Lilly's jaw dropped so far it might as well have unhinged and hit the floor. They'd found Alex, but who they didn't expect to find was Ava, and they definitely didn't expect to find them together, with their tongues down each other's throats. They jumped apart the moment they heard Lilly's cry of surprise as if they'd suddenly been burned by their partner. Alex's face had turned an unnatural shade of red that Lilly would have compared to a fire truck, but this was no time for jokes.

"You're kidding, right?" Dani's face was void of any emotion, but the energy of the room was not unlike the calm before a storm. Lilly was too shocked to say anything. There'd been no signs that these two had something going on, at least none that she'd picked up on. Had she been that oblivious? They'd pulled the wool over her eyes, and she hadn't even noticed.

"I-I wanted to tell you but- but I knew you guys didn't like her, and you made that very clear." Alex stepped forward pleadingly but was met with two looks of betrayal.

"You've been fucking her? You could at least pick someone tolerable!" Dani shouted, and Ava half-rolled her eyes with a look of contempt.

"I think I should go, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Ava said softly and slipped past Alex's best friends, leaving them to sort out the dirty bits themselves.

"Yeah, I think that's for the best," Dani spat, "you're seriously with that she-demon?"

"Yes, I'm with that woman," The irritation was peaking through on his side.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Lilly inquired, her voice calm, she was much more sad than angry.

"Because I knew you would react like this! She's not just some girl I'm fucking, Dani, I really, really like her. She's not at all the person you think she is! I'm happy!"

"You had to pick the one person we loathe at this school to date? Well congratulations, you just lost your best friend because of that bitch!" Dani stormed out into the hallway and disappeared. They could practically see the storm cloud parked on her forehead. It was just Lilly and Alex now, and he silently pleaded with her to understand, to accept his relationship. Lilly didn't know what to do. She needed to think. So with a look of solemn apology, she left him behind and went after Dani.

➺➺➺➺

They sat away from Alex during their lesson the next morning. He moved to sit beside his girlfriend. There was no need to hide anymore; the truth was out. Luckily they weren't a PDA kind of couple, so Dani was spared from vomiting at the breakfast table. Dani kept her eyes trained forward, not sparing a glance at their friend. Lilly would occasionally let her eyes flick over to the couple but immediately regretted it when a flash of hurt rose in her chest. Once she'd caught him looking back longingly, but she wasn't ready to face the issue yet. She needed time to think, she didn't trust herself to have the conversation yet. Today they were continuing their lesson on mind control. Only Lilly and Ava had been able to do it, and Mayakovsky wanted to torture them a bit more before moving on.

"Just as I suspected, you are complete failures. Your minds are weak, like baby kittens. You must be a lion, you're useless! You will never be great Magicians. Get to work!" He grunted and no one needed to be told twice. "You two," everyone looked up, "the scary one and the barbie doll, come with me," he pointed at Lilly and Ava respectively. He didn't wait for them to respond and walked away. The girls hurried out of their seats, afraid of what he would do if they took too long. He led them into a cluttered, dimly lit office. Empty bottles of vodka were strewn about, along with stacks of books and miscellaneous magical items.

An octagon had been drawn out in white chalk on the hardwood floor, a strange contraption with many wires formed a circle around it. "Do not step on that," he ordered, and Lilly steered clear. He gestured for them to sit as he poured himself another glass of vodka. Lilly looked anywhere but at Ava or Mayakovsky, pretending to study her surroundings.

"Um, what is this about?" Ava broke the silence, and Lilly automatically bristled at the sound of her voice.

"This is about you two showing a very impressive aptitude for mind control," he explained in between sips. "The last person I saw perform that spell so quickly was your mother, Blondie. Now I have two in one class. While you are under my roof, you will learn to use your gift to the fullest extent."

"Wait, you knew my Mum?" Lilly piped in.

"Yes, she was quite the woman back when I knew her. It's a shame she gave up magic. She could have been one of the great Magicians of our time, like me. Not to mention, she had quite the magnificent set of bosoms," He made a vulgar gesture to represent breasts and Lilly had to choke back her gag.

"Isn't it dangerous for us to do this?" Ava asked, bringing them back to the subject at hand.

