Jason Anderson, troubled Senior on the way to an important Parent/Teacher meeting.

Jason Anderson looked out the car window at the other vehicles whizzing by, he was deliberately avoiding any contact with the person driving the car. He breathed on the window causing it to fog. With his finger he drew a large 'N', then he stared at it, lost in contemplation for a moment. A heavy sigh from the seat next to him made him frown, he used his sleeve to rub away some of the mist, including the 'N' to gaze out at the street.

"Jason..." A stern voice said, dashing his hopes of a silent trip. For the sake of etiquette he responded.

"What?" He snapped shortly without turning his gaze.

"You know 'what' Jason. Just because your Father isn't here doesn't mean you can act like I'm not. David wanted me to go with you this evening so we can get to know each other, so you might as well try." The female driver responded.

"That's one reason, maybe he just couldn't make it like usual so you were the second choice after sending me alone."

"It wouldn't be much of a parent teacher evening without a parent would it?"

Jason's did not like the comment one bit, his head snapped round.

"You are NOT my parent Stacy!" He spat.

As soon as he said it he regretted it. She was many things but chief among these, Stacy, was a massive ball buster and this sour point of conversation always hit a nerve with her. The car lurched to the side of the road and Jason found himself straining against the seat belt as the brakes halted the car.

"That's no way to speak to me Jason!" She said removing the key from the ignition and waving a manicured finger at him "Your father and I am getting married next year, I will be your step mother, I demand some respect young man!"

Jason didn't speak, he dared not. He bit his tongue and turned his head to look out the small clear patch of glass the window had to offer him.

"Well?" She asked

There was a small silence but like always Jason relented quickly.

"Fine... sorry I said that...Mom. It's just, I'm stressed you know.. I.. can we get going, we are going to be late." Said Jason suddenly wanting to change the awkward subject.

"You don't have to call me Mom just yet, Stacy will do for now." She said turning the key and getting the car started again, satisfied and slightly pleased that she put him in his place so easily, like she always did.

As the car pulled off and started to gain speed toward their destination, Jason couldn't help himself mull over her choice of words. 'Young man'. She wasn't that much older than him. Twenty five is what her driving licence said when he sneaked a peak at it one day. She was closer to his age than she was to his father. His father being a wealthy business man, it was no surprise that he would attract gold diggers and that's what she was, pure and simple. It was so clear to Jason he just couldn't understand how his father couldn't see it past Stacy's beauty. She was beautiful, even Jason admitted that. He pretended to look out the window but in reality he was looking at Stacy's reflection on the glass. She had dressed up tonight to make herself look older to fit in with the other parents he assumed, her light grey business suit did the job well enough. His eyes traced down her body to her knee length skirt to focus on her legs. He always found himself staring at her legs. They were perfect. Jason had a large enough collection of porn stashed away in his room and on his PC but none of the models he saw online had legs to compare with Stacy's. She was tall, and thin, most of her height was thanks to her slender pins which she liked to accentuate with heels. She didn't have a very sizeable bust compared to most and maybe her jaw was a little strong thought Jason as he muled over her reflection but her legs were to die for.

Something else invaded his thoughts however. The window misting up and the return of a faded 'N' he drew earlier. His hand wandered down to his pocket, he could feel them. Two real physical objects rattling around down there. His dream earlier in the day, what these were, what they could do. There is no way that dream could be real, yet when he awoke to go to this infernal event, there they were. Real, solid objects plucked from his dream and in his hand. If they became real, maybe what he learned about them in his dream was real as well...

"We're here" Said Stacy as she pulled up to the school, Jason's eyes slipped their focus past the 'N' and Stacy's reflection and took hold of the building though the window. "I'll go park the car, you wait here for me okay?" Stacy ordered, Jason got out the car without a word and shut the door, pleased to get away from her. The car pulled away round the corner to the car park, passing one of Jason's class mates on the way, when he got closer to Jason he spoke up.

"Hey Jason man, hows it going?" The scrawny kid quipped.

"Hey Alex not much" Jason didn't have a lot of time for Alex as he was a bit of a waster and Jason's father had made sure to distil any like for that type of lifestyle at an early age.

"Cool, cool... so your Mom man... she's hot" Alex said turning to where Stacy had driven off to with no attempt at subtlety.

"She is not my Mom... man" Said Jason through gritted teeth.

"Whoa whao. Take a chill pill bro. So is she like your sister or something?"

"Go away Alex" is all Jason said turning his back to him

"Okay whatever, just chill out man, tonight's harsh enough as it is..." Alex prattled on to himself as he made his way up some steps to the school building. Jason had tried to push the thought of tonight to the back of his mind but Alex was right about one thing; Tonight could indeed be very harsh. And Stacy was hot. Two things.

Jason looked up to his father and he did not want to disappoint him. On top of that his father was a strict disciplinarian with high standards. He did not tolerate failure especially well and Jason was failing one of his classes. His English teacher, Miss Hudson, had taken a particular dislike to him and given him a hard time on some of his work, Jason had not taken this well and the stress of it all made it hard for him to focus on the subject and he began failing even harder. Tonight was the last chance for Teachers to give input for parents before students made their way in the world, all being of age by now.

Jason's felt a stab of panic as he watched more people file into the building as he waited out the front for Stacy. Among them he spotted Miss Hudson clutching a file of papers, her curly long hair tied loosly back with a ribbon and her silver framed glasses perched on her nose giving her a typical librarian look. His blood ran cold, but maybe he could convince her to be more lenient, just for tonight. He ran over to her.

