[Luke – 13 years] → takes place during Chapter 62

Even after a few hours of thinking on it, I can't figure out what Adrian King meant. The law of magical amplification is affected by the same thing causing the sparks in my mana and the increase in my hyper levels the more mana I have. I've run through everything I know of which interacts with the law of magical amplification, whether as something affected by it or something which affects it.

It really sucks there's no one else around I could bounce ideas off of. Well, I could probably bounce them with my parents, but I don't know. Something in me says I should ask Tyler, but I can't right now. He's not here and his phone has no service from wherever he and his dad are hunting beasts. Maybe it's just because he's my age and my parents aren't?

We even debated something relating to the law of magical amplification back when we first met. That wasn't a confirmed interaction, just something we were-

Wait.

Nabdioak's theory of intertwined magics, the idea that magic can be charged with an aspect instead of just being tuned to it. It's never been proven before, hence it just being a theory. However, didn't Tyler and I discuss how if it's real, it had the potential to amplify magic even more?

Magical amplification is the act of structuring magic in such a way as to make it more efficient, therefore amplifying its strength. That's what basically all spells and enchantments are – magic structured for efficiency.

If my mana is actually charged with lightning somehow, that would actually greatly explain my ability with lightning magics being so great compared to my parents'. However, the idea behind Nabdioak's theory is that when magic is actually charged with it rather than containing it or being attuned to it, it's also cheaper to cast and more powerful in the result.

Hm… maybe my "charging" isn't complete and that's why the sparks are actually there?

I inhale deeply and do my best to sense my mana on a level I've never managed before. To feel not just the mana itself, but the lightning aspect of it and the lightning within it. The dense, mist-like force spread throughout my body, an energy which bends to my will and dances across my skin as I cast.

The sparks within it and how they dance and shift. How they stem from the lightning within it, not fully a part of it. Only partially. It's as if the process began but didn't complete and did I just begin to actually sense my mana on a deeper level?

I almost lose my focus upon the realization but quickly return to looking deep within. It's definitely as if my mana had taken in some lightning and started to merge it into itself. Or maybe that I had? There are traces there. Faint, but there… if I just do this a little… yeah, the lightning is merging into the mana properly. And now, it's spread throughout it.

The moment the process completes and my mana is properly infused with mana, I can feel a sudden and noticeable shift in my very being. A calmness of the sort I've never known when I'm this full of mana fills me. Sparks continue to dance within my mana, but they no longer manifest the same. They are my mana now rather than drawn from lightning within it.

As for my mana… it's now lightning itself, in a sense.

I open my hands and examine my right hand, then conjure an orb of lightning above it. The orb is only 3" in diameter and sparks lightly, yet it cost only a tenth of what it normally does to make one of the same strength. The casting speed was even faster than normal for me.

Over my left palm, I manifest a 3" orb of mana. What forms is a 3" sphere of golden-white mana with sparks flowing through it. Now I'm not just attuned to the power of lightning, I am the power of lightning.

I dismiss the orb over my right palm and summon another 3" sphere of mana. This time, I focus on removing the lightning aspect from it. It's more difficult than normal to convert my mana, but I succeed in the end, returning it to an orb of ordinary, blue mana.

As I stare at the two orbs floating above my palms, several thoughts float through my head. First, I can really understand why Adrian King wanted to slow down Earth's progress and keep it relatively level instead of having several individual true powerhouses running around.

I just sensed lightning in my mana for the first time and turned a theory into a law. Now, my power is ten times as great as it was when I woke up this morning. If the world has several random people with this sort of ability or greatness in their own ways, or they're even more powerful than me, they could essentially become tyrants.

While I'm sure Adrian King is monitoring things on his own to reduce that for those of us who slipped through, it's better for the world to gradually adjust to greater levels of power. That will prevent tyrants from forming and reduced the need for specialized task forces to deal with such cases.

My sense for electricity has grown even greater again. I know that mages with bloodlines often have extra senses in them, and that they strengthen usually around the age of thirteen or fourteen, but this… I can sense the electricity in the guards at Xander's place if I focus on it just a little bit.

That'll take some adjusting to.

I look over to my parents, who are both sitting against one wall of the training room, watching me from behind and to the side.

"Mind telling us what happened?" Mom asks. "I came in here to let you know lunch was ready, and you were deep in meditation. We couldn't rouse you at all."

"And when you finally came out," Dad says. "It's now dinnertime and you were able to summon an orb of lightning mana above your palm. Not just lightning-attuned mana but actual lightning mana."

