I knew it was Virginia because of the quieter footsteps trailing behind her. No one other than Rachel, Virginia’s sister, follows anyone around so closely. 
 
“Hi losers!” she said, smirking. “Are you ready to lose to me? You know I’m better than you and your parents’ combined skills.”
 
I wanted to hurt her so badly. Her platinum blond hair fell in perfect waves, complimenting her hazel eyes well. I hate how she looks good all the time. I was about to say something back, but Lilac put a hand on my shoulder. 
 
“Remember what happened last time you got mad. Control yourself. She’s just trying to infuriate you.” She whispered. I feel like she should be tall for her age, not small because she acts similar to how my mom used to act. Well, she has the self-control my mom had, she needs to work on thinking ahead. She should be tall because I think of my mom being taller than me, not the other way around. 
 
I take a deep breath. Lilac is right, she is just trying to make me mad. I remember that day well. He had it coming though. A boy had been teasing me. At one point he said, “I bet your parents are even uglier than you.”
 
If he had only called me ugly, I would have just brushed it off and ignored him. Instead, he called my parents ugly, and I don’t let anyone talk badly about my parents and get away with it. Before I realized what I was doing, I turned into a tiger and swiped at him with my paw, throwing him into a wall. I regained control of myself and my powers, gasping in horror. I couldn’t believe that I had just done that. After I turned into a human, I called the police. I told them there was an unconscious kid I found while taking a shortcut to a doctor’s appointment that I was late to. The police came over immediately and didn’t question why I wasn’t at the scene. They thought I was at a doctor’s appointment. Luckily no one else was around to see my powers. 
 
Once I heard the sirens of a police car turn the corner of the street that leads to the alleyway, I ran. It was one of the most terrifying experiences in my life. If they figured out it was me, they would figure out I had supernatural powers. They knew no regular human is that strong. I ran into an alleyway nearby, and once I saw the ambulance they put the kid in, I headed back over. I hid behind the wall listening to what they said. They concluded an animal must have done it because it was more powerful than a human punch could be. It had left a few cracks in the alleyway wall. They were barely there, but they were there. That night he died in the hospital. He deserved it though. Only Lilac knew I did it, and that was because she knows we are the only ones who can shapeshift. 
 
I hurt two other kids because they said mean things about my parents, but I didn’t kill them because we were in school instead of an alleyway, and Lilac stopped me. 
 
I took a deep breath. Everyone knows I'm sensitive about my parents. After the two kids I hurt, only Virginia says mean things about them. She only talks about them when Lilac is around. She knows I could send her to a hospital if no one is there who can calm me down.  
 
“Go away, Virginia. Go bother Jordan instead.” I say, taking another deep breath. She glares at me as I say that, her face turning red from embarrassment. It’s obvious she has a crush on him, she talks to him any chance she gets and goes to all of his recitals, even though she hates watching dance. I don’t know how he hasn’t realized it yet. Virginia opens her mouth to say something but stops as the judges walk over. She goes back to her project, getting ready for the judges to inspect it. 
 
“Hello. You must be Lilac. My name is Ms. Smith. This is Mr. Sam. Could you please tell us about your project?” Ms. Smith asks Lilac. 
 
“Sure!” Lilac responds brightly. She goes on to explain photosynthesis and plant nutrients and to show off her Venus Flytrap, which she feeds a fly to through a hole in a bottle and closes so the fly doesn’t get out. The scientists watch with fascination, scribbling on the clipboards. When Lilac is finished, they turn to me, their white coats swaying with their movement. 
 
“You must be Lily! Can you explain your project?” Ms. Smith asks me. 
 
