The mage commission didn’t quite know what to do with the bees but had to accept them anyway, freeing Luc and Maisey to return back to her bucket of rust unbothered.

  “Want to come over to my place?” Maisey asked, giving the girl an earnest grin. “We can go over some of this footage.”

  Maisey prided herself on noticing people. She’d been watching Luc ever since middle school, even tried to be her friend then. Luc had brushed her off, and Maisey wasn’t nearly as confident then as she was now. Over the past three years of high school, she’d paid attention as Luc worked herself to the bone, going all pale and thin, falling asleep in class, disappearing at lunch, always leaving the moment school let out and not speaking to anyone. It wasn’t until Tobias had brought her up that Maisey decided to try again with her, and she wasn’t going to let Luc brush her off so easily this time.

  “I have work,” Luc said, not looking at her as she climbed into the car. Maisey had no idea how the thing ran, as run down and busted as it looked. It had to be Luc’s magic.

  “At the cafe, right?” Maisey asked, taking the passenger seat. The floor was filled with an alarming amount of energy drink cans. The rest of the car had an equally alarming amount of junk, but considering Luc’s power and what she could build, it probably wasn’t actually concerning. “I can tag along. I can be really quiet, when I want to be.”

  “I’m sure you can,” Luc muttered. “And no, you can’t tag along. Where do you want me to drop you off?”

  Maisey’s eyes narrowed. Luc might be stubborn, but Maisey was more so. “Actually, I’m kind of hungry.”

  Luc slammed on the breaks as they came to a red light, head swiveling to look at Maisey. “I’m not bringing you to the cafe.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t want to,” Luc said, her fingers tightening around the steering wheel until her knuckles went white. “Because it’s work, and I can’t ‘hang out’ with anybody. Because I don’t want anyone at the cafe seeing that footage, especially not while I’m there. Because—”

  “Okay, I get your point,” Maisey said, cutting her off. “No need to be rude about it. What about tomorrow?”

  “I have to go to the Barnes’s farm tomorrow,” Luc said.

  “Oh, yeah! I’ll join you. I can even drive, if you want.”

  Luc shifted her attention away, returning it to the road as they started driving again. “You aren’t taking no for an answer, are you?”

  Maisey grinned. She’d always be able to out-stubborn people. “Nope. And it’s not like I can’t have Tobias tell me when you go over if you won’t. Actually, he’d tell me anyway.”

  “Fine,” Luc said. “But I’m driving. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

  “Sure,” Maisey said, and didn’t add: If your car lasts that long.

  With that settled, Maisey finally gave over her address and let Luc drive her home, making sure to get her phone number before going inside.

  “Hi, Mom!” she cheered as she walked inside, met by the scent of something in the slow cooker and her mother’s ceaseless baking. “What did you make today?”

  “Cinnamon pecan cookies,” her mother said. “Want some?”

  “Absolutely.” She joined her mother, a warm, soft woman who took joy in doing as much as she could for her family, by the kitchen island. Taking a bite of the still warm cookie, she gave her mother the ultimate hum of approval, not even bothering to finish chewing. “Oh, do you think you can make something I can take for breakfast? Mason and I are going to be hanging out with Tobias and another friend at the farm today, and I’d like to be able to feed everyone.”

  “Absolutely,” her mother said. “Who’s your new friend?”

  “Luc,” Maisey said. “From Penny’s diner?”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Ah.” Her mother nodded knowingly. “Yes, I’ll make you breakfast. That girl…”

  Her mother didn’t need to finish for her to nod in agreement. “I know. I’m forcing her to be our friend now.”

  “I hope it goes well,” her mom said, patting her on the arm.

  Shouldering her bag, Maisey made her way upstairs to her bedroom. With Mason still gone at practice, it was unusually quiet. Normally, she’d savor the time, curl up with a good book while she waited for company, but today she had paperwork to fill out.

  She did need to fill it out, for security’s sake at the very least. The law didn’t allow for mages to go around unregistered, and though the little bits of magic she used weren’t likely to be detected, she’d rather be safe.

