Chapter 5

Floyd wished he had something to squeeze. Preferably a person, but anything would do. He wished he were at basketball practice, then he'd have the perfect excuse to work off the tension coiled in his muscles. Heck, he'd settle for scrubbing down greasy pans in the Monstro Lounge's kitchen. In short, he'd rather do anything besides sit through Magical Analysis.

At only the second day of classes he was already fed up with the subject and had been ever since he went over the syllabus with Jade in their room. His twin tried to reassure him. It would be fine, he told him. There was sure to be plenty of flashy spells and tricks to keep him entertained, it was Magical Analysis after all.

Well, it was day two and the professor hadn't even cast a simple cleaning charm. Never mind that class hadn't started, that was beside the point.

The seat beside him squeaked as someone claimed it. He hummed. There weren't many people brave enough to sit next to him. This sudden, if minuscule, change was all it took to pique his interest. Floyd cast a sidelong glance to the student beside him and deflated. He was the most generic looking boy he'd ever seen. Black hair, brown eyes, brown skin, and scrawny. In fact, the only remarkable thing about him was the grey baseball cap resting on his head. That, and the flame-eared cat curled on the desk, probably some sort of familiar or a manifestation of his Unique Magic. He sighed and drew his gaze back to his own things. How disappointing.

Floyd twirled his magic pen between his long fingers as the professor began to speak. If the lecture was to be boring, and his neighbor uninteresting, then he'd create his own entertainment. The professor started on his lesson, something about the different parts of a spell working together to blah blah blah blah blah. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard a hundred times before, if not from a teacher then from Jade or Azul.

They always loved to harp on technicalities. But Floyd? As far as he was concerned, if the spell worked, it worked; if it didn't, it didn't. That's all that mattered, right?

The professor fished a magic pen from his pocket now, gearing up for a demonstration. Floyd rolled his eyes. Sure enough, a spark of light erupted from the end of his pen and burst in shimmers and flashes of color above the class's heads with a sharp clap!

Predictable.

At least for Floyd. Others in the class hummed or tilted their heads in response, but none gave such a spectacular reaction as the boy next to him. It went far beyond mild interest or appreciation. He flinched in his chair and cried out in surprise - perhaps even delight- as the sparks of the professor's magic drifted to the floor.

The room fell silent. Floyd turned in time to catch his neighbor's expression shift from surprise to horror as he realized he'd gained the entire class's attention. A beat and then the class tumbled into laughter, none louder than Floyd himself. Somewhere at the front the professor struggled to regain control of the room. Forget him. This was much more amusing than some tired parlor tricks.

What the professor did was nothing, it was the sort of thing adults performed for small children all the time. Why would anyone their age react to something so simple? Floyd had to know.

"Ehehehe," he gave his neighbor a sharp-toothed grin, "jumping at some flashy magic?"

The boy did not answer him. He was too embarrassed, that much Floyd figured. What he didn't count on was the glare the cat shot at the boy. Floyd was taken aback in the best way as he heard him hiss, "Get it together, human. You're pathetic!"

The cat leapt away and settled on a window sill before the boy opened his mouth.

"I said enough!" the last bits of ruckus died with the professor's final command, "Now, as we've discussed…"

While the rest of the class refocused on the lesson, Floyd kept his attention on his neighbor. The window for talking was closed, but the damage was done. He'd found the perfect distraction. Gone was the urge to squeeze, replaced instead with curiosity. Despite the boy's mundane exterior, instinct told Floyd there was something interesting here, and his instincts were seldom wrong. He opened his notebook and began to write.

Parker wished for the ground to swallow her whole. Or better yet, she wanted to hide herself away in the coffin she'd arrived in and never come out. She was sure she could convince Ace and Deuce to nail it shut. Something poked at the back of her right hand, sharp but not enough to hurt. For a second she was convinced her daydreams had turned to hallucinations, thoughts of nails scratching her skin until she saw the piece of notebook paper laying on her side of the desk.

She didn't take long to figure out where it came from. There was only one other person in her row.

And he was smiling at her.

Something about him rubbed her the wrong way, and no, it wasn't the sharp teeth that lined his grin. He'd laughed at her once already, the smart thing would be to ignore him. Why should she give him a chance to mock her again? She swatted the paper back at him as if clearing away dust.

Floyd's mouth collapsed into a frown. What's this? He blinked as his note slid back to him without being read. Was the boy ignoring him? Well that was no fun. Unless... Did the little shrimp want to play? His grin returned. In that case, Floyd would play.

The note returned to her desk. Parker stifled a groan. She didn't want to deal with him. Back it went.

Floyd had anticipated something like this. He waited long enough for the paper to settle before sliding it over once more.

By then Parker had had it, but as she went to shove the note away, her neighbor's arm whipped across and pinned it to her desk. She tried to shove his arm aside. He held firm.

Parker ran through her options. She could push him away, but by the looks of things he was much taller than her. She might be able to hold her own against Ace, but a giant like this guy? She wouldn't stand a chance! She could always call on the professor, but again that led to more attention. That was out, too…

She released a sigh from deep in her chest. She was out of options. Making it a point to frown at him first, she lifted the top half of the sheet and read:

Why did you jump?

There. She read the note. Parker flashed him a tight-lipped smile and shrugged. That was all.

It wasn't enough, for he slid the paper closer to her and tapped on the empty space beneath the question.

He wanted her to write back.

Parker huffed. Fine. If it got him off her back, she'd do what he wanted. She readjusted her cap for good measure, then slid him her response.

I wasn't expecting it.

He chuckled under his breath. Well, that much was clear. Floyd set his pen to paper. A minute later, he sent the note back.

