Two cups of coffee and Elen still yawns as she walks from the station to school. Really, what is going on with those dreams? Maybe she should go back to taking her medication? The Quarterly Concert and now being an Apostle is certainly putting a lot of stress on her. Add Jessie’s terrible attitude and her anxiety is through the roof. Maybe she can talk to her advisor to switch Jessie to—
“Good morning!” She feels an arm hook through her own and Salacia’s voice in her ear. “Great day, huh?”
‘It should be a crime for someone to be so upbeat before 8 a.m.’ Elen takes a deep breath. “Did you get any sleep at all?”
“Not at wink! All through the weekend, I was up with this.” Salacia reaches into her backpack and takes out a notebook that she flips open. It’s apparently brand new, and already completely filled with different kinds of writing and drawings. There’s even a comic of both Elen and Salacia defending the city from some rough doodle that must be the beast they’d destroyed. “I was thinking that we need some kind of catch phrase. I mean, every magical girl has one, and you didn’t say one. So I figured I can help you make one up. Then I made one for myself, and then a group so that when we find the other Apostles we can—”
“Okay, stop!” Elen immediately feels guilty when she sees Salacia’s kicked puppy look. She rubs a temple and takes another deep breath. “I’m sorry, Sal. But these kinds of things happen in comics because they’re fictional. Like, what enemy would just stand back and let us say those kinds of cheesy lines? Reality doesn’t work that way.”
Salacia looks sadly at the notebook before closing it and sliding it back in her backpack. “I guess. But I really wish we could.”
Elen puts a hand on Salacia’s shoulder. “Thanks for thinking about this so much, though.” Salacia perks up and hangs on Elen’s arm until Elen sees a familiar head of orange hair in the crowd. “Sorry, this is me.”
“Okay! See you later!” They wave as they part ways and Salacia crosses the street.
Elen jogs up the sidewalk and calls, “Hey, Mikan!” Mikan stops and turns as Elen reaches her. “How are you feeling from Friday?”
Mikan’s cheeks warm and she twists her fingers together. “I’m fine. I’m sorry for falling a sleep at the club.”
Elen takes a split second to think. The Magick David had used to heal Mikan must have also altered her memories. “Oh, no. It’s alright. That was an adrenaline crash, most likely. And you probably don’t have enough stamina to stave it off. You’ll get better the more you perform.” She curses herself for lying, but it’s better than digging up memories and traumatizing her.
“I suppose it’s also because I hadn’t eaten much before. Nerves, you know?”
Elen sighs in relief. “Yeah. I know all about nerves. So, like I was asking before, will you be going into the vocal program?”
“Oh, yes! It was so much fun! I can’t wait!”
‘It’s not always fun. Not that I can tell her though.’
“It doesn’t need to be perfect! It just needs to have a good grade and what we have is fine!”
“These assignments are our auditions, and I’ll be damned if I go to my third-year without performing in a Quarterly Concert!”
“You’re driving me crazy! The school-year isn’t even half over yet! It’s the same song over and over and I’m sick of it!”
“This is no different from a professional recording for an album release! If it’s too hard for you to comprehend, then you probably should’ve majored in something besides music editing!”
“Why you—!”
“ENOUGH!”
Reggie and Alex stand between Elen and Jessie, each holding onto one of them to prevent what would surely be an epic cat fight.
“This is one reason why I’m here to make sure Elen is okay,” Reggie whispers to Alex, trying to restrain her arms.
“Well you’re able to do your projects solo,” quips Alex, dodging Jessie’s kicks. “I’m stuck with these artist types all day every day.”
Reggie chuckles in sympathy as he pulls Elen away. “Let’s stop for the day and pick up tomorrow?” He doesn’t wait for an answer and swings Elen over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He grabs their bags and exits the booth, walking through the campus until Elen slumps. Even then he says nothing until they’re halfway across campus and he sets her down. “You’ve been really on edge today. More than usual.”
“I haven’t slept very well,” Elen replies, taking and shouldering her bag. “I’ve been having these weird dreams.”
“Like what?”
“Not sure. I’m watching these people go about their lives even though I’ve never met them before. Then at the end… I can’t describe what it’s like.”
Reggie doesn’t say anything, but pats her on the head. It doesn’t do much, but Elen appreciates the gesture all the same.
“Elen!” She lands flat on her back, Salacia’s arms in a vice-grip around Elen’s neck and wondering if she’s never been taught what “personal space” is.
“Why do I always end up on the ground lately?” Elen asks no one in particular, straining for breath.
Reggie pries Salacia off before pulling Elen back onto her feet. “Who’s this?”
“Hello! I’m Salacia Jordan Sonnen! A first-year at Alexandria High training for the Olympics in figure skating. Call me ‘Sal’.” She thrusts out a hand, and Reggie takes it in a handshake.
“Reginald Richard Freeman. Second-year at Terra Performing Arts. You can call me ‘Reggie’. It’s a pleasure.”
Salacia beams. “It’s nice to meet one of Elen’s friends.”
“He’s more like my keeper,” she tells her, brushing off the dust from her skirt. “He’s the one who showed me around when I first came to Terra.”
