If Hailey was finally making her real public debut, she wasn't going out there looking like that.

  Jessica closed the private restroom door behind them and locked it with a satisfyingly loud click. As a secondary measure, she cast a spell on the door itself, pressing at the metal to wedge it into the frame. It wasn't going to open without some serious force behind it.

  Meanwhile, Hailey had dug out a pouch of chalk dust from her bag, along with a pair of moonstones and another pair of malachite. She handed the chalk to Jessica, who floated it out in a dusty haze. As Hailey set out the little candle holders at each point, the chalk landed in a perfect astroid on the restroom floor.

  "It's a good thing we don't have to clean up after," Hailey laughed. She was giddy with anticipation.

  Jessica rolled her eyes, righting one of the candle holders that Hailey had knocked over as she stepped into the center of the chalk. The gemstones floated out to each holder and landed with tiny clinks, echoing slightly off the tile walls of the room.

  As Hailey started, a thrill of danger trickled through her mind. Ritual magic was still a rarity. Even Cinza and her people tended to avoid it, with only a couple experiments involving the golems since their last disastrous attempt in Rallsburg. They all feared the potential consequences of a broken ritual. For Hailey, such painful results were always evident, of course—but even so, she had performed more successful rituals than anyone else in the world, as far as she knew.

  She closed her eyes, reaching out mentally along the lines of chalk to the gemstones. Unlike the normal process of just ripping energy out of them, the ritual allowed her to feel them in a more nuanced way. She could tell how the moonstone shaped her ability to change the color of an object, altering how it reflected light, while the malachite helped her shift the texture and composition. She drew them in, and in an instant she'd already changed the color of her hair. It was trivial to her now, starting at the roots and working her way down, shifting the structure of each strand to a shiny golden-blonde hue.

  With the number of times she'd practiced the spell, Hailey had eventually worked her way up to doing multiple tasks simultaneously. Just as she moved the moonstone energy into her hair, she also brought the malachite to change the texture and shape, twisting it just slightly so it formed natural waves instead of the plain straight hair she'd adopted.

  While she still held the malachite in her mind, Hailey sent it flowing around the skin on her face, washing away every freckle and blemish as she went. Suddenly, her skin was perfect — maybe even too perfect.

  She released everything with a gasp, her eyes fluttering open. The chalk dust had vanished, though the moonstone and malachite were mostly intact. Jessica set to gathering them up, but stopped as she glanced over at Hailey.

  Hailey looked in the mirror. She had gone too far, but could anyone really fault her for it? Every imperfection was washed away. It wasn't that she was suddenly an unbelievable, exaggerated form of attractive — it was still Hailey in the mirror — but it seemed like a perfect version of herself. Like she'd just had professional makeup done for hours to make her skin absolutely flawless, her hair perfectly clean and catching the light, her eyelashes just right, her lips soft and full of color. Hell, even her nose looked attractive, and she'd always hated her nose. Suddenly, it wasn't off-center anymore, or weirdly straight.

  And all of it was permanent.

  Hailey glanced at Jessica, suddenly feeling a little nervous. "Jess?"

  Jessica shook her head slightly, realizing she'd been staring at Hailey with her mouth hanging open slightly. She gave her a quick nod of approval, but Hailey could see her eyes lingering.

  Hailey grinned. She floated the handful of candle holders out of Jessica's arms, dumping them back into her bag. She gave Jessica another hug, who returned it after a moment's hesitation, then turned and opened the bathroom door. Jessica vanished into thin-air, not wanting to be seen quite yet, but Hailey was ready. She walked right back into Portman's office, where he was still watching the crowd below with a concerned expression.

  He looked up, and his jaw dropped even further than the last time.

  "Does that window open?" she asked casually.

  He nodded.

  Hailey took a deep breath. "Show time."

  She found the latch for the window and pulled it open. Stepping out onto the ledge, she closed it behind her without looking, shoving it gently back into place with her mind.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  It only took a few moments for someone to notice her. They began shouting. It was like someone just kicked an anthill as people began swarming, turning cameras up to catch her.

  She jumped.

  Some people screamed. Hailey fell through the air, enjoying the whistling breeze for a few moments. She spread her wings wide and pushed hard.

  Her descent slowed, and became an easy controlled glide down to the pavement. The crowd of cameras and press made way, quickly reforming a circle around her as she touched down, with only a few quick steps for balance before she stood upright.

  There were so many clicks, camera flashes, and shouted questions that Hailey felt totally blind. She didn't even bother trying to answer, just glancing around the crowd with a nervous smile. It gave her a surprisingly long time to think, since each journalist, paparazzi, or just random onlooker were all practically climbing over each other to get the first word from her.

