The rest of the day Ms. Pierce had us training, or more or less, taunting us until we showed progress.

For Lolly and Lucas, showing progress wasn't very hard to do. After the first fireball, Lucas was on a roll, though his aim wasn't getting any better. I had a feeling the words "spawn of Satan" was on replay in his mind. It may have helped him to produce fire but I didn't think it was helping him with controlling it. His aim was horrible and he the size of the fireballs varied from way too small to way too big. Sometimes he couldn't form a ball at all and the fire would just flow from his hands like a fountain. It was those times that Mr. B would appear with a giant fire extinguisher and put sparky out.

Lolly had the easiest time with teleporting. All Ms. Pierce had to do was mention plans for an upcoming dance and Lolly was so overwhelmed with excitement that she would disappear and reappear all over the room. It was actually really entertaining to watch, she reminded me of a lightning bug, lighting up in one spot only to light up again several feet away. I couldn't help the feeling of wanting to chase her like I had chased those bugs as a child.

Ms. Pierce trained Sage and me as a team. She figured to get Sage used to tapping into minds she could practice on me since our blood bond, possibly, made it easier for her to read me. I was fine with Sage digging around in my mind, which still didn't seem very easy for her to do. Ms. Pierce had me think of Kelly and the years of bullying I endured to summon the strength to toss baseballs at the dummies using my mind. It sounded silly and a couple times I felt so silly I would lose focus and start laughing.

That was when Ms. Pierce would pull out her folder with my name on it and recount records of things Kelly had done to me, all of which my school had kept a record of. It worked a couple times, though my aim was just as bad as Lucas'.

It was during those times that Sage was able to tap into my head. She would get angry and red-faced as she recounted the images in my head of Kelly shoving me into lockers, cutting my hair in class, ripping my homework to shreds before school. But she only got small glimpses and had to focus with all her strength just for that.

To get Alicia to conscientiously go invisible Ms. Pierce had me use her for target practice. Only with aiming at an actual person, I was only able to send three out of the ten baseballs flying. Two went wild while the last one got dangerously close to Alicia's head. She yelped and in doing so flickered in and out like an old television picture. Ms. Pierce seemed pleased with it but the day was coming to an end. She sent us all off to dinner with instructions for Wes and Declan to report back to her after eating. Apparently, she had some after hours testing set up for them.

At dinner, everyone looked exhausted while they quietly picked at their food. Even Lolly, who was always so full of energy, looked like she would fall asleep sitting at the table at any second. Everyone was so quiet that I nearly jumped out of my skin when Mr. B showed up out of nowhere.

"Shaw, Coleman, don't forget to report back downstairs after you eat."

With that, he eyed all of us one last time before walking away.

"Well, I'm done," Declan announced picking up his tray and walking off.

Wes stood to follow him but before walking off he turned back around and asked, "Chloe, you mind walking with me a minute?"

I had hardly eaten but honestly, after today I wasn't even hungry. It was as if I was so full of information that my body had no room for food.

Nodding, I got up from the table and tossed my food away before following Wes out into the hall. Declan was nowhere in sight, he must have already headed for the basement.We walked down the hall towards the stairs before Wes turned around stopping me in my tracks.

"I'm sorry about this morning, I wanted to help, I just didn't know how."

This morning, watching my tape, it felt like it happened days ago. Ms. Pierce had stopped Wes from comforting me while I was having a break down watching that damn tape and now he felt guilty. The guilt filled his eyes and pulled me in, causing me to reach out and grab his hand, hoping to comfort him the way he tried to comfort me this morning.

"Wes, it's not your fault. Besides, Ms. Pierce was right. If it had happened any differently we might not know what I was capable of."

Those words seemed to lighten his guilt but his body was still tense. I had no idea what was in store for him tonight but the idea of late night testing did not sound appealing. Chances were Wes was just as worried about that as I was. Wanting to relieve his worries, and maybe mine too, I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulder for a hug. It seemed to do the trick as he wrapped his inked arms around my waist and held me tight, each muscle in his arms and back relaxing just ever so slightly.

"Thanks, Chloe."

It was simple but felt like so much more. A gut feeling hit me then and I started to think that Wes didn't use to getting hugs very often. As I pulled away Wes dipped down for a quick kiss on the lips and then darted off down the stairs. The kiss had only lasted a second but left a feeling so similar to the one we shared during movie night. I traced my bottom lip with my finger while turning to head back for Lolly and Sage. Only when I turned around I came face to face with a group of girls.

"Look who's got herself a boyfriend," the first girl stated. She was about twice my size and sporting a wicked sneer.

Shit, while trying to comfort Wes I had forgotten to check if anyone was watching. The night in the field I had lost control but afterward, I swore I wasn't going to draw attention to whatever was going on between us. Wes didn't need to get in any trouble and I sure as hell didn't want problems with the other kids here. Not that I was afraid I couldn't take them, especially after today, but I just didn't want to deal with the added headache.

I recognized these girls from a few classes but never thought they had paid any attention to me before. Now they looked like they wanted to rip my head off. I dealt with Kelly's crap enough times to know that talking never helped. I opted for the silent approach and kept my head down as I tried to walk past them.

"What? You ain't got nothing to say, pretty girl?"

Great, bad grammar and a bad attitude. I wasn't in the mood for this.

"Back off."

I tried to pass again but the girl stepped in front of me. Her big size made me feel like she would go by the name Bertha, Big Bertha.

