"...Do you want to go to school today?" asked Annette.

Quinn shook his head. "Not… not yet. It's…" He trailed off.

His mother nodded. "Your father and I were thinking about taking a vacation. Getting out of this part of the world for a while… How does that sound?"

"But…" Quinn glanced out the window in his bedroom, which just happened to face southwest—toward Natalie, the girl he'd fallen completely in love with.

And abandoned.

"You don't have to decide right now," said Annette. "Just think about it."

"Okay."

"Have you…" His mother hesitated, and Quinn knew she was about to ask about Natalie in some way. She always got the same uncomfortable, pained look on her face when she did. It hurt just to see it. It made him angry.

She never did anything wrong… I did, her dad did, a whole lot of people did. Not Natalie though.

"Have you heard from her?" Annette finally managed, avoiding saying Natalie's name, of course.

"Not since the blackout," said Quinn. "I know she was trying to figure out if she wanted to go after her dad or not. I… I think she probably did."

"Oh." Annette frowned. "He got arrested that day, didn't he?"

"Yeah. So… maybe she turned him in." Quinn shrugged. "I'll ask her."

"Okay."

A huge roar of shouting and camera noises from outside told them both Damian had just gotten home. No doubt, he was dodging the press as best he could. Jefferson Baux had promised them some assistance keeping the hungry vultures and protestors at bay, but the police were already overworked simply handling the sheer amount of chaos created by the blackout near Olympia, and nobody had ever come to help them out.

Damian walked in, a bit of snow coating his face and a huge flat box in his hands. "Got some dinner," he grinned. "Who's up for pizza?"

"Dear, you didn't need to do—"

"Pizza sounds great, Dad," said Quinn. He wanted them to get back to normal. Normal meant something without all the insanity and danger and fear. Normal meant school and friends and a stable life again.

Normal meant Natalie coming back.

Of course, the world wasn't ever going back to normal, and Quinn knew it. Case in point, Damian promptly dropped the pizza as a sudden tapping sound came at their window.

The pizza froze in mid-air.

"Can I come in?" asked the girl, her voice muffled through the window pane. She wore a faux-leather jacket, thick scarf, and her golden-blonde hair spilled out of an aviator cap on her head, with a prominent streak of sky-blue fluttering in her face. Every moment or two, she moved up and down in mid-air, as if flapping invisible wings.

Hailey Winscombe.

Quinn hurried to the window, ignoring the gaping mouths on his parents' faces. He flung the window open, and Hailey swooped in. A faint gust fluttered the papers on his desk, but for the most part, she didn't really disrupt anything as she landed. The window slid shut behind her, neatly latching itself.

"Hi, Hailey."

"Hey, Quinn. I'm glad you remember me," she said, grinning.

Quinn nodded. "Kinda hard to forget."

"You've… you've met Hailey Winscombe?" asked Annette, raising her eyebrows.

He shrugged. "Yeah, once."

"It was a weird day," added Hailey. "You must be Damian and Annette, right?"

"Yes," said Damian, breathless. He looked oddly star-struck, which surprised Quinn. His dad was usually pretty calm around anybody, no matter who they were. "Welcome. Would you—" He coughed, trying to catch his breath. "—like some pizza?"

"I wouldn't want to impo—"

"It's fine," said Annette hurriedly. "We've got extra, and… well, it's being paid for by your friend Kendra anyway."

"It is?" asked Hailey, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes. She contacted us out of the blue yesterday, and told us we had an account set up to handle all our expenses. As… as thanks for taking care of Natalie." Annette winced. "We weren't going to use it, but… well, I'm sure you saw what's going on outside."

"Yeah…" Hailey sighed. "Being famous kinda sucks. I'm really sorry you guys got caught up in all this."

"It's worth it," said Quinn firmly.

Hailey smiled at him, before hovering the pizza over to herself and grabbing a slice. "Thanks. It's super annoying to get food right now."

"We saw the news," said Damian. "What's it like being internationally wanted?"

"Well," said Hailey, taking a huge bite, "it's kinda how I always figured I'd end up, you know?" She laughed. "Most people I meet are pretty cool about it. But the cops gotta try to arrest me, and… I'm still trying to save the world here. I can't go back until I do that."

"You're… I'm sorry, what?"

Hailey shrugged. "I can't really explain. Sorry."

"You don't have to," said Quinn. He wanted Hailey to be comfortable. His parents seemed confused by Hailey's sudden appearance, but to Quinn, it was a relief—if anything, he was overjoyed to see her. It meant he was still a part of their world—her world.

"Forgive me if this sounds rude, but," said Annette carefully, "why are you here?"

"Well," said Hailey, finishing off her slice with gusto. "Natalie asked me to look out for you guys." Hearing that alone, Quinn's entire body seemed to light up with relief and joy. "I guess Kendra's doing that too. Thank goodness, 'cause I'm broke and on the run. Still, given the whole angry mob outside… I figured I might be able to help."