I was messing with my mana for over six hours? Maybe seven or more?

"That's… my mana now," I look down at the two orbs. "Before he brought me back here, Adrian King gave me a hint about why I get so hyper when my mana is full and I was right, it's related to the sparks Xander sees in my mana. Nabdioak's law of intertwined magic was messing with me as the charge within my mana wasn't completed. One of the times I ate magical lightning with actual lightning mana, I must have started to convert my own mana into it. Not sure when that happened, though…"

I don't remember ever eating that sort of magical lightning before. Always felt it was dangerous even with my ability to eat lightning and magic lightning.

Though Mom and Dad seem to know as they look at each other.

"Know how we like watching thunderstorms?" Dad asks. "Especially ones with a lot of lightning?"

"Of course," I answer. "They're pretty fun to watch."

"The first summer camping trip you went on," he says. "A little before you turned one, there was a lightning storm at the location. There was a lot of lightning magic in the storm and a bolt came at us. Not normally a problem and we knew it wouldn't be for you. You… ate it. There didn't seem to be any adverse effects and the doctors we took you to confirmed you were fine, but that must be when it happened."

In other words, I was so good at magic when I was a baby that I was able to learn how to convert my mana pool itself into a different type of mana.

No wonder Adrian King is keeping an eye on me.

"Damn, I'm badass!"

"Lucas!" Mom exclaims. "No swearing!"

"I've gotta tell Parker about what happened!" I tell them as my body becomes charged with lightning – though not a spark affects my clothes. "I feel so much calmer now, I don't think I'll go on babblefests anymore!"

"Isn't Parker mad at you?" Dad asks.

"He can get over himself," I say. "This is more important! Bye!"

I leave at top speed and head over to Parker's, the guards reluctantly allowing me in. They probably don't want to because Parker probably told them not to, but they do anyway. Once I'm in his family's mansion, I bolt to the theater room, where I can feel his electricity.

He's wearing just a pair of brown-and-orange shorts and is eating a giant bowl of popcorn covered in chocolate sauce and sprinkles, a cup of soda in the right-hand armrest of his seat. The bowl looks half-empty and he's got chocolate all over his fingers and lips, and he gives me an annoyed look at interrupting his sulking watch of whatever he's got up on the screen. I'm not looking there.

"Parker!" I give him two thumbs-up. "Looking good! So I know you're being a moody shit right now but you can get over yourself for, like, five seconds because something awesome happened! So Adrian King showed up at my home this morning to talk with me about something because I'm apparently ridiculously gifted and am part of some changes happening to the world and he wanted to let me know a better way to drain my mana when I want to, though I won't need to use it anymore unless I actually want lightning mana crystals. Oh! Yeah! It's a device which produces mana crystals just by putting your mana into it! There's only a ten percent loss rate so it's super efficient!

"Anyway, before he left, I asked if he had any ideas on why I get more hyper and babbly the more mana I have and he didn't actually tell me, but he did give me a big hint. All he told me was that the law of magical amplification was affected by it. That doesn't make sense on its own so I was thinking of everything known to interact with it, but see? That was the wrong line of thought! As it turns out, I had to think of stuff which isn't known to interact with it! Specifically, stuff which wasn't even proven!

"As it turns out, it's Nabdioak's law of intertwined magics, not theory! And it's directly related to why I have sparks in my mana! They're still there, but once I realized what it was, I was able to look into my mana in a way which let me sense the problem and fix it! So now instead of my mana only being incompletely charged with lightning, it's now lightning-charged! So I guess it's really just lightning mana now, but I can convert back to normal mana when I cast stuff if I want to cast something that's not lightning magic. Now I feel infinitely calmer, like I've achieved transcendence and become enlightened, so I won't be as babbly or hyperactive anymore.

"Also," I say. "It really does cheapen my mana costs immensely! At least, for lightning magics. And my control over my lightning has gotten so much better, too, just from that! Look – there's no damage to my clothes from being lightning-charged! And I can move even faster while lightning-charged now, too! It took me, like, thirty seconds to get from the training room in my house to the gate out front of yours!

