“7... 8... 9... 10...” He counted out the seconds as he finished stretching out his legs and stood up with a small groan. His body had gone out of shape during his stay at the hospital. Since he was discharged, he never found the time to go have a decent work out. After all, he had to pack up his things, move to Aura, get used to the lifestyle, and deal with more problems. Mentally and physically, Drake wanted to just take a break from it all however he had no intention of giving into his body’s desires, much less his. He had smoked more since the fire and his body was starting to show the consequences of his decision.

Dressed in a simple pair grey colored sweats, a matching shirt, and sneakers, Drake was prepared to force his body through a needed workout. Already his body felt tired, side-effect of smoking and his forehead was covered in a light layer of sweat yet his body was not fully warmed up. Drake began jumping in place as he shook his arms trying to get those body limbs warmed up as well. Silently he asked himself what the hell did he do to his body.

“Ten laps around the court,” he huffed between jumps, “Two full court suicides and then I can start playing with the ball.” Once sweat began dripping from his face and his body felt easier to move, Drake began sprinting around the court. The sound of his feet heating the hardwood floor echoed almost dramatically through the gymnasium. After a few minutes, ten laps were finished and Drake quickly started the full court suicide.

He sprinted from the base line to the free throw line and knelt down to touch the line before running back to the base line. Next, he ran towards the three point line, knelt down, touched the line, and ran back. He continued running back and forth before he touched the other free throw line and suddenly tumbled over and skidded slightly.

Drake let out a small groan of pain and moved to get back up before falling back. His legs were hurting, so was the rest of his body. Quickly, he wiped the sweat from his eyes and let his arm fall back against the hardwood floor. “Shit… This doesn’t look good on my part…” he murmured as he forced himself to sit up. He had to get back into shape before team practices were scheduled. Drake refused to be ridiculed by the Aura basketball members because he was out of shape.

After a few more minutes, he pushed himself onto his feet and walked over to the bench where he left his bag. Drake pulled out his water bottle and took a swig before looking around the gym, silently hoping there was no-one there. After seeing no-one, he put the bottle down and opened his bag to pull out his packet of cigarettes. Just as he was about to pull a stick out, he froze and stared at it and began fighting with his addiction. A string of curses escaped him as he tossed the packet back into his bag and he grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat off of his face as he sat down.

Carrie was glad to be able to walk again. After a considerably too-long health room stay (two days? Really?), she was finally out of the bed and heading back to her room. Or, at least, she was before she passed the gym and heard the telltale signs of a solo-exerciser. She paused in her walk for only a moment before curiosity won her over. She slipped very quietly through the doors and through the little entrance room and then into the actual gym just in time to catch a string of vulgarities stream from Drake’s mouth.

“Mm. Pretty language, Drake…” Carrie said from the doorway. Despite her casual tone, however, her face was concerned. She moved herself from the doorway and walked toward him, depositing herself a about an arms length away from him on the bleachers. One couldn’t be too careful where psychometrics was concerned…
He looked exhausted, like he’d pulled a stunt similar to her own idiocy at the track. Everyone had a way to get their feelings out, and exercise… well, it was at least a better alternative than her other option. But her troubles were not the matter at hand right now. She’d felt awful since the plane ride for not coming clean about what she saw. She’d just been so messed up at the time, and he’d been so nice about it… she’d just forgotten to mention that she, like his brother, could see the memories of the people (or things) she touched.

Even walking into the gym it was difficult not to be overwhelmed by the last-minute victories and the devastating losses that had occurred there. The building had clearly been a place of great passions and dedication over the years… for although she kept the images out, the feeling of the place still seeped into her very bones. They were much like emotions from a person; this lace was more than just a location to so many people…

But again, her thoughts were wandering from the point at hand. She had to say it sometime, and this seemed as good a time as any.
“Look, um… I have to apologize for not mentioning something earlier…” she said, running a hand through her loose waves, “I’m pretty sure you know by now that I’m psychometric… but on the plane, when you brushed my arm… well…” she trailed off, looking down at the floor. She felt stupid even saying it, but it had to be said. Otherwise he’d go on thinking she didn’t know anything; or worse, thinking she’d seen it and was keeping that a secret. Carrie didn’t keep any secrets save her addiction- and that’s because nobody need know.
“Sorry.” She muttered, eyes still glued to the court.

At the newcomer’s voice, Drake turned his head towards the source and offered her a half-hearted smile. “Why, thank you. I could make it a lot prettier if I tried.” he said with a chuckle. Drake watched her as she moved away from the door and towards him to sit about an arms length away from him. At the distance he raised an eyebrow in question before grinning. “Do I smell that bad?” he asked as he motioned at the distance between them. “You can sit next to me, I don’t mind.” He added to show that he was not uncomfortable about her being near him.

