The Fly-in had been very memorable, but now it was time to put his life back together as much as possible. Two weeks since that date with Alice. Two weeks since the world had found out he was a nova. Two weeks since he'd been home, and he wasn't looking forward to all the catchup he had to do.
His to do list included following up with the police about the investigation into the attack that had hospitalized him; going through all the recruiting material from DeVries, Utopia, and everyone else; dealing with the 9 million voice mails and email from classmates, the media, and charities; getting back to school and dealing with the new situation there; and last but certainly not least trying to put together a band and be ready perform a concert that hundreds of people would be watching and that record industry big shots would be attending. Yeah, so no big deal right? I'll get that knocked out in an afternoon and then I can relax... The sarcasm in his thought showed on his face as he opened the door to his parents house, and his mother looked concerned. No, that wasn't really right she looked afraid as well, like Daniel was going to snap and destroy the house or something. He sighed and walked in.

"Hi mom." He walked in and didn't stop as he took his bag to empty it in the laundry room.

His mother followed, "How was your trip? Did you have fun? Are you feeling ok?" The first two questions were the sort that any mother would ask, the third was laced with worry and a little fear. He could feel it. Clearly now. After being around that big group of novas reading the emotions that his own mother was feeling was child's play, and it disgusted him. How can a mother be afraid of her own son? He had to be honest with himself though. There was a hole in the back yard where there use to be a fifty foot pecan tree, and there were two dead gang members. He supposed she had some reason after all, but it didn't feel any better.

He put on a tired smile for her and hugged her gently without saying anything. The spike of fear as he reached out to her was like a knife twisting in his gut, but he followed through and was a little relieved when he felt the fear melt away a little to be replaced with some of the old motherly emotions. "I'm going to go to bed mom, I've got school tomorrow and I'm really tired. Just pile all the junk mail and stuff onto my desk and I'll take care of it after school."

She gave him a squeeze and let go, "I already did. I'll have a big breakfast ready for you in the morning before you go."

When he entered his room he was not surprised at the piles of stuff, but he was at the size of those piles. His mother had thoughtfully organized the piles, one for recruitment, one from classmates, one for obvious junk mail, and a miscellaneous pile that she wasn't sure what to do with.

He walked over and flopped himself into his chair and reached for the junk pile. He could eliminate that one at least before bed. One by one he opened the envelopes and sorted through the junk, tossing them one after the other in the trash. Credit card offers? Frakin-a! He was a 16 year old kid with no job and they were sending him credit offers just because he was a nova. He wasn't sure if he should be pleased about this or appalled, but he decided to put the best offers aside in his drawer just in case. All the charity requests went straight into the trash unopened; maybe he'd be rich soon, but he sure wasn't now. The recruiting offers were mostly large colorful brochures about what each organization was all about with offers of visiting and meeting with their reps. He tossed all but the DeVries one in the trash. He figured they'd all be around to take him to lunch in person anyway, no point in reading the junk that he wasn't interested in. He doubted that he would be very useful to DeVries, he had no desire to fight other novas, but they'd treat him to lunch and you never knew, maybe they'd have jobs he could do with his strength that didn't involve fighting.

He didn't even look at the clock, but tired as he was he just didn't want to leave the school pile for later. Despite himself he was curious about everyones reactions. 2000+ kids in school and it looked like there were at least 1500 get well cards and stuff. Three hours later he finally made it to the bottom of the stack. He was torn between being flattered and hating the fact that all but a handful of these were because he was a nova. "Well, I suppose that's what it's like to be a celebrity."

The next morning came all too soon. His body didn't need more rest but Daniel liked sleeping, he liked dreams. He'd always had them, but since his eruption they had been more vivid and more interesting. Yawning he stumbled into the kitchen pulling his shirt over his head and was surprised to see a huge breakfast on the table with a note. *Sorry, I had to leave early, but I left breakfast on the table for you.* Boy had she. It was enough food to sate even a nova appetite and he barely had time to finish before heading to school. He didn't bother taking the mustang, parking was alway a hassle and he'd probably be late if he did. Instead he just flew to school and landed on the front steps to the awed and envious looks of the other kids. Beginning of May and it was already getting up into the upper 80s during the day so he didn't bother wearing a jacket. Besides heat and cold didn't bother him much any more. he could wear a fur lined parka and he wouldn't be sweating. Instead he just wore his normal jeans and t-shirt with a nice green button-down shirt over it. He knew it was a good look for him, Jael had helped him pick it out.

