A loose line of teens meandered up the hill, to a set of concrete stairs that led to the outside entrance of the lounge on the cliff. Adam and Thalia walked side-by-side, leading their little ragtag group of friends that they had met throughout the day. Really, it had all been Thalia’s work. She had the natural charisma of a pack leader. Adam could be fairly witty, it just sometimes took him a bit to build up the confidence to speak.

  He looked over at Thalia as they walked. Her hair looked fiery in the near-setting sunlight. She stepped with a fluid grace like a jungle cat.

  Adam wasn’t sure exactly when he started to feel differently about her. Maybe it was that balmy summer in Zutuana last year, when their families stayed in a safari lodge together while on expedition. Adam and Thalia had little to do except spend the day in each other’s company. Adam would try to get some reading done, and Thalia would find him in the study and pull him out into the blazing savannah. They’d walk along the perimeter of the lodge’s grounds together, Thalia wearing an animal pelt wrapped around herself and Adam sweating through his khakis. She’d play a game where she would disappear into the tall grass without warning. Adam would call for her, but she’d never reveal herself until he entered the grass. That’s when Thalia would stalk him, and suddenly pull him down and press her nails into his chest.

  “If I was a panther, you’d be dead,” she’d tell him. She caught him every single time, and looked down at him grinning with her big incisors. He should have pulled her down one of those times and kissed her. Back when there was no one to judge but the birds in the trees. But he didn’t. He never knew if that was what she wanted.

  “You look stressed,” Thalia said.

  “Huh?” Adam was pulled back to the present, back to their walk to the lounge.

  “Your face was getting all conflicted and twisty and weird.”

  “Oh.”

  He wanted to lock hands with her and tell her how he felt. This walk to the social event felt like the last time they’d be Thalia Wild and Adam Atlas, childhood friends taking on the world. They were about to meet everyone else, and be just two classmates who happened to know each other before school. Adam could feel how complicated things were about to get. It used to be that they both floated at the top of the sea of normalcy, no one else really able to understand their experiences except for each other. Now they were probably two of the more average members of this school. He wanted to say something to at least let her know how much she meant to him.

  “I’m just… nervous about being here I guess,” he said instead.

  Thalia reached out and squeezed his hand, her face sympathetic.

  “I totally get that. I know you think you don’t have much to contribute here. But you belong. You’ll find a great group of people and things will be awesome. I promise.”

  Adam nodded."Thanks, Tals."

  Together they climbed the stairs to the lounge.

  At the top Adam opened the door and held it for Thalia.

  She smirked. “Always the gentleman.”

  She headed inside, and Adam figured he might as well hold it for the others. Mary walked in, then Lucy. Lauren was the last to head in. She briefly made eye contact with Adam as she passed.

  He got a weird feeling from her for some reason. Was his eye tingling? He blinked. There’s no way it was. It must’ve just been something stuck in it. The sensation was already over.

  There were others walking up the stairs, but he wasn’t about to be the doorman all night. He headed in after Lauren.

  He had to admit, the lounge was pretty impressive as far as school venues went. It reminded him of the top of Cascade City’s North Star Tower, in the way it was circular with windows lining the exterior. Around the outer edge were tables and booths, as well as some spots to stand right up against the glass. The far side of the building jutted out over the cliff, with a stunning view of Pacific City on the horizon. Adam already knew he’d be spending a lot of time looking at that view. The center of the lounge was a lowered dance floor, which probably also doubled as floor space during other events. To his right were bathrooms and a long bar stocked with all kinds of colorful bottles on the shelf.

  Apparently the mixer started early. The place was already full of teens dancing to pop music from the speakers, and mingling at the tables and booths, or just standing around. People were ordering drinks from the bartender. Visiting YAP students had loosened their ties and were mixing with the Rosewell students.

  Thalia was right. He just needed to find his own people. He shouldn’t be at her heels all night like a lost puppy. It was time to branch out and make his own friends. The bar seemed as good a place as any to start.

  He wandered over to it and took a stool. Earlier, in his room, he had changed into a simple dark button-up shirt, some slacks, and nice dress shoes. He styled his hair a bit. He wanted to make a good impression. Now, he felt a bit overdressed. Adam realized he didn’t exactly have a great sense of modern teenage fashion. Most of his social events were with wealthy donors and their children.

