“Emily, the bell’s going to ring soon.”

Lowering my book, I gently tapped Emily’s arm with my elbow. She briefly turned towards me, nodding for a moment as she flipped her book upside down on her desk, before lifting her hands up towards her ears. Caitlyn glanced over as Emily started to move, briefly staring at her, before averting her eyes as she spotted me looking in her direction.

She’s still… I think she’s actually scared of me.

Emily flinched as the bell sounded, her hands clamping down on her ears and folding them flat. Amelia, who was sitting to my left, leaned towards me to whisper in my ear.

“Is Emily okay? Is the bell too loud for her, with her… y’know?” she asked, her voice just barely audible over the ringing emitting from the speaker in the upper left corner of the room.

“A little–though I think she’ll be okay.” I peeked towards Emily, noticing that she had stopped folding her ears shut, though they still twitched at each tone of the bell. 

“I didn’t realise that could be an issue for her.” Amelia began to lean back in her chair, reaching a hand up to fidget with her hair. “Maybe we should try and sit further away from the speakers, just so it isn’t as–” She flinched as her back began to press against the seat, jolting forward again with a groan.

The braid of vines seemed quite uncomfortable for her at first, and she had shuffled around in her chair for most of the class, to the point that the teacher had asked if she was alright. Luckily, she managed to dissuade the teacher from prying into what was going on, but that only made Caitlyn more fidgety, and she awkwardly glanced past both Emily and I to look at her numerous times during the class.

“Alright, pack it up, everyone.” The teacher clapped her hands as the bell finished chiming, pulling the scattered folders on her desk together while she addressed everyone. “We’ll continue from where we left off next class.”

Instantly, the sound of the plastic feet of all of the chairs squeaking against the tile floor filled the room, as the majority of the class rushed towards the door, eager to go home as soon as possible. Emily immediately ducked, her hands rushing to her ears again at the unpleasant noise. I felt another pang of… some feeling that I couldn’t quite figure out sear into my heart again, watching her grit her teeth as everyone thundered along, crowding the room with noise as they stomped past.

I know she said that she’ll get used to it in time, but if it’s this bad…

She finally exhaled as the last few students exited the classroom, and my own tension released as she loosened up. Gingerly lifting her chair as she slowly stood up, so as to make as little noise as possible, Emily quickly gathered up her books, rushing to the door impatiently as she called out to me.

“I gotta run–I’ll meet you at the bike racks, Flora.” She waved as she disappeared out into the corridor, and her footsteps quickly receded into the distance.

Wait, what’s going on?

Caitlyn followed shortly after, sloppily pushing her chair back as she stood up. Her pencil case slipped off the slick surface of her folder as she started to move, and she lurched forward to catch it, almost stumbling into my chair.

“S-sorry,” she mumbled, backing away as soon as she had regained her balance. “I’ll–uhh, I’ll see you… tomorrow.”

“...See ya,” Amelia hesitantly called out, seeming unsure of herself as she lifted her hand to wave at Caitlyn.

The sounds of students rushing to their lockers began to fade down the corridor as Amelia and I finally started getting ready to leave, being the last two people left in the room, other than the teacher. I was about to follow suit, and head to where my bike was locked up to see what had made Emily run off in such a hurry, but I stopped as my name was called out.

“You’re… Flora, right?” the teacher asked, walking towards me with her folders in her hands. “You’re the new transfer, aren’t you?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“Right. I saw that you already have your books.” She glanced down at the books in question, still sitting on the desk in front of me. “Do you…” 

Her voice trailed off for a moment as she stared, her eyes fixed on my pencil case and my folder. She looked between them and me, shaking her head for a moment, before continuing where she had left off.

“...no, nevermind–they’re probably just similar, that’s all. Um… will you need a bit of extra time to catch up with everyone? Or do you think you’ll be alright?”

“I-I should catch up pretty soon.” I lifted my books up, holding them close to myself as I responded to her. “I just need a few days, or so.”

Does she… suspect something?

“Alright then. Good luck with the rest of your classes.”

“Um–thank you.”  Quickly nodding to her, I rushed out of the classroom, with Amelia following close behind.

