Extra Ordinary

[Dagfinn]

Wednesday, it was always Wednesday. At least this was the day Everlyn-Lee liked best. This may be group therapy but if she could make the group as small as possible, she would. Out of all the meetings there are, this always had the least amount of people. Six, plus her making seven. Of course varying slightly time to time.
"Hello Everlee," such a sickly sweet voice. The woman was nice, honest, but there was something about her that rubbed Everlyn-Lee wrong. Perhaps it was her overly earnest optomism, it felt inhuman.
"Good evening Carla," Everlyn-Lee faked a smile, short and weak, and walked through the door passed the woman. Taking a seat Everlyn-Lee's fingers wrapped around the edge of the seat. Plastic chairs and techno coloured carpets, it was enough to invoke the horrors of grade school. Another reason to hate being here... Deep breath, keep quiet... No need for anyone to realize she's more on edge than normal.

 

[AnarchySong]

Well this was... different. Uncomfortable. Jack Lawrence sighed as he looked up from the flyer in his hand. The building wasn't ugly, per se, but he couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling in his stomach. It felt like... betrayal. This wasn't who he was, was it? His sister's earnest words rang in his ears as he gripped the piece of paper tighter.


"You're going to have to accept it at some point, Jack" she had said. Her good intentions made it even harder. And the worst part? She was right. It had been long enough. Twenty-four years of waiting was more than enough time to accept the fact that he was one of the unlucky few, but Jack had never gotten around to it.


"Shit..." he sighed under his breath. "Might as well get it over with." It definitely wasn't going to get any easier, that was certain.


He was greeted at the door by a woman he equated to the building. Not ugly but not what he'd call reassuring. Twice his age easily, it was clear she had accepted her role in the world a long time ago.


"Hello!" she chirped. Jack had to force himself not to grimace, instead affixing the best approximation of a smile he could muster to his face. "You must be the newest addition to our family!" she added.


"Yeah that's... that's me..." Jack forced out. "A real... family guy... You must be Carla?"


"That's right!" she continued, either not noticing his obvious discomfort or choosing to tactfully ignore it. "You're just in time. We're about to start. Come on in and sit down. There's an open seat next to Everlee, there. Don't worry, she doesn't bite... much!" Jack tasted bile as she tittered at her own non-joke.


Jack saw the empty chair she indicated, next to a girl who had perked up just slightly at the mention of her name, but had quickly averted her attention back to the floor a moment later. Making his way over, Jack situated himself as comfortably as possible in the chair to the girl's left. Six others sat to her right, the chairs arranged in a semicircle. Jack paid them no mind. He wasn't here to make friends, after all. He hardly expected to come back after tonight anyways.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Well, since we have someone new tonight~ Why don't we introduce ourselves, shortly," Carla pulled up another seat for herself, being the last to sit down. No one appeared interested in starting first. This is the group of most resistance, most of the people here did not want to be here. Or at least if they did want to be here, they were still withdrawn and quiet. Everlyn-Lee tried out a few different meetings, and different groups. This one defiantly fit her best, the only one of them that prodded her often was Carla... Understandable.

"Everlee, why don't you start?" Carla offered, quickly breaking the silence.

Hesitation... Everlyn-Lee glanced over to the newcomer briefly, they were introducing themselves for him after all. Though... She couldn't bring herself to keep looking at him, instead turning her attention to the empty air.

"My name is Everlyn-Lee, I've been in this group for 5 months now... Uhh-" Another man in the group stifled a groan, rolling his eyes.

"Keith, do you have something to say?" Carla's tone dipped to something harsh. Out of everyone Keith always seemed the most jaded, Everlyn-Lee always wondered why he even came. He did speak the least, so it was hard to figure him out. His gaze wondered over to Everlyn-Lee, eyes narrow and thoughtful. Unsure if he should share the things on his mind. Before he spoke, the man stood up forcfully enough to push the chair back.

"I'm sick of this rich bitch's unwarranted misery," his voice cold with little rage, but there was still a deep sense of anger.

