Young Writers Society

"Ah ha, ha ha..." Izzy faked a laugh as Powder clung to the back of her shirt. He always hated confrontation. "Like I've never heard that one before."

She looked at Sage, covered in such a strange amalgamation of vines and berries, before just shaking her head. "Anyways, I'm not here to fight. We just gotta talk to the Adjudicator, so, if you could," she gestured towards the door.

"Now, is there any other silly thing you're troubling yourself with?" the Adjudicator said as she combed some of Dawn's hair through her fingers.

Dawn's eyes were empty. "No, mother."

"Good," she said. Any compassion in her voice vanished in a flash. Dawn was quite used to that, though. "Dismissed." She waved Dawn away and returned to her place behind the desk. The woman instantly opened the folder and went back to her work, scoring student's performances, though Dawn had no idea what the basis of it even was. She quickly glanced at Evan. Maybe... if she could distract her just a bit longer, Evan could get his hands on it.

She cleared her throat, "Actually, um, there was one more thing."

The Adjudicator rolled her eyes and closed the folder, "And you didn't mention it earlier, because..?"

"Well, um, it's just... I was thinking we could plant some roses in the garden! It would just be nice. I-I'd really like it. A-And since the holidays are coming up, maybe we could put some lights up? Or, if you can't do that for school reasons, let some students put lights up? I'd enjoy that, too."

"There's someone already in there," Avery explained to Izzy, following the speedster's hand toward the office door. "One of our friends. We're waiting for her to finish up. But once she's done, you can go in."
She cast a quick glance at Sage. The botani-kinetic was glaring daggers at Izzy, arms crossed over her chest. Prickly vines unfurled slowly around her torso, waving threateningly in the air. Avery raised her eyebrows at her, trying to get her attention. Sage looked over and the taller girl gave a small nod at Izzy, shaking her head.
Don't go starting a fight.
Sage sighed, seeming to get the message. She lowered her arms, vines receding to her back. Avery gave her a final worried look.
I've never seen her so stand-offish before, she thought. I don't remember much about the fight...it must've been worse than I thought.
Her eyes flicked to Izzy, regarding the speedster warily. If that's the case, this girl may be more dangerous than I originally believed...


Evan stood frozen in the corner, waiting for the Adjudicator to see him, to shout, to attack. But instead she rolled back behind her desk, flicking through that folder from earlier. He almost sighed with relief, but that would've been suspicious. Instead he slid the knife back into his belt, allowing a small, triumphant smile to flit across his face.
The feeling was short-lived, though, as the weight of what he had been about to do sank in. Just a few seconds ago he'd been raising that same knife, ready to wound or kill the person in front of him.
A killer...Was that what he was now? A cold-blooded murderer, ready to end the life of anyone who threatened his?
But I didn't do it, he told himself. I didn't bring down the knife.
...But he'd wanted to, didn't he? After all, with the Adjudicator out of the way, all of this would be so much easier...
He was jerked out of his thoughts by a loud throat-clearing from Dawn. She glanced in his direction before asking another question. He paused.
What is she doing?
It took him a moment to notice that she wasn't looking at the Adjudicator as she spoke. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the large tan folder that sat on the Adjudicator's desk. The gradebook.
She wants me to grab it.
Evan moved swiftly into position, slightly behind and to the left of the Adjudicator. The folder would disappear from sight as soon as he touched it. He just needed to find the right opening.

Izzy's smile brightened. It had been a long since Izzy had such a big and bright grin. "Really? Your friend's in there?" Powder's eyes widened when he realizex what her next question would be. "Their name wouldn't happen to be Evan, would it? Or Evalyn, as I've heard through the grapevine." Powder scratched his neck nervously. It would be impossible to connect him to anything, so long as he kept his glasses on and away from explosives. No one would know. "If so," Izzy continued, smugly, "I'd just love to wait right here." She crossed her arms with confidence and a big smile on her face.

The Adjudicator rolled her eyes. "Dawn, I love you, truly, but is this something you really need to discuss with me?" The Adjudicator pushed the file to her right side, then scooted closer to the desk and placed her elbows on the desk. She wore an exasperated expression on her face. "If you want roses, you can plant them yourself, and... Well, I suppose if enough students want lights in the garden, I'll look at the budget."