“Of course!” I respond as brightly as I can, but I still hear a quiver of fear in my voice. I step aside to show my Ruth Goldberg machine. “As you can see, the marble hasn’t moved yet. The marble only goes if I, or another force, push it.” I push the ball. “That is Newton’s first law. The mass of the marble is 15 kg. This machine measures the acceleration I used to push the marble. When you multiply the mass times the acceleration, you get the force of the marble. That is Newton’s second law. The marble rolling down the cardboard ramp is gravitational potential energy. When it hits the dominoes, it stops rolling, changing its kinetic energy into potential energy using energy transformations. Because of the law of conservation of energy, the marble has the same amount of energy; it just switches the type of energy, not the amount. The dominoes use kinetic energy to hit the other dominoes. In the end, a domino hits a ball in Newton’s cradle. Newton’s third law states that when two objects interact, they apply forces to each other of equal magnitude and opposite direction. The balls will keep on swinging back and forth because of this. One ball applies its forces to the other ball, which applies it back to the first ball when it hits it.” I finish. I hope I did well. I don’t think I explained it too fast, I think. I have a habit of talking too fast when I get nervous or excited, and right then I was both. 
 
I look up at Ms. Smith and Mr. Sam. They look impressed, which seems good. “Thank you. Your demonstration was extremely detailed.” Mr. Sam says to me. Then they walk over towards Jordan, whose project was on evolution.
 
I turn to Lilac once they leave. “Yours was great!”
 
“Thank you. So was yours! Your machine is cool.” She responds. “I do feel bad for the fly though.” 
 
“Don’t worry. It’s the circle of life.” I say. 
 
“Thanks,” she replies. “You know, the sunlight coming through the window looks cool with your freckles.”
 
“You always say my freckles look good at noon.” I laugh. Then I hear a soft hissing sound. It is soft enough that you can barely hear it, but it’s there. “Do you hear that?” I ask.
 
“Yes. It’s probably Rachel’s project. Hers is really cool. She definitely has a chance of winning. Although, no offense to her, she isn’t very good at science.” Lilac responds. I remembered. She once made something explode in class. We glance over at her project to see an empty bottle that has the word ‘potassium’ written on it. Potassium is an element that can start a fire and have a small explosion if it touches water. Water is right below it, and the water is starting to steam, which is why it’s making a hissing sound. Rachel is allergic to potassium, but the judges don’t know that. I don’t think anyone else has noticed. The hissing is hard to hear. I could tell it was about to explode. I have to do something, but what? It will explode before I can get to the judges to tell them what’s happening, I can barely see them over the crowd of people. The only reason I see the potassium and water is because I was looking over the table and the tables only have projects. If I try to walk on a table it will fall, they are flimsy and years old.
 
Before I could say anything Lilac jumps up into the air and turns into her bird form. Since she has black hair with silver tips, her bird form is a black crow with silver feathers lining the underside of her wings. She’s trying to blow air onto the water so that when the fire starts it will be smaller, I realize. She won’t be able to blow out the flame on her own, her wings are too small. I have no choice. I have to help her. She could end up spreading the fire with the wind her wings are making if they don’t create enough wind to put the fire out. I quickly turn into my bird form. Since my form is a hawk, my wings can help fan out the flame and protect Rachel. I fly opposite Lilac so that the water has wind coming at it from two different angles. 
 
For a second, everyone is staring at Rachel and me, wondering why there are two birds here. Then the chemical explodes. Everything turns slow. The lilac-colored flame is small because our wings are blowing air onto it. I flap my wings as hard as I can to put out the fire. Some potassium comes out of the bottle because of the explosion. I open my wings to block it from hitting Rachel. It’s not bad for me because it’s only one drop. I know potassium is bad for eyes and skin for everyone, but for Rachel, if one drop hits her skin, she could die. 
 
Once she got some on her during science class and she almost died. Luckily, we had an EpiPen so she didn’t die, but she still had to go to the hospital for two weeks. Since I used my wing to protect her, maybe the droplet won’t even hit my skin. Well, I’m almost certain it’s bad for the eyes and skin. I get distracted during science sometimes. Mr. Swas, my other teacher, is so much better at making classes more interesting. 
 
I shake my head to break myself out of my thoughts. Now is not the time to debate whose classes are better. I need to figure out how to turn into a human without anyone figuring out who we are. I think. The fire has gone out from the wind we made. 
 