"Is that popcorn good?" I ask. He's been taking bites as I speak, just staring at me as he munches on it. "Did you make the chocolate and sprinkles yourself? Can I have some? I love the chocolate sauce you make! Oh, and I'm almost out of the last thing of it you made me, too! Well, actually, I'm completely out. I overate on ice cream last night. This is also such a big thing for me, too, so I wanna do more ice cream to celebrate! But I apparently haven't had lunch yet and it's now dinnertime. Man, focusing on fixing my mana took a lot of time! And I actually feel kind of wiped, too. It's apparently exhausting. Hey, whatcha watching? Can I join you? You like watching athletic streamers, right? Anything cool on right now? I prefer the magic streamers and the gamers, myself, but some of the athletic ones you watch seem pretty cool."

I stare at him, waiting for a response. He popped another piece of popcorn into his mouth just as I finished speaking, and he chews it slowly while keeping his gaze fixed on me.

"Not going to be a babbler anymore, huh?" He asks after swallowing.

"Nope!" I answer as I turn off my lightning-charged state. "Now that my mana's fixed up, it shouldn't affect my hyper levels anymore! That's the idea, anyway!"

Parker snorts and rolls his eyes, then points at the seat beside him.

"Cool!" I quickly slip off my sneakers, then rush over and sit beside him before grabbing a handful of popcorn. "So what were you watching?"

"Xander was streaming."

"Xander was streaming?" I ask. "Okay, now I know you're messing with me. Xander doesn't have the confidence for that. He's more confident in some of his abilities but putting himself out there and showing off whatever he'd show off… yeah, nah. Plus, he's not athletic and doesn't use magic, so… what would he even stream?"

"It's more popular in other countries," Parker says. "But video games are something people stream, too."

Xander plays games? I thought he didn't, that's why I didn't include that.

"And other stuff people stream in all countries," he adds. "Can be crafts, cooking, baking, or whatever."

"Ooh!" I say. "So he was baking on stream? How'd Trey convince him to do that?"

"Nah," Parker snorts. "Xander was streaming him riding on his hoverboard and teaching another streamer how to ride it. There's a new streamer/uploader from over in Autumn Hills named Carter. He does a lot of athletic stuff but also some magic. He went live while I was watching something else and when he went live, Xander was with him."

"Xander knows a streamer?"

"Uh… no," Parker says. "Carter knows S.G., who's friends with Xander. He asked S.G. if he knew the kid with the hoverboard from the article someone made yesterday, then I guess came over today and asked about getting to ride it. Xander seemed really uncomfortable for the whole stream, but… he built a hoverboard, Luke. Xander built a freaking hoverboard!"

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"I know!" I exclaim. "I asked him about it yesterday! Well, I texted him to let him know about the article and he was upset someone recorded him without asking. He's got some mad skills! Do you think he'd let me give it a ride?"

"Probably not," Parker licks his fingers clean, then wipes them on a napkin. "He was pretty clearly uncomfortable and just let someone he doesn't know ride it. Considering how he views you… he'll probably try to find a way to change the subject if you ask."

As upset as that makes me, I know it's true, too. Xander really doesn't like me. At least Parker's talking to me again!

Well, he didn't really have a choice since I did just barge into his home, but he doesn't seem upset anymore, just exasperated for some reason.

"Here," he says after navigating something on his control tablet. "The VOD from the stream. It ended a little bit ago, but I didn't want to clean my fingers off so I could pull up something else…"

I shove my face into the bowl to take a big bite.

"Luuuke!" He tries to act mad but he's laughing. "Watch the video!"

The video starts and has some kid who's probably the Carter that Parker mentioned standing beside Xander. Xander's all dressed up in jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt, a helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves. And his sneakers, of course.

"Oh, my goodness!" I exclaim. "Look at him, Parker! He's all geared up for it and he looks so cute and oh, my goodness! Hey, Parker, do you-"

Parker shoves popcorn into my mouth.

"Less talking, more watching."

The flights that Xander and Carter do are pretty amazing and while Xander seems nervous, it's pretty clear to me that it's the showing this to others and being on camera that's making him so. How much he relaxes once he really gets into it makes it evident that he feels so at home on the hoverboards, too. And that look of joy on his face as he glides around on it… well, it's not so obvious to others, probably, at least according to Parker.

I guess Xander just has slight facial expressions. They're obvious to me, though.

"Dude," I look at Parker when the video ends. "Think he'd build me one if I asked? I've got two hundred K. I mean, that's probably many times my daily allowance but my parents'll lift it for a day if I ask and I do have the funds from all my work. Heck, two hundred grand is what I got paid for a generator I built critical parts for last month and the board will probably cost less than that. Well, I did more than that for it, but the higher pay was mostly for that. And when you add on the interest that accrues on everything I earn and it's a fat wallet, I could even buy you one, if you want! Do you want a hoverboard? Do you think Xander'll build us both ones if I ask? ParkerParkerParker, come on! Answer me! Do you think he will?"

