Luc stared at her bank balance as people rushed into class moments before the bell, barely noticing as someone bumped against her elbow.

  This was the most money she’d ever had in her account.

  When she’d gotten the notification that she’d been paid, Luc had almost been too afraid to check. She hadn’t taken nearly as many jobs as she usually did, with her Saturday being consumed by favors and friends and Sunday with work and homework.

  This rivalry thing paid better than she’d expected.

  She had no idea how much of it was to do with her increased rate from her deal with Marie’s father, or if it came from the influencer fund, but she was grateful.

  She’d have to ask Maisey to do more videos for her, just in case. Or at the very least, get her to show Luc how to film them herself. If one video made this much money, she could certainly afford to spend the time on them.

  Luc put her phone away as the bell rang, sliding it into her pocket to avoid getting it confiscated. Not that the teacher paid much attention to her in the back of class, at least not so long as she stayed awake and didn’t pull her hoodie down over her head. Math this early was a crime, but that’s what the energy drink was for.

  Miss Rodriguez didn’t dive straight into their lesson. Instead, she rose from her desk, eyes on the door as though waiting for one final person.

  Luc scanned the room. They weren’t missing anyone, and Miss Rodriguez normally didn’t wait for tardies, she just wrote them up. Luc would know; she’d had her fair share before forcing herself to get up and out of the house on time no matter how late she’d been out.

  Her eyes landed back on the open doorway as the girl stepped into it, causing her stomach to twist like somebody had just jammed a knife into it. This had to be a joke, right?

  Marie fiddled with the sleeve of her white cardigan, the knit long and floppy around her, like a homemade blanket drawn around her shoulders. She wore a pair of white tights, white heels that had to be brand new or close to it, and a little pink skirt that Luc was surprised had passed the dress code.

  She was way too dressed up for school, or at least for this school. Maybe this sort of look was common at Mercy West, but here?

  Well, everyone in the room stared as Miss Rodriguez beckoned her in. Except for Luc, staring at her beat up desk as she debated getting up and bolting out of the room.

  What good would it do? It wasn’t like she could avoid the class forever, if they were adding Marie to it. What kind of stupid, ridiculous fate was it that she’d been added to Luc’s first class?

  Was it truly luck, or was Marie’s father pulling strings? What strings could he even pull in this situation?

  “This here is Miss Marie,” Miss Rodriguez began. “She transferred over from Mercy West. For whatever reason.” She added the last bit in a low mutter, though Luc could still make it out.

  “Hi,” Marie said. “I’m happy to be here.”

  “Why did you transfer over?” someone asked loudly. Very loudly.

  “So I could be closer to my friends,” Marie answered, and by the way chairs squeaked and swiveled on the linoleum floor, Luc had the distinct feeling Marie had just pointed at her.

  I should have ran, Luc decided. She probably would have gotten less attention that way.

  “Oh, I didn’t know you knew Lucky,” Miss Rodriguez said, her voice pitching upward in surprise.

  Luc winced at the use of her legal name, glancing up to find a confused look on Marie’s face. The expression faded when Marie noticed Luc staring, and offered her a quiet smile.

  Luc didn’t smile back, looking back down at her desk.

  “Since you already know her, I think it would do well for you to be her guide around the school,” Miss Rodriguez said.

  “Hold on,” Luc said, protesting immediately. Why did she have to be stuck showing Marie around all day? It wasn’t like they’d be in all the same classes, so it was pointless. “This isn’t a big school. I’m sure she can get around just fine.”

  “It’s not a small school either,” Miss Rodriguez said patiently, but with a pointed look at her. “Especially compared to her last school. Show her around, please.”

  Luc opened her mouth to protest again, and then shut it. There was no use in protesting.

  The boy beside her moved over, grabbing his stuff and using it as an excuse to move closer to his friend and letting Marie sit down beside Luc.

  Marie shot her a curious look as Miss Rodriguez began to talk. “Lucky?”

  “Don’t call me that,” Luc snapped.

  “I wasn’t going to,” Marie said quickly. “I was just curious.”