  The bartender made her way over. She seemed not much older than twenty, but her short hair and androgynously-handsome face made it hard to tell for sure. She wore a black vest over a white collared shirt. A stud piercing on her nostril gleamed in the light.

  “What can I get’cha?” she asked.

  “Ginger beer?”

  She bent down and grabbed a bottle from a fridge, popped the cap, and slid it to Adam. He took a sip. It was frosty and strong, just how he liked it.

  Before she walked away again, he asked the bartender, “So is this just a gig for you, or do you work here?”

  She gave a half-smile. “This is my position now. You tell me a year ago I’m gonna be making drinks for teenage superheroes, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here I am.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Adam nodded. “What’s your name?”

  Someone else came up and ordered a shirley temple. She got to work making it.

  “It’s Maeve.”

  “I’m Adam.”

  “Nice to meet you, Adam.”

  “You as well.”

  Adam took another sip of his drink and looked out over the lounge. His father had taught him to always take time to get to know service workers. Not only was it polite, and it would keep him humble, but the workers were the ones who saw and knew more than anyone else. Getting an in with them was always a good idea. Especially ones you’d see again.

  “It’s fucked up.”

  It took Adam a moment to realize someone was talking to him. It was the guy on the stool next to him, who had previously been hunched over facing away. Now he was facing Adam. He had pockmarked skin, scraggly facial hair, and the hair on his head was jagged and the color of straw. His face was screwed into a grimace. Adam tried not to judge him based on his appearance, but it wasn’t a great start.

  “Sorry? What’s the problem?”

  The guy gestured broadly to the crowd. “The government. They bring us here, and then they send their little drones to get all handsy with us. Their soulless little suits. They want us to breed with them, so they can have a perfect race of powered government superspies. I’m on to them.” He gulped his glass of neon green soda down to the ice, then wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “I’m Nathan.”

  “Adam.”

  “Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes, Adam. I’m part of online groups that track shit. I’m here to expose what they do behind closed doors. I’m an inside man.”

  Adam nodded, humoring the guy. “That’s great. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

  Nathan scoffed and shook his head. “Whatever, man…”

  Clearly the bar wasn’t the hot spot tonight. Now seemed a good time to try that view. Adam got up from the bar and headed over, beer in hand. He passed a few groups of teens chatting, some of which glanced at him as he passed. A YAP girl sitting at a table gave him a blatant once-over as he passed, and seemed to like what she saw. Adam blushed. It was easy for him to forget he was considered handsome. He didn’t spend much time around girls he wasn’t related to, and Thalia. He needed practice to overcome his nerves before he could just walk up to strangers.

  He made it to the window. He realized there was a deck with a railing outside that perched even further out from the cliffside. He thought about getting some fresh air, but no one else was out there right now, and he didn’t want to be that guy who stood on the balcony by himself who everyone thought was trying to look brooding and mysterious. Then again, he didn’t really know what his plan was just standing by the window. The view was nice, at least. The skyscrapers of downtown rose to break up the blazing pink-orange horizon of the fading sky. Lights began to blink on across the city. He had been to Pacific City many times, as the Atlas Foundation had a branch there, but he had never seen it from this angle before.

  “You just gonna stand here by yourself all night?”

  Adam turned to see Thalia walking up to him.

  “I’ll have you know, I’ve been—”

  He stopped himself. Something was off about her voice. She didn’t sound like herself. She didn’t quite look like herself, either. Her skin looked rubbery, almost artificial. Her expression was all wrong. It was like someone was wearing a perfectly-fitted Thalia mask. Except she was wearing the same outfit she had walked in wearing. Something was way off.

  “What’s going on…?”

  “Thalia” shuddered and then began to morph. Her hair became blonde and curly. She shrunk, then filled out into a more curvy and less toned body type. Her skin went from tan to a pinkish hue. Her clothes shifted into a red dress. In just a few seconds, a completely different girl was standing in front of Adam.

  “Wow, you catch on quick!” the girl gushed. “You must know her well.”

  “I’m sorry, who are you?!” Adam asked, bewildered.

