After following Hailey down the snow-covered streets in silence for a few minutes, Kait tried to start a conversation. “I don’t think I need it now, but do you want to see the spell I mentioned?”

Hailey snapped out of her aloof stupor. “Oh, sure.”

Kait picked a stick up from the sidewalk. She began to run in place alongside Hailey, gripping the stick like a baton. “As long as I keep running like this, I won’t get cold.”

Hailey glanced at her. There was an aura of heat around Kait that made the light move and bend. “Whoa, that’s weird.”

“Right?” Kait said, not realizing that Hailey was referring to the light refraction. “Anyway, it’s a little too hot to keep it up with this sweater on…” She dropped the stick and stumbled into a regular walk.

“How does that work? Why do you need a stick to heat yourself up?”

Kait raised a finger. “You see, the stick is a baton, symbolic of the heat you feel in a race.”

“Huh…” Hailey looked away, lost in her thoughts.

After a moment, Kait frowned, staring intently at Hailey. “Could I touch your forehead for a second? I need to check something.”

“What? I mean…sure?”

Kait put two of her fingers to Hailey’s forehead for a second, then removed them. “Yep, I had a feeling you were…”

Hailey kept looking at Kait, waiting for an explanation that never came. A few minutes later, the phone’s path ended. “It’s just down this street,” she said as they took a turn onto the street in question. She looked between Kait and the house with wide-eyed surprise. “Is this the place?”

“Yep. Huge, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t a house but a mansion. And it was one that Hailey easily recognized. “Wait, how did you get a job with the Snowley family?”

“Well, he’s the person who paid for me to stay at your house. Do you know him?”

“Of course I do! They’re famous in our town!” She shrugged. “But whatever. If that’s all, I’m going back.”

“I’ll be fine from here, thanks. See you!” Kait waved to Hailey, and they parted ways.

A bus passed Hailey on her way home, and without thinking, she hid behind a lamppost.

Even though she wore her hood up and had a pair of sunglassess, Hailey thought someone on the bus might recognize her, nervously holding her hands to her chest as the bus passed. Pathetic.

When she returned home, Hailey lounged on the couch and began watching a show on her phone, but exhaustion eventually took hold of her, and she could hardly pay attention to it.

Since she died…I haven’t seen Linne or Tera, have I?

She checked her text messages, only to see that none had been sent in their group chat. There were still four phone numbers registered. Hailey read the most recent text.

Abbie: {We’re meeting in the library again after school.}

Hailey hastily pressed the phone’s sleep button, closing her eyes in pain.

No, I did see them. During the funeral, I didn’t even speak to Linne. And Tera...I wish I hadn’t spoken with her.

She hesitated over clicking the button again to continue watching something, but instead, she set down the phone and fell into a sleepless limbo for the next few hours.

When Hailey finally decided to get back on her feet, the room was illuminated by the sunset. Just how long had she been laying there? She stepped into the kitchen to see that Taylor was frying eggs and cooking something in the oven. She hadn’t even noticed him come back from school.

Taylor turned his head and greeted her in a cheery tone, “Have a nice nap?”

Hailey scratched her head lazily. “Sure.” A pinch of guilt laced her voice.

She was relieved to see that Taylor didn’t notice. “That’s good to hear.”

She sat on a stool. “So…what are you making?” Hailey asked, noticing how hungry she was.

“I’m making Kait an omelet.”

“Then what’s in the oven?”

“That’s just some potatoes. They’re done in two minutes, so you should stick around to eat some.” It almost sounded like a passive-aggressive order to Hailey, trapping her in the kitchen if she wanted food.

“I guess I will,” she grumbled. She watched the oven timer drop closer to zero seconds. 1:53

“What do you think about Kait?” 1:46

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“She’s fine.” 1:42

“Have you done much with her?” 1:35

“I walked her to her work today. That’s it.” 1:26

“That’s good to know…I’m surprised you walked out with her.” 1:10

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 1:05

“I mean, I haven’t seen you out of the house at all recently.” 0:58

Hailey didn’t respond. She was surprised, too, now that Taylor brought it up. 0:50

…0:40

…0:30

Taylor flipped the egg as Hailey began shuffling through drawers. 0:20

He frowned, thinking about something. 0:10

Before Taylor could process what was happening, Hailey preemptively took a potato from the oven, put it on a plate, and dashed up the stairs.

