"Daneera!"

Daneera sighed. Seriously, she thought, people need to stop yelling my name.

"Hey, Kahr," she said as the muscle-bound senior walked over to her. She looked around the surprisingly crowded auditorium. "What's going on here?"

"Practice," Kahr said. "What, you're not here to sing?"

"Sing? No, that's not really my thing. What are people singing for?"

"The talent show," Kahr clarified. "For Homecoming Week? Didn't you hear about it? It's a battle of the bands theme this year, so everyone's doing covers."

"Huh. So what are you doing?"

"Aamir and I are doing 'Two Princes.'"

Of course. "That doesn't seem like your kind of music, Kahr."

He shrugged. "We're going to metal it up a bit. So, if you're not here to practice, what brought you over?"

"Aloise asked me to come. She and Beryl are doing a thing, I guess, and she asked me to tell them what I thought."

"Oh, right," Kahr said. "I was talking to her about that. They're going to duet 'Come on Baby Light My Fire.' She seemed very excited."

"How about Beryl?"

"I'm not sure," Kahr said. "Her shirt sort of caught fire, so I'm guessing yes?"

Just then, she saw two shapes walking by. "Hush-Hush?" She said, and the twins turned to look at her in unison. "Are you two going to sing, too?"

"Yes," they said together.

"What are you going to sing?" Daneera asked.

They shrugged in sync. "We have not decided. We were thinking something by Twisted Sister."

Just then, from the stage, an electric guitar riff tore through the auditorium.

Kahr pointed to the stage, where Gruff was playing. "It looks like someone else beat you to it."

Gruff sang, "I want a rock! I want two rocks! Roll them 'round all day, I roll 'em in the mud and then I lick 'em with my tongue and say Yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"Gross," Daneera said.

"Perhaps we will consider the Thompson Twins, instead," Hush-Hush said, moving off.

Daneera shook her head. "Is Lukas going to be doing anything?"

Kahr shrugged. "He was going to do 'Earth Angel' or 'Teen Angel' or one of those 50s Angel songs, be he said he couldn't find one sad enough."

"Oh," Daneera said. "So he's still not over his breakup with Gabby, I take it?"

"No."

Daneera looked around. "I'm surprised Antony's not here. I thought he'd have loved something like this."

"He stormed off," a new voice said. Daneera turned around to see Gale standing there, smiling. "He wanted to sing the entire Gilbert and Sullivan collection, and when they told him he had to pick just one, he threw a tantrum and said they were stifling his creative genius or something."

"Hey, Gale," Daneera said. "I know you'll be singing, right?"

"Of course."

"Let me guess. 'Come Sail Away'?"

Gale grinned. "Of course."

As they were talking, Tryst walked up.

"Oh, hey, Tryst," Daneera said. "What are you here for?"

She looked around the room and licked her lips. "Sexual Healing."

"Oh, sure, Marvin Gaye would be perfect for this competition," Gale said.

Tryst looked at her. "Wait, what competition?"

"So, what are you going to sing, Danee?" Gale asked.

Daneera groaned. She hated that nickname.

Before she could answer, Tryst spoke. "Something to do with her boy-toy, probably. 'Hungry Like the Wolf,' maybe?" She winked.

"Maybe 'Werewolves of London,'" Kahr offered.

"Ohh, Warren Zevon," Tryst said. "I've always preferred 'Excitable Boy,' myself. Don't you agree, Kahr?"

The big man smiled. "I do, actually."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to sing anything, okay?" Daneera said, annoyed.

"Oh, come on," Kahr said. "You can sing whatever your favorite song is."

"Hey, what is your favorite song, anyway?" Gale asked.

"Never mind."

"What?" Kahr said. "It can't be that embarrassing."

"Let's just drop it, okay?" Daneera asked.

"You can tell us," Gale pressed.

"Okay, fine!" Daneera said. "'It's Not Easy Being Green,' alright?"

For a few seconds, the others didn't say anything. It was Tryst who broke the silence. "That was a Muppet song, right?"

Daneera slumped her shoulders. "Yeah."

"Oh." Tryst grinned. "Well, would it help you sing the song if we got someone to stick their hand up your..."