 

The lockers had mostly emptied of people as we arrived, save for a few small groups who were waiting for one or two members to finish packing their bags. I hurriedly pulled my bag out, swinging it onto my back as I closed my locker.

I don’t want to keep Emily waiting.

“Wait for me!” I was ready to rush off towards the bike racks as Amelia called out to me, carrying her own school bag in front of her as she tried to catch up. “I-I’m coming with you.”

“What’s up?” I asked, once she was walking alongside me.

“I don’t want to–my dad won’t get home until late, and… I-I kinda don’t want to… it’s difficult to face him, after this whole… weird vines thing.” I slowed down as she stumbled a little, struggling to keep up with my quick pace. “And… I don’t think I want to be alone, right now.”

She fidgeted with her hair while she spoke, flinching as her fingers ran across the flower on the side of her head.

“I-I still… don’t really know what’s going on–I think I just need time. Time, and… whatever practice I need in order to learn to control these… my vines.” Her face went pale as she spoke, and her steps gradually slowed down. “That’s still–I don’t… I need to get used to that, don’t I?”

Emily was nowhere to be found as we reached the bike racks, so I leaned against the metal arch that my bike was locked to, listening to Amelia ramble.

“How am I going to tell him, too?” she continued, resting against another metal arch just next to me. “I-I’m sure I’ll figure something out, but–he’ll believe me if he sees it, right? But still… he was alright with me being…”

She stopped talking as Emily appeared just around a nearby corner, pulling a rather indignant Zoey along behind her. As they approached, their argument slowly came into earshot, and the two of us giggled upon hearing Zoey’s protests.

“Hey–I told you, I’m fine! You don’t need to–”

“Come on, I feel like I’ve barely talked to you since Sunday!” Though Zoey was shaking her arm around in an attempt to break free, Emily refused to let go, dragging her all the way to the bike racks where we were waiting. “And you’ve been acting weird, too. You and Elena. What’s going on with you two?”

“I-it’s nothing.” She stopped resisting as Emily pressed her, as if she was caught off guard. “Don’t worry about it.”

“How can I not worry about it?!” Emily shouted, depositing Zoey next to me before dashing back to her bike and unlocking it, keeping a close eye on Zoey the whole time. “You even told us some of what was going on, and then just… didn’t follow up on it. Whatever you and Elena were chatting about, both of us have been worried sick about it.”

“I… I’m sorry.” Zoey’s eyes were downcast as she apologized, shuffling her feet nervously. “I didn’t realise…”

“We’re meant to get through this together, remember? All three–” she stopped for a moment as she spotted Amelia next to me– ”well, I guess all four of us, now. You coming with us?”

“U-um, yeah… just for tonight.” Amelia hopped upright as Emily addressed her, squeezing her school bag in her arms.

“Cool. Last thing I need to do is…” Leaning her bike against her side, Emily pulled her phone out of her pocket, swiping around on the screen. Lifting it up to her ear, she continued. “Hey, Jen? Yeah, I’m gonna borrow Zoey for tonight–is that cool with you? Yep… yep… sure, can do. Thanks!”

Slipping her phone back in her pocket, she grinned at Zoey, her fangs on full display.

“Now you have to come with us!”

 

*****

 

Most of the trip home was spent in silence, with Emily and I both walking our bikes home. Emily had sandwiched Zoey between her and I, constantly watching her with a suspicious glare.

“I-I’m not going to run away or anything…” Despite Zoey’s protests, Emily refused to budge, instead bringing her bike in closer next to Zoey.

Amelia, on the other hand, had positioned herself on the opposite side of Zoey to me. She peeked nervously past me at her, still seeming quite skittish and wary of her.

“...She has wings–is she a fairy?” she breathlessly whispered, her gaze flicking between Zoey’s wings, and her green hair. Her face lit up as I nodded, and she took a step away, her shoulders loosening as her anxiety seemed to fade. “How… many of us are there?”

“Quite a few, by now,” I replied, scanning the nearby houses to see how close we were to reaching home. “I’ll fill you in on everything that’s happened when we get home. We’re nearly there.”

 

Melissa’s car was still missing as we filed into the garage, and Emily and I swerved away from the group to park our bikes against the back wall. She rushed forward, hurrying so that she could unlock the door for everyone else, but I stumbled as I followed behind her, my foot accidentally hitting the back tire of my bike.

