Taz hadn’t visited the Puellamas Minor before. The building was long and curved gently, almost as if it was embracing the Puellamas Major in front of it, with a broad footpath between the two that frequently saw mail trucks and luggage trolleys in addition to the crowds of girls that wandered in and out between the buildings.
She knew it was the ‘cheap’ option compared to the Major and the two hotels; young psychic girls didn’t have to pay to board in the P-Minor, just like the boys with similar financial issues could find similar housing in the Puellomos Minor.
Walking in with Madeline and Melodica, she couldn’t help but crane her head around curiously. In the Major, each floor had a small recreation area with a few TVs and computer stations, keeping the crowds of girls separated between each floor so they didn’t all bunch up in one living area like the Minor had.
The front half of the bottom floor was the only recreation area the building had, and with it being about lunch time, plenty of girls were there relaxing, doing homework, and/or eating in a sizeable crowd that was radiating enough resonance on its own that Taz could feel the mass of thinking and active psionics drumming against her filter… her PPA, she figured.
It was a familiar feeling by this point. It was like walking into the cafeteria, or a busy classroom, and it did make Taz miss the quiet back home. But, resonance always made her feel sharper.
Madeline brushed past her, and several of the girls in the room looked up, recognition sparking across the room while Taz followed her over to a desk embedded in a little alcove.
“Hi Edi.” Madeline said in a warm tone, and the senior woman behind the desk glanced up, a smile growing on her face.
Edi talked with a heavy southern drawl, and Taz wondered if she came out of one of the south-eastern states. “Howdy Maddy! How can I help ya today?”
“I’d like to know the room number for one Theresa St. Claire.”
Edi’s smile faltered a little, but she turned to her computer and started typing. “And what’s the nature of your visit, darlin’?”
“Me and my little sister are bringing her a gift.”
“When you say ‘gift’...”
“Sunflower petals!” Taz held up the little baggie full of bright yellow petals, drawing a deep, curious frown from the older woman. “She uses petals and stuff for art projects. I wanted to bring her some.”
“Hm.” Edi considered Taz for a second, and Melodica for two, then looked back up at Madeline, which seemed to tip her frown into a contemplative look. “Well, Maddy, make sure nothin’ untoward happens.”
“I will, Edi, don’t you worry.”
“Alrighty. She’s in room 335; y’all know where the elevators are.”
Madeline nodded, and lead Taz down a nearby hallway, waving goodbye to a few girls on the way out. There was the expected grouping of elevators and staircase access, but they were a modern group of girls and took the modern way up to the third floor.
The P-Minor had long, curving hallways, and, briefly, Taz found the idea of living in a curving dorm room kind of exciting, up until Madeline informed her there weren’t any private bathrooms, only locker room style showers and public restrooms.
“I figured you’d be interested in public showers now.” Madeline said with a sneaky grin, which only grew as Taz slapped her arm and wailed in embarrassment.
With a deep breath, Taz reached up to knock on door 335, and stood back as she heard some shuffling within.
The door opened to reveal a young black girl, her hair in a layer of tight micro dreads pulled back into a single, plump ponytail, her cropped shirt revealing a bit of a pudgy belly.She wore a pronounced stink-eye as she stared at the three girls.
“Yeah?” She asked. Behind her, Taz could hear a calm male voice through a speaker, reading Bible passages out loud.
“Err, hi.” Taz raised a hand, waving at the girl with a small, nervous smile. “Sorry to bother you, but is Theresa here?”
“Theresa?” The girl spat the name venomously. “What the hell do you want with Theresa?”
“I wanted to give her something.” Taz answered, holding the bag of sunflower petals up, suddenly anxious with the girl’s dour tone.
The girl looked at Taz, then at Madeline, then at Melodica, and then she grunted.
“One sec.”
She turned around and walked into her room, another voice speaking up: “Who’s at the door, Dee?”
“Dunno, but they’re asking for Theresa.”
A pause, then: “Why?”
Dee didn’t answer, but Taz leaned in to stare into the curving dorm room. Like the rooms at the P-Major, there were two beds, one in the nearer corner, one in the far, but both beds were bunk beds, and Taz could see the bottom bunk in the far corner had a curtain affixed over it, and the bible reading grew louder when Dee threw the curtain open.
“Hey! Somebody’s here to see you.”
“Wh-who? Is it my parents?!”
“No.” Dee said bluntly. “Go deal with ‘em in the hallway.”