"Yes," he said nonchalantly, both women's eyebrows raised at this. He gave no mind to them. "You both seem to have grasped the basics of the lesson, so I have a bit of a challenge for you today. I'd like to see if you are competent enough to complete it," he pulled another jar out from behind his desk and slammed it down between them, "take control of its mind." A single firefly flitted around the jar, just as the one from the day before had.

"At the same time?"

"Yes, if you wish to have any skill at this, you must keep hold of your subject. However rare this talent is, you are not the only ones that possess it, and untrained it can be volatile," neither made a move to start, "do it!" He ordered, and so it began.

It felt much like the first time, only when she reached her mind out she was met with a solid wall. Though it wasn't a physical entity, Lilly could feel Ava's energy behind it. Each student focused on trying to gain the advantage over the other, pulling firmly on the consciousness of the firefly. Lilly's anger and hurt over Alex's secret relationship with her rival fueled her fire as she pushed against Ava's magic. Ava pushed back just as hard, her will was a perfect match for Lilly, but the blonde was gaining the advantage, digging the claws of her mind into the firefly.

Then something happened, something strange. The mind they'd been struggling to gain dominion of, slipped from their grasp like water through their fingers, gone in an instant. Their eyes shot open in surprise, locking on each other. Mayakovsky watched disapprovingly from his chair, and they put the pieces together at the same moment.

"It's dead?" Sure enough, the firefly, which moments ago had been glowing brightly, now lay lifeless at the bottom of the jar, it's light extinguished forever.

"Minds are a delicate thing, they are weak, effortlessly swayed, and they can be turned to dust just as easily. You were so focused on fighting a war that you forgot about the life you were using as a battlefield. Life can be taken away like that," he snapped his fingers abruptly, "you just put its consciousness through a paper shredder." A resounding bang sounded from behind them, and Lilly jumped a foot in the air, whipping her head to see what the disturbance was. A dust-covered and partially smoking Penny hopped around frantically within the chalk-lined octagon behind them.

"Ah! Fucking volcano!" He was too busy putting out the scorched parts of his shirt to notice he had an audience. Lilly and Ava watched the scene unfold with startled expressions.

"Which you survived, gold star," Mayakovsky drawled, not bothered in the slightest by his sudden appearance.

"Barbie? What the hell are you doing here?" Penny finally noticed the newcomers.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"We've been working on his traveling. Now, I must get back to that." The professor slammed down a second jar, this one full of fireflies. "Don't come back until you have something to show me." He proceeded to shove them out of his office and slam the door in their faces. What were they supposed to do now? Lilly turned to face Ava. Of all the people she could be stuck with, it had to be her. An extremely awkward silence followed, both unsure of how to proceed. Things were even tenser than usual between them ever since the discovery of last night. Lilly hadn't quite figured out her feelings yet. All she knew was that she wasn't happy about it. She wasn't as mad as Dani was, but she was just as hurt about the secret.

"Look," Ava was the first to speak, "we don't have to like each other, but we do have to work together. So let's put our differences behind us for a few hours until we can finish this, then we can go back to hating each other's guts, agreed?"

"Agreed," they nodded in unison and headed off to find an empty classroom. Eight murdered fireflies later, and they still hadn't been able to get anywhere.

"Alright, this isn't working," Lilly sat back with a huff, "we've gotta try something different."

"How are we supposed to fight each other off without killing it? He didn't even tell us how to do it! This is such bullshit." Ava ran her fingers through her short cropped hair, a frustrated tick Lilly had picked up on in the time they'd known each other. They stared angrily at the jar of remaining fireflies in silence. Neither had any idea of how to get this to work, "worst of all, we're stuck together until it's done."

"Tell me about it, do you think he put us together on purpose to torture us?"

"Wouldn't be surprised," Lilly absentmindedly manipulated the flame of the candle between them into intricate forms. The light swirled up towards the ceiling, branching off in different directions, then converging back again to braid itself together, "I do care about him, you know," Lilly's fire sculpture disappeared when she heard this. She sounded sincere, something she hadn't expected. Ava's eyes showed a vulnerability that Lilly didn't know the ice queen was capable of. "I didn't want to, but he's just so sweet and considerate and funny," a smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she spoke about her boyfriend.

