[Xander – 12 years]

"You can do that," Trey tells me.

"Really?" I ask.

This is really okay?

"As long as they're okay with it, yes," he answers. "They'll probably say no since we're going down to the lake, but you can still ask."

"Okay."

I walk over to where Carter and the others who are planning to ride the horses down to the lake are. Mr. Martins and Collin are talking with them about something. As long as I ignore the unicorn, no one is going to know I'm hallucinating. They obviously can't see him so I know he's a hallucination.

He's the same one I usually hallucinate, and has a golden coat with a silver horn, mane, and tail. If someone else had noticed him, everyone would have known by now. Unicorns are mythical, after all.

"Hey, Xander," Mr. Martins says. "Everything alright?"

"I don't know," I answer. "I'm not omni-omniscented?"

"Omniscient," he snorts. "And you don't need to be, you just looked concerned so I was wondering if something was wrong."

"Oh," I say. "Lots of things are wrong, but I just had a question or more. A request."

"What's up?"

"The sky."

We stare at each other for a few moments.

"Xander?" S.G. giggles. "He was asking what you wanted."

"Oh!" Stupid fucking me. "Sorry! I didn't mean to be dumb, I-"

"Xander," Mr. Martins interrupts me. "It's fine, you can ask."

"Oh, um, okay," I try to remember. "Oh, right. Um. Luke suggested I try riding a horse. I don't want to because the height scares me, but I'm trying to not be so scared anymore. So I wanted to give trying a try. If that-if that was okay."

"Sure," he says.

"And, um…" this part is a big one for me, but it also scares me. It could ruin everything. "W-would it-um… um…"

"Here," S.G. comes over. "Can you whisper it to me?"

"I can try," I say, and he gets close enough so I can lean in to his ear and whisper to him.

"That's what you want to do?" He asks, and I nod. He looks at Mr. Martins. "He wanted to know if he can stream learning how to ride, like how Carter streamed learning how to ride a hoverboard."

"Yeah!" Carter exclaims, causing me to jump back a little. That was loud! "Dad! Can I be the one to teach him?"

"With supervision," Mr. Martins tells him, then looks at me. "Sure, you can do that."

"Okay," I say. "I'm gonna go let Trey know."

I let Trey know that I was approved for it, then swap into my streaming glasses while he gets ready to moderate the chat, assuring me that he'll be able to do it better from the wagons rather than going with us on a horse. That kind of makes sense, since he'll not have to focus on riding while moderation.

"Hi, everyone," I say once I start the stream and start walking back over to where those riding horses are gathered. "I'm back again for a second stream today, and I'm at Carter's family's ranch. They raise flaremane horses, as I'm sure those of you who are fans of Carter's know. I'm gonna learn how to ride one, but they kind of scare me. Oh, and the only camera this time is the one on my glasses, so that's why you're seeing the ground. Uh… lemme look up. Okay, so-what unicorn?"

Some of the chatters just asked about the unicorn. They're probably trying to mess with me.

"You guys can see a unicorn?" I ask as I reach the group.

"No?" S.G. looks around. "No unico-ah! Unicorn!"

Everyone else turns and looks at the unicorn…

"Wait. You're not a hallucination?"

"You thought you were hallucinating a unicorn?" Carter asks.

"Yeah."

"That's not-that's not a hallucination," he looks like he's trying not to laugh. "That's a freaking unicorn!" Now he looks confused. "But aren't they myths?"

The unicorn approaches me and looks down at me, lightly tapping my head with its horn before moving to stand sideways to me.

"But why would you want to be my mount?" I ask. "I'm just a stupid, dumb, ugly kid? S.G. and Carter are way better options. They're a lot more sociable and awesome. And S.G. is super smart."

The unicorn looks at me again.

"I am ugly!"

"Are not!" Carter says. "You're one of the cutest guys I know! Wait. Are you arguing with the unicorn?"

"He said I'm not ugly."

"He knows what he's talking about," Carter says. "And… he really seems to want you to ride him. I don't think we have gear suitable for a unicorn."

I look at the unicorn for a moment, then to Carter.