Slowly, Theresa emerged from her bunk, tall and spindly wearing a long, plain white dress that hung around her ankles. She turned her head towards the door, her expression heavy, only to look surprised at the sight of Taz smiling back at her.
She hesitated where she stood, until Dee gave her a rough shove forward. “Go! Get outta here!”
Theresa looked more down than Taz had ever seen her, and flinched when she heard Dee turn off her speaker. But, slowly, with steps full of uncertainty, Theresa wandered over, turning to stare in surprise up at the much taller Madeline.
“Hi Theresa.” Taz said with a little smile.
Theresa tilted her head, her red hair covering her face as she clenched her hands together in front of her body. “Hi… what… why are you…?” Her eyes went down to the baggie of sunflower petals, her mouth opening in surprise.
Taz held the baggie out to her. “These are for you. For the picture you were working on.”
Theresa hesitantly extended a hand, taking the baggie from Taz to stare at the mass of yellow inside. She looked up at Taz, her eyes wide, her mouth small and flat, only breathing as she brought the baggie close to her chest, her expression tightening.
“You didn’t have to…” She whimpered.
“You haven’t been leaving your room, have you?” Taz asked gently, and Theresa’s expression slackened once more.
“I go get food.” She said, refusing to meet Taz’s eyes.
Dee suddenly spoke up from her desk. “Would you guys get out of our room?!”
“Dee, shut the fuck up.” Melodica shot back, giving the girl a withering glare. Dee just lowered her head at her desk and sneered.
Taz considered for a moment, then looked back up at Madeline when she felt a hand squeeze her shoulder.
{Invite her to your room.}
Taz blinked at the order, but smiled up at Theresa. “Want to come to my room? You can show me how you make your pictures!”
Theresa’s eyes widened at the invitation. She glanced down at her feet and waved in place for a moment, her fingers twitching. Looking back at two of her roommates, Theresa cringed the tiniest bit, then gave a nod.
“O-okay. Okay.” She muttered, turning back to go open a big, brown trunk at the base of her bunk.
----------------------------------------
Madeline was mildly familiar with the art world thanks to Taz’s interest in music, and a few visits to museums. She’d heard that art had nearly unlimited styles, with every artist having their own signature look and process in creating their art.
Flipping through Theresa’s artbook, however, she felt an odd sensation in her stomach. Envy? Concern? She herself wasn’t much of an artist, but seeing what Theresa had created gave her a weird sense that she was, somehow, someway, far behind in adding something to the world…
It made her want to pick up a pencil and start drawing herself, but she paused on the very last picture, the sketchy mock-up of God looking down from the Heavens amidst a field of cotton clouds.
“They’re beautiful.” She told Theresa in a gentle tone, the redhead sitting in Taz’s desk chair, holding a stuffed dolphin in her lap with one hand, the cross on her necklace in the other.
“Th-thanks…” Theresa murmured.
“When did you start working with flowers and stuff?” Madeline gave the girl a little smile.
Theresa fidgeted in place. Madeline found it painfully obvious the girl was waiting for, like, an ambush or something. “When I was eight. My mom showed me how to press flowers.”
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“That’s cool. I’ve never really seen pressed flowers in person, they’re pretty.”
“Yeah…”
Madeline passed the book back over, and Theresa scrambled to take it, holding it tightly to her chest. Maybe it was time to switch topics… “So, uh, how do you like your roommates?”
“I don’t…” Theresa admitted, gently opening the book to her unfinished picture.
“Why not?” Madeline had a good idea, but…
“I just don’t.” Theresa mumbled, looking away from Madeline.
“Hm.” Madeline frowned and popped her lips. “Are you liking PA?”
“N-no…”
Madeline scrunched her brown together. “Is there anything you like about being here?”
Theresa quietly shook her head and sank into herself.
“What about Taz?” Madeline asked, glancing around her little sister’s room as if she might materialize.
She went quiet at the question. Madeline watched her posture tighten up, then deflate. “She’s… nice.”
“She has today off, you know.” Madeline said. “She decided she wanted to spend it picking sunflower petals for you.”
Theresa took a few seconds to nod, refusing to meet Madeline’s eyes.
Madeline sighed… she certainly seemed like a pitiable girl, but…
The door lock clicked and it swung open, and Taz walked in with Melodica right before her, both carrying bags of food.
“Tacos!” Melodica announced excitedly.
