Chapter X

In the days following their meeting at Liz’s house, life for Lilly seemed to return to a modicum of normalcy. Their first big test in calculus, the only class Lilly shared with all four members of the Magic Club, was announced to be the oncoming Friday and so, mixed with her next big race being the following Saturday, Lilly tried her hardest to push the magical stone from her thoughts and try to focus solely on school and cross country. However, the task was easier said than done.

What she learned about the stone was fascinating and it only made her want to experiment with it more. Her curiosity and intrigue was even strong enough to overcome some of her aversion to socializing and so, she found that she wasn’t too opposed to interacting with Eric, Liz, Vinny, and Damien despite them being arguably weirder than even Jay.

But putting up with them is a small price to pay for getting to see actual magic, she thought. And…it’s not like they’re that bad.

Their experimenting had carried on for the rest of that day though, despite the many swaps they had done, Damien had still continued to refuse to use it. The boy was very adamant about not touching the stone and made it clear that he had no interest in experiencing it’s magic. By the time they wrapped up, the sun was going down and it was almost night. It was fun but it left her with the task of coming up with some excuse for her parents as to why she was out so late. She wound up lying about having stopped at a cafe and hung out there all day which they luckily believed.

In the following week, despite being so caught up in studying and training, she did make time one afternoon to go up to the clubroom and see what they were up to. Evidently, Eric had put the investigation on hold for the sake of the test and so she realized she wasn’t missing much. That Friday came much faster than she had been prepared for but, luckily, the test hadn’t been that hard. With it out of the way, it left her psyched up for her race the following afternoon, which she did quite well on, having taken sixth among the girls competing that day. She swore to herself that she would take first by the end of the season.

And now it’s Sunday, she thought with a sigh. Another week ahead of us. But I guess this means that, with the test done, they’ll be back at it with the stone. I really don’t know why this fascinates me so much…I mean, I know it’s magic and all but even so…

She wasn’t one who felt comfortable around people. She far preferred being alone as opposed to being around others. By her own logic, she should have been avoiding the Magic Club and despite having tried to convince herself to do so, she just couldn’t bring herself to keep out of The Switch business. She had to know what was going to happen with it.

But even ignoring my fascination with that stone, why was I more comfortable around them than I am with others? What is it about them?

“Hey, Lilly? Are you okay? You’ve been really quiet for, like, ten minutes.”

Snapped back to the present by the sound of the ten-year-old’s voice, Lilly quickly sat up on the couch and looked over at Natalie, who was laying on the ground on her stomach, working on an assignment her mother had left for her.

“Uh, yeah,” she quickly replied. “Sorry, Nat’. My mind’s just been elsewhere recently.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “Mom says I’m a really good listener so I can help if you want.”

Lilly couldn’t help but to laugh at her suggestion. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. Don’t worry, sweetie.”

It’s not like I could tell her about the stone, after all, she thought. She’d think I’d gone crazy.

“Are you sure?” Natalie pressed. “Is it, like, boyfriend problems? Do you have a boyfriend, Lilly?”

She chuckled, always finding herself in a pleasant mood whenever she was asked to babysit the girl.

“No, I don’t have a boyfriend,” she replied.

“Oh. A girlfriend then?”

“Nope. None of those either.” Lilly smirked. “I’m a lifelong single girl.”

“Do you want a boyfriend then?”

Okay, I love her but she really likes asking questions, doesn’t she?

“Enough about me and my lack of a love life,” Lilly said, trying to push the conversation elsewhere. “Don’t worry. I’m all good. School’s just a little stressful, is all.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Natalie responded. “School’s stressing me out, too. Mom keeps giving me a whole bunch of work and it’s so boring. I liked it better when all I had to do was add two and two. Now she’s making me find X! Why? I didn’t know math had letters!”

Lilly smirked. Good luck when you reach calculus, kid. It’s a whole other ball game.

“Oh yeah. Math’s a real jerk, now isn’t it?” she joked, watching Natalie laugh.

“Yeah!”

The little girl then reached up and felt her hand along the coffee table behind her. It was clear she was trying to find the blue bunny eraser a few feet away from where she was feeling so Lilly leaned forward and handed it to her. She muttered a soft thanks before returning to her work.

