By the time the three got back, the auditorium was pretty much empty. A few people were still chatting near the back doors, and a pair of students in black pants and black T-shirts were folding up the risers and wheeling them away backstage. It seemed like most everyone had taken off.

Finn was waiting near the outside door, along with two other kids that Sarah didn't know. She knew the guy's face from school, and he'd sung one of the solos during the concert, but she had no idea what his name was or even what grade he was in. Sarah didn't recognize the other girl at all.

When they came into view, Bri let go of Sarah's arm and skipped ahead, leaning right up close to Finn.

"Thanks for waiting," she said, reaching up to check her ponytail. "You're still going to Alma's with everyone, right?"

"Yeah," Finn said, smiling briefly. "Cole and Brinna are going to ride along too."

"Awesome," Bri said. She had hardly glanced at the two with Finn, keeping her eyes on Finn.

"Sarah, you're still good to ride with Alexa?" Finn said, his voice a bit higher pitched than it had been speaking to Bri.

Sarah nodded, and said, "We'll see you there."

The two groups split up, and Sarah climbed up into Alexa's jeep again.

Starting her car, Alexa idly said, "You know, if you want Bri to back off, she will. She can seem a bit pushy, but she wouldn't cat in on you either."

"Cat in..." said Sarah to herself. Then louder, she said, "No, really, please. If she likes him, that's great. I really don't, there's just so much to do. I'm not sure I want to date any guy at school. Besides, they all smell."

Alexa laughed out loud, "Well, Finn smelled nice tonight at least."

"Whatever," said Sarah. "By the way, what was that about me painting some wrecked building? I don't paint."

"Didn't we say we were going to help Finn this weekend? I'm not sure what he can really do, but it's probably fair to expect more lightning and burnt eyebrows. We're not going to do that up at the meadow, I for one don't want Smokey the Bear to get mad at me. I'd cry if that happened. And I don't want him blowing stuff up at my house. I assume you don't want him at your place either?"

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"Oh, I get it," said Sarah, shaking her head. "Dumb, yeah, that makes sense. Go blow something up that no one cares about, yeah?"

"Right, and even if it does go bad, it won't hurt anyone else and shouldn't get out of control. I know the area out there, it's all cement and gravel. If we burn out there, well, he'd kill us anywhere. And I can try to break more stuff. Maybe lift some cement slabs, that kind of thing.

"Yesterday, just to see if I could, I lifted the front end of my jeep off the ground. I could have gotten it over my head, but I didn't want to break it if I dropped it. I used a lot of qi, but it hardly felt difficult. I'm kinda dying to let loose a little. Aren't you?"

"Not really," said Sarah. "I mean, a little, but it's a lot of work. I think I need to find things to use if I really want to go all out. But yeah, I guess I'd really like to find something flexible and see what I can do with it. It's just that even if the seizures aren't dangerous, they aren't fun either. I'm going to avoid them if I can.

"Hey," Sarah said, to change the subject a little, "I saw you were using the fog to sing tonight. You were really clear and loud, so I'm guessing it helped? I've never actually heard you sing before.

"I did? I mean, I've started kinda pulling in pinches here and there, I hardly even notice it, to be honest." She looked down at her hands on the wheel, "Yeah, I guess I did use a bunch somewhere. I was just focusing on the melody and control, I didn't even realize."

"That's kinda scary," said Sarah, her eyebrows raised.

"Not really, why?" asked Alexa.

"What if you lose control? What if you're angry and just sort of squeeze, not realizing you're lit up." Sarah was speaking quickly now. "Do you remember kicking that rock? You broke a granite boulder in half and split your shoe but hardly noticed."

"Shale," said Alexa. "It was shale, not granite. You could probably have broken it if you tried. Maybe with a hammer. And those shoes were super old. Nah, don't worry. It's one thing when I'm really focused, but I don't really hit stuff out of temper. I usually just shout, but I'll keep an eye on it."

They had barely started the car when they arrived at the little diner. It really was just a couple of blocks, and Sarah felt like they could have walked there in almost as much time as it had taken to load in and get out. It was just a dingy white building, shaped like a box with a few big windows out front. A faded vinyl sign was hung on the side of the building over a doorway, proclaiming the place "Alma's All-American Restaurant."

Even though the neighborhood was rapidly getting dark, the little place glowed with warm light, and Sarah could see the crowd of teenagers through the window. Opening the door let their chatter and noise wash out. A few people were singing something, thunking cups to make time. Others were laughing or talking, everyone was still riding the high from their performance and enjoying a night out.

Finn, Bri, and maybe half a dozen others were already sitting at a few tables pushed together in the middle of the floor. French fries had already been delivered, along with thick milkshakes. Two seats were still open, one at the head of the makeshift table, the other just around on the right. Without even noticing, Sarah was smiling back at the people calling out to her and Alexa as they walked in.