“So, what is this project the four of you have been working on?” We were in the car; mom was driving to Alex's house. It was about two fifty-six in the afternoon and I was directing my mom on how to get there. 

“Um well, we're looking at different historical items and analyzing their historical significance and when and how they were used.” a response Brad had helped me come up with. 

“Oh, that makes sense. And your friends came to our house because our basement is filled with all sorts of stuff.” 

“Exactly, and because there's more space at Alex's place, that's why we're looking at the stuff over there.” We sat in silence for a little. My mother's face started to make a confused expression and I was worried she might have figured something out somehow. I stayed silent until she finally spoke again. 

“I'm sorry, Alex is using Rosey to make a car?” she asked, the question clearly having been plaguing her mind.

“A minivan but yeah.” I answered in a similar confused tone. 

“Is that even legal?” 

“I don't know, she got the idea from Tulip. Her dad is a cop, so if anyone would know it would be her.” 

“Well, I'm just glad that thing is finally out of the house. She said as she slowly pulled a car to a stop, a couple houses away. “Have a fun time, make sure to be back before nine. Let me know if you want me to pick you.” she said as I left the car. 

“Ok, sounds good mom.” I walked towards the open garage door.

As I walked, I couldn't help but overhear a conversation. It was Brad, Tulip and Alex. 

“Good god your touch deprived, you really need to date someone desperately” Alex snickered. 

“You know if you just asked, he would probably say yes.” Brad suggested.

“Wait isn't he gay?” Tulip Alex.

“What no... maybe, no one really knows we’ve asked his mom about it and she thought that we would know, there's actually a betting pool about this, but even still he’d probably say yes.” Brad explained, about who I wasn't sure probably someone he started talking to after the incident.

“Yeah, but I kind of want him to ask me, I'm traditional like that.” Tulip explained somewhat embarrassed.

“Tulip, I have known the guy for six years so listen to me when I say this. If you want to get through to him, then you need to tell him exactly how you feel, or this will drag out for a long, long time like maybe two or three years.” Brad instructed. 

“Ok, maybe ill ask him when this is all over.” 

“I mean are you sure you want to? He seems a bit dumb, and you can do better.” Alex pointed out.

“He's not dumb he’s just dense.” Brad defended but in a way, I could tell he didn't really mean. 

“Yeah, he's a cute guy… sweet but doesn't overstep.” Tulip said the last part having a strange tone to it. Not wanting to eavesdrop, I continued my way inside where I saw the three of them seated around the table, all doing various things. Alex was covering her mouth with her hand trying her best not to laugh. Tulip's face was beet red and on the table. And Brad just had a surprised and dumbfounded expression towards Tulip. Brad was the first to notice I had arrived. 

“Oh, hey Ink! … How long have you been standing there?” As soon as my name was spoken Tulip immediately sat straight and turned her head towards me. Her face still beet red which for some reason only seemed to glow brighter. 

“Not long," I answered causing brad and tulip to let out a sigh of relief “What's wrong with her?” I pointed to Alex snickering, as I closed the garage door behind me. 

“Brad just said a really funny joke,” Alex barely got out. 

“Really what was it?” I asked curiously. 

“Trust me, you wouldn't get it.” Brad answered, barely able to hold in a laugh himself as he said it. 

“Okay," I said shrugging my shoulders as I took my seat. 

“Anyways more importantly what did Antonio want with you?” Tulip asked whose face had started to return to its normal complexion. 

“He wanted my help to stop Tyrone and Guams, apparently, they've gone crazy. He also figured out that I can see magic, but I don't think he knows about your guys involvement or much else.” I explained with a heavy sigh. 

“Wait hold on Ink why does he want to stop them?” Tulip asked. 

“I'm not sure myself but I think he's scared. Apparently his mind is being corrupted by whatever has given him his powers, which must be the book.” I answered, my voice uneasy still unsure of what to think of it.

“Wait do you think we can be corrupted by our magic items?” Alex asked glancing all over the room. 

“No, I don't think so. I think that either my mom or I would have felt its effects after living with them for four years.” I explained the thought already occurring to me earlier.

“Ok, ok that's good.” Alex said letting out a sigh of relief.

“What was your answer?” Tulip asked. 

