A week passed. It was te at night but Scale couldn’t sleep. She stared at the ceiling with bnk eyes. Through the wall she could hear the thunderous snoring of her father and distant chattering from the television he’d been watching. The guest room in the apartment didn’t have a soundproof formation like Alyssa’s bedroom. With a sigh, Scale got up. There was no point to wasting her time in bed. She made her way to the rooftop.

  The night air was a touch chilly even in early July. Response City was in the center of America when measured from east to west, but it was closer to the Canadian border when measured north to south. It was a strategic location for America’s Association Headquarters, allowing teleportation ability users to reach every corner of the country (including Aska) in the event of emergencies. The rooftop of the tall building was dark. Most city lights were too far below to reach here. It felt like another world.

  Scale looked up at the night sky and watched satellites blink against a backdrop of stars. The crescent moon made her think of her dragon mother. In the other world the myth of the two moons’ phases were expined as Olimaw biting out pieces of the celestial bodies. A slight smile pulled at the corner of Scale’s lips. She wondered how her mother was faring. Scale’s talents far outstripped her mom’s, but that didn’t mean the older dragon wasn’t capable. Even mid-sized consteltions would need to be wary when facing The One Who Swallows the Moon.

  “I need my own pce,” said Scale as she looked down towards the floor. Speaking aloud to herself helped her think clearly. A dragon needed a ir, after all. She couldn’t keep mooching off of her sister. Her father’s medical treatments were showing results, too. Soon treatment would no longer be necessary.

  Scale made her decision under a shower of starlight.

  “I’m moving out.”

  Alyssa choked on her toast. “H-hold on,” she said mid swallow. “There’s no reason to make a hasty decision.”

  “I talked with the Association and they’re going to put me up in a nice pce as part of my compensation package,” said Scale. She continued the conversation in spite of her sister’s protest.

  “Good,” their father chimed in. “About time.”

  “Dad, we just got her back! How can you say that?”

  “Every time I try to watch my favorite streamer that fucking idiot comes in and changes the channel, dammit! I say good riddance!”

  “You want Scale to leave because she changes the channel on you?” Alyssa’s voice cracked.

  “Yes!”

  Scale ughed as the other two bickered. “Rex a bit, Lyss,” she said. “I’ll come visit often.”

  “You better.” Alyssa tucked her chin into her shirt and chewed on the colr of her blouse. She asked in a muffled voice: “When are you moving?”

  “Preferably today or tomorrow.”

  “That soon?!”

  “I was hoping you could convince Sarah to help—”

  “Of course she will! I’ll help too. You don’t even need to ask!”

  Scale looked down at her pte to hide her smile and her fork pyed with the scrambled eggs. A trace of color could be seen on her cheeks. Alyssa and their father shot off another round of banter. The morning sun made the room glow.

  Scale stood in front of the small house with a proud smile. She didn’t mind extravagance from time to time, but she much preferred the humble single-story ranch in front of her to any opulent mansion. It was in the south-side suburb just a short walk from the park where her first life ended, but that memory made the location more endearing. To Scale, her first death wasn’t traumatic; it was a new beginning. She pulled the ancient ‘For Sale’ sign out of the shaggy wn.

  The contract negotiations included a housing allocation that gave Scale full ownership. This small, cozy home belonged to Scale in its entirety. It was no rental! She stamped her feet in excitement at the prospect of finally owning her own home, something she only ever dreamed of in her first life.

  One bedroom, one bath, one undry room, and an open floor-pn kitchen that combined with the living room. A small storage crawl-space could be accessed inside the trusses between the pink insution and the roof. The small backyard was surrounded by an 8 foot hedge with one section of fence that had a wooden gate, and it had a nice garden plot. The front yard was sloped towards the street and would need work, but Scale thought of that as a positive.

  Moving didn’t take long. Having the world’s strongest teleportation ability user on call ensured that. It also helped that Scale didn’t own all that many things.