"Sounds like Alex," Lilly's lips curled up slightly at the thought of his sweet demeanor.

"I know you hate me and hate me with him. You're not my favorite person, but you mean so much to Alex. You're his best friend, and like it or not, we're stuck with each other. I don't want him to lose his best friend because of me. I don't want to hurt him that way," Lilly was stunned. She was speechless after this display of maturity and true affection for Alex. She'd underestimated the intensity of their relationship.

"I just want him to be happy," Lilly leveled, "I'm sure you can understand why I'm not too thrilled that you're the one he picks. I mean, of all the people."

"I know."

"I just feel like shit because I know we made him feel like he couldn't confide in us. He should've been able to tell us anything, and we failed him as friends."

"He wanted to tell you so bad, part of it was my fault. I didn't want him to. I was being selfish. I thought once he told you I would lose him."

"No, he's not the type. If he cares about you, he's loyal to the end." They stared at the candle between them in silence. "We both love him. I'm willing to be civil if you are, for Alex," Ava looked up in surprise. She hadn't expected to get any level of acceptance from Alex's friends, even if it was a small gesture of tolerance. Ava nodded, extending her hand to the blonde across from her. Lilly hesitated a fraction of a second before reaching her hand out and shaking in agreement.

"Alright then, let's get this shit done." After their truce was finalized, they found that they made a much better team than they initially thought. Not that either one would ever admit it aloud. Shortly after their conversation, a breakthrough was made, though only after another firefly dropped dead.

"Maybe we need to stop fighting each other?" Lilly mused aloud.

"I know we just agreed to get along, but that's the stupidest idea I've ever heard."

"No, what I mean is, what if it's not about pushing against each other, but outmaneuvering your opponent? Maybe it's not so much a wrestling match and more of a game of chess?" Ava took a moment to process.

"That might work," for the next half hour, they tried the new approach. It wasn't a miracle solution, they still struggled, but they could tell it was working.

Lilly was the one to take full control of the tiny creature, and Ava couldn't even bring herself to be mad that she'd been bested. They were both too relieved at having succeeded. They grabbed their things and rushed to Mayakovsky's office to demonstrate. His reaction was of cool indifference, though Lilly could have sworn he looked just a little impressed. He shooed them out of his office yet again, his only words being,

"Congratulations, you're not completely incompetent." Lilly supposed that was about the closest thing to a pat on the back he was capable of.

"I'm gonna go grab some food if you wanna come?" Ava offered as they walked down the hallway towards the common areas and the rest of the tortured students.

"Thanks, but I think there's someone I owe an apology." Ava nodded in understanding, and they parted ways a few minutes later. Lilly moved towards the dorms, stopping before a familiar room. Her stomach flipped with nerves as she rapped gently on the door.

"Come in!" His voice reached her, and she forced herself to take a steadying breath before she entered. He lay on his mattress, tossing a ball repeatedly at the wall.

"Hey," Alex didn't look up at her, nor did he stop what he was doing.

"Here to talk some sense into me? Save your breath, Dani already tried."

"No, I'm here to apologize," this caught his attention, "I was a total bitch to you, and I understand why you didn't tell us. I'm so sorry you felt like you couldn't confide in us and that when you did, we turned our backs on you. I've been such a shitty friend."

"Yeah, you have been," he sat up to face her, his expression forlorn, "I just wanted you to be happy for me."

"I am, I am happy for you. It just took me a little while to get there," Lilly took a few steps towards him. "Ava and I talked, and we agreed to put our differences aside and try to get along. She does care about you, and that's abundantly clear now. I'm so sorry."

"I care about her too, I really do."

"Do you think you can forgive me for being a complete ass?" He was silent for a moment, and Lilly felt as though it was the longest pause she'd ever endured.

"How could I not? You're my best friend after all." Lilly broke out into a dazzling smile and wasted no time in flinging herself upon him, tackling him to the bed in a suffocating hug. They both laughed joyfully at being reunited, and Alex hugged back just as tightly.

"Now, tell me everything!"