Wednesday came in a flash and Anna had barely slept a wink. Despite that, Anna felt energized and ready for the day... physically at least. Mentally, she felt drained. Today was one of those days she wished school never existed. Of course, normally, Anna could choose not to go to school. Give a heart touching excuse, Claire believes it and she stays at home. She couldn't do that today though because... Well everything that happened last night didn't really put her in the woman's good books. She had heard the shock in the woman's voice when the police called her last night. It would probably get worse if the school gave her another call the next day that her step daughter was being truant.

Not wanting more reprimand than she could handle, Anna dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Standing at five feet, nine inches, Anna could not wear anything in Sarah's wardrobe without looking like she had bought clothes a few sizes too small. Thankfully, sleeping at Sarah's house was a usual thing and in most of those sleep-overs, she brought clothes that were school worthy and sometimes left them there whenever she went home the same night. None of them were hoodies or anything like she'd been wearing recently but after last night, using her powers in public and yet no one noticing, she was nearly a hundred percent sure the glowing eyes was a one-time thing. After going through the set of clothes, Anna finally decided to wear Navy blue leggings and a white oversized crew-neck sweatshirt.

Sarah had also gotten out of bed. In fact, she had gotten up before Anna did. It was forty minutes past six, meaning the girl would be back from her jog in about twenty minutes. It gave Anna time to think about... everything. Most of it was about the decision she made to use her powers to stop a criminal organisation that she currently knew nothing about. Aside being bothered that it was dangerous the organisation had super fast, super strong (and whatever one would call the ability to withstand gunshots at point blank range) individuals covering their tracks, Anna also thought about herself. What exactly changed in her that made her choose to use her powers? She couldn't really tell. Maybe experiencing firsthand what the police went through daily made her change her mind, maybe she was concerned about the safety of the city and the people in it.

Or maybe it was the way she felt when she fought those men last night. That was basically the first fight she'd had ever been in against a large group. Everything she did last night was for the first time and yet everything felt like she had practiced it. First time she had ever used her powers in a fight but it felt like she had always known what to do in a situation like that. Maybe that was why she decided to try to bring down the organisation: to justify the reason to feel that rush over and over again.

She hadn't concluded on her thoughts when Sarah came back. Anna was out of the bathroom by the time, dressed and in the kitchen, assisting the girl's father in preparing breakfast. He'd been the one handling the meals since Sarah's mother visited her brother in Brooklyn. He wasn't very good at it but Sarah appreciated that he cared enough to ensure she ate before going to school, so she ate anything he made. Anna came to appreciate it as well and sometimes even felt jealous that her father never treated her like this. Saying hi to her father and Anna, Sarah went to shower and get ready for school.

“Anna could you pass me the milk?” Sarah's father asked as he finished making the oats he'd been preparing.

Arnold Dunlop was a well built, handsome, blond man with dark brown eyes. Standing at six feet, the man easily intimidated people around him, though getting to know the man would change one's perception of him. He was almost dressed for work, wearing a suit but without the jacket. He was also wearing an apron.

“Yeah, sure.” Reaching for it, Anna passed the milk to the man by her right side.

“Thanks. So did you speak with your parents last night?”

“Oh no, I didn't. I will but I haven't yet.”

“You should. Your mother was most shocked last night, I was worried she'd faint. You should give her a call, I know I'd feel bad if something like that happened to Sarah and she didn't bother calling to tell me she was okay.” Sighing, the man continued, speaking more to himself than Anna. “What made me listen to you guys? I almost got you all killed. I've never been...” the man paused again. “I'm sorry.”

“Mr Dunlop, it wasn't your fault. We lied to you because we knew you wouldn't let us do it if we came clean. If anything, we nearly got ourselves killed last night. Not you.”

“Still, I gave the go-ahead,” he replied. “It was my permission that put you, Sarah and Donna in danger. It was my say-so that put those young men in the hospital.”

He was going to be like this all day. Anna was sure of it. The man was full of guilt. His mind kept repeating an imaginative scene where they all died at the warehouse last night and he had to go meet their parents telling them they were never going to see their kids again.

Damn. Anna wished she could make him feel better about the issue but she didn't know what to say. “Mr Dunlop,” she said facing him. Probably adding too much emotion, she added, “It was not your fault, stop blaming yourself!”

He suddenly gave her a deadpan expression and then spoke in a monotonous voice “It... was not... my... fault.” Almost in an instant, the expression vanished and was replaced with a bright smile. “You're right Anna, I really should stop blaming myself.”

