*Today:
The rest of yesterday hadn't gotten any better- it was a dizzying blur of activity, from one end of the Pine Oak campus to the other, but Bella remembered every bit of it. Someday she would have to write it down or something- but she was just too tired at the end of the day. It was, without doubt, the most she had ever used her powers in a single day, and she had put Mercurio's Glove through tests that neither one of them had even considered.
It was after midnight by the time she got back into her dorm. Her roommate was a local girl, and she had fled home to her parents' house for the duration of the disaster- that was good. But the power in the dorm was out, and that was bad. Some of the dining hall workers were basically marooned, and they had set out a crude buffet of cold foods downstairs. Bella grabbed the makings of a sandwich and a few drinks and lurched upstairs- with the shelter of a fire door, she didn't have to trudge up the steps, at least. She slept poorly- her dreams kept trying to edit in things that hadn't happened during the chaotic events of the day. But finally, fatigue won out, and she slept. At least she didn't need much...
The power came on sometime during the night, and Bella put her phone back on the charger when she woke up- she had finally given up and silenced the near-constant emergency notices. Morning was almost unnoticeable- the sky was so dark you could barely tell it was daytime, but Bella finally dragged herself out of bed. A hot shower helped, but it was probably going to be even busier today, even crazier... Coming out of the shower she could have sworn there was someone there watching her, a costumed weirdo she didn't even recognize- but she managed to control herslf before she teleported back to her own room.
Downstairs in the dining hall, things were fairly quiet- most of the other students were still sleeping. But there was hot food this morning, and Bella loaded up a plate (Heavy on the bacon, and the blueberry Eggos). Instead of a table, she grabbed a seat on one of the couches in front of the big-screen TVs at the far end of the room. Deep down inside, she was kind of curious to see if she had made the news with her activities yesterday. It was kind of depressing at first, the constant litany of misfortune, all around the city- and in fact, all through the Midwest, it seemed. The weather was the big lead, of course, and the News had trotted out some experts- even one of the meteorology professors from here at Pine Oaks. There were so many minor disasters and problems that they didn't even have time to cover them individually- the reporters and the anchors were forced into lists and summations, and Bella shook her head; every tiny detail was someone's life...
They had cut to a commercial right about the time Bella finished her first plate of food. She looked over at the buffet, but there was a line- she could wait for a bit, but she had the feeling she was going to need every calorie today. For one brief moment she closed her eyes and leaned back on the the cushions of the couch. 'I could be home in two minutes', she thought- but this time the thought had very little allure.
No she wasn't going to run home and hide. She was going to stay here, and she was going to make a difference. She was going to help people.
The shrill blare of the television practically ripped her eyes open. BREAKING NEWS!!!
*TO BE CONTINUED (AGAIN- sorry, but it is getting late here)