"He says he's got some of his own, but he wants me to do the normal stuff first."

People in the chat are really trying to claim this is fake, and that's annoying me. It's not fake, I was going to try and ignore him like I usually do! But he apparently wants me to ride him.

"Aurum," Grandpa Adrian suddenly appears. "Why are you causing a commotion? No, don't give me that. You can't fool me. Yes, I'm aware of that."

"What's he saying?" Carter leans in and whispers to me, a little too closely.

"Aurum," I whisper. "I think that's the unicorn's name. Aurum's saying that unicorns choose to be invisible simply because they can be and that there's no real reason for them to not show themselves if they want."

Grandpa Adrian and the unicorn continue to argue for a minute, with Grandpa Adrian continuing to refuse to accept the unicorn's answers as being the reason he's showing himself. I tell Carter some of it, but the unicorn's messages are a lot longer when spoken aloud, so I can't fully keep up.

"Aurum," Grandpa Adrian sighs. "You heard that he was going to stream learning to ride and decided you wanted to be on TV, didn't you?"

"The answer to that is 'yes'," I whisper to Carter, who snickers.

Grandpa Adrian sighs again, then looks at me.

"I'll be releasing an official statement about this after returning home," he tells me. "As I'm sure plenty are calling this fake or edited with your augmented reality things. It's very much real, as I'll say in my statement. Unicorns usually hide themselves, and Aurum apparently wants to be a star. It's safe to ride him, all unicorns are smooth and gentle rides. You enjoy the rest of your day, alright, Xander?"

"I'll try," I tell him, then he vanishes, and I look at the unicorn. "You're just wanting to use me to get popular, aren't you?" I look at Carter. "The answer to that is also 'yes'. I don't think he realizes I'm not that popular, and my chat being mean is proof of it."

"Your chat's being mean?" Carter asks. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Well, anyone being mean is a loser who should get banned," he says. "Come on! I'll teach you how to prepare a horse for riding!"

Preparing a horse – or unicorn – for riding involves things like brushing him down. Actually putting on his gear is a little bit more complicated than that, and Aurum summons white-and-silver gear for me. Then, finally, I'm allowed to mount him.

That's the scariest part of it, and my heart starts racing at the very thought of it.

"Come on, Xander!" S.G. calls out. "You can do it!"

"It's so big it's so high it's so big it's so big it's so big it's so high-"

"You can do it!" Carter calls out.

"Yeah!" Luke adds. "You can do it, Xander! Just swing on up like he showed you!"

They all start trying to encourage me, but Aurum is so big, so high. I can't do it. I can't do it. I can't do it. Even chat is trying to encourage me. But it's too much. I can't do it.

Maybe if I close my eyes, and teleport, and-

"Eep!" I close my eyes and lean forward, wrapping my arms around Aurum's neck.

That was too much! And it forced my legs to move apart a bit because they couldn't fit inside of Aurum and the spell prevents stuff like that. So it forced my legs to split apart so they're on either side of him.

"Did… did he just teleport onto the unicorn?" Bo asks.

"Yeah, he does that," Luke says. "Xander, feet in the stirrups and grab the reins! You'll be a lot safer and less likely to fall off!"

"Thisisfinethisisfinethisisfine-"

If I let go, I'll fall. I'll fall for sure. There's no way I'm letting go.

Someone just came near me. I heard the horse moving closer.

"Xander?" S.G. asks.

"I'm gonna fall if I let go."

"Did you know I'm scared of heights, too?"

"But you ride horses fine," I say.

"Yeah," he says. "It takes bigger heights than this for me to get scared. Want to know what I do when I have to deal with heights that make me dizzy, and sometimes hyperventilate?"

Hyperventilate… that sounds familiar. Am I doing it right now?

"Maybe you told me before?" I ask. "I think you told me 'bout you and heights when you were over to help with my swimming lessons."

"Maybe I did?" S.G. seems unsure. "But anyway, wanna know what I do?"

"W-what's that?"

"I take some deep breaths," he says. "And keep my gaze away from the ground. Instead of looking at how far down things are, I look straight forward. I try to think about things like the trees around me, or the magic beasts I can spot. Mr. Richardson suggested I do that, and it helps me a lot whenever I have to deal with heights."

