Han pulled up to Central High School in Orion's Tesla, which he was borrowing for the time being. Actually, he was pretty sure he was never going to give it back. It was both luxurious and good for the environment. 

Han grabbed his backpack, an act that made him feel suddenly six years younger. Never mind that he had only been out of high school for a little over a year. And never mind that he often used packs during missions for the Collective. Something about this particular school backpack, in this particular way, made him feel like a freshman.

Han got out of the car and eyed the students milling about the parking lot and the entrance. Some of them stared at him as he started walking down the path to the doors. School was already a few weeks into the second semester. That made Han, definitively, the "new kid."

It felt strange to be walking back into the halls of a high school. Han thought that part of his life was over. Not for the first time since he had agreed to this mission, he hoped it wouldn't be too long. He didn't want to be stuck there for any longer than he had to be. At least it had a clear expiration date - his cast was scheduled to come off in just over two weeks. No way the Collective would let him sit useless, babysitting some girl who they didn't even know was a threat, when he could be doing more important work. He'd be reassigned if the mission carried on past that point, he was sure of it.

After much wandering and refusing to ask for help, Han found his locker and threw his book bag inside. He took out some notebooks and shoved a pen in his pocket. He really only needed to look busy. He wouldn't actually have to put too much effort into the schoolwork, just enough to not warrant any unwanted attention from the teachers or principal.

The Collective had arranged his schedule so that Han had several classes with his target. They had given him an extensive amount of pictures. Han would know her when he saw her.

His first class of the day was Spanish. Han didn't remember much of it, even though he had taken it all four years of high school. The Collective had entered him into the third level, so he hoped he knew enough for that at least. He understood maybe every other word the teacher said. 

Spanish wasn't one of the classes he shared with his target, so he didn't pay very much attention to the teacher or other students. His next class however, pre-calculus, he did share with her.

Upon walking into the classroom, Han could tell immediately that she was somewhat of a loner. Either that, or nobody else wanted anything to do with her. The class was half-filled, but she was sitting alone, apart from everyone else, and not chatting like the rest of them. Of course, she had only been going to the school for two weeks, so she may have just not had the opportunity to make very many friends yet. 

She sat at her desk, doodling something in her notebook. She seemed fairly concentrated on it. Her straight, choppy, dark hair hung over her face so Han could barely see her. He didn't want to get too close too quickly, so he sat a few seats away from her.

"You new?" the girl Han had sat next to asked with a smile.

"Yep. I'm Han." He extended his hand to her.

"Beverly," she said as she shook it. "Nice to meet you. Han, you said?"

"Yep. As in, Solo."

Beverly laughed, flipping her hair back. "Funny. That's an interesting name. How'd you get it?"

"Secret," Han said with a wink.

Before class even started, Han had been introduced to a bunch of other students and was chatting animatedly with all of them. He wanted to be more open in front of the target, and it made a huge difference to how people respond to him. After class, the other students even invited him to lunch with them. They were all fun enough people, so Han gladly accepted. Acting normal and making friends was all a part of the cover, after all.

His third class was P.E., and he shared with his target as well. He wanted to try and attempt a meeting this time. As the students were trickling into the gym from the locker rooms during the last few minutes before class started, he approached her.

She was leaning against the back wall of the gym, again set apart from everyone else. Her red gym shirt hung loosely over her figure. She wore black athletic shorts that went below her knees, and took away any chance of getting a glimpse of her real figure. Her hair was thrown up into a messy bun, and several strands had broken free and fell loosely around her head. She had a bored expression on her face, like she didn't want to be bothered with the dullness of gym class. But despite this, her pretty green eyes seemed to hold a light in them that intrigued Han. Her pictures hadn't done them justice.

Han came up and leaned on the wall next to her. He looked down at her from the side. She had a good profile. Her nose seemed to fit her face perfectly, slightly turned upward at the tip, giving a kind of cuteness to her otherwise pretty features. She had full lips, which were at the moment hanging open just a little.

Nothing about her screamed, I'm a magical being out to get you. Then again, it was hard to tell sometimes. Han had once nearly gotten mauled to death by a dude who looked like any average middle-aged dad, but turned out to be a rugaru.

Even just thinking back to that incident, the gorilla inside of Han gave a bit of a huff. Han shook it off and re-focused on his target.

"Hey," Han greeted casually.

She looked over at him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "Hey," she said cautiously. "Why are you talking to me?"

Han half-smiled at her in surprise. "Ouch. What a response. I just thought the two of us need to stick together."

"Why?"

"We're newbies. We'll get eaten alive if we don't watch out for each other. There's safety in numbers."

