Derek woke up early on Monday morning. He was nervous and excited about today. The first early morning CCNC session with everyone who signed up. He sent out the text on Friday and spent this first session making new characters. Derek already had a file folder of already made characters, so he brought a couple to look through. His job as president was to make sure things went smoothly.

Derek walked into school at six-thirty in the morning. It was odd. There weren’t as many students, and the smell of breakfast came from the cafeteria. He made his way to Señora Florez’s room, finding her and Mr. Anderson there. As president of CCNC club, he wanted to make sure he arrived early.

He opened the door and walked inside. “Good morning.”

Mr. Anderson grunted, clutching his coffee like it was a lifeline as he skimmed the handbook. Señora Florez had a paper in one hand and a marker in the other, making quick strokes on the whiteboard. “Hey, Derek.”

Derek watched his Spanish teacher bring to life an intricate design. “Calawit teach you that?”

“Yes. And I hope it works.”

“I will leave you to it, then,” Derek said.

Señora Florez said nothing, her pen flying over the board. Mr. Anderson was looking like he was desperately trying to wake up.

“Are you planning on being the GM for Mr. Stower?” Derek asked.

“Yep. Just need to familiarize myself with the rules. They’ve changed since last I played.” Mr. Anderson picked up the player’s handbook. “It is ridiculously difficult to kill a player’s character. Not like when I was playing it.”

Derek deflated a bit. “Easiest to kill them when they’re lower level, though.”

Mr. Anderson sighed. “If Señora Florez’s charm doesn’t work, that’s our backup. Hopefully it won’t look too weird if I keep targeting Mr. Stower’s character.”

“Mr. Stower can always make another one,” Derek said.

“And I’ll keep killing them.” Mr. Anderson sipped his coffee.

“I’m sure you’re the only one who can get away with it. You always have the reputation of not being someone to cross,” Derek said, glancing at Señora Florez as she copied the spell as fast as she could.

The door opened and Hazel, Rafael, and Alejandra walked through. Rafael glanced at his phone. “Are we too early?”

Derek shook his head. “I’m glad you’re here.”

They talked, trying to keep the conversation light. Derek kept glancing at Señora Florez and the progress she made on the spell. He wondered if it would work. More importantly, he wondered what this would mean. Señora Florez was a human from earth, and she was trying to cast a spell. Would this even work? How much of the two worlds would clash with the success of this spell? He’d rather have the spell work than not, though. But he still wondered about the implications.

More people trickled in. Much of Derek’s gamer nerd friends came to see if Hazel would appear, and when they saw her talking with Rafael, they were in awe.

When Evelyn and Nick came, Evelyn walked over to give Hazel a hug, which caused both Rafael and Alejandra to take a step back. Derek watched, surprised, as Rafael found some excuse to leave the conversation all together and find a desk to sit in.

“Done,” Señora Florez whispered.

Derek felt it, deep in his bones. He wasn’t sure how he knew. Perhaps it was the time he spent with Milo. He felt the shift, the vibration, that mana had taken hold and this room was protected. Señora Florez set the pen down, covering the spell with another board before writing ‘Welcome to Choice, Chance, and Consequence’ on the other one. It worked. A human somehow cast a spell. He wondered how Tyler felt about all this. Neal said it was impossible. But then again, it was mostly Calawit’s doing. Her spell, her pen. Señora Florez was just copying it.

Derek walked toward the door, waiting. The room was filling up, and it was almost seven o’clock.

The door opened, and Mr. Stower entered. Derek watched from his peripheral as Akshi tried to enter, but an invisible bubble blocked him. Derek couldn’t help it and smirked before giving Señora Florez a thumbs up. Mr. Stower walked in, then slowed. He blinked a few times, glancing around. Mr. Anderson got up, walking over toward the vice principal.

“Everything alright?” Mr. Anderson asked.

“What… am I doing here?” Mr. Stower asked.

“You expressed an interest in attending CCNC club. You wanted to play a few sessions.”

