Planning

As Aaron made his way across campus, he noticed people being a bit more brooding than usual. He smiled and nodded at some people and they just looked forward and as though they had a permanent scowl on their faces. When he sat down with Miche and Campbell to go over the planning session, he couldn’t help but relate his experience.

“And everyone seemed so pissy!” he exclaimed at the end of his story.

“Maybe you’re just thinking too much into this.” Campbell responded.

“Yeah. The weather isn’t perfect today.” Miche added.

“But how can that many people be having such a bad day?” Aaron wondered.

“Babe, are you just upset that people aren’t acknowledging you today?” Campbell squinted at him.

“…No…” Aaron responded, turning to look out the window.

“So, your need for affirmation and acknowledgement aside…” Miche began, eliciting a scowl from Aaron, “I see it’s affected you, too… Anyway, aside from that, how are we going to focus on keeping you alive?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been good at it so far!” Aaron smiled.

“Right. But apparently we have forces that can appear and disappear and move faster than you can see. I don’t think things are going to be easy.” Miche replied.

“Yeah. And we don’t know exactly who we’re dealing with,” Campbell nodded.

“I was too surprised to pick up the other guy’s thoughts.” Aaron shook his head.

“So that leaves us with…” Miche started.

“Absolutely nothing,” Aaron smiled.

“Your life is in danger. How can you smile about that?” Miche asked.

“It’s his automatic response. He’s a nervous smiler, too. It’s pretty funny.” Campbell poked Aaron.

“It keeps people disarmed. It’s part of my natural charm,” Aaron beamed.

“Well, looks like there isn’t much we can do.” Miche shrugged.

“Yep. Just got to wait it out. Hope we get lucky,” Aaron replied.

“We’ll do the best we can. It’s good you’re here Miche.” Campbell smiled to her.

“Yeah. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if you hadn’t shown up yesterday.” Aaron nodded and smiled as well.

“Thanks,” Miche said. “I really appreciate that.”

Aaron picked up some stray thoughts in Miche’s head. He didn’t understand them, but they brought a tear to his eyes.

“Miche, where are you from?” he asked, wiping the tear away.

“Everywhere. Not here. I was born in another country. We were always moving, not exactly sure why, to be honest. My parents weren’t in the military or anything. We were just always on the go. I never got the chance to really connect with anyone until I moved away. Now I live in town and I’m slowly getting to know people. Most of the time, I’m just around my boyfriend, Reeve.”

“Now you can be around us! Do you like anime?” Aaron leaned toward her.

“Y-yes?” She leaned back in response.

“Sweet action!” Aaron threw his fists up in the air.

“Does that mean I’m off the hook now?” Campbell smiled.

Over the next couple of days, Aaron could feel the atmosphere on campus growing more and more tense. He had unfortunately picked some of it up himself, but he tried to shake it. Campbell was able to walk with him on one of his errands, and as they made their way across campus, Aaron could feel anger emanating from one spot.

“The hell is going on?” He said in a more agitated tone than he’d like.

“I’m not really sure,” Campbell focused on the surroundings.

“Hm… Whatever it is, I’m--- Oh, nice jacket!” He pointed to a woman standing in the distance. Her hair was a brilliant red that seemed to flicker in the sunlight. The woman turned around, noticing his voice. He smiled and waved.

She sent a red ball of energy his way.

“What?!” He sped out the way, dragging Campbell with him. As soon as he stopped, he came dangerously close to another ball of energy.

“Sorry I gotta do this! You look really cute today, though! It’s like you knew I was coming!” She shouted, a mix of joy and fury in her voice.

Aaron shot a wave of telepathy at her. It rebounded in visible red energy.

“Are you serious?!”

“That won’t work!” She taunted him.

“Maybe this will!” He dashed toward her and pushed her against a nearby tree with his telekinesis. She hit it with a thud, but kept smiling.

“Hm.” She said as she wrapped her arms around the tree. “Nope.” She effortlessly ripped it from the ground.

“The name’s Rouge. Batter up!” she yelled as she swung the tree in Aaron’s direction.