The next day found Andrew outside Zen's house, seemingly inconspicuous. He knew Zen was in the front yard. He had to catch his attention, yet make it seem completely coincidental that he was there. No amount of magic could help make him less awkward around people. He was very clueless when it came to most human interactions, as one might have guessed from the incident with Zen and his football. Andrew coughed loudly a few times and realized that trick only worked when one was in a closer proximity to the intended target. He paced back and forth a few times before finally deciding to call it a day, and to come back some other time with a better strategy. He whirled around upon feeling a sudden hand on his shoulder, whacking it with a jolt.

Zen rubbed the spot where Andrew had just hit him and tried to stifle his laughter. Andrew stared wide-eyed at him.

"Hey! What's up?" Zen asked.

"I... was just passing by the area and-" Andrew started, unsure of how to string more words onto the sentence after that point.

"And? You decided to pace about here and there?" Zen grinned. "Coin and I were watching." A very small golden retriever popped out from inside the yard, gleefully made its way to Zen, and rubbed its face against his leg. He got down on one knee and lovingly petted it.

Andrew was lost. He suddenly missed the days grandma made him not socialize with people. ONE interaction with a human person and THIS happened. He couldn't win with this guy. He not only caught onto Andrew's magic, but he also caught him sneaking around outside his house. Andrew wanted to clear things out, but here he was making kissy faces at a puppy. It was getting harder and harder for Andrew to handle the situation. Andrew thought back on the plan of potentially making his head explode but before he could contemplate on it any further, Zen stood up. "Sorry about that. Coin is very attached to me. He won't leave me alone."

Andrew bent down and carressed the puppy's face. It rubbed its small, soft head against his palm and he felt his lips twitch up instinctively. Zen seemed surprised. "Woah! He never allows other people to touch him!" he said with amazement as he crouched down next to Andrew.

"Animals naturally like me..." Andrew mumbled. 'Maybe except Madelaine though,' he thought to himself.

"So, you like dogs?" Zen asked. "I have two cats..." Andrew mumbled as an answer. Zen raised an eyebrow. "So... you don't like dogs?" Andrew took a second to think before saying "I like them", as he continued to pet Coin.

"We haven't really spoken much before, have we?" Zen offered Andrew his hand "I'm Zen!"

"Andrew." He tentatively accepted the hand and shook it.

"So, why were you passing by our area?" Zen inquired lightly. "You live around here?"

"No," Andrew said as Coin rubbed his small head against his ankle. He didn't know what to say next. Zen was quiet for a bit. "Do you wanna come in?" He said finally and Andrew nodded in reply.

The interior of Zen's house was the true essence of 'minimalism'. Andrew thought his parents must either be very busy or very lazy. There was hardly anything inside. Andrew followed him up the stairs to what he imagined would be the attic. Turned out that it was the boy's bedroom and it was the liveliest room in the entire house. He told Andrew to make himself at home. Andrew paced over to a bean bag and slumped down on it. It collapsed under his weight and Zen chuckled.

Stolen novel; please report.

Andrew decided that since he made the first move and came all the way to Zen's house, it was the other boy's turn to ask Andrew how he really fixed the ball (so he could lie and tell him otherwise). "Do you want something to drink?" he asked instead.

A surge of impatience and annoyance washed over Andrew. "No."

Why didn't anything ever go how he planned in his head?

"Aw, don't be shy!" Zen waved his hand. "Let me see what I have down in the fridge," and before Andrew could further object, he disappeared down the stairs. When he was back a couple minutes later, he had two juice boxes and a packet of chips. "Haven't had guests in a while... or gone grocery shopping," he said with a deprecating laugh.

As Andrew sipped on his apple-blueberry surprise, Zen watched him with interest. Twice he caught his eyes and Andrew moved his eyes away. Zen didn't look away though and Andrew thought he was odd. Understanding that Zen would not bring it up as he had hoped, he decided to do it himself and get it over with. "You know your football..." Andrew mumbled quietly. "I didn't fix it."

Lying was hard.

"Then who did?" Zen asked coolly. "I don't know," Andrew muttered.

Zen didn't say anything for what -to Andrew- felt like an eternity. When he finally said "Oh, I see. My bad, huh?" and flashed his usual smile, Andrew thought he would be put out of his misery. Unfortunately, he was not. He still felt queasy inside.

Andrew had thought that lying was an occupational hazard of having a magical descent. But having Zen find out like that and having to lie to him, it didn't feel right. If grandma had left her address with him, Andrew would have written her a letter to ask her what the right thing to do would be in this situation. But as it were, he had no way of reaching her. And then he remembered that for the remainder of his life, perhaps there would be no reaching her. Ever.

If she really had deserted him and left him to live his life as he wished, then shouldn't he have the freedom to decide who to share the truth with? What would it be to her? As he contemplated such matters, he got a painful reminder that despite being set free to be independent, he was not free of responsibility.

"No wait," Andrew sighed, his internal battle reaching a conclusion. "I did."

Zen didn't say anything. Andrew bit his lower lip. He realized that it wasn't that he felt guilty lying, but that he didn't want to lie to Zen. He wanted to be friends with him.

He forced his eyes up to Zen's and saw him look patiently back. He was being very understanding, and Andrew appreciated him all the more for it. He realized that it wasn't as though Zen didn't want to know, he was trying his best to be considerate.

Still, the rest of the explanation didn't want to make its way out of Andrew's throat. Andrew decided that it would be better to show him than to start blabbering again. He pointed his index finger skywards. Tiny glowing stars flowed out in a circular motion. Zen's eyes went wide. Andrew swirled his wrist and they began floating around them. Coin leapt into action, trying to catch them.

"So that's your answer?" Zen asked. Andrew wondered what exactly the question was, but he nodded. Zen himself didn't seem to have the right words for the moment. He didn't speak, but stared at the glowing shapes flying around them. "Bet this looks gorgeous at night," he said after some time. "Yes!" Andrew said with more spirit than he'd known himself to possess. "You wanna see?"

Zen raised his eyebrows. "You can make it night?!"

"Err no..." Andrew faltered. "I can do this again... at night."

Zen laughed. "Ah, that makes more sense,"

So what else can you do? Are you a freak? This is some movie maker effect right? This can't be real. Can you also guess what number I'm thinking of right now? Make something disappear! Andrew had expected a response of that manner. He was grateful that Zen didn't say any of those things. In fact, he didn't say much at all, and Andrew could understand. The first time he learned about magic, it took his breath away too.