///Distances\\\(Derick)

[Grace Heart]

Grace sat on the sand, quiet, watching the water with a sour face. She already hated her first day. As soon as she'd gotten up that morning, she'd tripped, burned herself while straightening her hair, and was so scared of going to class that she'd skipped straight away.

The little girl was wearing a nice pair of jeans with a rose sewn into the leg, giving the appearance that it was climbing her leg like a vine. Over that she wore a huge Ultramarine blue pullover hoodie with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on it. Nestled in the pocket of her hoodie was her little rat. He was chewing on a few sunflower seeds. Under the jacket, Gracie had on a nice purple shirt, tight at the top and flowing over her stomach. Her cousin Lola had recommended she wear it. Grace's long red curls were pinned back on the sides, flowing down her back. She looked out at the water again, beginning to sing to herself. She hummed the first few notes then began to sing. Her voice was light and sweet, with a airy sound to it, at least with this particular song. She was only into the first verse when the rat suddenly darted out of her pocket. In a leap, she chased after him, catching him in the sand by covering him with her hands. "Gotcha, ya little escape artist!" She told the rat. She frozed when she noticed the pair of shoes in front of her.

Slowly, very slowly, the young girls eyes traveled up to the boy that the shoes belonged to.

[Derick Lyes]

Derick walked sliently on the lake shore. He had stayed up all night with Katt, who he was still sindecided on where their actual relationship stood at the moment. His dreams were getting worse and worse. Was it some kind of warning? He wasn't telekinetic nor a Precog. So how could all of this be hapening to him, just him, and no one else that he knew cared about him?

He sighed at the thought as he dug his hands into his ripped up, dark blue faded skater jeans. They were kinda tight on him, but not skinny pants tight, he hated those. He had a 30 Seconds To Mars hoodie sizzped up over his Devil Wears Prada T-shirt that he got at a concert last year. He walked quietly as he started to hear the sound of a girl's voice, singing lightly in the air. Soon teh voice had come close and he found the owner laying by his feet, a tiny rat in her hands.

"You alright?"

He chuckled as he squated down gently, holding out a hand for her to grab so he could help her up. He smiled as he waited. She was deinfatly new, someone he hadn't met before.

[Grace Heart]

Gracie looked at him quietly. This was her first interaction with anyone at the school besides her cousin, and the poor little girl was scared out of her mind that she couldn't make any friends. With her stomach twisting in nervous knots, she let her small pale hand reach up to his and let him pull her up. Her pet rat raced up her arm and settled on her shoulder, watching everything, his pink nose twitching as she dusted her jeans off, then clapped her hands to get sand off of them. "I'm Gracie." She told him quietly, her voice still light and airy. It always happened when she was scared or nervous. Her voice would kind of quit on her, leaving her sounding like she was sick or just couldn't speak. "I'm new here.." Her eyes were focused on her pink and white sneakers. She realized then exactly how small she was compared to so many of the people here. She kicked at some of the sand, hearing it make a quiet rustling sound as it raised, then fell to the ground again.

The rat squeaked then and scurried back into her pocket, grabbing a sunflower seed and scurrying back up to sit on her shoulder, chewing on the sunflower seed. "This is my pet rat, Vicious. He's sweeter than you'd expect."

[Derick Lyes]

Derick chuckled lightly. She was really shy around him, well most people were. That was another thing beside his leadership antics, he had a way of making everyone shy.Even people he had know for years, like Katt. He always just had some presence about him that made them just fall quite. He kinda hated it frankly. He watched a she kicked the ground, a lightly breeze of dust fallin up in the air. He coughed slightly and smiled, kinda waving his hand to remove the sandy dust.

"Well I'm Derick"

He smiled kindly as he spoke. He was very friendly with everyone he met, even if they didn't become friends, he tried to still be nice to everyone. He just couldn't see himself going off, unless someone pressed something on him about his family, then he was probably likely to shoot you up in twenty foot flames.

"Nice to meet you as well Vicious."

His hand reached out as he softly petted the rat. letting it know that he ment no harm to him or his owner. He smiled polietly as he withdrew his hand, tucking it back in his jean pocket.

"What are you doing out here if I may ask?"

[Grace Heart]

The rat climbed around onto the back of her neck, sitting on her other shoulder. "He doesn't like to be disturbed when he's eating." She said. Her head snapped up when he asked what she was doing. "Skipping my first day of class here." She said, even more quietly. "I'm afraid I won't fit in. I don't wanna be somewhere that I'm not wanted." She mumbled, her eyes downcast again, her cheeks red in embarassment. Why? Because she couldn't lie. She couldn't say she had a free period for her first class, because she couldn't lie. She'd always been taught that lying wasn't acceptable.

