I dreamt of Abigail’s bruises. Her form laid out on a grassy field, eyes staring up towards the clouds. Her lips were chapped, flakes peeling off when she opened her mouth to speak. A word wasn’t spoken, not one I could hear. I’d sat next to her and she’d reached for my hand. She moved her lips again, cracked fingernails digging into my skin. She tugged on my arm, desperate for me to understand what she was saying.

I shook my head, plucking her hand from my arm and entwining my fingers with her own. She tried to pull away, as her wounds healed before my eyes. I didn’t understand her alarm. When she pulled away, I held on tighter. My skin became tender, and when I looked down at my arms and legs, I saw them explode with color.

Her words were frantic now, but I still couldn’t hear. I tried to read her lips, but nothing made sense. Clouds started to gather quickly above us. Her free hand reached out, and touched my face. It didn’t feel like my own.

When I woke up, it was like I hadn’t slept. My eyes ached and I stumbled through my morning routine. Both my parents were gone early, and I wished they’d still been here so I could plead my case on staying home. I’d walk it off, but I really wasn’t feeling up to today.

When Abigail showed up, she noticed instantly, “Should we call it a ditch day?”

“My parents would kill me. So would yours.”

“They wouldn’t even notice.” She looked less bundled up than before. The chill the rain had brought was finally wearing off. The sting of the air remained, and it helped wake me up.

“I’ve never skipped before in my life.”

“There’s always time to try something new.” I rolled my eyes, before examining her from the corner of my eye. There weren’t any bruises on her, but a part of me had expected to find them. When I’d woken, I’d stared at the mirror, tracing where the marks had been on my own body. There was nothing, except the baited breath of feeling pain where I touched.

We made it to school and Nia was in her usual spot waiting for us. She scuffed her foot against the sidewalk, kicking a rock until it rolled onto the street. She looked distracted this morning, and me and Abigail shared a look.

She popped up in front of her, “Hey, hey. What’s up?”

“Are you…ok?” Nia looked between the two of us, reaction slow. Exhaustion outlined her face, and for a moment it made me realize I wasn’t tired at all. Not when compared to how Nia looked.

She straightened her stance, “Fine. Fine-ish. Ok. Could be better.”

“What’s the situation?” Abigail reached out and pulled her red jacket fully up so it rested on her shoulders.

Nia pressed her lips together as she gave her a look, “It’s nothing big, really. Grams is getting older, and my parents are talking about moving her in with us to take care of her. My little brothers are losing their mind over having to share a room though. They keep dragging me into it and trying to make to my business.”

It was times like these where I was glad my family unity was relatively small. Even though I had a sister, we were always staying out of each other’s way as much as possible.

“That sounds awful.”

“Kid brothers must be the worst. I’m sure they can figure it out.”

Nia shoved her hands into her pockets, “Yeah, they can. I’m moving out the minute I graduate anyhow. They’ll be able to get my room in another two years.”

We headed inside, and I realized two of the three of us were in not great states emotionally. Abigail smiled as she saw me staring, “Is there something on my face?”

“No!” Her smile grew at my protest.

“It’s just one of those mornings.”

It was about to get worse. My feet came to grounding halt as Fable stepped out in front of me. Abigail and Nia continued walking, no recognition on either of their faces. I wondered what he was doing here. His hands were folded across his chest, disappointment leaking through his gaze and posture.

“Cinder Chávez.” There was no reason to use my full name. “We need to talk.”

Absolutely not, “Right now? I’m a little busy…”

Confusion swirled in my friends gaze as they realized what was going on. I didn’t look at them, because looking up would mean having to see the cold steel that was Fable’s face. He was upset with me, and I couldn’t for the life of me fathom why.

“It’s for you own good.” He turned on his heel and left. Although I didn’t want to go, with every part of my being protesting, I forced myself to spin towards them.

Abigail placed her hands firmly on my shoulders, “I don’t know who that guy is, but you don’t have to go with him.”

If only that were true, “No, I really do. I’m sorry, guys. I’ll see you both at lunch.”

Her grip tightened, and I mumbled more apologizes as I shrugged her off. A crack showed on her face, and I wondered if it’d hurt. If these secrets were getting too much to bare. If she looked at me and thought I was becoming farther away from her for reasons she didn’t understand.

