Nick finished getting his backpack organized for the next few classes he had coming up. Once he finished, he made his way over to Alejandra’s locker. He caught sight of her as she finished getting her math book. She closed the locker, already smiling, as she turned to see him. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He placed his hand on her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. This had to be one of his favorite weeks of his entire life.

So, when he heard someone else clearing their throat uncomfortably close to them, Nick wondered if his happiness would only last a week. Alejandra was far quicker to break away than him. He opened his eyes, seeing Rafael in the corner of his vision.

Nick plastered on a smile that wasn’t sincere. “Hi to you, too.”

“Hello.” Rafael’s arms were folded, his eyes giving the impression he was simultaneously trying to douse a fire even as it was burning out of control.

“Rafael…” Alejandra started to say.

Nick was aware he still had a hand on her waist, and he felt an urge to bring her closer to see what Rafael would do, but he resisted. His hands on her was annoying Rafael enough.

“When were you planning on telling me?” Rafael asked.

“Seems like your family isn’t big on revealing who’s dating who. Didn’t feel the need,” Nick said.

Rafael’s glare darkened. “I was asking her.”

His fingers tightened over Alejandra’s waist. “Then why are you looking at me?”

“I’m not one to turn my back on a poisonous snake,” Rafael said.

Nick couldn’t help it and started laughing. “Poisonous snake? Really, Rafael?”

“Can we… not? Please?” Alejandra asked.

“You had an opportunity last night,” Rafael said, still staring right at Nick. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I’m sorry. Is this still a question for your sister?” Nick asked.

Rafael took a step forward. If he was trying to be intimidating, it didn’t work, since he was a whole head shorter than Nick. The burning in his eyes started to spread. “You weren’t at my house last night, were you?”

“Obviously not,” Nick said.

“Then butt out of this conversation.”

“If you want me to stay out of this, maybe you should consider not looking at me while you’re talking with her?”

“Fine. Here’s a question for you, Nick. Does your father know you're dating my sister?” Rafael asked.

Nick tried not to show anything on his face, but he felt the way the corner of his mouth dropped. His eyes narrowed and his brows drew together. Hatred for Walt burned in his heart and sent it out to his bloodstream. “It… doesn’t matter.”

There wasn’t much space between Nick and Rafael, but Alejandra found a way to put herself between them, causing them both to take a small step back. Alejandra lifted a hand toward her brother. “I didn’t know how to tell you, because I was afraid you would jump to the worst possible conclusion. I was afraid you would threaten him and cause some sort of ridiculous scene, just like what you’re doing now. It’s not needed. Admit it, Rafael, you don’t know Nick anymore. You don’t need to protect me from him.”

Rafael still glared at Nick, and he was more than happy to glare back. There was silence as Alejandra stayed between them. It did nothing to ease her brother’s glare. The bell rang, signifying the start of school, and he still kept his glare steady. He lifted a finger, one shaking from the barely contained rage. “You do anything at all to hurt her, I will get the police involved.” Nick’s glare darkened, but he didn’t dare say a word. “See you Saturday.” This sounded more like a threat than mentioning the police. Nick kept his glare as Rafael finally tore his gaze from Nick and moved with the rest of the students going to their first class. Nick would have kept glaring, but Alejandra reached over, placing her thumb between his eyebrows, and rubbed it to straighten out the furrow.

“I was afraid of this,” she said. Nick closed his eyes, easing himself from his anger, but it was impossible. He didn’t dare talk. He was so infuriated. “I know asking you to be friends again is an impossible thing, but… civility? Is that possible?”

Nick wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. “Let’s take it one day at a time.”

***

The moment Derek and Milo entered the school Friday, Derek was on high alert. He would have hung out in Mr. Anderson’s room, but his teacher made it clear how he felt about that on the first day of school. Besides, it was too obvious. Emma had his schedule memorized.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Shall I see you after school?” Milo asked.

“Yeah. You should be good to slip in his classroom.”

“Derek.”

It was a female voice, so it automatically caused him to tense up. But once he realized it wasn’t Emma’s unnaturally high cadence she adopted since they started making out, Derek looked around to see Señora Florez leaning against her classroom door, her arms folded.

“Hola, Señora.”

“Hola.” She glanced around. “So, the information you gave me…” She reverted to English. Derek hesitated, waiting, his heart lightening. “Either I’ve completely lost my mind, or Akshi is here, using Charm Person on Mr. Stower.”

Despite her words, Derek felt himself relax. Milo glanced at him, frowning. “You told her?”

Señora Florez jumped, her eyes traveling over the space Milo stood before settling on his face. Milo smiled, then waved. “Please tell me I haven’t lost my mind.” She whispered this in Spanish. “José will miss me.”

“He’s really there, and you’re not losing your mind.” His assurances were in Spanish before he switched to English. “The only thing we can figure is the rumors from the eighties are true, and somehow our characters escaped from the game.” Señora Florez stared at Milo. “And… according to Milo, here, anyone who can see the mythical creatures has a part to play in getting them home.”