As Lilly watched her do her homework, she suddenly wondered what Natalie’s take on the whole gem situation would be if she knew what was going on. After all, she was very intelligent for her age and often had perspectives that never occurred to Lilly. While she couldn’t outright tell Natalie, she decided to satisfy her curiosity and pick her brain.

“Hey, Natalie. I’ve got a quick question for you,” she began.

“Yeah? What is it?”

Lilly hesitated another moment but, knowing the girl wouldn’t make fun of her, she pressed forward.

“Do you believe in magic?”

At that, Natalie sat up and turned her head back in Lilly’s direction, a confused and skeptical look on her face.

“Magic?” she muttered. “You mean like Santa Claus? Or do you mean…witches and warlocks? Cause I’m a big girl now! I don’t believe in all that stuff! It’s for kids!”

Lilly cocked an eyebrow in amusement. “So you don’t think there’s any magic in this world? None at all?”

Natalie shook her head. “Of course not? Do you?”

I mean…I didn’t think I should but then again, what do I know?

“Not really,” she lied. “I was just making conversation, is all. And for the sake of conversation, if magic did exist and you got ahold of it, what would you do with it?”

The little girl shrugged again. “I mean, I don’t know. I guess it depends on what it does. Can it, like, make me unlimited candy or something because I’d totally use that!”

Lilly snorted. “You know if you did that, your mother wouldn’t be very happy, now would she?”

“So?” she grumbled. “I’d have magic! I’d just cast a spell and make her forget she caught me eating candy!”

“Oh? So now you can make candy and erase memories? Is that the case?”

Natalie laughed. “I mean I’ve got magic, right? If that’s true then I can do anything! Why not? And you know what? I’d summon a unicorn!”

“You believe in unicorns?” Lilly asked.

“No. But if magic is real then why can’t they be?” she replied with a cute little smirk.

“I guess you’ve got me there,” the older girl murmured, suddenly wondering if she had a point and there actually were unicorns out there somewhere.

Well, if Eric ever stumbles upon a unicorn then I’ll just have to ask him to give Natalie a ride.

“Also…” Natalie suddenly continued. “…I think I’d want to fix my eyes.”

Lilly frowned, recognizing the sudden shift in tone from cheerful to longing in her voice.

“I know Mom says it isn’t something to be fixed but…everybody always talks about the world and I’ve never gotten to see any of it. I guess if I had magic…I’d want to be able to see…even if it’s just for a little while.”

Lilly nodded, suddenly feeling bad for bringing the topic up.

Although…I guess I technically could give her that if I had the stone, she realized. If I swapped bodies with her, she could see through my eyes for a little while. Maybe…

But she quickly abandoned the thought. They still weren’t sure if there were any long term side-effects from using the stone. Until they had an idea of what they were dealing with, she didn’t want to put Natalie in any possible danger. Not to mention it wasn’t guaranteed that she wouldn’t say something about it to Renee. While the woman wouldn’t ever believe her daughter was telling the truth, it clearly wasn’t like Natalie to believe in that stuff. It would only worry Renee more than she tended to be.

“Well, if I ever find some magic, I’ll let you know,” Lilly said after a moment.

Natalie giggled, some of her earlier cheer returning. “Okay! As long as you promise to bring a unicorn with it!”

“Absolutely,” Lilly replied. “It’s a promise.”

***

The following day, Lilly found herself wishing the weekend could have gone on for longer as she didn’t feel completely rested after Saturday’s race. Luckily, Coach Francis had canceled practice that afternoon for a doctor's appointment so Lilly could take some extra time to relax. However, even as the thought occurred to her, she knew she would just wind up in the Magic Club’s room for another afternoon of discussing what to do with the stone.

She sighed, glancing over her shoulder to look across the calculus classroom where the four members of the club were scattered at various desks. Lilly was sitting at the front left corner of the room so she had a good view of each student. Eric was the only one who noticed her staring so he simply smiled at her before turning his attention back to Mr. Keipler’s lecture. Despite Eric’s quirks, she found herself smiling back as she returned her own eyes to the front of the room where the teacher was standing, scribbling another equation on a board already full of numbers and letters in various colored markers.

“Now,” the stout, balding man began, glancing up at the clock in the corner of the room before continuing. “I graded your tests over the weekend and suffice to say, I’m not very impressed.”

There was a collective groan of the students and Lilly felt her stomach churn.

