut short. Very short." She continued onward, her hands sliding into the pockets of her cardigan. "Tic, toc." And Drew wondered why she didn't have any friends.