“I told Antonio I would give him my answer tomorrow. Alex and I agreed we should definitely talk about this with the rest of the group before I tell him anything more.” 

“Ink” Brad spoke up. “I know you're not the best at this sort of thing, but do you think he was lying?” I didn't answer immediately. I thought about my answer, and I couldn't help but think about the last time Antonio lied to me. 

“I don't think he was lying. He seemed scared of himself and the others, but I don't think we should trust him, and I don't think we should take his help.” I answered.

“Wait, if he was honest and he wanted to help, then why don't you want his help, that's one less guy to take down and he's probably an even match for one of them he would be a great ally.” Tulip asked, confused. 

“Yeah, I mean Antonio is not the kind of guy to lie to someone unless it's for a really good reason.” Brad said. Hearing those words something in me snapped Brad didn't care, none of them cared. I thought that after three months at the very least brad could understand why I was angry what they stole from me but no if they don't understand know then they never will. 

“IF HE ALWAYS HAS A GOOD REASON FOR LYING, THEN WHAT WAS THE GOOD REASON FOR LYING TO ME ABOUT THE SCULPTURE!” 

“Seriously Ink, this is why you don't trust him? Because he lied to you about the statue.” Tulip shouted. “I understand that Brad and the others destroyed your chance at getting into un. But come on, you have to see there are more important things than that statue. People's lives are at risk for gods sake and you're too busy being butt hurt to make the only smart and reasonable decision.” 

“Wait and why are you able to work with Brad and not Antonio? Didn’t they both have a part to play in the destruction?” Alex chimed in. I stayed silent, not really having an answer for them. 

“Ink, you went to me for help or at the very least what I knew. How is that any different?”

 I sighed knowing I didn't have an argument but I didn't care and I yelled. “Fine, if all of you want to trust him, I'll tell him my answer is yes, but if this goes wrong, then this, this is on all of you. But my vote is no, and it will not be changed.” 

“Ink you said it yourself innocent people are getting hurt or worse.” Tulip pointed out. “I don't know if we can completely trust him either. But my hope is if we work with Antonio, we can lessen their impact. I vote to let Antonio join.” Tulip declared. 

“Plus, even if this is some big lie or elaborate ruse, we can still use this as an opportunity to get more information on what they can do. My vote is for Antonio to join.” Alex explained. 

“Look, we all make mistakes, and I can admit Antonio and the others have made some big ones, especially to you. But if he's trying to make up for them, the least we can do is help him do so. My vote is to let Antonio in.” hearing brad give his answer I let out a sigh. 

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“Fine, a vote is a vote. I won't argue with the results. I'll let him know your answer tomorrow and I’ll figure out a place to meet up.” 

“When you do, you should let us know where and when you're going to meet up. Just in case this is an ambush, " Alex added.

“Fine.” was all I said as I summoned Hachiko placed him in my lap and started to pet him to help myself calm down. It could've been my imagination, but I swore that the garage light dimmed a little bit. But it wasn't dimming, it was fading back to its normal intensity, as if for some reason shining brighter during the argument.

After a few moments of awkward silence Brad spoke up. “So should we divvy up the magic goodies?” 

“Yeah!” Tulip said excitedly. 

“Like I said earlier, I don't need anything, I got Hachiko.” I gestured to the doggy resting in my lap. 

“So how do we decide who gets what?” Brad asked. 

“Yeah, because there's no good way of deciding this without one of us getting upset.” Tulip pointed out. 

“I thought about that so that's why I made this," she walked towards a nearby box of what looked like useless junk. She started to rummage through it until she pulled out a small metal box the size of a box of tissues and with a big red button on the box. There was a small screen on one of the long sides and a mini keyboard on the opposite side. “Basically, this device will take any word or phrase I input and when I press the button, the screen will display one of the words randomly.” Alex explained with pride. “Does that seem fair to you guys?” I wanted to ask why we couldn't use an app, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“Sounds good to me,” Brad happily replied. 

“Yeah, same here.” Tulip said in agreement. 

“Whoever gets their name displayed first, gets the first pick of the items.” as she quickly typed a couple things into the keyboard and slammed her hand down onto the button causing the name Tulip to be displayed on the screen. 

“Ok, Tulip you're up first.” 