Mr. Stower frowned, rubbing his head. “I have the worst headache. I should go back to my office.”

Mr. Anderson grabbed his shoulder. “No. You shouldn’t. Stay a while, see how it is for an hour.” Mr. Anderson made a point to look right at Akshi. The crime lord had murder in his gaze. Akshi tried to cast a spell, but the barrier blocked it. Mr. Anderson grabbed Mr. Stower. “Come on, toward the front. Sit at Molly’s desk. Relax for once in your life.”

Derek smiled as Mr. Anderson took the vice principal to the desk. That, at least, worked. The murderous gaze of Akshi pointed right at Mr. Anderson was a little concerning, though.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

More students trickled in as Derek checked his phone, staying by the wall so he wouldn’t have to see Akshi. It was almost time to start. He about moved to the front when he heard the crime lord.

“They’ve cast a spell. You can’t go through.”

Derek paused, staring at the wall as he heard Pippa’s hiss. “We were going to seduce Derek today.”

“You’ll have to wait until he’s out of the classroom,” Akshi said.

“No, we don’t.”

Derek stiffened, giving the wall a horrified look. That was Emma. Emma was talking to them. Talking like they were nothing more than conspirators. Holy hell, she was conversing with Akshi. “I told you, I never needed you, Pippa. I can do this myself.”

Derek slipped his phone back in his pocket, glad the wall took the brunt of his terrified look.

“You need me,” Pippa said. “It’s how we will get your revenge. To have him completely under our control.”

“If the human Molly could cast a spell, your influences could certainly work on Derek,” Akshi said.

The memory of Milo, pale and barely alive after Pippa used draining kiss on him, trickled to the front of his mind. He did not want to be near Pippa.

“I can do this myself.” Emma sounded annoyed.

The best course of action was to get back together with Emma, to trick her into thinking he was smitten. Pippa wouldn’t use her powers. Then do operation reverse kiss the girl to get Emma to hate him, which would make it harder for Pippa to control her.

It made sense, yet also this was a bad idea. He needed to talk to a non-drama person to check his logic. But he noticed Emma heading toward the door and he scrambled away, pretending like he hadn’t overheard them.

Señora Florez stood at the front. “Hello, everyone! Welcome to CCNC club! It’s seven, so let’s get started.” Derek folded his arms, leaning against the wall, staring at nothing, pretending he hadn’t scrambled away. “For this first meeting, we’ll get to know everyone while you’re making your characters. If you need any help, Mr. Anderson and I are here to help you.” She opened a huge tote full of dice. “And we have plenty of dice, in case any of you need them.”

Emma walked in, going straight to Derek and leaning against the wall next to him. “Hey.”

Derek refused to look at her. “Hey.”

“We’ll also be asking for your comfort level with the game. We have enough here to split into four groups. If you’re here as a beginner, welcome! I’m excited to have you.”

“What group are you in?” Emma asked.

“Um… advanced,” Derek said as Señora Florez kept talking.

“Mmm.” Emma’s eyes never left his face. “I guess I’ll be in the beginners, then.”

Derek tried to smile. Tried not to show he was nervous. “Mr. Anderson will take care of you, no doubt.”

“Ugh. He’s the game master for beginners?” Emma asked as everyone broke off in groups to make their characters. Mr. Anderson and Señora Florez were passing around character sheets for people who needed them.

“I like Mr. Anderson,” Derek said, his brows furrowing.

“You’re literally the only one in this school who does. I heard he was ex-mafia or something. Has a dozen kills to his name and trying to keep a low profile.”

Derek fought the urge to roll his eyes. Emma twirled a lock of hair around her finger, staring at Derek’s lips. He tried not to focus on her. Instead, his eyes darted around, seeing Nick and Alejandra in a corner, having a quiet conversation that did not look peaceful. He needed Nick and Rafael right now. Needed to run this idea by them before he implemented it. But he didn’t have time. Emma kept staring at his lips, and he had a bad feeling that if they didn’t get together before the end of CCNC club, then Pippa would make it happen.

