Kyle

"Yeah, I see that."

He motionned to the room, seeing it was still quite empty, but there was an almost steady flow of people walking in and out of the house.

"Was it scheduled to be that big?"

He could recall the girls telling him about a small party, not what looked like a heavy frat party.

"No, it wasn't really...But it's okay. Brought food for a whole army."

"Oh. Ok. Beer?"

Peyton just nodded, and he smiled as he guided the two of them to the keg, managing to get close and fill up two cups...

Penny

"Thanks."

Turning around, she couldn't help but smile when she saw he had a drink for her, and she took it, looking at the contents, as, at least, beer didn't make her blush.

"Why are you staying here with me, Ben? Your friends are going to feel left alone."

She had the same teasing smile on as she looked up at him, taking a sip out of her bright red plastic cup.

"Don't think they hate me enough already?"

If they thought they were subtle with their thinly veiled insults to her, they were even more idiotic than she knew they were...

And Ice Queen was surprisingly fitting. If only they knew...

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Peyton

Standing just behind Kyle as he filled two cups with beer. Peyton must've either been invisible, or the guy was blind, as she listened to him mention Penny and Ben.

" Seriously. He blew off Sunday's practice just to go get beer for this thing. ."

Stepping to the side a little, she watched as he took a long gulp of beer, before continuing.

" Like he thought the chick would just open her legs, if he surprised her with a few kegs for her party. ."

Seeing a flash of red, Peyton moved up that bit closer to Kyle's back and brought her hand to her chest. Pointing at the guy as he raised the tap to refill his cup.

" DUDE! "

A small flash of heat, and Peyton pulled Kyle back, avoiding the sudden spray of beer and smirking as it hit the guys face and shirt.

A couple of people gasped, while others snickered, and Peyton bit her bottom lip, giggling into Kyle's shoulder.

" Oops. .Too much to drink, bud? "

He glared over at her, and she raised her hands innocently. .

Ben

Moving the bowl to the side on the counter, he jumped up and sat on the counter.

" Maybe i'm sick of the same people all the time. . "

Giving a waggle of his eyesbrows, he smirked and took another sip of his beer, before letting out a sigh.

They were quiet for a second, before he let his eyes go over her whole outfit.

" Who wouldn't want to be distracted by you, anyway? "

It was a bit direct, but he wanted to hear her reaction, as he met her eyes again. .

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Penny

Penny almost laughed at his words, feeling trapped in a bad movie.

"I can't believe how lame your pick-up lines can be, Ben."

She rolled her eyes, moving around him to bring the food in the living-room, where there was, of course, a crowd around the keg. Her eyes met Peyton's and her sister winked, making Penny smile.

Ben was still there when she turned again, wanting to extract herself from too many people, as it wasn't so much her thing, and she sighed, letting him follow her back to the kitchen.

"You feel the need to follow me around like this, Ben, really?"

Kyle

He was still laughing at Peyton's little stunt when his phone rang and he excused himself for a second, going outside and picking up.

"Mum?"

It was weird that his mother would call. She rarely did, and he was glad, knowing that whenever she called, it was mostly a bad news.

And as he listened to her telling him she was at the police station, he knew why he thought that a second ago. His lips suddenly dry, he nodded at the phone when she was done.

"Okay, okay. I'll be there as soon as I can, mum."

Hanging up the phone, Kyle growled when someone knocked into him, not even apologising, as he walked back to the house to tell Peyton he was leaving.

Corey

As he ran up to the entrance of the house, seeing there was obviously a party going on, Corey sighed desperatly, not even turning around to apologise to the guy he almost ran into as he went through the door.

He was clutching his hands together tightly in the front pockets of his hoodie, his face contorted with fear and anxiety as he walked in the crowded living-room.

"Mate, you ok?"

One guy put a hand on his shoulder, making Corey wince and free himself from the grasp as he looked at the unknown guy.

"Where's Peyton, or Penny? Where are they?!"

The guy shrugged, motionning to what looked like the beer queue.

"Peyton was around there. Penny...who is Penny?"