  The girl smiled shyly. She was full-faced, what some might ungenerously call plump. Her skin still had an artificial sheen to it. Her blue eyes were matte, as if they were made from the same material as her skin instead of being a separate organ. So were her teeth.

  “I’m Annabelle,” she said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out. I just wanted an icebreaker to come talk to you, and I saw you walk in with that girl.” Annabelle put a hand on the railing in front of the window, and gave a coy look. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “Ah, no,” Adam said. He couldn’t help but notice how her eyes didn’t really seem to focus on anything, or require blinking. Her hair appeared to be all one stiff object, instead of individual strands.

  Annabelle grinned. “That’s cool. I’m single too. You probably noticed my power. I can do more than just look like other people. I can stretch, elongate, flatten… there’s a lot I can do. I got turned into living rubber by a chemical accident. Basically, I’m pretty flexible.”

  “That is, awesome,” Adam said carefully. “I bet that’s super useful.”

  “It is! I also don’t have any internal organs anymore.”

  “Wow. Neat.” Adam hefted his bottle. “I’m gonna go, get a refill?”

  “Oh, really? That looks half full still…”

  Adam was already backing away. “Yeah, I’m really thirsty. This’ll be gone by the time I get back to the bar.”

  “Okay! So, meet back here, or-?”

  “I actually have to meet up with my friends, I’ll see you around though. Maybe later tonight, or in class or something.”

  “Okay!” Annabelle waved. “See you later, then.”

  Adam cringed. He felt bad about abandoning her, but also wildly uncomfortable around her. Maybe he could make it up to her later.

  He wandered half-heartedly back towards the bar.

  “Yo! Adam!”

  He turned to see Troy and Edward sitting in a booth together. Troy was holding a hand up at him. Adam came over, grateful for the in with someone he knew.

  He had met Troy and Edward earlier during move-in. He was glad now more than ever the guys he’d be living with seemed normal. Well, normal enough.

  Troy was leaned back against the wall, his sandaled feet up on the booth. He wore an orange tee and jeans. He had short dreadlocks, medium brown skin, and deep brown eyes. He was fit in a wiry sort of way that suggested he moved a lot.

  Edward, on the other hand, looked like a young movie star. He had killer cheekbones and locks of fine black hair that were tastefully slick and tangled. Even his eye bags made him look like he had more important things to do than sleep. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his black tattoos of ravens, thorns, and sigils which contrasted against his pale skin.

  “How’s the menagerie tonight?” Troy asked as Adam sat. “I bet those girls eat you alive. You and Edward, if he ever talked to anyone besides me.”

  Edward grunted. He rolled his jaw like it was missing a cigarette.

  “This place is gonna be the death of me. And I don’t just mean the girls,” Adam said. “I’m worried about tomorrow. When I say I don’t have powers, I mean it.”

  Troy scratched his chin. “I don’t know man, aren’t your family like billionaires? That’s basically a superpower. You can be the team benefactor. Everyone will protect you then.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think they’ll let me hand out checks during practice. And we’re philanthropists. That means we spend our money mostly on helping people.”

  Troy shrugged. “You’ll figure it out man. I can’t even fight anybody with my powers. I’m like the character in the videogame who has to stand behind the others and heal them the whole match. And you know what those guys get? A bunch of bitching about how they never do their job right.”

  Troy pivoted and scooted out of the booth. “I’ll see you guys back at the pad. I’m jet lagged. It’s time to crash.”

  “Seeya.”

  Edward flashed a peace sign.

  The lights dimmed a few minutes after Troy left, and the music picked up in intensity. A crowd gathered on the dance floor. It wasn’t hard for Adam to spot Thalia. She was in the center of the throng, moving and crashing with the beat. Going wild. Belonging. Surrounded by guys and girls who knew how to move like her, how to keep up with her. She had found her people.

  “You aren’t the outsider.”

  Edward’s voice startled Adam. He had almost forgotten his roommate was still in the booth. He blended in so naturally with the deep shadows, and was so quiet.

  “What?”

  “Just don’t mope. You gotta find your place here. You aren’t the loner of the class.” His voice was smooth and strong beyond his years. Edward moved to leave the booth. “Trust me. I know.”

  In a pulse of darkness between light strobes, he was gone.

  Adam was left feeling alone, confused, and quite tired.