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Maggie was furious and desperate; she saw a shiny, cool thing on a market near a construction site and took it without thinking. Eventually, she found out it was a hair clip; she wasn’t someone to wear stuff on her head because it scratched her and made her feel severely uncomfortable. But the weather was warm, she was sweating, and her hair wasn’t cooperating. She tried to do a bun, but twisting her hair and her hands on the clip slowly transformed from a loose bun to a jungle of tangled hair.
Maggie tried to take it off, but the only thing she did was pull her hair, causing her pain. Why did people make it look so easy? Maggie tried again and pulled the clip, hoping maybe it would finally come out. But instead, it broke into tiny pieces, making the mess even more chaotic. She tried for another hour, but it was useless; her arms were tired, her scalp sore, and her heart beating, rushing out of pure desperation. She wanted to scream; she knew she needed help at this point.
She checked the time, and it was 8 PM. And some patrol teams were in the hangout room, hoping she could find someone who would help her out of this mess. She made her way towards the building, receiving weird faces and indifference, but it wasn’t a surprise anymore.
She got out of the elevator and walked towards the entrance, catching sight of Sketch’s Team.
…. Great, just great out of everyone, it had to be them.
Oscar and Ruby were playing a video game of two characters battling against each other while making flirty remarks with jokes, which she could feel she wasn’t old enough to understand yet. Danna had her headphones on while reading a book. And Nova and Adrian were checking some stuff on Nova’s laptop with precision.
Maggie considered going to the training room; perhaps she could find different people. Till a voice called her.
“Maggie?” It was Max, the youngest Everhart. He seemed like he was just hanging around, as he didn’t have a reason to be there to begin with; he was holding a granola bar. “What happened to your hair?” Max was now paying attention to her head and the strange twist as he was about to reach out to touch it. “Do not!” Maggie stepped behind with a jump, making a little too loud a voice as it made Nova and Adrian raise their faces towards them.
Amazing, now she had full attention of exactly who she didn’t want to have.
“Is everything okay?” Adrian asked, his attention fully focused on the two kids, while Nova’s eyes were sharp and defensive when she saw it was about Maggie, but then widened when she saw her hair.
Max turned around and gave them a thumbs up, “I’m fine!” but then turned to see Maggie giving her a smirk, “But her hair isn’t. I think she needs help.” Maggie wanted to punch him; he was just a stupid, spoiled kid who had his brother to protect him and look after him.
Adrian stood up and walked towards them, checking on the mess of Maggie’s head and then realizing she had a broken golden hairclip on top of her hair. “Please tell me this was bought,” he sighed. Maggie raised her face. “I don’t think that is some relevant information to give now, Sketch,” she answered with an annoyed tone. This wasn’t bought, and at least he hadn’t touched her hair. Till a hand brushed softly against one of the hair strands, she immediately jerked forward, almost pushing Max to the floor, who yelped.
Nova’s hand froze midair, seeing the girl’s reaction, but she kept her composure. “Don’t move, I know how to take this off,” she said with a neutral tone.
Maggie cursed in her brain. Anyone could have helped her, but Nightmare? “By knowing how to take this off, you mean you are going to put me to sleep or what?” Maggie asked, challenging her to take a step forward, still not turning around to see Nova.
Nova exhaled as she tried to remember herself to be patient with a child. “I won’t, when I was maybe your age, I don’t know how old you are, I got some of Honey’s… Queen Bee’s necklaces, on my head, and I managed to take them off before she arrived,” Nova said with an annoyed, melancholic tone. “I can help if you want.”
Maggie saw the two brothers who were looking at the scene unfold in front of each other. “You can trust her,” Max assured Maggie.
Finally, she breathed. The pain in her head was becoming unbearable, and at this point, she knew this was the best and fastest option she could accept. “Fine,” she said, defeated.
“Okay then, sit, this will take a long time,” Nova said as she walked back to the couch, only to now this time walk behind it and not sit on it. Maggie could only think about how Nova’s tone was so cold and demanding towards her, sending chills down her body. Did Adrian really enjoy dating her, or was Nova just like this with certain people? Maggie followed and flopped herself on the fluffy couch, slightly tensing her back, not wanting to lean back completely against it. “Do you need anything?” Adrian asked Nova with a warm voice and a little bit too close to Nova’s ear. Maggie was feeling nauseous. Why did these two have to be so enamored with each other?
“Just a hairbrush, please,” Nova replied as she gave Adrian her bracelet, which Maggie assumed she gave to him so he could “protect it” from her, which was ironic; they had to protect the stuff from the wrong thief. Her thoughts got interrupted when Nova started to check Maggie’s hair. Adrian stored the bracelet in one of his pockets and started drawing in a nearby base, pulling a hairbrush out of the drawing and handing it to Nova.
Maggie could feel the way Nova’s fingers moved with precision around her hair; she felt compared to a small bomb about to explode, and she was disabling the cables. Or at least that was the vibe Nova gave off to her. She could hear Nova’s little murmurs, half surprised, and half confused, but never accusing Maggie of the mess in her hair. She thought that if Nova tried to attack her or put her to sleep, Adrian was going to protect her, and that little thought made her a little bit calmer. But Nova never tried once to do something impulsive towards her.