"But if I open my eyes, I'll see the ground."

"Sure," S.G. says. "But like Luke said, you'll be a lot less likely to fall if you put your feet in the stirrups and grip the reins. And even if you do somehow fall, well… I fall all the time. But I always get back up and go back to having fun."

"I'll just break my arm again."

Just like when I was skateboarding.

"Your body's a lot tougher now," he says. "It's gotten stronger, remember? And I bet you know a magic that lets you strengthen your body, to make it even less likely to get hurt. If you turn that on, I bet you'll be able to survive anything."

Probably not anything, but he's right. I do know a spell that can strengthen my body. A fall from this high probably won't hurt me if I turn it on, so I do. But this is still really bad. I'm still so high up.

"Remember to get your feet in your stirrups," S.G. tells me.

I do as he says as another horse comes up close on the other side.

"That was a pretty smooth job," Carter says. "It's your first time riding, right?"

"Y-yeah."

"Ain't ever seen someone put them in properly first try," he says. 'They usually want to shove their foot in too far or barely in at all."

"This is what it feels like it looks like you guys do."

"And it's a good job," he says. "I'll take over from here, S.G. Xander, slide your hands down a little and take the reins. You're very unlikely to fall and even if you do, I can catch you, just like you caught me the other day."

"But you're on a horse."

"I'm trained in a variety of magics," he says. "I know how to use magic to create air cushions to catch people who fall off of horses. Dad makes sure everyone who leads trail rides or gives lessons knows how and can do it in an instant, and he taught me how even before I was old enough for him to consider allowing me to do those. Can you look at me for a moment? I want to show you something."

I don't want to, but I move my head so it's on that side of Aurum's neck, then I crack open an eye. Carter's holding an apple in his hand, and he tosses it up into the air. As it drops back down, he points and it suddenly moves slowly, then begins bobbing in the air in place.

That was air magic. He really did cast it instantly, and it does look like an air magic spell. I quickly close my eye again, though. I'm so high up.

"How come you made the spell go bwii-bwoo instead of braa-braa?"

"I don't… know what that means," Carter says.

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"In the bwoom-bwiim part," I say. "When you shaped it, you made it go bwii-bwoo instead of braa-braa. If you make it go braa-braa instead, that makes the bobbing intentional instead of accidental. Or if you made it go bwaa-bwaa instead, there'd be no bobbing."

"I don't-I don't understand what you're saying," Carter says. "Sorry. Um… I'm not as versed in the more in-depth magical stuff as you, I'm mostly limited to what I've learned here on the ranch and some stuff I've looked up or learned from friends."

"It might not be you," Luke snickers. "I think I know what he's talking about. The spell is designed to replace air that's lost, right?"

"Yeah," Carter answers. "It's a pretty efficient spell that generates air to act as a cushion, so it's constantly generating new air while the other air is moved to the side."

"That's what he's referring to," Luke tells him. "The 'accidental bobbing' he's referring to is the bobbing caused by the loss and creation of air, and I think the variation he's suggesting keeps the air without ruining the cushioning effect, but adjusts it in a way that causes the bobbing. And the last one recycles the air as well, but doesn't create the bobbing effect. Right, Xander?"

"Yeah."

"And before you ask about the thing on Sunday," Luke says. "I honestly couldn't translate that one for you. But you see, Xander? Even if you fall, you won't get hurt. You've got your strengthening magic, and Carter's got his cushioning magic. So it's okay to open your eyes and sit up."

"Also," S.G. says. "If you come with us on this path, you'll get to see the cliff that gave me my fear of heights. We go by it to get to the lake when riding horses."

That can't be right.

"But didn't you say your parents have never been out here?" I look at him.

"Yeah," he says. "Why?"

"But you told me that you were on a camping trip with your parents when you fell off a cliff."

I wasn't looking in his eyes when he told me about it, but I remember it now. We were in the changing rooms at home and I was changing, not looking at him. Unless my memory of that is fucked up, since it was from before my brain got fixed, he definitely said he was camping with his parents.