  Right back at the center of the crowd. You got this, Hales. Just like old times.

  Except it really wasn't like old times. The old crowds were all people she knew, or at least invited by people she knew. Her parties, her friends. Her word was law there.

  Here? She was totally alone.

  What the hell was I thinking? I'm probably on TV in front of the whole world right now. What am I supposed to say?

  She glanced around. The furor was dying down as they realized she still hadn't said anything. There were still a few shouted questions, mostly from the back, but a wave of silence was overtaking the gaggle. She could hear the bustle of the city beyond, as the rest of the world continued on regardless of the monumental event taking place in front of a law office in Redmond.

  Oh man, this really is monumental. I'm the first person with magic to ever really show up and say something. This is gonna be in all the history books, isn't it?

  What if I just flew away again? She laughed aloud briefly at the image in her head, which caused another flurry of activity, another burst of photos, another couple shouted questions before they all fell silent again. Oh god. I totally froze up. I can't speak.

  She looked back up at the window she'd jumped from. Her eyes were still enhanced from earlier, since she'd never let go of the spell. It didn't actually make things up close harder to see, it just let her see details on things much further away easily if she focused. Just like normal eyes, except that she had a way longer depth of field, or whatever the right term was.

  Jessica was sitting up on the roof peeking over the edge, barely visible even with her eyesight. She gestured slightly, obviously trying to get Hailey to notice. She kept pointing at herself, motioning over and over between that and the crowd below.

  Go get her?

  No, Jessica had pretty clearly indicated she didn't want to be on TV.

  Be like her?

  Not likely either.

  Be like… me. Be myself. Oh.

  Hailey could do that. It was easier than trying to think of something profound and important to say, anyway. That was all Cinza and Rachel's thing.

  She looked back at the crowd, letting her nervous anxiety manifest on her face. She cracked a smile.

  "Hi."

  No one moved. No one said a word. A couple cameras clicked, but as she looked around, they appeared to be taking pictures automatically. Everyone was frozen in place.

  Hailey glanced back up at the building. "That was pretty crazy, huh?"

  "What are you?" asked a breathless man near the front, holding up a microphone from a local TV station.

  "I'm Hailey. Hailey Aurora Elizabeth Winscombe. I'm twenty-two, I'm majoring in business, I'm a Leo—not that those mean anything at all… and I'm one of the awakened."

  She took another deep breath, turning to stare at the nearest camera.

  "I'm here to call out the so-called survivor of Rallsburg. The guy who's responsible for stealing the diaries of a good friend of mine." She glanced around the crowd, pausing for effect. "Wherever you are? Stop hiding. Call your lawyers and get out here. We need to talk."

  A cacophony as the floodgates opened up, a dozen voices yelling over one another.

  "Miss Winscombe, where have you been hiding?"

  "What happened in Rallsburg, Hailey?"

  "Did you just say Cinza was your friend?"

  "How did you just do that?"

  "What happened to Cinza?"

  "Can you fly?"

  "What are you?"

  Hailey had been ignoring every question since, but as the last one cropped up again, she turned and fixed her eyes on the man who had asked. The crowd fell silent instantly at her reaction, but Hailey didn't let her anger show.

  This is the most important moment in the world, and I'm standing at the center of it. Whatever I say is what everyone's gonna be talking about for days. Weeks. Years. Centuries, maybe.

  Don't screw it up.

  Be yourself.

  She smiled. "I told you, I'm Hailey. I'm awakened. I'm one of the good guys."

  "...What does 'awakened' mean?"

  "Were you always like this?"

  "Who are the bad guys, Hailey?"

  Crap, maybe not the best way to start this off… Oh god, what are Cinza and the others thinking right now?

  I shouldn't be doing this. We need to regroup.

  Hailey glanced around again nervously. "Sorry, everyone. I gotta go."

  Before anyone could say another word, Hailey coiled her legs and leapt into the air. Her wings unfurled in an instant and beat down hard, sending a huge gust rolling through the crowd. More than a few hats were blown off. Hailey quickly ascended to the roof, where Jessica was suddenly nowhere to be found.

  Hailey knew exactly what Jessica would do. She held out her hands right as she passed the lip of the roof. Two small, invisible hands clasped onto her forearms like vices. Hailey swung her around in midair, and Jessica found a grip, clinging to her with both arms and legs.

  Another hard wingbeat and they were moving, flying south while a herd of cameras and vehicles on the ground tried in vain to follow.