Marie slipped through the hallway toward Luc, navigating the crowded space with ease. Over the past week and a half, she’d adjusted to the new school and her relationship with Luc. Friendship, she hoped. She was certainly wearing the girl down.

  Luc stifled a groan as Marie leaned against the locker beside her. “Don’t you have other places to be and people to bother?”

  “Nope. Just you.” Marie’s smile widened as Luc glanced over, eyes narrowing. If you asked Marie, she’d say the look wasn’t as genuine as it had been when they first met. Luc was enjoying this.

  “Lucky me,” she drawled.

  “Yes, lucky you.” Marie jumped back as Luc shut her locker with a little more force than was strictly necessary. “Have you seen Maisey?”

  “No,” Luc said with a shrug. “We don’t have any classes together.”

  “She was missing from my French class,” Marie said. “You don’t think she’s going to chicken out, do you?”

  “From French class?”

  Marie rolled her eyes, picking up her pace to keep up with Luc. Marie could navigate anything with ease, with better spatial awareness and coordination than most, but Luc had a way of moving that made it seem like nobody else was there.

  “From the magical girl test.”

  Luc shrugged, and Marie resisted the urge to get after her. Instead, she switched tactics.

  “You are coming to support her today, right? I know you usually work Fridays.”

  Luc shot her a strange look, one Marie pointedly ignored. It wasn’t weird that Marie knew when Luc worked, considering how much time they spent around each other now. Not directly around each other all the time, but competing with different jobs, each of them trying to out do the other. They’d certainly fallen into a rhythm since Marie had transferred schools and started over with Luc.

  “I’ll at least be there to see her in,” Luc said. “But I have to go to work today. I’m already taking tomorrow off, I can’t afford to take today off too.”

  “I can’t imagine what you need all this money for,” Marie said with a chuckle. For someone in still in high school, Luc certainly did hustle. “Do you have a secret gambling addiction I don’t know about?”

  Luc didn’t laugh, or even crack a smile. She’d get wrinkles at this rate, the way she frowned. “That’s not funny.”

  “Sorry. What do you need tomorrow off for?”

  “For the opening of the harvest festival,” Luc said as though it was obvious.

  “Oh!” Heat rose to Marie’s cheeks as she stared at the girl, her heartbeat ticking up steadily. She could practically count out the beats. “I was thinking of going too. You think I could go with you?”

  “With me?” Luc stopped outside her classroom to stare at Marie, both eyebrows raised.

  “No, no,” Marie said quickly, fumbling over her words as she rushed to get them out. “Like, with everyone. As a group. Because we’re friends.”

  Luc continued to stare at Marie, unconvinced by her rambling she’d thankfully managed to stop. She was being stupid. Pushing too hard. Luc could barely handle the concept of being friends, much less… whatever Marie’s half thought out idea had been.

  Finally, Luc shrugged and broke eye contact, letting Marie breathe again. “Sure, but I was mainly going to be there to keep an eye on everything. Make sure nothing magical shows up to ruin it.”

  “How very noble of you,” Marie said. “I’m sure you won’t spend any time with any of your friends or have a good time.”

  Luc’s resolve wavered as Marie teased her, and though she didn’t say as much, Marie would count that as a victory. Another point on the scoreboard.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “You should probably get to class,” Luc said, snapping back to her usual grumpy tone of voice. “Don’t want to destroy your perfect attendance."

  Marie considered it for a moment before dismissing the idea. “Actually, I’m going to go find Maisey, make sure she’s okay.”

  “You do that,” Luc drawled, and stepped into class moments before the bell rang.

  The door shut in Marie’s face.

  She shot the door a dirty look before turning around, heading off in search of Maisey. Luc was right, she probably should be in class, and she might get in trouble for not going and just wandering the halls, but she’d been perfect all of high school. She could afford a little bit of trouble somewhere along the way.

  After a bit of wandering, Marie realized she was being stupid. If Maisey was going to be anywhere, it would be the library.

