Kristoffer yawns, squirming in his bed, trying to get comfortable again. He finds this pointless and sits up in his bed, looking at the time on the clock. Seven am, yet it's still dark. His head throbs, but he takes a drink of water and fumbles in his bag for paracetamol. He flicks on the light in a desperate attempt to find it. He stands, taking the medicine and pulling on a new outfit.
He exits the room, looking over the little metal banister. He sees Alexis exit her room, still in her pyjamas. She yawns, her feet covered by a pair of rather adorable rabbit slippers. She walks down the stairs, grumbling to herself. She holds her head in her hand. Kristoffer waits until she reaches the bottom of the stairs before making his way down.

'Morning,' Kristoffer pulls a thick, wool jumper over his head. Alexis flicks on the kettle.

'You're up early,' Is her response. He nods, 'We have the SPMP, I don't know why I said we should go out.'

'It's fine. I've got less of an issue though, huh?' Kristoffer yells over the sound of the loud kettle. Alexis shrugs, a smile on her face. Ashton appears, once again, at the bottom of the stairs like a fiery ghost. He has purple bags under his eyes.

'How old even is that jumper? I bought it for you, didn't I?' Ashton stands next to Kristoffer, running his hand down his arm.

'Hey, it still fits. And it's cool.'

He chuckles softly, 'Last night was fun. I properly smiled and laughed.'

'You two looked cozy last night,' Alexis snickers. She places three teabags in three mugs, pouring in the hot water. Kristoffer and Ashton turn bright red.

'Okay, we better get ready quick, since we need a bit of time to get there,' Alexis proclaims, handing two of the three mugs of tea to the red-faced, coy duo.

*

Kristoffer sits in the same seat he sat in last time. Cheri plants herself in the seat next to him. She taps him on the shoulder.

'I see you in Mr. Rockwell and Ms. Florakis' car. Why is zat so? Zey looked rather angry at you last time I saw you talk,' She queries.

'They said I can live with them,' Kristoffer responds, joyful at the thoughtful question.

'Well, I have a tiny question,' She continues, 'Wouldn't a non-magic person wiz a group of two magic people make you look, je ne sais pas, razer suspicious?'

Kristoffer thinks of an answer, his eyes roving around the room as if that would help. The seat next to him, which was vacant last time, has a woman sitting in it. She has long black hair, dark brown eyes, and light skin. She looks around her late twenties and has both of her arms bandaged in fabric. Cheri lets her eyes stray.

'Yen! We missed you!' Her face lights up, standing from her seat and running to hug her.

'I missed ya too, Cheri,' Her accent is Australian, embracing Cheri with her stiff arms, 'Any exciting news to share?'

'Yes, we have a new member. Not magic, I might add,' Cheri giggles. She points at Kristoffer and whispers in her ear, 'Zat's Kristoffer. He is friends with Mr. Rockwell and Ms. Florakis!'

'Cheri, they said to call them by their first names! Don't be so formal,' Her face turns to Kristoffer, beaming an excellent smile, 'Nice to see a new person around. Not magic? I can tell.'

'You're Yen Yamaguchi, right?' Kristoffer asks. She nods. He raises his eyebrows, 'Alexis has been talking about you.'

'Oh, so you're that guy who's living with them, yeah yeah?' Kristoffer nods in response, 'Cool, cool. They like you, ya know. Think ya cool.'

Kristoffer turns a bit red, but continues making useless small talk, 'Are your arms alright?'

'Nah, getting shot exactly thirty-eight times in the arms isn't the most pleasant experience, but I'm coping. AMI guns hurt like a bitch,' She responds. Kristoffer's heart feels a pang of guilt, quickly drowned out by the silence as only Alexis steps onto the stage. Cheri scurries back to her seat.

'Sorry guys, I don't think Ashton's coming on today. He's had one of our magic headaches,' She mutters into the microphone through her teeth. A resounding sound of disappointment and sympathy resounds from the theatre. She puts a hand on her chest in faux shock, 'How dare you! I can be him if you want?'

She shapeshifts into Ashton, the only difference being his eyes are now amber than blue. He comically readjusts his glasses on his nose, or would it be her? She shapeshifts back, laughing with the rest of the hall.

'Okay, I'd first like to say that we are delighted to say that Yen Yamaguchi is back from the hospital,' Alexis beams. Claps resonate from around the hall. Yen smiles and rolls her eyes jokingly, clapping softly for herself as best she can. Alexis sighs, 'But the reason she's back is because the hospital kicked her out after finding out she's magic.'

Yen waves her hand dismissively. Kristoffer feels his brain freeze up. Why was this happening to people? He only works for the AMI for the money. From what he'd heard from Ashton and Alexis, a common misconception was magic is genetic. It seemed like a curse, not caring who it unleashed its wrath on. If this is what happens to the unfortunate and the supporting, what would happen if he told the AMI? What would they do?

*

Alexis squeals in delight, running at Yen and hugging her.

'Yen! We missed you! How are you?' She inquires. Yen scratches at her bandages.

'I'm alright,' She responds, 'Well, as alright as I can get right now.'

'How are your kids?'

'Meh, they're struggling a bit. Thought I was gonna die,' Yen shrugs off the question, 'I met Kristoffer.'