"Tryst!" the other three yelled.

"What? I was just trying to be helpful..."

"Hey, Tryst!"
As the devilkin turned around, her face practically exploded into a sarcastic grin.
"Well hello, Harran. Did you end up at a hairdresser who only speaks orc, or something? Also, I think you're wearing DeCoeur's jacket."
Lukas' hand very briefly went first to the black spikes which now adorned his head, and then to the leather jacket, proving Tryst's suspicion that he was not entirely comfortable with either one. She started loading up another barrage of comments, but Lukas managed to regain enough of his composure to speak first.

"Very funny. I just felt that it was time to stop moping about how my life used to be. I'm not one of the school sweethearts anymore, so I figured I should just deal with it and find somewhere else to belong. Which is actually why I wanted to talk to you. Word is you are dating the leader of the Street Demons?"

For the first time in Lukas' memory, Trust seemed to lose her cool demeanor.
"We are not dating! We are just having some fun! I don't even... Never mind, that's none of your business. What does it matter to you anyway?"
"Honestly, I was hoping to join."

Lukas took the laughter in stride. All four minutes of it. When Tryst finally caught her breath and realized he was still standing there, she looked him over while suppressing a snicker.
"And what makes you think you would fit in? You may have changed your look, but you are still the most white-bread goody-two-shoes I've ever met. What makes you think you could survive ten minutes with those guys?"
"I told you, that's who I was with Gabby. She's not around anymore, so you can just forget who I used to be, okay? Besides, I figured they would at least like to check out my new ride."

Tryst followed his boss with her eyes, and then had to struggle to keep her jaw from dropping. Lukas had just indicated the most impressive bike she had ever seen in person. It was a sparkling new lowrider with an engine bigger than most cars. She would never have admitted it, but in that moment, and that moment only, she found Lucas attractive.
"No way it's that your bike!" As Lukas nodded, she continued. "That thing must have cost a fortune. How did you manage that, Harran?"
"Well, it's surprising how much your budget opens up when your girlfriend leaves you."
Tryst actually chuckled. Lukas felt more confident by the minute. Of course, he wasn't about to tell her that the money had actually come from the savings account he had put all of his summer job money into for the past three years. Also known as his college fund. That didn't matter. The new Lukas didn't need a college fund.

Tryst shook her head.
"I really don't know what to make of you. You know what, I am going to introduce you to the gang. If nothing else, to see how long it takes you to get stabbed. I might even start a betting pool. Meet me behind the library after school."

She was gone before Lukas could thank her. Which was probably for the best, because he would probably have overdone it, and lost what little respect he had managed to gain. He really didn't have the whole cool guy thing down yet, but he'd have to learn fast to make this work. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a creased piece paper. He had found it two days earlier, in the back of a reading assignment. She knew he wouldn't finish it until the day before deadline, so it had been a great place to make sure he wouldn't find it until it was too late to find her. He almost knew it by heart already, but he read it one more time anyway.

"Lukas, I'm sorry it had to end this way. Especially because I couldn't tell you why. So even though I know I shouldn't, I'm telling you here. We are leaving. By the time you read this, we will already be gone, I don't know where. My brother is in serious trouble. You know how he started picking fights with people? Well, some of those people want him dead. He got in their way too much, apparently. He got stabbed a few days ago. It wasn't too bad, but they made it clear they were planning to come back to finish him. I think you can guess who did it, but the police said there isn't enough evidence to do anything about it. So Dad decided that we need to get out. He gave us 24 hours to pack, and told us not to let anyone know what was going on. Of course, I couldn't leave without saying anything, so I decided that it was better to break your heart face to face than behind your back. I hope you can forgive me. And who knows, maybe someday, some will do something about those hooligans and we can come back. Until then, know that I will always miss you.
I love you.
Gabby"

He pressed paper gently against his lips and whispered.
"Don't worry, someone will."

Very nice! That's a clever way of getting at Lukas's canon, reluctant use of black mana in a high school setting, and Tryst seems like the perfect liaison into a demon-themed street gang. Lukas giving up his college fund is a nice parallel to canon Lukas giving up his access to , too. I like it!

Thanks for posting!

Daneera groaned.

