Hollow Mills Academy.

The sky was gray. A dark, dark gray. But dry, no rain.

Maybe it was the atmosphere that created the illusion of the color. Maybe someone altered the weather to their mood, if there was anyone at the school strong enough for that. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Either way, the sky matched exactly how everyone was feeling.

Bleak, depressed, shocked, confused and for some, no feeling at all. A powerful Empathizer would have a calm day at a time like this, when everyone was feeling close to the same things. They would be able to tell that only a few people weren’t worried, were calm and collected. But they’d also feel a stirring in the midst of it, an unnatural change.

Her name was Darcy Bilger. She stood surrounded in a corner by males. She was speaking quietly, locking eyes with each of them in turn. “Everything will be just fine. You don’t have to worry, there’s nothing to worry about.” She said this because although she could compel anyone else, she couldn’t force herself to calm down. She figured if she was surrounded by calm people, she wouldn’t lose control.

Darcy, along with everyone else in the school had just received word about the matching that morning. Instead of going straight to her dorm to find her letter from the school, stating who her partner was, she hung out front with her guys, the ones who were happy to make her feel better any way they could.

One of them was Matthew Pearson, one of her best friends, one of the people she didn’t have to compel to get her way. He lay next to her on the table, his body fading in and out as he practiced his invisibility. He was listening to her sure voice as he himself tried to calm down. He knew what she was doing and sometimes wished she would compel him too. But they both knew he didn’t really want that. He liked being special to her, he would do anything for her. He was nearly one-hundred percent sure that he was in love with her, but it was tough being in love with someone like Darcy. People called her a Siren as she enjoyed messing around with boys’ feelings and loved getting her way. She was one of the most powerful people in the hellhole they lived in, and she knew it, too.

His best friend, Nathaniel Sharp had tried before to convince him that he didn’t really feel that way about Darcy, that it was all her compelling. Nate had a way with words, but Matt was stubborn.

Nate himself he was on his way to his dorm when he ran into her. Her name was Jaiden Elizabeth, and she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and the one he couldn’t have. She stood at five foot ten, only two inches shorter than him. She had long, bright blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She was exactly his type, but there was a reason they called her the Ice Queen.

“Watch where you’re going,” She hissed and attempted to walk around him, but he was fast and moved in front of her.

“Someone looks like they’re not having too good of a day.” He teased as he held her arm. He had to work not to hold on too tight as he still didn’t always know exactly what he was capable of.

“Get out of my way. I’m not in the mood for your games today, Carp.”

He laughed. “That’s a fish; you do know that, right?”

She smirked up at him. “Slimy and disgusting, just like you.”

“Ooh, feisty. You know, it wouldn’t hurt to actually be nice to me every once in a while. I mean, you can’t be this rude to everyone.” He let go of her arm and leaned against the wall.

She paused and looked up, like she was thinking. She finally spoke, “No, it’s just you.” Then she stepped around him and walked away briskly.

What’ve I got to lose? Nathaniel thought as he wolf-whistled in her direction. She threw him the bird as she turned the corner, and he chuckled and started walking to his dorm.

He saw a few people heading to their own rooms. “Hey, Superman.” People greeted him. It was a nickname he had been given since his powers were revealed, and it was literally what he was. He had magnified senses. He could feel, hear, see, taste, and smell better than the average human. He was also stronger, and all of that together made him the head of the school. He was a chill guy to most, and was definitely a leader. Everyone respected him.

Then there was Jaiden. As she walked back to the dorm, all she got were nods or timid smiles from people she didn’t know the names of. She was respected because she came from a respected, rich family, she was smart, and she was gorgeous. But few people actually knew her, actually liked her, even. People thought she was stuck up and thought she was better than everyone else, which wasn’t true at all. But still, she had created the mess. It was her own fault that people thought that of her.

She pretended not to care, but she did.

Who doesn’t?