"Rich? I-I'm n-" he walked out and Everlyn-Lee didn't feel the need to finish, her hands nervously picking at her cuticles. Her family was rich. Her mother renown actress Ann-Marie Johnson a woman with the ability to shape shift and extraordinary acting talent. There was not a role she couldn't fill, and there wasn't a man women or child who hadn't seen at least one movie she was in. It helped that she had virtually no age and could be in the business far longer than most actors. Then there was her father a screenwriter and director who harbored a much subtler, yet effective, ability. To retain all the details and knowledge from a book, simply from the touch of it. Helping him to become an incredible writer and story teller. That wasn't the limit to her families talent, though her parents were by far the most successful in the family. To be fair to Keith, it was her own choice not to accept any of the money her parents offered... There was one thing Everlyn-Lee knew about Keith, it was that he always had a hard time keeping or even getting jobs. Sure not everyone could be powerful, but most everyone had power. Everyone she knew had a job that somehow involved their abilities, having no abilities at all can sometimes make it hard to find work. If Everlyn-Lee were to ever loss work she could very easily turn to her family for help, Keith had no such option.

"Everlee-" she cut Carla off.



"It's alright, he was probably just having a bad day... I'm not upset," another fake smile. Everlyn-Lee tried to give him the benefit of the doubt... He did honestly have it worse than her, as far as she could tell. Though, it was still somewhat upsetting.

 

[AnarchySong]

Huh. Only two minutes in and they were already down a member. Jack's expectations hadn't been high but... well whatever. Keith seemed like a dick anyways. Though she said she wasn't upset, the girl was obviously not quite as ok with what he had said as she claimed. A few awkward moments passed before she continued, explaining her family's success. Jack knew how she felt. Not because she was rich. He certainly wasn't. He knew the pain of being the only one growing up in a family of talented magic users. Though his parents and sister couldn't boast the same notoriety as Everlee's, it couldn't be that far off. Always wondering if he was a burden. He knew they didn't think of him that way. His family loved him. But the fear was always there, gnawing away at the back of his mind. He sensed the same fear in Everlee.


Gradually the other members of the group introduced themselves as well, giving him a brief glimpse of themselves. They didn't say much but Jack picked up enough. He was good with people. He had to be. His interpersonal skills were the closest thing he had to magic, and they'd served him well. As they spoke Jack knew that this must be the worst group. These people were the bottom of the barrel, at their wits end. Several of them dealt with it better than the others, but it must have been brutal for them trying to get by.


Besides Keith there was Daniel, whose wife had left him because of his lack of magic. Greg was a middle-aged man who had no children after his son disowned him. Vani had to contend with not only the stigma of being powerless, but an immigrant as well. She was intelligent, but her options were limited.


As the introductions finally rolled back around to him, he felt... embarrassed. Compared to these people his problems seemed paltry in comparison. At least he had people who cared about him. Nevertheless, he had promised his sister he would try...


"My name is Jack. I'm 24" he began, making a point not to make eye contact with anyone. "I'm a student... uhh..." He frowned. Being at a loss for words was rarely a problem for him, but he found himself struggling.


Thankfully Carla seemed to sense his discomfort. "How about starting with why you're here tonight, hm?"


"Yeah, ok... My... my sister convinced me to come. She's worried about me, I guess. I've never really accepted that I don't have any abilities and I've been thinking that maybe... I dunno... maybe it's time to face the music?"

 

[AnarchySong]

Jack could practically hear the speech that Lucy had given him. When his sister had approached him several days before, it was at the tail end of another of his attempts at forcing out some sort of power. Anything, really. Lucy was an accomplished pyromancer, which probably explained her anger at discovering him nearly lighting his own hair on fire. Fire magic did not, as it were, run in the family.


Pulling himself back to the present, he continued.


"I can't claim to know what the rest of you are going through. I mean I don't exactly have it bad I just... I don't really know where to go from here, you know? I thought that magic would just... come to me, eventually, if I kept trying. It's gotten pretty clear that isn't the case, though..." he trailed off.


It became clear after several seconds that he didn't intend to go on, and Carla once again picked up the slack.


"Well... Now that we're all acquainted with one another, Everlee, I believe we left off with you last week? Any new developments?"

 

[Dagfinn]

"Yes uhm," Everlyn-Lee figited with the lowest button on her shirt, doing and undoing it with one hand. This seemed to be reflexive as she spoke, paying no mind to it and looking off into blank space.
"My niece Katrine, my brothers daughter, she's three, recently showed her abilities. So my brother thought it would be fun to have a little get together to celebrate. I wasn't gonna go at first... Ah but- my therapist convinced me to." Everlyn-Lee took just a moment too long to continue, figuring what to say next.

"So how did it go?" Carla asked, poking her forward.