But Corey was already off, walking determinedly to the keg, searching for a blonde head.

"Peyton!"

She finally showed up, and he sighed with relief, just as the guy he walked into appeared too.

"Peyton, I gotta go..."

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Peyton

"Peyton!"

Jumping a little at the shout, she turned, then paused as she saw Corey.

"Peyton, I gotta go..."

" What- "

The Kyle was there, and Peyton glanced between the two, before she saw the look on Corey's face.

" Ok-. ."

Kissing Kyle's cheek, she barely got to finish as he took off, but then she could practically feel Corey's eyes on her and turned, grabbing his arm to pull him through to the hall.

" Hey "

Putting on a smile, it was paired with a slight frown as she got a proper look at him now.

" What's wrong? "

Ben

"You feel the need to follow me around like this, Ben, really?"

A dark look settled on his face and pushing his hands into his jeans, he leant against the kitchen door, before he gave a grunt and turned, heading through the crowd.

He liked her. She cute and had a sharp tongue. Kept him in his place.

But after the last few weeks, he was really starting to get sick of her treating him like a jerk.

" Yo! Benji! "

He went to wave them off and grab his jacket. But then a couple of his buds, mostly drunk, were all over him, and eventually he caved and joined in the poker match they'd set up.

When Ginny, an old friend of his from 1st year wrapped her arms round his shoulders in a hug and started watching over his shoulder, he relaxed that bit more.

At least his friends still liked him. .

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Corey/Penny

"Something...Something's really fucked up, Peyton."

Making sure there wasn't much people around, he took his hands out of his pockets, the two of them looking down at the sparkles igniting from his fingertips.

"I can't stop it!"

He was totally panicking and it wasn't long before Peyton hurried him in the kitchen, to find Penny here.

"Oh, hey Corey! Didn't know you'd come..."

He held up a hand, waving as the sparkles created some noises.

"Didn't plan to."

"Oh, dear."

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Peyton

"Oh, dear."

Everything suddenly went dark and everyone gave a collective groan as Peyton looked to Penny with a glare, before grabbing Corey's hands and putting them back into his pockets.

" YO! BRING THE POWER BACK! "

Rolling her eyes as she and Penny came out into the party, Peyton just shrugged and tried looking apologetic.

" Sorry guys. Old house and all "

Collective groans went out and groups started grabbign food and boozing, much to Peyton's shock as she grabbed a bag of chips, before a girl could.

" Hey! "

The girl rolled her eyes and took off, and huffing, Peyton took back a half pack of beers from a guy too.

Glancing to Corey, who stood in the door of the kitchen, she just gave her most 'it's ok' smile. .

Ben

His friends were all hearding out to the cars, and breaking from Ginny, Ben moved into the dining room, giving a quick nod to a guy stood in the kitchen.

" Sorry about the party, Peyt . . "

She just waved him off and went round grabbing some rubbish, before he spared a glance at Penny.

He wasn't going to risk that avenue again and just took a few steps back, before he turned and headed out. .

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Corey/Penny

Seeing the way the guy was looking at Penny, Corey raised an eyebrow, not being able to help himself, despite the panic, still creeping under his skin, although mildly now since he had Peyton and Penny to help.

The guy just slightly waved, giving a look that was quite dark towards Corey and Corey turned to Penny.

"He's got a crush on you. And he's jealous I'm staying and he's not."

"Oh, shut it, Corey. Peyton, is everyone gone?"

Peyton nodded as the three of them went back to the kitchen, Penny immediately going to the fuse box while Peyton took Corey's hands out again.

"It's subsiding. I don't know what happened, I just...Mom called and we fought again and then it started...My phone exploded."

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Peyton

"It's subsiding. I don't know what happened, I just...Mom called and we fought again and then it started...My phone exploded."

Turning his hands over slowly, Peyton just tried to keep him as calm as possible.

" Here. ."

Making him sit on a stool, she then went and got a glass and filled it with water, turning back just as the lights came back on, and she heard the music stop a second later, before Penny appeared again.

" Whatever it is. I'm guessing that when you got mad. It sort of triggered itself. ." Kinda like ours. . .

