Lilly stared, vexed, at the grouping of names printed and tacked on the corkboard before her. A rumble of irritation rose in her chest as she observed the two names, three sheets away from each other. After a whole summer of tension, Lilly had enough. Classes picked up again, and therefore, she had to choose between Dani and Alex yet again. It'd been much easier during the summer when they hadn't been forced into the same room together. Now that things weren't as flexible, Lilly figured it was due time she did something about it. She'd thought it was a good thing that Alex shared some classes with them, due to the incident with the third-year class interfering with the school's operations. But now, it just made things much more awkward.

Now twenty dollars short, she shot daggers at Professor Boru, who simply shrugged. Lilly would be getting her money back from that con artist. As soon as she'd heard they'd be assigned study groups for the entirety of their Astronomy class this semester, she approached the salt and pepper haired man with a bribe. He was supposed to have assigned Dani and Alex to the same group, but upon searching the lists, she found them on completely different sides. A light tap on her shoulder caused her to shift her fury filled eyes to whoever dared disturb her in this mood. Quentin took a hurried step back when she looked at him, he was beginning to second guess his following request.

"Hey, Lil," his voice quaked as he attempted to keep eye contact.

"Quentin, I am not going to switch groups with you so you can stalk Alice."

"I'm not stalking her!" He blurted, louder than necessary, drawing a few odd looks. Lilly gave her friend a pointed look, to which he let out an exasperated huff. She knew exactly what he wanted before he even spoke. He'd been following Alice around like a lost puppy all summer, only to scurry off when it came time to actually have a conversation with her.

"If it means that much to you, maybe you can switch with Gretchen? She's nice, I bet she'd help you out," Quentin nodded enthusiastically, "but do yourself a favor and tone it down a little. You don't want to scare her off," Quentin nodded again, giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek before running off in search of Gretchen. Lilly sighed at his approach, he really was lovesick. She prayed he wouldn't end up hurt, he deserved better than that. With one last exasperated sigh, Lilly left to start plan B. As it turns out, Lilly didn't have a plan B, so it seemed an emergency call to Margo and Eliot was in order.

"Boru, that little bitch," Margo spat as they sat in the Physical cottage living room. Eliot shared one of the large armchairs with his boyfriend (that wasn't a boyfriend) Mike, cuddled up together lovingly. Mike had become an honorary member of Eliot and Margo's dynamic duo, and according to Margo, she was the third wheel. Lilly sympathized with her, but it was nice to see Eliot so happy. He seemed nice enough to Lilly, she spent some time with him over the summer, and he seemed to truly care about Eliot.

"I know! It wasn't like I asked him to change my grade or anything, I just wanted him to help fix a friendship."

"Boru doesn't have a heart, so I'm not surprised," Eliot piped up, too enthralled with Mike to look at her.

"Ha, honestly," Lilly laughed bitterly at the truth of that statement.

"No," Mike added, looking up from his lovey-dovey gaze, "he doesn't have a heart. It stopped working in 98, and he had it replaced with an enchanted one."

"Oh," Lilly muttered, taken aback by the irony, "that explains a lot."

"You know," Margo mused, "there was this prank we used to do on the freshies. We had to stop cause one of them overreacted and tried to break through a wall. Such a shame," she sighed longingly, a smirk plastered across her face.

"And?" Lilly questioned, a little anxious about where this was going.

"I think that's just what they need," Eliot and Margo shared a devious look, and Lilly knew she should be very, very, afraid.

➺➺➺➺

Alex's followed the paved path leading to the familiar Physical cottage. Music boomed as it always did, the occupants of the space unperturbed by late morning etiquette. Lilly had texted him ten minutes prior, claiming that she, Margo, and Eliot needed him for an urgent, top-secret mission. He'd asked what it was about, but all he got in return was a message with the time and location of their meetup. He didn't bother knocking, no one ever did, and it's not like anyone would open it for you anyways.

The moment he crossed the threshold, he was met by complete and utter silence. The loud bass that had been leaching out into the front path had been abruptly silenced. Alex probed the bottom floor of the cottage warily, daring only to venture a few more steps before calling out to the seemingly empty building.

"Lilly?" Nothing, "Lil?" Nothing, Alex grabbed his phone, only to find it wasn't where he'd placed it. His back pocket was empty. He patted each of his pockets and scanned the surrounding floor- it was gone. "Guys, this isn't funny, if you're gonna prank me at least get a little more creative," yet again, unsurprisingly, there was no response. Alex sighed in irritation, turning back towards the door. He made it one step before he realized there was no door to go back to.