"Well, it was... Well. She can quit literally walk on water, I'm sure it makes bathes an ordeal" for the first time that night Everlyn-Lee gave a genuine smile, giving a slight laugh at her clearly awful joke. Shifting to a more somber mode after only a moment, "I worried that someone would bring up my, eh, inabilities I guess. No one did so that was good, well..." for a moment she stopped fidgeting with her button, more inwardly focused.
"My uncle made a crack about it, but honestly. I don't even listen to half the things that come out of his mouth anymore."

 

[AnarchySong]

"What did he say?" Jack piped up, surprising everyone with his sudden comment. Everlee looked over at him with a curious expression, seemingly trying to decide if he was trying to be a jerk or if he had something else in mind.


"Jack, I hardly think that's appropriate" Carla admonished half-heartedly, apparently caught off guard by his forwardness.


"Sorry" he quickly amended. "I'm not trying to be a dick, I promise." He cast a sideways glance at Everlee again. "I still want to know, though."


In truth, Jack didn't care overly much about the answer. But he could tell that there was more bothering this girl than just a toddler showing signs of magic.

 

[Dagfinn]

"It's alright Carla," Everlyn-Lee assured, being earnest this time he seemed genuinely interested and it didn't bother her. There was many things that could easily upset her, but her uncle was not one of them. For a moment the girl looked over at Jack, but as usual her attention turned back into emptiness as she spoke. Finding it a bit hard to keep eye contact for too long.
 


"The question is reasonable. But, eth, I don't remember exactly what he said anyway. It was like five days ago. Some dumb comment asking if I had any new hobbies, he thinks he's funny... He's really not."
With her wondering eyes Everlyn-Lee caught a glimpse of a clock hung on the wall... This went surprisingly fast tonight.
"Not to be rude, but I'm in a bit of a hurry to head home. I hope you don't mind if I head out now."

Carla checked her watch, "wow, where does the time go?" She looked up at the rest of the group, "well if no one else has something to say tonight, I suppose we could wrap this up a couple minutes early?"
Of course no one else had anything else to say, they never really did.

 

[AnarchySong]

Jack watched as the assembled group quickly disbanded, the first to leave being Everlee as she slung a bag over her shoulder and made a beeline for the exit. Jack frowned. She'd seemed... on edge, somehow. Whatever. Not his business. With a sigh he stood as well. He'd done what Lucy had asked him to and come to a session. Now he could get out of here and hopefully never come back.


"Did you enjoy your first session?" Jack pulled up just short of the door, closing his eyes in exasperation as Carla flagged him down. Hastily mustering another fake smile, he spun around.


"Oh... yeah... totally" he lied. "I'm sure my sister will be proud of me" he grimaced inwardly, hating how stupid he sounded.


"We're always happy to have new family members" Carla went on, oblivious to his inner laments. "I hope we'll see you again next week?" she asked, prompting him for a confirmation he really wasn't interested in giving.


"Yeah... uhhmmmm... mhmm" he replied noncommittally, sidling backwards ever so slightly. "I'm sure it'll be... fun. But I've gotta get going I've got... homework." Another lie.


"Oh, well then... thank you ever so much for joining us. Safe trip home!"


Jack gave another small fake smile before retreating outside. The cold streets of Vancouver in January greeted him, prompting him to pull his jacket shut tighter around him. The walk to the bus stop would be an unpleasant one. However, rounding the corner he came up short.


He had assumed she'd left straight away, but Everlee stood with her back to the building wall, one hand fiddling with the bottom button of her shirt, the other holding a cigarette. To her left was perhaps the least likely person Jack would have thought to see: Keith. He hadn't pegged her as a smoker, but it partially explained why she might have been so obviously agitated. Why she would be talking to the man who not an hour ago had called her a "rich bitch", however, Jack couldn't begin to guess.


He knew he shouldn't, but he felt compelled to ask.


"So... you two are friends now?"

 

[Dagfinn]

"No, he's still an ass-hat," Everlyn-Lee answered bluntly, putting out the cigarette on the brick wall. It wasn't nearly finished, but she really wasn't much for smoking. Every once in awhile she might smoke one, but for the most part it was avoided.
"And she's still a whiny bitch," Keith shrugged, taking a long drag on his cigarette. He actually stayed behind and apologized to her, though it wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go. Everlyn-Lee found it a bit of a surprise, but she wasn't sure if she cared much of it. The apology wasn't exactly necessary.
Jack didn't stay long, turning to leave. Everlyn-Lee fumbled a bit, pushing herself off the walk and walking over to him.
"H-Hey uh, I obviously am not actually in a rush home... If you're not- uh, busy or anything," Everlyn-Lee wasn't entierly sure why  she was asking him out. He seemed interesting... At least more than anyone else in the group. Though she never made it a habit to socialize if she didn't have to.
"Well I mean... There's a pretty decent pub not far from here, if you'd like to come," she finished. Part of her hoped that he would decline, at the very least she could say that for once she tried to step out of her comfort zone.

