Nick was checking his watch, counting down the hours until they had their session. He was both excited and nervous about this one. Excited because he’d see Alejandra again. Nervous because he’d see Rafael there, too. His excitement at seeing Alejandra far outweighed his nervousness, though.

Grizzizzik was outside practicing with his rapier, his face concentrated. Nick watched from inside, waiting for the sun to set. He searched through all their movies and tv shows to distract himself without actually choosing one to watch.

Walt walked out of the hall and noticed Nick on the couch. “Have you done your homework?”

“Yep.” Nick continued to scroll through the choices.

“Surely there’s something better you can do with your time.”

Nick crinkled his nose. “Waiting until CCNC.” So I can get out of this house.

“Don’t be out too late. You still have a ten-thirty curfew, even on the weekends.”

“Yep.”

“Are you trying to be smart with me?” Walt asked.

“Nope, I’m trying to be amicable, so you can leave me alone quicker.” It was a strange flash of bravery he might regret.

“You’re going to get a potent dose of reality in April, Nick.” Walt headed for the garage. “That much is clear.”

Nick kept scrolling through his options. “I cannot wait.”

Walt shot him a nasty look. The glare on Nick’s face had become increasingly ugly for the past two years, so much so that it became his default look, and he pointed this at Walt. It took being with Alejandra for four days to realize how much darker his times at home were.

Walt slammed the door to the garage, and Nick placed his hand in his hair, scrolling through the options before he turned it off and went to Evelyn’s door. He knocked quietly.

She opened it, taking off her headphones. “Hey.”

“Are you using your laptop?” Nick asked.

“For music, but I can move that to my phone.” Something in Nick’s face twitched. He couldn’t help it. It was a painful reminder that she had all the electronics she could want. Her smile dropped. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I … need to look up rental places,” Nick said.

Evelyn shrugged, then pulled out her phone. “Yeah, go for it.” She tapped a bit on her phone before placing it on her desk. Once the laptop was closed, she handed it over to him.

“Thanks,” Nick said, moving to his room. The CCNC session tonight was stressing him out, mostly because he would be near Alejandra with Rafael breathing down his neck. It was going to be interesting, to say the least.

Nick had a ton of rentals already saved. Some dream rentals he could never afford that were across the country. Them being across the country made them so appealing, but he couldn’t do that. It was like he told Grizzizzik. Dropping out of high school a month before he graduated would be about as smart as shooting himself in the foot. He needed a high school diploma.

He, of course, remembered his conversation with Grizzizzik. About forcing his dreams to work for him. He’d been thinking about it a bit, but he didn’t know what else to do besides make sure he had a rental apartment lined up for April.

Most of these apartments had a minimum of a year lease. If he was serious about leaving as soon as he turned eighteen, he would have to find somewhere in Elmwood. Then he’d have to resign to living in this town another year. But maybe that wouldn’t be too bad. Get in somewhere in April, stay until the next April. Alejandra would almost be graduated from high school by then.

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It surprised him how simply he made the connection. He could stay in Elmwood for another year. Mr. Morgan already seemed pretty interested in keeping him full-time. If he could work at the bookshop for an entire year, that would give him a nice cushion. Other kids his age were talking about college, like Derek, but he needed a break from school. Rather, he needed a break from his parents, and he needed a year of making his own way before attending college. He had a feeling, come April, he’d be limping out of his parents’ home and needed time to figure things out.

He could almost hear Grizzizzik scoffing at his thoughts. Once again, he was reminded of his character, forced to do what he had to for his own survival. If he stood in one spot, he was going to get killed. In a way, Nick could sympathize with that.

Nick typed a sentence on the laptop he hadn’t written before.

How to emancipate from your parents in Arizona.

Nick pulled out a notebook and began writing information. He was getting excited at what this could mean until it mentioned kids with criminal records had an almost zero chance of getting emancipated. Nick tapped his pencil against the notebook. Technically, he didn’t have a record, but it wouldn’t take much digging before they discovered a reason to keep Nick with his parents. He’d also have to prove he could provide for himself. He was pretty sure he could. A nice chunk of money was sitting in his savings account. He had a feeling rent would eat it all in a year, but as long as he kept his full-time job…

There was a soft knock on the door. “Nick?”