In surprise, he turned to her as she ran off. “Hey, Hailey! Your friends…” The timer on the oven beeped loudly as he spoke, causing him to trail off. He sighed despondently as he stopped the timer. Maybe it’ll be easier if I don’t say.

Hailey closed the door behind her, then placed the plate on her dresser. Her hands shook weakly. The potato was still hot enough for faint wisps of steam to trail out from it, brushing by her face uncomfortably.

She had forgotten to take a fork, but she was hungry, so she grasped the potato and bit into it.

The potato began burning her mouth and she panicked and spat it back onto the plate. She set it back down and placed the plate on her dresser. She fell prone on her bed and waited for it to cool down, her mind drifting off. Before she knew it, she was too tired to even reach up and eat the food.

Pathetic.

When Kait returned, she saw Taylor leaning against the countertop while his mother ate a mashed-up potato at the table.

Taylor waved. “Hey, Kait!” he said excitedly. “How was your work?”

She waved to Taylor’s mother before she responded. “Hey, Clera. It was fine, but I’m not used to cleaning these weird houses you all have these days, so I just worked on the gardening,” Kait said with a note of exhaustion.

“Did you garden very often before?” Taylor asked.

“Sort of. I worked on a farm when I was younger.” Kait leaned against the counter beside Taylor.

“So what about once you became a witch?” Clera asked suddenly.

Kait raised an eyebrow. “I became a witch when I was four.”

The two stared at her with surprise. “Four?” Taylor said with disbelief.

She nodded. “Yeah. Is that weird?”

Clera nodded. “Most people who become magicians don’t test for their magic until they've graduated high school…or, around eighteen I guess,” she clarified for Kait.

Kait raised an eyebrow. “Really? Back in my day, becoming a witch later than the age of twelve was considered too late.”

“That makes sense, actually. I assume it takes a lot to learn a versatile magic like witchcraft.” Clera said, confusing Taylor.

Kait nodded. “That twelve years old thing was always a superstition, in my opinion.

I mean, it’s definitely difficult to learn, but a year or two of good training could make anyone a good witch.”

“But if you became a witch at four, does that mean you’re really good?” Taylor asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t think I’m that good.” She chuckled. “But my friends used to say I was modest.” She paused, glancing down. “But I was part of the–” Kait suddenly reeled over the counter, her eyes dilating as she placed a hand on her neck.

Taylor leaned toward her with worry. “A-are you alright?”

“Um…” Kait slowly regained her composure. “Y-yeah. I just suddenly…got chills. Anyway, since I was a kid, most of the time I spent outside of farmwork was split between practicing my witchcraft and emotional control, so I’m…I was probably one of the better witches.”

“Emotional control? What’s that?” Clera asked.

“It’s…Since we witches use our emotions to fuel our spells, we need to regularly practice our control over them. If we don’t, our magic can become really volatile.”

Clera narrowed her eyes. “Volatile?”

Kait nervously nodded. “Yeah…sometimes, if our emotions are out of our control, we can unconsciously cast spells.”

“Is that dangerous?”

“Not really. It can just be a little hazardous sometimes.”

Clera frowned. “I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with practicing your emotional control, then?”

Kait opened her mouth, but it was another moment before she spoke. “Things have been so crazy for me that I…haven't practiced it since I woke up from stasis.”

Clera raised her eyebrows disapprovingly. “I see. Well, Kait, I understand that you’re struggling to cope with the new world you’re in, but I can’t in good conscience let you stay in my home if your magic is ‘hazardous.’” Taylor and Kait looked at her with unease as she thought her next words through. “I expect you to practice your emotional control from now on.”

Kait nodded. “I’ll make sure to.”

Clera stood from her seat and began to rinse off her dish.

“So what are you going to do now?” Taylor asked slowly.

“Now?” Kait looked down, her expression unsure. “I…I don’t know.”

“Oh, I meant, like, in a few minutes,” he quickly corrected himself.

“Ah. Well, I was going to go stargazing with a new spell I made…” she said quietly. “But I guess I’ll practice my emotional control while I do that.”

Taylor looked to the side, then suddenly said, “Could I come with you?”

Kait interlocked her fingers with uncertainty. “Well, it’s just, if you come, I can’t…”

“It’s fine,” Clera said, waving off their concerns. “Just make up for it tomorrow.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“And make sure Taylor doesn’t come back too late. In the meantime, I need to finish up some work.” Clera walked up the stairs, leaving the two alone.

“Um, I made an omelet for you if you want it,” Taylor said noncommittally.

“I don’t know what an omelet is, but if it's food, I do.”