 

[AnarchySong]

Wait... was she... asking him out? He was taken aback for a moment. Of all the things he had been expecting from group therapy, a date certainly wasn't one of them.


Keith rolled his eyes and flicked his cigarette away, turning to leave. Jack thought he caught something along the lines of "thirsty bitch" muttered under his breath as he walked away. Everlee seemed not to hear it.


"I, uh... you're serious? Like you and me? Getting a drink? Together?" She nodded. Jack glanced to the side, reddening a bit. "Well, I mean if you're offering..."


Jack gave her another once over. She certainly wasn't hard on the eyes. Then again he'd always had a thing for girls with glasses. Though why she'd singled him out, he couldn't fathom.

 

[Dagfinn]

He... He said yes, or at least that's what he meant. Everlyn-Lee faulted a moment "ehm," swallowing nothing she attempted to straighten herself out so as to not look like a total idiots.
"It's not that far, only four blocks away. We can walk."
Everlyn-Lee could not think of the last time she had asked somebody out... In fact she really couldn't think of a first time for it happening. So she didn't really expect much, he actually accepted her offer? Maybe this was a bad idea. She quickly pushed the thoughts out of her mind, it didn't matter now. It's not like she could ask and then suddenly bail out.

 

[AnarchySong]

"Uhh... yeah... sure. That's cool" Jack replied, still trying to process the situation. Everlee seemed even more flustered than he was. Apparently she didn't do this sort of thing often. Not that he had room to talk. It had been longer than he cared to admit since the last time he'd been on a date, and even longer since he'd gotten la-


...


Nevermind. Best not to get ahead of himself.


In any case, Everlee looked like she was liable to run off at any moment. He should focus on the present.


"Lead the way?" he asked.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Oh yes, right," Everlyn-Lee fumbled slightly before she started walking to the pub. What in the holy hell was she doing?

The night was still young, but it was a Wednesday. So the pub was fairly empty. The two ended up sitting at the bar instead of a table. The conversation was a bit strained, but it never went completely silent. Everlyn-Lee did seem to be putting in an effort, she just didn't seem like she knew what she was doing with herself. Her hands always fiddling with something or her eyes never focused on Jack himself.

"Hey uhm..." She interrupted him, setting her drink down, "I think I figured out why I asked you out here."
There was a pause, but she started up again before he said something else.
"I have some advice, or a warning. Whatever you wanna see it as," for once she was actually looking at him, and her words were genuine. Not some empty small talk that she attempted because it was the correct thing to do. "You shouldn't go to those meetings," Everlyn-Lee nervously tugged at her ear, stiffing a stupid laugh, "you're not the right kind of person for it. Those meetings are more for those who have given up... Like," she wasn't sure how to say it, "not just abilities, but on life. It's depressing, you don't belong there."
With that Everlyn-Lee downed some of her drink, she felt like she said what she really needed to here.

 

[AnarchySong]

Jack considered her words for a moment, running them over in his head. He'd definitely gotten a sense of... hopelessness from the group. He'd gone there not knowing what to expect but he couldn't say he was surprised. Honestly he'd been hoping for powers for so long that he had no idea what it would be like to just... give it up. To just... give up.


Lucy had asked him to give it a try because she thought it would help. She cared. She wanted him to move on and live a life within realistic expectations. But now, having seen it? Having been there? He couldn't imagine that giving up trying, even in vain, could be any better. He didn't want to end up like Keith, jaded to the point where hating the world was his only option. Jack just wasn't that kind of person. But then again...


He frowned, giving Everlee a searching look. She didn't strike him as that kind of person either. Sure, she was awkward and shy, but there was more there.


"What about you then?" he asked. Everlee glanced up from her drink, looking surprised. He continued. "You'll forgive me for saying so, but I don't think you belong there either. So what's the deal?"

 

[Dagfinn]

As shy as Everlyn-Lee might be, it wasn't until that comment that she blushed. Her not belonging there... She certainly wished that were true.
"I, heh, I gave up a good while before I joined the group. But I'm, I'm glad," Everlyn-Lyn looked down at her lap covering up a nervous laugh, "well, I'm glad I don't carry an heir of misery about me. I might be mopey, but if I can help it I try not to look it."