“Yeah?”

Evelyn walked in, as she always did, leaning against the wall. “Ready to go?”

He checked his watch, surprised at how quickly the time went once he had something to do. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Grizzizzik and Clarissa got in the car as Nick climbed into the driver’s seat. “Another month and you’ll be driving this thing.” Nick glanced behind him to back out of the driveway.

“Ugh, I’m so nervous,” Evelyn said.

“For driving?”

“Yes, for driving!”

This confused Nick. “But Mom and Dad say you’re doing great.”

She shuddered. “There are way too many rules. How are you not paranoid all the time that you’re going to kill someone?”

Nick shrugged. “I guess… practice? Though it’s always worse when there’s a police car behind me. I never feel more scrutinized than when there’s one of those cars in my rearview.”

“Well, that’s understandable. It’s kind of like Schrodinger’s Cat.”

Nick blinked, then glanced at Evelyn before focusing on the road again. “Sorry, what?”

“Schrodinger’s cat! You know the principle. It applies here. You can be the best driver in the world until a cop car is behind you. Or your driver instructor is sitting in the car next to you. Then you forget everything. So are you a good driver? Or are you a bad one? Is the cat alive? Or is it dead?” She flipped her hair from her shoulder, scrolling through her phone.

Nick stared at the road, saying nothing. He wasn’t sure what was more surreal, that he was discussing his little sister learning to drive, or she started spouting off a thought experiment for quantum mechanics that sort of applied. “How… how do you know this stuff?”

She scoffed, aimlessly scrolling on her phone. “I took Mr. Anderson’s science class last year, idiot. It’s a pretty common principle.”

“Yeah, but you’re also, you know. A cheerleader.”

Evelyn laughed. “What’s the matter, Nick? I can’t like science because I’m a cheerleader?”

“That’s not—”

“Don’t bother answering. I actually despise science. Some principles are fascinating, though, don’t you agree? Or should I stick you in a box that may or may not kill you?” Evelyn held up her phone. “Pretend selfie that’s actually a group photo!”

Nick was confused until Clarissa leaned in closer to Evelyn, giving an elfish smile. Evelyn gave her peace sign and a wink before taking the photo. He tried to keep his focus on the road, but was surprised. How many pictures had Evelyn and Clarissa taken?

“You don’t post those on social media, do you?” Nick asked.

She tapped on her phone. “Of course not. The wrong people might see them. But… you honestly don’t want any pictures of you or Grizzizzik?” There was a silence as Nick glanced at the rearview mirror to see his rogue sulking, staring out the window. “Ugh, girl. You are GORGEOUS!” Evelyn said.

“Stop it. Look at you! Look at those eyes!” Clarissa said, fascinated with the camera.

“I bet there’s a filter I could use to make me look like an elf.” Evelyn tapped on her phone again. “Ah! There it is! New pose!”

Nick stared ahead, trying not to laugh. Evelyn made a kiss face as Clarissa turned her head to the other side, showing off her crystal tiara. Despite the almost whiplash conversation change, Nick couldn’t help but realize that when he left in April, he’d be leaving Evelyn behind, too. And despite how much she annoyed him, how much she was clearly spoiled, she was the only family he’d miss. Even if she did ridiculous things like request group shots from her druid character.

They pulled into Derek’s driveway and got out of the car. Evelyn and Clarissa got out, oohing and ahhing at their own pictures. Grizzizzik shut the door, hands deep in his pockets.

“You don’t feel left out that we’re not taking pictures, are you?” Nick asked.

Grizzizzik gave him a dead stare. “No offense, but I would rather streak naked through the fae forest screaming for a deal from the queen of the fae herself than do whatever those two did the entire car ride.”

Nick shrugged, suppressing a smile. “Fair enough.”