"Miss Hudson, can I have a word with you. Just quickly" He said, his voice shaky.

"What is it Jason? I am very busy tonight." She said brushing him off.

"Look I know I'm not doing great in English right now, but I promise to make it up and try harder..."

"That's good to hear..." she said, urging him to continue

"Right, well, it's just that, I... umm.."

"Spit it out." She said getting cross.

"Could you say I'm not doing so badly in English tonight, it would mean a lot to me..."

"I certainly will not!"

"Please Miss I-"

"Look, the purpose of this evening is so that I can tell you parents just how you are doing, I will not lie for you so that you can slack off even more in my class for the little time that remains before you leave us. And tell them I will Jason! I have a lot to say about you, your parents and I am going to have a very serious discussion about your work. Believe me!" She brushed Jason out the way with her folder and walked inside.

"But...But!" Jason shouted after her but she waved him off without even looking back, her head held high, she strode into the building. Jason despaired, he had probably made it worse. Stacy would give him hell just because she could and then tell his father and then it didn't bare thinking about. Jason let out a breath and focused for a second only to see his ex girlfriend walk past with her parents. He made a token effort at smiling in her direction.

"Get lost jerk" She spat as she went past.

"Who was that honey?" asked her mother.

"No one, just some asshole looser"

"Language Charity!"

"Sorry Mom." She apologized before getting out of ear shot of Jason.

He didn't even want to think about that mess right now. All his problems where piling up on each other and that one was at the bottom.

"She can be a bit of a bitch can't she?" Said a feminine voice from behind him.

Jason turned and saw his best friend standing there, Leah . For the first time tonight he allowed himself a little smile. She and Jason had always been friends from a young age, she had matured into a pretty young lady and Jason had flirted with the idea of asking her out at one point. She jokingly said that she would put him in the friend-zone if he wasn't already there. Then her going out with a member of the school football team meant that they would always just be friends. Jason was okay with this, she was his only real friend at the school and he did feel happy for her. Although some nights while alone, he did wonder about 'What ifs'

"Hey, Leah. You doing alright?" He chirped, they always tried to be upbeat with each other, although he didn't sell it too well this time.

"Yeah, no probs. You seem a little down. Gonna be a rough night for you huh?"

Stacy appeared from around the corner and quickly strode up to Jason quickly clutching her handbag.

"You have no idea Leah..." Jason trailed off.

"Dammit! I just dented the car on a stupid wall that came out of nowhere. Come on, lets get this thing over with." She motioned Jason inside.

"I'm fine for a bit, it doesn't start for a few more minuets yet, you go inside and get yourself some coffee or something." Said Jason as he waved her off.

"Fine" Is all Stacy said showing him the palm of her hand as she walked into the building flinging her long brunette hair over her shoulder.

"Wow, you weren't kidding about her." Leah commented arching her eyebrows.

"She's going to be pissed now that she dented the car, it all seems to be falling into place to be a shitty night you know?"

Jason lent on the guard rail and looked up at the early evening sky and took a deep breath. "I just don't know about tonight, everyone always puts me under pressure. Like its all my fault you know?And well... There is this other thing too..."

Leah put a hand on Jason's shoulder and was about it give him some comforting words when her boyfriend turned up with his parents and Leah's.

"Hey, Leah, lets go inside yeah?" He said in a deep voice.

"Okay, hun," She tuned to Jason. "Hang in there okay? It's not so bad"

She put her arm around her boyfriend and the group went inside.

Jason was left alone looking up at the sky muttering to himself.

"You wouldn't say that If you knew my Father, like I do Leah" The thoughts of tonight rushed through Jason's mind quickly and made him feel a stab of panic, his eyes watered a little bit and he thought he might start crying. "I just wish.... I just wish it didn't matter, that people would stop blaming me for things. I wish people would stop getting angry at me for everything, for anything and I could just be... normal... Those earrings." Jason got them out of his pocket quickly. It couldn't be a coincidence that he was longing for normality and a lack of accountability and these things showed up. The dream told him everything, the different power each one possessed and how to use them. The only question was if they worked. "Fat chance" Jason quipped, as he moved to put them in the trash, but curiosity stayed his hand. "What if thou..." Jason put them back into his pocket and headed inside.

The school was one of high standards and well funded. Hundreds of students and their families would be here tonight, the venue for this type of event usually defaulted to the main school hall where it would put on plays and concerts and this was no exception. Jason entered the large hall and looked around, a large amount of seats were put out in rows in front of the stage, where a single podium was set up. Behind them he saw Stacy in a queue for coffee with a bunch of other parents waiting for the solitary coffee machine to do its job. He walked up to her reservedly, looking out at the rest of the room, noting the scores of tables set up for the individual meetings, dreading every moment that would come tonight.

"Hey" He said, looking at the floor, she didn't acknowledge him and continued to rummage in her handbag.

"Jason, have you got any money on you, I need some change for a coffee." She said as she rummaged.

"No, why would I have money?"

"I don't know, I was just asking. Ah, here is some. I hope they can break a fifty" She said as she pulled it out.

"A fifty? Where did you get that? Why have you got fifty bucks?" Jason inquired

"Your father gave it to me, to get something nice on Tuesday." She turned her back on Jason and looked to the front of the queue. Jason felt a stab of jealousy at her ability to wrap his father round her finger.

"I can't believe you weaselled that out of him..." Jason meant to be cutting with his words and braced for the retaliation he was looking to get out of her. She shot him a glance that made him take a step back, his hand again finding the earrings in his pocket. Usually he would not provoke her any further, but tonight, he wondered...