That brought to mind thoughts of Alice, and like she'd been summoned, she was suddenly by his side reaching up to kiss him on the cheek and looking like she wanted to do more. He smiled down at her and repressed a sigh. The thought crossed his mind that she was like one of those fish that attach themselves to bigger fish and get pulled along for the ride. Alright, so be it. She wanted a ride? He'd give her one. One she'd remember for the rest of her life, and she'd probably even thank him for it. "Alice, I've got to get inside, I need to talk to the counselor, but are you free Saturday?"

The she wolf showed her teeth in a predatory smile. He sensed the smugness from her and it was almost overwhelming. It made him want to throw up, but instead he just smiled at her in return. "Cya in choir." He glanced back just before going into the building to see her moving over to a group of the most popular girls in school like she belonged there. The really sick thing... she did have some feelings for him buried down in there among the crap, but they were coming a distant second to her social climbing, he could feel it. He could sense all of their feelings now. Maybe he would be able to trust some people after all. This new ability could come in handy telling the ones who would use him from the ones that actually cared.

He put that aside for now and headed for the counselor's office. Mrs. Collins wasn't always that friendly, but she had a reputation for telling people what they needed to hear rather than what they wanted. He was pretty sure she could help him if she chose. He didn't bother to knock, but walked in and sat down in front of her desk. It wasn't rude though, that's what she expected of the students, something about an open door policy, and he had seen through the glass window that she was alone.

Mrs. Collins spoke before he had the chance, "So the prodigal son returns." She was smiling, it wasn't meant harshly. She was very sharp, "I expected you to come by my office. Tell me what you need."

He sensed that she was amused for some reason, but confident, like she really did expect him, that was odd. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Well. I've been thinking."

He paused to take a breath before launching into what he wanted to ask, but she interrupted, "Such an unusual thing to do for a young man your age. Were you thinking about anything in particular or just pondering?"

Damn, she could put him off his stride even before he became a nova and that hadn't changed. He laughed in spite of himself and the serious mood he was in. He relaxed a bit and skipped the long speech he'd prepared and just laid it out, "I want to skip the rest of high school."

She smiled and he felt a feeling of satisfaction come off of her, "Yes, I expected as much. I'm surprised you've waited this long really."

What the frak? "What do you mean you expected it? Why would you have expected it?" Damn this woman have a freakin supernatural gift at screwing with kids minds, and he could tell she really did know it was going to happen.

Her smile turned mischievous, "You don't think the Project would just let a 16 year old nova go back to school after attending a Rashoud facility without notifying the school administration do you?"

"Fuckin-a! You knew!?!" He forgot himself for a minute but got a contrite look on his face when he saw her smile thin at his vulgarity. She didn't look completely mollified.

"Young man, nova or not, I will not accept language like that in my office. To answer your ill phrased question. Yes, it is the law that the facility notify the authorities in the case of underage novas. If you had joined the football team with your enhanced strength you would be violating any number of regulations that could have gotten the school in serious trouble, and that's not even to mention that someone could have been seriously injured if you got a little too excited in the heat of the game."

Rather than answering, he did think about it for a moment and saw that she did have a point, but he still felt a little annoyed at thinking that Utopia had revealed his secret to people he hadn't chosen to tell. What he said was, "Fine, I understand." Despite his effort to keep his face pleasant, some of his annoyance must have shown through, because Mrs. Collins raised an eyebrow at him in that way she had.

"The thing is. I could take the final exams for everyone one of my classes today and pass without any problems. I read all of this years text books within a month of erupting and have just been bored to death in class ever since. It's been hard to pretend to not to know the answers every time the teachers ask something. Now I want to get out of here and get started with my life. We have one month till the end of school. Let me take all of the final exams for all of the junior and senior classes and I'll pass them all, then let me graduate with this years seniors. I've already checked the laws and the state allows it. All I need is someone here to be my advocate and push for it. My parents will sign all the forms."

Mrs Collins didn't look convinced and he could feel her doubt. "Tell me what you plan to do with your life and why I should help you?"

He had a feeling this was going to happen and he was prepared for it. "I plan to start college in the fall and get a degree in Business."

"You could take college classes while still attending high school, several kids do that now. No need to graduate early."

He was ready for that one too, "Two reasons. I'm bored and therefore my presence will become a disruption for the other students." He could see that she understood the implied threat there. "And, I am suddenly everyone's best friend, but none of the gave a crap about me before last week and I don't really want to face that every day for the next two years." He wanted her to believe him, he could feel that she did, but it was a small feeling and the doubt that she had was larger. He could feel sense that the doubt would win. "Please! I really want this, and I've thought about it for months now. The only thing that has kept me from asking before now was that no one knew I was a nova and I could be a normal kid for a while longer. That's gone now. There's no going back to the way things were before. Please let me move on." He willed her to say yes, and surprisingly he felt the shift in her, the doubt shrank and the belief grew.