"I just...need some more time to prepare." The skinny little girl sat down so fast that it looked like she'd fallen for a moment. She pulled her knees to her chest, her tiny hands clasping around them to hold them tight to her. Her oversized hoodie hung off of her, giving her an even more childish look. The rat finished his sunflower seed and just sat there, watching the water and the sand. Grace felt alone and scared, starting all of these new things all at once.

[Derick Lyes]

Derick watched as she sat down. It appeared she fell, and he almost reache dout for her, but stopped seeing that she was ok. He listened to her as she explained herself. Her story made sense, he was the same way the first day he came there. He thought he wasn't going to ever see some of his friends again during the change, but they apparently were different like him and moved to the school as well. He sat down gently beside her as he smiled.

"I understand and I wont rat you out, I was the same way"

His voice was calm and soothing as he looked out onto the lake,the waves gently crashing slightly by the shore. It was so peaceful out here, making it the perfect place for the young girl to think. He watched as the rat ate softly, hearing his slight chuckling as he bit into his food. Derick sighed softly as he relaxed.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

He knew the girls situation very well. Changes were not something to be taken lightly at. He wanted to help her so she wouldn't end up running off like some of the other kids. Those who did run tended to get hurt.

[Grace Heart]

"Unless you have a way to get rid of all these knots in my stomach, I don't think there is anything you can do." She looked at a tiny rock, glared at it for a second, then watched it rise. It wiggled in the air, then shot off past her head, bouncing in the sand. "Sorry, lotsa power, little control." She told him. "I'm a telek-Telekina-" The little girl stumbled over the word. She stopped and pronounced it slowly. "I'm a Tele-Kin-Net-Ic." She said, the word finally coming out right.

"What's your power?" She asked him, pulling her rat off her shoulder and holding him in her right hand, petting him softly with her left. The rat clicked at her, nibbling on her pinky finger, happily letting her know that he was settling in quite well in this new environement. She silently wished she could be like the rat, be so happy in such a new place. But no, she was scared out of her mind. She didn't know who she was supposed to talk to and couldn't even be her normal, hyperactive, 'out there' self. She didn't even know if her sexuality was accepted. What if it wasn't? Could she really stay somewhere that she wasn't fully accepted?

[Derick Lyes]

Derick watched as the rock floated up in the air, then past her head, hearing the slight 'thud' as it fell in the sand behind them. He turned to look at it, then went back to her. He waited patiently for her to spit out her words. Telekinetic...he knew pleantly of others like her, they kinda made up the majority of the school, or so it seemed to him.

"I'm a Pyrokinetic"

He didn't stutter nervously on his words. He simply held out a hand and snapped his thumb and index finger together as a flame appeared, shooting up from the tips that were pressed together. It kinda resembled that of a lighter. He grinned as he made it increase and decrease in size, bending it into curves and other forms. He finally snuffed it out, the focused on the shore, where a dry piece of a tree layed lifeless on the ground. He closed his eyes for a split second before hearing the roaring flames crackle on the wood. He opened his eyes as he looked at the now flaming trunk. He grinned again as he looked back at her.

"Ta-da!"

[Grace Heart]

She watched, both in fear and awe. "That's so cool, that thing you did with your fingers. Do it again. Please." She asked politely. Gracie had no form of powers with fire, but she loved to just sit and watch fires burning. She heard that it went back to primitive days, when the cavemen began to think while sitting around a fire. Gracie loved to see and try new things, and sitting there watching somebody materialize fire from their fingers was definitely new.

The rat fled from the fire, hiding in her pocket. "Aw, honey bear, don't be afraid." She told the rat, pulling him out and petting him, soothing him like a little child, something she always did for her little siblings. She wondered if it was obvious that she spent a lot of time taking care of children, or that she was a vegetarian. What did people see when they first looked at her? What could she do to make them see who she really was? What was obvious about her? What wasn't? She tried to make herself stop thinking and instead pulled the pet close to her. Either the little girl was tiny, or the rat was huge, because it took both of her hands to hold him still. "Hush Vicious, no one will hurt you." She told him, still petting him. Finally he calmed down and Gracie looked up. "I apologize. I didn't know he'd react to fire like that..."

[Derick Lyes]

Derick watched as her little pet freaked out, scurrying back and forth.

"It's ok, it's definatly not the first time something like that has happened!"

He chuckled gently as the rat finally settled down. He started to tricks for the girl. He first started with is usual finger routine. He lit a small ember on each one of his fingertips. they soon sparked, travling down each of his fingers. He held them there for a moment, his fingers ablaze as he grinned at her. He then concentrated, making the flames roll up into a ball into the center of his palm. He then stood up in front of her as he smiled.

"I'm sorry, I just have really good control and power."