Señora Florez tore her gaze from Milo to look at Derek. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

Derek sighed, then slowly raised his shoulders in a defeated shrug. “I… don’t know. All I can tell is Akshi is here at school, and Mr. Anderson is the only other person who can see him. So… we need to not have Akshi at CCNC club.”

Señora Florez’s gaze returned to Milo. “Keep Mr. Stower from CCNC. Got it.”

“We should get them home soon. Just… keep pretending Akshi isn’t there. I don’t know what he’d do if he figures out one of us can see him. Alejandra, Nick, and Evelyn are all part of the group.” Derek pulled out his phone. “In fact, I should text them that you know.” He tapped on the group chat that had in all caps: CCNC NOT NICK. It was the CCNC group, but without Nick’s number. He didn’t want to mess up and accidentally text the group with Nick in it.

Señora Florez nodded, rubbing the side of her face. “Alright, well… see you later.”

“Yeah.”

Derek understood the look on Señora Florez’s face. She was probably going to use the rest of the time before the first bell rang to come to terms with this new information. Derek wondered if he would ever get used to it.

He finished sending off his text to the group when arms snaked around him before squeezing all the air out. “Derek!”

As the last of the air squeezed out of him, he let out a weak, “Hey Emma.”

“I missed you!” Derek hardly had time to get another breath in before she was kissing him. Derek, painfully aware that Milo was watching, ended it early.

“Yeah. You know… great.”

Her fingers dug into his ribcage. “Did you need to get some math help from Señora Florez?”

He slid his phone back into his pocket. “Um, no. No, it was discussing CCNC.”

Emma laughed. “Well, that’s got to be the first thing to change if you’re going to keep seeing me.”

Derek frowned. “Sorry, what?”

“CCNC? Yeah, no. You won’t be a part of that anymore.”

Derek laughed, because it was so ridiculous, he couldn’t help it. “I’m the president of the CCNC after-school club. CCNC is my life. I’m not resigning from my life.”

“If you want this to work between us, you’ll find a way.”

“Great. That makes things so much easier. We’re done.” Derek pulled her from him like a nasty band-aid and kept walking.

“I’m sorry. What did you say to me?” Emma asked.

Derek glanced behind her. “We’re done. We were never meant to be.” He gave her a thumbs up. “Thanks for the learning opportunity this was. I will see you later. I’d say more as acquaintances than friends.”

Emma’s mouth dropped open, leaving her speechless for once in her life. Derek kept walking, feeling a weight lifted off him. His phone vibrated with a text from Alejandra.

This is the best news I’ve heard all month!!!

At first Derek was confused how Alejandra knew he broke up with Emma, but then remembered the text he sent about Señora Florez now seeing the CCNC creatures. Still, breaking up with Emma was pretty nice.

“Yeah, there’s no way that’ll come back to haunt you,” Milo said.

“Don’t ruin this feeling. It’s nice.”

***

Evelyn knew she had them when they started laughing. Sure, they got through the awkward stumbling of the role play, but when Annie cracked a joke while in character, that was when she knew this was going to be a weekly thing.

Playing on a bus was new, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. Evelyn had no idea how they’d do combat. So far, their first session didn’t have combat, but they would eventually. Evelyn brought multiple pairs of dice with her and was more than happy to share. The dice roller tray was Tyler’s idea, and she was so happy she called him, as it saved them from losing dice. Evelyn held it as steadily as possible as the others did their rolls.

It was slow. It was also their first session, and they were all new. Evelyn, too, was new at being a game master, so she benefited from the slower pace.

Despite the other odd looks they were getting, none of the other cheerleaders approached them. Hazel had this almost mythical power no one else could breach, because everyone respected her.

When Evelyn stepped off the bus, she felt lighter. The session went well. She enjoyed herself. They won the football game, and their dance routines went perfectly. They played another mini session on the way back, and the girls were falling in love with the game.

It was a warm night when Evelyn spotted her mother’s car and ran over to get in. She dropped her bag and her CCNC things in the back before climbing into the front.

“We won. How exciting!” Lydia said.

“Yeah.” Evelyn buckled herself before checking the mirror. It was almost midnight, and she needed to start taking out the bobby pins from her hair.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it to this one. It was so far away,” Lydia said.

“It’s okay, mom. You’ll be at the next one, right?”

Lydia started the car. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

Evelyn checked her phone, seeing everyone else making comments about the game. She also saw a message from Tyler.

Make sure Nick knows CCNC won’t be until the evening. If Calawit figured out where the demon rats are, there’s a good chance those won’t come out until the sun sets.

Also, let me know how your first game master session went!

Evelyn read the message again, feeling her smile drop. Right. CCNC. With Rafael. She slipped her phone back in her pocket. She’d successfully ignored tomorrow for a while, but it was coming. Practically here. It would be fine. It would be like the first weekend the characters came to earth. Evelyn and Rafael would simply pretend the other one didn’t exist.