  “Nothing to be curious about,” Luc said, unballing her fists. “It’s just not my name.”

  They fell into silence as Miss Rodriguez started to talk, giving a quick recap of where they were at for Marie’s sake before diving into new material. Luc let herself get consumed by the topic until the bell rang, releasing them from class.

  She rose slowly compared to Marie’s eager jump up from her seat, moving far too easily on her cube heels. “Where to next?”

  “What’s your class schedule?” Luc asked, holding out a hand with exasperation.

  Marie pulled out a small, folded up paper and Luc snatched it from her hands, unfolding it so quickly it tore along one side. She scanned the page, her frown only deepening. Why was Marie in so many of her classes?

  “You’re in dance?” Luc asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “The ballet thing isn’t just a theme,” Marie said with a shrug. “And they said I had to take a PE class. Are you taking dance?”

  Luc snorted. “No.”

  “Well, don’t say it like that.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You had a tone.”

  “I did not.”

  Someone coughed, and Luc caught herself, realizing people were staring.

  She turned on them, anger bubbling from someplace deep as she lashed out at them. “The fuck are you staring at?”

  Marie laid a hand on Luc’s shoulder, her touch light. “It’s okay, Luc. I can deal with a little staring.”

  Luc shrugged her hand off, skin prickling at the touch as she stalked out of the room. “Well, I don’t want to.”

  Marie followed her out, heels clicking loudly against the yellowing floor as she sped up. Luc gritted her teeth against the noise, heartbeat swelling to a throb that pulsed somewhere behind her eyes. Why did Marie have to transfer here? Luc couldn’t handle dealing with her everyday, much less everyone else.

  “Here,” Luc said, stopping outside a slowly filling classroom. “This is your next class.”

  Marie, of course, didn’t go directly inside. “What about you?”

  “Free period,” Luc said, and walked off. She didn’t stop as Marie called out after her, asking if Luc would be picking her up after class. She would, of course, but only because she had to.

  Normally, Luc would use her free period to either do some reading or catch up on homework, because she couldn’t do magical girl tinkering while on campus. Today, however, she didn’t have any homework to do, no tests to study for, and had finished all the books she had checked out from the library.

  Backtracking to her locker, Luc retrieved the stack of books from inside and made her way over to the library. At least in the library, she could be assured to have her silence and a bit of peace, before she had to go back out there and deal with Marie.

  Of course, she wasn’t all bad. She hadn’t pushed about the name thing, which was more than Luc had expected. And really, her biggest crime was being a rich nepo baby who’d been handed everything in life. Luc certainly could hate her for that, but on a personality level…

  Well, she was far happier than Luc could deal with. Always smiling at her, or firing off lines of banter like it was a game. If it was a game, Luc had no idea who was winning. It did kind of feel like she was losing, though.

  Luc entered the library and froze in the doorway, debating turning around and waiting to return the books another time. But that would mean having nothing to do for the rest of her free period, and really, they were in the library. How much trouble could she possibly find here?

  With the librarian nowhere to be found, Maisey was one manning the desk when Luc approached with her books. She set the stack of manga down gently, though not soundlessly enough Maisey didn’t notice.

  She spun around, a soft, floral dress spinning around her legs, and grinned.

  “Luc!” she greeted, keeping her voice low enough it wouldn’t disturb anyone and still managing to sound delighted to see her. “What are you doing?”

  “Returning my books,” Luc said, pushing the small stack forward. “And looking for more.”

  Reaching the desk, Maisey grabbed the first book and gave an approving nod. “Good book.”

  Luc glanced at her in surprise. She didn’t look, or act, like someone who would be reading these sorts of books, though Luc supposed it was wrong to judge based on appearances. “You’ve read it?”

  “Of course I have,” Maisey said. “I’m the one who requested it. Are you looking for more like it?”

  Luc hesitated before nodding. Maisey’s grin spread wider across her face.

  “Excellent. Follow me.” Maisey moved the stack of books on a cart to be reshelved before stepping out from behind the counter and walking toward the stacks. Luc followed, moving silently behind her as Maisey began to talk in a rapid whisper. “I’m glad you actually seem to have interests, I was kind of worried all you did was magical girl work and that you’d burn out on it.”