Milo’s pale, terrified face came back, causing his heart rate to increase. He didn’t want Pippa to get involved.

Operation reverse kiss the girl was a go.

Derek steadied himself, turned toward Emma, and smiled.

***

“Can we just not do this?” Alejandra said.

“What do you mean not do this? We haven’t even done anything.” Nick said.

“I don’t want to have this conversation with you.” She felt the familiar tugs of panic, causing her bravery to be more reckless than usual.

Nick lifted his arms up. If he was trying to look defenseless, it wasn’t working, because the familiar flickers of a glare were there. “All I asked is if you wanted me to be in a different group than you.”

“And I walked away,” Alejandra said. “Never follow me when I walk away.”

“This is getting childish, isn’t it?”

“Childish? You punched my brother in the face!” Alejandra tried to keep her voice down. “I need time to process it.”

“It’s been a month!” Nick also tried to keep his voice down, but there were some who glanced in their direction.

“You hurt my brother,” Alejandra seethed. “Beat him in front of me. Sorry if I take longer than a month to get over it!”

He turned away, rubbing the scar that cut across his eyebrow, the glare darkening. “There’s a difference between processing what happened and ignoring me so you can wallow in hatred. Believe me, I know the difference.”

Alejandra folded her arms, trying to match Nick’s glare. He had more practice. “You’re so immature.”

“Yeah. That right there.” Nick pointed at her. “You need time to process the hurt? Fine. Take time away from me to stop being so angry? Fine. Giving me cold glares in the hall? Sticking your nose up at me? Ignore all chances of conversation where I try to explain myself? Not okay, Alejandra.”

“Explain yourself?” She would have laughed, but she didn’t want to draw any more attention to herself. “You’ve said for weeks you’ll never apologize for hitting him. So no, Nick. I have no desire to sit here and listen to a boy I once dated say he’s justified in punching someone. Not with my history. It makes me sick.”

“If you honestly think Rafael didn’t deserve a punch in the face for what he did, we have a different problem to talk about,” Nick said, his voice dangerous.

“You sent him to the hospital, Nick,” Alejandra said.

“Rafael and I both agreed that he could do the same to me if ever I made such an idiotic choice,” Nick said.

“I don’t care what you and Rafael agreed on,” Alejandra said, her ears hot with anger. “You will not touch my brother again, do you understand.”

“And what would you do if I did?” Nick asked, his voice cold. “What if I ignored you and hurt Rafael again? What would you do?” His eyebrow twitched, the glare still on his face. “Hit me?” Blood roared through her ears. “I bet you’d feel pretty justified in such violence, wouldn’t you.”

“Stop it, Nick. This isn’t funny.”

Nick closed his eyes. If he rubbed his fingers against his face anymore, he might rub the glare right off. “You know what hurts the most?” The calmness in his voice after such coldness made the hairs on her arms rise. “You once told me I was a good man, and it made you sad that so many people had a hard time seeing it.”

Alejandra’s glare deepened. She remembered saying it, of course, when Calawit covered him in rose petals to keep him from stealing anything. Before they fought the demon rats. Before Nick punched Rafael in the face.

“Guess it hurts because you’re one of those people who needs proof now.” Nick dropped his hands and glared at her. “My dad already puts me through a damn obstacle course every day to prove myself, and I refuse to do this with you, too.”

Alejandra was still glaring at him. Her eyes were in danger of forming tears, and she refused to cry in front of him. Not here. Not with two dozen people making characters. She wanted to walk away again. She was certain Nick wouldn’t follow. A lot of things felt final with his last phrase.

She forced herself to turn her head when something caught her eye. She glanced over; the anger evaporating. “Oh, no.”

Nick frowned, then followed her gaze. Every muscle in his body froze. “Shit.”

Derek and Emma were in a corner making out, not caring that everyone else could see. Nick covered his face and groaned.