“Pretend you are a regular bird and have no idea what’s happening. Maybe they will think we got in through the door and happened to be in the right place at the right time.” I squawk at Lilac. I start flying in circles and squawk random things so people don’t know I was talking to her. After I flew in a few circles I flew up to the window, purposely banging into it but not hard enough to get hurt. I wanted them to think I was a real bird and that I didn’t know there was glass there. I looked down at the school below me. I looked at the teachers and they looked like they fell for it, but they only did because they had no other explanation for what was happening. We would have to be more careful from now on though. I could tell they were suspicious. 
 
“I have a rabbit, hawk!” I heard someone call out. It was Mr. Garce. He must have learned about hawks in police school training. We were probably going to dissect the rabbits in class. I flew over towards the meat. Mr. Garce started running, and I chased after him and the meat. When he reached the door, he opened it and threw the rabbit outside. I dove for the rabbit as Mr. Garce shut the door. 
 
Since I was hungry, I ate the rabbit. It tasted good, but I would have preferred it cooked. I can eat raw food, but there is a larger chance I will get salmonella than most animals. I flew into the sky and called for Lilac. 
 
“Where are you?”
 
“Over here.” She cawed back. I look around to see her perched on top of a tree. I fly over to a branch beside her. 
 
“What were you thinking? You almost exposed us! I bet you that some people saw us transform! You’re lucky the teachers didn’t find out, but they were still suspicious.” I screech once I land.
 
“She could have gotten hurt! You know if any potassium touches her, she’ll die! And there were fires!” Lilac screeches back, but I can tell she knows she was wrong. 
 
I take a deep breath. “We have fire alarms. And yes, it may have hurt some people, but the school has insurance. I had to turn into a bird so I could help you to not get found out! You know that since you are small in your human form, you are going to be smaller in all of your forms. Even if it were just me fanning the flames, I wouldn’t have been able to do much. Since your wings do something, it helps, especially with wind from two directions, but if I wasn’t there, you could have spread the fire instead. Don’t forget that since we resemble our human forms in our animal forms, people might recognize us. There aren’t any regular crows with silver feathers lining their wings. I know you meant well, but try to think ahead next time,” I say.
 
“I will, I'm sorry,” Lilac says softly, hanging her head. 
 
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell,” I say. “Let's go back.”
 
“Ok. We’ll say I’m afraid of hawks so you took me outside to calm down.”  Lilac said as we soared down from the tree. “You should have seen you bump into the window. It was hilarious!” "I can't help but let out a little giggle but because I'm still a hawk, it just sounds like I’m choking.
 
“Yeah, now I know why we never hear birds laugh,” Lilac says, back in her human form. I shift into my human form, and we start walking back to school. 

It was one o’clock so we headed over to history class. Mr. Swas teaches history and language arts, which are Lilac’s and my last classes of the day. Mr. Swas is my favorite teacher, but history is my least favorite subject. Lilac likes it but prefers science. I prefer language arts. 
 
Lilac pushes open the door to the classroom. The desks are facing the front of the room, and Mr. Swas is talking about the Constitution. 
 
“You’re late.” he says, giving us his ‘explain’ look. 
 
“Well, I saw the crow at the fair, and I hate crows, so Lily took me outside to calm down. It’s a long story.” Lilac explains. I play along with the lie. 
 
“Yup. She’s all good now though, so we came back.” I add. 
 
“Ok. Well, we are learning about the second amendment, the right to bear arms. Please take your seats.” Mr. Swas says. 
 
I walk over to my seat which is in the middle of the room. Lilac’s is near the left side of the window. She’s lucky, she can look out the window if she gets bored. I’m too far away to see what’s happening outside. Now I’m stuck looking at Mr. Swas. 
 
