Pearl's advice

As you look for Pearl, you recall the past, and how Pearl became one of (if not your best) friend over the last few years.

Sully used to be your best friend, and in many ways still is. But moving from middle to high school, your interests diverged.

Sully became a football star. He won over one the prettiest girls at school. Everybody knows and loves him, and he's constantly called away for games, practice, social events with the team.

The amount of time you actually spend with Sully decreased from every day to a few hours a week. Sometimes you don't see him at all. The truth is you’ve grown apart.

Pearl, on the other hand...

The two of you met Freshman year. You, the funny guy everybody liked. Pearl, the snarky outcast who liked no one (not even you) and who in turn was liked by no one. You seemed total opposites.

In Freshman English, you sat next to each other. Pearl refused to laugh or even smile at your jokes. You took it as a personal insult, and challenge.

You employed every trick in the book to crack her, but you only hit it off when you spotted Pearl sitting alone at lunch and decided to talk to her outside of class.

Turned out you and Pearl had a tremendous amount in common. You both had single parents, an older (over-involved) sibling out of the house, and an irresponsible obsession with video games, movies, and music. Soon as you goaded Pearl into joining you and the crew at lunch instead, the rest was history.

Sully laughs at how many games you’ve 100-percented. Pearl's stays up till midnight with you when the Steam Christmas sale roles around.

Sully’s eyes glaze over when you explain memes to him. Pearl, uninvited, texts you to bitch about whatever the new YouTube scandal is that's making the rounds.

Sully busses off without you on adventures with his football team. Meanwhile, you and Pearl perform advanced accounting on your meager allowances to transmute them into into tickets for Sabaton concert and haunted houses.

Unable to find Pearl anywhere, you lean against the mezzanine railing overlooking the party, and pull out your phone to check your text history.

Your last conversation with Pearl was about meeting up tomorrow to hang out and play video games at your place. You tap out a quick text asking Pearl to find you, but midway remember you literally own where she goes. According to your and Yutong's tests, that's no exaggeration.

You delete the message and send a much shorter one.

Chase: Can we talk? Come upstairs and find me on the balcony ASAP.

Pearl makes no reply, you see she's read the message. You hold your breath. But not even a minute later, an aggravated Pearl makes her way up the stairs to join you.

She stops beside you and folds her arms.

Chagrined, you offer her the hoodie you claimed from her an hour back. "I think this is yours."

Pearl gives you an unfriendly look. "It used to be."

"Well. I'm not sure if I can undo claims, but Yu would say this is the perfect moment to find out," you say. "Take it. It's yours."

Pearl hesitates, then swipes her dark gray hoodie out from your hands. Encouraged with it again in her hands, she wastes no time in pulling it back on over her head. "Thank god," she says, breathing a sigh of relief. "And what about your - that is, my attitude?"

"It's all yours again."

Pearl's whole demeanor shifts gears. Her confidence resurges. Her expression darkens. Uncertainty turns to anger. The dark-haired girl, suddenly enlivened, shoves you hard in the chest, into the railing. "What the fuck Chase?"

Only your grip on the railing keeps you from losing your balance. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I got these new powers and suddenly Yutong was telling me had to test them out - and, well, I did."

Pearl scoffs, steaming at your milquetoast admission of guilt. "Well, did you have to take like the most important part of my personality?" she asks. "You could've taken Sully's Michael Bay obsession or Indy's heels - why did you suddenly pick on me?"

You've been thinking about this, actually. You're prepared to answer. "I started with you because I trust you, okay?"

Pearl looks surprised.

"I didn't know what was going on. I got these powers, and you were right in front of me. Everyone else was acting weird, you were the only one who acted like things had changed," you explain, finding it difficult to articulate your feelings. "I guess I assumed it was better to take from you first, because you'd actually realize something happened."

She processes what you've said for a moment. She leans on the railing at your side, and looks over the party. "A few words turned my whole world upside down," says Pearl. "It still is upside down."

You glance at her.

"Where I go," clarifies Pearl. "You still own it. Can I have that back now, too? Or am I still part of you and Yutong's big 'test'?"

"Me and Yutong did some testing one on one," you say. "I think we've figured out all the basics to start with. So yeah. Where you go, that's yours again, too. Everything I claimed from you - back again."

A tension you hadn't notice was there leaves Pearl. She relaxes against the balcony. You feel things are right again between you.

"Never a half measure with you, is it," says Pearl, shaking her head. "The world's doomed."

You sigh. "That's me."

She notices something amiss in your tone. "You seem less wild and irresponsible than usual. Something happen?"

"I did some dumb things with my powers and almost got Yutong hurt," you say. "Well, technically I did hurt her already too, just... more emotionally than physically." You remember Yu in her underwear. A sight you'd want to see again, just... not with the consequences that came with it.

Pearl looks worried looking worried. "Is she all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. She bounced back pretty quick," you say.

"Damn. That's a relief," says Pearl. "It's gotta be bad when even you admit you screwed up."

"I'm not cut out for this kind of power," you say, with a shrug. "I don't want to hurt people. It's exciting what I can do, I want to share that. And my imagination's running wild. But maybe it's running too wild, you know?"

"To the point where you'll even steal my hoodie and turn Yu into a robot dancer," notes Pearl.

"You saw that?"

Pearl snorts. "Hard not to."

"She agreed to that much, at least," you say.

Your dark-haired friend goes quiet for a moment. "You could give it up."

You turn to her, frowning.

"You can take things and give them away," says Pearl. "So. What if you gave up your powers?"

Give up the ultimate powers you just gained? Before you've even really learned how to use them? Or seen where they can take you? The idea leaves you conflcited.

"Seems like a big waste," you say.

Pearl drums her fingers on the railing, choosing her next words carefully. "When you're on a sled heading toward a cliff, you jump off."

You don't like how helpless you feel in all this. "Is that what I am? Heading toward a cliff?"

"I don't know. Only you do," says Pearl.

"You want me to get rid of the claiming power."

Pearl thinks, but then shrugs. "I know pushing you will make you go full defense mode, so, I won't tell you what to do. I will say nobody was ever meant to have this much power. Our primate brains weren't designed for it." She sighs, and shakes her head. "But... it's your call, Chase."