Maya finished her breakfast and dropped her plate into the sink. Her sister was in the other room, finishing her own breakfast with their parents. Maya didn’t want to share the room with them right now.

Deep down she knew she was being unfair. Her parents didn’t even know that she was still mad at them. And Maya probably wasn’t going to tell them. She really should just let the whole thing go.

When it came time to go, their parents met Maya and Brielle at the door. Their father gave each of them a hug and their mother gave them each a kiss on the forehead. Maya wouldn’t look directly at them and mumbled a brief goodbye.

“You’re going to be okay, Maya,” Brielle tried to assure her on the way to school.

Maya plastered a smile on her face when they reunited with their friends. None of them knew she was still sick; they all thought that she'd been cured. They were so worried about her and there was no need to worry them further.

Amelia asked Brielle, “Did you get the last few homework questions for Mrs. Miller?”

“Yeah. You can copy from me at lunch.”

“Maya,” Eric began, “you still play Warfield, right? I’ve been wanting to get back into it and could use someone experienced at my side.”

“Huh? Oh, sure. That could be fun,” Maya replied.

It had been a while since she and Eric had done anything together. He used to be her best friend, but after the spell he’d gravitated so strongly to Brielle. It would be nice to spend some more time with him.

While they still had time left.

Maya’s eyes began to sting. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She couldn’t break down, not here and now.

Thankfully, the bell rang for homeroom and they all had to go their separate ways. Maya attached herself to Amelia, but kept her head down. Her breathing grew shallow and she started to shake.

“Maya, are you crying?” Amelia asked suddenly.

“No…” she lied shakily, clenching her eyes shut.

Amelia reached out and grabbed Maya, forcing her to a stop. Maya opened her eyes a crack to peer at Amelia. Everything was all blurry, but Amelia was frowning, her brow furled in concern.

“Maya, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Maya insisted, trying and failing to pull out of Amelia’s grasp.

“It’s clearly not nothing!”

“I don’t want to talk about it!”

“Maya, please…”

Maya stopped struggling and fell into Amelia’s arms. She buried her face in Amelia’s shoulder and took a few shaky breaths. Amelia held her, even as the halls emptied and the bell rang.

“What’s wrong, Maya?” she asked.

“Promise me you won’t tell,” Maya pleaded. “At least not until I’m ready for the others to know.”

“I promise.”

“It’s really serious, Amelia. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

Maya locked eyes with her and waited a moment, but Amelia’s expression didn’t falter.

She took a deep breath and admitted, “I’m not cured.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I mean… I was healed, but my body is still… still degenerating.” It was hard keeping her breath steady. “I’m going to get worse again, and keep getting worse until they finally find a cure. But…” She gulped. “They’re not going to. I just know it. I’m going to die, Amelia.”

“Oh my God,” Amelia muttered. “No, first off, you’re not going to die. Mages are really smart. They’ll find a cure. Maybe even by the time you get home today.”

Maya swallowed the knot in her throat and nodded.

“Maybe,” she said. “But it… it just feels like things are never going to get better. I can keep pushing it off by a few months, but the problem is still there, waiting for me at the end of the line. I’m afraid, Amelia. I’m afraid I’m going to die.”

Amelia pulled Maya’s head to her chest and hugged her gently.

“We’re not going to let that happen to you, Maya. I promise. But we have to tell the others. They have to know.”

“I know,” Maya said. “But just… let me do it. Please.”

Amelia nodded and rocked Maya gently in her embrace.

By the time she got to lunch, Maya had found a bit of her composure. She was still shaking a little. Brielle was waiting for Maya by the stairwell so they could head to lunch.

“Are you alright?” Brielle asked as they began to walk.

“Is it that obvious that I’m not?” Maya asked with a mirthless smile.

“Tell me what’s going on. For once, Maya, just tell me why you’re not okay.”

“I’m still sick, Brielle,” Maya said quietly, hoping nobody would overhear. “Until someone finds a cure, there will always be a sword over my head.”

