Right to Chance

Something was droning on the television. Whatever it was, it was of secondary importance at best to Jacob, for he wasn't particularly paying attention to it. Instead, he was laying back against the couch, a letter in his hand. His eyes mostly stayed on the letter, reading the words again, though he already knew what they said. At other moments his gaze glanced around the room, watching people filter in and out on occasion. There weren't many of these, though. His attentions were still more aimed towards the piece of paper; a letter from home, already. He hadn't been here that long, and yet a message already. It was basically trivial: the family was fine, taking a vacation even, and his cousin was fine right now. Those were the operative words though: right now. Folding the letter back up neatly, he let his attentions return to the room.

A young woman ever-so-carefully opened the door to the lounge with the very tips of her fingers, only able to free the small parts of her hand for a few seconds. A large stack of papers were stacked to her chin as she maneuvered carefully into the room, swinging the door open with one foot and turning around, backing into the middle of the room. She had to blow the brown hair out of her face tried to keep whatever little composure she had left. This girl, Alicia, hadn't noticed that she wasn't alone until she had spun on her toes and plopped the stack of papers onto the coffee table. She let out a small huff of relief, standing up straight and fixing her hair and shirt for a few moments before she finally saw him out of the corner of her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Alicia blinked, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed that someone had seen that elegant show of hers and checking for the second time that her shirt wasn't crooked. She hadn't seen this coming. "Did I interrupt something?" The summer glanced only for a moment at the small letter in his hand.

Jacob was slightly startled by the sound of a large stack of papers thumping onto the table, making him look square at the stack, and then at the girl who had unleashed said stack onto the unsuspecting table. She looked a little harried, like it had been a hassle to get to where she was now, as seen by her need to fix her hair and shirt. Looking at her, he could tell she was pretty cute, with long hair of a similar shade to his own. When she spoke to him, he smiled and shook his head.

"Oh no, it's quite alright," he assured her, setting the letter down onto his lap and glancing back at the papers stacked upon the table. "That's quite a lot of paper," he remarked. "Do they give that much homework already?" He had noticed her own glance at the letter, but he didn't take it as anything. It wasn't that important of a topic anyway.

The Summer girl felt a flush of heat in her face as she glanced down at the paper, "Oh, yes. This giant stack is all from the new math professor, didn't you know?" The young woman giggled lightly to herself, covering her mouth gently before suddenly pausing and looking away. She cleared her throat lightly, "I mean to say that... Um, well, no... They're just flyers for the upcoming dance, and a new band in the making. Professor Brenton thought it a good idea if we advertised for both." Alicia bit her lip. "I suppose its easy to tell who was left to volunteer for the job." A bit uneasily, she glanced in Jacob's direction, giving him another quiet smile.

Jacob laughed along with the girl, taking another look at the stack of papers. When she mentioned that it was advertising an upcoming dance, he reached over and grabbed one, making sure the stack was stable before he began to read over it. He hadn't heard of such a dance, but then again he had basically just joined the school, so anything would probably be foreign to him. "Oh, a dance? That's cool." The thought of going to it was slightly appealing, since he had never gone to one before, and it could be a fun time, after all. Then again, he didn't dance all that well. True, he had danced before, but not… well, well. "Well, since you're the star volunteer, I assume you're going to the dance." Now with two papers in hand, he returned his gaze back to the girl. He realized he should ask for her name, but after that one adventure he had started to figure that people here were rather secretive about their information.

Alicia quietly fidgeted as she watched him reach over and take a paper for himself, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax a little. This guy, she thought, didn't seem all too bad. She had to start being more social again, well, in regards to other guys anyways. "Mhm." She answered back quietly, "I'm not sure if I'm..." Her voice trailed off, looking a bit thoughtful. Well, no, while most every other girl on campus had been busy hunting down dates and finding the perfect dress - she'd been, well... She'd been busy volunteering to put up flyers. Did she want to go? It was rather regal looking, after all. The only thing she could imagine, though, were her old school's dances. They weren't regal at all, especially on the dance floor. Maybe things would be different here?
"I think I'd like too, but I don't have a dress." Alicia answered simply, picking up a paper off the stack and choosing to look at that instead. "Or a date, really."

