Nat sprawled on the couch idly watching the between movie ads and glanced at the vanished pile of Oreos.  Half smiling he rose and picked up the tray.  He had turned out the lights when he had left the kitchen but a faint glow of the refrigerator told him he wasn’t the only midnight raider.

               Jessy stood peering into the open stainless steel monster as if she might discover some morsel she’d missed.  On the counter behind her was a pillow case already stuffed with her far more professional plundering.

               “Running away from home?”

               She didn’t jump as Nat had expected.

               “No.”

               “Gonna leave anything for anybody else?”

               She added a half dozen juice boxes to the case.

               “No.”

               “Going on your dad's trip?”

               “Maybe,”

               She sighed.

               “Gonna be mad at me forever?”

               She found a block of cheese.  “You’re the one mad at me.”

               “Your ‘uncle' made me do things I wouldn't have done,” he said, hotly.  “How would YOU feel?”

               “It happens all the time to me,” she shrugged.

               “That ain't right.”

               “But that's life.”

               “If casting spells and controlling people is normal around here, I'd rather go back to San Diego,” he muttered.

               That made her look up at him.  Her eyes were red and puffy.

               “Go head,” she sneered.  “Jump ship!”

               “Okay . . . “ Nat tossed the tray onto the counter.  “Drop by the beach sometime!”

               “That’s it, don't learn how to stop it.”  She turned away but not before he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

               “Spock, how the hell do I get home?”

               “Quitter!” she hissed, grabbing the heavy pillow case.  “No pleasing you!”

               “Look . . . I didn't ASK to come here,” he snapped.  “But when I got here, everyone’s messing with my head . . . now your dumping on me like it's all MY fault and I didn't ask you to please me!”

               “I'm not dumping on no one,” she snapped back.

               “Nah, just a heavy guilt trip,” he growled.  "’Jump ship' ‘quitter’.  The usual crap.”

               “Well if you run away that is just what you are doing,” she argued back.  “I might run but I always come back ‘cause I won't learn if I don't.”

               “You run if I sneeze or Wren looks at me!”  He said.  “And I am just making a choice to use an alternate method of schooling.”

               “Yeah and you will die!”

               Nat shrugged at her.  “So?  At least it will be MY choice.”

               “I can't help what I feel,” she said.  “So I am staying clear.  I don't have to feel like I am a penny waiting for change.”

               “What the hell do you mean?” Nat said hotly.

               “You won't even be a friend,” she said.

               “That's 'cuz you scare the crap out of me!”  He said.  “’Kiss me or I'll die an old maid . . .’ or ‘be my boyfriend!’”

               “And you don't have feeling for no one but yourself,” she said.  “You hurt me.  You hurt Matt.”

               “Matt?”  He scowled.  “What did I do to Matt?”

               “You just think the whole world is Nat,” she glared at him.  “And waves.”

               “I'll agree with the waves.”

               “Oh, yeah and WREEEN,” she made the name sound like fingernails on the blackboard.  “You don't even notice when you hurt people and not with your arms.  You are so worried about breaking things you don't care about the feelings you hurt.”

               “What IF I do like Wren?” he snapped.  “What do I do, stop being friends with her so you and Matt can be happy?  See . . . sounds like it would be better if I did leave.”

               “You could at least let him be friends with her too instead of excluding him all the time,” she said.  She threw up her hands. “What's the use?  You are just thick and if I scare you than fine, I scare you.  At least I say my mind and don't make you guess.”

               “And you're a spoiled brat that is pissed because she's not getting her way!”

               “You are a self-centered jerk.”

               Nat shrugged at that.  “All surfers are."

               “Everything isn't about Nat the great beach bum!”

               “But next time you feel like getting close to a guy,” he said.  “Lay off the hooker clothes and attitude.  I can get that at the beach!”

               “And you leave this school, that is all you will be,” she said.

               “So?”  What do you care?” he returned.

               “Because you stupid jerk I happen to like you,” she snapped.  “Even if you have hurt me to the core and seen me naked.  I still like you your dumb ass.”