He’s wearing all navy again. I think that’s his favorite color since it’s pretty much the only color I’ve seen him wear. He does have a silvery wolf on his shirt, so that adds a bit of color. I wonder how old he is. Old enough to be balding. He has two young sons though, so not too old. I’ll have to ask Rachel. It’s possible she didn’t see the files though, and she was just the messenger girl for Virginia. No way I’m asking Virginia though. Then again, Rachel never really leaves her side. I still don’t know how they got into his files. Mr. Garce probably let them in, they are his nieces after all. I sigh. Oh well. He is balding. He has a circle of hair on the top of his head, a bald spot around it, and then more short gray hair. He also has a short beard that goes a tiny bit under his chin. 
 
Suddenly a fire truck's sirens break me out of my thoughts. Oh no. Is this going to be another dad joke moment? Don’t do it. No. I think to myself. Sure enough, he says it.
 
“Wow, that was pretty alarming.” Mr. Swas says. The whole class groans in unison and a few people shake their heads. Mr. Swas is a dad of two young boys and has a wife. He is famous at this school for his terrible dad jokes. “What? I think that one was pretty punny!” He says. 
 
“How long did you stay up last night coming up with that one?” Jordan asks. I can’t help but smile at that. I swear, Mr. Swas must spend hours making dad jokes at home. Maybe that’s what he does when his sons wake him up at midnight and he can’t fall back asleep. It’s become our little class joke to think about how long it takes him to come up with these. I’m surprised he hadn’t said any jokes until now. I hear a laugh come from the door. 
 
It’s Chief Thalia. She is almost as tall as the doorway, which makes sense because she’s at least 6 feet in height. Her straight hair is black but fades into teal near the top of her head. Somehow, with her brown eyes, olive skin, and freckles, she can pull off the hair color. I didn’t know she liked dad jokes. She is kinda scary and no one knows much about her. Mr. Swas seems scary, but he’s actually really kind. He loves taking his kids out to the park. 
 
“I was just going to ask you, Mr. Swas, about the incident? Could you please step outside for a moment?” Chief Thalia asks. 
 
“Sure. Don’t do anything bad while I’m gone.” Mr. Swas tells us as he leaves. 
 
Virginia immediately goes over to Jordan and starts talking to him. Rachel follows, but she glances at us, my multicolored eyes meeting her brown ones. She nods as if to say thank you, then turns back to Virginia. I walk over to Lilac.
 
“Do you think anyone knows?” I whisper.
 
“No, why? Who do you think knows?” She whispers back. 
 
“I’ll tell you later. I don’t want us to bring any extra attention to ourselves because people think we’re keeping secrets” I whisper back. “So, how's life?” I ask in a normal voice. 
 
“Good, I guess,” she responds. Whenever I don’t know what to talk about with someone, I ask that question. I don’t know why, but I do. Lilac and I both start laughing, finally breaking my last lingering piece of annoyance at her.
 
Soon Mr. Swas comes back in. “I’m back. We are all good, don’t worry.” He says. Then he gets back to lecturing us about the Constitution. As Chief Thalia leaves, she glances at Lilac and me, but only for a moment. I shake my head. She can’t know. 
 
I soon find myself thinking about her. How we’ve never seen her family. She has a few people she talks with, but she is usually working or in the town library’s murder mystery section. I’m not surprised she likes that type of stuff, probably because she’s a police officer and sometimes works with detectives. 
 
Ring! The bell shakes me out of my thoughts. Finally, school is over! I head out the classroom door, passing Virginia and her other teammates playing soccer. I have no idea how her sweat doesn’t wash off her makeup. 

I wait for Lilac by a huge tree in the park. This is our meeting spot. It’s close to the forest by the park, but it’s easy to spot because it is the only tree in this area. I finally spot her and wave. 
 
“Lilac!” I yell.
 
“Lily! Sorry that I took a while, I wanted to change.” She says, running to catch up to me. “Race you to the clearing!”
 
