Should & Shouldn't

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Kira sighed, pulling out her file and staring at her empty spider diagram of swirls and stars. It looked a little bit like the spider itself was orbiting about space- definitely not what her English teacher had been asking for when she'd told them to brainstorm coursework ideas. The problem was, Kira was always full of ideas and daydreaming plots, but the second she was asked to put pen to paper- the second it mattered- her mind went blank.
Typical, right?
It was a relief to know she wasn't the only one to have put off homework. Ellie had spent most of the morning working with some naive first-years to enhance some of her imagination stimulants, and Brian had spent most of it trying to do maths, but failing because he was in the same room as Ellie and kept volunteering himself. Mike, like Kira, had English coursework to brainstorm, and he was now working in the library with her, but not very well, because he was keeping up a running stream of commentary on his Halloween with Lydia. Jack too had been putting off homework- his Geography was well overdue, and he knew he was gonna get murdered by his witch of a teacher, so he'd come along to keep Mike and Kira company in the library.
"And I think she wants to go out with me again," moaned Mike softly to Kira, tapping her on the head as she bent down over her work. "Again! Can you imagine? I think I'm gonna end up a rebound..."
"What else would you be?" grinned Jack.
"... and I don't want that!" Mike glared at Jack. "Lydia's nice enough and all... but really, why should I be another name on a long... long list of boyfriends?"
"So tell her that," Kira replied dully. "Not me."
"I should..." Mike said softly to himself. "Yeah... yeah, I should! Shouldn't I?"
"Definitely," Jack said absently, scribbling over some of the cramped words he'd tried to squeeze onto the bottom of his page. "Oh, perfect. Tippex, anyone?"
"Fresh out," Kira replied, biting her lip as she turned to look at him. Then, over his broad shoulders, she caught sight of a flash of fiery hair.
Good.
"Hey, Will!" she whispered, waving frantically. "She has Tippex," she added in an undertone to Jack, who grinned.

[Will Wright]

Will was pouring over books and books on Germany.
Gosh, there's so many here! she thought to herself.
If she could she would spend most of her time here just reading about her mother country. She loved to read up on Germany and it's land marks...not that she didn't know any because she did but to see the author's different views on them.
"Oh, how I miss them," she repeated to herself. The someone shouted over in a loud whisper.
"Hey, Will!" Kira whispered, waving frantically.
Will sighed and put down her book. She picked all of them up and her bag and went and sat down beside Kira and a boy.
"Hey," Will slumped down in her chair. She looked round the table and saw that most of them were doing their homework or coursework.
"I must be lucky, that or my teachers are bone idle or they like my class...a lot!" Will whispered in a surprised tone.
It was true. Everything was finally settling down after the battle and considering Madeleine was now awake and not comatose they were happy.
Her teachers hadn't giving them much homework lately and if they did it was only to read over something.
"Jeesh, who died?" Will realized the mistake of her question and sunk back.
Who died? Are you mad. Anton died and you go and ask...you are so so stupid!
Will's face twisted into an expression of happiness of being around her friends and sad and hurt from thinking about Anton.
"Never mind, it was a stupid question!" she shook her head miserably.
"Hey, um, do you have any tippex I could use?" the boy asked her.
"Sure," she fiddled in her bag and threw it onto he table in front of him.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Thanks, mate," Jack said cheerfully, putting the Tippex pen to paper, then freezing in horror at what he'd just said.
"Mate?" Kira rounded on him. "Like... what you call all your friends?"
"Your guy friends?" Mike chortled. "Oh, poor, poor Will..."
"Misspoke," grumbled Jack, thrusting the Tippex back across the table at Will. "I'm sorry."
"Sometimes I think those muscles go to your head," grinned Kira playfully.
He rolled his eyes at her, and turned back to his homework.

[Will Wright]

"Cheers girlfriend!" Will smiled cheekily at him, "Nah I'm kidding, you're fine,"
She grinned at Kira. She hadn't spoken to her in a looong time. Actually the last time she had spoken to her was at the lake.
"Sooo," Will stretched ans yawned.
She leant back in her chair and watched Jack scribble away.
"Who've you got?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Prof. Beckett," mumbled Jack with distaste. "Right witch of a woman."
"And we've the lovely," Kira rolled her eyes pointedly at Mike, "Prof. Gregg. Another witch if I ever saw one."
She eyed Will's bookload curiously.
"What're you doing here?"