"Well… I lied," S.G. admits. "It's easier to say I was with my parents than explain where I was and why they weren't around. And we're gonna go by that cliff. Have to, to get to the lake by the good trail for it. And like I said, I'm scared of heights. It's smaller heights like riding a horse or the smaller cliff jumps I do with my friends that helps me. And like I said, when I start getting scared, I take some deep breaths and focus on the rest of the scenery. The trees above me. The magic beasts I can spot in the distance. Stuff like that. It's how I handle it. So we can do it together, okay?"

"I… I'm not sure I can try?"

"Really?" He asks. "Because you're sitting up and looking at me."

It's only when he says that do I realize that I am. As soon as I do, my heart starts pounding really hard. The ground is so far away.

"Don't look at the ground," Carter says. "Look at me, Xander. Look at me. Make sure to take the reins, it's important for steering a horse. Er. Unicorn. Actually, I don't know the differences between horses and unicorns enough to know if there's a difference, but we'll just treat it like it's the same."

"Someone in chat just said the military released a statement about the unicorn," I tell him.

"Really?" He asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "They said that the military has acknowledged that unicorns are real, but usually use invisibility magic to keep themselves hidden. Also that since Grandpa Adrian has made an announcement stating the reveal of one, then they'll stand by his claim and acknowledge that one has revealed himself to the public. Also, I think my dad banned all of the bad chatters. Everyone's being really nice now."

"That's good," he says. "It's always better when chats are nice. Back to the lesson. Grab the reins, Xander. Keep looking at me, I'm gonna move in front of you. Okay, like that. Now let's slowly do the lesson so you can ride with us down to the lake."

Before we do that, I use telekinesis to pick my new cowboy hat up from the ground (without looking down). It already has magics to strengthen it, so it didn't take any damage from my pressing my head against Aurum's neck, which is probably what knocked the hat off of my head.

Carter starts teaching me about riding a horse and how to direct them. Luke wasn't wrong when he told me I'd enjoy it after a few minutes. Well, he was wrong about the "few minutes" bit, but by the time the fifteen minutes of the lesson are over, I'm enjoying it a lot. The distance to the ground still makes me shake and my heart race if I think about it too much, but it's otherwise really fun.

After we're on the trail for a few minutes, I end the stream as the stream was mostly for me learning to ride a horse, just like with Carter learning to ride a hoverboard. With the stream ended, I use teleport magic to swap back to my regular glasses, so that I don't have the AR ones on me when I don't need them.

The trail itself is really nice, and I keep spotting a lot of animals that only Luke can spot. And he says he can only spot them because he can feel their electrical signals.

"How did you even see that?" S.G. asks after I point out a bird that comes into view a few moments later.

"I could hear him," I say. "And see him? The tree didn't hide him that well."

"I couldn't see him at all until he moved into view," S.G. says.

But he was already in view.

We keep looking for different magic beasts that live in the woods here, and eventually reach the cliff that S.G. told me about. It doesn't really look like a cliff at first because we're a decent distance away from it, but only when I really look at it do I realize that there's a big drop. I am not going too close to it.

About ten minutes later, we come to a fork in the path and take the left-hand one, which leads us down another trail which takes us around the cliff and down to the bottom of it, where the lake is. Some people are already there, though not the people who came in the wagons. Ranch employees and some parents.

They're cooking up a lot of meat and other things on barbecue pits and stuff, and it smells really good.

Once we're here, we all dismount and Carter shows Connor and me how to properly remove the gear from a horse and brush them down. This way, they don't have to deal with carrying the gear when not being ridden for hours.

S.G. and the others want to change into swim trunks and charge to the lake now, but they're realizing that they need to find a spot to change.

"Hold on, boys," Mr. Martins says. "No swimming just yet. Y'all haven't eaten in hours and have been pretty active, get some food first. Dinner won't be ready for another hour and a half, but there are snacks on the tables."

"Aye aye, Captain!" S.G., Carter, Tate, and Bo all salute to him, then charge toward the table with Connor, Luke, Parker, and Tyler.

