"Fraternity?" Taylor's voice rose from the darkness, with a hint of screech at the end.
"Dude," said Ashleigh. "I was gonna just sit and listen, but damn."
"I'd rather not call ourselves something that makes us sound like terrorists, thanks," added Jacob.
"Terrorists?" asked Sarah, turning to look at him.
"Shining Path weren't terrorists," said Parker. "They were pretty bad, as bad as people get, but not terrorists. At least not like hijack and bomb types. More secret police and kill-your-own-people types."
"Either way," said Jacob.
Alexa threw another marshmallow that Finn batted away. "Fine," he said. "Whatever. It doesn't really matter, does it? But we ought to agree on something. I thought 'shining' would be nice. We all see it like that, yeah? And it's like that book."
"What book?" asked Beckham.
"Red rum," said Parker in a high-pitched growly voice. He had leaned towards Beckham and made a weird gesture with his finger at the same time. He grinned and snatched a marshmallow out of the air and popped it into his mouth.
Beckham just looked more confused, "I don't get it."
"That old movie. With Jack Nicholson." Parker pitched his voice high again and said, "Here's Johnny!"
"I haven't seen it," said Finn. "I was thinking about the book, the King one where everyone dies at the beginning from the flu."
"That's worse," said Alexa. "Well, not really. But calling us something from a Stephen King novel maybe isn't a huge step up from naming us after terrorists. Especially if you haven't even read The Shining."
Sarah was pretty thoroughly lost, she didn't watch many movies. For that matter, she'd only ever read one of King's books. It had started ok, but when the baseball team descended into random murder she'd put it away and never came back to the author. The conversation had drifted forward, discussing the relative merits of someone named Jack as he compared to some soldier type or a man in black, but Sarah really didn't care about how a few fictional characters compared to each other ethically.
"Um," said Sarah, raising a finger into the air. "Not to change the subject, but can we agree at least that this really is all magic? Just as a starting place?"
"No, we've all just got alien implants giving us powers," said Ashleigh in a deadpan voice. "If we're being obvious, that is."
"Do we really need to call ourselves something all special," said Sarah, ignoring Ashleigh. "If we do magic, can't we just call ourselves magicians? Or wizards or whatever, if you want to be fancy?"
"Anyone who calls me a witch is going to regret it," announced Alexa.
"Magicians is fine," said Taylor. "At least for now. But if we're really going to keep meeting and working together and stuff, then a name for all of us would be nice, I think."
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"Great. We're magicians," said Finn. He was using a deeper tone of voice than was usual, and he was doing something to try and make his voice carry a little more. "How about we all come back next time with some options? We can vote on it? And maybe workshop some ideas?"
"Motion seconded. Call for vote, opposed say nay. No one is opposed, motion carries," announced Samantha quickly before anyone else could interrupt her. "Great. We can come up with names for our super awesome secret club next time. Is it time for s'mores now? Before Alexa throws away all the marshmallows?
"There's plenty. We won't run out unless people get real dumb," said Alexa, throwing one at Samantha.
Finn slouched and put his face in his hands for a moment. He took a deep breath and straightened back up. "I'd like to talk about one other thing first though. Words and names and stuff don't really matter. Although for the record, no one gets to call me a wizard. But whatever.
"What I'm actually worried about, what we are worried about," said Finn with a glance at Sarah, "are new people. Ashleigh, you're the newest, and Sarah was the first, sorta. We've averaged a new person every other week, almost. Sara, Alexa, and I were it for just a couple of months. The only people we knew in the whole world with shine. With magic. Then Kayla showed up. Then Jacob. Everyone else joined up in the last six weeks. I don't know if something is getting faster, or if we're just finding people now that it's obvious and there’s more eyes to look, or what."
"Clearly you're just finding us," said Parker with a shrug. "I'd been seeing fog for almost ten years before I ran into this. There's got to be tons more people out there just waiting. It all feels obvious now, but I don't think I ever would have figured my magic out on my own. It's like getting told you can breathe underwater, but you've got to grip your left earlobe with your right hand while closing your right eye and thinking about moonlight first. It's easy enough to do, but I'd never have thought to try it in the first place."
"Exactly," said Finn. "Who knows how many else are waiting. How many keep going to hospitals, or are taking medication for an illness they don't have, or what. I'm not sure if I like that."
Ashleigh and Samantha were nodding at that, their faces serious now. But before either could say something, Taylor spoke up, "Is it really that big a deal? I mean, yeah, sure, it sucks for people to end up in the hospital. But we all learned self-control to not hurt ourselves. I'm sure everyone else did too. We all spent years with the fog, and we made things work. I'm not sure it's a good idea to go on some recruiting drive. That's what it sounds like you're talking about."
"It is," said Sarah. "But I'd seriously suggest you talk to a few other people before you come to a conclusion like that. We don't all have the same stories, and you should have figured out by now that this doesn't affect us all the same way."
"You have no idea how much this makes life better," said Samantha. "None of you do, except for Sarah and Ashleigh. Seriously, it makes me worried about how good the, ah, magic makes my life, and I'm not talking about how easy it is to do my ironing now. It's like a high, like I’m on drugs, except it clears my mind instead of messing it up. You have no idea - so much pain and distraction, just gone. Just feeling normal is like floating in a cloud. Only better than a high, because there's no hangover."
"And it helps right away, too," said Ashleigh. "Beckam, you were just telling us about how happy you've been this summer, just being able to sit and read a book. Parker, you talked about how much easier it is to live with your roommate now. Or to be around people who are arguing. I'll bet it's the same. Our lives are better when we know, and it’s not just the magic itself. But Sam's right. You all got lucky with your colors. Having blue just kinda sucks. She and Sarah get it."
"It does, at least until we figure it out and start using it," said Sarah. "I don't know how many more are out there. Maybe we're it. Maybe not. I've got no idea. But I need to find out. We need to help. It's just not right, making people live like we were."
Everyone else was nodding along, or looking thoughtful.
"Ok, I guess I get it," said Parker.
"You don't, but thank you," said Ashleigh.
"I said I get it," said Parker with a glance at the pale boy. "But then what? We're all keeping an eye out, and I'd imagine that anyone who can tell I'm glowing is going to talk to me. What else is there to do?"