If you want to beat the best, you have to eat all your spinach. – From Tabatha in Missed Conversations, Vol. 1

Alex waited in the large dining hall for Jesse and Tabatha, letting his food grow cold. He hadn’t ever had what you’d call ‘friends’ before, and so welcomed the opportunity. Gifted didn’t like the idea that one of their own could be so weak. The regular folks on the other hand, they just needed a scapegoat that couldn’t fight back.

He looked around at the dining hall, hoping to catch sight of the twins. What he saw instead made him jump. Jasmine stood next to him, her expression livid.

“So.” She spat. “You beat me.”

Alex put his fork down and turned so that both of his legs were on either side of the lunch bench. This was going to suck.

“I got lucky.” Alex said.

“Nope.” Jasmine replied. “You got very lucky.”

“Okay, fine.” He tried. “Can we move on, maybe? I don’t have any interest in fighting you again.”

“Oh!” Jasmine barked out a laugh. Her face had coloured to a shade of deep purple. “So suddenly you’re too good for me, huh? What, you’re just hovering above the rest of us? Is that another one of your little powers? After one day, that’s all it takes? Really? The level of fucking ego behind that statement!”

“That’s not what I meant.” Alex tried to break in. But it was like arguing with a twister at this point.

“You just said you were too good to fight me! Me!? The number one slot! I don’t care that you trained before you got here, or that your gift is naturally stronger than mine-”

“Okay, well did I get lucky? Or am I stronger than you?” Alex cut in, but it was no use.

“You don’t get to talk right now, bitch.” She said, before continuing with her tirade. “You and that punk Jesse better watch your fucking backs. ‘Cause if see either of you alone, without that upstart Tabatha around to protect you, I’m gonna dump a petawatt of fury down your throats.” And with that, the wrathful girl stormed off, sparks of energy arcing off her as she went.

Alex scratched his head in confusion. She was clearly insane. And what exactly was her obsession with Jesse? He knew the boy had a tendency towards mockery, but it couldn’t annoy her that much.

Another ten minutes passed, and the room began to fill. This was an old building, with tall beams and thick walls that coaxed voices into becoming echoes. Eventually, Alex spotted Jesse and Tabatha moving down the line of tables towards him. He gave them a wave, which was spotted by Jesse, and they came and sat across from him.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Jesse said, conspiratorially. “If these guys are as awesome as everyone seems to think they are, how come they have to bother befriending the new guy?”

“I was thinking that actually.” Alex confessed.

“The answer may shock you.” Tabatha said. “But Jesse tends to piss people off.”

Jesse frowned through an overly ambitious mouthful.

“Yeah.” Alex said, without thinking. Then, at a questioning glance from Jesse, he elaborated. “Oh, no. I just mean that Jasmine keeps mentioning you, is all.”

Jesse covered his mouth to laugh. It was a good laugh, Alex realized, thoroughly infectious. “That girl is crazy about me.”

Tabatha rolled her eyes. “I think she’s crazy about everyone, Jesse. Probably a word for that.”

“No, seriously.” He continued. “Every time I talk to people, she’s always there, ready to sweep in and like suck me off or something.” He laughed again.

“When do you talk to people?” Tabatha asked, skewering one of Jesse’s potatoes with her fork.

Jesse cleared his throat and began imitating a neutered husband. “Well dear, I gotta say, people have been talking. Apparently, we spend a lot of time together. And that’s fine, except ol’ Jasmine told Sally who told Mikey who told Benjamin, who called out to me in the corridor, that you and I were engaged in acts most egregious and forbidden. I believe it rang something like: Tabatha and Jesse sitting in a tree, fucking in front of the birds and the bees. That shit there’s a fel-o-ny. Tabatha and Jesse sitting in a tree.”

“Wow.” Tabatha said, putting down her cutlery and giving Jesse a flat, but somehow admonishing, stare. Alex couldn’t help but laugh.

“So, moving on.” Tabatha began, turning to Alex. “You know it’s common practice to change your clothes after a fight.” She said, tugging on Alex’s lapel which had become partly shewn off during the lesson.

“I don’t have any clothes. Or books. Or…” Alex realised with a quiet sort of emptiness that he had practically nothing in terms of possessions. He hadn’t been a girl prone to sentiment, or spending. Still, it made him feel uneasy, as if his whole life now rested atop the academy. And in a way, it did.

“Huh, that’s too bad. Did you not get the letter?” Tabatha asked.

“What letter?” Alex asked.

“Everyone gets the letter.” Tabatha assured him.

“I didn’t.” Jesse said.

“I got our letter.” Tabatha relayed. “The letter, Alex, is a list of all the things you’ll need if you want to survive in this place. Because, as it turns out, combat class isn’t the only place you can get your teeth knocked in.”

“That’s right. We also have a student-run dentistry up on the third floor.” Jesse said.

“What other classes are there?” Alex asked, feeling dumber by the minute.

“Wow, you really didn’t get the letter.” Jesse said. It was hard to tell if the boy was truly stupefied, or just naturally slack-jawed.

“Everyone. Gets. The. Letter.” Tabatha assured her brother. “Anyway, it’s a stiff read. You can borrow mine.”

“Truly a slog. But if you stick with it, you’ll not be disappointed. I really found myself immersed in the many financial and temporal predicaments of the protagonist.” Jesse said.

“The sequel’s where it gets truly interesting.” Tabatha seemed to agree.

“Oh, sure when you hit the class schedule and school rules arc it really takes off.” Jesse said.

And so the meal went, with the twins carrying most of the conversation and Alex proffering up an opinion here, or a question there. When the final bell rang for closing, the three students stood and made their weary way to the other side of campus, where the dorms could be found, old and nostalgic. Ducking beneath the room’s floating chair and saying a quick goodnight to Jesse, Alex crawled into bed. He ignored the night time ruckus, the laughs and stories being told, he was too tired. And despite the day’s events, or maybe because of them, he was too scared. But Alex didn’t feel as lost as he once had. The days, during which he felt loneliest in a crowd, were gone. Before his fluttering eyes there lay a hundred fears and, upon them, a hundred hopes as well.