I tried my best, but I still ended up crying myself to sleep last night. I missed my friends and family, and it was becoming more and more clear that I would never fit in here, even if I did have magic. It was funny how that worked, wasn't it? I had something in common with these people, but my powers were completely unique in my world... yet I fit in better there.

  There was a knock on my door, and I realized I hadn't gotten dressed for the day. "Yes?" I answered hesitantly, hastily changing into regular clothes.

  "D-Do you want to grab breakfast together?" I recognized Aidan's voice. He must have finally gotten back!

  "Yes!" I replied excitedly. Aidan and Marge were the closest thing I had to friends in this world, and while they were no replacement... I didn't want to be alone.

  Once I finished fastening my pink skirt, reminiscent of what I'd wear back home, I made my way to the dining hall.

  Aidan was already sitting at our usual table and waved me over. I quickly put in my order before sitting next to him.

  "How was your sister?" I smiled, scooting in my chair so I wouldn't be so far from the table.

  "Good!" He beamed, but his expression immediately soured. "W-Well, as good as she can be... She's sick. It's why I'm here in the first place. I-I'm trying to learn how to use healing magic so I can heal her."

  "How come you weren't at the healing class the other day?" I raised an eyebrow. I knew it was weird that I didn't see him there!

  "Because that was more of an advanced class. I-I can't even use healing magic so— Wait... Did you go?"

  "Yes." I bit my lip. "I didn't know it was an advanced class... Gosh, I must've looked so stupid going to an advanced class not knowing how to use magic!" I slammed my head down on the table. Why didn't Marge tell me?!

  "W-Well, it couldn't have hurt in the long run! Maybe you learned something t-that will be important later on!"

  I did learn all of those interesting facts about ether and how to avoid using too much or trying to push yourself. "Yeah, it was worth going after all," I deduced. Then another thought came to mind: "How come Sylvis doesn't heal your sister?"

  "W-We're not supposed to use magic to directly affect other people. W-We can use it indirectly, like stopping other people with magic from harming others, or stopping natural disasters from happening, b-but we can't use our magic on other people."

  "So, you're going to break the rules to heal your sister... Won't that get you in trouble?"

  "I don't care." The look on his face was so serious — more serious than I had ever seen him before, even when he had talked about Maverick. "My sister has suffered enough. Whatever happens to me, I don't care."

  "You must really love your sister..." I said quietly, concerned for him more than anything. I understood wanting to help someone you love... but was it really worth having no regard for your own safety and well-being?

  "O-Of course! D-Don't you love your brother?"

  I had to actually pause and think about this one. I had always resented him a little—I was jealous of him. He had gotten all of my mom's love and attention, and I got what little remained. I despised him more than I loved him, I'm sure. "Y-Yeah," I lied, faking a smile.

  The sound of a chair squeaking against the floor distracted me. I looked behind Aidan's shoulder to see Marge snap her fingers as her plate of food disappeared. Oh, were we supposed to clean up after ourselves with magic? Oops. No wonder the ladies up front always looked so confused when I handed them my empty trays and plates.

  "Can we invite Marge to sit with us?" I asked.

  "W-Who?!" Aidan raised an alarmed eyebrow, and I could see him getting restless. Ugh! There was no time! She was getting away!

  "Marge!" I called out and waved to her. Her eyebrows raised, and her eyes lit up with surprise. She instantly rushed over to the table and took a seat next to me, away from Aidan. "Marge, this is Aidan. Aidan, this is Marge," I introduced.

  "Oh! This is the kid you've been telling me about! Nice to meet you!" Marge extended her hand to Aidan, who examined it as if it were somehow cursed. He forced a smile and shook it before sending me a subtle glare. Oops. Come to think of it, I'd probably hate it too if someone were invited to a private conversation. But I've been wanting them to meet for so long.

  "E-Ella's told you about me?" Aidan released her hand, seemingly realizing he was still holding it.

  "A little! I've also seen you around. Been meaning to say hi to you, just never got the chance." Marge smiled.

  And that's when I had an idea.

  "Aidan! What if Marge healed your—" My mouth was immediately covered by a bony hand. Aidan held a finger up to his mouth to shush me. He didn't want Marge to know about his sister. But why? Well, whatever the reason was, I guess I had to respect that.

  "You need healing?" Marge raised an eyebrow.

