Not intentionally. She was telling me about it, that she was going to get coffee with them today because she met them at That Place and they seemed interesting? But—and I don’t know how it works for you, Chuck—sometimes when someone is lying or being cagey about something, you don’t need to actively read their thoughts to know.

chuckxavier

Okay, yeah, I know what you mean. Hence the no details.

thatsahumanperson

Right. If I had been listening I’d at least know what this person’s deal is.

lokilover

unless your sister also doesn’t know. she’s taking on a pretty big risk meeting someone from That Place.

thatsahumanperson

She’s spent four weeks there now, I don’t think getting coffee with someone is going to put her in danger.

franklinsteinsmonster

I’m still pretty new to the whole … having a superpower thing, but y’all are the only other people like me I know. I don’t know what That Place even is, but given that I live in bumfuck nowhere, I doubt that there’s one near me. god, I can’t wait to go to college.

tacotacotaco

Are you going in the fall?

franklinsteinsmonster

lol I WISH. I’ve still got another year and a half:(

theneonthorn

I’ve known a lot of Unusuals in my time, even though I’ve never found someone else with my specific ability. those communities have been really helpful at times but, in my experience, the more Unusuals thrown together, the more room for chaos and destruction.

franklinsteinsmonster

is that common? having an ability no one else has?

theneonthorn

not really.

onmyown

n/theneonthorn Holy shit dude, where have you been?? You haven’t posted in here in like, three months, I thought you’d died.

theneonthorn

aw, come on, I’d never abandon my beautiful creation. I just took some unexpected breaks from normal life.

onmyown

I gotcha. Everything good in your world?

theneonthorn

not exactly. it almost never is. but, funnily enough, I actually have a coffee date myself, so things are looking up.

JANUARY 15TH, 2017

My sneaking suspicion that everything at the AM wasn’t on the up-and-up has only grown since being there, so I probably should have been more hesitant to spend solo time with someone I met there, but I guess all my instincts were right: Damien had a lot to say about the AM and none of it was good.

“You were there for two months?” I asked, holding my coffee cup close to my face so the steam would warm my icy nose. After we’d gotten our coffee, Damien insisted on going to a park so we could “talk freely.” I thought that was really weird at the time but by the end of the conversation, I understood why he was insistent about it.

Things are a lot worse than I thought.