+++

Maxim Hollinger was playing video games when his letter arrived. He sighed as he pressed the ‘pause’ button and excused himself. His friends began talking as they knew what was going on. This was why they were all at Maxim’s dorm, so they wouldn’t have to deal with their letters so soon.

Maxim pulled the gold envelope out of the mail slot. He sighed as he began opening it up. He felt it hesitate to open and knew there was a protective seal on it, only he could open it. He sighed again, hating when mail was like this. He closed his eyes, because it was easier that way, and felt around the room with his mind, the brightest source of energy closest to him came from the lamp across the hall. It flickered as he drew energy from it, and was only then able to open the seal. Time to face the music, Maxim thought as he took out the thick, folder piece of paper and opened it up. Inside there was a name in capitalized letters and he nearly fainted at the sight of it.

DARCY BILGER.

No. This couldn’t be happening. Not to him, not her. Maxim had problems with girls. He was good looking and smart and athletic but just couldn’t get girls right. They liked him but he wasn’t too sure he liked them. He had second thoughts about his sexuality many times before but figured it was just because the right girl hadn’t come along yet. Now he was stuck with Darcy.

Protectors were paired with the person most likely to help carry on the gene, to create a stronger generation. The thought of him and Darcy… like that? No, it could never happen. They were too different and he didn’t like girls like her. Not at all.

But as much as he denied it, he knew it was happening. He couldn’t change it now.

+++

“Mmm, I love coffee. Don’t you?” Penelope Sea murmured as she placed her cup against her lips.

“I like it, but I’m not in love with it as you seemed to be.” Her best friend, scruffy Ryan Wright laughed as he scribbled another line down in his notebook.

The pair was sitting at the school’s café. It was a warm, cozy place with the library and school store attached to it. They were the calm of the storm, just deciding to shut out the real world while they could and do things as they came to it. Penelope watched Ryan write in his notebook, like always. Poems, lyrics, and stories. He was a very good writer; he had a way with words. He even had the look. He was a good-looking boy but his hair was always a mess and he often forgot to shave. For some reason, Penelope found this aspect of him charming.

Yes, the cliché best friend love story... except for the fact that while Penelope had loved Ryan since they were kids, he’s always had eyes for someone else. Jaiden Elizabeth. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was the most wondrous looking being to walk the planet, but was there really anything else to her? Penelope sure didn’t think so. While Jaiden might look perfect, Penelope had known Ryan for years and had been with him through every awful breakup and fight. The pair used to sneak into each other’s houses and watch black and white movies on mute, making up their own dialogue. She was in love with him, and there was no doubt in her mind that she always would be.

But of course that wasn’t enough for him. No, he wanted the cold-hearted stranger. He said that the two of them had something in common. Something about their powers. Ryan had always had problems with his portal creating, and though he never told Penelope what Jaiden’s power was, she knew that Jaiden had problems with hers, too. Jaiden’s abilities had been a secret forever. As far as Penelope knew, Ryan was the only one who knew it and wasn’t about to let it spill. He had been wandering the halls of the school after staying after with his English teacher and overheard Jaiden arguing with seven trainers about her problem and her lessons. She thought she was a failure, Ryan had told Penelope.

And that was the end of that. Since then there was no more talk of Jaiden Elizabeth, but Penelope caught her best friend sneaking looks at her in the halls.

Penelope never told Ryan, but as she herself had the ability to sense powers, she was picking up a few stray clues on Jaiden’s. Penelope’s power wasn’t very strong, and it never would be, but it was still taking her long to master. She honestly hated it. What good was it, especially if she couldn’t use it right?

Jaiden must be pretty powerful for Ryan to look at her that way.

It must feel great.

+++

“Darcy! Wait up!” Darcy turned at the sound of her best friend’s voice. Violet Jansen was the type of person that was always there when needed. That probably had something to do with the fact that she was a tracker, and a pretty good one at that.

“Hey, Vi. I was just about to go check on my letter. I mean I was trying to avoid it, but it can’t be too bad, can it?”