Mrs Collins smiled and stood up and reached her hand out. He took it and shook hands with her and she said, "I'll get the paperwork started, but I expect you to ace every exam. Make even a "B" on one and I'll be seeing again next year." He grinned and nodded, "Deal."

The rest of that week was a blur of activity. The kids at school surprised him a little. They had the expected desire to be near a nova, but they also didn't treat him too differently. There were ass kissers that tried to suck up to him for the popularity it would give them, and he had an automatic invite to the 'in' crowd now, but his friends were still his friends, and most of the other students were more curious than anything else. The teachers were actually worse than the students about treating him like some alien critter. They suddenly acted very differently to him, all except his English teacher who was much harder on him. Not that it mattered. By the end of the day the counselor was as good as her word and he found himself called out of class and to the library where a huge stack of textbooks awaited him, along with Mrs Collins and Principle Bryan. Mrs Collins gave him the official school speech, about applying himself and not letting them down. The Principle just smiled and said, "Good luck son, you've got a lot of work ahead of you," and pointed to the three foot tall stack of books. Good thing I have super strength.

The rest of the week he spent every period in a study room that was set aside for him, only mingling with other students at lunch. There, on Wed he discovered that the entire school was placing bets on whether or not he would pass and by what margins on what tests. Quite a bit of money was changing hands, or so Alice informed him as she clung to his arm. Even some of the staff were placing bets, although not any of the ones giving him the exams thankfully. Amid all the other craziness he also had to decide on and practice songs for the concert.

Saturday finally arrived and he picked up Alice. He was spared the usual glaring match with her father. Her parents were not at home and she came out of the house before he could even get out of the car. She was wearing a pretty light pink top, with a blousy white knit thing over it, and tight jeans that showed off her ass. He chuckled to himself; she was proud of that ass, just ask her and she'd tell you. Her hair was loose, falling in curls down past her shoulders like it was just natural, but he knew better. He'd seen her getting ready to go out a few times when he was 'just a friend' and knew exactly how long she'd spent getting ready. He just smiled and leaned over to open the door and push it open for her to get in. He smiled appreciatively at her and said, "You look very nice. Thanks."

She smiled in return at the compliment, but didn't quite know what to make of the thanks. She didn't bother to ask where they were going or what they were going to do, she just sat back in the seat and looked very relaxed. She did look at him questioningly when he pulled into the school parking lot and turned off the car, but just waited for him to speak.

He smiled and turned in his seat so that he was facing her. "Before we continue our date I wanted to talk to you. Two weeks ago when I was taking you out I was stopping at the park so we could talk, not to mess around. No one is going to interrupt us this time though." They both smiled at that. "What I want to say today is not what I would have said then. That night I wanted to tell you how I felt, and how much you had hurt me over the last three years. You used me when it was convenient, and when you were between boyfriends. You treated me like dirt, and I followed you around like a lost puppy because you kept dangling the carrot in front of me. I was the best friend you ever had, and you tossed me aside every time some new boytoy came along. You hurt me, and I loved you and I hated the way you made me feel." He could see the pain in her eyes. She was a calculating evil bitch, but she had feelings too and likely never admitted to herself that she was doing it. He could see her facing it as she sat there, and he could feel her own hurt at the words. For a few minutes, right now, she didn't have any thoughts for how she could use him or being part of the 'in' crowd. Right now he could feel that she was sad that she had hurt him and hurting for being made to face it.

It was enough. That one honest moment she was having was enough. He wasn't here to hurt her in return for what she had done, he just wanted to be honest with her and say all the things he needed to say, and it wasn't over yet, but oh, it felt good, knowing she was sorry for what she had done. Not in a vindictive way, but because it meant she really did care and wasn't the complete bitch that he was afraid she might be.

He smiled sadly at her and continued, "That's what I was going to tell you two weeks ago, and I was hoping then that it would hurt you." He could see tears forming in her grey-blue eyes. He reached out gently and wiped the one tear away that had started to roll down her cheek. "I don't want to hurt you now. I'm sorry it's hurting, but I wanted to be completely honest with you and not leave all that unsaid and festering inside me. To be honest though I also have to tell you that the school dance last month was a set up. I invited Jael here just to make you jealous and to make you want me and give you a touch of the same feelings that you've been giving me for the last three years. It was a petty thing for me to do, and I'm sorry I did it." He could feel the slightest stirrings of anger among the hurt she was feeling, and gave her a crooked smile, "Even if you did deserve it." The anger melted and she started sobbing quietly as the tears began to flow.