"Help how?" asked Damian.

"Not sure," she added with a shrug. "Got anything to drink?"

The whole conversation moved to the kitchen table, Hailey sitting with the three Kincaids. Quinn felt happier with every word she spoke—Hailey just had that kind of personality. He could see why Natalie said she was the center of the town for a while. Hailey was magnetic. Everybody wanted to be closer to her.

"Well, scaring 'em off isn't gonna do much," said Hailey. "Trust me, they'll come back every single day, and if I stick around to scare 'em again, we'll have even more trouble."

"So what do we do?" asked Annette.

"...I'm kinda trying to avoid telling people what to do," she said quietly. Her voice was calm, but Quinn sensed a pain underneath, something very similar to what Natalie used to sound like. "I want to know what you guys want."

"Well," said Damian, "we were thinking about leaving for a while, but we weren't sure how to get out of here without people following us."

"Oh!" Hailey brightened up. "Yeah, I can help you with that."

"You can?"

"Yeah, we can turn you invisible, or fly you out, or all sorts of things." Hailey grinned. "Magic, you know?"

Damian nodded. "Magic."

"The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems," added Annette quietly.

"I thought that was beer," said Hailey.

"Not anymore…"

"Bit of an exaggeration, dear," said Damian.

"Not for everyone," said Quinn. He glanced at Hailey, trying to keep from sounding too eager in front of Natalie's coolest friend. "Did you see her?"

Hailey shook her head sadly. "I couldn't find her."

"You couldn't?"

"Nah, and trust me, I tried everything. Even magic, but she blocked it somehow. We know she's in Rallsburg somewhere, and we see stuff she's doing out there—"

"What's she doing?" asked Quinn breathlessly. "Nobody on the news has reported anything yet."

"Building something," said Hailey. "I don't know yet, but she's taking all the burned up buildings and turning them into something else. It's actually really cool, whenever I fly over it, but if I start to get close, something pushes me back. It's like she's keeping everybody out 'til she's ready."

"Ready for what?" murmured Annette.

Hailey shrugged again. "Your guess is as good as mine. Natalie's my friend, but… to be honest, I haven't even spent as much time with her as you guys in the last year."

"Not what you're doing though," said Damian. "Saving the world, or whatever?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Can you—" said Quinn, and before he could even finish speaking, Hailey nodded.

"As soon as I can talk to her, I'll tell her to call you." She smiled in an awkward, uncomfortable way. "We kinda need you, Quinn."

She might as well have just told him he was a millionaire. Quinn didn't know how to respond, but he felt elated, overwhelmed, excited, and just a little bit terrified by the sheer pressure she'd just put on him.

"You need Q?" asked Damian. "For what?"

"Natalie's probably the second or third most powerful person in the world," said Hailey. She glanced out the window at the end of the hall wistfully. "I'm still trying to get in touch with the other ones, but for now, Natalie's definitely the most visible of that group. There's no telling what she could pull off… and because of a really complicated long list of reasons, she hates a lot of us right now."

"Us meaning the awakened," said Quinn, at his parents' confused looks.

"All I'm saying is that… if she ever reaches out, be ready, you know?"

He nodded. "I'll be ready."

"Cool," said Hailey. She smiled again, and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her bag, scribbling something on it. "This is my number. Caller ID will probably say I'm Stephanie Johnson, though. Don't worry about it. If you ever need anything, if you're in trouble and it's not normal-cops-can-handle-it trouble, or you decide you want to leave, call me. Doesn't matter what time, okay?"

"Okay," said Quinn.

"Should we be expecting trouble?" asked Annette cautiously.

"Well, beyond the obvious," said Hailey with a jerk of her head toward the door, "probably not? But… better safe than sorry, you know?" She stood up. "I gotta go, and I have no idea where I'll be, but if I'm in the area, I'll stop by. When I can."

"Thanks," said Quinn.

Unexpectedly, Hailey reached out and hugged him. After a moment's confusion, he hugged her back. His parents eyes went even wider, barely visible around the side of Hailey's head.

"Take care of yourself, Quinn," said Hailey.

"You too, Hailey."

Hailey turned and walked briskly down to the end of the hall. The window popped open for her, and as she got closer, she broke into a run—and then a straight dive through the opening. Quinn ran after her, and just managed to catch a glimpse of her shooting off into the sky like a bullet.

He smiled. Hailey was a part of Natalie's world—of the girl he'd met as Jenny, a nervous and reluctant friendship formed over the last few months until it grew and spread throughout his school. Quinn had made mistakes along the way, and in the end he'd broken, but Natalie forgave him. She still cared about him. She'd asked Hailey to come watch out for him and his family.

She'd called him, and they'd still been close. They'd be together again, sooner or later. Quinn could wait, if that's what she needed.

I'll meet her again. When she's ready.