Parker flicks me on the nose with a finger covered in chocolate sauce.

"Wh-hey!"

"You're totally not hyperactive and babbling like a monster anymore," he tells me. "Definitely not."

"See?" I grin. "I told you I was a lot calmer now! So what do you think? Think he'll build them if I ask?"

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[Greyson – 10 years]

"So?" Dad asks after we finish eating dinner in the academy's cafeteria. "What did you think? Does the academy seem fun?"

For the afternoon part of the tour, I got to play with more of the facilities, such as the athletic and magic training areas. Now, we're eating with Cody and his dad in the dining hall, and even their dinner food is good.

We're not the only ones eating in here. Students coming in for testing over the next two weeks are encouraged to stay at the academy for it to make it easier to arrive on time for the tests. There are about sixty of us in total and nearly all of them are here and have already been given room assignments and are eating here now to give the cafeteria food a try. Some of them still have their parents present, too, so it's not just Cody and me with a parent eating with us.

Some of the kids would be seniors in high school this year, but most of the kids are as young as me or even younger – the academy starts at kindergarten age. However gifted children are found, it seems to be relatively easy to find them by the fifth grade at the latest.

There will probably be more who start during the school year, but this is most of the ones who'll be starting as fresh students. I'm the oldest Lumarikang here, but not the only one. There are three five-year-old Lumarikangs eating dinner right now, so I guess the gifted ones within my great-grandfather's awareness start school here.

"Yeah!" I nod. "They have so much magitech that I don't have or which is better than mine. I've already texted Grandfather Adrian a list of things I'd like to have delivered to the secret base so I can take them apart and see how they work so I can improve me own. He did respond, too."

"What did he say?" Dad's amused by that.

"That I need to follow the protocol outlined in the instructions on how to request resources rather than hacking his phone to ask him."

Dad snorts at that.

"Xander can text him random questions," I say. "I apparently can't text him a legitimate one. Well, it makes sense. Xander's a god so he gets special permissions."

Dad seems to think it's something else, but he doesn't say.

"Have you changed your mind and want to go here?" He asks.

"No," I shake my head. "The anti-teleport wards are too stuffy, this place is evil. But it was nice to get to visit it as I now know of some pieces of magitech which I am lacking or inferior to. That should be corrected soon, if Grandfather Adrian delivers the machines and devices after I fill out the request form."

"You don't wanna come?" Cody asks. "But the academy's so fun!"

"I'm sure it is," I say. "But it has anti-teleport wards, and that makes it evil."

"While Cody was giving you the initial tour," Dad tells me. "I spoke with them about the situation. You normally have to give up your phone for the first month as well, so that there's no contact outside of here during the transition period. They'll allow you to keep your phone on you outside of class time and during the sleep hours. You'll also be permitted to leave the campus on weekends during the first month."

"That's not the same thing," I say. "If I cannot evacuate-hello, Grandfather Adrian."

Grandfather Adrian appeared behind Cody, who's sitting opposite of me and the moment he appeared, others who are eating in here quiet down and look over. He's pretty famous, after all, and most people here have probably heard of him since he created the academy.

"Hello, Greyson," Grandfather Adrian says. "I was listening in on the conversation. If you stay at the academy for the next two weeks, then I will also deliver to your workshop the items you requested in the text if you file the appropriate form, and also an additional mana battery of the previous rate. Furthermore, I will key you into the anti-teleport ward here after your first month as a student. The ward is older than your father and its primary purpose is to prevent unwelcome people from coming into the academy. It helping keep spatially-gifted students from sneaking out is a mere side benefit."

I don't want to stay here for even one night, but two weeks of it for all that stuff is really hard to pass up. The biggest benefit is definitely the second mana battery. But that would mean spending two whole weeks here without leaving a single time.

"Maybe I can give it a try," I say. "But if something bad happens, I won't hesitate to blow my way out."

"Try walking out first," Grandfather Adrian tells me. "So it's a deal?"

"You have no idea what I could do with a second one of those crystals," I say. "The amount of stuff I could add to my project… the benefit is worth the attempt. I cannot believe that Xander was holding back on me with that technology, though I do fully understand the reasons leading up to him not mentioning it to me. As there is great benefit from the battery, I will attempt to undergo the torture of staying here for two weeks. Permission to leave to retrieve my suitcase?"

