“I still don’t understand why you’re not going to have a birthday party.”

  I rolled my eyes, gently strumming a few chords on my acoustic guitar, not bothering to look up at Benji. This was the third time Benji had brought up the topic today, and I was already starting to feel a tinge of annoyance about it. It wasn’t his fault, but just remembering that none of my friends could join me for my sixteenth wasn’t something I was exactly thrilled about. But this year was much different than my other birthdays, and it was something I couldn’t involve them in.

  “You do know you’re in the minority here, Ky. Everyone has a sixteenth birthday party. It’s like an unwritten rule,” my other friend Cayetana said. She was seated beside me, tuning her own guitar.

  My eyes flickered between my friends, and I paused from playing. “Yeah,” I agreed. “Go me, not fitting in with societal norms.”

  “You’re such a downer,” she teased, while Benji groaned again.

  We were sprawled out at our usual school hangout underneath the bleachers. Sun filtered in from between the seats, the midday heat blocked mostly by the metal above us. It was the last week of summer vacation, and there were plenty of students on campus today. Though we couldn’t see them, the football team was behind us, busy with practice, their hollering blending in with the sound of our guitars. A chorus of shouts came from the cheerleaders working on their routine, and a light murmur from spectators filtered down into our ears, though none of us paid any attention to any of it.

  “But seriously,” started Benji, not letting the topic drop. “What kind of people set up a family reunion during a sixteenth birthday?”

  “Mine, apparently.”

  “This still sucks.”

  “Benji, you sound more upset about my birthday than I am.”

  He snorted. “You know my parents don’t allow birthday parties for me, so I have to live vicariously through you. And it’s just like Cayetana said. Sixteen is a huge milestone! It should be celebrated with friends.”

  Oh, it’s definitely a milestone, alright, I thought. But I couldn’t disagree with his sentiment.

  “Just let him be, Benji,” Cayetana said, putting her guitar down. “His family has already arranged it, and there’s no use whining about it. We’ll just have to do something on another day. Isn’t that right, Ky?” At this, she turned to me. Despite her light tone, her expression was threatening, daring me to say no.

  I grinned, knowing just how to redirect this conversation. “Why do you think we’re going to the graveyard tonight?”

  “What?” squeaked Benji, sitting up from his spot and eyes jumping from Cayetana and me. “I thought we weren’t having club meetings there again?”

  “But you know our club meetings are much more fun next to the dead,” Cayetana smiled, taking my bait. “Trying to interact with the supernatural means being as close to them as possible.”

  “I don’t see how being in a graveyard is supernatural,” he mumbled.

  But she ignored him and prodded me in the shoulder with a free hand. “Did you get the board?”

  I nodded, and she squealed while Benji just buried his face into his hands and groaned. The board she was talking about was none other than an old Ouija board I had been eyeing at a local antique shop downtown. We had gone inside on a whim a few weeks before, being bored with nothing to do for our first summer in high school. And while most of the stuff inside wasn’t of much interest to me, as soon as my eyes landed on the board, I knew I just had to have it. Not because it would help with communicating with ghosts, but because I knew exactly what kind of prank I would pull on both Benji and Cayetana with it.

  “You two know that the supernatural isn’t real, right?”

  Both of us looked at Benji, me with amusement while Cayetana looked as if he had just stabbed her in the heart.

  “I refuse to believe that we mere mortals are alone in this world,” she lectured, dramatically placing a hand over her chest. “There’s just no way God or whoever made this world would do such a thing.”

  Benji rolled his eyes. “I don’t need a lecture on something I don’t believe in.”

  She huffed, face morphing into a pout. “You can’t say that ghosts aren’t real. There are ghost hunters with video footage of hauntings! There are even documented reports of people's real interactions and sightings of supernatural creatures!”

  “And how do you know any of that is real?” countered Benji. “They could all just be made up for entertainment reasons.”

  “You mean to say that numerous reports and similar sightings were just made up by a ton of random people who have had no contact with each other?”

  “Maybe they were all paid off by the reporters? I don’t know.”

  “So what? Are you saying that the Bigfoot footage is also made up?”

  “It’s just some man in an ape costume. Everyone knows that.”

  Cayetana groaned and looked back at me. “What do you think, Ky? Do you think we’re just wasting our time pretending the supernatural is real?”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  I bit my lip. I already knew the answer I was going to give both of them. An answer that I had rehearsed with my mother since I was a kid. That things like the supernatural and magic were not real. It was only found in books, TV, and even old folktales. And to believe in it was a fool's game, and people who claimed it was real were to never be taken seriously.

  But that was far from the truth. And I knew this because I differed from my two mundane friends.

  Because I had magic.

  “I just think it’s fun that we all get to hang out,” I answered, but this only deflated Cayetana, so I quickly added, “But it would be amazing if we did encounter something outside of the norm one day.”

  “Exactly,” she smiled. “I knew I could count on you, Ky.”

  “You both are delusional,” Benji surrendered. He shook his head before looking at his watch. “Do you think the doors are open now? It’s getting hot out.”

