Trevor was standing directly behind Liv in the long line of kids for daily evaluation. She placed her hand on the sphere and quickly turned around. She didn't have to say anything, since her gloomy expression told him everything.

- It didn't work – she whispered, and then walked away, to cross the security point and enter the corridor behind.

The boy didn't even have a chance to respond. Instead, he took the necessary step further, and placed his hand on the sphere, just like she did a moment before. His number was identical to the one displayed in the overview, a solid nine.

Since the whole weekend was right around the corner, Trevor wanted to push it further by spending two whole days on meditation and making some more progress.

He turned around, and joined Liv in the corridor, as she waited there for him, by the wall, where she wouldn't interfere so much with the kids heading towards their classes rather slowly, more focused on talking with their friends. It was much noisier among them with all the chatter and laughs.

- I didn't lie about it – he stated immediately. - It works for me. Maybe you did something wrong?

She sighed.

- Maybe. I'm gonna try again, today at home – she forced herself to smile. - Don't worry, I believe you. I know you well enough to tell when you are bullshitting me about something, and as smelly as your whole witch story is, the meditation thing is genuine. That much I can tell.

- It works for me – Trevor repeated again. - I'm at nine now, while just yesterday I was at eight. It's slow, but it works.

- Maybe. Well, time will tell. And on a positive note, you seem to have gotten a nice fan club – she said and pointed with her chin across the corridor.

A group of younger kids, judging by their appearances from around sixth grade, was gathered there, and they all were observing both Trevor and Liv. They concluded out of mostly girls but there were also a few boys. All whispering, like a bunch of bad conspirators.

Spotted, they pretended to be focused on chatting more than on watching the two eighth-graders, but anybody with eyes could tell the truth.

- Let's just go somewhere else – he responded and grabbed her by the forearm to pull her behind him, as he attempted to push his way through the corridor.

Liv gave him a bit of resistance, slacking behind with a sly smirk on her face, but still allowed the boy to move her.

- Embarrassed, are we? - she asked with a nasty grin on her face.

He didn't respond, which could as well be a blunt confirmation.

- I can't blame them, after all, it's a rare thing to be able to manifest your magic to the outside world. I guess I should welcome you to the club.

- Stop bragging. If my mother wouldn't have thought you how to zap people, you wouldn't have manifested just like most others.

His response made Liv laugh out loud.

- Who cares how, as long as I can do it? But enough of this, mister Fireman. I have classes to attend and knowledge to obtain – she said with a lot of sarcasm in her voice, and with one move of her arm, she freed herself from his grasp, then accelerated, passing by Trevor, who actually stopped in the middle of the crowd. - See you later.

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- Yeah – he agreed, sighed, and resumed his own march, heading to his first lesson.

Biology, something that he didn't really care about, but nevertheless had to pass. He was sitting more toward the back, surrounded by some people that he never talked with, which made him over time quite invisible to the teacher's eyes, since in that part of the classroom rarely anything was happening.

He spent it whole with his head resting on his hand, as he pretended to be reading the chapter, which the teacher urged them to do. Instead of actually reading he was thinking about Liv and the fact that the meditation technique wasn't working on her, but only in the beginning, as his thought process led him somewhere else quite quickly.

He was concerned about the lack of quest after the last one, and the fact that the meditation was giving him less and less progress.

„To get to the third district I would have to show at least a hundred points during the evaluation. That would give me a scholarship, but how am I gonna do it, when it's already this slow?", he kept asking himself.

"With seventy maybe I can get to a school in the third, but where will I stay without the scholarship? My parents won't be able to afford a place for me there. Not with their salaries from the fourth"

This led to a longer thought trip of wondering if there was a faster way to obtain what he so badly wanted.

The ring of the bell brought him back to reality in a rather violent way. Trevor began packing his things and left the classroom slacking by, still with the reminiscent of his long thought process residing in his brain. Making him think of a strategy to get better at magic, and stronger due to that.

He joined the slowly forming crowd outside of the classroom, on the corridor, but then suddenly he tripped and fell almost smashing his nose on the floor. Two laughs hit his ears first, and then more followed. He recognized those two, as he heard them often. They belonged to Billy and Joe.

He rapidly turned around on the floor.

- You need to watch where you step, West – Joe said.

- Yeah, cause you might fall, and hit your ugly face – Billy joined, and they bought laughed again.

- Fuck you two! - growled Trevor.

- Shut up, West. You are nothing, a nobody, and you dare to speak to us like that? Should we teach him a lesson, Bill?

- Definitely.

- I had enough of both of you, assholes! - Trevor shouted. - Monday, after school on the track field behind the school. Let's settle this.

The last two sentences he spoke through his gritted teeth, as his jaw locked out of anger.

- Hey! What's going on here? - asked the teacher, peaking out of the classroom.

- Nothing. West just slipped on the floor – said Joe, and started walking away.

Billy hesitated, but after a moment joined his friend. As they both retreated, the whispers started spreading among the kids. They had to notice since when Trevor got back on his feet, Joe briefly turned around to say:

- I'll be there – A smirk crawled on his face, as the words left his mouth.

The teacher didn't say a thing, but instead got back to his classroom, clearly not wanting to get involved. Trevor really hated such cowardness, and it pissed him off even more than he already was. Maybe if it was somebody else, but it was Billy and Joe, and after all their parents were living in the third.

Angry, he stormed out of the crowd gathered by the ruckus, pushing the kids out of his way, until somebody grabbed him by the shoulder.

He rapidly turned around, and almost punched that person in the face, stopping at the very last moment, since he recognized Liv's face.

- Hey! - she shouted at him.

- Sorry…

- Come, let's get out of this place – she said and pulled him in a different direction he was already walking.

They left the crowded space and got outside the building, stopping on the sidewalk leading to the building, where the morning sun was still shining, blocked only partially by one big puffy cloud, slowly drifting in the sky.

- Are you insane? - she asked him, as soon as they got far enough so nobody would listen to them.

- Why? Because I had enough of them bullying me, and I want to fight back? - he asked ironically.

- It's two against one, you idiot!

- So what? I have my magic, and they can't manifest theirs – he argued.

Liv rolled her eyes.

- So what? You think they will get scared of a bit of fire? Even if you get one of them, the other one is going to kick the shit out of you.

- I can use my magic more than once – he lied.

- You know what? - she sighed. - Do whatever you want.

With those words, she rushed back inside. Trevor watched her, as she made the distance half walking, half running.