[Will Wright]

Will nodded in agreement with Jack. She had her too but they were in different classes.
"What're you doing here?" Kira asked her.
Will followed her gaze to the books.
"Oh, just a bit of light reading!" Will replied happily.
"You call that light. You could pass as an academic with all those and your bit of light reading!" Mike gazed up at her in horror.
Will laughed out loud at his expression. She got a very nasty look from the librarian.
"Oops, sorry," she mouthed to her and the librarian stalked off.
"Don't tell me you haven't had an obsession with books before.
Mike snorted, "As if,"
"Well, you should,"
"Yes, well, you should...not read so much!"
"Mike, be careful with what you say, you're in my group and I could punish you if I wanted to," she gave him a pointed look.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Ooh, the threat," Jack chortled, and winked at Mike. "Be afraid, my friend, be very afraid..."
"Aren't you afraid of Madeleine?" Kira asked him slyly.
"Only a little," he admitted sheepishly, shrugging.
She laughed at him. "If you were a Spy would you be scared of me?"
"Nah, Kira," Mike smiled at her. "Sorry, but you're just not scary."

[Will Wright]

Will gazed at all of them in turn.
"I would be carful with wehat you say there Mike," she gave a friendly warning. Mik snorted.
"Come on Will, I mean seriously, she couldn't hurt a fly!"
"She can, I've seen her kill a whole bunch of them," Will lied. Mike eased off.
"So, what exactly are you doing here?" Jack asked as he took a break from his geography.
"Readin, passing time, taking my mind of things," she gave a simple reply. It was the truth.
She gazed out a nearby window and her eyes went unfocused.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Jack shrugged as Will drifted off, and turned back to his Geography. After a few passing moments of silence, in which Kira dully wandered the vacant cavern of her mind for inspiration, Jack suddenly chuckled loudly. A hissing sound from the librarian's withered lips shushed him, and he quickly bit his lip.
"What?" whispered Kira, turning to him.
"Ice hockey brawls, you and me, one on one," he winked. "Should I be scared?"
She grinned. She was feeling pretty excited about this ice hockey tournament, and her and Jack's enmity was no secret.
"Very," she smiled. "We have Jude."
"It's not Jude I'd be worried about," Mike muttered. "Ailith would look pretty scary with an ice hockey stick..."

[Will Wright]

Will was snapped back to attention when the topic of Ice Hockey was raised.
"Yeah, there's something about Ailith that gets me shaken up sometimes...but we are gonna win. Right Mike?"
"Maybe, I say there's a fair chance the Warriors or Spies will though," Mike sighed.
"Oh come on," she threw a rubber at him, "What sort of mood is that to be in? Tryin' to puit our group down?"
Will gazed at him hard.
"No,"
"Good," she smiled.
"I love Ice Hockey. I went to so many matches over in Germany," she thought back to those games were blood had spilled.
"The good times," she sighed happily, "You follow Ice Hockey Jack?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Mike, Jack and Kira snorted simultaneously.
"I hate it," Jack smiled. "Really, I hate it. Almost as much as I hate rugby- and believe you me, I hate rugby a hell of a lot-"
"Stop teasing her," Kira scolded him fondly. "Like I said, Will, those muscles go to his head."
"He's suffereing from a bit of a testosterone overdose," Mike explained, smiling.
Jack pulled a face at him. "And you are suffering from a very lack of the same thing."

[Will Wright]

Will had to stiffle the laughs that were about to burst out.
"You guys are so funny," she then turned to Jack and gave him a dig in the arm, "That was for teasing me!"
Jack stared at her in shock.
"What? Did you think because I'm head of Carers that I don't have any strength? Kira I think you're right," she smiled at her.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Girls blow," growled Jack, but Kira knew he was only messing.
"Tough Will," smiled Kira sweetly. "Ooh, the power... very nice."
Jack rolled his eyes. "Really, really blow."
"You love us," Kira said sweetly.
Jack's eyes flickered to Will, and back. "That all depends."

[Will Wright]

Will's mouth dropped open.
"Now Jack,that's not very nice. We know you love us, cause' we're that sweet and innocent," Will battered her eyelids at him. She then snorted.
"Yeah, you're right it does depend. But why don't you love us?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"It depends, like I said," he shrugged. "I shouldn't base any of my opinions on things like gender, race, etc before getting to know the person, should I?"
Kira was surprised. It was a rare sparkle of wisdom that Jack had offered up. Mike's expression reflected his own.
"Wow, you just made sense!" Mike murmured.