  It didn’t take long to reach the library, ducking silently through the double doors and scanning the floor. Sure enough, Maisey was there, hair forming a wall around her face as she bent over a desk.

  What is she doing?

  Approaching on soft feet that barely made a noise against the carpet, Marie finally got a glimpse at the desk. Maisey had a veritable army of origami cranes, foxes, and crabs on the table in front of her, a small stack of paper to her right, trimmed into neat little squares.

  “You look prepared,” Marie said. Maisey jumped at the sudden voice and Marie winced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Maisey sucked in a deep breath as she swept the hair back from her face. “I couldn’t focus in class. I’m so nervous, I can barely hold my fingers still to make these.”

  Marie pulled out the chair across from her, sitting down and giving the girl a smile. “I was nervous too,” she admitted. “And I think I was probably the most prepared a person can be. But you really shouldn’t be.”

  Maisey raised an eyebrow skeptically, and Marie laughed before explaining. “It’s not a hard test. They’re going to test the levels of your magic, and your control, and document what you can do with your ability. They also keep track of your latent potential, though they won’t tell you that.”

  Maisey’s eyes went wide. “What?”

  “It’s not a big deal,” Marie said with a shrug. “The commission keeps track of everyone who registers, that’s the point of registering. Then, if something terrible happens that, say, only you could deal with, you’d be called in to deal with it.”

  “And what if I said no?”

  Marie opened her mouth, then hesitated. “I’m not sure. I’ve never heard of anyone saying no.”

  “How reassuring,” Maisey muttered. “I wouldn’t say no either way, but that’s a little bit weird. Do you think this is enough?” She motioned at the table full of origami.

  “Yeah,” Marie said. “But they’re not going to let you take any of it into the test room.”

  The girl groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “Just my luck. All right.” She pushed herself back from the desk and stood. A grin slowly stretched across her face. “Want to help me hide these in the stacks?”

  Marie smiled back and gathered a handful to start spreading throughout the books.

  ******

  Despite Marie’s offer to drive everyone over, Luc insisted on taking her own car, and pulled into the parking lot shortly after them. She climbed out of the car, checking the time on her phone as she joined the others.

  “Have somewhere else to be?” Tobias quipped.

  “Yeah. Work,” Luc said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I’m probably going to have to leave before you finish. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Maisey said. “I’m just glad you came.”

  She crossed the space between them, wrapping her arms around Luc. Marie had to stifle a laugh at the way Luc went all stiff in her arms, as though she’d never gotten a hug before.

  Maisey laughed. “You’re getting better at that.”

  Luc frowned but didn’t respond. “Don’t we have to get inside? You don’t want to miss the test.”

  Before they had a chance to go anywhere, Luc’s phone went off. Marie’s phone followed a moment later, screaming against her side.

  Pulling it out, she frowned at the unknown number as it continued to ring and ring and ring. She slid her thumb across the screen, trying to answer the call and see who it was, but nothing happened. It just kept ringing.

  “I have to go,” Luc blurted, dropping her phone back into her pocket.

  “Wait, where are you going?” Tobias asked, reaching out for her before she could take off.

  “That’s the alarm I set up on your farm,” Luc said, holding up the phone. It was the same number lighting up Marie’s phone. “Something is setting it off. Do you or do you not want me to check it out and make sure everything is okay?”

  “No, go,” Tobias said, letting her go. “Do we need to come too?”

  “I can always take the test later,” Maisey said.

  “No, I’ll go,” Marie said. “Take the test. We’ve got this.”

  She met Luc’s gaze, and the girl nodded back in confirmation. This wasn’t a game anymore. They would take care of the threat as a team, and keep the farm safe.

  Marie desperately wanted to be able to attend the harvest festival with Luc. She couldn’t do that if magical monsters destroyed it.

  “I’m driving,” Luc declared, racing back to her car.

  Marie didn’t hesitate before running after her, grabbing the passenger door and throwing herself in. “I’m coming with you.”