 

[AnarchySong]

Jack was perplexed.  This girl was hard to read. She said that she had given up but... it didn't add up. And maybe he was wrong, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find out.


"Hmmm.... nah" he said. "I don't buy it."


For the first time that night Everlee actually locked eyes with him intentionally, a slight frown evident on her face. Jack, however, was smirking slightly. At least he'd gotten some sort of reaction.


He continued. "You say you're so depressed or that you've "given up", but I'm having a hard time believing you. There's gotta be more to it than that."


For her part Everlee looked slightly annoyed. That smirk of his was infuriating for reasons she couldn't fathom. "I'm trying to tell you-"


"And I'm saying it doesn't make sense" Jack said, cutting her off. "How about this. If you've got such a low opinion of yourself how about you tell me what made you that way."

 

[Dagfinn]

"I..." Everlyn-Lee looked down at her glass, the thing nearly empty. Sharing this kind of thing with a stranger... She had no obligation to, it didn't matter what he thought but at the same time there was nothing stopping her from sharing...
After a moment Everlyn-Lee quickly downed the last of her drink, looking back up at Jack. No longer giggly and nervous, she was calm and serious.
"This is a road I don't think you want to take, are you certain?"

 

[AnarchySong]

In response, Jack grabbed his whiskey from bar in front of him and downed it in a single gulp. Giving Everlee a defiant stare he spoke:


"Try me"

 

[Dagfinn]

There was some hesitation in Everlyn-Lee. Then she seemed to be pulling slightly at her collar though after a moment she pulled at a chain, a necklace that her shirt covered up. At the end of the chain was two rings silver rings, while one was merely scuffed up the other was so badly bent that it was unwearable.
"I was engaged about a year and a half ago..." Everlyn-Lee fiddled with the bent ring, smiling just slightly "oh, I never ever thought I would get married... But, heh, he wouldn't take no for an answer. And when I got pregnant..." Everlyn-Lee sighed slightly and tucked the rings back into her shirt, "but, things don't always work out..."

 

[AnarchySong]

"What happened to them?" Jack asked, considerably less aggressively than before. It was clear that the conversation was bringing up bad memories and he didn't want to push her too hard. "Are they just somewhere else or...?" By the look of that ring on Everlee's necklace, it sounded like a worst case scenario, but he didn't want to assume.

 

[Dagfinn]

"Hmmm, car accident," another drink was given to Everlyn-Lee and she downed some before finishing, being rather blunt, "hospital, mortuary, grave."
Why was she talking about this to him? It certainly wasn't what she planned to do tonight, or any night for that matter. Everlyn-Lee did not know him at all, and they weren't likely to see one another again... Maybe that was it.
"Enough about that though, it's not important now..." Then she started at her drink again, yet again avoiding eye contact.

 

[AnarchySong]

Jack didn't know what to say. That... that was definitely more than he had bargained for. He watched Everlee stare into her drink sadly, one hand fiddling with the bottom button of her shirt. He couldn't claim to have been through anything remotely as horrible as what this girl must have experienced. And yet still...


"That's... wow... I, uh..." he stammered, struggling to find the words. "I'm sorry for prying. I should have been more considerate. But... there's one more thing, if you don't mind." Everlee looked back at him, not angry just... resigned. "Why this group? Why a support group for people without magic? If I'd gone through half of what you did I imagine living without powers wouldn't seem like such a burden anymore."

 

[Dagfinn]

"Well... Even before it all happened I still had a therapist, and lack of ability has always been a big issue for me. I'd been offered the group sessions a few times, but I felt confident... Enough. Whenever I felt particularly down I always had, him, to help me out." Everlyn-Lee sighed, trying to stop fidgeting for a moment. "I don't like to over analyze things... But after it all happened I think instead of my emotions being directed at the situation, my mind just focused on what I've resented all my life."
Everlyn-Lee chewed at her lower lip a second, "It's a lot of therapy talk, I try to tune it out when I can. But I guess it makes sense..."

 

[AnarchySong]

"Yeah but... you've gotta be happy sometimes, right?" Jack asked. Everlee gave him a quizzical look. "I can tell you've put a lot of effort into... dealing with this but, and forgive me for saying so, are you trying to work through it?"


He knew it sounded insensitive, but even with all she'd been through it almost seemed like she was actively trying to make herself bad. Jack was certainly no therapist, but he was reasonably certain that Carla's group didn't exactly have the highest success rate, if such a thing could even be quantified.