She seemed to be lost in thought, so Jacob took the chance to check the flyer once more. The dance wasn't that far away, actually. There wasn't really a lot of time to get anything in order to go. When she admitted that she didn't have a dress or a date, it took him by surprise. How could she not have a date? Well, he didn't either, but that was different, right? Well, we could... Woah, wait, how could he think like that? He had just met this girl. He didn't even know her name. Still, this was the only person who had even held a conversation with him…

"What a coincidence," he finally responded, trying to keep things light. "I don't have a dress or a date either." Wow, that was lame. That wasn't even funny. Laying the flyer down on his lap, he clasped his hands together and looked at her, giving her a slightly embarrassed smile. "Well, we could always go to the dance together. I'm sure it'll be more exciting than hanging up flyers, if you're okay with going with the new guy at school." The thought crossed his mind that she might just take offense to that too. It was a school full of people with various powers: she could blow him up with her mind or something. That was a terrifying prospect. A bit late for that now, though. Heh...

Even if it was completely lame, Alicia found herself quietly laughing anyways. She still wasn't sure what to say until the young man clapped his hands seemingly eagerly, sitting up straighter. The Summer looked up at him, her eyes a little wide in surprise. Go with him? "Oh, uhm - Well, I -," The words tumbled out of her mouth as she struggled to find something to say. It might be nice, but... "Shouldn't you know the name of the other person before you ask them out?" Alicia put the words as gently as she possibly could, trying to keep the kind smile on her face, though she was certain her heart hadn't raced this much in a long time. It was so sudden!

That's exactly what he had been thinking! Maybe it wasn't everyone who was so secretive at this school. Well now it all just seemed quite awkward. "You're probably right," he laughed softly. "My name's Jacob. What's yours?" Well, this was going swimmingly. Still, it was a start… halfway through the conversation, that is. He wasn't the best at reading people's emotions, so he couldn't tell if his chatting partner was unnerved by his boldness. Assumedly he would soon know if she began to back out of the room, abandoning the helpless papers. They would just slow her down.

Alicia dropped everything and ran like hell laughed quietly under her breath, "That's a lovely name." She said, quietly realizing that she was still fidgeting around, her hands twisting into each-other, nervously trying to find something to do. She glanced down at her stack of papers once more. Maybe she should get back to work? Oh, but they were in conversation now, that would be rude. And taking a seat next to him might be too personal or uncomfortable, but then again he'd just asked her to the dance - so would he really care? And she was over-thinking this, wasn't she?

"Alicia. Its a pleasure to meet you, Sir." The girl decided taking a paper for her own and sitting in a chair adjacent to his spot on the sofa. She glanced down at the sheet, honestly never getting a good look until now (as she didn't get to decide on the content). It wasn't anything substantial. Formal wear, snowflakes, nominations. "May I ask why you're here at this school?"

"Well thank you, ma'am," he laughed again, never having thought of his name as 'lovely'. It was a rather common name, he figured. Still, it was nice of her to say, even if for something to say. She sat down adjacent to him on a chair, so he figured she wasn't comfortable sitting next to him at this current time. Maybe he had been too bold. Still, she hadn't bolted, and had even given him her name. That was definitely a positive. Still, he was slightly caught off guard when she asked him why he was here. A flicker of unease passed his eyes as he thought about what he could say. It wasn't exactly a comfortable subject, and he didn't even know her that well. Totally different from straight-up asking someone to a dance, totally.

"Uh, I wanted to come and improve my powers. My parents are really cool with it." Well, it wasn't a lie. He did need to improve his powers, and that was basically the whole point of this school. Still, it was just a wee bit more than that description. He gave her a gentle smile and volleyed back the question. "Well Alicia, if I may, why are you at this school?"

