Magnus

"Oh my goodness, I can't believe you drew each other!" Sam giggles. "That's just-" she collapses into a fit of laughter.

"It's not that funny." I mutter, my ears burning.

"It's definitely that funny." She argues. "Hey, are you going to TJ's party?"

"Yeah, obviously. I heard Mallory and Halfborn are coming, which'll be nice. I haven't seen them in a while."

"Yeah, it sucks that they don't have any of the same classes as us this year." Sam commiserates.

"Hey, do you know if Alex is gonna be there?" I ask, totally and completely casual.

Sam rolls her eyes. "As far as I know, loverboy."

"What- no- that's not- I was just wondering, okay?"

Sam laughs and puts her hands up. "Okay, okay. But admit it, you do like ALex."

"No, I don't- I'm not answering that!"

"Wow, TJ. No matter how many times I come over, the size of your house never ceases to amaze me."

TJ rolls his eyes and steps aside to let me in. "You're late, bro. The party started like fifteen minutes ago."

"Sorry, I couldn't figure out what to wear. Plus, fifteen minutes really isn't that bad."

"Seriously? You couldn't figure out what to wear? Wow, you've got it bad."

"What- I have no idea what you're talking about. And frankly, that has nothing to do with anything, so just- yeah."

TJ sucks in a breath. "Wow. Really nice save. You want something to drink?"

"Uh, sure." He hands me a red solo cup filled with something fairly noxious in it. I take a sip and nearly spit it out.

"Ah, it gets better the more you drink." TJ says, patting me on the back. "Of course, if you don't want to you by no means have to."

I nod. "Yeah, I think I'm just gonna leave it here."

"Hey, I'm gonna go play host, so just like, mingle or something, okay?" TJ says, backing away. I salute him and turn away, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. I catch a flash of green hair out of the corner of my eye, and I turn to see Alex hugging someone I don't recognise. I don't mean to snoop, but I can't stop myself from watching as they go to sit down on an open loveseat. They seem pretty… comfortable with each other. I find my abandoned drink and down it with a swig. I refill it and take another sip.

"Hey, Magnus." Mallory slides up next to me and leans against the kitchen counter, nursing her own red cup. "What's going on?"

I jut my chin in the direction of Alex and mystery guy. "They seem pretty close, huh?"

"Ooohhh." Mallory says knowingly. "That's Alex?"

I go to take another sip of my drink and find that my cup's empty. When did that happen? "Uh, yeah. How did you know?"

"Green hair, different-colored eyes, she's pretty hard to miss. And it's obvious you have a crush on her."

"Him." I mumble, refilling my drink again.

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure he's a boy right now."

"Oh, ok. Well, it's obvious you have a crush on him."

"I don't." I argue weakly.

She rolls her eyes. "Ookay. But you're shooting a pretty strong death glare to her friend over there."

"He just seems kinda shady, that's all." I say. "I'm- I'm gonna go talk to them."

Mallory puts her hands up in surrender. "Your funeral."

I steel myself and start to walk over to them. "Alex!" I say, too loudly.

He quickly pulls his hand away from the strangers, and my brows furrow slightly.

I look at the ground and clear my throat. "S- sorry. I'm interrupting. I'll go." I turn around quickly and make for the backyard, throwing my cup in the trash on my way out. I hear Alex say my name, but I don't turn around.

Once I'm outside, I breathe in the fresh air, round the corner of the house, and sink slowly to my butt, pulling my knees up to my chest and burying my face in them.

A/N: Hi! Sorry it's been a while, but happy late Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and Christmas!