Leticia remembered the smell of smoke while dreaming. This terrible smell signaled that she was in her nightmare again. This memory of that horrible night at summer camp plagued her mind more and more, ever since the concert fire at Underwood, but the dream was different this time. Normally, it would end where she sat at a silver metal table. This time, the dark figures were clear, and they had faces.
One face that came close to her had a brown mustache and was wearing a black police-like outfit. His figure was scary as Leticia wanted to move back from the chair she was sitting in.
“So you won’t answer questions of ours, huh? Kid, you left us no choice but to do this.” The mustached man with a deep voice sighed, moving away from her.
Soon, a lady with bright, white hair in a long, black gown came in and pointed something at her. Leticia stared at the purple wooden stick the woman whispered something in an unfamiliar language she did not know. Then there is a blinding light! That light always wakes her up, appearing from the woman’s wand! Leticia closed her eyes until...
Beep! Beep!
She woke up and fell out of her bed, hitting the floor. Wiping the sand from her eyes, Leticia looked at her beeping alarm clock. She muttered some curses to herself in Spanish, turning it off. Getting and rubbing her neck, Leticia looked around her room in her old family house.
The Apple Queens had planned to meet at the basement at Leticia’s family home before she goes to her side job at the mall. It is time for her to get ready for the day! Leticia dressed herself quicker than usual. She tied up her hair in a neat little bun and went to get a quick breakfast. As she headed downstairs to where her mother rushed herself to get to work, she and Leticia looked at each other for acknowledgement, but did not say a word to each other. She just took an apple and made herself some buttered toast, adding a glass of water on the side.
Leticia and her mother have not talked to each other, since the day Leticia decided to go forward with the surgery to make her powers appear. Taking her breakfast on a tray, she walked out of the room and went down to the basement. Leticia turned on the light when she arrived at the basement. The basement was a little cold and well-ventilated, which was all because of her father’s dedication to fixing every issue here. She sat herself at a brown, flip out table and chairs, near the laundry machines.
Two families shared this basement, since it is a two-family home. The other family who lived there is the Ramsey family, which is also the band’s drummer, Dakota’s family. As Leticia gobbled her breakfast, she cursed herself when she forgot to do a simple exercise to get used to having these freaky powers. Getting up from the table to get a first aid and sewing kit from the shelf, where the washer and the dryer machines are, Leticia put them on the table and opened the first aid to find alcohol wipes, then the sewing kit to find a needle.
When she found a needle, she wiped it with one of the alcohol wipes, and took a deep breath. Leticia looked around to see if Dakota had turned up, then shrugged when she did not find anyone. She took off her wristband and pricked one of her fingers. Blood came out, and it was time for Leticia to practice healing it with her powers. She concentrated on the pain and focused her mind on healing it.
Getting headache from focusing all her energy on that one part of her body! The minor wound healed slowly, and it frustrated Leticia! Her brother, Raphael, told her it would take a while to master her powers fully. She needed to focus on control and listening to her aura. Accessing all her powers would take time and practice.
“I’m listening, Raph, but it ain’t working.” Leticia muttered until a hand touched her shoulder.
Startled, she whirled around to see Dakota.
“Got you!” Dakota sticking her tongue out, jokingly.
Leticia noticed that Dakota was not wearing her favorite brown hat. Her head donned an orange bonnet which means it is Dakota’s “hair day”. Oh, she remembered how ridiculously long Dakota took doing her hair.
“Not funny.” Leticia growled, putting a small bandage on her finger and her suppression wristband back on.
“Ah, come on, Leticia. I was just joking, lighten up.” Dakota pulled up another chair and sat in it, right next to Leticia.
Her eyes lit up, smirking at Dakota, “Hair day? What style are you planning to do this time?”
“Cornrows. I'm gonna have my mom do it this time, since that works for only one person to do. I want to have a hairstyle where I’m not constantly fixing my hair on the road. Girl, gotta have less maintenance and still look good.” Dakota commented, then went to text on her cell phone.
Leticia remembered back in freshman year of high school she had asked Dakota to do her hair in cornrows. Man, those braids hurt her head for days, while Dakota often commented back, “This is normal. Get used to it.”
As the two friends chatted, Dakota asked her what she was doing earlier. Leticia thought fast to think of an answer to cover the fact she has powers. So, she came up with a cover that she was working on getting back into sewing.
“Oh, that’s great! I remember that you wanted to be a fashion designer before. You used to be really into it in middle school. With all the stuff that has been going on with you lately, it’s good to take up a hobby again when you’re doing so much with the band.” Dakota smiled at her. Then the two of them stopped talking to hear footsteps coming down the steps.
It was the three remaining members of the band. Cho is the first one that appeared, wearing a large, gray sweater and black leggings. Her hair is slightly messy, and not wearing her makeup. She carried a box labeled “Marble Cafe” as she waved to the girls and made her way to a chair. Still, to this day, Leticia did not understand why this rich, Korean, Paris Hilton-style girl wants to work among the “peasants” like the other members of the band.
Alas, Cho likes to work, despite being loaded by her daddy’s successful hotels around the area. Still, Leticia felt annoyed at the fact that her bassist brought sweets again. This girl got a lot of money and yet she wastes her money on junk food. Leticia wondered how this girl’s slim figure stayed near perfection up because of her sweet addiction.
“Cho, why?” Leticia groaned at Cho, who was eating a blueberry muffin in front of Dakota and Leticia’s faces.
“They had extras after my shift last night. My boss told me I could take some home. Want some?” Cho offered to the girls, smiling, then licking her fingers to clean the crumbs off.
Dakota and Leticia waved their hands to decline the offer. Next who came down is Raleigh. She is wearing a black sweatsuit with their former high school initialed “HAAH” which stands for Huffington Academy of the Arts High. Her blond hair is up in a messy bun, showing off her bright purple hearing aids and carrying a notebook and pen. Raleigh had slight dark circles under her eyes.
Dakota told Leticia that she is often up late most nights, working and refining their songs. The band’s fans called Raleigh, the “most beautiful member” which is the half of the reason that the band is popular. Leticia thought to herself, why the hell this annoying, perfectionist girl still considered beautiful if she dresses crappy?
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