“Hey, wait up!” I laugh. “Not fair, you got a head start.” I sprint after her. Most people would trip or get hit by branches if they went into the forest, but we go in so often we have almost memorized the layout. I jump over a fallen tree and take a shortcut, jumping on rocks over a stream. I skid to a stop right after Lilac, both of our hair messy from the wind and branches. We’re both panting. I sit down and take off my backpack. Lilac gets some berries from a bush and hands a few to me. I pop one into my mouth while Lilac sits down. “You had a head start and I still had my backpack on,” I say.
 
“I still won.” Lilac smiles. “You might be able to beat me if you get super speed. I wonder if anyone else has superpowers. If they do, what if we make a village here?” 
 
“We could get them to live here with us. If anyone has super strength then they can help build houses.” I say, imagining how it would look. It’s our dream. To make a village with other people with powers. I’ve never heard of any, but there must be some out there. I wonder if Lilac’s parents had any powers. 
 
Lilac had amnesia when she was about 10. She woke up in the forest, only remembering that she had powers, how to talk, and how to walk. She found my village and became friends with me. She looked about my age, so we say we are the same age. We started living together because we both didn’t have parents. One day she saw me changing into my animal form and told me about her powers. 
 
My parents died from Covid-19 eight years ago. Luckily, it’s now cured. We have no good friends at school, most people avoid us. No one would care much if we were gone. 
 
“I wonder if anyone noticed my silver feathers lining my wings,” Lilac said.
 
I like how we look like our human form as an animal sometimes, like how it makes it easier for me to spot Lilac out of a colony of regular rabbits. Other times it’s bad, like when people see us. I don’t want them to make the connection that it’s us. They would probably experiment on us, or worse. What if they used us as war weapons? I wonder if there are any others with powers? If there are, have they been caught? Actually, I don’t know if I want to know the answer to that. I would rather not be captured. 
 
“I don’t think so. We just need to keep a low profile for a week or two, and no one will figure out about our powers.” I respond. I suddenly hear someone step out of the woods. It’s Chief Thalia. I can tell she was listening to us, and she knew our secret.
 
“Run,” I whisper. We turn into our animal forms that are the most natural for us. I sprint off, jumping over logs and ducking under branches. My red fur is pressed against my body from the wind. I need to find a place to hide. I can’t keep running forever. I think to myself. My ears twist, listening for any sounds of animals that could lead me to somewhere to stay. I keep my eyes on the woods ahead of me, I can’t risk anything slinging me down. 
 
As I get into an unknown part of the woods, a tree appears in front of me. A hole is carved into the trunk of the tree. Perfect! I think, turning into a squirrel. I start racing up the tree just as Chief Thalia turns the corner. She sprints past me and is barely panting. She doesn't even pay attention to the squirrel with a reddish tint to its fur and multicolored eyes. I rest in the tree and catch my breath. 
 
I should have turned into a bird. Even though she didn’t see my bird form, she must have heard what it looks like when she overheard Lilac and me talking. She has now also seen my wolf form and probably knows that we look like our human selves as animals. It’s always possible that she wouldn’t figure it out, but she was smart. Her mystery books also probably helped her put the clues together. If she was not so focused on finding my wolf form, she might have noticed I turned into a squirrel. 
 
I wonder if Lilac is alright. She probably turned into a bunny, so she could have hidden easily or gone into a hole. Since rabbit holes usually have multiple tunnels attached, Lilac could run down one hole and escape out of any other one. Thalia would have no idea where she went. That’s probably why Thalia went after me instead. She knows I can’t do that as a wolf. 
 
Soon I hear footsteps returning. It’s Thalia. She stalks through the woods, mad that she didn’t catch either of us. Her face is flushed red, but I know that she can keep running if needed. If she sees me, she will be able to catch me. I shiver a little at the thought.
 
About a minute after Thalia passes me, I hear a rustling in the bushes. A black bunny with silver-whiteish ears and tail pops out, nose twitching. I jump down and turn into a human. Lilac also turns back. 
 
“Your scent was hard to track, but I did it!” exclaims Lilac.
 