I’d only felt it for the one day the Headmaster had approached her. This was an endless series of jabs, maybe. So slight and so infrequently it was easy to ignore, but as time went on she was starting to notice. The sting was becoming familiar to her now.

With all the mental apologies I could offer, I chased after Fable.

//

“Where’s Fox?” It wasn’t a question I was expecting. We were behind the main office building, and I was surprised to see a garden here. As far as I could recall, such a place hadn’t been here before. When I looked up, I saw the stained glass, and the colors seemed a shade off from where they’d been previously.

The plants in the garden were starting to lose their color, the autumn seeping in and stealing life away for winter, “How should I know? He wasn’t in class yesterday. Is everything…ok?”

After how he’d left, I’d been worried about him. The more I thought about it, the more distressed he’d seemed. I didn’t want to ask Fable about it, seeing as the two had gotten into a fist fight before. If I mentioned Fox had been acting strange or about his magic usage, I feared for the consequences.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Don’t know. Don’t talk to him.” Fox had said the same thing. “You have class with him. How was he acting?”

“F-fine?” I balked as he stepped forward. He wouldn’t hurt me, I decided. The Headmaster wouldn’t have someone watch over me if he was going to hurt me. But in that moment, I felt threatened. There were other ways to cause harm. I knew he was capable of it.

“Really? Nothing weird.”

“He’s always weird.”

Fable stared at me, before he glanced away, “Should have figured. You’re useless in every way. Fox has probably been holding your hand this whole time.”

“I’ve been trying.” I had been. All the forced conversations and awkward encounters I was living through had to count for something. Fable’s judgement erred on the side of guilty as he looked down at me.

“Then maybe you’re not good enough.” From Jen now to Fable, frustration bubbled up in my stomach. These were endless and I was so very tired of them. I didn’t know what to give to these people, when they never told me what they actually wanted. “It’s pointless to look at me like that.”

“You’ve never even interacted with me. How can you pass judgement when you’re not even around? If I’m not good enough, then you could say the same for yourself. You’ve done nothing.” I snapped, feeling all of it come out at once. Fable looked unimpressed, but there was a flicker behind his eyes. A fragment of surprise. Like he hadn’t expected me to talk back. No one did.

I was always so quiet, the one without fangs. Abigail was the one to watch out for, and I was just there. I was always just there. I hated it. I was sick of it. Suddenly, whatever spell I’d been cast under slipped away and I felt a strange rage in my stomach I hadn’t known in ages.

Fable only frowned, “Are you done?”

“Quite. May I leave now?” He gave a pause before he nodded, and I turned on my heel and stomped off.

The feel good anger only last a minute before it evaporated. I’d snapped at Fable. He hadn’t done anything to me because I assumed I had protection here. While story things could hurt me, he couldn’t. Or Fox. Or Headmaster Gnight. Fable couldn’t affect the story either. I’d felt safe.

Now I felt like he was going to find a way to get to me, regardless. Even if he couldn’t affect the story outright, it was clear he could interact with others not considered to be a part of it. He’d approached me in front of Abigail and Nia and they’d both seen him. Fox had also interacted with the woman at the smoothie place on the day this all started. If they didn’t have a ‘main character’ flag, then were they fair game? If Fable wanted, would it be possible to cause a domino effect?

My heart picked up, and I wrapped my arms around myself, “What have I done?”

Even if I was tired of being put down, there would always be consequences for my actions.

//

Abigail and Nia didn’t ask about Fable and I didn’t bring it up. Everything flowed smoothly from one class to the next. Fox still wasn’t in math, and I couldn’t help but frantically text him. If Fable was bringing it up, it had to have been cause for concern. I also didn’t want to have to talk to him again.

After sending an all caps “U ALIVE???,” I’d gone about the rest of my day. I could only hoped I got a response before the end of tonight. It left the newly acquired cycle to my day; acting practice.

To my surprise, as I was putting things away, Kade approached. He was looking at everything but me, wringing his hands together, “Hey, I know this is sudden and I should have asked yesterday, but could I…tag along for your practice?”

His nails were digging into his hand, and I knew better than to decline, “Sure? The final call would be up to Wells, though.”

Kade’s shoulders relaxed, but only by a margin, “Yeah. Yeah, thanks.”

“Are you going to try to learn why he picked acting?”

“Something like that.” As far as I could tell, he’d sounded genuine in his remorse. For my sake, I hoped the two figured it out, so I’d finally be free of the tense air those two always brought about them. Focusing on practice wasn’t going to be easy.

