Alexa came through the door just moments after Sarah, her face set in a mask. Alexa stopped a gentle distance away, not saying anything but also making sure Sarah knew she was there. Alexa was breathing hard, and Sarah listened while both of them calmed down, heartbeats and breath rate slowing.

"Hey," Alexa said softly, "are you okay?"

Sarah nodded but didn't speak.

"It's okay," Alexa continued, her voice soothing. "You did great, and I promise you aren't the only person who's storming out in tears tonight. Not the first, and probably not the last."

Sarah took a few more deep breaths, trying to ignore the cars driving past. She looked at Alexa and managed a weak smile. "I'm sorry, I just needed to get out for a moment."

"Don't apologize," Alexa said firmly, putting a reassuring hand on Sarah's shoulder. "Seriously, look."

Sarah looked up, seeing Alexa nod her head off to the side. Sure enough, there was another girl sitting in the driver's seat of a car, wiping her face furiously with a tissue.

"Don't stare," Alexa went on. "But seriously, it's not a big deal, so don't be embarrassed. And do you know what else? You've got less to worry about than her. She's alone, and I'm here. And her date is inside dancing and I don’t think he even noticed her leave. And on the other hand, Finn is hovering right by the doors, wondering if this is his fault."

Sarah nodded, and asked, "Should we check on her?"

"Who? Her?" Alexa asked, nodding again at the girl in the car. She turned back to Sarah and said, "Nah, let's get you sorted first. I'd say we should get Finn to check on her, but that didn't work before so maybe not."

Sarah laughed at that, "I don't think another girl would be much distraction. Not tonight anyways."

Alexa reached into her clutch and pulled out a small bottle of water, handing it to Sarah. "Here, drink some water. Get a bit more grounded."

Sarah gratefully accepted the water and took a few sips. The cool liquid helped soothe her throat and settle her nerves. "Thanks," she said softly.

"Do you want to go home, or would you like to stay a bit longer?" Alexa asked, looking out at the parking lot.

"I wanted to have fun tonight," Sarah said, her eyes welling up again. "But I don't think I can go in again."

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Alexa said firmly. "We can just hang out here all night if that's what you want. I'm sure Finn feels the same way, and Jill already got to show off so she'd be fine coming out too."

Sarah's arms and legs felt limp and weak, and her eyes were burning. She spotted a few benches under garden lamposts nearby and pointed them out. "Okay, yeah, I’d like to sit down over there for a while at least, away from the noise and lights. Would you mind letting Finn know?"

”Of course,” said Alexa. She straightened up and stepped back from Sarah, took a moment to check the clips holding her curly hair in place, and finally turned to walk purposefully back to the doorway

The cool night air felt good on Sarah's face, even if the sound of a cricket nearby made her twitch every time it chirped. Alexa and Finn sat down, Alexa next to her and Finn on the ground in front of the bench. They didn't push her to talk or explain anything; they simply sat with her.

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After a few minutes, Sarah broke the silence, tears welling in her eyes again as she buried her face in her hands. "I really wanted to enjoy prom, you know? Dressing up, it's all supposed to be fun. I really thought I could do it. I've been doing it, I was."

Alexa wrapped an arm around Sarah's shoulders and pulled her close. "Hey, you just got a bit ungrounded. We're somewhere new, doing something new. You just sorta got unstuck, right? This isn't your fault."

Sarah took a deep breath, allowing Alexa's words to sink in.

"Well, you probably can't eat all night, even if you do out-eat me," said Finn. "I guess I can go get some ice cubes, but you should focus on something, right? That’s always helped when I have a bad day."

Finn paused, then went on, “Why not Cuddles? I mean, that was your project for weeks, why not finish him?”

Alexa flinched away from Sarah as she heard what Finn said, Alexa's arm had been resting right up against the bone bracelet. Then she relaxed again and leaned back against Sarah. "I'd forgotten what that was, sorry. I just remembered what it looked like when you found it. But maybe Finn has a good idea. It won’t be a distraction for long, but the magic does feel good, doesn’t it? I know how I feel when I bring in a lot of qi. It's, um, relaxing, isn't it?"

Sarah blushed and scooted a bit farther from Alexa, who was squirming her body in a really uncomfortable way as she thought about absorbing her green light. Finn didn't seem to notice, he was just watching Sarah, his eyes flicking back and forth between her face and her wrist.

"I don't know if I'd say it's relaxing, but it is easier to sit still, I know that," said Finn. "I'm not sure if I could go two weeks without doing something. I've been burning a candle in my room at night, lighting it myself. It's not the same as a great big blast, but I know I sleep better."

"I don't really want to," Sarah lied, running her fingers over Cuddles’s white back. "Those first few weeks, I was doing it all the time. Like, all the time. It was distracting even when I knew what I was doing, and sometimes I didn’t. It’s just, I've got to control the power, I can't let it control me."

"Sure, I get it," said Alexa, brushing back a bit of Sarah’s hair. "But you've managed two weeks already. It's like what Coach said in health class about addiction, one of the ways you know if you're addicted is to go two weeks without. If you can go that long, it's fine, right?"

"Besides," said Finn, "you're choosing it, so it's you. If you give Cuddles some spirit, it's not an accident, it's a plan. You're in control."

Sarah didn't want to argue, so she reached out and pulled as hard as she could. She never drawn on the fog with so much effort before, unless maybe she had the first few times before she’d realized what she was doing. But even compared to those sudden jerks of power, this was firm and deliberate, and the three could see blue light flaring as it gathering around her hands. The ball felt warm on her skin, welcoming and bright. She smiled as the mass grew, glowing brighter until she couldn't draw anymore. Then, with another slow and deliberate motion, she reached down and let it drain away into the snake spine wrapped around her other arm.

She smiled at her bracelet. All of that reaching, and he still wasn't full. Not even half full, if she had to guess. Cuddles would work out just fine as an emergency vessel. She licked her lips, stretching out her legs and leaning against the back of the bench. Then she saw the smiles on her friend's faces and scowled. She muttered, "You're not right, that was just something I needed to do to finish him."

"Sure, sure," said Alexa, leaning back over to hug Sarah.

Finn stood up, and leaned down over the two girls, he held out a hand to Sarah and said, "Would you like to go back in now?"

"Sure, we should, shouldn't we?" she answered.

Stepping back inside, Sarah felt the music hammering at her again. But instead of just twitching, she found herself tapping a foot and bobbing her head as she walked back into the main hall. Jill spotted them right away and skipped over, dragging Finn and Sarah into another circle that had formed.

Sarah didn't sit down the rest of the night. She danced with Finn, and a few other boys asked her to dance too. She’d made sure Finn didn’t mind, and the attention was nice, even if she couldn't follow them quite as well as she followed Finn. Sarah even learned a few more complicated dances too, following the steps along with everyone else.

By the time the night was over, she was exhausted, but it had been fun. Her only worry for the rest of the night came when Finn dropped her off and insisted on walking her to her door. But he just gave her a hug and didn't try to kiss her or push anything farther. Sarah thought about the evening and realized that in the end, the hardest part of the night was taking off her makeup.

The stuff was like ink, ink glued to her face. There must be some trick, it took an hour to put on, and another hour to take off. Who would ever actually wear makeup every day if they had to go through that?