My tracking skills were generally stronger than Lilac’s, but this was a victory, especially considering how hard it was for her to track as a rabbit.
 
“I found a few other bunnies and explained our situation. They suggested I should stay as a bunny so I can quickly hide again if I need to.” Lilac said. 
 
“Smart of them to say. She passed back by me about a minute ago. She could have caught you otherwise.” I say. “What do we do now?”
 
“I don’t know. We should probably stay in the woods. We can’t stay in the village safely. What if we use some trees to block the path to the clearing? That way Chief Thalia will get confused and not remember how to get to the clearing.” Lilac says. After a pause, she adds “We shouldn’t make it an obvious wall though. It should look natural. That way if she tries to find the clearing again, it will lead her off track.”
 
“Cool. If we turn into gorillas, we can pick up the dead trees. We can find berries from plants, but we also need meat, preferably cooked. Neither of us knows how to make a fire, so we will have to figure out how to get some from the village.” I respond.
 
“Maybe we can find a book to learn how to build a fire,” Lilac says.
 
“We would need a disguise. Also, if we both go at one time, then it will be more suspicious.” I say. I think for a moment. “Your walkie-talkies! We can use them to communicate!”
 
“Ok then, it’s decided. I’ll go get my walkie-talkies. I can get in through my window. It doesn't lock so I can open it from the outside. I should also have some temporary dye in my house from a Halloween costume. You can use it since your hair is lighter and it will stay better. Since we can shapeshift, it doesn't stay as well though, and if you get the dye wet it will wash off so be careful. If we need each other, we can use the walkie-talkies. You can check out a book on how to live outside from the library because we have never lived in the wild before.” Lilac said. 
 
“Ok. You should probably go when it’s dark. For now, let’s work on the trees and making a shelter.” I reply. 
 
I start working on moving the trees while Lilac builds a shelter. I soon find an old rotting tree. I turn into a gorilla and pick it up, placing it halfway through the path so you can’t see it didn’t come from a stump. I turn into a human to rest after moving the tree because it’s heavy, even for a gorilla. 
 
Because my human form is my, and Lilac’s, original form, we can relax better in that form. A light breeze blows a few wisps of my hair in front of my face. A canopy of green leaves filters the sun's dying light. I realized the spring market would come soon. We wouldn’t be able to go this year though. I always loved going to that market.
 
After moving a few other things to block the path I went back to the field. The shelter Lilac made looked good. It would probably fall if something heavy fell on it, but it was fine for now. 
 
“Nice!” I say.
 
“Thanks. I tried my best, but it’s hard when you have no building experience.” Lilac responded. She glanced at the sun. “I’ll go get the walkie-talkies. Tomorrow you can go get the book.”
 
“Ok, stay safe,” I tell her. She turns into a rabbit and hops off. 
 
I hope she stays safe. I decide to go collect more berries while she’s gone. Right past the clearing there are some strawberries. Mixed with the berries in the clearing, we should have enough to feed ourselves. 
 
I use my backpack to carry the berries. I ration them out evenly with 20 strawberries and blueberries for each of us. 

I feel the first few drops on my head, which surprise me. Then I realize, my hair couldn’t get wet. The hair dye would come out. Everyone would know it was me. No one else would wear messy make-up on their eyebrows outside. Plus, no one else has two different colored eyes. They could easily figure out that was what my eye patch was hiding. 
 
I start to pull my hood up and see a black drop of hair dye running down my arm. The dye is already coming out. Then it starts pouring. I pull up my hood, but it is too late. The cops have already noticed the suspicious girl with hair dye coming out in the rain. I probably looked suspicious wearing a hood when it wasn’t that cold outside, wearing a backpack on a non-school day, and keeping my head low so that no one could see my face. They were probably already watching me in case I stole something. Why would anyone need to cover one eye and put hair dye in other than me? Even worse, one of the policemen was Mr. Garce… or Officer Garce right now. I forgot his part-time job was a cop. If my hair dye didn’t give me away enough, my backpack would. I quickly grab the walkie-talkie and press the button. 
 