Ah damn. Don’t tell me I flunked it. I felt so confident about this one!

“Yes, yes,” Keipler went on. “Groan all you like. However, it is very clear to me that we aren’t fully grasping the concept. When three quarters of a class fails their test, clearly some blame must fall on the teacher as well.”

Three quarters?! Oh boy…

Keipler cleared his throat as he walked over to his desk, which was directly in front of Lilly, and picked up a stack of papers. “Therefore, I will be holding a few review lectures today and tomorrow at lunch and will give you all the chance to retake the test in class this Friday.”

At his words, the discomfort that Lilly had sensed among the students quickly shifted to hope as everybody learned they’d get a second chance. Even she felt a bit better knowing that she wasn’t going to be starting the year off with an “F”.

“You’re the best, Mr. K!” she heard Matt Briggs from the cross country team call out.

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Briggs,” Keipler replied, clearly unamused by the interruption. “Now, anyway, there is one student in particular that I need to praise as she managed to get a ninety-four on her test, which is a good ten percent above the second highest score.”

Lilly snorted, wondering which tryhard managed to actually ace the test. Therefore, she could only widen her eyes in surprise when Keipler walked over and placed one of the sheets of paper down onto her desk with a big “94%” written in red pen in the top right corner.

“Very impressive job, Miss Harper,” he said with a smile. “I’m quite impressed.”

She barely got out a “thanks” as she stared stunned at the paper, trying to process the fact that she got an “A” on a test that most of the class failed.

It’s not like I suck at math but I’m definitely not some genius at it! How did I pass when everybody else failed? Is the rest of the class just really stupid or something?!

She could hear compliments from Jay, Matt, Vinny, and Eric but she hardly processed what they all said.

“Now, class will be over in five minutes so I suggest you take this time to study,” Keipler said as he held out the stack to a girl sitting next to Lilly, who took it as he beckoned for her to pass them out. “And to those of you who did pass, you can still feel free to do the retake. I’ll keep your largest score. Now stay in your seats until the bell rings.”

Yeah, no thanks, Lilly thought. I’m perfectly happy taking the week off from studying!

She listened to the groans of the other students as they got their tests back, feeling suddenly guilty that she wasn’t sharing in their pain. Outside of cross country, she never excelled in anything so being put in the spotlight made her even more uncomfortable than she normally was.

Well great! Now Keipler thinks I’m some math whiz so his expectations for me are gonna be higher! Maybe this isn’t a good thing!

After five minutes of her sitting in silence and staring at her paper, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of fifth period. She quickly took her test and shoved it into her binder, wanting to get out of the room as fast as possible. Unfortunately, she realized she should have packed before the bell rang and was not quick enough to escape.

“I didn’t know you were a math genius, Lilly,” Vinny said with a grin, plopping down onto the surface of her desk.

“Neither did I,” she muttered.

He laughed. “Well I guess there’s a lot of secrets kept in that quiet head of yours.”

Is that supposed to be a compliment?

“Uh thanks,” she grumbled, sliding her binder into her backpack as she did so. Naturally,and unfortunately for her, Vinny wasn’t the only one to approach her. With the other three in the same room, it was only natural that they would all gravitate together. She couldn’t help but to cringe, not wanting the rest of the class to start associating her with the Magic Club. However, she couldn’t bring herself to tell them to go away.

“I can’t believe you aced that,” Liz sighed as they drew up alongside her desk. “I got fifty-five percent and I studied like crazy! How did you get an ‘A’?”

Lilly shrugged, not sure how to respond but was thankfully saved from having to do so by Eric.

“Well, did you actually study? Or did you just sit at your desk with the book open to some random page while you sent kissy texts to Damien?” he inquired with a grin.

She scowled. “Shut up! Of course I studied, Reiner! It’s just hard to understand! I mean, how’d you do?”

“Well…” he muttered, then cleared his throat. “I might’ve only got a fifty-six but it’s still better than you!”

“Jokes on both of you!” Vinny interjected. “Cause I got a thirty-two!”

Both went silent and turned to stare at him like he was a dumbass, which didn’t seem to bother Vinny in the slightest. Then, turning attention away from himself, he addressed Damien next.

“So? How about you, buddy?” he asked. “I’m actually shocked you didn’t get an A.”

Damien shrugged. “I mean, I got an eighty-four so it’s not like I did that poorly.”