He chuckled once again as he stated to juggle the one ball of fire. In mid-air the single ball split into two. He juggled those for another moment or two before on of them split again, making them into three seperate balls. He juggled them infront of her for a few minutes, then held his palm out as they each fell back into one single flame. He then made a fist and held it to his moth. With one powerful breath of air he blew into his fist, causing a fireball to burst out like at the circus.

"Ta-Da!"

[Grace Heart]

Grace laughed, then clapped softly, her little hands barely making a clapping noise at all. She pushed her hair out of her face. "I can't control my powers very well yet. Do you think I'll learn to control them better if I'm here?" She asked him, now focusing her attention on trying to show off with her power. She looked at a rock, lifted it slowly with her mind, and tried to make it skip across the water. Instead, it sped straight up and hit her forehead. "Oww..." She groaned, rubbing her forehead where a red spot was now forming. "Why does that always happen to me?"

She shook her head as though to clear it a little bit, but her head still hurt. "Well, now I have an excuse to skip. Migraines." Gracie told him, looking up at him. After another minute of swaying slightly, she let her body lay back on the sand, looking up at the clouds. "Hm. The clouds look different here than they do back home. Or maybe everything just looks different here. Was everything different for you? Were you scared when you got here? Did you make friends fast or did it take awhile?" She asked him, rubbing the red spot on her forehead, just below her hairline. Her red hair was contrasting against her pale skin and the white sand, looking vibrant and bright

.[/center]

[Derick Lyes]

Derick nodded slightly to her question.

"You should it's just going to take time"

He reassured her as he saw the rock fly up. It then kinda went out to the lake but shot back and hit her square in the middle of the forehead. He dropped down beside her as he placed a hand on her back, checking her eyes to make sure she wasn't having an episode of some sorts. He heard her talk and he sighed in relief. He helped lay her down in the sand as he sat beside her.

"You need to build up on you're control. It will take time, but when you learn it will all be good."

He chuckled gently as the rat ran up her shirt and to her face, licking her gently as it tried to make sure she was ok. He knew how it was to have little control over his powers. When he was little he sat his whole elementary school on fire because two little kids were picking on him. Then again, he had a really bad temper like his father back then. Father...he shoved the thought out of his mind as he looked back at the girl

[Grace Heart]

Gracie looked at the offending rock, sending it a glare. "Control? The rock just attacked me!" She told him, flicking the rock with her fingers. For a few minutes Gracie said nothing, simply thinking. Thinking about this new world she was in, with new people, new ideas, new things to see and do. She thought about everything she had to do, and remembered that she still needed to make an episode for her webshow, explaining to her fans why she hadn't been making shows lately. But was she allowed to talk about this place? No, she figured it was safe to just say she'd be sent to a special school for children with special needs. Who cared if they thought she was mentally unstable? She didn't.

She thought about her old friends from her home. Natasha and Natalie (the twins), George, her parents, her sisters and brother, her cousins. That brought another thought to mind. Would Lola be angry at Gracie for skipping? She hoped not. It would not do well to have an electro mad at her. Lola might fry Gracie's laptop, or bust her camera up. That would definitely hurt. "Hey, Derick, do you know Lola? She's my older cousin."

[Derick Lyes]

Derick sat quietly with her. he watched as puzzling looks came over her face and he wondered what she was thinking. He thought to himself for a moment, taking the time to try and relax himself rather than her. He thought about what happened in the pool hall the other night, the fights that Tyler, Katt, and Steven were getting into. How was he going to be pulled into all of this? He hoped Katt wouldn't spill to Tyler about anything...he prayed actually.

He heard her speak, snapping out of his state. "Yeah we hang out a lot! Why?" he asked as he looked over at him. Lola was a close friend to him, one of his best gal friend's besides Renee and Katt. He chuckled remembering the times they all hung out at the lake and partied with all their friends. He loved his memories from the school, each one left a different impression on him that made him the man he is today. He only had one more year left though after this one, and he wanted to make his own impression of sorts. He didn't know what it would be yet, but he hoped it would be soon.

[Grace Heart]

"Lola is my older cousin. She was here before me, and when I got here, they put in a room with her!" Gracie said excitedly. Great, so he knew her cousin too. That meant she had two friends now. She wondered how many people in this school knew her cousin. Would she get along with them? Gracie's stomach twisted into knots again. "Ugh, I hate new schools!" She exclaimed quietly, wanting to scream and tear her hair out. She picked up a handful of sand, blowing on it. It flew from her hand, spun in a spiral, and picked up in the wind, flying around before falling to the ground again, scattering everywhere. Then the tiny girl picked up another handful, repeating the action. But this time, the sand hovered in the air. Her eyes were squinted in concentration. And then, whoosh, the wind took the sand again.

"Yea, no control." She said, sighing. "Lola said there's alotta nice people here. But I haven't really met anyone, so I dunno. I'm kinda shy. Obviously. And I stutter when I meet people. And there's things about me that are...different. Things that some people don't accept."