“I'll pick the armor," Tulip pointed to the pile of rusted metal in the corner of the room. When she did, a look of confusion fell on her face. “Wait, is some of it missing?” I looked at it and I noticed that one of the arms was missing. 

“Well, I wasn't a hundred percent sure on if Ink was right about the spell steel so I wanted to test it out to make sure that we wouldn't be destroying it for good.” She said, pulling out a small metal chain from her pocket. “And I found out that...” She closed her eyes and a barrier about the size of a manhole cover appeared before her. But unlike the bright and vibrant blue of the previous barriers, this one was a pale and almost translucent. “That's what happens and believe it or not it's breakable.” 

“Wait, so re–smelting the armor makes the spell weaker?” I asked quickly flipping through my book to see if I missed a line. 

“Yeah, that's what I thought too, until I did this.” She got up from her chair and walked towards the rest of the armor. The armor glowed brighter and brighter with each step, until when she reached the armor, then the barrier was just as blue and opaque as when we first summoned it. 

“Huh?” Brad said. 

“I guess whatever you forge it into, you will have to use all of it and keep it together.” 

“Exactly." 

“Okay, let's talk about what we can forge this into later.” 

“Sounds good, anyways let's see who's next!” she said as she pressed the button causing the name Alex to be displayed. 

“Dibs on the portal coins!" she screamed as soon as her name was displayed. 

“Well, I guess that just leaves me the book," Brad smiling as he picked it up.

We experimented and tested our items a bit more not really discovering anything new about them. Admittedly a lot of fun the time on the clock was about eight twenty-two. “Well guys, this has been fun but I have to head home now.” I said getting up. 

“Yeah, I should probably head home right about now too," Brad said rising up. 

“Oh, wait Ink, before you go, I uh got something for you.” Tulip said as she fumbled in her bag. 

“Really, what is it?”

“Well,” still fumbling with her purse. “I noticed Hachiko didn't have a leash and figured you probably didn't want to draw attention to him or yourself. I got you this.” She pulled out a small orange leash and matching collar with a golden tag that had the word Hachiko embedded on it. I looked at it with surprise and delight. 

“Thank you so much Tulip. This is so thoughtful. You know the first time I took Hachiko on a walk, a guy actually yelled at me for not keeping him on a leash.” 

“Well, now you won't have to deal with that,” she said with a big smile. 

“You know I'm gonna put it on him right now.” I fumbled with the clasp unsure how to properly connect the leash to the collar I awkwardly turned to Tulip. “Hey, I'm sorry but could you help me attach this? I never had a dog or any kind of pet before so I'm not sure how to put it on.” 

“Oh” she said in surprise “Sorry” she said walking forward. “I have three dogs, so I sort of forget not everyone knows how. Here let me show you how.” She bent down to me and Hachiko’s level. “You see, it's just like this." As she grabbed my hands and started to help move them, to hook the collar around Hachiko’s neck. 

“Thanks, you're so good at this," Turning to face her. When our eyes met, I noticed how close our faces were together. We were only a couple centimeters from each other. I quickly realized the intimacy of the situation, how our actions resembled a bad romance movie, and we could have easily kissed if given a little nudge. Thinking about the idea of kissing a girl or her kissing me, I got a bit embarrassed, and my face turned a bright red. I quickly got up just as Tulip did. Her face was much, much brighter than mine. 

“Thank you so much for Hachiko's leash.” Standing up and quickly trying to open the garage door. 

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she quickly headed towards the door to the house.

As I quickly walked out the now open garage door. Brad was trying to hold back a laugh as he quickly followed me. We walked in silence for the first couple minutes, until Brad finally swallowed his laughter and spoke up. “So, what do you think about her?” 

”Well Alex is really smart, and I can always appreciate the work and skill of another Creator, even if her workshop is really, really messy.” I mentioned Alex even though I knew exactly who Brad was referring to since I was unsure of what I thought about what had just happened, and don't think I could handle Brad's teasing if I gave him anything more to work with.

“Yeah, she is really smart. She's helped me study for a couple tests back when she hosted those study sessions for everyone.” 

“Right, right I remember, I learned more in those sessions than I did in a month of classes.” 

“And what about Tulip?" He asked with a mischievous grin. I paused and thought about it for a moment. Thankfully I had a bit more time to prepare my response by mentioning Alex first.