He took another drink from his water bottle before setting it down and looking back at the court. Since the fire Drake never touched a basketball nor did he take a step onto a court. A look of adoration crossed his face as he looked at the room. Words could never express his passion for the game, it did not matter if he was a starter or a substitute. The energy of each game or scrimmage always got him excited and make him work harder so he would be chosen to play.

Drake raised an eyebrow again when he heard Carrie say something and quickly turned to look at her. “I’m sorry, didn’t catch that. What?” It was a bad habit of his, not noticing when a person was trying to start a conversation with him. His attention was always somewhere else when a person tried to talk to him. Sometimes it was a curse, sometimes it was a gift. It usually helped him whenever a girl from his most recent one night stand tried to talk to him the day after. Normally she thought that he was giving her the cold shoulder, which was technically true. Drake did not want to have anything more to do with them outside that one night and wherever they decided to ride out their passion.

“Apologize?” Drake was about to ask her for what but decided to keep his mouth shut. She would tell him sooner or later. He listened quietly as she began to explain why she was apologizing to him, well, barely touched why she was. For a moment, Drake had to sit there as he made sense of her fragmented apology before he let out a ’oh’ in understanding. She was a psychometric. Just like his brother. They had bumped elbows on the plane trip to Aura. This conversation wasn’t leading to anything good.

A sigh escaped him as he stood up and picked up the basketball. He began bouncing it up and down as he made his way onto the court. “In other words…” Drake paused as he picked up the ball and shot it into the basketball and watched it as the ball hit the backboard and through the hoop without hitting the rim. “You know what’s going on between me and Constantine and how we’re finically fucked?” Drake couldn’t sugar coat it, he wasn’t going to sugar coat it.

”You can sit next to me, I don’t mind.”

Okay, so he hadn’t known about her ability. Or, at least, he wasn’t aware of its extremity… no, scratch that. Of course he was. He had to know what Constantine was going though, in any case. She heard him sigh with a sense of approaching dread. Well, at least he understood. Spelling it out was a painful process, usually host to a variety of “Did you see ________?” questions, to which she was designated to respond “yes” repeatedly.

But she felt somehow different this time around. She was more emotionally invested in these two than she was with the majority of the people she brushed up against. The nimbus kids had to survive just a few years at this school, and even if she didn’t get along with all of them they were all she had. Her parents were ashamed of her; they assumed she was a mentally disabled person or merely insane thanks to her ability. Her closest friends had died, and she still couldn’t mourn them. The only thing she really had were the familiar faces of the Nimbus kids. Inhospitable as Aura was, she treasured them more than anything at this moment in time.
“In other words…you know what’s going on between me and Constantine and how we’re finically fucked?”

She knit her fingers together and leaned forward, setting her elbows on her knees, watching as the shot soared through the air, slammed against the backboard, and slipped though the netting. It was so harshly put she couldn’t help but grimace.

“Yeah, I know.” she said resignedly, watching him from her seat, “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, that and apologizing.”

She tried to leave her face unreadable as she finished, not wanting to seem all “high and mighty” in her position. She was well aware of how much trouble the pair were in- agonizingly aware. Come end of term they’d be out on the street or barely scraping by if they got lucky. The thought made her stomach pinch with guilt, just one of the many reasons she couldn’t sleep lately. She had too much money and they had none, but the act of offering help was very delicate. There wasn’t really a good way to do it; she just had to hope that Drake wasn’t too proud to turn it down…

Another small sigh escaped the teen as he jogged after the rolling ball and picked it up. It happened, the thing he did not want to happen happened. Slowly, he began tossing the ball from hand to hand before beginning a two hand dribble. His mind was racing, everything he tried to forget had suddenly rushed back into his mind. The sound of the ball hitting the hardwood floor was getting louder every time Drake pushed it back onto the floor with a little more force. He could practically feel his anger and annoyance growing inside him like a time bomb before he suddenly gripped the ball and slammed it against the floor with all the strength he had. A single word escaped him as he vented his anger through the ball and moved away quickly as it ricocheted off the floor and into the air.

Quickly, Drake moved away as the ball fell back to the floor, unable to defy gravity. He ran his fingers through his hair and gently tugged at as he began walking around the court. Why? Why did people have to be Psychometric? With one touch, they could see something that they were not suppose to see and that was what was happening right now. It wasn’t her fault, he knew that but it didn’t stop him for being angry.

Carrie could have seen anything. From his physical life to his private thoughts and she probably had access to both of them with the elbow bump. Drake was angry, he admitted that and the fact he had a short temper. “Look…” he started as he took a deep shaky breath in attempt to calm himself before he scared the other away. “Don’t tell anyone. Constantine is a smart boy, he probably already knows. I don’t need any Aura kids on my back about it.”

He turned around so he looked as her and slipped his hands into his pockets. “And I’m sorry if I scared you. Short temper.” he murmured hoping that she did not hear his apology. “What did you want to talk about? If you want the entire sob story just come over here and touch me. Or if you actually have a question just say it.”