"You ain't even been here that long, what right you got taking one of the hottest guys in here?"

"Is there a problem over here?"

I thought for a second someone had come to the rescue, Bertha's rescue not mine. Unfortunately, the voice came from a guy with ugly bruises around his neck, like he had been strangled. When I got a better look at his face I realized he had been. It was the guy Lucas had choked in this same hall.

"No Toby, I got it covered," Bertha shot back.

"Oh come on sis, you can't have all the fun. Who's the victim today?"

Toby eyed me from head to toe, making my skin feel like it was crawling with bugs. Where were the damn security guards when you needed them?

"Just Wes Coleman's new girlfriend," Bertha answered pointing a crooked smile in my direction.

Toby's eyes flashed with hatred. "Great more lovebirds in this shit hole."

He took a step towards me and I took a huge step back.

"All you types are just alike. Wanting to give it up to the pretty boys but act scared when confronted by a real man."

I had to hold in the eye roll. This boy was as far from a real man as humanly possible. Bertha's wicked smile got even bigger if that was even possible. "Toby you can take blondie here and that'll leave Wes for me. It's a win-win."

Toby nodded mirroring her smile. What the hell was wrong with these two?

"Your both delusional, not get out of my way."

I tried to push past them but Toby grabbed me by the arm. Then just as quickly as he grabbed me, he let go with a scream. I looked around to see Bertha and her crew had scuttled off down the hall and in their place stood Safe, Lolly, and Lucas. Lucas had his hand around Toby's arm and was pulling him away.

"How many time's do have to teach you a lesson before you finally get it?" Lucas asked as he threw Toby against the wall. Only this time after he let go of Toby he walked away without waiting for an answer. It was clear Toby wasn't going to retaliate, he was too busy gripping a strange looking burn on his arm where Lucas had just held him. He took one last look at me before taking off down the stairs.

"Thanks, Lucas."

He shrugged and gave me a smile as he threw his arm around Lolly's shoulders, "We're a team, right?"

"Right."

A team, wow. After years of avoiding organized sports, I never thought I would be a part of a team. Look at me now, part of a team of hellions.

The next morning Declan and Wes were absent from breakfast. We hadn't seen them before heading to our dorms last night either. I couldn't help but worry about them as we ate and then headed for our basement classroom. Only when we got there it was empty.

"Maybe we're supposed to go to the training room?" Alicia asked.

It seemed like the best option so we all turned for the training room. When we got there I was shocked to find both Wes and Declan, only I should really be saying Wes and about a dozen Declans.

Wes was standing in the middle of the training room, teetering back and forth on his feet like his legs were going to give out at any minute. Around him stood 12 Declans in a circle. They all shared equal looks of exhaustion.

"Okay, am I drunk? Does everyone else see this?" Sage asked looking to us.

Her question caught the Declan copies' attention and within a second they all merged into one Declan standing in front of wobbly Wes.

"Hey, guys," Declan sounded drained but Wes said nothing. Instead, his body collapsed to the ground with a loud thump. I didn't know what was going on but I didn't care.

I took off to the middle of the room and quickly got on my knees next to Wes' collapsed body.

"What the hell is going on here?"

I knew it wasn't fair to yell at Declan, he looked like he had been through hell too, but I didn't see anyone else to ask.

Declan dropped to his knees beside us as the rest of the group made their way over.

"Pierce had us training all night. Doing simulators and other crap to get our powers to break free. It worked for me, I'm a replicator apparently. But nothing we did worked on Wes."

"You guy's haven't slept at all?" Sage asked as the first person to reach us.

Declan just shook his head. It was like he had spent the last of his energy telling me everything he just did and now he had nothing left to give.

The whole thing was making me angrier and angrier by the second. That firey feeling was building inside me and I tried to take deep breaths to control it. I didn't need to lose control right now, not when Wes needed help.

"Chloe?"

Wes whispered faintly while rolling to his back to get a better look at me. A let out a relieved sigh, at least he was conscious. We needed to get him somewhere to rest, maybe some food too.

"Shh, Wes, I'm here just relax right now," I whispered, lightly running my fingers through his dark brown hair, trying to think of what we could do when the door opened again and in walked Ms. Pierce and Mr. B.

"Oh good, you all are here."

I wanted to jump to my feet and throw something at the prissy look on her face but I needed to keep my cool for Wes.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You've had them here all night! They haven't slept or ate or anything! They're exhausted!" My voice grew louder with each word.

Ms. Pierce only looked annoyed by my outburst. She stood at the door, impatiently tapping her foot.

"If you're done with the yelling I'd like to get these boys to bed now."

I couldn't argue with that.

Mr. B walked over and got both Wes and Declan to their feet. Supporting each boy with one arm he walked them out the door.

"Where are they going?" Lucas asked this time.

"There's a room right next to this one with some beds. Mr. B is going to escort them in there and then we can get to work."

"No," I shot back, getting to my feet. The way she worked Wes and Declan was ridiculous. "There was no reason for you to work them so hard. I'm not doing anything until I know they're fine."

Sage stood up next to me and crossed her arms, "Same."

Ms. Priss looked even more annoyed but this time she gave a frustrated sigh and nodded, "Fine, I'll let you sit with them for a while but then we need to get to work."

"Why? Whats the rush?"

This time she fixed an icy glare on me and answered with, "The Gate Keepers, is the reason for the rush."