Even if there was a spot to change into swim trunks, I wouldn't go swimming. There are way too many people around, and too many strangers. I'd be way too exposed.

"Hey, Xander?" Collin asks as his dad starts heading toward the tables.

Crap. I'm alone with him. I didn't move fast enough.

"Y-yeah?"

He kneels down and brushes his hand over the ground, the grass vanishing, leaving just dirt behind.

"See the cliff right there?" He points, and I nod. "Can you make a pair of rooms in it?"

He draws in the ground with his magic, creating a layout that features an opening that he says is three feet wide, then three feet deep. That leads into a hall that's five feet wide and twenty feet long, with another opening on the back side, the one opposite from the entrance. That leads into a big room, about twenty feet on each side. As he draws this, he draws it flipped as well.

"One for guys," he points at one of them. "And one for gals. That way, everyone can change with some privacy. It's something we do from time to time, if we have a big gathering down here. But we put all the dirt back after. We don't do the big gatherings very often, it's usually just a few guys, so privacy isn't really needed."

Why put all the dirt back after even if they don't use it much? That doesn't make sense to me.

"You want me to make it?" I ask.

"Not want," he says. "But you can if you'd like to. I've got lamps in my saddlebags so we can light the rooms up once they're made. Just thought I'd offer it to you, since S.G. mentioned you liked helping set up."

Collin looks over at S.G., then back at me.

"Though I think he was trying to say to decline any help," he adds. "So that you'd try and focus on having more fun. But I figured, I'd jump the gun and offer you something you can help with, just in case you were interested. If you don't want to help with this, you don't have to. I'll make it if you don't. If you don't want to make the rooms but do still want to help us with stuff, you can ask my mom or Mr. Cox, they're the ones in charge of the barbecue stuff."

"I can make the rooms," I tell him. "It's just simple earth magic, right?"

That should be really cheap magic. More than what S.G. has, but less than half of what Collin has. I was looking in his eyes, too, so I know he was being honest about this being something they do. He's just wanting to offer me something I can do to help.

Or it could be a test to see if I'm worthy of… something. I don't know what, I'm too stupid to figure that part out.

"Okay," I nod. "Where at?"

"Right here," he points at the cliff. "Can you do it there?"

"Okay," I hold my hands forward and focus on my magic.

Rectangular openings form in the side of the cliff, three feet apart, three feet wide, and seven feet tall. They lead into halls eight feet tall and five feet wide, which extend three feet back before opening up into another hall. I follow the layout Collin gave me, but add in some extras. Not all enchantments need special tools and materials, some types of runes work the moment the formula is set. I use those runes to create the enchantments I want by just carving them into the stone with my magic.

That's another thing I do – convert the dirt of the walls, floors, and ceilings into stone.

"Do I see light?" Collin asks.

"Yeah," I answer. "So that you don't have to waste fuel on the lanterns, I carved some runes into the walls of the tunnels to create light. It's not massively bright, but if I did it right, everyone should be able to see fine inside. There's a bigger version on the ceilings in the changing rooms."

"It looks like you destroyed the soil," he says. "We normally just dump it off to the side, then fill it back in and use magic to restore it to a natural state after."

"I can use time magic to undo it."

He looks like he's trying to say something for a few moments, then freezes for a moment before letting out what breath he has left in a quiet snort.

"Let's check inside to make sure it's lit well," he says.

We enter the changing room for the guys, and it looks like both the tunnel and the ceiling runes were set properly. Bright enough to see by, but not too bright.

"Xander?"

"Yes, Collin?"

"What's that back opening for?"

"Another hallway."

"The design only had one hall," he says. "Where does that one lead."

"Um… sorry!" I say. "I know it's not what you asked for, but isn't everyone supposed to scrub off before and after going swimming? So I made showers, too. Also with magic runes."

I show him the showers, which is through another tunnel like the one for entering the changing rooms. The showers chamber is as big as the first room, but the light runes are spaced out on the walls instead of being a massive one set onto the ceiling.