The music from the gymnasium echoed through the halls, through the vents, and even all the way up to the roof. It was muted, of course, and she could barely hear it, but downstairs, it must have been blaring. Daneera rolled her eyes. All of the other kids at school were downstairs at the dance. Had Daneera remembered that the dance was tonight, she would have stayed home. But she had forgotten, and had come to school to check on the greenhouse on the roof.

She was just reaching for the greenhouse door handle when she heard the singing. It was a sad sound, but beautiful. It had been hidden just below the music coming through the vents, and even Daneera’s ears had not quite caught it until the music below had momentarily died down. Daneera followed the sound to its source. When she found it, her voice caught in her throat.

Gale was sitting on the edge of the school’s roof, her legs hanging over the edge. She was wearing an uncharacteristic blue dress that looked flattering on her and staring off into space. She was singing softly to herself, barely more than a hum, and if there were words, Daneera could not make them out. The song sounded like it could coax the rain from the sky, but the only place from which water was falling was Gale’s eyes.

Silently, Daneera moved over and sat next to Gale. The other girl looked over and nodded once. Daneera looked back, held Gale’s gaze, and then leaned over and hugged her friend. Gale hugged her back for a minute, then pulled away slightly.

“I didn’t think you liked to hug,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“I don’t,” Daneera said. “But you needed one.”

Gale smiled, and leaned in again to continue the hug. “Thanks, Danee.”

Daneera didn’t say anything about the nickname. She didn’t say anything at all, and the two sat in silence for a long time. When she felt like it was the right time to talk, Daneera did just that.

“So, who is he?”

“Who is who?” Gale asked, her tone screaming out that she knew precisely what her friend meant.

“The guy who stood you up,” Daneera said bluntly. “The guy who made you cry.” Daneera, who had been looking away, looked purposely back at Gale’s eyes. “The guy whose ass I’m going to kick first thing Monday morning.”

Gale laughed, little more than an exhalation through her nose. She looked away, shaking her head slightly. “It was Denner.”

“I…wait, really?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Daneera shrugged. “I dunno. I mean…it’s Denner.”

“Look, I know you don’t like the guy, but…”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” Daneera said. “We go back a ways. But he’s so immature. And self-centered. This one time…”

“He’s not self-centered, Danee,” Gale cut her off, then looked away. She sighed heavily. “Denner found out that they wouldn’t let me go home. You know, that last week before vacation?”

“Finals week,” Daneera said. “I thought your attendance and grades were good enough that you didn’t have to take them?”

“They are,” Gale said, “but the school said that just because I don’t have to take the tests doesn’t mean I don’t have to be around. They told me that if I skipped, they’d fail me.”

“Jerks,” Daneera said.

Gale nodded. “When Denner found out, he promised he’d find me a way to get home. Earlier this week, he told me he’d found a loophole, and the school confirmed it. I can go home this year.”

“That’s great!”

“Yeah,” Gale said sadly. “I thought this dance would be a good way to thank Denner. He didn’t have to help me, Danee, and he did. I asked him out, he said yes, but then…”

“No show?”

Gale shook her head.

Daneera nodded, then threw her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Well, look. The night’s not a total loss. I’ve got nothing going on. Let’s get out of here and have ourselves a night we’ll never forget. Or, if you’d rather, we’ll find a place the adults won’t find us, do some serious underage drinking, and have a night we’ll never remember.”

Gale laughed and, after a long moment, nodded. “Let me get my coat.”

As the two were walking out of the school, they heard a soft voice calling to them from behind. They turned around to see Antine running toward them. Behind him, Mari Gwynn watched him with a curious, perhaps even jealous, expression.

“Daneera, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“We’re out the door, Antine,” Daneera said. “I’ll talk to you Monday.”

“But Daneera, what are we going to do about Denner?”

The two girls exchanged a glance, then Daneera took a step toward the fox. “What about him?”

“Didn’t you hear? Denner got expelled!”

“What?” Gale asked.

“I guess he broke into the office looking for some documents or something. Someone told on him, and they expelled him. He’s gone, Daneera! What are we going to do?”

Daneera and Gale looked at each other, realizing what must have happened.