Brielle nodded and sighed.

“Hold on,” she said, “I have to use the restroom.”

She peeled off from Maya and entered the girls’ restroom. Maya groaned a little and started shifting uncomfortably. They weren’t supposed to go in there anymore.

When Brielle emerged, she rejoined Maya as if nothing was wrong. But Maya thought she saw a couple of girls walking nearby cast a dark glance in their direction before muttering among themselves. A whine escaped Maya before she could suppress it.

“Hey,” Brielle said quietly, “don’t pay them any mind. They can’t hurt us.”

“They can report us,” Maya replied. “I just wish Lucas could be gone already, but he’s still haunting us.”

Brielle brought Maya to their old private lunch spot by the theater room. They sat down, but didn’t touch their lunches. Instead the two sat quietly up against the wall, just musing to themselves.

“Hey!”

Amelia had arrived with Jason and Eric. Maya saw Brielle’s face light up when she saw Eric and, despite herself, smiled just a little. Then she felt a pang in her heart as she remembered she couldn’t be with Lily.

“Can we join you?” Amelia asked Maya.

Maya knew what she was asking. It might as well happen now. She nodded, and the five of them formed a circle in the middle of the hallway.

“You never come here unless you’re dealing with something heavy,” Jason said. “Is something wrong?”

Brielle looked to Maya for direction.

Maya sighed and looked down at her lap as she answered, “I’m not really cured. The doctor said I would start to get worse again and need another magical boost. But it won’t last forever. We need a permanent solution, and nobody has any idea what that’s going to be.”

Everyone was quiet. Maya risked a glance up and saw Jason and Eric, absolutely crestfallen. Eric had taken Brielle’s hand and was squeezing it gently. Maya tried to quell the anger brewing in her gut.

“They’re going to find a cure,” she said firmly. “Everybody, act normal, because I don’t want this to define my life. I don’t… I don’t want everyone to look at me differently because of this.”

“Of course not.”

“We’d never.”

“Maya, you’re our friend. We’re not going to treat you any differently.”

But she could see it in their eyes. The slightest change from that morning. She was the sick girl again.

That evening, Maya and Brielle sat down on the couch in the living room and put a new anime on the big TV. Brielle got them some popcorn and chips and wrapped Maya up in a thick blanket.

“How do you feel?” she asked.

Maya replied with a noncommittal grunt.

She allowed herself to get absorbed in the show. At some point their mother and father got home, but Maya wasn’t paying attention. Then Brielle left to get more snacks and another soda for Maya. But the person who sat back down next to Maya wasn’t who she expected.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said, “Brielle said that you were feeling a little depressed. Do you want to tell us why?”

Her father, standing by the coffee table, added, “Yeah, hon. You’re all better now. There’s really no need to be moping, is there?”

Maya could have screamed. What was wrong with her? What did the dying girl have to be depressed about?

Brielle sat down on the other side of Maya, but Maya stood up and walked away from all of them.

“How do you not get it?!” she cried, turning to face them. “I’m not better! It’s just gone away for a while! I’m still… I’m still probably going to die. And I don’t… I’m not sure what I want from people, okay? I wish people would understand, but I desperately want everyone to act like things are okay for a change. And I don’t understand why I can’t have both.”

Maya was close to sobbing. Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but Maya shot her a death glare.

“And you two!” she continued. “You never really cared for me at all! I heard you! When you thought no one was listening! You didn’t even know what to make of me… I’m your daughter and you treated me like a stranger. I didn’t feel welcome in my own home! And you never apologized for it! You knew you were treating me differently and you just think it all goes away because you’re being nice now?! It still hurt when you did it!”

Turning to Brielle, she finished, “And you just forgave them! Like they did nothing wrong at all. I’ve been completely alone feeling like this for weeks while you and them got along just fine. I’m your sister, Brielle! We’re supposed to understand each other better than anyone!”

