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“you have five seconds.”

THIS IS NOW STARTING TO GET BORING.

Really, how long can it take to get your holy ass down there? The last major event of the year, and Casspian is late as usual. To be honest, it would be a novelty if he actually showed up on time. Shaking my head, I climb the stairs, meeting Athena's tired gaze. I tell her with a wave of my hand that I'll be right there. So during that time, she and Freya can go outside. I walk down the long hallway, still wondering what sitting at home with my mom will be like with the rest of the Avengers. I haven't been so excited to meet them in a long time. So I couldn't let anything or anyone get in the way of my plans.

He stands in front of the large door and pulls the handle. Closed. God damn you, Casspian. I bounce across the hall and look at the paintings hung by the founders of our center for young nuts. In other words, for kids with magical abilities. I turn again and look at the doorknob. Its silver color reflects sunlight and illuminates the dirty green walls of the corridor.

I sigh heavily and once again walk over to the door, which has a plaque on it that reads "Cassian officiate here. Enter at your own risk into the mouth of a hungry wolf." I snort, looking at the well-known inscription and pounding the wooden flap with my fist.

"Caspian, fuck your hairy ass," I yell through the locked doorway, if only I could use a fraction of my power, I swear to God that boy would be dead by now. "We've been waiting for you for half an hour, as much as possible" he adds after a moment, I drop my hands and rest my forehead against the door frame.

“Five more minutes,” he shouts from across the room. I sigh heavily and clench my hands into fists again.

"You have five seconds," I replied immediately. I start counting as fast as I can. "Five. End of Time. Move." I raise my hand again with the intention of pounding on the door, but it immediately opens, revealing a brunette with a rather sullen expression. 

"I hate you. Really" he murmurs, dissatisfied, then pushes the suitcase filled with his things out of the room. He slips his phone into his back pocket and stands right next to me, checking the room one last time to make sure he's taken everything. "You didn't have to be so angry, the anger of beauty is bad, honey.

I roll my eyes at his comment. I hear a key turn in the lock, a soft sigh leaves both Casspian and my lips, and as soon as he feels a light tap on his shoulder. I immediately clench my jaw, wanting to do the same to the sulking wolf. But this one anticipates my move and stabs me between the fourth and fifth ribs. So he gives up and just marches to the courtyard with a calm expression on his face.

Even though the stress is eating me up.

I watch the disappearing depths of the landscape from behind the bus window. The trees are flashing too fast, I don't even have time to look at them. I lean my forehead against the glass and close my tired eyelids. Just two hours ago I was standing in the courtyard listening to the words of Principal Hawkins, and now? Now I'm sitting in the uncomfortable seat and counting down the minutes and seconds until I finally meet my mother. With family. With my house.

But how do you explain why you came back a few months before your grades were fully graded or the year ended overall?

Renovation at school.

What if he asks for a more specific reason? Tell me what really happened?

NO. Shut up.

What if? 

Quiet. Shut up.

I put two fingers to my temples and started massaging. My head was throbbing from the stress, and from the damn voice inside that activated itself day and night with its strange thoughts. I sighed heavily, probably drawing the attention of Freya sitting next to me. Feeling a warm hand on my knee, I immediately opened my left eye and looked at the brunette's beaming face. In her free hand she held a packet of cookies, while in her lap lay the phone and the headphones connected to it. I shifted in my seat to be more facing the young witch and smiled softly.

"Cookie?" she asked with a half smile. I guess she sensed my stress. I bite the inside of my cheek and nod my head. "In the meantime," she paused for a moment, meeting my gaze. When our eyes finally met, the brunette became serious. I didn't know what to do, so I automatically looked away. "Will you tell me what happened? Why are you so stressed?" she said right after my gesture. "We still have about three hours to go, so I'm all ears."

Through daydreaming and the stress eating me up, I didn't even realize I'd been sitting in a damn uncomfortable chair for like two hours. Maybe that's why I didn't notice when we left Virginia. The school in Richmond is exactly three hundred and thirty-five miles from Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Am I so absent as not to notice such grand gestures?

I scratch my forehead, thinking how to get out of the situation. Freya slides an open packet of cookies into my hand and offers them to me. I reach for sweets and look at them before taking a bite. I let out the air held in my lungs and took a small bite. I chew slowly and look down at my black fingernails, the nail polish peeling off the tips. It made me want to paint them again. Only does it make sense? If after a few days they will return to their previous state.

Stop thinking about trifles.

Sorry.

"I just don't know what our meeting will look like after a few months of not seeing each other" I answered the girl's earlier question. Just thinking about a bad hello scares me. "I'm afraid she'll start asking questions about an early return. Or she'll be too busy to pick me up" I explain. Freya slips her free hand over my shoulders and gently leans in to enclose me in a friendly hug. I rest my head on her shoulder, the corners of my mouth automatically curling into a soft smile.

"It'll be okay, I promise," she mumbled barely audibly. Her fingers made little circles on my arm, and it made me feel safer. Even then, none of us knew what fate awaited us. "Your mother will never forget you. Never."

I smile more. I break the moment of friendly embrace and adjust myself in the seat, before detaching myself from the girl's side. I tuck a strand of my slightly reddish hair behind my ear and clear my throat.

"And how are you? How are your parents?" I asked a question. The smile disappeared from Freya's face in the blink of an eye. I hadn't heard of Mr. and Mrs. McCoy in so long, it was odd that the brown-eyed one didn't get excited at the mention of them. "Something's wrong?"

Silence reigned between the two of us. I saw my friend fighting with my thoughts. I bite the inside of my cheek again to keep from sounding pushy. So I wait until the girl calls me. Suddenly words fall out of her mouth, and I don't know how to react.

"My parents are divorced," she says unemotionally. I can't read any sadness or joy in her tone. I don't know what to say either, so I just listen. "They decided that I would live with my mother. But today I'm coming home alone, neither she nor he will pick me up. They both work,” she explains, gesticulating. 

I really don't know how to understand her. We have many differences, even family matters. My biological parents are probably dead or don't know I exist. And Freya's parents divorced. After a long marriage adventure, they ended it. Mine got rid of me like I was a worthless mistake.

Are you? 

"I'm sorry." I tried a weak smile, even though I knew it wasn't worth the effort.

I don't know

"All right," Freya murmured. The brunette looked at me and a warm smile appeared on her face. But it was the eyes that said more. "This is life whether we like it or not." she tells me immediately. I still don't know what to say to her, so I just smile back.

Brown-eyed simply closes the subject, not wanting to drag it out any longer. I understand her behavior and actions, so I simply agree with her words with a nod. 

When she finally sits down more calmly, I can take advantage of the fact that we've been friends since we were kids. I put my head on her shoulder and just waited for a tired sigh from her lips. When it finally does, I lick my lips and close my eyes. We left the school grounds late in the afternoon, so I'll probably be home for the evening. Until now, I can only doze off to forget all the emotions that are bubbling inside me. 

Are you a worthless mistake?

I slowly drift off to the land of Morpheus, knowing that sleep won't last long. But I can't sit idly by and think about the stress eating me up from head to toe.

I don't know.