  "N-No. B-But could you m-maybe..." He sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."

  "Could I maybe what? Just ask! You're not gonna know my answer otherwise!"

  "T-Teach me how to use healing magic...?" Aidan's voice got higher and quieter as his sentence went on.

  Marge shook her head, a smile on her face indicating she wasn't rejecting his request. "That makes two of you now. First you—"

  "Ella! Come sit over here!" A familiar voice cut an irritated Marge off. I turned to see Finn waving me over to his table of friends. I opened my mouth to reply, but a plate of food appeared before me, catching me by surprise. "Oh, your food just came? Then I'll join you!" With the flick of his wrist, he was sitting across from me, a gap between him and Aidan. I could immediately see Aidan's nose wrinkle in disgust. Marge wasn't far off. Time to start eating, I guess...

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Is it common for you to invite yourself to other people's hangouts?" Marge shook her head in disapproval of Finn, but he ignored her.

  "Ella, I wanted to apologize for—" My fork fell out of my mouth. You had so better not mention last night. "—...you know what," he finished with a sheepish look on his face.

  "It's okay, I talked to her last night." Aqua elegantly took her seat next to Finn, closer to Marge, but there was still a gap. Just how many people were joining Aidan and me for breakfast?!

  "Aqua! You decided to join us!" Finn beamed.

  "Somebody has to keep you in check." Aqua shook her head.

  "That bad, huh?" Marge smirked. Maybe this is what the two of them needed to get along.

  "He is a mind reader after all." Aqua smiled back knowingly.

  "Come on, I'm not that bad..." Finn sighed, and I almost felt bad for him. Almost. He had been so nice to me when he and Maverick were trying to teach me magic. And then he introduced me to Frenica. He pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously having heard my thoughts. Frenica wasn't his fault, though. And it would be wrong of me to blame him for that. His eyes lit up at that thought, and I chuckled.

  "Hey! Having a secret conversation over there?" Marge nudged me with her elbow, and suddenly, my cheeks heated up, and I realized that could easily be taken the wrong way.

  "Maybe." Finn smirked, making it even worse.

  "I'm just clarifying something! That's all!" I put my hands up defensively, but all eyes were on me. Ugh, I only made things worse, hadn't I?

  Aidan scooted his chair away from his untouched food, and I knew he was about to get up to leave. I grabbed him by the cuff of his hoodie and mouthed, asking him to stay. He exhaled through his nose and scooted his seat back in, crossing his arms when he was finished, and yanked my hand away from him.

  "Don't you have a boyfriend?" Aidan mumbled loud enough so that it wasn't discreet.

  "Y-Yeah, I do." My heart ached at the mention of Matt. I missed him so much...

  Finn frowned at me guiltily, and I could tell he felt bad about his previous comment.

  "Wow, never thought I'd see the five of you at the same table together." Maverick appeared sitting between Finn and Aidan.

  "Mave!" Finn exclaimed, turning his head in Maverick's direction.

  "Hey, Maverick! I haven't seen you in a while! What have you been up to?" Aqua asked politely.

  "I have to babysit that one over there." Maverick motioned to me with his head. "Can't even use magic."

  "So I've heard. That's not a reason to bully her, though!"

  "Who says I'm bullying?" He placed a hand over his heart and looked taken aback.

  "I know you and Finn can take your schemes too far." Schemes? Finn schemes?

  "T-That's not true!" Finn looked over in my direction rather than Aqua's, but then quickly turned to Aqua. "That was one time! And it was Maverick's idea!"

  "Point proven." She smirked confidently.

  Now Aidan really looked annoyed. I grabbed him by his hoodie cuff again, but he instantly pulled his arm free. Ugh! How do I get him to stay? Or should I even bother? If I were in his shoes, I don't think I would've lasted nearly as long... But I also didn't want to be alone with these weirdos and Marge. I could feel Finn staring at me.

  "Oh hey, you're that Aidan kid Elaina's always around." Maverick wrapped his arm around Aidan, ensuring he couldn't leave. Poor Aidan looked scared out of his mind. At least Maverick got his name right this time?

  "Y-Yeah?" I could've sworn Aidan's voice rose an octave as he tried to squirm out of Maverick's grip.

  "You just recently got here, and your magic isn't very good either. Hm... Maybe Elaina could benefit from you teaching her...Or maybe you're a bad influence on her." Maverick smirked, and Aidan squirmed more.