“Of course he did!” Liz exclaimed. “Even when you do badly, you do well! You suck!”

The boy frowned. “When I do badly, I do well? That…doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t have to!” she retorted.

Feeling the stares of the students left in the room, Lilly slung her backpack over her shoulder and prepared to move to the door on the opposite side of the room. That was apparently the club’s cue to leave because they followed after her, chatting and arguing as they did so. Luckily for her, when they reached the door, they all bid her goodbye and took a left while she went right.

God, if I’m not careful, I’m gonna get lumped in with them, she thought nervously. Although, that might be a good thing. I guess it would keep other people away—

“Hey, Harper!”

She jumped at the sudden call of her name and turned around to see Brad Fischer leaning up against the corridor wall, his arms folded and his brow furrowed in clear irritation.

“Uh, yeah?” she stuttered, afraid of what he might want after what happened in the bathroom nearly a week prior. Despite his promise to Jay and Alice to keep quiet, she still feared that he might try to confront her.

“Come here a moment,” he mumbled, though still keeping his voice firm.

Worried about saying no, she moved out of the wave of students and approached the football player, trying to conceal her strong sense to avoid him.

“What?” she asked softly.

“Could you, er, meet me in the library after school,” he replied, all of a sudden seeming slightly uncomfortable before his sharp expression returned. “I want to talk to you about something important.”

And with that blunt response, he hurriedly turned and stalked into the crowd, leaving a stunned Lilly staring after him, unsure of how to react.

***

The suddenness of Brad’s request to meet him in the library had her so on edge throughout her sixth period Inporian History Class that she hardly processed any of what Mrs. Nelson was talking about. All she could focus on was trying to figure out what a popular football guy could want with somebody like her that didn’t have something to do with the boys bathroom incident. Regardless of what might be going on, she was almost certain based on how Brad typically acted that she was getting blackmailed in some fashion. Therefore, despite knowing it might cause even more problems than she already had, Lilly decided she would take a risk.

The minute the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, she packed up her things and made a b-line for the staircase that would take her to the third floor. Despite the fact that being late to the library would almost certainly piss Brad off, she also knew she couldn’t exactly go alone. And so, when she arrived at the top of the stairs, she went directly to the Magic Club’s room.

“Well, if it isn’t Miss Lilly Harper,” Vinny said with a grin as she walked through the door. “Always a pleasure for you to visit our humble abode.”

She stopped in surprise, realizing that Vinny and Eric were the only ones in the room. She figured whichever teacher owned the room and a few straggling students would still be there.

I guess whoever teaches here doesn’t have a sixth period class, she reasoned.

“So what brings you here today?” Eric asked. “Want to try messing with the gem again?”

Lilly felt her body tense up as she tried to force herself to ask them for help. She wasn’t used to reaching out to people like she was about to but, not wanting to deal with Brad by herself, she really wanted somebody to go with her and preferably somebody who wasn’t afraid of the big boy, hence why she was talking to Vinny and Eric.

“A-actually,” she stuttered. “I was wondering…if you could help me out with something?”

The two boys looked momentarily surprised before smiling in excitement.

“Of course!” they said in unison.

“Anything you need,” Eric added.

She was slightly uncomfortable at the ease with which they accepted her request without even knowing what she wanted but at the same time, she found herself grateful that the two were so quick to help.

“Look…” she began. “Right after math ended, I ran into Brad Fischer and—”

Vinny snorted. “Ew. What did that gorilla want you? And if he so much as laid a finger on you, let me know and I’ll pound him into the ground!”

Lilly hesitated, genuinely uncertain if he was serious but Eric motioned for her to go on before she could ask.

“And anyway,” she continued. “He told me to meet him in the library after school. I’m not sure what he wants but he was very…demanding.”

Vinny shrugged dismissively. “So? If you don’t want to go then don’t. He won’t actually do anything to you if you don’t. He’s all talk.”

“Maybe, but…” She didn’t want to voice her fears about Brad spreading rumors about her in front of Vinny despite the fact that he already knew most of what went on during Eric’s time in her body that first day. She glanced up at Eric with a pleading look and he seemed to understand what was bothering her.

“Well, there shouldn’t be any harm in just seeing what he wants,” the tall boy said after a moment.