Dawn grinned as she saw the file pushed to the side. "Oh, thank you, Moth-"

"Now, dismissed." The Adjudicator pointed towards the door and turned away. "I have an important meeting at this time."

Dawn didn't know what broke her heart more: the red hand on her cheek with a little cut below her eye, starting to trickle blood down her cheek like a tear, or her own mother's refusal to look her in the eye.

She stood up slowly, like a solemn statue, and made her way to the door. "Yes, Mother."

Avery stiffened. The sudden shift in Izzy's tone made her spine prickle. "No, my brother's not in there. It's just Dawn."
She resisted the urge to look back at the door, hoping desperately that Evan wouldn't become visible as soon as he exited the office. The last thing they needed was conflict, especially at the Adjudicator's doorstep.


Evan saw his opportunity as the folder was pushed aside. He snatched it off the desk as quickly as possible, the paper disappearing between his fingers.
Then the Adjudicator turned in his direction. He jumped, but it was obvious that she couldn't see him. Instead she pointed toward the door, motioning her daughter out of the room. Dawn stood up, stony-faced, and did as instructed.
That's my cue.
Evan scurried out from behind the desk, catching up with the redhead. He slipped out behind her as she opened the door, stepping into the hallway.


Avery felt a slight breeze on her back as Evan moved by her, out of sight. She closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing slow.
Don't become visible, don't become visible, don't become visible...

Dawn went to that door as fast as possible. She hated the dark, she hated fear, she hated pain, she hated everything that came from her mother's room. She wanted to cover herself in vine and root and never come out. Then again, she wanted all the flowers in the world to just burst and let it all out, finally. She just couldn't decide, but in the dark, she couldn't do anything at all. Her power just wouldn't work, no matter how emotion-based it was.

It was only when she softly shut the door and saw Avery and Sage did it hit her. Red slowly ran down her cheek to her chin, but she didn't feel like wiping it off. She just stared at them. She had the hundred yard stare as she looked at Avery- the shell-shocked look. Something started sprouting behind Dawn. She felt something building up in her chest. She choked up as she looked at her friends, not even minding that Izzy was there. Dawn's mom hit her, and it took a moment for that to click in her own mind.
Then, it all let out.
Kudzu covered her body, covered walls, the ceiling, it even grew on the surrounding group's feet. It even grew on Evan's. It just covered everything. The plants died just as quickly, and this time, Dawn had knelt on the floor and covered her face. Flowers bloomed and spat pollen, then died, then vines and root, a cycle of life and death over and over again in a single hallway eventually, it ended with Dawn hiding herself in Kudzu, slowly blooming into tiny petals. She looked like some sort of green, leafy sasquatch with just a few patches of skin and a single, panicked eye visible. All that came from her statue was panicked breathing.

Powder screamed as he got covered in Kudzu and vine, while Izzy sputtered as she was covered in poison ivy, plus the occasional cactus. Meanwhile Avery and Sage were mostly untouched, besides their feet. Roses and sunflowers covered Avery's arms while Chrysanthemum and, well, sage grew up Sage's back. The hallway was left in a messy array of grass, roots, and flowers, both dead and alive.

Avery's eyes snapped open as soon as she felt flowers curling around her shoulders. She turned to see Dawn hunched on the floor, almost entirely covered in foliage. As she watched, a small drop of blood gathered on the point of a Kudzu leaf. The leaf bowed under its weight, spilling the blood onto the floor like a bead of brilliantly crimson paint.
"Dawn?" Avery rushed to her side, stumbling over roots and vines. Chrysanthemums burst under her feet, exploding in a puff of gold, orange, and pink. Roses spiraled along her arms, snagging in her long black hair like planets in the night sky. She knelt next to Dawn, ignoring the pain in her knees as thorns stabbed through her jeans. Avery couldn't keep the tremors out of her voice as she cried; "Dawn! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need me to take you to the nurse?"
She pulled her canister off her shoulder and opened it, hands hovering over the swirling purple Daya inside. But what could she make? What could fix this, take the pain away, make it like nothing ever happened? What could solve their problems?
Unable to think of an answer, Avery snapped the canister shut. Instead she placed a shaking hand on what she presumed was Dawn's back.
"Please," she murmured, almost pleadingly. "Tell me what's wrong so I can help you."