He reached over and took her hand and drew her to him and held her for a few minutes. He was pretty sure this was the most honest and open she'd ever been with her emotions with him before. It was enough, and it felt very good. He pushed the feelings from himself toward her. He wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, but he could feel it having effect. It was as if the tears had washed her clean and then joy was taking it's place. The sobs turned slowly to hiccups, which sparked giggles and then laughter. When she was finally done she was pretty dishevled and her makeup needed to be completely redone, but she looked more beautiful to him than she ever had before. For this one moment, there wasn't any edge of calculation or manipulation to her, just honest sadness and joy.

He handed her the wet-wipes he had in the glove box to do what she could with her makeup and continued feeling a touch of sadness himself, "That night when we were attacked, I realized I still loved you, But then everything changed. I'm a nova now and things won't ever be the same." He could see her about to protest that it didn't matter so he kept going, "It does matter because I'm not going to be finishing high school. I know you know that, but what I haven't told anyone yet is that I plan to leave for college and start a band as soon as graduation is over. I've got a contact in the record industry and I'm pretty sure I can get a record label to pick me up." He could see the confusion in her eyes, and again forestalled her reply, "What I'm trying to say is that I'm leaving, and although I do care deeply for you, I'm not planning to look back. I'll be your boyfriend and be with you until graduation, but after that it is over between us. I'm not saying this to be mean or get some kind of revenge or anything. I just want you to know up front exactly how I feel and that there isn't a future for us. I don't want to string you along and then suddenly drop you at graduation when I leave. So, if you want, I can take you home right now and you can start hating me..." He smiled warmly at her as if to say he wouldn't blame her if she did. "Or, we can go out and have a good time until graduation and I will make you the most popular girl in school, and after I'm gone you can always tell everyone that a guy loved you so much that he erupted from it." He grinned and knew that it wasn't the nicest thing to be doing, but everyone had been right. He should have just been honest with her in the first place and he wouldn't have been in this situation. Besides, he knew her, and that really would matter to her, shallow as it was.

She waited a moment then said, "Are you done yet?" When he nodded, she leaned forward and grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss that compared favorably to his flying kiss with Jael, not that he'd ever even in his dumbest moment say such a thing. That sort of comment could get a man dead fast, even if one of the women didn't have claws and an unstable personality.

When she released him and reached for the wet wipes to clean herself up, he grinned. "That was worth waiting three years for."

She grinned in return and said with a twinkle in her eyes, "You haven't seen anything yet."

He hoped not considering what he had planned for their date.

It took a few minutes for Alice to clean herself up. She looked better without the warpaint as far as he was concerned. When she turned her attention back to him he asked, "So how would you like to go flying with me and have a picnic in a very pretty, and very secluded place?"

She grinned and answered, "I would like that very much, just don't drop me, and don't do any thing crazy like that friend of yours did last weekend."

Daniel looked at her in surprise. How did she know what Jael had been up to at the fly-in?

Before he could ask she laughed and said, "There's a video of it on you-tube that some tourist at the part took. That was scary to watch knowing that none of you had nets or anything and that there weren't any special effects." Daniel could only nod to that. It had been scary, for a minute there he was sure that Jael was going to hit the ground, but then the elite guy had saved her.

"Ok, no stunts, and I'll grab the picnic basket since it's pretty heavy". He pulled a very large basket out of the trunk. It had everything in it that they should need for a romatic day in the country. When they were ready he reach out and held her hand and pushed quantum into her the way he did with his clothes, and suddenly they were rising slowly off the ground. She grabbed at him with her other hand with a grip that would have hurt if he hadn't been a nova. It took a bit for her to relax and open her eyes, but eventually she did and began to enjoy the flight. After a while she shouted over the rush of the wind, "So this is what it's like to be a nova? Now I'm really jealous! You'd better come back now and then to take me flying once you become a big shot rockstar."

It took about thirty minutes to get to where he was going. It was a valley in the Arkansas hills near the White river. He had seen this place when he'd been on his way home after the event last weekend. There wasn't a house for miles and not even a road anywhere close on this side of the river. Might not be a smart place to be during deer season, but in the spring there wouldn't be anyone around. He just hovered over the lake for a minute with Alice so she could get a good look around. "Pretty huh?" She smiled.