“Oh, so are the two of you…?”
Reggie laughs, swinging an arm around Elen and messing up her hair. “I have a boyfriend.”
Elen gently elbows Reggie in the ribs enough to get him to retract his arm and combs her hair back into place. “Yeah. He’s too cute and good to be interested in girls,” Elen says bitterly. “Not that I’m really interested in a relationship right now, but most of the boys I know can be real assholes and it’s hard to find a decent one that’s not gay, taken or imaginary.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. But trust me when I say that we have our own problems too.” The three start down the street, joining the throng of other students making their way to the train station.
“Yeah. I’m lesbian myself, but it’s different for girls than for boys,” Salacia tells them. “What about you, Elen?”
“I’m open to having a relationship with a girl, but I think I’m going to end up with a guy if I do get into a long-term relationship,” answers Elen. “How is it different for girls?”
“Girls are harder to read. I can never tell if someone is interested in me or if they’re just nice unless they tell me.”
“What, you don’t have ladies lining up to go on a date with you?”
Salacia twists a lock of her hair between her fingers, thinking about Reggie’s question. “Well, there’s this one upperclassman. We were practicing for the show the Saturday before and we kissed. But I don’t know if I’m gonna go out with her.”
Reggie asks as they reach the barriers, “Is she cute?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you like her?”
“I don’t know. I always feel guilty whenever I think about it. Like I’m about to cheat or something.”
“That’s certainly strange.”
The three scan their AIDCards and climb down the stairs. At once, they smell a sweet aroma coming from the middle of a crowd. Right. It’s that time of the week.
“Free cupcakes!” yells the plain-clothes students. “Free cupcakes from the students at the Hestia Cooking Institute!”
Salacia’s eyes sparkle. “This is what makes it worth coming to school on a Monday!”
“Not because of your Olympic training?” Elen’s tease goes unanswered as Salacia breaks away to get her own cupcake.
Salacia weaves through the crowd until she’s close to the front and can see the Hestia students. The boy in front of her steps aside and she steps forward to take her turn, only to completely stop in her tracks.
There’s one girl handing out her cupcakes from a box with the brightest, loveliest smile Salacia has ever seen. The girl flicks her auburn braid over her shoulder and she sees it reaches past her hips with slightly curly bangs.
“Did you want a cupcake too?”
Salacia’s breath catches in her throat when she realizes the girl is addressing her. She has to look up to make contact with the girl’s amber eyes that are shining with a friendliness that Salacia has only seen from her family. Something warms in her chest, spreading throughout her body like a flame. It feels almost like the warmth she’d felt when she’d met Elen.
“Sal!” Salacia turns as Elen comes up to them. “You okay? I called you a couple times.”
The real world comes crashing down and Salacia turns back to the girl with burning cheeks. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” The girl smiles again and something twists in Salacia’s stomach. “My name is Áine Freesia Daher. I’m a third-year at the Hestia Cooking Institute.” Áine stretches out her free left hand.
Elen awkwardly takes Áine’s hand and her Mark immediately starts to burn. She stamps the urge to gasp and snatch back her hand, instead opting to introduce herself, “Magdelene Grace Magnum. ‘Elen’ is fine. I’m a second-year at Terra Performing Arts.” She finally retracts her arm and the feeling dims slightly. Elen looks to Áine’s chest to see a faint light glowing underneath her shirt.
Áine looks to Salacia, still smiling that lovely smile. “And your name is?”
The warmth in Salacia’s body heats up, almost to the point of painful. “My… My name’s Salacia Jordan Sonnen. A first-year at Alexandria High. ‘Sal’ is fine.”
“Well Sal, Elen, would you like to have some cupcakes?” Áine holds out the box, and Elen takes a chocolate cupcake while Salacia picks up a lemon buttercream one.
After licking the frosting from her finger, Salacia asks, “Where’s Reggie?”
“He doesn’t like sweets and he got a call from his boyfriend.” Elen peels the wrapper from the cupcake, and takes a bite.
It’s just a simple cupcake. One that you might find in any bakery or grocery store. And yet Elen feels incredible comfort and bliss. The same feeling that she gets when she sings or when she’d seen Salacia skate.
Elen nearly chokes when her back spasms again, the sensation stronger than she’d felt before on the cusp of painful.
“Are you alright?” Áine’s tone reminds Elen of her Auntie Flora. All worry and kindness.
She manages to swallow and coughs. “Yeah. I just remember that Sal and I need to get going or we’re going to be late for something.” Elen cringes. At least it’s a serviceable lie. “Thank you for the cupcake. It’s delicious.”
“Thank you. But are you sure you’re fine?”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.” Elen wraps an arm around Salacia’s shoulders who is just standing around dazed, and guides her to another platform. “We’ll be seeing you around!”
They get to the platform and sit down on a bench. Elen takes her phone out of her bag to scroll through her recent calls for Fredrick’s phone number.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Fredrick. Salacia and I are coming over.”
“Something wrong?”
“Not really, but we need to talk to you guys about something.”
“Alright. I’ll let Mystia and David know.”
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