Alex grunted as he tried and failed, yet again, to pry open one of the first-floor windows. He'd climbed atop the kitchen counter to reach it, and even tried smashing one of the pots through the glass. All that accomplished was a chain reaction after it ricocheted into one of Eliot's spice racks. He then left with a disaster zone of a kitchen and still no way out. He let out a groan, looking around hopelessly at his prison.

His ears perked at the sound of a door opening. Not just any door, the front door. He moved faster than he ever thought possible, scrambling off the counter and down the hall just in time to see the door dematerialize, leaving him with the last person he'd want to be stuck with- Dani. The moment the pink-haired psychic saw him, she whirled, only to be met with a solid wall instead of the door she entered through.

"What kind of fucked up prank are you pulling, Griffin?" She glared at her panting ex-friend.

"It's not me doing it! I've been stuck here for half an hour trying to find a way out!"

"Well, then who's doing it?" The moment she asked they both knew what was going on.

"Lilly," they groaned in unison.

"I'm gonna kill that bitch when I get out of here," Dani growled, heading over to one of the windows and heaving upward. Alex knew what would happen. Dani wasn't too keen on listening to what he had to say, as shown by the fact that half an hour later, she was still trying to break open the window.

"I'm telling you, they're not gonna break," Alex had poured himself a glass of wine and sipped it contently on the couch as he watched Dani throw a kitchen chair at the window for the third time.

"Well, you'll have to understand why I don't believe you anymore," the ice behind her words was tangible, and Alex felt the sudden drop in temperature like a slap to the face. "It's not like you've been very honest with me in the past."

"We might as well work it out now."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, we're gonna have to, that's the only way we're getting out of here."

"What do you want me to say? Huh?" She whirled, fire in her eyes, "do you want me to say that you hurt me, that you betrayed my trust? Friends are supposed to tell each other things like that, especially when you're sneaking around with someone I hate!"

"I was scared! You were my best friend, and your opinion mattered to me more than everyone else! It still does," Alex defended, standing from the couch. "I knew you would hate me for falling in love with the one person you couldn't stand, and I couldn't handle having to choose between you two. In the end, it didn't matter, because I still lost you."

"You're right, you did lose me. I don't handle people lying to me very well if you haven't noticed."

"I know," his voice was barely a whisper, his eyes sorrowful, "I should've told you, I'm sorry, Dani."

"But," she paused, unsure of what she was about to say. "I guess I understand why you didn't tell me," Alex's eyes widened, he hadn't expected her to say that. "I wasn't very understanding."

"I was such an idiot to keep it from you."

"It wouldn't have ended well either way. I was the idiot for not listening to you when you said you cared about her, though I still don't understand why, I'm sorry."

"I miss you," Alex watched his pink-haired friend with longing, and took a hesitant step towards her.

"I miss you too," Dani choked, suddenly overcome by the urge to cry. She'd lost her best friend, and having him so close made her realize how hard it had been without him in her life. "Do you think you can forgive me?"

"Only if you can forgive me," he didn't have to say it twice, for Dani engulfed him in a giant hug, her tears staining his t-shirt.

"Of course I can."

➺➺➺➺

To Quentin's credit, he did end up convincing Gretchen to switch groups with him, though not without the cost of his Leonard Nimoy trading cards. This, regrettably, was the catalyst for the enormous headache she would later receive. The moment Penny arrived at their study group, it was clear that it was not going to end well.

"Hell is real," Penny groaned, slamming his bag on the table, "and it smells like Axe body spray." Lilly was too busy trying to hide the sudden warmth of her cheeks at his arrival to scold him for his treatment of Quentin. She couldn't help but let her thoughts wander to the last time they'd spoken. Which just so happened to be the night of Cara's engagement party, where things had gotten a little heated. Unfortunately, he decided to claim the empty seat beside her.

"Barbie," he greeted, an amused smirk curling his lips. He clearly hadn't forgotten the nature of their last encounter either. After a few minutes of deliberation, they decided to get to work as quickly as possible on the latest project. Lilly managed to calm down after a while and was able to school her features into that of cool indifference. She ignored his occasional smirks in her direction as they worked gathered outside on the grass.

"I don't understand," Quentin said, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the papers in front of him.

"The idea is you look at the list of ingredients and try to figure out what the spell does," Alice explained.

"It's kinda like the first trial, except we can actually solve this one," Lilly pitched in.

"Maybe we should move on," Penny flipped through the next few pages, "if we wait for the simpleton, we'll be here all night."

"Don't be rude, it's not like you figured it out. Alice did all the work," Lilly glared.

"Okay," Quentin snapped, "if you understand, then explain it."

"It's a healing spell, I've seen the Welwitsch-whatever in the infirmary."

"Trick question," Alice corrected, as usual, she knew the correct answer without even thinking. "It's a Welwitschia Mirabilis, the leaves are used for both healing spells and for doing exotic curses," Penny glared at the know-it-all Magician, while Quentin merely looked on with confusion.