Vinny cocked an eyebrow at his friend. “I mean maybe…but what would he actually need with her? I didn’t think he knew Lilly at all.”

“I mean, he doesn’t really,” she muttered. “Look…I was just wondering if either of you could just…like, come with me? I don’t want you to walk in with me but could you just hide nearby so that Brad doesn’t see you? It would…make me feel a bit better to know I wasn’t alone.”

“Oh absolutely!” Vinny responded immediately. “I’ve got your back.”

Still thrown off guard by his quickness to help, Lilly couldn’t stop herself from staring at him in surprise.

“You’re sure?” she pressed. “Cause if its a bother then—”

“Nonsense!” he interrupted. “Come on, let’s go. Don’t want to keep the bulky bastard waiting. You hold down the fort, Eric.”

“Will do,” he replied. “Don’t do anything to screw her over, Vin’.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it!”

With that, the blonde boy beckoned for her to follow him before walking toward the classroom door. She glanced back at Eric but he merely smiled, encouraging her to go with him. So, realizing she should just be thankful that she got the help she wanted, Lilly turned and followed after Vinny.

I can’t believe how easy that was, she thought incredulously.

“Hey, Vinny,” she mumbled as she rushed up to walk alongside him. “Thank you. I mean it.”

The boy chuckled. “Don’t mention it. You act like this is some big deal. Even if you haven’t signed the official papers or whatever, I consider you an honorary member of the club now! Therefore, it is my duty to make sure you’re safe and taken care of.”

An honorary member, huh?

Despite knowing that probably wasn’t a good thing, she still couldn’t help but to smile softly at the sincerity of his words. Suddenly, she didn’t feel terribly embarrassed to be in his presence out in the halls. She wasn’t sure why. She knew rumors would spread about her being caught up with them but it suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

After all, I’m starting to realize that most of this school doesn’t actually know a damn thing about them.

The West Wilham High library was located on the third floor so it didn’t take much of a walk before the two of them arrived at the open blue double doors. She took a deep breath, unsure of what she should expect but finding comfort in the fact that she didn’t have to deal with it alone.

“Alright, you head in first,” Vinny said. “I’ll stay out here for a moment and act like I just wandered in. That good?”

She nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine. Thanks.”

“Alrighty. Let’s get this done!”

Using his words as motivation to move forward, Lilly walked through the doorway and into the library. As far as school libraries went, it wasn’t anything impressive to the girl. Naturally, there were bookshelves all around with long, rectangular tables situated throughout the room for students to gather around and study. She figured she’d find Brad at one and soon enough, she noticed him sitting at the corner of a table alone, scrolling on his phone. With one more deep breath, she walked toward him.

“Oh, there you are,” he grumbled upon seeing her approaching. “Took you long enough.”

“I…had to stop by my locker,” she muttered, taking a seat opposite the table from him. “So…you wanted to talk?”

He nodded, glancing over her shoulder before narrowing her eyes. When she turned to look, she saw Vinny sauntering over to one of the bookshelves, grinning for some reason. When he noticed Brad staring, he waved with a sly chuckle before disappearing behind a shelf.

Yup. Very inconspicuous, Vinny, she thought.

“What’s your deal with them?” the broad-shouldered boy growled after a moment. “Those Magic Club nuts, I mean.”

She turned back to stare at him, hesitant with how to respond. She knew Brad couldn’t stand them and so, she decided to simply lie for fear of pissing him off.

“Not much, really,” she replied.

The boy scoffed. “Oh don’t give me that. I saw the way they all gathered around you in math earlier. You looked like you’d been friends for years! Not to mention all that weird shit with you and Reiner the other day.” He then glanced away, and cleared his throat. “But I won’t get into that.”

She cringed at the mention of that incident but found herself surprised that he didn’t press it. So, not wanting him to change his mind, she quickly responded.

“Look…they just kinda took a liking to me,” she lied. “I don’t know why though. Is…that what you called to talk to me about?”

Brad sighed before shaking his head. “N-no,” he stuttered. “Actually…it’s about something else. I need your help.”

She frowned, wanting to ask him what he needed before getting distracted by the sight of Vinny peeking at them from around the bookshelf behind Brad.

Could you be more obvious?

She was about to try and subtly motion for him to stop being so blatant when Brad’s next words threw her mind through a loop.

“I…was wondering if you could be my calculus tutor?”