On the ceiling are four large runic setups, spaced equally from each other and the walls. They generate heated cleaning water in a sort of waterfall-like pattern, but in several circles. The floor of this room is slightly sloped down to the center, where another rune is carved. That rune destroys the water and whatever the cleaning water didn't manage to cleanse, just in case it carries with it dirt and stuff.

"I know the water is supposed to destroy stuff like that," I tell Collin as I explain the setup. "But I wanted to be sure, just in case. And the destruction rune won't harm people. It only works on things like water and dirt and blood and diseases. Oh, and there are runes at the entrance to the room, in the doorway. Those keep the steam from escaping."

"You used a more ancient rune set for this," he says. "Isn't it more difficult to work with them?"

"I find them easy to use," I say. "But they don't work as well for magic items or magitech."

"Oh," he says. "Okay. Thanks for the added showers, Xander. Some might appreciate those. And I noticed you shaped some of the soil into stone benches in the changing room, too."

"Yeah," I nod. "So that people can sit while changing, if they need or want to."

"That's pretty cool," he says. "Come on, let's get out of here. S.G. says you like to sneak snacks from your backpack – let me show you a good spot for hiding while doing that. It'll be hard for others to notice you there."

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

[Luke – 13 years]

"Dudes," I flop onto the hotel bed after my shower. "Even I'm wiped after today. I don't think I could babble if I tried."

Parker and Tyler are both in my bedroom in the suite, chilling on my bed. My parents have their own room, Tyler gets his own, his dad gets his own, and Parker and I are sharing this one. The beds are big enough that we won't touch so it's fine, and it's not like we don't have sleepovers all the time, anyway. We don't mind sharing so Tyler can get his own room instead of sharing with his dad, when we're offering them to stay in the suite with us.

Seems we're going to get to talk a little before actually getting some sleep.

"That game was pretty fun," Tyler says. "The one Xander made, with its different modes. He really made that just so he could play first-person shooters with his friends in a way he understands?"

"Xander's mind is a mysterious thing," I say. "It's mostly filled with fear, self-deprecation, cheesecake, a desire to hang out with friends, and something a little extra. Not sure what, but it makes him view things a bit weirdly. Doesn't understand zombie shooters? Make entirely new tech that even the military is interested in so that you can play it more live."

"I think Xander doesn't really understand video games," Parker says. "So it's easier for him to process it like this. Though I do think that having the zombie label on all of them was a bit much. Definitely gonna put that in the feedback form. We didn't really need that."

"We did in his mind," I snicker. "It's a mysterious thing. But anyway. Off of Xander, or I'll fall asleep before asking. What'd you think of them, Tyler? The horses and ranch, I mean."

"It was pretty neat," he says. "And getting to see a unicorn… holy fuck. They're real and they like Xander."

"One," Parker says. "One likes Xander, and it seemed like it just wanted to be on a stream for attention. Maaaaan I forgot how sore I get riding horses. I still haven't recovered from yesterday."

"Tell me about it," Tyler groans. "I think I was sitting wrong. Should've gone on the wagons today."

"Nah," I say. "That's probably just the normal feeling. So worth it to ride the horses, though! Those other boys were fun to play with! Wish we could be friends, but I think that's too much to ask for. We seem pretty different."

"Yeah," Parker says. "I like 'em and all but I much prefer just riding there. The big barbecue thing was more of a party than a hangout."

"Yup!" I say. "Hey, do you guys think they'll do that again after next week's beta test?"

"Probably not," Tyler says. "I feel like that was just them doing it not knowing there'd be more, and they'll keep it to just the one. It was pretty cool, though. And those pies were amazing. I wonder who made them?"

"Dunno," I say. "There was a lot of dessert there. You'd think with how much I ate, I'd still be hyper, but I really think I'm gonna fall asleep. You two can stay and chat if you want, but don't be surprised if I end up asleep halfway through, alright?"

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[Sig – 13 years]

"Has anyone seen Xander?" Mr. Caldwell walks over to us. "He disappeared a little bit ago and I haven't seen him since, and he's not answering his phone."