  “God, I hope so,” said Cayetana, pulling her brunette-and-blonde hair into a ponytail. She made a mild effort to pack up her guitar before stopping and just lying back on the ground. “It’s too hot to move.”

  Benji hummed in agreement and leaned back once more. He lifted a hand to block the strip of sun that was pouring over his face from the bleachers above. “We should’ve just gone swimming. The beach or the lakes are nice on days like this.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And miss sign-ups? No way. We've worked too hard last year and over the summer to skip out over the heat." I caught my breath there, though; the temperature was getting to me, but I just didn't want to admit it. "I can check if the doors are open if you two don’t want to get up.”

  “Text us if they’re ready?”

  “Of course,” I chirped, getting up from my seated position. I wiped the dirt off my shorts and bare shins and started toward the school building.

  “Ky, wait!”

  I quickly caught the empty water bottle Benji tossed at me the moment I turned around.

  “Dude, nice catch! Get me a refill?”

  “You lazy fuck,” I said, flipping him off and getting a smile in return. I stuck out my tongue also before stepping out from our shaded haven under the bleachers.

  When I turned the corner and got the full view of the field, I saw that most of the football team was also in the process of packing up. A few of the guys on the team were pouring their water bottles over themselves to cool down, and many of them had taken off their shirts. I paused a moment, unable to pull my eyes away from their toned bodies. Some cheerleaders ran up to them, handing them towels and extra water, laughing at whatever conversation the boys were starting up with them.

  My mind wandered, wondering just how it would be if I were to offer a toned athlete a towel. Would he look at me with a smile? Would he engage with me in conversation about nothing and laugh when I tell him that he looked good out there at practice?

  A sigh escaped my lips as I realized I shouldn’t be daydreaming about boys so obviously out of my league. Guys like that don’t look at nerd kids like me. Remember, Ky, I think to myself. If they have biceps, they’re probably a douchebag.

  Turning around, I made my way back toward the school building. I was sweating by the time I got there, and when I tugged at the double doors, they didn't budge.

  Great.

  I took out my phone and quickly sent Benji a message. What I would give for some air conditioning about now.

  “Are you trying to get inside?”

  The voice startled me. I wasn’t aware there was someone behind me. But when I turned around, it took all my willpower not to gawk at the boy standing there. He was taller than me, probably about six feet tall. From his outfit, I figured he must have been on the football team. He wore the padded leggings, but his jersey was off, revealing his muscled torso that glistened with sweat in the sunlight. I couldn’t resist looking down at his pants and at how the athletic cup made him look-

  “Hello?”

  My eyes darted quickly back up to his face. His red hair was short and messy, clinging to his head from sweat but not taking away from his ridiculously handsome features. His green eyes were locked with mine, a slight smirk growing at the corner of his mouth.

  “W-what?” I stammered, knowing full well that my pale face had probably flushed tomato red.

  “Are you trying to get inside?” he repeated.

  “Oh! Yes! I mean, yeah. But the doors are locked. My friends and I are waiting to sign up for Battle of the Bands. They’re waiting under the bleachers for me. I told them I’d text them if the doors were open, but they’re not. Man, it’s really hot outside today, right?”

  Oh my God, I’m rambling.

  The Adonis of a redhead narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding as if he realized something. “Oh, are you Benji’s friend?”

  I blinked. “Uh, yeah. How did you know?”

  “He lives in the same neighborhood as me. He’s kind of a neighbor.”

  It clicked for me then. “Wait. You live in Greywood Forest, too? That super restricted and hard to enter prison of a housing community?”

  He smiled. “Well, I’ve never heard it called any of that, but yeah.”

  My stomach sank. “Oh, I didn’t mean to insult your home! I mean, it’s a nice place and all. Yeah. It’s cool!”

  Kill me now.

  But he laughed at my words instead. The sound made my heart flutter, and I couldn't help my own lips curling upward. He’s really cute…

  “I’m Rory. Football captain. I have keys to get in if you want to get out of the heat.”

  And there it was. The harsh reminder that a guy like him was out of my league. Like, WAY out of my league. I tried to tamp my disappointment with another smile. “Yeah, that would be great.”

  I stepped aside while Rory pulled out the lanyard hanging on his neck with a set of keys. He fumbled with them a moment before unlocking the door and pulling it wide. “After you,” he offered with a gentle wave of his hand.

  “Thanks,” I stuttered, doing my best to avoid eye contact with him as I passed through the threshold. The cool air immediately hit me, but it didn't stop the heat I was feeling on my face. “I go that way,” I mumbled, pointing toward a far hallway that led to the band offices.

  “Gotcha,” he replied simply. “I’ll have to hear just how good you and Benji’s band is one day.”

  “Cool.”

  “Anyway, I gotta unlock the lockers for the rest of the team. Catch you around.”

  I was still speechless from this interaction as I watched his shirtless form turn at the hallway and disappear from sight. My eyes refused to leave the spot where he vanished, and it wasn't until I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket that I remembered why I was inside the building in the first place.

  But I knew that I was in trouble now.

  I think I have a crush on the captain of the football team.