El sat, soaked in water and clutching his backpack to his chest, next to a street sign. He didn’t recognize the street. He didn’t know where he was. Even if he could go home, that could be in any direction whatsoever. And it was getting darker.

Was Carla looking for him?

“What difference does it make?” he wondered, “I can’t go back anyway.”

A green sedan passed by, then slowed to a stop. El perked up, his muscles tense. Who was this? An off-duty cop? A human trafficker? No other cars had stopped. How fast could El run if he had to? His stomach hurt from hunger.

The passenger door of the car opened and someone stepped out onto the curb. They had their arms over their head in a desperate attempt to shield themselves from the rain. El forced himself to his feet and threw his backpack on. He’d stand and fight if he had to.

“Eli?” the figure asked.

It was hard to make out any details in the dark, but El recognized her voice. After a few moments, his vision focused and he was able to make out her lanky limbs and long hair. She wasn’t smiling now, but in the dark El wasn’t sure he’d be able to see the gap in her toothy grin anyway.

“April?” he asked, his whole body relaxing, “What are you doing here?”

“My mom and I were coming back from dinner,” she said, stepping closer, “I thought I recognized you and… why are you out here in the dark?”

El opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a sob. He started to shake, feeling weak, and thought that he was going to fall over. April placed a supportive hand on El’s shoulder, but the dam had burst and El was full-on in tears now.

Somebody else helped usher El into the car, where he curled up in the back seat and continued crying. April sat next to him, rubbing his back slowly. She was talking with someone else, but all El could focus on was that he was soaking their car and they were going to be so mad at him later.

“Eli?”

The car had stopped and somebody was offering El a hand. It was a woman about El’s own mother’s age—clearly April’s mom. El took her hand and she helped him out of the car and hurried him inside.

El was sat at the dining room table while April’s parents talked in another room. April sat next to him, giving El occasional murmur of support. He felt like a wreck—probably looked it too, but at least he wasn’t going to start crying again.

April’s mother and father returned to the dining room and sat down at the table with them. Her mother had the same blue eyes and lanky limbs, but April had definitely gotten her caramel-colored hair from her father. When he spoke, he also had a distinctive gap in his front teeth as well.

“Hello, Eli,” he said, “I’m guessing you don’t have anywhere to sleep right now. Is that right?”

El nodded, slowly, clenching his eyes shut to hold back tears.

“We have a guest room,” April’s father continued, “If you want, you can sleep there tonight.”

El nodded again, and April’s father brought him a towel and showed him to the downstairs restroom. Many of his clothes were wet from the rain, but at least his laptop was dry. And he had a way to get through the night.

By the time April’s mother showed El to the guest room, he could have passed out from exhaustion just standing up. He tried to thank her silently, still not trusting himself to speak. She seemed to get the message, and ran her fingers through his hair a bit while telling him to get some rest.

El was running down the street, a pack of wild dogs on his heels. His mother’s car was just up ahead. He screamed for her, begging her to wait for him, but suddenly she started pulling away, tires screeching against the pavement. El’s lungs were burning. The dogs got closer. One of them pounced. He was thrown to the ground and spun over. Looking up, he saw a shadowy figure that plunged its hand into his chest. Searing pain coursed through his veins, making it hard to think—

There was a knock on the door, and El screamed. He was still shaking when April’s mother opened the door to check on him. Even with her there, he was looking around the room he found himself in as if he wasn’t sure where he was.

“I’m really here,” he muttered, blushing as soon as he realized that he was holding the older woman’s hand for support.

“Of course, sweetie,” she replied, sitting down on the bed while El caught his breath, “April told us what happened at school yesterday. I can’t imagine what that must have been like for you.”

“She told you?” El asked, tensing up, “About the… curse?”

The woman nodded.

“Come on,” she said, “Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

April’s father was already in there when they arrived, pouring a bowl of cereal. Then he passed it over to El, who blinked in surprise. But the man nodded, and El remembered just how hungry he really was.

“Where’s April?” he asked, checking the time. It was before school started; she should be around.

“Getting ready, I hope,” her mother replied, “First off, my name is Stephanie.”