  “Why worry about that?” Luc asked, giving her head a shake. She hadn’t done anything with her hair this morning and it hung loose down her back, itching at her shoulders.

  “Because then we wouldn’t be able to do magical girl work together.” She said it casually, but Luc noticed the way her shoulders tensed, waiting for Luc’s reaction.

  “You’re going to become a magical girl?”

  Maisey nodded, biting her lip as she finally looked at her. “Yeah, I think so. I’m going to see when the next test is, and do it then.”

  “That’s a good plan.”

  “Don’t worry, though,” Maisey said, a grin stretching across her face. “I won’t try and be your rival. I know that spot is already taken.” She winked, and Luc’s face warmed as Maisey turned away, hiding her own smirk.

  What exactly was Maisey insinuating?

  “Just give me the books,” Luc snapped. “I’m running out of time to actually do some reading.”

  “All right, fine,” Maisey sighed. “But you are joining us for lunch, right?”

  “I probably have to have lunch with Marie,” Luc muttered. “I’m supposed to be her guide.”

  Maisey froze. “Wait, Marie is here?”

  Luc nodded, and Maisey started to laugh, clapping her hands together in delight. “Oh, that’s amazing.”

  Luc grabbed her books and walked away. Of course Maisey would think that.

  ******

  Mason slid up to Luc’s desk as she gathered her things at the end of English class, doing what she could to procrastinate needing to go and pick up Marie. Surely Marie could find her way to the cafeteria by herself, and Luc would be able to slip away and eat in peace.

  Judging by Mason’s proximity, probably not.

  She looked up at him finally and snapped. “What?”

  “I saw Marie earlier,” he said. “Is that your doing?”

  “Why the hell would that be my doing?” Luc demanded, pushing back from her seat. “I don’t control her.”

  “Well, you certainly motivate her.”

  “My bad, let me just tell her to transfer back to Mercy West.”

  Mason rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. You wouldn’t do that.”

  “Really? Watch me.”

  “Sure,” Mason said, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Go for it. I’m sure it’ll be entertaining.”

  That determination followed Luc out the door before beginning to deflate as she went in search of Marie. She’d transferred schools in the middle of senior year just to be closer to Luc and get to use their rivalry more, which was something Luc also wanted. Or at the very least, needed, because making that kind of money might actually make it possible for her to move out.

  Marie was waiting for her outside of the dance classroom, more disheveled than Luc had ever seen her. Not by much, just a few hairs out of place and a faint sheen of sweat on her skin, but it did make her look more human.

  “Ready for lunch?” Luc asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  To avoid eating lunch alone with her, she joined the others at their table outside, despite the increasingly brisk air. She settled her lunch box on her lap, grabbing the apple out and leaving her peanut butter crackers for later and giving Marie room to place her own lunch box on the table.

  “That’s quite a lunch,” Tobias commented.

  “The chef tries to make sure I always eat balanced meals,” Marie said with a little shrug, as if it wasn’t absurd to have a personal chef at home. Luc just shook her head. Marie would think that was normal.

  “What are you planning on doing later?” Maisey asked conversationally.

  Luc jumped in before Marie could. “I actually was thinking about trying to pick up another job later. Maybe with you, if you’re interested in that?” She directed the question at Marie, who smiled.

  “Absolutely,” she said, pulling out her phone. “Let me find us something.”

  Luc stared as she opened up an app and began to scroll through commission job listings. “You mean to tell me I don’t have to go to the commission every time I want to find a job?”

  “No?” Marie said, baffled. “You were doing that?”

  “Yes!”

  “Why?”

  “Because no one ever told me I didn’t have to!”

  “That’s silly,” Marie said, shaking her head. “I’ll get Dad to give you access to the app. That’s how most mages get their jobs. What about this one?”

  She leaned over, showing off a job listing asking for two magical girls here in town. “It’s close,” she added. “Just next door.”

  “It’s just the elementary school next door,” Luc said, shaking her head. “Why would they need two magical girls?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Marie said, and accepted the job.