“Woah–Flora,” Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of me tripping, and she instantly spun around, catching my hands in her own as I let go of the handlebars. “You okay?”

The world seemed to stop for a moment as she grabbed a hold of me, and I looked up at her, seeing her amber eyes filled with worry as she stared down at me. Some kind of strange energy began to flow through me, starting from my hands, filling my arms and then my body with a warm tingling feeling. A flash of colour caused Emily’s eyes to glow, in the same way they had just earlier today, when she had almost fallen on top of me during lunchtime.

Wh-what’s going on? My mind raced as I tried to find an explanation, pushing away the memories of the various things that had happened today as they stubbornly popped up again and again in my head. This is–it feels like spirit energy, but–

A soft crashing sound echoed within the metal walls of the garage, bringing me back to reality as my bike fell to the side, resting against Emily’s bike at a little bit of an angle. Emily lifted my hands up, making sure that I had regained my footing before she let go.

“I-I’m okay,” I replied, my voice shaking. I backed away, averting my eyes as I moved my bike to its usual spot, an empty space just behind Emily’s bike. 

Emily knows how to control her own magic energy now… so is that somehow affecting me?

“Come on inside, make yourselves comfortable.” Quickly moving to the door while pulling her keys out of her pocket, Emily unlocked it and dashed through, waiting just to the side as she called for the rest of us to follow her into the living room. “Just leave your shoes by the door.”

“Um–where’s your bathroom?” Amelia kicked her shoes off as soon as she stepped inside, dropping her school bag on the couch. “I need to undo that braid.”

“I’ll take you there,” I said, dispelling the energy I used to make my own shoes. “It’s on the way to my room, anyway.”

And I need a moment to think, too! I don’t understand like–anything that’s happened today. What was with that weird energy?

“Your… room?” As I ventured down the corridor leading to the bathroom, Amelia fell in step behind me. “You live here too?”

“Yeah, I moved here after… some things happened.” 

Would she be okay with it if I told her what happened? She might be, given her apparent interest in Emily and I… d-dating, but–

I suddenly stopped walking, realising that in getting lost in my thoughts, I had completely walked past the bathroom.

“I-It’s just in here.” I pushed open the unlocked door to the bathroom, hopping back to give her room to enter. “My room’s just down here. If you need anything, just come get Emily or I.”

“Um–thank you,” she said, bowing her head to me for a moment before zooming inside and slamming the door shut behind her. Once I heard the distinctive sound of the latch on the door closing, I left her to it, heading further down the corridor into my own room.

 

Phew… yesterday felt like it was packed on its own, but today…

Dropping my back in the corner of the room, I absentmindedly fiddled with the energy forming my uniform, switching it out for a more comfortable set of t-shirt and shorts. The exhaustion from how intense today was seemed to hit me all at once, and I stumbled over towards my bed, falling face first into it on top of the covers.

I’m so tired… and confused. Where’s Mira? Or Aeriel, for that matter? I feel like I haven’t seen them for ages.

I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling as I made a small ball of energy in my left hand, and fidgeted with it.

There’s the whole ‘they need energy to survive’ thing, too. Aeriel’s been gone for longer, so… though if I remember correctly, she’s with Grace. Maybe they worked something out?

I haven’t heard from Grace in ages, either. Maybe I should text her, and see how things are going. She said that she was thinking of moving out–and looking at a share house with her friends. Did she ever end up doing that?

Reaching down to my shorts, I felt around my pockets for my phone, finding it stuck halfway through the fabric.

Right… pockets don’t switch, and all that. Hopefully that didn’t damage it, or anything. Let me just fix my shorts up real quick...

Flipping open my phone, I navigated to the text conversation between Grace and I, opening up the prompt to type a new message.

What do I say? “Hey, how’s it going? Haven’t heard from you in a while–” no, probably not that. It’s been like… actually, I haven’t heard anything since Thursday. It has been a while.

I started writing out the message I had scripted in my head, pausing as a few loud yells echoed down the corridor just outside my room.

“Wait–that’s it?! That’s all you’re worried about?!” 

