Los Angeles

Nic

Jace shakes his head at me and looks away, half angry and half freaked out still. Rolling my eyes at him, I look at Jackie and Rayah and nod.

"Yeah," I say. "Jae's Hermes too. He's just... what do you call it again?"

"There's not a specific term for it, Nic," he says in a small voice. "Just 'cause I don't like showing off like you do, doesn't mean I've got my own condition."

"Oh! Pacifistic," I remember, ignoring him.

"Pacifistic means to be against violence," he says dryly.

"Yeah, but you're that too," I tell him.

"How about you go back to being oh-so caught up in yourself?" he suggests.

He walks toward the front door to check on the situation while I shrug off his mood.

Jackie

I sigh, Rayah still frowning and looking at the floor, "He doesn't like me, does he?"

I shake my head, "You're f*cking beautiful. Of course he like you."

She shakes her head as well and I look back at Nic, "Sorry. She's...bipolar."

Nic

I study the two before nodding.

"It's fine," I say. "Jae's usually pretty nice. He's just... Bad memory, s'all."

I scratch the back of my neck, check the time, and move to one of the couches instead.

"So, we were talking about powers and all that," I say. "I can do that light thingy, I'm an extremely talented kleptomaniac, can do this strange teleporting thing that results in my full disintegration, and I can also possess people. Sounds gross, but it's pretty fun."

Jackie

I nod, "I told you all I can do. Yours sounds cooler though."

I catch a glint in his eye and look away, "Can...can I talk to you for a second Nic? Alone?"

Nic

Alone? Usually I have to ask that. Does this mean that--

"Sure," I say before I can complete the thought.

I stand when she does and exit the room after her just as Jace returns from outside and takes a seat on the hassock again. My eyes scan over the walls, taking in little details, and then focus on Jackie before I realize how incredibly creepy that could be.

"If I did something wrong and you want me to stop, this conversation is pointless. I don't listen well to others," I say.

Jackie

I study him for a few minutes before pulling him into a kiss.

Mom, I hope you were right, because this feels so wrong...

Nic

She pulls me into a kiss and I kind of wish I'd finished that thought earlier. My eyes close and I instinctively kiss her back. My mind blanks for a moment before being cluttered by confusion. Everything she does puzzles me, I realize. First, she acted as if I'm the scum of the earth--now that I think of it, Jace says similar things...--and then she acted as if we were friends.

And now a kiss?

I'd say what the hell, but I kind of like the confusion. Maybe that's why Jace always takes these challenging things. They're thrilling.

When she pulls back, I clear my throat and try to remain expressionless, despite being torn between foolish giddiness and annoyance that it ended.

"So," I say. "That was for...?"

Jackie

Shit. She was right.

I swallow, "My mom just said I'd meet a guy...who is a son of Hermes and that we would... Yeah."

Nic

I study her, confused yet again.

"That we would what? Kiss?" I ask.

But then it begins to sink in. My eyes widen and I curse myself for even thinking of completing that one thought.

"Oh," I say. "Well... okay then. I'd go for some clarification on this right now, if it's not too much trouble."

Jackie

"Its awkward to say. Like, when we kiss, I'd see flash forwards, and that you'd be the one. It's weird and I doubt it'll workout anyways. My mom and Ray's mom said it though and they both know the future so I don't know..." I look away, arms crossed.

Nic

I think about it, wondering what it must be like to see flash forwards of your own life. Must be confusing. And terrifying, I suppose. What if you see something horrible? Is it just like a bad dream that you get over or does it stick with you like an obsessive thought?

"Wait," I snap out of my thoughts. "What do you mean you doubt it'll work out?"

For some reason, I take that a way I normally wouldn't. Why do I care what she thinks?

Jackie

"Because you're a famous person...and I'm not," I tell him, glancing up at him.

Nic

I hesitate before shrugging, still trying to figure out why it bothers me that she said that so much. Maybe it's her perfectly black hair, or her dazzling green eyes. Or that almost puppy-dog look she gets when she's--

All right, that's enough. I'm going to be sick.

"It doesn't have to be that way," I find myself saying anyway.

Jackie

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

Nic

I shrug again and look around, listening to Jace and Rayah's conversation in the other room for a moment before deciding I should probably answer. My stomach knots at the thought of commitment, the thought of losing all I have; but I realize that life is just one giant game of commitment. You work all your life for something, which is committing to it, only to develop another obsession, whether it be family or another factor of work or alcoholism.

Maybe I want that. Maybe I don't.

"My sap of a brother's always saying that if stuff's supposed to happen, if the Fates wove it into existence at some point, it'll happen," I tell her, cracking a teasing half-smile. "Besides, I'm not that bad."