Anna was yet to understand the reason behind the sudden mood swing when he continued, “After all, no one died last night and we made twenty-two arrests. It was a win.”

“What was a win?” Anna heard Sarah ask not too far from where they were.

“Oh nothing,” he replied. “Anna and I were just talking about last night,” he added in a light tone.

“Okay, dad I know you're mad at me for lying to you about last and I'm sorry.” It sounded like she wanted to say something more but as she reached the kitchen she didn't. Instead, Sarah frowned at Anna.

“Why you wearing contacts?” She asked.

“Huh?”

“Girl, lose em,” Sarah replied. “Black contact lenses are not your thing. I didn't even know they made that.”

Her eyes. Her eyes were glowing again. Hurriedly, but not in a manner that showed panic, she walked out of the kitchen and into the bathroom.

“I'd be out in a minute!” Anna shouted after she locked the door. That done, she stood in front of the mirror. It was there, the image of the pale skinned, armoured woman with dark glowing eyes was in the mirror rather than her reflection. She looked eerily powerful. Anna could feel the woman's presence and It felt like she was standing before a god. Staring into the cold dark eyes sent chills down her spine.

And then it disappeared. Slowly, the image was replaced by Anna's actual reflection. What scared Anna (aside fear she felt at the presence of the woman) was that Mr Dunlop was probably affected by it and she had no idea how to fix it. Was that the power of the glowing eyes? Enforcing one's desires over someone by speaking the words?

Anna walked out bathroom deep in thought. Heading back to inning area, she met Sarah and Mr Dunlop eating and chatting happily. Sarah was obviously surprised that her father wasn't pissed about the issue of last night. Anna didn't show her surprise or worry, instead, she ate as well and when they were done, Sarah's father dropped them atschool. On the bright side, the man didn't seem brainwashed as he still got pissed with the reckless driving of some people he drove past. It seemed like the glowing eyes only made him nonchalant towards last nights activities. He still cared about everything else. That was a good thing for two reasons. One, It meant using the power on Sarah's father was a good thing. He wasn't sad anymore and that meant he'd be efficient at work and Sarah wouldn't get any punishment till her mother got back next week. So she didn't have to bother about fixing anything.

The other reason was: this power definitely made infiltration a lot easier.

■

“Alright boys and girls, welcome to a new day,” Mr. Rivers, Anna's Economics teacher, announced while coming into the room and crossing to his desk. He was a tall, fat man who looked like a dark haired body double of Chris Tallman. He had his quirky smile on his face and he wore his typical khaki pants and a short sleeved shirt. Despite his boyish-happy nature, the man was incredibly enthusiastic about teaching, and about Economics. It was pretty infectious, even for those who didn’t care that much.

Yeah, Anna was in class. A part of Anna had wanted to skip classes and go somewhere to practice with her power but she knew that was a bad idea. Not practicing with the power, but doing it right now. Using her powers wasn't a bad idea but skipping classes was. It would upset her Claire and that was currently the last thing she wanted. Her powers, that was all she thought about. For the first time, she wasn't bothered about having these powers but positive about them. Especially when Anna knew that she didn't have to bother about the glowing eye issue anymore. So yeah, Anna was pretty excited right now.

Laying his briefcase on the desk, Mr. Rivers continued, “I see we’re all here except for Donna McCormick. Let’s hope she feels better soon, or that she enjoys her day off.”

Yeah, Donna wasn't at school. It was probably because of last night. It wasn't on the news or anything but somehow people had heard about it. Everyone had been staring at Anna since she got to school, people murmuring as they walked past now. Even now, a few classmates spared a glances at her. Anna was used to it (though it's usually for a completely different reason) but Donna wasn't, she was only popular because of her brother and she didn't like too much attention either. Maybe that why she wasn't in school: to avoid the attention. Nevertheless, Anna made a mental note to check on her later.

“Either way,” Mr Rivers continued, “she’s going to be sorry that she missed today. Because it’s the end of the month, which means that it’s time for us to start…” As he spoke, the man clicked open his briefcase, reaching inside before pulling out a sheet of paper while happily finishing with, “Term projects!”

A series of groans met his words, and the man continued after the noise died down. “Yeah, yeah, it’s horrible, I know. But you just wait, because this project has a twist. Are you ready for it? That’s right, it’s a group project. Each of you will work with another person to write a six page paper, which you will present to the class in three weeks. You will have fifteen minutes of each class period for those three weeks to work on it in here, but you will also need to work out of class if you expect to get an A.”