Violet nodded. “You’re right. I’ll come up with you, I was gonna go check on Jaiden. She’s not taking this too well, you know?”

“Hmm… you’re like her only friend, right?”

Violet shot Darcy a warning look. “Darc, don’t play like that. She’s just going through a rough patch. She used to be super social, you know. At her old school. She told me. Everything was different before we came here…”

Darcy looked up at the sky and watched as a few rain sprinkled fell to the ground around her. “Yeah, and right when we get used to it, this happens.”

Violet sped up a little bit, not really liking the rain. “Yeah. It sucks, I guess. But really, what can we do?”

Darcy snorted. “Absolutely nothing. That what’s so horrible about it. I don’t think I’d have minded to be in the dark for a little bit longer.”

“They need us. That’s why they did it. We’ve been trained to defend for all our lives, but after everything that happened, the kidnapping, the matching, we’ll have to be prepared to fight. And they don’t know how long it will be, which is why we have to know who to be with.”

Darcy let out a hard chuckle. “If they think I’m sticking to whatever loser I know I’ll get in this matching pool, they’ve got another thing coming. I’ll fight, but I am not planning on mating any time soon.”

The girls reached their hallway and said their goodbyes at Violet walked to her dorm, the room she shared with Jaiden.

When she walked in she wasn’t surprised by the sight she saw.

Jaiden was sitting on the couch with a large tub of chocolate ice cream, watching reruns of The Nanny and sniffling. There was a gold envelope on the couch next to her.

“Aw, Hun,” Violet ran over to Jaiden and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her best friend back onto her shoulder. Unknown to… well, everybody, Jaiden was actually a normal person behind closed doors, trying to keep it all in and struggling to survive with what she had. Violet was the only person who understood this, and it was why they kept each other around.

Jaiden reached for the folded paper and handed it to Violet. Violet slowly opened it, not taking her eyes off Jaiden until it was unfolded. In the center of the page was a capitalized name staring back up at her.

NATHANIEL SHARP.

Jaiden’s tears came back as she collapsed back onto Violet. Violet held on tight. Could this get any worse?

Yes, yes it could. And it most certainly would, because at that second Violet remembered about her match, and gently let go of Jaiden before walking to their mail slot. The envelope was so pretty, and it was a shame to have to open it, but sooner was better than later. Violet closed her eyes and pictured the paper inside the envelope, she saw Jaiden’s pretty letter in her mind and the envelope rolled open. She didn’t hesitate, but nearly ripped the note out.

MATTHEW PEARSON.

Oh gosh, no. No, no, no, no, NO. This can’t be happening, Violet repeated over and over in her head. No, one of her best friends was Darcy, and she and Matt had this strange connection, she could never break that. Sure, he was cute, with his dark hair, his perfect tan, that gorgeous smile. He had that way to him that could make you feel young again. Sometimes, Violet thought as him as a little boy. He thought he knew everything, he thought he was on top of the world and nothing could ever hurt him. But he didn’t know what was out there. He wanted nothing to do with the war; he just wanted it to all be over.

Violet was the complete opposite. She trained mainly to help fight and win the war. She practically buried herself in research lately, she was so deep in. How would this work? Were they supposed to stay together, help each other, or what? The school board hadn’t actually made much sense of it. They were supposed to have another assembly tomorrow once they knew their partners.

For the first time in her life, she honestly didn’t know what to do.

+++

Ryan walked Penelope to her door and hugged her before leaving. They both knew that they would have to come back into the world sooner or later. Penelope walked to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of warm milk before walking over to her slot. She lived alone, so the dorm was a bit of a mess.

She had heard all day about the seal on the envelopes, but wasn’t surprised when hers opened without one. She was so behind in her trainings and so weak in her powers that they couldn’t even give her a seal. The thought hurt her. She ripped open the envelope, not really caring about the pretty borders or stamps. She shook the paper into her hand a walked to her room, turning on the TV. Her big, lazy cat, Mouthy, got up and followed her.