“Oh, my God,” Gale said. “It’s my fault. Denner’s gone, and it’s all my fault.”

All sorts of echoes from Denner's storyline here, which is both amazing and heartbreaking. And yes, those two have somewhat different experiences with him, don't they?

And reminds me that I never expanded my comment on Seeker's Point, because I was crying for three reasons. Denner, obviously, but mixed with happy tears for Gale. But also some for Veluca, whose tragedy isn't fully spelled out, but is piercingly portrayed.

They really do. In canon, I suspect its because they each meet Denner on very different points of his personal journey. But of course, there is also a matter of perspective and philosophy. Daneera is, as we've explored, very very , and Denner is sort of ultra-. Gale is also , though admittedly in a very different way. But I think it still leads to a sort of kinship between Gale and Denner that he and Daneera will just never have. But hey, this is an AU, and Denner's only expelled. As Jackie once said, "there’s nothing happens above ground can’t be mended."

Of course, there's also no reason, with something so off-canon like this, that these stories even need to be considered connected, so Denner could just as easily show up in the next story.


I really feel for Veluca in that story, and her life in general. Her past does not excuse her actions, but the portrayal of her in "Seeker's Point" does seem to illustrate that many of her actions are beyond her control. And, even ignoring her past, there is something pretty tragic in that. And the fact that she found somebody who was both willing, and perhaps capable, of helping her, only for it to end as it did, is pretty heartbreaking.

As always, Brentain, thanks for reading!

“Well?”

Aloise Hartley smiled for anyone who might be watching, and tried not to feel silly about the fact that she was talking to a bush.

“Not yet,” she said, and waived at Lumina across the parking lot, who waved back.

Next to Aloise, the juniper bush rustled, and a muffled swear was audible. Aloise blushed.

“How about now?” the bush asked.

Aloise glanced around the parking lot.

“Not yet,” she said again, smiling.

“Why are you doing that?” said the voice from the bush.

“Doing what?” Aloise said, still smiling.

“Smiling,” the bush said. “Why are you smiling?”

“You told me to act natural,” Aloise said, not looking down at the bush. “Smiling is natural. If I stand here looking all frowny, people are going to wonder why.”

The bush rustled again, and more muffled curses emanated forth.

“Are you okay?” Aloise said.

“Yeah,” said the bush, followed by more rustling sounds. “Something’s just poking me in the back.”

“You can come out, you know?” Aloise said.

“No,” the bush said.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Aloise said.

“On that, we agree to disagree,” the bush said.

“I’ve been on mathletes since the sixth grade,” Aloise said.

“Thank you for proving my point,” the bush said.

Aloise sighed, and adjusted her bookbag. From across the parking lot, Daneera caught sight of her, and waved. Aloise smiled and waved back.

“Don’t do that,” the bush said. “Why are you doing that?”

“Doing what?” Aloise said.

“Waving,” the bush said. “Why are you waving?”

Aloise shrugged.

“Daneera waved at me,” she said. “I had to wave back. It would be rude not to.”

“Don’t,” the bush said. “What if she comes over here?”

“She would probably notice you,” Aloise said. “Which would hardly be the end of the world.”

“Don’t bet on that.”

Daneera glanced at the parking lot, where the mathletes bus was filling up. Then she glanced down at her watch, which showed five minutes to four, and frowned.

“If you don’t come out of there,” she said to the bush, “we’re going to miss the bus.”

“Oh, no,” the bush said, sarcastically. “I would certainly hate that.”

“We had a deal,” Aloise said, restoring her cheerful smile. “I tutor you in reading, and you join the mathletes.”

“You don’t need me,” the bush said.

“Yes we do,” Aloise said. “It’s regionals, and we’re competing against Furopolis Tech.”

“You can take those nerds without me,” the bush said.

“You’re better at fractions than anyone else on the team,” Aloise said.

“I guess I did always have a head for figures,” the bush said.

“Then you’re coming with us,” Aloise said.

“That remains to be seen,” the bush said. “How about now?”

Aloise darted her eyes across the parking lot.

“Coast’s almost clear,” she said.

“‘Almost?’” the bush said. “What in the Seven Hells does ‘almost’ mean?”