“We’ve got two bean burritos, a chicken fajita taco, beef fajita, and ground beef tacos…”
“No carnitas though!” Melodica announced, drawing a big pout from Madeline. “Sorry Mads, but that stuff looked rancid today.”
“Ugh, yeah, this place can’t do carnitas justice.” Maddy acknowledged, taking a bag.
“The Puellamas has a kitchen in the lounge area, right? Maybe your dad could show us his recipe.” Melodica offered, flopping onto her butt next to Madeline.
Madeline opened the bag to unwrap a bean burrito, taking a bite and giving a satisfied little sigh. “Nah, the ‘kitchen’ is basically a microwave and a toaster oven. We’d need a place to safely simmer the pork in some lard, and there’s no way that’d fly here. Man, something about beans and cheese just speaks to the muchacha in me.”
“What do you want, Theresa?” Melodica asked.
Theresa just stared with a blank expression, her eyes fluttering. “Wha-...” She turned her head to face Taz. “What would you recommend?”
“You haven’t had tacos before?” Taz asked, and when Theresa gave an ashamed shake of her head, Taz hummed. Taz dragged the empty desk’s chair over and sat down with a plastic knife, carefully sawing each of the remaining choices in half. “Ugh, when I get better with telekinesis, I am so learning that psi-knife thing Noelle was showing me.”
“Ps-psi-knife?!” Theresa squeaked, blanking out in concern until Melodica handed her half a chicken fajita taco on a napkin.
Madeline sucked some grease off her finger before answering. “It’s a pretty advanced telekinetic technique. Have you learned what a telekinetic plane is yet?”
Theresa shook her head, and Taz answered while working on the ground beef next. “Freakin’... stay together… uh, oh, Theresa, a telekinetic plane is… I mean, you know telekinesis is picking stuff up with your mind, right?”
“R-yeah…”
“A telekinetic plane is, like… okay…” Taz concentrated for a moment, and in the air, floating above the taco, a typical, black-handled kitchen knife materialized, and Theresa scooched to the back of her chair in fright. “So, this is just a mimicry. It’s not real.” Taz reached up to stick her fingers through the knife. “But imagine if I could make it solid with telekinesis. I could make it super sharp and cut through the taco instead of using this stupid piece of plastic crap.”
“Could…” Theresa’s eyes were on the knife, tentatively reaching up to let her fingers pass through the handle. “Could this psi-knife cut a person?”
“Yeah.” Madeline answered with an honest shrug. “Theoretically another telekinetic could stop it, or any basic anti-psi technique.”
“Mm…” Theresa squirmed uncomfortably in her chair.
“Beef fajita first, Taz!” Melodica insisted when she finally parted the last of the four options, giving herself half, and Theresa the other half.
“I know, Mel, you were practically drooling against the glass…” Taz grinned, and Melodica watched in rapturous attention as Taz sank her teeth into the taco, and the tulpa gave an absolutely delighted little noise.
“Mmm! They’re not Uncle Randy’s, but those spices~! Aaaaah…”
Theresa silently nibbled at the chicken fajita she was given, despite not being hungry, because it was something to do, to take her mind off things… and her eyes bugged open for a moment, and she ate a little more insistently, but still quietly.
“Y-you said this was a chicken fa-hee-ta?”
“Yeah! It’s pretty traditional Mexican food.”
“Well, sorta Tex-Mex in this case.” Madeline corrected. “But close enough; the non-frozen stuff is just to die for.”
“Taz, chicken fajita next…”
“Yes, Mel…”
With the food eventually scarfed down, the girls migrated to the carpeted floor. A needle-nosed glue cap carefully applied a dollop of clear glue so tiny that Taz had to see it on the surface of the sunflower petal, and Theresa gently placed it along the sketched outline of God’s beard.
“And you need to breathe very softly.” Theresa said in a low whisper, Madeline and Taz leaning in to listen, Melodica foregoing trying to act solid to float over the activity and watch with wide eyes. “It’s very slow, very careful work. A page can take me a few weeks sometimes.”
“Weeks?” Madeline asked in soft surprise, and Theresa gave a little nod.
“It's tiring. You move slowly, and everything has to be precise. You mess up a little and you might have to start over.” Theresa whispered. She took the next sunflower petal and pressed it edge-over-edge of the first, a little smile appearing on her face.
Watching her place petal after petal, Taz realized this was the first time she had seen Theresa smile. She still lacked a certain… energy, but she seemed pleased to be practicing art again.