When she was done, Maya was breathing fast. The whole world was spinning. She tried to catch her breath but it just wouldn’t take, and came out all at once as a loud, hacking cough. Maya buried her face into the crux of her arm and waited for it to stop.

Both her mother and father were staring at her with stunned expressions. Brielle looked a little more thoughtful. After a moment, she stood up and walked over to stand beside Maya.

“She’s right,” Brielle said. “I forgave you both too easily.” Their parents turned their shocked expressions toward her. “I know that what we did was hard on you, and I’m sorry for that, but you do owe us an apology for some of the ways you both behaved.” Turning to Maya, she finished, “I’m sorry, Maya. I should have seen that you were still hurting and done something about it.”

Maya grabbed her sister in a hug.

“Maya…” Her father stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I should have accepted you sooner. I never meant for you to feel like you didn’t belong here with us. You’re our daughter as much as your sister is.”

“That’s right,” their mother added, standing up and walking over. “I’m sorry you heard that. We didn’t handle this as well as we should have. I wasn’t thinking about how this was affecting you. I hope that you can forgive me.”

Maya sniffed and nodded. She just wanted to put this all behind her. If this was a chance to get her family back, she was going to take it. Her parents smiled softly and joined in the hug.

“Let’s just get pizza for dinner,” their mom said when they broke apart. “I could use something easy tonight.”

Everyone agreed and went their separate ways. Maya returned to her room with Brielle and finally pulled out her homework for the day. She was only halfway through when her phone buzzed: a message from her mother telling them that the pizza was here.

“Do you feel better?” Brielle asked.

“Actually, yes. For once, I actually feel pretty good.”

Brielle grabbed Maya in a quick hug and replied, “I’m glad to hear it.”

There were two large pizzas, each split down the middle since nobody could agree on what toppings they wanted. Maya grabbed a plate and a few slices and sat down next to her mother in the dining room. Finally, a dinner that didn’t feel tense.

Then the doorbell rang.

Their father grumbled something under his breath and stood up to go answer the door. After a few moments, though, he called out to the rest of the family to join him in the front room. Maya and Brielle exchanged a confused glance and followed their mother out of the room.

Standing in the open front door was a short, plump woman with puffy, wavy hair and wearing colorful, loose-fitting clothes. It took a moment for Maya to remember her as Arista, Adeline’s magic mentor. She looked really tired.

“Is there any reason you’re interrupting us during dinner?” their father asked.

“Is it dinner time?” Arista asked, rubbing her eyes. “Sorry. I just woke up. Can I come in?”

Everyone returned to the dining room. Arista sat down on one end and the family returned to their plates. Only Brielle continued eating, though.

“So,” Arista began, “we’re working on a spell that will permanently stabilize your daughter’s body. But it’s slow going because of the unconventional way she got her body. Some of us have also been looking for alternative methods, and we may have found something that will resolve this mess quickly.”

“Anything!” Maya said.

“Well, effectively, we can reverse-engineer the spell that created the two of you. It would be easier if you had gotten a hold on the witch’s notes, but whatever. This spell would allow us to fuse the two of them together into one person with two sets of memories. You could go back to being one person like you were supposed to be, but still retaining a female body like you want.”

Brielle stopped eating. The whole family was staring at Arista with a mixture of confusion and horror. Arista merely yawned and stood up.

“Well, I’m actually pretty busy. I’ll leave you to your dinner.” She reached over and picked a slice of pizza off of Maya’s plate. “Think it over. It’s not a perfect solution by any means, but I think it’s an idea worth exploring. Oh, hold on.” She pulled a business card out of the folds of her shirt and sat it down on the table. “Let me know when you decide.”

She stuck the pizza slice in her mouth and walked out of the room. After another moment, the family heard the front door open and close again. Then they all turned their attention to Maya.

“Are you okay, hon?” her father asked.

Maya shook her head and stood up.

“I… I’m not hungry anymore.”