She held herself in the foliage for a moment. The noise was overwhelming, but the white noise was calming. She opened her eyes, only to see green. Oh, her mother would kill her if she found this right outside her door. Dawn stopped and took a deep breath. "Are you hurt?"

That's when the sting on her cheek came back and the voices became clear again. She was out in the hallway with Evan, Sage, two others she hadn't caught sight of, and... Dawn caught her breath. the leaf and flowers around her shrank. The ones covering her face and hands retreated to the rest of the jungle she had spawned.

It took her a moment to see Avery with clear, not wet eyes. It took even longer to understand her question, then finally regain her voice. "A... band-aid." She touched her cheek, only to wince away. Well, that was certain to bruise.

She glanced away from Avery, only to swallow nervously when she saw the millions of eyes watching. Oh gosh, what had she done? A nervous laugh came from her, and the flora simply disintigrated, though the nice and friendly flowers stayed by Sage and the invisible man. "I'll, um," Dawn struggled to speak, forcing herself to puke out something louder than a whisper. "Sorry. I'll... go." Before she stood up, she placed a hand on Avery's sleeve.

Avery reached into her canister, pulling out a lavender-colored band-aid. She handed it to Dawn, helping her up.
"Where do you want to go?" she asked the redhead in a quiet, gentle voice. Now that she was certain Dawn wasn't badly wounded, she'd regained some of her composure. "I can take you back to our dorm, if you like. Or maybe back to the garden?"

After such a nerve-wracking experience, a kind and gentle voice was like hearing heaven's angels sing hymns right in her ear. Avery was kind of like an angel, in Dawn's eyes. She couldn't even imagine her hurting a fly.
Dawn couldn't help but have a small smile. "The dorm," she answered simply, "More private, I guess."

Avery guided Dawn down the hallway, pushing through the small crowd of students that had amassed around the Adjudicator's door. No doubt they were attracted by all the commotion, which was reasonable, but Avery wished they would go away. The last thing any of them needed was dozens of ogling eyes watching their every move. Thankfully, the adjoining corridors were empty of people.
"What happened?" Avery asked once they were out of earshot. Her heart thumped anxiously as she waited for an answer.

Dawn was more than happy to be whisked away while Izzy ranted and raged. Especially so when her mini-jungle had gained traction. Oh gosh, Mom would kill her...

Her face tightened up when Avery asked. Once they made it inside the dorm, Dawn finally had room to breathe and quickly applied the lavender band-aid onto her cheek. She blinked once to check it. Then, she sighed and sat on one of the lower beds. She assumed it Avery's, since it wasn't decroated with plants like Sage and Dawn's bunks were.

"Well, you were right about my mom, in some ways," Dawn said. Maybe that turning feeling in her stomach wasn't just a momentary thing, every time she thought about that moment the sting felt fresh. "I just... She slapped me, Avery." It felt wrong spewing those disgusting words from her mouth. Why was her vision getting so blurry all of a sudden. She wiped her face and sniffed, determined not to tear up the second time. That'd be plain pathetic, in Dawn's view. "Then she said she loved me. A-And I don't know what scaring me right now. The fact she's fine with hurting me, or that I'm really, really hoping she does love me. I don't think I even know what love is supposed to be, at this point!"

Avery sat down beside Dawn, brow furrowed in concern.
"To be honest, I don't know what love is, either," she admitted, pulling a leaf from Dawn's hair. "But I don't think it usually includes harming the person you love."
She turned the leaf over in her hands for a moment, thinking. Then her eyes raised to Dawn's.
"Your mother likely does care about you, she just..." Avery paused, wondering how to word her next few sentences. "...Well, she doesn't know how. After your brother died, she was hurt, too. And I guess that hurt grew into something even more nasty."
Avery sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. She really, really hoped she wasn't messing this up.
"I think she's trying to protect you," she continued slowly. "In her own twisted way. But for her, protection means control. And the only way she can control you is through manipulation. Withholding her affection like it's a prize to be won, and punishing you when you don't meet her unreachably high standards."
She looked at Dawn, trying to gauge her expression. "I know it may seem like it, but it's not your fault she hurt you. None of this is your fault. I want you to know that, okay?"