“My name is Isaac,” April’s father added, “Call us whatever makes you most comfortable, please.”

“But we’d like you to explain to us what happened last night.”

El nearly choked on his cereal and looked away.

“Eli,” Stephanie continued, “We need to know why you weren’t at home. Is everything okay?”

“No!” El cried, “My parents…” He didn’t want to say it. “My parents kicked me out.”

Fresh tears started flowing. He jammed his palms into his eyes but it didn’t stop the flow.

“They don’t want to deal with me!” he cried, “And no I can’t go back home and I can’t go back to school and I don’t know what’s going to happen to me—!”

He was interrupted by a sudden hug from April’s father. He patted El on the back briefly before pulling away. Unsure of how to react, El stuck another spoonful of cereal into his mouth and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” Stephanie continued, “That must be so hard for a child to cope with.”

“There is that one thing, though,” Isaac added.

“Hm?”

The two exchanged a look before April’s mother told him, “We think it would be best if you go back to school today.”

“What?! No!”

His voice cracked, and El flinched.

Isaac said, “You’re welcome to stay here, at least for now, but you can’t stay here all day while we’re at work. And after such a big change, a bit of normalcy will do you some good. Besides, it’s Friday; you can last one day, right?”

“But they’ll…”

He didn’t know what they’d do, actually. Not the Boys, not the Girls, not the teachers. But he didn’t want to find out.

“The school will make sure nothing bad happens to you,” Stephanie assured him, “And I’ll let them know you’re staying at our address for now. But please, Eli—” she took his hands in her own “—don’t let this beat you. Show the world that you’re stronger than this. I promise you that we’ll be here for you.”

El was quivering in fear. Was he really supposed to face them all, alone? He’d gone from being well-respected to being the runt of the entire school. Doing the expected thing and giving up would probably be safer.

But El squeezed Stephanie’s hands and scowled.

“I’m stronger than they think I am,” he decided, speaking softly to avoid his voice cracking.

Both Stephanie and Isaac seemed to relax. El pushed his hair out of his eyes again and stood a little straighter, finally feeling like himself again. Then someone else entered the room.

“Oh hey!” April said, still in her pajamas, “You’re… did I miss something?”

April seemed glad to hear that El was coming back to school with her, but El couldn’t shake the discomfort settling in his gut. By the time Stephanie had pulled her car up to the school for them to get out, that feeling had grown into full-blown nausea. El almost wished he hadn’t eaten.

“Just stay close to me if you’re nervous,” April insisted as they entered the front doors.

“You really don’t have to do this,” El told her, “I can take care of myself.”

A sudden hush had come over the people in the halls. El felt goosebumps over his entire body, and a quick glance at April confirmed that she was squirming as well. They were surrounded by hushed whispers all about them.

“Eli!” a sharp voice broke through the quiet.

“Shit,” El muttered, eyes wide when he turned to face Anton.

“I need to talk with you,” Anton said, sparing only a brief glance to April.

El flared his nostrils.

“You want to talk? After what you did yesterday? Are you serious?”

Anton flinched, but nodded.

El started to turn away, but stopped. Isaac had said he needed normalcy. If Anton wanted to stay by his side, that could be a huge step in making things feel like nothing had changed.

But then Anton would still refuse to protect El from the other Boys.

“Get out of my sight,” El spat, turning.

Anton grabbed him by the arm, tightly, and El felt his breath catch in his throat.

“I just need you to listen to me!” Anton cried, before an arm flung around his neck from behind.

Anton let go of El to grab at the arm, but was quickly yanked down by the girl behind him. He toppled to the floor, and Carla brought her foot down hard onto his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain while onlookers stepped back in horror.

“He said git!” she shouted, kicking him once for good measure.

Anton scrambled, but El barely had time to grasp the situation before Carla had grabbed him in a bear hug.

In one long breath, she exclaimed, “Eli I’m so sorry I didn’t know or I would have stopped them I’m never going to let you be alone again I don’t care what they say they can’t stop me I tried looking for you I promise—”

“Carla!” El gasped, “Can’t breathe!”