  The paperwork itself was eager, the information easily filled in, save for one blank. Her name. Not her legal name, but her mage name, or magical girl name, if she decided to go that specific route. She still hadn’t decided if she was going to do anything with her magic after registering.

  A knock sounded against her open door, footsteps she hadn’t noticed coming to a stop just outside. Mason lingered there, short cropped blonde hair plastered by sweat to a face identical to Maisey’s. He hadn’t even bothered to change out of his basketball uniform.

  “FYI, your boyfriend is about to climb through your window,” Mason said. “I told him he could just go through the front door and Mom wouldn’t mind, but…”

  Sliding the stack of papers to the side of the bed, Maisey slid off with a grin. She reached the window just as Tobias climbed onto the roof, sliding it open for him.

  “This is going to get you in trouble one day,” Maisey said, leaning through the open window.

  Tobias pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and kissed her. The scent of sweat clung to him, but at least he’d changed out of his basketball uniform, into a grey hoodie she was absolutely obsessed with.

  “And yet you always smile when I do it,” he said when he pulled back. “Are you going to let me in?”

  “I guess.” She slid back inside, letting Tobias follow and get his feet beneath him before kissing him again. His hands fell to her waist, pushing her back gently until she bumped into her bed.

  From the still open doorway, Mason gagged. “Maybe Mom should ban you from the house.”

  “Your mom loves me,” Tobias said, flashing Mason a smile. Her brother, impervious to the look, rolled his eyes and stepped out of the doorway.

  “Close the door on your way out!” Maisey called after him.

  The door slammed shut.

  Tobias’s eyes settled back on her, their legs pressed together against the bed as he leaned into her just enough to keep her there. Any more, and she’d topple over.

  “Can I have your hoodie?” she asked, tugging at his sleeve.

  “Only if you give back all the others you’ve taken hostage,” he said, even though he was already pulling the hoodie off.

  Tugging the hoodie on, fleece warm from his skin, she climbed backward onto the bed. He followed, kicking off his shoes before sprawling out and releasing a sigh directly into the quilt comforter.

  “Long day?”

  “Hard practice,” he said. “What about you?”

  “Spent it with Luc,” Maisey said. “She’s good. I have a ton of footage of her. Wanna see?”

  He nodded and lifted his head, attention snagging on the stack of paperwork before she could pull out her phone. “What’s this?”

  “My magical girl paperwork,” she said. “Well, technically, my mage registration. I’m not sure yet about the magical girl thing.”

  “You’d make a good one.”

  “You think I’d make a good anything.”

  “Because you would,” Tobias said. “Doesn’t mean you need to do anything, though. Working as a mage is a lot.”

  “Yeah. It’s still a lot to consider. But what I’m really stuck on is a name.”

  “Do you need a name if you’re not registering as a magical girl?”

  “Every mage has a code name, apparently,” Maisey said, tugging the packet of paper over. “So, yeah, I need one.”

  “Hmmm.” He turned over, staring up at the ceiling. “Magical Girl Bookworm?”

  “Luc suggested that. It’s okay.”

  “Yeah, it’s not perfect,” Tobias agreed. “What about… Fold?”

  “Fold?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “That’s not an innuendo,” he said. “It’s just your power. Origami. Fold. Makes sense to me.”

  “Fold,” Maisey said, feeling the name out. “It’s not bad…”

  “Just say you like it,” Tobias said. “Where’s your pen?”

  “I am not giving you my pen!”

  “Why not? I’m just trying to help.”

  “Because you’re going to write down something silly.”

  “I absolutely would not,” Tobias said, affronted. “Do you think so little of me?”

  “No, I just know you that well.”

  He stuck out his tongue in response before shifting around, settling his head into her lap. “Are you coming over tomorrow?”

  “Yeah, we all are,” Maisey said. “Luc’s going over to build some sort of monitor, remember?”

  “Oh yeah,” he said. “Maybe she can build some sort of barrier too. Magic really needs to stop trying to catch me. I’m already yours.”