Don't be scared, Shrimpy. It's only a silly trick.

Parker furrowed her brow. Shrimpy?

My name is Parker.

Ten seconds. Her neighbor's new note read:

Eh. I like Shrimpy better.

Parker was about to respond when he snatched the note back and added:

Have you never seen magic before?

Oh, no. How was she supposed to handle this? She could try to ignore, but she had a feeling he wasn't afraid to escalate the situation, and that was the last thing she needed. Parker steeled herself.

I don't have magic.

His response took longer this time. Almost a full minute passed before she felt the paper tickle the back of her wrist.

You're the guy from the ceremony.

Parker didn't want to answer, although she knew her silence was confirmation enough. He took the paper back and returned it with:

It's ok, Shrimpy. You're an interesting one.

An interesting one… Dread pooled in the pit of Parker's stomach. Interesting. She was supposed to be anything but interesting right now. Breathe, she told herself. Play it cool.

What do you mean, 'interesting?'

His response came quickly.

I'm bored now. Bye.

What the heck? Bored? She asked him as much, but when she tried to pass him the note, he turned away from her, opting instead to twirl his magic pen between his long fingers.

What was with this guy?

Meanwhile, Floyd's spirits lifted at the prospect of a new thing. A boy without magic at Night Raven. Well. It seemed he'd have something to analyze after all.

It just wouldn't be magic.

The tall student disappeared. Class scarcely ended as Parker glanced over and found he no longer reclined in his chair. It struck her, though she couldn't put her finger on how, nor could she explain to Grim why it mattered that he'd gone. As the cat creature put it, who was he to her, anyway?

Grim was right. There were more important things to worry about, after all. Like how she couldn't keep from spazzing longer than five minutes without Ace or Deuce around to hold her hand. She rolled her shoulders at the thought as if to shake it. Since when was she the type to be co-dependent? This wasn't her, she wasn't like this, but ever since she'd left that coffin, since Crowley found her, since she talked to that stupid mirror-

It was this place. The longer she spent here the more she realized there was a reason it was called Twisted Wonderland. It had a way of flipping things until she couldn't tell up from down or left from right. Perhaps it would deform her so thoroughly she'd wake up one day and suddenly be unable to find her face in her own reflection.

"Oi! Wake up."

A fingertip found the center of her forehead.

Her thoughts shattered at the touch. Gone were the stone corridors and arched windows of the main castle, in their place was an afternoon sky and weed-encrusted cobblestones. Were they halfway to Ramshackle?

"Where's you head?" Ace said.

Grim pointed his nose in the air, "She's probably still agonizing about class."

Of course, he'd say that. Parker sighed, "I'm not-"

"I don't blame her," Deuce shook his head, "That could have cost us her cover. She needs to be more careful."

Parker bristled. She was right here, thank you! She opened her mouth to say as much but Ace beat her.

"Wasn't as bad as Magic History," he laughed, "I call it improvement."

Deuce's hands clenched into fists by his sides, "Is everything a joke to you? If we don't watch her properly-"

Watch her properly. Deuce said watch her properly, like she was somebody's kid, or a houseplant.

Watch her properly.

Parker shook her head. Ace and Deuce were at each but their words didn't register in her ears. Was that all they saw her as? A chore, a thing to be minded? Her shoes scuffed along the cracked cobblestone. It was obvious she needed their help, but what they were saying implied something else entirely, and if that was how they saw her, how this was going to go...

"This isn't going to work," it was the only thing Parker could say with confidence.

The bickering stopped.

"Aw, not again!" Ace slapped a hand to his forehead, "I thought we-"

"No," Parker said, "Ever since I got here I've been told what to do and how to act, I have no idea how anything works- Hell! I can't use my real name!" She didn't bother disguising her voice, "do you know how that feels? And here you come talking about me like I'm some babysitting job-"

The world tilted. Her breath came in short.

"I'm a person!" Parker closed her eyes. Deep breath. She was losing focus. There was a point to make, "Look, if we're going to pull this off, then we're partners. Equals. Just... Just give me this."

The two Heartslabyul boys exchanged a glance. Where did this come from? She had no idea how to navigate their world, she said it herself. She needed them, and they'd guarded her- against their will and under duress, but they had. And yet there she was, tie undone, shirt rumpled, and looking for all the world like she was two steps away from falling to pieces.

Deuce had the inkling that it wasn't their fussing that was bothering her, not really. In a weird way, she reminded him of his mother. Of her sobbing, wishing there was something she could do to get through to him.

"What's your name?"

Both Ace and Parker blinked.

"You said you can't use your real name," Deuce let a small grin tug at his lip, "If we're partners, I need to know who I'm working with."

Grim piped up next, "Yeah, it makes sense. I need to address my minion properly, y'know?"

"Partners, fur ball," Ace shot Grim a glare before pointing his chin towards her, "Go on, then. Tell us your name."

She didn't speak as the mirror bubbled into her memory.

"C'mon!" Ace said, "You wouldn't shut up a second ago."

They'd listened. She couldn't believe they'd listened. She didn't fight her first genuine smile since Flying class, "My name is Violet."

Deuce cocked a brow, "Where'd 'Parker' come from?"

She shrugged, "My last name."

"Well, Violet Parker," Ace said. "We tried. Hopefully you won't screw up worse tomorrow," he shoved past her, continuing their walk towards Ramshackle. Parker- Violet- scoffed at his back but caught up soon enough.

"Me?" She crossed her arms.

"Honestly, Ace," Deuce matched step on his other side.

The banter began anew. But this time, Violet Parker was a part of the fight as they made their way together.