Oh, did Emily finally figure out what’s going on with Zoey? I’ll… once I send this message, I’ll head out and see what’s going–

I lost my grip on my phone as it suddenly buzzed, slipping out of my hands and landing unceremoniously on my face.

Ow–what… who was that?

Grumbling as I picked my phone back up, I navigated to my unread messages, finding one from Grace that she had just sent.

“Hey Flora, just thought I’d give you an update. That share house I was looking at is basically perfect, so I’m currently moving into it. Just need a few more days to finish bringing a few little things over.”

Oh, it all worked out. Thank goodness.

“Aeriel’s been hanging out with me, and teaching me what little she knows about dragonkin. She’s been carrying around a few gemstones, saying that they were your tears. Do you know anything about that?”

My phone buzzed again as another message came through, following on from where the first one had left off.

“She said that she’ll be fine for a while longer, but she’s been pushing me to try and learn magic, or something, so that she doesn’t have to keep going back and forth between us.”

That explains that, then. She’ll probably show up in a few days. I should still have some gemstones left, if she wants to take them too.

“Also, I found something interesting in the yard when I was packing up. I finish uni early on Wednesday, so I’ll head over to your place when you get back from school. You’ll be interested to see this!”

...What did she find?

 

Mustering up my energy, I swung my legs off of my bed, slipping my phone into my pocket as I levered myself upright. The previous shouting that I had heard had died down to a gentle murmur, and I ventured out into the corridor, straining my ears as I tried to listen to the distant conversation.

“And that flower… it looks like it’s just a hair clip, but does that mean it’s real?” 

Rounding the corner, I watched as Zoey hovered in her fairy form, closely inspecting the flower on the side of Amelia’s head.

“Y-yeah… I think so.” The green lines from before had returned to Amelia’s body, tracing their way down her arms and legs, and the flower on the side of her head bloomed brilliantly, her cheeks a little bit red as she spoke to Zoey. “I can feel things in it–like when the sun hits it, it’s so warm. It feels so nice.”

“That’s kinda cool. Does that mean that–oh, hey Flora.” As Zoey spotted me, she hovered up higher, briefly waving at me before turning back to Amelia. “Does that mean that you don’t need to eat? You might just like, photosynthesise or something.”

“I-I’m not sure yet. I… haven’t figured that out,” Amelia replied, her eyes darting back and forth to watch Zoey as she fluttered around.

“Ah, right.”

The conversation between them fizzled out, and Zoey flew towards the back of the couch, flopping down on her stomach on top of it. Emily immediately jumped in, filling the silence with her strong voice as she leapt up out of her seat, running next to me.

“Right–Flora, listen to this.” She grabbed my hand, pulling me along with her towards the couch. “Zoey’s worries are stupid, and she’s being silly.”

“Wha–I’m not being silly!” Zoey’s voice was indignant as she refuted Emily’s charges, scrambling upright on the back of the couch and jumping off into a slow glide.

“You are being silly. Tell Flora what you’re worried about. I’m sure she’ll agree with me.”

“Fine, alright then.” Pulling up into a hover just in front of us, Zoey tried her best to throw a glare in Emily’s direction, though it didn’t have much impact with how small she was. It faded soon after, and she turned to me, taking a deep breath.

“I’m still worried about being found out. I know I can just like… blend in, or whatever it is, but I’m still constantly worried about what would happen if it didn’t work. And then, I started worrying about whether the fact that I’m worrying about it would mean that it could somehow show, and then I couldn’t blend in, and then I got worried about the fact that I need to not worry about the thing that I’m worrying about and…”

“See?” Emily chimed in as Zoey’s voice trailed off. “She’s being silly, isn’t she?”

I guess, but…

“I’m not being silly!” Zoey wailed, flailing her arms around. “What if it actually happens? Besides, that isn’t even the biggest thing I’m worried about!”

“Wait–there’s more?”

“That’s…” She glanced towards Amelia for a moment, before averting her eyes as she took another deep breath. “I-I haven’t told anyone about this yet, but… I feel like–weird around plants. My wind powers are acting up whenever I get emotional, too, but… that’s just something I can manage. This feels like…”

She hesitated for a moment, her green hair glistening as it caught the light shining in through the nearby window.

“It’s like… I think I can tell how plants feel.”