"Hello?" she said, picking up the phone. The cordless was in her mom's room, so she'd answered that and was already walking back to her room.

"Sarah?" a quiet tenor voice answered. "It's Finn."

"Hi Finn," she said. Her fitted sheet went on first. It stretched across the mattress and even got itself tucked in. Unfortunately, it lost a lot of its light getting the last corner tucked in.

"I'm sorry, ok?" he said.

"Ok," she said. Sarah tossed the other sheet on the bed and smiled as she watched it unfold and spread out. The flat sheet lost light too, getting tucked in at the foot of her bed.

"I'll be in school tomorrow," Finn said. "You?"

"I went today," said Sarah. The quilt held more than either sheet, but it also didn't lose anything unfolding itself.

"Oh," said Finn. Sarah could hear him breathing on the other end.

"Have you tried again?" she said. She figured he probably had some reason to call, at least beyond checking about school and saying sorry. Her pillow landed on the bed and crawled, sluglike, into place. It poofed itself and squared up just the way she liked it.

"Yeah, I really am sorry," he said. "I had no idea... I mean, it looked like you two were fine so I thought it was just about getting some of the pressure to stop. And something just clicked and it all made sense. So, you know?"

"I know," sighed Sarah. She'd just pinched a little light to refill her sheets without hardly a thought. She sat down, distracted by what she'd just done.

"I called because, well, I wouldn't mind some help, maybe," said Finn. "I mean, you've been using the spirit and I don't think you've hurt anyone."

"I don't know if I can help, Finn," she said. "I've never made lightning."

"Well, no, but still," he said.

"I'll talk to Alexa, ok? You'll probably have to wait though. I've got school and makeup work, and there's the concert on Wednesday, so don't be surprised if it takes until the weekend."

"Yeah, I get it," said Finn. "Thank you. Um, you mean the choir concert?"

"Yeah, Alexa's in it, and her friends too. You know Bri, right?"

"Um, the short one?" he asked.

"Bri isn't short," said Sarah.

"Well, no, but shorter than Alexa's other friend, right?"

"Well..."

Finn laughed, "Yeah, ok. So you're going to the concert?"

Sarah nodded, then shook her head and said, "Yeah, I said I would."

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"Great, do you mind if I go too?" he said.

"It's just a school thing, I don't even know what they're singing," said Sarah.

"Awesome! I'll see you on Wednesday then!" Finn's voice had gotten louder, and Sarah held the phone a bit farther from her ear.

"Didn't you say you'd be in class tomorrow?" she asked.

"Oh, well, yes. Forgot about that," he muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow then. And thanks, by the way. For, you know, the shine stuff. And for the weekend."

"You're welcome," she said. "See you tomorrow then."

A click and the conversation was over. She spent most of the evening working on her homework - there was less catchup work than she'd expected, but it still needed finishing. Her mom gave her permission to go to the concert, of course. She didn't even check about how much homework still needed to be finished before telling Sarah that she could go.

The next day was much the same as the first. Finn was in art class, and Sarah kept catching him watching her even though he didn't actually say anything. He seemed fine, even if he was wearing a buzz cut that made his white scalp visible. His eyebrows hadn’t grown back either.

Sarah was messing around with her skinny leather cords. She was trying out different braids, wrapping beads and other objects into them, and seeing how they came together. She didn't tie anything off though, she needed Cuddles's bones to do what she wanted, but she was getting better ideas of what would be possible.

Honestly, she was feeling a little obsessed about the dead snake. She'd checked the box that morning before school, and even though it looked like the ants had found him, he didn't look any different. She was anxious to get him all the way cleaned, but she didn't want him damaged either. She'd found a book about snakes in the school library and spent biology flipping through the pages showing snake anatomy. She wasn't studying it, just looking at the diagrams and committing the shapes to her mind. She might see if her mom would take her to the store to look for some supplies that Mr. Clarke didn't have.

Despite the way her mind kept drifting, Wednesday had her thoroughly distracted. Her face was flushed, her breathing harsh, and her room was a mess with clothing scattered over everything. She had no idea how people dressed for school concerts. She could only think of one movie with a concert at school, and everyone was way dressed up. Not in ball gowns, but still ties and skirts and things. Alexa hadn't said anything to her about how to dress, but she wasn't answering her phone either. Her mom had just laughed when she'd asked, and she told Sarah to wear whatever.

She needed to look nice, she knew that. So Sarah had decided to try some makeup, even if she only felt comfortable with a bit of mascara and lip gloss. She'd put her hair up too, with a braid coiled up into a bun. Nothing too fancy, but she hoped she was showing some effort and care without looking like a clown. She finally settled on a light blue V-line dress that hardly ever left the closet. Her mom said it looked good on her, but she’d only ever worn it once, to a cousin's wedding. She'd never wear it to school or anything, but it didn't look too formal and it had a fun little swish to the skirt too.

She was just pulling it down over her head when her mom yelled, "Finn's here!"

Sarah froze with the dress still over her head. For a moment, she thought her mom meant that Finn was literally right there, seeing her standing there half-naked. She yanked the dress the rest of the way and spun, but her door was still shut and her mom had yelled from downstairs.

Why was Finn here? They weren't supposed to meet up until the weekend. She could hear Finn and her mom talking, he was explaining something about football. Maybe. Sarah didn't know much about the game, but she wasn't sure if anything ever got tied down. She peeked around the corner, Finn was in jeans and laced-up boots, but he was also wearing a button-down shirt and a brown sport coat that matched the boots. His hair had something in that made it look shiny, even if it still was still short and spiky. Her irritation lessened, it was a good thing she'd talked herself out of wearing a hoodie.

Putting on a pair of flat black sandals, Sarah swallowed and headed down the stairs to where Finn and her mom were waiting.

"You look great!" exclaimed Finn. "Are you ready to go?"

"Mom," said Sarah, ignoring Finn. "Weren't you going to drive me?"

Her mom just smiled.