Sarah tried to look inconspicuous as she walked the pre-class hallways, following one of the threads of energy that kept draining her. Every so often she'd have to stop to concentrate, and that was sometimes difficult with students trying to push past her, but eventually she reached the end of her search. A dead-end hallway near the back of the school that was empty, save for three students, all dressed primarily in black: Zelda Whitefield, Stephanie Wright, and...
Zoe Gibson! It was definitely Zoe Gibson. Of course she was the second wrinkle! She lived with Jon. Something must have happened last night. Somehow, Zoe had gotten entangled. Maybe even Jon's entire family. Those were probably the other lines. Involving more people meant that she was inviting more exposure. What if one of Jon's parents worked with a magic user? What if--
Athena.
Sarah discretely surveyed the small cluster of students again: Zelda, Stephanie, and Zoe. She let out a breath. That meant that Athena was probably still out sick. If Athena detecting Sarah's magic had been a problem before, now the threat was multiplied. Who knew what Athena would do if she thought that Sarah had enchanted one of her own closest friends. Sarah had to get The Stone before Athena caught wind of this. With it, she could certainly fend off anything Athena would throw at her, and potentially even reverse these entangled ley lines. Without it, she'd be at Athena's whim.
Engaging with Zoe was a risky proposition. Becoming more involved might allow Sarah to sway her away from interacting with Athena for even just an extra hour or two to buy some time. But becoming more involved might also raise Zoe's magical profile, leading Athena to detect that something was wrong even from far away, and begin investigating on her own.
But that decision was taken out of Sarah's hands when Zoe turned her head and saw her. "Sarah McMillan? What are you doing out here?"
Sarah felt a pulse of energy leave her. The proximity and the interaction must have strengthened the connection. Immediately, she saw Zoe's posture shift. Back straight. Shoulders back. Just a hint of sway in her hips.
Sarah knew this posture well.
Unfortunately, it drained the posture right out of Sarah. She didn't know how to answer. Her mind wasn't providing her with an answer. She felt so sluggish.
"Well?" Zoe's tone had shifted, too. Now it was less an expression of surprise, and more a command. As though Sarah owed her an explanation. As though Zoe was the queen of the school.
Sarah swallowed. This wasn't good. She took a step forward and glanced away from Zoe. But in so doing, she made eye contact with Zelda. And somehow that made her feel better. Somehow her sluggishness was replaced... with sadness? Was that better?
Sarah surveyed the three goths again, realizing that there was something appealing about their look. She took another step forward. Then another. Each one less cautious, but somehow more apathetic. And each one made under Zoe's newfound withering glare.
"Look," Sarah said finally, "I just think the way you guys style yourselves is really cool. I know you don't expect to hear that from me," and truth be told, Sarah never expected to hear that from herself, "but I just wanted to borrow some makeup, see if I can look a bit more like you guys."
Zoe gave this some thought. Sarah knew this was her low energy acting up again, this time drawing from Zelda and Stephanie, possibly even pulling from Zoe's excess energy as well, influencing her to think this way. But, for the moment, she really did think this way. And for some reason, it was very important that she have Zoe's approval.
"Alright, I believe you," Zoe ruled. "But you've only got like ten minutes before first bell, so you'd better hurry. Zelda?" Zoe turned to her friend with authority, "let Sarah borrow from you."
The other goth obliged, and Sarah spent the next ten minutes carefully redoing her makeup, soaking in teen goth energies, losing more of her own energy to Zoe.