“You’re really good at this.” Madeline noted out loud. “Steady hands and stuff, I mean, I feel like I’d be shaking all over.”
“Yeah, I have plenty of practice.” Theresa answered, sounding mildly pleased with herself. “My dad used to tell me it was the only thing I was good for.”
“Wow, wait, what?” Madeline asked, staring up at Theresa in open shock.
“Oh, um, that came out wrong…” Theresa sighed, pausing before applying the next petal. “I didn’t mean to say it like that. It’s just, I’m… not very good at doing much. I can’t cook like my mom, I can’t clean as well as either of my sisters, I’m not as strong as my brothers, I’m not very smart, or wise, or athletic…” She gave a deep, labored sigh, and put the petal into place. “I was really bad at memorizing scripture, too.”
“I mean…” Taz spoke up with a frown. “So? I’m not great at those things either, but I also found what I was good at. At least, I’m pretty confident I’m a good musician.”
“Hell yeah we are.” Melodica puffed herself up with a grin.
“Yeah, but, well… my family’s very religious.”
“Oh, really?” Madeline asked, and Taz almost rolled her eyes at how forced the question was.
“Yeah.” Theresa said with a dry, forced chuckle. “Purity was founded by my great grandfather a long time ago. He wanted to build a religious community, free of sin, to show God our world still had good and worthy people living in it. They did a really good job of it too…” She stopped in place, her eyes fixed on the book in front of her. “Until I was born, at least.”
Taz watched as Theresa’s cheer melted off her face, and she gently rubbed her eyes with the back of her wrist. “Why do you say that?” Taz asked, tentatively reaching forward to touch Theresa’s elbow, but the girl flinched away, curling up in on herself.
“You know why… don’t pretend.” Theresa squeezed her eyes shut. “I… don’t know why I came here.” She whispered.
“To PA?” Madeline asked, scooching closer to Theresa.
“To this room.” Theresa mumbled. “I know what you brought me here for. I know you’re going to try and tell me psychic powers are good. Everyone’s tried, but I’m not blinded by power; I know who gave us these powers. I…” She breathed in a ragged, pained breath. “I’m a curse in my town. My family, the St. Claires, the founders… I’m his sin to bear.”
“Theresa…” Madeline frowned, her hand taking Theresa’s wrist, but despite the girl’s attempt to pull away, Madeline kept a firm grasp on it. “You can’t be somebody else’s sin.”
“Then why do I exist?!” Theresa demanded in a shaking voice, barely raising above a whisper. “All my brothers and sisters were born normal, but I’m this thing with these evil powers!”
“Psychic powers aren’t evil, Theresa.” Melodica tried to say with an even voice, but the offense was plain on her face. “I wouldn’t exist without them.”
“Stop.” Theresa ordered weakly. “Stop it. I don’t know why I came here. My mother forced me to come to PA, but I don’t know why I let you talk me into coming here. I knew what this was!”
“Theresa, Taz literally just wanted to help you out.” Madeline frowned deeply, and Theresa shook her head.
“You can say what you want but I know better!”
“Theresa, do you think I’m evil?” Taz asked her softly.
Theresa looked up in surprise at the question, staring into Taz’s eyes in sudden concern.
“I just want to know.” Taz tapped her fingertips together. “I don’t want to be evil, but I love my powers. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”
Theresa abruptly pushed herself up to her feet, her artbook in her arms, her hand around her crucifix. With a wheeze that almost sounded as if she was in pain, she shook her head and shuddered.
“I-I’m going to the Sanctum.” Was all she said as she ran towards the door like her heels were on fire.
Taz, Melodica, and Madeline laid still, staring, stunned by the girl’s sudden escape.
“W-wait!” Taz called after her, staring at the open door. “The sunflower… petals…” But Theresa wasn’t there, and at the pace she took, probably at the elevators.
With a small frown, she looked over at Madeline for help, but her sister simply shook her head, and with a sad look, squeezed Taz’s hand.
“It’s alright baby girl. C’mon, let’s go watch some movies or something.”
“Yeah.” Melodica agreed glumly, floating up to her feet as Taz sighed.
By now, the recreation areas had cleared out with girls heading to their afternoon classes, and Madeline channel-surfed to find My Big Fat Greek Wedding for the three to sink into a couch together and watch.
Taz couldn’t ignore the sense of unfulfillment in her tummy, however. She wondered if there was an easy way to preserve those sunflower petals…