"Come on Maria, it's not like that! I was only teasing. I-I" she stuttered, searching for a decent argument. "I just thought that ..." she trailed off. "Forget it."
She walked off briskly, not waiting for them. Her hand instinctively flew to her wrist and traced the scar that was identical to Maria's. When they were younger, they had made a pact to stay friends no matter what. Rosalie snorted at this and kicked a stone across the grass.  

---

Maria looked over at Ruben with a worried look, and followed Rosalie. “What's wrong?” Maria asked as she crossed her arms and looked over at Rosalie, her violet eyes darker since she had mixed emotions about the situation.

---

"I don't know. That's it, you know? I don't know. Ever since professor Embry instructed us not to use our powers because of the inspectors checking out the school, I just felt drained, unable to use them. I mean, I've tried. Look, what's your bet that I can lift this stone? Exactly, I could control a volcano or a tsunami, of course I could lift a measly little stone up, I can control the elements. But look-" She concentrated very hard, trying to lift the stone. It didn't budge, so she sighed and sat up. "Do you think they're blocking off our powers? I mean, professor Embry would never do that. Have you been able to heal lately? Something is wrong here, very wrong..."

---

Maria frowned; she had also noticed that we should accidently cut herself her wounds wouldn't heal as fast as usual. “Embry has been acting strange lately, more fidgety and quiet...”

---

Rosalie twirled a red lock of her hair in her fingers. "It's weird," she agreed. "I'm gonna go ask Jack, what he thinks about it. I'll see you later, I'll probably be helping Lee and Jack build their tree house anyway if you want to find me."She smiled gently, glad to have her friend back. Then she set of to the canteen again, searching for her brother. He was usually in here. No, it was unoccupied. She thought quickly about where he could be. Quite a few options. She shrugged meaninglessly and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, jogging out onto the football pitch to find her brother. 

---

May I be Quentin Maydry?

---

(Yeah, sure )

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((Thanks! Where can I jump in?))

---

Ruben sighed. "What's going on?" he enquired, his eyes fixing on Maria. A slight look of annoyance crossed his face as he remembered Rosalie storming over to him.

Jack wandered through the school hall, grinning widely as his gaze #### #### Ruben. "Hello ...", he murmured, his eyes flickering momentarily to Maria as he tightened his grip on his textbooks. "Shakespeare?" he asked, glancing down at Ruben's books. His grin changed into the form of a smirk. "As always", he added.

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(Anywhere you want! )

Rosalie shook her wild red hair about. "Well Jack, you're the one who read the whole Oliver Twist book for that assignment instead of just reading the back," she smirked. Then she turned to Ruben and said so quietly so only he could hear. "Don't go thinking that you're the only one Maria hangs out with. She's my friend so just step off it a bit, yeah?" she hissed harshly. 

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