“Help.” 
 
Then I run. The books are heavy on my back. My wet hair clings to my face, making it hard to see. The rain soaks my clothes. I can hear Officer Garce calling to the officers near him for reinforcement. My heart thumps against my chest. 
 
“Stop right there or we will shoot!” An officer yells at me. I put on a burst of speed, not bothering to look behind me. I can’t let them know I’m scared. They could use that to their advantage by trying to coax me into coming with them while I’m mostly thinking about getting somewhere safe. But if I’m not scared, they will most likely just try to take me by force. 
 
I focus on the path ahead of me, making sure I don’t run into anything. 
 
Bang! A shot rang out, missing me by a centimeter. I don’t have time to think, I just have to do something. 
 
I put on another burst of speed. A second bullet is shot, this time brushing my ear. I feel the hot blood dribble down my face onto my neck and hoodie, staining it red. I turn down an alleyway, hoping the police cars are too big to fit through the gap. Suddenly, I skid to a stop. It’s a dead end. 
 
Helicopters fly around in the sky, so if I turn into a bird, they could catch me. What do I do? Where is Lilac? Was she caught? I think to myself. My chest heaves as I try to catch my breath.
 
Police cars skid to a stop in front of the alleyway. At least that part of my plan worked. Chief Thalia walks up to me, her hands by her side.
 
“I recommend you surrender. It will make this easier for everyone. We only shot at you because you were running.” Chief Thalia said. “If you come with us, no one gets hurt. You will get free food and won’t have to hide your powers anymore. We just need your cooperation. We won't kill you.”
 
Officer Garce is standing right behind Chief Thalia. He is pointing his gun at me, but I could tell he wouldn’t kill me. I heard what Chief Thalia said. She only said, “we won’t kill you.” Nothing about not hurting me. The other cops are right behind them. 
 
“So, what do you choose?” She asks me. I open my mouth to respond, but before I can answer, she falls down. Lilac is behind her.
 
“Lilac!” I gasp, relieved she came. 
 
The other cops turn to point their guns at Lilac, but before they can shoot, Jordan, Rachel, and Virginia jump out from behind a wall, confusing the cops so they don’t know who to shoot. I look at Lilac, surprised she convinced them to help us, but she looks just as surprised. Well, I can think about that later. For now, we need to get rid of these cops. I drop my backpack and join the commotion. 
 
Jordan kicks a cop in a way that looks a lot like a dance move. His dance probably helps with fighting. He probably has good balance because of his dance. I think. I take a knocked-out cop's gun and shoot at the helicopters. It takes a few tries, but I finally hit one of the engines for one. The helicopter goes down in a puff of smoke. The other helicopter starts retreating, knowing we would shoot them down otherwise. 
 
I turn back to the chaos in the alley. Dark red blood stains the pavement. I turn into a lion and roar, getting a few cops to run away. Lilac is in her tiger form, swiping at some other cops. At least five unconscious cops other than Chief Thalia lay on the floor. Another cop falls down. This one has a scratch from Lilac’s paws on his chest. Blood is leaking out from the wound. 
 
A cop aims his gun at Lilac. I quickly knock him down with my paw and crush him, knocking him out. Almost all of the other cops realize how defenseless they are. They run, their eyes wide with terror. The only one left is Officer Garce. I can tell he doesn't want to shoot Rachel or Virginia, they are his nieces after all, but he would gladly shoot us. 
 
I turn into my human form and look at him. “We will spare you if you leave,” I tell him. He can tell I’m not joking. I tense, half expecting him to hold his ground, but he drops his gun and holds up his hands. 
 
“Now leave, and don’t come after us again,” I order. I hope he can’t hear the fear in my voice. 
 