“Tulip is kind and sweet. She isn't afraid to speak her mind and listens and offers good advice. She loves history with a passion… She's a good friend, a kind of friend I've missed having around." Brad paused after I said that. He wore a look of sadness on his face before quickly changing to his usual chipperness. 

“Yeah, she's pretty cool. She actually helped me pick out some flowers when I was going out with Amanda.” 

“Which time?” I asked, remembering Brad’s on and off again history with the most popular girl in school. 

“Oh, shut up," he joked, elbowing me playfully. “It wasn't that bad.” 

“No, your relationship with Chad was the worst. You guys broke up and got back together like five different times in a year, it was really hard to be your friend back then.” 

“At least I've been in a relationship.”

 “You know I'm busy.” 

“Sure, sure even though your mom is constantly trying to get you to go to a party and enjoy your last couple years of high school.” He paused and his face was hesitant as if he wanted to ask something but wasn't sure how to go about it, he stayed like that until the words awkwardly stumbled out of his mouth. “Hey Ink, were you and Tyrone ever you know...” he made a circular motion with his hands. I started at him blankly fully knowing what he was asking but kinda enjoying the awkwardness, before realising I didn't fully know myself.

“I don't know man, I mean look I didn't exactly grow up in the most open minded place, all I know is that as I got to know Tyrone more and more, I started to think about him differently. I'm not sure how he would ever have reacted maybe he would have reciprocated, I was always scared though, but I think he knew. We did what I was comfortable with, without ever having to put a label on it.”

“Did you guys ever you know...” He asked hesitantly.

“Dude gross!” I reeled back not wanting to talk about something so intimate with a friend.

“Were sixteen!” Brad responded.

“I’m sixteen you’re seventeen don’t impose your old man values on me! Just because, back in your day you were all into hooking up with anything with a heartbeat doesn’t mean I’m about that” I joked, causing brad to playfully shove me, with me doing the same. And just like that we started to joke all through the night just like old times. The only time we weren’t cracking jokes or laughing was when we were gasping for air. Eventually we reached my house looking through the window I saw mom finishing closing the shop. 

“Well see ya later Ink.” 

“See ya later Brad,” as he walked away.

I entered the shop with Hachiko walking in behind me. “Hey mom, how's it going?” Still putting away a couple of the books she answered. 

“Good, good someone placed an orders for a couple Muskoka chairs. How was your day?” She said as turned around to face me.

“Good, good got a lo–Ink, whose dog is that?” She pointed to Hachiko, who I forgot I had been walking with on the way home. 

“Um Brad's" I tried to lie.

Mom just looked at me and said. “Brad is deathly allergic to dogs. Ink there's no way that's his and even if it was why would he leave it with you?” 

“He got better?” I meekly answered.

“Ink I want you to explain where you got that dog, NOW!” Not seeing any point in lying I sighed and gave in. 

“Ok, but if I do you have to promise to stay calm, ok?” 

“No, you stole someone's dog!”

“No, I didn'... you know what here revela te.” Causing Hachiko’s Akita appearance to recede into himself, leaving the small wooden carving to remain in his place. “I didn't steal him, I made him.” I said to Mom who was in a stunned silence. 

“Wha, how, I don't, again…” Was all she was able to get out before her eyes suddenly closed and she started to collapse on to the floor. 

“Crap!” I ran forward, barely being able to catch her before her head hit the floor. I grabbed her wrist thankfully feeling a pulse, I carefully laid her on the ground and quickly went to close the blinds. “Crescite et confortamini.” I cried out to Hachiko, causing him to grow to the size of a large wolf. “Ok Hachiko, I need your help to bring my mom to her room carefully and quietly.” He nodded and I carefully hoisted her on top of the giant wooden wolf and brought her upstairs, laying her on the bed. “Ok your a good boy Hachiko Revertere ad me eqyym meum," causing Hachiko to shrink and fly towards my hand. I wrote a small note giving a plausible explanation of what had happened and why she was in her bed. Right now, and quickly headed to bed. 

Hey Mom, I found you passed out on the counter, so I closed down the shop and brought you to your bed.

-Ink

After leaving my note, I quickly went to bed, closing my eyes on an emotionally exhausting and confusing day. I hoped tomorrow would be better, although even then I knew deep down it wouldn't.