We haven't seen Xander in awhile. He occasionally disappeared throughout the afternoon, but I just figured he was sneaking his snacks. I really want to know how much space is in that backpack of his. He's got many containers of snacks, drinks, Trenton hides in there, I'm pretty sure I saw a large leviathan plushie briefly, he's got all of the AR stuff, a laptop, changes of clothes, extra shoes, and even a ton of desserts. When it came time for those to start getting put out, Tate, Carter, and Bo told me they saw Xander sneaking pies and a platter of cookies onto the table.

"He was playing with us," I tell Mr. Caldwell. "But said he was going to go do something. I think we were starting to roughhouse a little too much again, even if we were careful not to roughhouse him. We offered to switch to another game, but he said it was fine and that he was gonna do something else."

We've been throwing a ball around, but it started involving a little bit of tackling. Luke, Parker, and Tyler left awhile ago, so it's just my friends, Bo, and Russell over here right now. Since we wanted to make sure Xander wasn't left out, we stopped swimming for a bit but were just talking about heading back into the water since it seemed like he was done playing.

"Yeah," Russell says. "Did you ask the other adults? I know he was helping them from time to time."

"I did," Mr. Caldwell says.

"Want us to help look?" Russell, Carter, and I ask at the same time.

"No," Mr. Caldwell answers. "Xander could be over by the horses, I haven't checked there yet and I know he was talking to the unicorn a few times."

"I still can't believe those are real!" I exclaim.

"And that one likes Xander!" Connor adds.

"And that Xander apparently sees him all the time!" Sam adds.

"Even when he's invisible!" Isaac finishes.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Mr. Caldwell looks like he doesn't really know how to react. "I'm going to go check over there, you boys keeping having fun."

"Will do!" We tell him.

Since Xander's definitely done playing with us for now if he's disappeared like that, we decide to head back into the lake and throw the ball around in there, chasing and swimming to catch it or interfere with others. I can see Mr. Caldwell checking by the horses and in the changing rooms, but Xander's apparently not there, either.

Then he talks with Collin, who's chilling on some boulders. Collin gives him a confused look, then does something that looks like a snort, then tells Mr. Caldwell something before getting up and heading into the woods. I don't see him again for a few minutes but when I do, he's returning with Xander, who looks extremely sleepy.

"What is it?" Connor asks as I start laughing.

"I think Xander fell asleep somewhere by accident," I say. "Look at him, he definitely looks sleepy. And since Collin apparently knew exactly where he was, I think your brother knew, Carter."

"Knew?" Carter looks over there. "Wait. Did Collin go into the woods and return with him?"

"Yeah," I nod.

"Ooooh!" Carter says. "I know where Xander was. There's a hidden spot over there Collin must've shown him for if he wanted to get away from the noise but still be close by. He must've gotten comfortable in there and fallen asleep."

"He does get pretty worn-out when socializing and playing," Sam says.

"Yeah," Russell says. "I think that means it's probably time for us to get going."

"You can camp with us if you want," Carter tells him. "You seem pretty cool and we'll be camping here again tonight."

"No," Russell shakes his head. "I don't think my parents will like that."

"Alright!" Carter says. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Russell! Hope to see you again next weekend!"

We all bid goodbye to Russell, who then changes and joins his parents, Xander, and Mr. Caldwell. They talk with Collin, who then hooks one of the wagons up to a horse. Xander's too sleepy to ride a horse on his own and the others don't want to ride, and the unicorn must have gone invisible again because I can't see him anymore.

I kind of wish Xander was camping here with us, I'm sure he'd love it. Also, is he leaning against Russell? I think he just fell asleep again. Man, he must really be tired.

A ball of water striking me in the back of my head draws my attention away from that, and I turn around to find the other guys grinning at me.

"Who did that?" I ask.

Everyone starts pointing at someone else, though I know it had to be either Tate, Carter, or Bo since it was a ball of water and not a ball filled with water. They're the only other mages here right now.

I look at Connor.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

As he protests the accusation, I swim toward him as quickly as I can and do my best to dunk him, and that restarts the goofing around. I'm so glad everyone's getting along since it's not likely we'll be able to hang out like this very often. I want to make the most of the time we've got before we have to leave. Better to make the most of things now and have a lot of fun than to not and regret it tomorrow!