apollo

[point_b]

It is the first day of the Swan twins's second year at the Phoenix Gemini School, Apollo High, and this time around Alli isn't soliciting reassurance from her sister about conspiracy theories that the schools are designed to brainwash, de-power, or otherwise mishandle their charges. It's basically just high school, with unconventional gym requirements and an above-average proportion of superpowered faculty. And way more money than most public schools, and excellent diversity because the entry requirement cuts neatly across all demographics.

Well, in most conventional demographic respects.

There are no only children here.

Alli and Bella have all their classes together, which is nice - that wasn't always possible in elementary and middle school; here it's a matter of course.

This year they're signed up for gym but they can skip until two weeks into term, at which point they'll have their basics and Bella will be just as competent as anyone else. More so, relative to the general population. She has no idea what bonus she'll get and she's excited anyway. She's going to be able to actually go to dances, and dance at them, if she wants. Not the homecoming dance because that's not for underclassmen, but there will be others.

"Uuuugh," says Alli, "math first thing in the morning."

"Wouldn't it be funny if you said that and you got a math boost of some kind for your bonus?"

"No, that would just be horrible. And sad. Be sad for me if that happens, Bella."

"All right. What do you want to get?"

"I don't even know, is there a point? I'll just get something and so will you and that'll be that."

"Suit yourself."

The bus pulls in and out they get, uniform skirts swishing around their knees, swan emblems matching on their sleeves so everyone can tell who is whose twin.

Comments

[blink_and]

"Portals let you keep momentum. This includes momentum caused by, say, gravity. We've practiced a lot to use this to our advantage. Savannah will go flying, do you want to see?"

[point_b]

"Sure."

[you_miss_it]

Savannah cackles madly. She dashes off, to work up a momentum, then she runs towards a wall -

[blink_and]

- Portal. The second is on the ground, facing up. Savannah goes through the first portal, and then she sails upward, giggling uncontrollably. She loses momentum, flips around mid-air to aim head-facing towards the ground. Portal. She goes flying horizontally, rather than vertically, saying, "Wheeeee!" at the top of her lungs as she flies. Gravity starts taking over, but it doesn't get very far. Portal. Savannah sees this one coming, reorients, and then she bursts through the other portal nearby, lands, and keeps running, with only a little lost speed.

Adana is grinning.

[you_miss_it]

"It is," declares Savannah, circling back around and slowing herself down, "the best thing ever."

[point_b]

Bella laughs. "Nice syncing. Good luck not going splat."

[you_miss_it]

"Don't need it, Adana knows what she's doing. Besides, I am built for high speed, I don't think Ana would fling people that aren't me because they wouldn't react as fast as I can. But yeah, I guess a lot of that is mostly her, so no touchie my twin."

[blink_and]

Adana snorts. "I am extremely careful, I tested that trick with small objects. I wouldn't have used Savannah at all, but she really, really wanted to. Also she kind of dashed through a portal I was testing and I had to play it trial by fire."

[alli_oop]

"What, without asking?"

[you_miss_it]

"Yeaaah, it wasn't my best idea ever."

[blink_and]

"Y'think?"

[point_b]

"Wow."

A bell rings inside the school.

"Uh, look me up in the directory and call me - Isabella Swan - to figure out homecoming logistics," Bella says. "We have math. Nice to meet you both!"

[you_miss_it]

Nod! "Bye! Nice to meet you, too!"

She dashes off, to get to class.

[blink_and]

Her sister doesn't need to go at top speed. Portals.

"I can just give you her phone number, if you like?" laughs Adana.

[point_b]

"Oh, yeah, that works, too." Bella pulls a notebook out of her backpack and a pen out of her hair.

[blink_and]

Adana rattles it off. "Have fun," she says.

Then she waves, makes a portal to somewhere unseen by her sister, and departs.

[point_b]

Bella writes the number down and she and Alli proceed to math.

It's a pretty low-key day for academics, everyone still settling in. A set of twins are excused in the middle of social studies to go anticipate the moments of their birthdays and experiment with their forthcoming powers. Bella and Alli will be getting theirs on a Saturday, which Alli grumps about because it means they don't get to escape any class. They have lunch - they buy; Renée would make it but the cafeteria's actually decent at Gemini schools - and then they go to Spanish.

Apollo - perhaps unlike all Gemini schools, Bella doesn't know, but like many - prioritizes keeping twins together. As such, in subjects where there are a lot of different levels of ability, they're kind of jumbled together. Bella did better than Alli on the Spanish placement test, and they are with a classful of students who have similarly mixed performance instead of an all-high-level or all-low-level classroom. This means that they're also mixed with some kids from other years, if they are sets of twins with one ahead and one behind in their foreign language.

[you_miss_it]

Including one particular set of twins with a shooting star emblem.

"Oh, hey! You're in here! Hi!"

[point_b]

"Oh, hi! Yeah, we are."

[alli_oop]

"Bella's the smart one," says Alli in a loud stage whisper.

[you_miss_it]

"So's Adana," replies Savannah, in the same stage whisper. Then she snickers. "Anyway, hi! I guess we can talk about homecoming now!"

[blink_and]

"Nevermind the actual Spanish," teases Adana.

[alli_oop]

"Yeah, never mind that," says Alli brightly. "Bella's never even been to a dance before, it's way more important."

[point_b]

"Specifically, if I try to dance before I get my basics I will break my neck, but anyway, Savannah, Adana gave me your number. We live pretty nearby, are you day students or overnighters?"

[you_miss_it]

"Yup, she told me. Day students, Ada and I don't actually live nearby but we're us, so it doesn't quite matter as much."