“Uh, what are you guys fighting about this time?” Bridget asked as she ate a generous spoonful of pudding into her mouth.

“Oh, Bridget!” Sebastian could feel his face glow even redder as he realized how foolish he and Benjamin must have looked. “We were—”

“Sebastian ruined my outfit!” Benjamin pulled at his jacket, trying to get her to understand the seriousness of the situation. “Not to mention, this jerk made fun of my magic!”

“Well duh, even I could—”

“Oh, speaking of magic, I kind of already did my assignment,” Bridget interrupted in a casual but sweet tone. “I didn’t think it was all that hard.”

“No way...” Sebastian gasped, genuinely surprised at the remark.

Perfect. Benjamin turned his attention to Bridget now. “Hey Bridget, I was wondering, maybe after school, you could teach me how to...”

“Too late, I already asked her.” Lauren interrupted him, her gruff, tomboyish voice killing what Benjamin had to say in his throat.

Her dark sunglasses created a strange contrast to her bold red hair. Benjamin always thought that she looked like a giant crayon in her outfit. He would never dream of saying anything like that to her face, though. He was admittedly a bit fearful of the teenage girl.

“What? Are you serious!?” Benjamin turned to her, only to meet his reflection in her dark shades instead.

It occurred to him at that moment that despite having known her for a couple of years before coming to this school, like with Sebastian and Bridget, he didn't know what the color of her eyes were.

“Yeah, we’re going to practice after school,” Lauren replied curtly and without expression.

“Aw fang it!” Benjamin couldn’t believe his luck. He slapped his arms against his side with a loud smack as the remaining juice spurted from his pockets.

This day is only getting worse. He groaned in defeat.

“Do you mean the assignment involving your weapons?” Sebastian asked curiously.

“Duh, what else could I have meant?” Lauren crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at the obvious question he asked.

“Oh, forget this; I’m leaving!” Benjamin had had enough of this ridiculousness for one day. He turned abruptly and stormed off, making each step resonate on the linoleum floor.

“That was quick,” Lauren muttered under her breath.

“I wonder what happened...” Bridget glanced up from her pudding cup at Benjamin’s retreating, not paying attention to the exchange between the rest of the group. Her mind was elsewhere today.

“Beats me.” Sebastian shrugged, puzzled at his counterpart’s abrupt exit. It wasn’t like Benjamin to give up an argument, much less one involving him.

“Aw, disappointed?” Lauren followed his gaze to Benjamin and knew there was more to the story than what she heard at first hand.

“Shut up; you jerk,” Sebastian growled softly under his breath.

He immediately regretted saying those words for fear of being punched in the head. Thankfully, she wasn’t currently in a bad mood.

“What? I was asking.” Lauren teased playfully. She thought boys were such easy targets for her taunts.

“Uh, master? What’s wrong?” Chi-Chi asked, concerned at her master’s downward gaze and grim expression as soon as he came back to his table.

“Don’t ask.” Benjamin’s voice cracked for a moment.

The animals exchanged worried glances. They had never seen their master act like this, at least not in a long time. Benjamin needed to remain engaged in their plan. Otherwise, they’d be in serious trouble. They had to get to the bottom of Benjamin’s troubling mood and return it to normal. But how? Back at Sebastian’s table, Troy returned from retrieving his so-called books.

“I wonder if I missed anything while I was gone...” A small grin spread across his face as his curiosity peaked.