Carla let go of him, and April scooted in to place a supportive hand on El’s shoulder.

“Who’s this?” Carla asked, stepping between them.

“This is April. A friend,” El insisted, pushing Carla away.

“I don’t know her,” Carla replied simply.

“Hi!” April said, waving awkwardly and flashing Carla her toothy grin, “You’re Eli’s sister, aren’t you?”

Carla eyed her warily.

El sighed and explained, “April’s parents took me in last night. They gave me a place to stay. She’s a friend. A real one.”

April smiled warmly.

“Are you two dating now?” Carla asked.

“Uck!”

“Eww!”

Carla furled her brow in confusion.

“No offense, El,” April said, covering her mouth with her hands, “But that’s kind of gross.”

“We’re not dating,” El assured Carla, “We’re not into each other at all.”

Carla rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” she said, then gave El a light tap on the arm, “Take care of yourself kid. I’ll be watching out for you, but you have to be able to defend yourself.”

“Thank you, Carla,” El replied, blushing a little.

The warning bell rang out, alerting everyone that they were about to be late. The three scrambled, having only a moment to say their goodbyes before rushing to their individual lockers. El found it a little hard to breathe at first, once he was alone, but he had to believe that Stephanie was right—the school would take care of him.

By the time lunch rolled around, El felt ready to vomit. Nobody had said anything all morning, but they didn’t have to. Teachers gazes lingered on El during roll call, and every once in a while he’d catch someone staring at him or whispering.

The members of the Boys were the worst, though. El had always loved being part of a big group like that; it was all but guaranteed that he’d have someone in class he knew. But now it never felt like their focus was off of him, and he knew firsthand how they treated outsiders.

“Earth to Eli?” April asked.

“Oh, hi,” he replied, pushing his hair out of his eyes again, “Just had a hard morning, that’s all.”

“I bet. Come on; I’ll introduce you to my friends.”

El gulped, but followed. They weaved through the crowd until they found a table against a far wall. There were still open seats, but it was filling up fast. El kept his head down so no one could look him in the eye.

“Hi everybody,” April said, sitting down, “This is Eli. He’s the one with the curse everyone heard about yesterday. He’s staying with me while he waits for the cure.”

El nodded, but said nothing. He’d been part of the Boys for so long that he was used to people either being absorbed into the group or just not speaking to him. How was he supposed to introduce himself?

But everybody was looking, so he quietly stammered, “Hi, my name’s Eli. But you knew that. You can call me El, though. Um… that’s E-L, not E-L-L-E. I guess that might be confusing, because of the spell…”

He clammed up and looked down into his lap. The table was still pretty quiet. El failed to suppress a whine.

“You… do kind of look like a girl,” a girl muttered, causing El to squirm. But then she continued, “I mean, it’s just that you’re kind of tall for a girl, and I got a little jealous for a moment.”

That got a respectable chuckle out of the table, and El glanced up. The tension had been broken, and pretty soon people started talking amongst themselves again. Occasionally someone would shoot a question El’s way, and he’d try to answer between bites of his cafeteria food.

“How long has it been?” someone asked.

“A few weeks.”

“Is it permanent?”

“No, I’m just waiting for the doctor to find a way to reverse it.”

“A magical doctor?” a girl named Duela asked, “What was that like? I heard they’re pretty weird.”

El smiled softly, glad for the conversation to be about something other than his condition. Pretty soon, he was deep in the flow of conversation, although he still had to concentrate on keeping his voice soft so it didn’t crack. He could even feel April beside him start to relax as the group accepted El.

“You know…” one of the other girls began, “You have a really soft voice. I’m in choir actually. It’s a little deep, but with a bit of practice I think you could really sound like a girl if you wanted.”

El blushed.

“I’m good, really,” he insisted.

“Are you sure?” someone asked, “It’s a once in a lifetime chance, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure.”

Except… now he wasn’t. El squirmed a little. His mind returned to the specter, and how it kept trying to get into his mind. How much longer before he stopped trying to fight this?

Someone asked El what classes he was taking. He smiled and counted them off, happy for a distraction. There would be time to worry later. At the moment, he was just glad not to be alone.