He landed and laid out a blanket in the grass a little ways back from the water and just under the shade of the trees. Out of the basket he produced a nice snack of fancy cheese and crackers and a chilled bottle of wine. She looked suspiciously at the basket and made to reach to open it, but Daniel stopped her. "Nope. No peaking. The rest of it is a surprise for later." He grinned again and opened the bottle. and poured them each a small glass. He hadn't really developed a taste for wine, but this was supposed to be good and that's what you were supposed to have with stuff like this according to all the chick flicks, so that's what he brought. He also brought water in case she didn't like wine, but she seemed to be enjoying it.

When they had finished off the snack he put the wine back inside the small cooler hidden in the basket and sealed up the cheese and crackers so bugs wouldn't invade their picnic. "So that a pretty lake. Be a shame to let it go to waist what with the afternoon being so warm and all..." He put on an evil grin and started removing his shoes. Alice didn't say a word, she just started taking hers off as well. Item by item they stripped and stared at each other the whole time, sometimes blushing sometimes not caring. When they were completely bare she did a slow turn and stopped with her back to him making sure he got a good look at her. It really was a nice ass. The she stuck it out at him and he reach out to swat her, but she jumped away and ran to the lake and jumped in with a shout. Daniel followed and dove in after. He surfaced right next to her and brought her to him for a kiss. She kissed him then playfully pulled out of his reach and began to swim around the lake with the easy strokes of someone raised around the water. He just watched and wanted to swim after her, but his erection made it a bit awkward. A few minutes went by of playing around and splashing each other before she came within reach again. Once she did he pulled her to him and she melted willingly against him. She smiled as she felt him against her.

"Why Daniel, I would ask if you have something in your pocket, but you seem to have misplaced your pants." She giggled and he grinned and then they kissed. He put just a little quantum in to his flying ability to keep their heads above water without have to kick his feet and disturb the moment. She wrapped her legs around his waist to hold on to him and it took a lot of willpower not to just push his hips forward in that moment. He contented himself with the fact that they had hours yet and there was no need to rush things. They kissed and fondled each other floating there in the lake until the sun started to go down and the water got too cool for Alice. When they got out he produced two large fluffy bath towels from inside the mystery basket. They dried off and wrapped themselves in the towels rather than getting dressed, after which Daniel produced another surprise from the basket; a roasted chicken and vegetables and more wine to go with it. They ate in the dying light of the sun and last rays shown golden on her skin. He smiled, but was sad knowing that this was the first and last time they would be together. They were also both a bit nervous on top of the excitement. As far as he knew they were both virgins, but wouldn't be much longer.

They fed each other and did the other cliche things from the romantic movies; drinking from each others glasses and kissing between bites and it was all silly and cliche and wonderful.
After dinner he packed up the food, pulled another small blanket out of the mystery basket and used it to cover the two of them and then removed the towels slowly and with much pleasure. The cool evening air wasn't noticed by then for the heat that their bodies were producing. This ability to sense other's emotions was very useful. He could feel her lust and didn't bother trying to manipulate it. He just paid attention to it and followed through with the things that made it feel more intense. He started with nibbling her earlobes already knowing that was something she liked. He moved around her body finding the spots that tweaked her lust and by the time he got to the ultimate area that he'd been wanting to become acquainted with for so long she was panting and clutching the blankets in her fists. Nothing was said under the stars as they took pleasure in each other. Alice was so far gone in lust by the time he finally entered her that she had her first orgasm immediately and barely noticed the pain. That was the one time during the entire night he actually used his nova mojo on her and he did it to protect her from being hurt. She didn't notice, but did have several more unenhanced climaxes over the next hour. Daniel was pretty sure that novas couldn't have kids since they'd been around for nearly a decade and not one nova child had been born so he didn't bother to pull out but took full pleasure in his partner. When it was all over they went for another quick swim in the cool water and then finally got dressed.

The flight back was very pleasant with Alice cuddled up against him. An hour later they were sitting in his car in front of her house. "So, you haven't said much. Are you ok with everything?"

She looked at him tiredly, but smiled, "Yes. I'll be sad that you are leaving, but I'm glad we had today. I don't have any regrets about that." She leaned over and kissed him gently. "Thank you, and I am sorry. I was a horrible person to you and I treated you badly and you didn't deserve that. You really were the best friend I had."

He could see a tear glint in the moonlight, and he could feel that she was sincere. He kissed her again, "I'll always love you." He got out and opened the door for her and walked her up to the porch. She was 15 minutes early for curfew and her father wasn't even glaring out the window yet. It really had been one of the best days of his life. He kissed her one last time and gave her a long hug then walked back out that gate for the last time.