  "L-Let go of me, you creep!" Aidan pushed Maverick off to his surprise, but he still looked terrified. I guess all those threats earlier were just talk.

  "Is that any way to talk to your superior?" Maverick summoned an ember in his hand, and I knew he was just trying to scare Aidan at this point.

  "Superior, my ass." I stuck my tongue out at him.

  "Oh, you wanna go?" The ember grew in size, and there was a glint in Maverick's eyes I didn't like. Even Marge and Aqua seemed to shy away. But I wasn't fazed. He can't hurt me. Sylvis won't let him. And according to her silly little rules that aren't so silly after all, Maverick can't hurt anyone else here either. Or I'm telling!

  "Elaina, how long have you been here?" Aqua looked lost in thought as she changed the subject. Which made Maverick calm down and put away the fire. Good.

  "Uh... Almost a week?" I raised an eyebrow. I should get a calendar. Do they have calendars in this world? I could see Finn nod at me, snickering a little. Shut up!

  "And how much magic have you witnessed? Have you watched a duel?"

  "Um, I've been in a duel, does that count? I've also been teleported by Maverick's magic several times. And I watch the food get teleported every day to the tables!”

  “…Have none of you thought to show her magic before?” Aqua’s stare moved from person to person, nobody answering the question.

  “Maybe she should watch a duel.” Marge placed a finger on her chin, looking lost in thought.

  “In that case, she should watch me and Maverick!” Finn’s eyes lit up at this. What, show-off much?

  “Isn’t that cheating since you can read minds?” I asked.

  “Well, everyone’s but Maverick’s. And Sylvis’. And Rosalie’s.” He scratched the back of his head. “That’s why dueling Maverick is so much fun. Especially since Sylvis and Rosalie won’t. Then again, Sylvis would crush everyone, and I hear Rosalie’s unusually cruel when she fights.”

  “I’m surprised Maverick doesn’t easily beat you then.” I sighed.

  “He still beats him every time.” Aqua shrugged, shaking her head.

  “I know! It’s awesome!” Finn somehow seemed to get even more excited. What? "Well... Nobody challenges me to a duel because of the whole mind-reading thing. And whenever someone does, it's an easy win for me."

  "Don't you get tired of easy wins and pathetic losses?" Marge asked, leaning against her elbow, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

  "I guess— What do you mean 'pathetic'?!"

  This caused Marge to nearly double over in laughter, Aqua joining in.

  “What do you think Aidan—” I turned and realized Aidan was gone. When did he leave?

  “Oh, he’s been gone a while now.” Maverick shrugged. "Guess he didn't like the company. It was probably Finn."

  "Hey!" Finn exclaimed. I couldn't help but think Maverick might have actually been right about this one, even if it was a joke... Oops, probably shouldn't have thought that.

  “Okay, okay. I'll watch you duel." I decided, mostly to change the topic on my mind.

  “Great! We'll meet at the arena in two hours!” Finn gave me a big thumbs-up, but something looked off. It's probably my fault. Sigh.

  That gave me two hours to find Aidan.

  I left the dining hall and started walking back to the dorms. Had he gone back to his room? It occurred to me that I had no idea how he spent his free time. I mean, he doesn’t know how I spend my free time either, so I guess that makes sense.

  On the way to the elevator, I ended up running into someone else entirely. Wait, wasn't this the same girl I was sitting behind in the healing class?

  "Oh, hi there! Do you have a moment to talk?" Her saccharine voice caught me off guard.

  "Uh, I'm kind of in a hurry right now—" I tried to explain, but was quickly cut off.

  "Then I'll make it quick!" She offered me a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "You spend a lot of time with Maverick... How would you describe your relationship?"

  Was she jealous of me? "Messy at best, nonexistent at worst," I explained.

  "Oh really?" Her expression genuinely lightened at this. "Hm... So, you have no feelings for him, yet he always hangs around you. Maybe he likes you—"

  "Absolutely not," I practically snapped. "Sylvis appointed him to teach me magic; that's all."

  "Wait, Sylvis?!" Her jaw dropped, and I could tell this was also a sincere reaction. "So, Sylvis has taken an interest in you... Hm..."

  Oops. Did I say too much? Well, time to flee while she thinks about that!