"You can get your suitcase," Grandfather Adrian snorts. "Be on your best behavior while here, Greyson. Or I'll be sealing your magic for a month."

Evil man!

"Yes, sir!"

Grandfather Adrian walks off to visit his other descendants, and Dad and I leave to grab my suitcase from the car. When we return, Cody's at the front with his dad and a staff member.

"They said you can room with me," Cody says. "If you want. Everyone has to have roommates for the two weeks of testing and since we're getting along, they asked if I'd be willing to be yours. That means I get to see my new dorm room! Until the school year you'd be entering fifth grade, there are eight to a room. Then starting when you'd be entering fifth grade at a normal school, we get put into pairs."

I don't want a roommate, but I don't think I can talk the staff into allowing this. Grandfather Adrian would have already arranged it if solo roommates were permitted.

"I find you an acceptable person," I say. "However, I ask that you do not disturb me when I am attempting to sleep or focus."

"Can do!" Cody says.

We'll see.

I'm asked to channel some of my mana into something so that they can key me into the room. It's a device which records my mana signature, which is unique to each person, and the dorm room key requires channeling my mana into it.

As great at magic as I am, even I cannot imitate another person's mana signature. In other words, it's a very secure way of locking things… even if the walls might be weak enough to just blast through.

"Will it be individual or communal bathrooms?" Dad asks the staff member as we make our way to the boys' dorm hall, which I wasn't shown before.

"Communal," the staff member answers. "The floors of the dorm hall are split into sections, and each section has its own toilet room and separate showers with attached changing rooms. Stalls in the former, not in the latter. An accommodation can be made if necessary when taking into consideration his disability, but you didn't mention that when it came to the paperwork for the school year."

"The middle school I was to start this year has communal showers," I say. "While I do find such things strange, I do not mind them and have accepted they are a standard part of school experience. Additionally, it is likely there are times in which there are fewer students in there so if I start feeling shy for whatever reason, I can simply use them during those times."

"Greyson doesn't have shyness or modesty problems," Dad tells the staff member. "Greyson, since there are only showers involved, that means you can't do your meditation baths."

"While unfortunate, they are not essential to my routine."

"You do them two or three times a week."

A fair point. The meditation baths are important to my routine and disrupting my routine is Never Good. The last time I tried not doing the meditation baths for a week, I became too stressed and eventually gave in and did them. It ruins my day and I struggle to focus and think.

Even attending the testing will do that a little to me, but at least I can focus on the tests and not be bothered too much. My scores will probably be a little bit lower in some of the subjects from this, but I'm the smartest person here so that's okay.

"I will attempt to convince myself that it is okay."

Dad looks at the staff member.

"He might become irritable at having his routine disrupted," Dad tells him. "I know I mentioned it earlier, but just coming the to the testing is disrupting his summer routine and can do that. If he starts pacing around – especially if he's muttering – it's better to let him go until he calms down some. It can take a couple of hours sometimes, but he'll usually return to whatever he was doing once he's done."

"We've had plenty of Autistic students," the staff member says. "We're well-versed in how to handle many of the situations which arise, even if they students are unique. You allowing us to copy the pages from the binder is helpful as well, since it grants us more information about his situation. I know you said before that he only has Autism, but does he have anything else?"

"An ego," Dad answers. "But not really anything else."

"Arrogance is only if it's an inflated sense of self-worth or abilities," I tell Cody. "It's only ego and not arrogance if you can actually do what you claim. Considering I can teleport across the country with ease, manipulate gravity at will, and am knowledgeable in a wide variety of subjects, I actually am better than nearly everyone else in most ways. Though social situations elude me. I'm jealous of kids like you, who understand how to communicate more effectively and who can make friends. You're like aliens to me. Do you think aliens exist? Outside of demons, I mean."

"We did have him tested for ADHD before," Dad says. "But he doesn't even meet a third of the requirements, and his display of them isn't at two or more locations in the sense and amount of time needed. He focuses just fine when it matters. Any lack thereof can typically be boiled down to one of two situations: he's deliberately allowing his mind to wander or he's a ten-year-old boy reacting excitably to something."

"Aliens probably exist," Cody tells me while Dad says that to the worker. "They've just decided not to attack Earth because they're scared of your great-grandfather."

"He's definitely scary," I nod. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were aliens who attempted to attack us, but Grandfather Adrian wiped them all out before they could even do anything. Or Xander. He probably whups their butts in his sleep."

