Free Charlotte Powers 1: Power Down by Ben White Page A

training room which was a big cube. All of the rooms were circular and there weren't many hallways at all, just rooms leading down or up into other rooms, everything was nice and open and bright and there were windows everywhere looking out on to the blue sky and the green jungle ... okay, now I'm getting really homesick and feel a bit like I'm going to cry, so I'll get back to C2's house. Like I said, it's pretty small and narrow but kind of cute too, it needs new paint (it's a dark brown colour but you can see the old wood underneath where it's flaking off) and the floorboards squeak but inside it feels kind of 'friendly'. That's probably because of C2's parents, who are NOTHING like her. I mean that in the nicest way, of course, she's her and they're them, which is good. Having more than one person like C2 around could get a bit tiring, I think.
    Anyway, they were so happy she brought me home with her even though she didn't call first (I asked her about this later and she told me that her mother had once told her that bringing someone home was fine and made no mention of calling, so since then she's always carried the assumption that no call is necessary; classic C2!), and they wanted to know all about me and where I came from—it got a little hairy but I managed to not-quite-lie my way through (I said I was from out of town, which is true). C2's dad is kind of small except not, I mean he looks as if he SHOULD be small but he's almost as tall as she is and if she unstooped she'd be almost six feet, I think. Her mum is really bubbly and bright and friendly and almost never stops talking, she's kind of 'big' and has curly hair and when she smiles it makes you want to smile too.
    For dinner, we had meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy, it was super-yummy! I've never had meatloaf before, which is weird because it's so simple and easy. Mashed potatoes were also new to me, back home potatoes were really rare and usually Dad grabbed them to make chips out of, we'd never 'waste' them by mashing them, but mashed potatoes are actually delicious! Almost as good as chips, especially with gravy.
    There was one weird thing, though. Not about the food, about C2's parents. Um, well, not weird , I guess, but worth mentioning in more detail. After she excused herself to go to the toilet, her mum and dad both smiled at me in a strange kind of way, then her dad said:
    "It's so good of you to be so understanding about Charlotte's disorder."
    Disorder? C2 has a disorder?
    "She can be difficult to deal with, we know," C2's mum put in, "and it must be difficult to be her friend sometimes, but we're so happy you're getting along with her."
    After that C2 came back from the toilet and things went back to normal. After dinner I helped clean up then C2 and I went to her room to do homework together. Her room is really interesting, she has lots of books and also a proper drawing board, although I didn't see any drawings or anything around. Not even any posters. After we'd done the homework (which was easy-peasy for both of us, she's pretty smart) she kind of got a bit fidgety, so I asked what was wrong.
    "Are you bored?" she asked.
    "No, I'm having fun!" I said. "I've never been to someone's house before."
    "But we're not doing anything interesting," she said. "I don't have any communal activities such as games, and we don't have a television."
    "Just talking is fun," I said. "I like getting to know you! Like, have you lived here your whole life?"
    "Yes," she said. "I've never been anywhere else."
    "Wow. Kind of like me!" I said. "This is the first place I've been outside of my home."
    "Where is your home?" she asked.
    "Um, somewhere far away." Actually, even if I wanted to tell her, I kind of couldn't. I don't know which country Seclusion is in. If I had the full-strength honesty curse like Mum I'd probably be forced to say 'in a secret base in a volcano in a big huge jungle' but fortunately I don't.
    "Why did you choose here?" she asked.
    "Um. I