Dawn listened so carefully to everything Avery said. It all made sense, and she hated it. Not that Avery was right, but that her mother was such a weird and bad person. When Avery looked at her, Dawn met her eyes. "I know," she said, quietly, "I know." Punishment, fear, and control. It's all her mom operated on. It's all Dawn operated on. Who would be mean next? Who was too strong? Who would hate her if she said the wrong thing? "I... I'm glad you think that."

There was a minute of quiet before Dawn felt the urge to speak again. This time, she moved a bit closer to Avery. "I think I'm just mad I didn't catch on sooner. I was always the second favorite, then he died, and now Mom is left with me," Dawn explained. "And sometimes I wonder about the opposite. I know I really shouldn't and it's probably super unhealthy, but I just can't help but think about if my brother was still here and I was six-feet-under. Who would they be? Would they be better people without me?" Then, suddenly, she chuckled. "God, I sound like I belong in a psych ward. I swear it's not that serious, despite how many times I've said that about... everything."

Slowly, her head found it's way to Avery's shoulder, but she flinched and hiss when she landed. Dawn rubbed her red cheek. She certainly felt the early signs of swelling. "Hey, um, just wondering, could you make ice with Daya? Or find ice somewhere? Sorry if that's a bother. You don't need to."

"I...don't think I can make anything a different temperature from my environment," Avery muttered. "But I can make a thawed ice pack and...maybe we could find a way to freeze it? Perhaps there's a refrigerator around here somewhere."


Evan didn't know what to do. There were people everywhere and he was supposed to be invisible but Dawn's flowers were all over him and a crowd was forming--
He could only imagine what it must've looked like to the onlookers. Dead foliage all over the floor, Izzy and Powder tied up, and roses blooming around the shape of a person. Evan tried to brush the vines off him, but they were wrapped tight.
"C'mon, let's go," Sage grabbed his shoulder, steering him through the crowd and around the corner. He could hear Izzy shouting behind him as she wriggled out of her constraints--he didn't know what she was saying, but it didn't sound friendly.
"Where are we going?" he asked. Sage was still pushing him along, her hand placed firmly between his shoulder blades. She had an odd look on her face, somewhere between panic and determination.
"You know what this means, right?" she stopped in a deserted hallway and spun him around to face her.
"What?" Evan asked. She paused.
"Turn visible again," she instructed. "I don't feel like talking to an empty wall."
"Right," Evan melted back into existence. "Sorry."
"Good. Now," Sage fixed him with an intense look. "Izzy and Powder saw...everything. They're going to tell the Adjudicator."
"Crap."
"Yes, exactly. Now, we're going to have to think of something, and fast. Otherwise all four of us are in deep, deep trouble."

After a long struggle, Izzy managed to free herself and yank Powder out of his own predicament. He was just thankful nothing cut him. That would've been bad for everyone. Izzy searched for the perpatraitor, only to find that Avery, Sage, all of them were gone and now she was just being watched like a caged zoo animal. "What? It obviously wasn't me! Scram!" That got a few shy kids to back off. Still holding Powder from under his shoulders, Izzy took the first move towards the door. Instead of walking in, though, she gently put her shorter, younger compainion on the ground.
"Where are you going?" Powder asked.
Izzy scowled. "I've got some friends to meet up with." She left soon after that, leaving Powder helpless at the door. It's not like he could do something without her!

Dawn smiled once a bag of ice had been retrieved. She put on her cheek, then sat right back down with Avery. This time, on her other side. Her uninjuried cheek was able to lay on Avery's shoulder much easier. "Thanks... and sorry," Dawn started, "You're always so kind and you always listen... How do you do it? I imagine it can't be fun all the time," she chuckled lightly, then looked straight up at her. "Can you tell me about yourself? Sorry if that's sudden. Just... change of subject, I guess. Less of a downer mood might be better."