Alicia nodded understandingly. That was undoubtedly the reason that every student had decided to attend this school. She was hoping for a bit more of a specific answer, like what his gift was, but she supposed it was a bit far-fetched and rude if her to ask. After spending so many months at this school, where there was no need to hide your gift - where your ability could be worn like a badge of honor, eventually it loses its taboo. For a new student, though, she realized he must not have been used to this yet, or  at least that's what she assumed. She'd still like to know his gift, though, if he were a shape-shifter - for example - she'd might have to seriously reconsider her formal evening plans. "The same reason," Alicia answered, looking down at her hands. "In a way, anyways. My parents decided to send me here so I could learn to control my abilities." She said quietly. Control them. Stop them. For a good number of students, she knew, the two were used interchangeably. She didn't quite agree with her parents, wanting to grow her gift instead, which she saw as a gift from God. Either way, she was out of their hands. "I can see visions of the future," The Summer explained quietly before looking at him expectantly.

Jacob nodded in return, leaning back against the couch and keeping his eyes on Alicia. That was supposed to be the polite thing to do, to keep eye contact with the person you were speaking to, and he did try to be a polite person. Still, she wasn't looking at him anymore, but her hands. When she spoke of why she was here, she seemed a bit… Jacob couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but something about the girl's mood changed, shifted ever-so slightly. Maybe he was imagining it though, and either way it wasn't his place to prod.

"You can see the future?" he asked with an interested tone, thinking that such an ability was pretty cool. The look she gave him was on of expectancy, so he figured she must want to know his power as well, which he was happy to oblige. "So you must know what power I'm going to say I have, right?" He chuckled again with a slight grimace. Still not funny. He'd have to work on that. "I'm kidding. That's a really cool power, though. Cooler than mine. I can only summon darkness to my surroundings. Here, I'll show you." Sticking his arm out, he began to concentrate on the palm of his hand, and soon a ball of darkness began to form upon it. It grew larger until it looked as if it was consuming his entire hand, which he showed off to Alicia. "If I concentrate enough, I can darken light sources around me, plus I can heal minor wounds if I cast it upon an injury." He broke off his concentration, the darkness dissipating as he returned his gaze to the brown-haired girl. It wasn't quite future-telling, but it was still kind of useful, in a way.

The girl nodded her head, "I can, though I can't control what I see. It just... always happens?" Alicia wondered how far into detail she should get exactly. Her visions were clear, clear enough she could redraw them near-perfectly in her sketch pad, but didn't always show the most desirable things... Ask a certain winter girl, if you could care to remember to. The memory itself was fuzzy, but the mere idea of it brought a red blush to her cheeks. Her eyes shot up at his attempt at a joke, "I wish it were that easy." she muttered lightly.

Alicia's eyes widened at the example of his gift. It was definitely something she had never seen before. She tilted her head just a bit in curiosity at the growing darkness, being frightened just a bit, but also fascinated at the same time. "That's amazing," The summer said. "A lot more useful than my gift, I think. How long have you been able to do that?" She wondered aloud, suddenly realize that the question maybe be stepping over the boundary a bit and quickly dismissing it away with a nimble wave of her hand. "Uhm - I mean, I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry..."

Jacob laughed again, waving off Alicia's own dismissal with a wave of his own. It was nice to know he wasn't the only person concerned about overstepping personal boundaries at this school. "Oh don't worry, you're not prying at all. I've been able to do this since I was eleven, but I didn't know what I was even doing until I was thirteen. Believe me though, it's not quite as cool as what you can do. This is basically the extent of what I can do." Above them was a ceiling fan, lights on and shining down upon the room, though the blades weren't in motion. Looking up towards it, he stuck his arm up towards it and concentrated his gaze upon the lights. Soon, the darkness began forming once more upon his palm, engulfing the entirety of his hand. This time though, the black began dissipating from his hand and reappearing upon the bulbs above them. As more and more darkness covered them, the light in the room grew dimmer until the bulbs were completely covered, the two sitting there in basic darkness, though the television still gave off some light.

Within the dim television light, Jacob gave a small smile to Alicia. "My power is being the off switch on your wall. Exciting, no?" The darkness disappeared, returning the pale yellow glow back to the room. "I can also fix a papercut too to seal the deal."