               “Seen Wren naked too!” It was out before he thought about it.  He slapped his hand over his mouth.

               “Figured that,” she said almost smugly then shrugged.  “I've seen you naked.  Big deal.”

               “I guess we all go to the warehouse in the clothing optional section too much, huh?”

               Jessy snorted a laugh and Nat scowled.

               “That’s funny,” she said.  “I wouldn't go there.”  She dropped to her ass on the floor and pulled the heavy sack between her legs.  Reaching in she found what she was looking for and offered Nat an Oreo.

               Nat eyed it for a moment then figured it was a peace offering and took it.

               “You just don't know me,” she said, taking a bite of her own Oreo.  “I got to go on the trip.  I am elf and my people need me.  It’s a duty thing and I don’t need sleep like you humans.”

               “SOME humans,” Nat said.  “Some MUTANTS don’t need much sleep either . . . and you don't know me either.”

               “I am just waiting to leave with my mom,” she said.

               “Why you sneaking off early?”

               “’cause of you and Wren.”  She offers him another cookie.  “And I'm not a spoiled brat just cause my dad has stuff don't mean I do, I just don't throw away my stuff.  I want to remember my other life but it's hard sometimes like it wasn't real.”

               “That's not what I meant . . . every time something happens . . . you see me talking to Wren or whatever, you run off crying,” he said.

               “Because you are making goo-goo eyes at her.”

               “Goo-goo eyes?”

               “Yeah.”

               “I like her . . . a lot . . . she's fun,” he said.

               “And you are always going off to be alone with her,” she pointed out.  “You never ask me and Matt to join in on anything.”

               “We ride fast cars and roller coasters,” he said.  “We did Danger Room Disneyland . . . Real sexy, mysterious stuff.  Oh, I forgot, we pigged out one night and watched bad movies together.  In the common room.”

               Jessy continued her attack on the cookies.

               “I'll tell you the truth, Jessy,” he said.  “I don't know what's gonna happen but I'd like to get closer to Wren and if you and Matt have a problem with that, I'm sorry.”

               “Well, I can't stop you but I don't have to like it or . . .” she said then stopped.  “Oh, yeah that talks scares you cause I speak my mind.  I let you know up front about stuff, so wrong of me.”

               “Problem is,” Nat said.  “You don't stop.”

               “I should just let you be in the dark?”

               “Why didn't you just eat cookies like this with me?” he said.  “Nah . . . you need to be kissed.”

               “I should just keep you in the dark and play girl games?” she snapped.  “You should at least give me the same chance as her.”

               “It's not a contest, you against Wren,” he told her.

               As she rose to her feet, she handed him the bag.  He took it, freeing her hands to gather the open end of the pillow case.  Swinging it, she let it settle over her shoulder as if it were nothing more than a pillow.

               “You better pack,” she warned.  “And leave the pictures Nicky gave you home.”

               So she knew about them and where they had come from.  Nat wondered if she had put her brother up to it.

 He smiled.  “Spock fragged them for me.  And wiped out a few computer files.”

               “You just are clueless!” she said in disgust.

               “Enlighten me,” he said as she was about to pass through the door.

               She stopped and looked back at him, her free hand on her hip.

               “Why?  I will scare you,” she sneered.  “And we both need to pack.”

               “I think I can handle one more shock,” he said staring at her levelly.

               “I have to get into my elven clothes,” she ignored his stare.  “Not like this world‘s clothes will hold up.  I have been off world before and been to the wilds.  If you want I will have some good clothes sent to you, you’ll need them.  And I will leave you a ramp to the beach on the new world.  Don't worry I won't bug you none there, I have work to do.”

               “Yeah, I'll go hit the waves while everyone else works.”

               “No, you will be right beside Wren all the time,” she said.  “Making shade for her.”

               He shrugged.  “Probably.”

               “And no matter what I am still going to like your dumb ass,” she said, as she left.  “So get used to it!”