Yeah, no. The power of friendship is a lie, as it turns out. A few hours and a couple of boxes of pizza later, we still hadn’t uncovered anything of value. Our searches kept getting clogged with those videos where people imitate girls online for the sole purpose of tricking other strangers and having a good laugh about it.

The night ended without success. Allie had left after we’d eaten, promising to come back first thing tomorrow morning. Ethan stayed up with me a little longer, but he eventually turned in as well. He even had the nerve to make me go to bed too! But, he did have a point. We weren’t going to find anything if we were grumpy, after all. My personal act of rebellion was to get up early the next day to continue my search.

I yawned, then nestled myself deeper into my bed as I continued idly scrolling through search results on my phone. I had decided to try digging through some research papers using the school’s VPN, but I only made it through one article so far since the things are so dang packed with information. It was interesting information, mind you, but not quite what I needed at this moment.

I groaned as I registered the sound of the doorbell ringing. Allie’s usual definition of “first thing in the morning” was noon at best. Maybe she felt bad about leaving after dinner last night and was trying to make up for it? Still kinda out of character though. Guess it doesn't really matter if she’s here. I got up, giving my bed a single longing glance before letting my friend in.

“Morning, Allie,” I mumbled sleepily. “You didn’t have to get up so early to help me, you know…”

“Help with what~? Weren’t we supposed to study today~?”

Oh, crap. I rubbed my eyes again, trying to get them to focus on the person in front of me. Let’s see… blue jeans, plain shirt with a nice cardigan, neatly styled blonde hair… Yep, definitely not Allie. A lot more like Olivia, who shared pretty much all of my major classes.

“Oh my god, you look like, really not awake! Jeez Hazel, you and Allison ought to take better care of yourselves~!” Olivia scolded playfully. “So, what’s gotcha so sleepy this morning~?”

“Magic is real,” I said, still not fully awake. “And I met some fairy who thought it’d be funny to send me on a wild goose chase to answer a question with an answer that doesn’t exist,”

Olivia tilted her head. “Um, sorry, I don’t think I understand~,” Then she suddenly jumped like she’d heard some weird voice in her head. “Wait, what~!?” she half-shrieked. “What… what was that~!?”

I’m embarrassed to say it took me far too long to register the mistake I just made. “Shit, sorry!” I apologized. “I should have warned you. I made some weird magic bet yesterday and now I have to answer this really stupid question if I don’t want to lose the magic sight I apparently have?”

“O-oh~,” She replied, still tense. “Sure, right~. Magic just exists now, and I guess I’ll pretend that’s okay, sure~. God Hazel, you really are a handful~. So? What’s the stupid question~?”

“How do you sound like a girl?” I recited for the umpteenth time. “Allie was here yesterday helping me look for an answer. That’s why I thought you were her when I opened the door for you.”

“That question has like, a billion answers~,” Olivia sighed. “And at least half of those are transphobic or misogynistic or both~.”

“You’re telling me,” I groaned.

“You could try, like, imitating me or Allison~?” She offered. “No wait, the way we speak highkey contradicts each other~,”

“Yeah, we thought about that already. Allie and Ethan speak pretty alike, and my voice has been at both ends of the pitch spectrum during my transition.”

“I’m beginning to understand why you’re so sleepy~. Do you like, want me to make some tea for you~?”

“I’d really appreciate that,” I replied gratefully. “By the way, what’s that thing you’ve been doing with your voice at the end of your sentences?”

“Huh? What thing~?”

“It’s like your voice is hoarse but it isn’t?” I tried to explain. “It’s like your voice quality changes to be more… creaky.”

“It’s not something I do consciously, that’s for sure~,” Olivia said. “Oh! I think I hear what you’re talking about~! I’ve never really noticed that before~.”

“Me neither,” I admitted. Now that I was paying attention, it kinda sounded like I used a bit of that creaky thing too, just not as pronounced as Olivia does. “Hey, do you think this might be the answer?” I asked her. “It seems really minor but-”

“Yeah, I totally hear it in your voice, girl~!” Olivia exclaimed. “You might be onto something~!”

“Ughhhhh~, Hazellll~, I didn’t know we were getting such an early startttt~” Ethan groaned as he wandered into the common room. Olivia and I groaned too, but for a different reason, which earned us both a quizzical look from my roommate.

“Uh, sorry?”