Minutes passed in silence between the two girls; the only thing keeping it from becoming awkward was the noise of Oscar and Ruby’s video game and comments, the sound of pages passing through Danna’s book, and Adrian and Max playing a Jenga game next to them.
After a while, Adrian said something to Max and left the room, returning with bottles of water. “How is it going? You’ve been here for a while now,” Adrian asked Nova while handing her a bottle of cold water. Maggie thought about it; she was also thirsty. “It’s not bad, it's more about the tension of pulling it that caused this mess, maybe in some 30 to 40 minutes I’ll finish, oh, and thank you, love,” Nova replied as she took the bottle of water but kept her eyes on Maggie's hair.
Maggie was about to complain about wanting water when a small pale hand was in front of her, Max again.
“Adrian thought it would be good idea to bring you two water, here you go” Max said with an adorable grin, and Maggie only took the bottle as fast as possible, opened the cap and took it to her mouth “Yes, thank you, Max” Maggie replied, hoping Max could stop looking at her so proud of himself as if he just saved the entire city from a drought. Max shrugged and returned next to his brother, only to this time they were both checking comic books.
“Guys, we are going to head out now, okay? Sterling and Jade want to have burgers,” Oscar called for the rest of the team, holding Ruby’s hand. “Max, do you want to come with us?” Ruby asked.
“I’m fine, thanks, I’ll be here,” Max answered back.
“I think I’m leaving too, Narcissa and I have this weekly thing of reuniting to talk about the book we are reading together, so…” Danna said, closing her book, also leaving, taking her stuff with her.
And then it was just the Everhart brothers and, unconsciously, the Artino sisters too.
Everything was so quiet, and it reminded Maggie that Sketch’s team was the youngest to always be the last one to finish the day, as other patrols were full of old adults who would rather be in the cafeteria, training room, or leave with their families than stay in the hangout room full of video games.
“Do you like hair clips?” Nova finally broke the silence between the two of them
“What?” Maggie asked, still wondering if the question was directed at her. Nova wanted to talk to her?
“Do you like hair clips? I’m asking because why else would you have one on?” Nova asked again, Maggie could feel the gentle way her fingers were now massaging her sore scalp and using the brush for her hair strands.
“I was just curious, and the weather was warm,” Maggie answered sharply.
“Ok,” Nova answered. That was all? Nothing else? Maggie was surprised by the indifference.
Then Nova handed her a purple hair tie that was on her wrist. “Yes, the weather wasn’t good today, take it, so you don’t have to wear a hair clip again.” Maggie was confused, no, extra confused. Why was she giving her a hair tie? What did she want? But still tried to be strong, “I don’t need it, thanks,” Maggie rejected the hair tie. She didn’t want anything to do with Nightmare.
“Fine,” Nova answered with a sigh, clearly disappointed in the answer, and took her hair tie back and returned to massaging Maggie’s scalp.
Maggie felt a little bit guilty for rejecting the casual detail, but her guilt was flooded away as she started feeling so good from the gentle touch, realizing that Nova had taken her bracelet off so it wouldn’t get tangled in her hair. She could tell she didn’t have any last pieces of the hair clip anymore; her hair wasn’t a mess either, but indeed her scalp was in pain, and this helped her. It was soothing, relaxing, and so…caring.
It made her even wonder if this could have been her life if she had had a sister with her, if someone older could have looked for her. And know when she was in pain and need of help, wouldn’t shame her for her curiosity, and would guide her. But Nova wasn’t her sister; she was just a girl who happened to help her right now and was related to criminals in the past. Maggie’s eyes were starting to close; At this point, it was too late for her, and if Nightmare’s powers were being used right now, she didn’t mind, as it was making her feel so relaxed and taking the pain away.
“I’m done,” Nova said, only to not receive any reply from Maggie. “Magpie?”
Oh, she was asleep
SHE WAS SLEEPING?
Nova looked where Adrian and Max were; it seemed they had seen the moment Maggie fell asleep. “I swear I didn’t use them,” Nova stuttered, immediately a little bit worried. “I don’t think your powers are what caused it, Nova,” Adrian interrupted her spiral with a kind tone, making Nova look at him, confused. “I think your touch relaxed her.” He continued.
Nova turned to see Maggie sleeping. She was so peaceful, and her tense face was fully softened. Nova felt proud of it; she never helped a little girl with something hair-related, and she wished she could have done the same for her sister.
Adrian stood up and checked Maggie’s face, and whispered, “I know where the kids picked by the Renegades live. We can take her there; it’s late for them to be outside.” Nova nodded as she saw Adrian carry Maggie with ease, while Max took Maggie’s water bottle with him. Nova followed behind them, feeling a strange sensation inside her stomach.
When they arrived, a nice lady greeted them. She had an incredible amount of strength as she took Maggie in her arms as if she were holding a pillow. “Thank you for bringing her back.” Nova couldn’t help but snoop just a little bit to make sure Maggie was taken away properly and with care. At the end of the day, she was just a little girl, and she, too, was once a little girl under the care of the wrong people.
Once the door was closed, they left the place, Adrian and Nova holding hands while Max walked in front of them.
“You did well today,” Adrian told Nova with those love eyes that made her melt, and gave her bracelet back.
She smiled and looked away. “I did what I would have done with my sister.” Holding her bracelet close to her chest.