December afternoons in Nioli were freezing cold as a rule, so an after school cup of coffee was practically a necessity.
As a result, the deli was always packed with students from Nioli High School, all clutching disposable plastic cups and secretly contemplating strategies for upgrading and/or maintaining their position on the social ladder.

The deli was the great mixing bowl which threw everyone together, and the opportunists made full use of it.
The whole concept had been dizzyingly exciting for Amy as a freshman, when she'd been full of confidence that high school was just the new start she needed.

Her time to shine.

But a year and half in that torture chamber had squeezed all the optimism and idealism out of her, and now she was happy to lean agaist the wall and just observe the bloodbath.

Another notable difference was that Katherine was next to her.

And that was a pretty big difference.
In her freshman year, and even after that, Amy's one goal in navigating the minefield had been getting into Sally's inner circle.

How Much Ever the teen movies tried to deny it, the truth was that 'just being yourself' had never been enough for her.

Still, she hadn't let it stop her.

Admittedly, it was true that she went a bit overboard when it came to basically everything, but to be fair, so was Sally.
That girl was a walking talking exaggeration.

All the time Amy had spent obsessively studying her mannerisms seemed like such a waste when she thought of it, and the only good thing out of it was the realisation that she would never be that person.

Setter of fashion trends, champion flirt, puppet master of at least five boys at any given time.

The general population of school worshipped her, and Amy had wanted that for herself more than anything.
Until her time with Kat had whipped her rose-tinted glasses off.

Little by little, she was seeing people as people, as individuals and not as approximate representations of qualities she could never have.

Even Noah, Justin and Chris were all right.

Earlier, she had lumped them in the category of 'people I don't know and/or don't want to know', subcategory 'boys'.
Now, she realised that everyone was someone, and she should stop trying to be someone else.

Besides, the whole headache/fainting/vision  thing had been nothing more than mildly unsettling.

Just part of the high school experience.
It had given her a new perspective to life in general, and she was happy enough to leave it at that.

That was why she hadn't talked much about seeing the teacher at the building in their vision.

She was idly observing two freshman boys trying (and failing) to chat up one of Sally's lieutenants when Kat elbowed her in the stomach to get her attention.
Amy was so startled that her coffee cup tilted dangerously, sending the coffee sloshing to the floor.

'Reminder: Don't even think that life is taking a turn for the better', she thought bitterly.

"Seriously?", she snapped at Katherine, while Katherine swore.

"Sorry!", said Kat quickly. "I saw Watson and Mara Reynolds practically tangled in each other and I *thought* you would like to know."

"Chris and Mara?", mused Amy, interested in spite of her indignation.
"Not entirely unexpected", she finally decided. "Nothing worth spilling coffee over."

"Not unexpected?"

Katherine looked a lot more worked up than the news demanded.

"Why not?", Amy probed. "They seem each others' type. I'm pretty sure they were all over each other at the party, it was bound to happen sooner or later."
Katherine shook her head, "I think he can do better."

Amy scoffed. "Him? No way. It's a wonder he got Mara. I think-"
"He isn't that bad!", said Katherine quickly, looking at the subject of discussion with a - was that a hint of pink on her cheeks?

Was Katherine Lancaster blushing?
Amy knew this was delicate territory, and Katherine would literally implode if she confronted her directly.

She sighed.

"Anyway", she threw a pointed look at Kat. "I'll get another cup."

"Worth the spill!", said Katherine to her retreating back.

Amy shoved her way through the crowd and screamed her order to the barista, going over the latest development.

Careful not to spill it again, she took the cup from the barista and started navigating back to her spot near the wall.

Just then, seemingly without reason, the coffee literally flew out of the cup and spilled all over the table she was next to.
A table on which Justin's just finished 2000 word essay was sitting.

Rather, what had been his essay.
Now, it was a soggy, coffee-soaked pile of rags.

"I didn't do it, I swear!", said Amy quickly, still holding her upright coffee cup.

It hadn't even moved.

It seemed like the coffee had jumped out of it all on it's own.

Justin held up a hand.

"Stop- just stop. I believe you. It's not the first time this has happened. I just-"
He stood up, his face tired and drawn.
Slinging his backpack over one shoulder, he looked Amy dead in the eyes and said, "I give up."

"What do you mean?", she asked a little worriedly.

Amidst the hubbub of conversation, the dull glow of the lights and the smell of coffee and desperation, Justin seemed especially small, weak and defeated.
He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Nothing- nothing. I'm just going crazy, that's all. I mean, one second everything is fine, and the next moment it just slides off the rails-"

"Justin", said Amy in a softer voice than before, "What happened?"

She set her now-empty coffee cup on the table, next to the spilled coffee and sank down on the cracked red leather seat.
"Nothing", he said stubbornly. "Never mind."

Amy shrugged and got up, leaving the cup on the table.

"If you insist", she said, and they both went their separate ways.

Amy went over to Katherine, all thoughts of  Chris and Mara and whatever else vanishing from her mind.
"We need to go back to that building", she said before Katherine could ask.

"Whatever this vision thing is, it's a lot more complicated than we thought. I don't know exactly how, but it's messed up. When I went near Justin, my coffee jumped out of its cup-"

"Don't be silly, Amy."

"I'm not!", she insisted. "And he wasn't angry, just tired. Like it happened all the time. He'll never admit it, but I know it's related to the visions. To us."

She could see the gears turning in Katherine's head.

"Are you sure?", she said finally. "And even if we go there again, there's nothing to see."

"I saw Ms. Dahlia there", Amy insisted. "At least - I think I did. We have to confirm it."

"Should we tell the others?"

"Let's just go and confirm about Ms. Dahlia first"

A/N:
What next??