  At 43 Feather Lane, the third house on the right, the smallest house in the neighborhood, a young woman moved in alone.

  Harper wasn’t like most other girls. She was an Awakened. It made sense considering her father’s position as a high ranked Awakened too, but she still took pride in her own talents. She was a rare kind: one who achieved their initial Awakening through pure talent and training, without the help of a Consteltion. She awakened two years ago at 14 and was now studying at the prized Awakener’s Association High School, P.S.111. By all rights her life should have been perfect, so why… Why was she walking home in a soiled uniform, soaked to the bone on a dry day?

  Harper didn’t want her mother to see her like this. She didn’t want her father to find out the truth. So she snuck through the hedge separating the neighbor’s backyard only to freeze upon coming face to face with a white-haired woman digging in the old garden with a trowel. Bags of soil were scattered about and a hose was pouring water into the rows. The two froze and stared at each other like deer in the headlights.

  “I-I’m so sorry!” Harper broke the silence. “I was so used to this house being abandoned I forgot it sold!”

  “Hey, hey,” Scale’s voice was gentle. “Calm down. It’s okay.” Scale’s eyes wavered looking at the state of the teenager. She almost bit her tongue. “I’m your new neighbor. You can just call me Miss Altiman.”

  “I-I’m Harper.”

  “Yes, I know you. You’re Tomtom’s daughter. I know your dad.” Scale wasn’t ignorant of the neighbors. The Association showed her this location precisely because it matched Scale’s desires and it was next door to one of the few S-rank Awakeners. Unfortunately, Scale’s choice of words elicited a panicked squeak from the teenage girl.

  “Eeek! P-please pretend you didn’t see me!” Harper buried her face in her hands.

  The girl had a few twigs in her damp blonde hair from walking through the hedge, but the most concerning thing to Scale was the dirt covered uniform. Scale wasn’t ignorant. She had lived as an introverted nerd once.

  “Why don’t you come inside and wash up. I’ll lend you some clothes.”

  Harper cringed backward. Her eyes were shaking with clear rejection. She turned her nose up and put on a stern expression. “Thank you but I’m fine. Just,” She hesitated, “Could you please not tell my parents about…”

  “Sure. Your secret’s safe with me.” Scale sighed. It made sense. They had just met for the first time. Being invited into a stranger’s home to ‘clean up’ was clearly not proper.

  Just as the two were about to part there was a knock at the gate. “Miss Altiman, are you there? Mr. Robinson called me and said he saw Harper cutting through the hedge again. She must have forgotten that you moved in.”

  “Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no—” Harper’s brain shut down and she started muttering under her breath.

  “Mrs. Tomtom!” Scale’s eyes twinkled as she spoke. She stood up and winked at Harper. “Yes, your daughter is here. I confronted her and she offered to help me with with my garden to pay for trespassing, but she accidentally fell in the dirt while we were hosing down the plot. I’m so sorry.”

  Scale opened the gate to reveal a portly woman in a rose-patterned summer dress. She had a gentle but concerned face.

  “Oh my goodness! Look at you, hon.” She bowled past Scale and ran up to her daughter in a fuss.

  “I’ll compensate you for the uniform—” Scale was cut off.

  “Nonsense!” Mrs. Tomtom turned on her heels and pointed a finger at Scale. “It was her clumsiness that caused this mess. Don’t you worry, a little thing like a uniform is nothing to our family.” Mrs. Tomtom smiled so beautifully that it made Scale’s eyes burn. “If you really want to make up for it, why don’t you come over and join us for dinner tonight. I’m grilling salmon!”

  The middle aged housewife grabbed her daughter’s sleeve and dragged the teenage girl out the gate before Scale could refuse.

  “M-mom!”

  “I’ll see you at six!”

  Scale realized she never had a right to refuse in the first pce. She could only turn her head and ugh as she watched the poor kid get dragged away.

  “Well, I didn’t have any dinner pns anyway.”