Officer Garce turns to leave. I can’t believe he listened to me. He looks scared, which is surprising. I thought if he felt any feeling towards me other than anger, it would be regret. It kind of stings, I thought, that he had cared about me a little. Then again, I was just a student and one that arrives late a lot. He has no reason to care for me more than any other student. I focus on the sound of the rain, clearing my thoughts. This should be a moment for celebrating our escape, not thinking about whether some teacher does or doesn’t care about me. I watch him turn the corner, then I wash some of the blood off of my hands. 

As soon as he leaves, I turn to the others. Before I can open my mouth, Lilac asks them the question I was going to ask. 
 
“Why did you guys help us?”
 
“Well, you’re our classmates. Plus, you saved me. I would have had to go to the hospital if the potassium touched me. All our epi-pens at the school are expired and useless. I would have died.” Rachel explains. 
 
“You guys are kind. I know you meant no harm. I couldn’t stand watching them hurt you for something you can’t control. You didn’t choose to be born with powers.” Jordan says. 
 
“I helped because of Rachel. Don’t think that I care about you guys.” Virginia crosses her arms and sounds confident, but I can tell the main reason was actually because Jordan was helping.  
 
“Thank you guys so much! We would have been dead meat without you.” I say. “We should probably get going in case anyone else comes by.” 
 
“Bye! We’ll come to visit!” Lilac says. I grab my backpack and start to follow Lilac. Then I hear footsteps behind me. I turn around and see Rachel. 
 
“Do you need something?” I ask.
 
“Well, I was wondering if I could maybe stay with you guys? I don’t want to live in Virginia’s shadow anymore, and I really want to help you guys. So please?” She asks. 
 
“I don’t see why not? If you’re sure you want to live with us, then you can,” I respond. I look back at Lilac, who nods her head in agreement.
 
“Thank you so much!” Rachel exclaims. 
 
“Follow me,” Lilac says. She starts walking back to the camp, and Rachel and I follow. 

The village is busy today. Everyone is out and about, practicing their powers or hanging out with friends. I stand with Lilac and Rachel. I can’t believe so much has happened in 5 years. 
 
Lilac, Rachel, and I made a house. We don’t have electricity, but we do well without it. We found out there are more people with powers like ours. We decided to make where we live a village for people with powers.
 
We follow the Spring Festival to travel to other places to find others with powers. It turns out that they travel all over the east, and we are not the only people with powers. I usually stay in the village while Lilac and Rachel go find others. So far, we have 30 people living here, including me and Lilac. Rachel doesn't have powers, but she still lives with us.
 
Every once in a while, we go to town to visit our friends. The police decided to keep the whole commotion a secret, so the only people who know what happened years ago are the police who survived and our friends. We haven’t told anyone other than the people who live here where our village is to keep it safe.
 
A few villagers have asked about bringing their parents to the village, but we don’t know who they might tell about the village. I got over my parents’ death, but I still miss them. At least I can think about them without having a breakdown now. The outside helps calm me down and improve my mood, so living outside probably helped with that. 
 
Rachel revealed she had a crush on Lilac, so they are now dating. They are so cute together! She still visits Virginia in town on occasion and loves her as a sister, but she’s happy she moved to our village.
 
Lilac and I are 20 years old now, although we still feel like we are 15. Rachel and Virginia are 21. Jordan is also 20. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since we ran away. 
 
It’s a beautiful morning. The dew on the leaves twinkles in the light of the rising sun. I remember when the village below me was all forest. We had to cut some trees down to make homes for ourselves. 
 
“Hey! There you are! It’s time to go visit everyone!” 
 
I jump, turning around. “Lilac, you scared me!” I accuse her.
 
“Your fault for letting your guard down!” She responds. “Now, let’s go. Rachel’s waiting. Race you!” 
 
“No fair!” I say, getting ready to sprint after her. 
 
I stop and glance at the sun one more time. 
 
Thinking back to where I was five years ago, I had never envisioned a life this good for myself. Not just for me, but for Lilac too. I ran up beside her and pulled her into a hug. I snapped out of my thoughts when Lilac whispered something in my ear. “Our dream came true.”