“It means everybody’s gone,” Aloise said. “Except Syl and Chardis.”

The bush swore.

“On a list of the ten people I most do not want to see me in a mathletes uniform,” the bush said, “Syl and Chardis would occupy all ten spots.”

“They’re not even paying attention,” Aloise said, glancing furtively across at the twin seniors, who were leaning against the hood of Chardis’s car. “They’re whispering about something.”

“That’s even worse,” the bush said. “They could be talking about us.”

“You’re blowing this all out of proportion,” Aloise said.

“I can stay in here all night,” the bush said.

“With something poking you in the back?” Aloise said.

“I’ve had worse,” the bush said. “I’ll manage.”

A strange rumbling noise came from inside the bush. Aloise wrinkled her forehead.

“Are you sure you’re okay in there?” she said.

“That was my stomach,” the bush said. “I skipped lunch.”

“I guess it was meatloaf day in the cafeteria,” Aloise said.

“I don’t know what’s in that loaf,” the bush said, “but I know it’s not meat.”

“Do you want a sandwich?” Aloise said. “I have extra.”

“Are you crazy?” the bush said. “What will Syl and Chardis think if they see you feeding a sandwich to a bush?”

“They’ll think I’ve been spending too much time with Daneera,” Aloise said.

The bush was silent for a moment.

“Good point,” the bush said.

“Do you want the sandwich or not?” Aloise said.

“What kind?” the bush said.

“Peanut butter and jellybean,” Aloise said.

“On the bus,” the bush said. “I’ll take it on the bus.”

As if on cue, the bus’s taillights flashed, and its horn honked. Aloise glanced anxiously down at her watch. Four o’clock.

“No time,” Aloise said. “You’re going to have to chance it.”

“Nope,” said the bush. “Deal’s off. Have fun at regionals.”

Just then, the door to the gymnasium burst open, and Antine came flying out. Flames were billowing from his tail, which smoldered and smoked, and he ran in frantic circles, trying to bat the fire out. A few seconds later, Raef came charging out after the flaming fox, holding fire extinguishers in both hands.

“Oh, no!” Aloise said.

“Oh, what?” the bush said.

“Tryst talked Beryl into trying out for wrestling,” Aloise said, “and I get the sense it’s not going so well.”

“On the contrary,” the bush said. “I think it’s going great. Look.”

A hand extended out from the bush and pointed across the parking lot, at where Syl and Chardis now stood. The twins were doubled-over with laughter, as the angel doused the whimpering fox with great gouts of foam.

“Now’s our chance,” the bush said. “Go, go, go!”

With a surprisingly-quick first step for someone who’d been crouching in a juniper bush for the better part of an hour, Jackie DeCoeur sprang to her feet and took off for the mathletes bus at a dead tear. It was all Aloise could do to keep up with the older girl, her bookbag bouncing across her back as she ran, her sides quickly sore with the effort. But hardly a minute later the two of them had piled onto the waiting bus, and, before Aloise was even in her seat, Professor Elphimas had shut the door and dropped the diesel into gear.

Jackie dropped down into the seat next to Aloise, who noticed that the fourth-year senior was still wearing her leather jacket, with the zipper zipped all the way up.

“You promised,” Aloise said, making a face.

Jackie DeCoeur sighed, and pulled the zipper partway down, revealing a red jersey shirt underneath. The words “M:EM HIGH” were fully visible. The word “MATHLETE” was still half-obscured.

“That doesn’t count,” Aloise said.

“I’m meeting you halfway,” Jackie DeCoeur said.

Aloise Hartley opened her backpack, and took out a peanut butter and jellybean sandwich with the crusts cut off. She unwrapped the wax paper and handed half of the sandwich to Jackie DeCoeur, while keeping the other half for herself.

“Fair’s fair,” Aloise said, taking a bite out of the sandwich.

“Fair’s fair,” Jackie said, doing the same.

“If ‘a’ over thirty-two is equal to ‘b’ over eight,” Aloise said, “and ‘c’ is the cube root of ‘b,’ then what is—”

“If we’re going to do fractions,” Jackie said, her words muffled by peanut butter, “then I’m going to need half of your milk.”