On the outside Penelope was nice and happy, not as positive as Violet but still pretty bright. What people didn’t know was the dark thoughts that Penelope had, the ones that sometimes scared even her. Thoughts like this ran through her mind as the opened her envelope, and squealed like a little girl.

RYAN WRIGHT.

Of course her luck turned around! All the years of watching him pine over Jaiden were over! One of her biggest fears was that he would get but together with her, and one of the thoughts Penelope had to cut off was about the things she would do to Jaiden if that happened.

But oh! This changed everything! She would finally be perfect for Ryan now. He was a strong believer in fate and destiny, and this couldn’t be more of it. She could imagine him stomping over to her dorm room and barging through the door –not even bothering to knock –and running over to her, picking her up off her feel, swirling her around, and kissing her. He would say things to her that she would blush over, and she would giggle and kiss him to shut up. And they would be the cutest couple in school, and everyone would look at them and say things like, ‘how perfect are they?’

She could picture it all now. It was like an old romance movie, back when chivalry wasn’t dead and passion was everything. The thought alone made her quiver.

What if he hasn’t opened it yet? Well she wasn’t going to just wait around. She quickly got out her phone and pressed number three, his speed dial. He was just behind her voicemail and mother.

“Hey,” He answered breezily.

“Hi,” She chirped back, not really caring if she sounded over excited. “Have you opened your envelope yet?”

“Yeah, I just did. Pretty cool that we got each other. I was worried it was going to tie me down.”

Wait, that’s not how it happened in her mind. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, not many people are taking this thing seriously. It’s not like it’s a love bond or anything. I was hoping the person I got wouldn’t want to be some random chick who wanted something more, you know? I’ve still got my hopes up for some people.”

Wait. What? No, no, no, no. He wasn’t supposed to still like Jaiden, he was supposed to accept that it never happened and move on! No, she wouldn’t allow it! But instead she swallowed her emotions and fought out a steady, “Yeah, I understand what you mean. I feel the same way. I have to go, bye.” She hung up and leaned back on her bed.

Ugh, because that wasn’t obvious enough.

+++

Nate and Matt spent that evening smoking in their room and listening to Darcy whine over the phone about how she got some ‘lame nobody’ as a partner.

“I mean honestly, he’s a total loser. I bet all he does is sit by his television and computer all day and play video games with his lame ass friends.” Nate and Matt looked from each other, to the phone on speaker, to the controller in their hands.

“He’s a cool guy,” Nate spoke up, not wanting to admit that he was one of those lame ass friends playing with Maxim. “I mean you have to get to know him but I’m sure he’ll fit into your little crowd.” Nate teased, taking a drag of his cigarette.

But no, Darcy knew for a fact that Maxim Hollinger would not fit into her crowd. She knew this because when she had first begun forming her ‘group’ she had tried to compel Maxim into getting her a water bottle. He just looked at her weirdly and stormed off. Every time she mastered a new technique in her lessons she would try on him again, mostly from afar, and it still never worked. For some reason he was unable to be compelled. She also knew that Nate was one of his gamer friends, and had lied. Of course the nerd part wasn’t why she was mad. After all, the boys were trying to hide the fact they were playing the newest Call of Duty right now.

Matt was staying quiet because though he was pleased that Darcy didn’t like her match and had no intentions with him, he was still her match and that made Matthew jealous. He had opened his envelope earlier with Nate, and while Nate couldn’t be happier, Matt was hiding who he got from Darcy.

Of course it had to be her best friend, Violet. The know-it-all pain in the ass. What would Darcy say when she found out? He knew it would more than likely ruin the little thing they had.

But Nate was celebrating. He got Jaiden. He knew this thing was serious, but he wasn’t going to take it that way. Even if it hadn’t been Jaiden he wasn’t planning on really doing anything with the partners, but with her he wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She was probably punching a wall or something equally insane. He was a bit afraid to face her wrath.

But everyone has to face their fears sometime.