She didn't add that last part as she chewed her lip and glanced to Penny.

She was a bity confused really. As to why Corey didn't know what was happening to him?

The girls had learnt not long ago, and in their teens.

So why, when Corey was 20, was he only just finding out?

" What were you guys fighting about? "

Whee Corey frowned, Peyton quickly elaborated.

" You and your mom. . "

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Corey/Penny

"It's..."

The words died in his throat, refusing to come out, so he looked down at his hands, smacking his fingers and watching sparkles emerge.

Penny sat on a stool next to him, looking at him seriously.

"Come on, Corey."

"She put a fucking spell on me! She put a spell on me when I was born so I wouldn't get my powers before, like. Now. And now I'm screwed up and I can't control them and it's way overwhelming."

He couldn't help the loneliness he was feeling, alone in the world, lied to by his whole family.

"And she doesn't want to help me out. And I have a life to live and it feels like I can't because of these powers I can't..."

"We'll help you."

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Peyton

" Way to ease him in, Pen . ."

Shaking her head, Peyton ignored her sister's look and moved that bit closer to Corey, taking one of his hands.

" But she's right. ."

Giving a small quirk of her lips, Peyton squeezed his hand.

" We don't know THAT much. But-. ."

Shrugging, she glanced to Penny with a small smile.

" We got the basics, right? "

They all seemed to go quiet for a few minutes, and eventually Peyton frowned.

" Why won't she help you? "

She couldn't help wondering about that. . .

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Corey/Penny

"Because I gotta learn life the hard way. Always had."

"Sweet."

Corey shrugged, used to the quirks of his parents. his father had it hard in his life, and he had passed that on to his kids. His mother had just followed, got used to it herself.

"Okay, come on."

Penny grabbed one of Corey's hands, leading him to the stairs and up, to the attic.

"Here's where our grandmothers kept the book."

"The book?"

"Yeah. We don't know all that much about it. It's mostly spells."

The three of them walked in and both Peyton and Penny went to stand behind the small desk that held a huge leather bound book.

"And you know...what you gotta do is. Practice. Focus. Learn. The hard way, yeah, I guess it's the way to say it. That's the way we learned."

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Peyton

" And still are. Every day "

Corey was still looking at the book in suspiscion, and letting out a huff, Peyton went over and pulled him over.

" It doesn't bite. .Well-. sort of "

He looked up and she smirked.

" Kidding "

Holding up her hands, she backed up a bit, letting him get a look.

As he flipped pages, Peyton crossed her arms and started to chew her lip again. Her brain working over time.

" I can't believe they didn't tell him . . "

Keeping her voice quiet, Peyton glanced to Penny. .

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Corey/Penny

"Considering we're adopted, Pey, it's not like we were told either."

In contrary to her sister, Penny wasn't trying to talk under her breath, trying to hide her thoughts from Corey. She knew, had a feeling that the three of them would spend an awful lot of time together, and honesty was the key between her and Peyton, so it had to work with him too.

"Maybe your parents just wanted to protect you?"

"My mom keeps saying it was so I could have a normal childhood...But I'm wondering if it wasn't more to protect themselves. I just. I don't know."

"Don't you always felt different?"

Penny knew she did. She always felt like there was something more to it than just the fact she had a twin.

And when Corey nodded, she couldn't help but smile, looking at Peyton.

"It'll be alright."

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Peyton

" Uh huh. Right. ."

Always her sister, with the positive mentality.

She knew in the long run, that maybe having someone else who understood them, as well as being a guy, could be a good influence on them. But watching Corey and Peyton smile, she couldn't help frowning.

She and Penny had been adopted. Which came up with the logical deduction of them not being told about their powers.

But when she thought of Corey and how his parents hadn't told him for the sake of his childhood?

It just sounded like a loud of bullshit to her.

Somehow she couldn't help wondering if her parents would have done that to her and Penny, had they still been around.

Sighing, she dragged a hand through her hair and bent to pull off her heels.

" It's getting late, guys. .Maybe we should hit the sack and get on this in the morning? "

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