"She's right, Dani told me about this stuff a while ago. I thought it was pretty interesting, so I paid attention," Lilly examined the plant in question with genuine curiosity.

"I thought it was a fern," Lilly couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, and she patted Quentin on the shoulder in apology once she saw his unamused expression.

"Which is why I brought flashcards!" Alice produced a particularly thick stack of cards from her bag.

"Of course you did," Penny groaned, while Lilly gave Alice an encouraging smile. She grinned appreciatively and passed Quentin the flashcards she'd made.

"Thank you, Alice," Quentin took the cards from her, smiling awkwardly as their hands brushed. Alice was also affected by the touch and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear with a shy smile.

"Could you not? For one minute, could you not give her googly eyes?" Penny exclaimed bluntly, causing both parties involved to freeze in embarrassment. Lilly smacked Penny's leg, as that's all she could reach from where he sat on a tree stump. She glared at him again, trying to get him to shut up and leave them be.

"I-uh-I don't know what you're, uh, implying or, um, inferring."

"Brakebills South didn't have a lot of things. Livable weather, edible food, cable TV, but you know what it did have? Windows," Alice toyed with a nearby tree branch as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd seen in her entire life, while Quentin attempted to shrink himself into non-existence. They both knew where this was going. "So, if you thought no one saw your little--little extracurricular activities, you'd be very mistaken foxes."

"I was above average for a fox."

"Okay, I've studied enough for one day," Alice gathered up her bag hastily, trying to hide her bright red cheeks. She sped away from their study group, her head hung low.

"Thank you for that."

"Do you always have to be such a dick, Penny?" Lilly spat.

"Yes, yes I do," he said matter of factly, "and for the record, you do see what you're doing wrong, though?" Penny directed his words toward Quentin. Lilly wished they'd both give it up so she could study in peace.

"I don't need your help," Quentin spoke quickly and sharply, not tearing his gaze from the book in front of him, "but, if I hypothetically did..."

"Man, you act like a stalker and then go out of your way to deny you're interested." Lilly sighed as her wish for silence was thrown in the trash and lit on fire, before her very eyes. "Either grow a pair, or she'll find someone who already did," she didn't want to admit it, but Penny was right, however harsh his delivery was. The rest of the afternoon was spent studying, only the occasional disagreement between the two males. They'd been making good progress, and soon the sun sank below the treelike, and they transitioned into their astronomy work.

"I checked the positioning of Cepheus three times, I did the whole invocation, this stupid plant should be seven feet tall by now." Penny groaned, looking up to the starry sky in frustration. Quentin flipped through his textbook, trying to figure out what they did wrong.

"Maybe our math was off? Give me a second, I'll double-check it," Lilly stepped up to the telescope, prepared to calculate the positions of the planets again.

"What?" Penny snapped from behind her. She looked back to find Quentin staring at Penny, an inquisitive look in his eye.

"What happened to you and Kady?" Quentin asked and Lilly let out a long, mournful sigh. This would not end well, "you guys were inseparable. She gets through the trials, passes all of Mayakovsky's tests, and then she just..."

"She didn't give me an itinerary," Penny snapped, and Lilly turned, hoping to nip the inevitable argument in the bud.

"Look, I just spent my morning parent trapping the shit out of Alex and Dani, so if you two could keep your bickering to a minimum, it would be greatly appreciated. I've dealt with enough of it already, and you're giving me a headache," Lilly groaned massaging her temples. Penny's expression made her wonder if for once he would listen to her. Sadly, she misread it, and they were back at it a few seconds later.

"Man, I don't get it," Quentin continued, obviously not taking the less than subtle hint to stop talking. "You act like you're this panty-whisperer, and your girl disappears, and you don't even know where she is," Lilly braced herself for an explosion, she knew it was only moments away.

"You see her, tell her she owes me twenty bucks," Quentin gave him an incredulous look, Penny simply stared ahead, "can I help you?"

"What?" Quentin asked, confused. Lilly turned to look past her friend, finding Eliot's boyfriend, Mike standing a few feet away.

"Not you," Quentin turned, finally understanding the situation.

"Ah, hey Mike," he smiled, and Mike returned the gesture with a wave.

"Sorry, I got a little turned around, could you tell me which way the cottage is?" He asked, looking around them questioningly. Lilly took this as her opportunity to escape the bickering children she'd been forced into a group with.

"Here," Lilly stood from her chair, "I'll walk you there. Anything to get away from all this testosterone," she stepped towards him with a warm smile. If she'd blinked at that moment she might have missed it, but she caught the glow of blue in his eyes and the glint of a blade, milliseconds before Mike lunged for her throat.