April Ross

Whatever is responsible for this, April doesn't notice when it happens.

She and Caden have been back in town for a few days now and she knows he'll need to go back again in the next little while, but she plans on staying here. Not because she hadn't enjoyed her time in California, but given how much she's banked on Coop's generosity when it comes to her job -- the first legitimate job she's ever had and currently her only source of income -- she really thinks it's a good idea she stay and actually work a little.

She's unpacked, she's settled back in her apartment, and she spends a few days just settling back into town. It's a strange thing to feel, settled in any way, but she does. And she isn't entirely sure what she thinks of it, whether she likes it or hates it, but she's allowing herself to exist in this state, to give it a chance instead of rebuffing it as soon as she feels something out of the ordinary.

Whenever she uses her powers in Siren Cove, she does it almost without thinking. There are times she uses them to get what she wants, times when she's irritated and makes someone do something for her, but none of it is truly harmful in any way. Though it seems someone disagrees.

She's in a coffee shop, she's in a hurry, and she needs to get to the front of the line quickly, so she taps the guy in front of her on the shoulder, gives him a smile and asks him in a gentle, melodic voice if he'd mind letting her go ahead of him. In response he only rolls his eyes and turns away from her.

For the rest of the day she tries it on everyone she meets. She asks people easy favours, she suggests things for them to do, and while some people help her just out of the kindness of their heart, most just ignore her suggestions, and that's never happened to her before. She has never met anyone immune to her powers.

By the end of the day she's so furious she's trembling and she stands near the boardwalk, unsure of what to do or where to go. She needs to see Caden, she needs to tell him something is wrong, but she needs to see her father, too. Maybe he'll be able to track down whoever is responsible for this.

Staring out at the ocean, her jaw clenched tight enough to hurt, April finds the only thing she wants to do is scream.

By the time she gets back into town, her apartment is ready for her to move into and for that she's extremely grateful. It isn't that she's had a hard time staying with Les -- she's actually enjoyed it quite a bit -- but she likes her space, too. A feeling she's sure Les shares. Since Coop's party, things have felt better, they both seem a little more at ease around each other and she likes that, but she also knows neither of them are ready to be living together.

Her belongings are fairly limited, but she has them moved into the new place and it's only once she's settled, showered and changed that she heads out into Siren Cove once more. There's money in the small safe in her new place that she needs to deposit, though it's going into an account in another town under a different name and she has plans to make that day trip on the weekend, maybe with Les along for the ride. She can convince him just to get away with her for the day, drop in at the bank, make the deposit, and then spend the rest of the day with him.

It's not something she's ever given much thought to before, but thinking about plans with Les now makes her smile. She's distracted, glancing down at her phone, preparing to text him to ask if that's something he'd like to do, when she nearly walks into someone on the sidewalk.

"Sorry," she says, still distracted, doing her best to simply step aside.