When we arrived, Wells didn’t look surprised to see Kade, “Try not to be too distracting.”

“Right…” He sat across from us, watching as Wells once more collected my script that was looking closer to a collection of notes.

Wells glanced through it, his eyes stopping on certain things. I wondered if he was reading my notes. I’d done my best to practice in the mirror, and as much as second hand embarrassment plagued me, I’d soldiered on.

He nodded and set it aside, “Alright, let’s run through the same exercises from yesterday first.”

Just like yesterday, he pointed out every flaw I could have. I expected myself to feel sensitive, given how I’d just had a mini-episode earlier for the same reason. But Wells was so fair about it, and he never sounded like he was attacking me specifically. Whenever he told me what it was he wanted from me, I kept wishing Fable had done the same.

He’d been observing me, likely. When he watched me, he must have noted all the points he found displeasing. He’d found them even before all this. I wanted the list and I wanted to know how he wanted me to behave instead. I wanted notes like the ones Wells was writing about my acting, to whatever benchmark test I had clearly failed. If I was braver, I’d demand one. From Fable, and Jen too.

“You’re calmer today.” That was the last thing I was. I was glad I was managing to appear so, at least.

“That’s good. I tried practicing by myself yesterday. I still have no idea what I’m doing though.” Especially with zero natural talent. There was no diamond in the rough with me. I was truly at the starting line.

He shrugged, “You’re about as rough as I was expecting. If you keep this up you should be an extra at least.”

I hoped that was true. I could at least prove one of the people wrong who’d taken it upon themselves to see me as pathetic. While this had started as me wanting to save Nia, I could feel the sting of anger again. I did want to prove her wrong. I don’t think it was a feeling I’d ever experience before.

“I’m glad.”

He wrote down more things, pointing arrows back to previous points. I watched, and even Kade leaned over to take a peak from where he’d been quiet and still as a statue. There was a binder in his lap, opened up to a half finished sheet of homework. I hoped he wasn’t too bored with all of this.

Wells handed the script back to me, “Just focus on this tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow. Are you walking her out Kade?”

He fished for words, suddenly put on the spot, “Yeah, of course! And you’re staying here, right?”

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” He dismissed us without answering Kade’s question.

Kade put his things away, and I said again, “Thanks for the help. I really hope I’m not cutting into your own practice time.”

“I’ll get the lead role no matter what.” He was so sure even Kade paused. It wasn’t confidence, he’d stated it like the weather. A simple fact, one that no one would be able to refute. He blinked at us, and then looked away. It took a minute to register he was actually embarrassed.

Kade had gone from awkward to grinning, “The same as always, I see.”

“Get going.” Wells mumbled, and Kade laughed as we went. I offered a wave and Wells raised his hand for a second.

For the first time since meeting them, I hadn’t been plunged into an awkward situation. It was the first real miracle to happen in this entire story.

//

Kade didn’t go into my house, although I’d invited him in. He sat at the edge of the sidewalk, my script in his hand. His fingers traced over Wells’ handwriting, although I wasn’t sure if he noticed he was doing it or not. I sat quietly next to him, watching as he processed what he was reading.

“He’s serious about everything he does.” He said under his breath, a note of awe in his voice. “These are so detailed.”

“It’s kind of embarrassing, seeing how much effort he’s putting in to help me over this silly dare.”

Kade lowered the script, focusing on me, “You’re trying to audition over a dare?”

I realized I hadn’t told him a second too late. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain it all to him, but I’m sure he’d understand considering his own barebones explanations of his circumstances, “There’s a girl in our class named Jen. Her and my friends don’t get along. She was bothering me in class and said if I auditioned and got a part, she’d leave my friends alone.”

“Oh, you must really care about your friends.”

“Yeah! I love them. They have their faults, but they’ve always been there for me.” I felt a hint of a smile. “I wanted to return the favor.”

When I turned back to Kade, his face was unreadable, “I want to do the same.”

“I bet we both can if we try.” Hope sunk into every word. Hung up on the fact I didn’t know if I’d made the right choice or not, I wanted to believe. It was like solemnly swearing to myself everything would be alright. Maybe not now, or even this run, but at some point.

His head tilted up, and took a deep breath, “Let’s promise each other to try then.”

“Ok. Here’s to trying.” A promise. One I hoped I could uphold with all my might.