One of the other students raised her hand. “A project on what, Mr. Rivers? What’re we supposed to be writing about?”

“Very good question, Amber,” Mr. Rivers replied with a smile. “The answer is... Whatever country you want. I want each group to pick a country and write on it's budgeting and resource allocation. I want you to write this in a way that explains the effects of the budget on the country. There are so many countries out there and I want you to pick one and write about them.”

One of the boys raised his hands then. “Can we pick our own partners?”

Shaking his head, Mr. Rivers replied. “Sorry. For some reason, people tend to turn these things into either popularity contests, or a fight over who gets the genius. You’ve all been randomly assigned partners. Right here.” He shook the paper he’d taken from his briefcase earlier. “First, we have... Cole Whitney, and Evan Guthrie.” He nodded to each student in turn, letting them react to being put together before continuing on to the next trio. There were thirty-two people in the class, which meant sixteen groups. One of whom would only have one today, with Donna absent.

Eventually, Mr. River called Anna's group. “And now we have… Anna Albert and...” He pointed to the boy who asked if they could have their own partners. “Zedekiah Wayne.”

So I'm getting the new guy, Anna thought, frowning.

Anna didn't show it but she didn't like Zedekiah Wayne. Not because he was about an inch shorter than Anna and that she generally disliked guys around her height (which she did) but because he was the new student that blew off everyone who tried to be friendly and make conversation. It was like he didn't want people around him for some reason. Given his attitude, it was obvious Anna was going to do the project all by herself. Complaining to Mr. Rivers and asking him to change her partner would be in futility. She could literally hear the man tell to her take it as a challenge and work with her partner.

Anna sighed. She was starting to feel the grouping was very random. If it was, then she was being affected by really bad luck.

“Now that you’ve got your groups,” the man announced after listing the last set of names, “go ahead and get together to talk about your plans. I’ll give you all about fifteen minutes to either figure out who to start your project on, or, you know, when to get together and talk about it later. Oh, and don’t forget, first come first serve. Once your group has come to an agreement on which country to right about, make sure to tell me, because we can’t have any repeats.”

Students started moving chairs to sit closer together and talk about the information they had just received and decide on what country to write about. Zedekiah on the other hand, remained where he was. Grimacing, she moved her chair to where he seated.

“Hey,” she said smiling. “Have any ideas on a country yet?”

“Nope, no idea,” the brown haired boy replied.

“How about Ghana?” She asked. “We're most likely the only ones who'd chose it. Wanna meet me during lunch to talk about it?”

“I don't know about that. I think I'll be busy.”

Okay, this would really be a good time to use mind control. But she didn't. Instead, she took a deep breath and replied. “Oh, it's okay, we could do it when you're free.”

“I meant I wouldn't be free at all to help in the term project.” Facing her, he gave her a smile that was anything but friendly. “I'm sure you can handle that right?”

Yup, Anna thought, really bad luck.

■

It was break time and Anna was in the cafeteria working on the project. She'd checked with Mr. Rivers and he accepted Ghana. Anna wanted to bring up the Zedekiah issue but didn't. She was pissed about the issue already and that could probably spike her powers. She would do that when she was calmer. Despite the fact that she was working on the assignment, being alone made her mind wander and soon Claire came to mind. Mr. Dunlop was right, she needed to call her. Punishment or not, the woman cared about her and that was enough reason to talk to her and apologise.

Taking up her phone, she called her.

“Hello Anna,” Claire said, answering the phone call.

“Hi Claire.” Not letting her reply, Anna continued. “I know what you're gonna say. I made a huge mistake not telling you about last night and I made a huger one not calling you to tell you I was okay. I hurt you and I'm sorry.”

“Anna, It's fine. I'm not mad at you.”

“You're not?” Anna asked surprised. She was expecting Claire to do something drastic, shout at her or something. Not this

“We're definitely gonna have a talk when you get home, but right now, I'm just glad you're okay. You're not gonna get too much heat from me because your dad brought the furnace.”

“What do you mean?” Anna asked, her brows furrowed.

“I've never seen your father this angry about anything. He's been at home the whole day, waiting for you.”

“What?!”

Her father had never spent the whole day at home before. Anna was definitely scared now. After the issue with Zedekiah, she was certain her day was full of bad luck and could not get any worse. But her father staying at home just because of her was on another level.

It was a whole lot worse.