Alexis keeps quiet, her hands clasping each other. She hesitantly nods.

'He's nice. Keep him with you.'

'Yeah, he's nice,' Alexis mutters, seeming randomly coy, 'But did I tell you about when I found out Ashton is magic?'

'No.'

*

Alexis bit the end of her pen, scribbling down the date and title. The teacher was calling the register.

'Has anyone seen Ashton?' The teacher suddenly asked from the front of the class. A general murmur of confusion comes from around the classroom. The teacher's eyes fall on Kristoffer, 'Kristoffer, you know him better than most of us. Seen him anywhere?'

'No sir,' Kristoffer lied. His brain was a mess of confusion. Did Ashton feel like he couldn't be trusted with secrets? Why hadn't he told him? Did he feel like he wouldn't support him? He swallowed the lump in his throat, 'I saw him at lunch, but not at break.'

Alexis raised an eyebrow. She was confused since she had seen him after they ate. She put her hand up, 'I saw him at the break, sir. Can I go find him?'

'Quickly, please. We have maths to learn,' He sighed, waving his hand and telling her to go.

*

The music corridor. Ashton loved those stupid pianos and guitars. She looked down the hall. All the classrooms were vacant.

'Ashton, are you down here?' Alexis asked down the hall. There wasn't a response. She poked her head into every room. Reaching the last one, she knocked softly on the door and saw a curled-up ball of a person. His sobs were soft, but he looked up at her. His face is tear-stained and red. She sprinted to his side, sitting next to him.

'Hey, what's wrong?' She whispered, clasping her arm around his back. She felt soft feathers, and she jumped back in shock.

'Yeah, I'm magic,' He sighed, placing his head back on his knees, 'You can leave as Kristoffer did.'

'No,' Alexis whispered with a soft laugh, 'Look at this.'

He lifted his head, seeing a kind smile on her face. She blinked, and Ashton saw an almost exact copy of himself. The only difference was that the shapeshifted version of himself had dazzling amber eyes.

'I never knew you were magic,' Ashton muttered.

'Tell me what happened.'

'I showed Kristoffer my wings, and he just said I lied to him. He looked so scared and confused and...' He tried not to break down again, his voice wobbly, 'Did he ever love me?'

'Of course, he did,' Alexis soothed, holding him close to her chest, 'He does. This is just a stupid little thing. He'll be back to you by tomorrow. Trust. Also, our math teacher is waiting for us.'

'We'll go then,' Ashton tried to regain himself, but his eyes flicked over to the discarded bass guitar. A cherry-colored guitar, covered with band stickers. He pointed to the guitar, his voice wobbling again, 'He would never do that. He loves that guitar.'

*

Alexis taps Kristoffer on the shoulder. She had rushed from the music department back to the courtyard and was rather out of breath. He swiveled around to see who it was.

'Hey, Alexis,' He smiled, trying to block out the previous event of the day. He looks down at her hands, seeing his guitar in its case, 'Thanks, I must've left it in the music department.'

'That wasn't the only thing you left,' Alexis snapped, her brows knitted together. Kristoffer's face displays a shocked expression. She lets out an irate expulsion of a laugh, 'Do you have no shame? Ashton didn't just keep a secret from you. He kept it from me. And when he finally felt prepared to tell you, you left him.'

I've known him since basically the first day of school. I know how hard it is for him to trust people and to feel ready to share things that upset him. And you throw him out?!' The courtyard was then quiet, the gaggles eavesdropping on the argument.

'If that's what he's telling you, he's...' His voice trails off, realizing that the classic excuse of something being a lie wouldn't quite work in this situation

'If you're saying he's lying, why the actual hell did I find him curled up on the music room floor, crying his eyes out?' Alexis's voice was harsh, ripping into Kristoffer's ears. Kristoffer felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He'd done that? She spotted Ashton standing in the main exit, his eyes darting between the pair. Kristoffer also turned, his heart skipping a beat awfully. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to run up to him and kiss him and tell him he loved him and that everything would be okay. He just wanted him. Ashton pulled the pair of headphones from around his neck over his ears, sighing.

'I'm going with him,' Alexis snarled, her eyes dark and almost closed. She dropped the guitar indignantly. The sound of breaking wood and guitar strings made her heart ease her fury. She shoves past him, purposefully shoving him to the floor, 'Save any apologies you have.'

*

'Wow, that's one hell of a story,' Yen gasps. Alexis nods, her face a mix of slight anger and triumph.

'Well, we've made up now,' She sighs, shrugging her shoulders. Cheri pops up behind her. Alexis beams. She likes Cheri. She feels almost like a sister to her, 'Hey Cheri, love! How've you been?'

Cheri shrugs off the question, 'I know why you're letting Kristoffer stay wiz you!'

She points almost accusatively, Alexis raises her eyebrows, almost to say "Tell me".

'It is because Ashton is still in love with him!' She begins rambling about reading his mind and how many romance novels she's read to know that her theory is real. Alexis grabs her shoulder halfway through a spiel about her favourite book, Romeo and Juliet.

'Cheri, I know. It was his choice,' She laughs. She looks over her shoulder to see that Yen has disappeared. Cheri blushes in embarrassment, 'Trust me, I live with the guys.'

'Oh, apologies.'