We arrive at the dorm hall after that, and it turns out to have a dining hall of its own on the first floor, along with a couple of lounges for students to hang out in. We're taken up to the third floor, where the staff member shows us the showers and bathrooms for our floor section. There's also a lounge for our floor section, and a poster with the rules for it is by the entrance. We'll be allowed to use it as we wish during free time during the testing period.

The staff member has to set the door locks for us once we're at the dorm room, then Cody and I are allowed to enter.

It's not massive, but it's not small, either. There's a bed, a desk, and a dresser on either side, as well as two closets. Each side also has two bookshelves for us to store things on. The desks themselves have computers set up on them and based on how it reacts when I turn one on, they're just as fast as the ones in the room with the fake test.

"Greyson?" Dad says. "You didn't even ask."

"It's clearly meant for us to use," I say. "Oh, neat! It's got magitech programming tech! It's so hard to find good ones for that, it's actually easier to have one custom-built for you. Understandable, of course, since being able to manipulate magical runes directly via computer can be hard. Well, that's only, like, a tenth of what you're actually doing with magitech programming, and it's way harder than scientech programming. At least that, you just type in words and stuff. And this is some sophisticated software, too, so you can do even more in-depth work on it. I normally have to build my own computers when I want something this deep. It has a full magitech runic library! Look, you can just move things around. One of the big things is figuring out the right combinations, locations, connections… and that's still less than a tenth of what goes into magitech programming. This can do all of it! That's really neat. Cody, wanna see me program a game that lets you be a fish that eats sharks?"

"You mean a shark that eats fish?"

"That is so pre-aught," I say. "We weren't even born when people were making things so common and basic. Branch out! Do something different! Be free! You don't mind sleeping on that side of the room, do you? I want this side, it's more comfortable to me. Okay, great! So back to the game, it's fun to program and I can do it in about ten minutes with how fast this computer is."

"You didn't let him answer about the room sides," Dad says.

"Yeah, but it's fine because this is my side now," I say. "Also, I'm gonna show him me programming a game where you're a fish that eats sharks! You can go now! Bye, Dad! I love you! Okay Cody, now that the adults are leaving, what you wanna do for the game is…"

----------------------------------------

[Xander – 12 years]

"That did look super fun," Russell says.

We're on a phone call right now, though I have him on speakerphone rather than holding the phone to my ear. He called me a few minutes ago and while I don't know what he wanted to talk about yet, I'm pretty sure it's not the hoverboard stream I did earlier. I mean, I did text him so he'd know I was going to stream and he watched it, but I'm pretty sure he's only talking about it instead of what he called about because he's nervous for some reason.

It feels like something I would do if I got nervous about telling someone something or asking them something. At least, something I might do sometimes.

"Yeah," I nod, even though he can't see me. "It was really, really fun. But I was really uncomfortable because a lot of people were seeing it. But it was still fun! I'm actually kind of happy S.G. asked me about it."

"He's a pretty cool dude," Russell says.

"He definitely is," I nod. "So what did you want to talk about? Is that okay to ask?"

"Um… yeah," he says. "So I told my parents about you when I got home from the park yesterday and that I really liked you and stuff… and Dad told me that we're moving at the end of the month. Not because of the dating, though. He found out on Monday that his work was transferring him again. They do it every year or two and I was hoping this would be the last move, but I guess not…"

So we can't date. I can't see his eyes so I don't know if he's being honest or not, and he's probably just lying after changing his mind.

"But I do wanna still hang out with you before I move," he quickly says. "And I go to a youth group on Wednesdays. They're a bunch of cool people who are fun to hang out with. Would you want to go there, too? It's just a bunch of middle-school kids playing games or hanging out. I think you'd like hanging out there."

A bunch of kids I don't know, playing games. That doesn't sound like a fun time but if Russell's inviting me, then I do want to go. Just to hang out with him more even if he's not going to date me. He's nice as just a friend, too, I think.

"I'll have to ask Mr. Trey," I tell him. "And I don't make any promises… but I might go. Okay?"

"Okay!" He sounds happy, but I'm not sure since it's over the phone. "I hope he says yes! I'm gonna go now, I'll talk to you later! Have a good night, Xander!"

"Bye, Russell," I say.

Russell ends the call and I pocket my phone. I don't feel good for some reason, and I also want cheesecake. Will Mr. Trey let me have some even though I'm supposed to be getting ready for bed in a few minutes?