She scoffed at him. "Please. You're hardly getting eaten alive. Unless you count all the girls ogling you. They might want to eat you. But I have a feeling you'd like it."

Han smiled at her again. "Wow. You're mighty forward."

The girl shrugged as she bit her lip. "I just call it like I see it."

"Well, maybe what you think you see isn't necessarily how it is. You know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and all that."

"So you're not loving all the attention? You fit right in with that crowd."

"What crowd?"

The girl rolled her eyes at him. "Please. The popular rich kids. The crowd that everyone else wants to be a part of. You worked your way right in like a pro."

Han didn't know whether to be insulted or amused. Of course he had noticed that the kids in math had had a certain air to them. The clothes, the hair, the way they carried themselves. It spoke of money. He had never been one to fit in anywhere, but he supposed things were different when he wasn't rushing off to save the world all the time. "You sure have a lot of opinions."

"Like I said, I just call it like I see it."

"Problem is," Han said with a sigh as he pushed off the wall and started to walk backwards, away from her. "Sometimes your eyes can play tricks on you." He turned away from her and continued walking. After a moment's thought he turned his head back and said, "My name's Han, by the way."

He walked towards the nearest crowd of students and began to socialize for the last few minutes until class began. Apparently, this girl was going to be more work than he had anticipated. She wasn't just a loner, she was damn right abrasive.

***

After class Han made his way home. Tomorrow, he was officially moving to college, as far as his family knew, so his mother was cooking all his favorite dishes for a family dinner. Han parked the car at Orion's and took the bus home. He didn't need his family wondering how he had found his way into a relatively new Tesla.

Upon entering his house, Han was embraced by the smell of his mother's homemade chicken pot pie. He stepped into the kitchen to find her leaning over the open stove.

"You'd better not pull a Sylvia Plath on me," Han said as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Never," his mother said, closing the stove and turning towards him. "You need me too much."

"I need your cooking, that's for sure. It smells delicious."

She frowned at him. "What're you going to do when you're off at college all by yourself?" She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You'll starve."

"Mom, come on. I'll be fine. You gotta let go at some point."

His mother instructed him to set the table for dinner. She said Han had to learn how to function with only one arm so she wasn't going to coddle him. His younger brothers, Henry and Jefferson, came in fighting and practically ran him over. Good thing his gorilla nature kept him sturdy and upright.

"Do you mind? I'm setting the table."

"What happened to your arm?" Jefferson, the older one, asked. "You fall off your skateboard again? You know, you're not very good at skateboarding."

"How would we even know?" Henry, the younger one, in middle school, said. "We've never even seen him skate."

"You don't skate on a skateboard," Jefferson said in his know-it-all voice. He took being the child of two college professors very seriously and always seemed to be giving some kind of impromptu lesson on things, even if he didn't fully understand them. "Skating means like ice skating or roller skating."

"What's it called then?" Henry asked, more challenging than curious. He was the rebellious one, and didn't like being lectured to. Which is why the two of them had the hardest time getting along.

Jefferson and Henry looked to Han, and with a start he realized he had no idea. "It's skating for skateboarding, too," he said, his voice laced with a confidence he did not feel at all inside. This was what made him a good spy.

Henry smiled winningly at Jefferson, as if he was the one who had proved him wrong.

Han finished setting the table. Soon everyone was gathered except for the youngest sibling, Han's sister, Antigone. She liked to read a lot and often got lost in her books. After yelling for her several times, Han's father had to go up and get her. She was regaling him with a recap of whatever she had been reading as they joined everyone else at the table.

Lily made them say grace. This was a bit different in their household. Although they were technically doing it together, every one was allowed to participate in grace however they wished. Lily had been raised Buddhist in China while Jack had been raised very Catholic by his Irish parents. They met at college while Lily was studying Comparative World Literature and Jack was studying World Religions. It was a match made in heaven. They were perfect for each other. They were also very spiritual and very open people.

For Han, saying grace at the dinner table had become a sort of ritual. He would talk to the Giver, the eternal being that some magical folks, including some at the Mage Collective, believed to be the giver of all magic to all entities. Han knew he wasn't the first person that anyone would describe as spiritual or as having faith. He was all logic and reason and all that. But this little thing, saying grace at the table, connecting with the Giver in his own little way... it was important to him. 

This time, he asked the Giver for guidance. To figure out what storm was brewing, so that they could protect those who needed protecting. 

When grace was over, they all sat and started handing around the food. His siblings kept fighting and his mother and father kept alternatively babying him and pestering him with questions about school. It was loud and irritating and he rolled his eyes more times than he could count. But he loved it.

Han knew these dinners were soon going to become few and far between. And he was really going to miss it.