Hi everyone! To those who celebrated, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Okay, finally got the ingredients we need for that tart! Claire got some cryptic message, but we'll have to see where this leads us later

Enjoy!

Chapter 11:

"Did something happen?" Deuce asked as soon as the store was out of sight. "You've been kind of quiet."

"Huh? Oh no." Claire shook her head as she tried to keep up with him. The cryptic words puzzled her and made absolutely no sense. Sam might as well have been speaking in Greek. However, she decided to push his 'hint' out of her mind. When the time comes, the answer will come to her. "Sam is just an… interesting individual," she finally said.

"Well, he is a salesman," Deuce said and then noticed that Claire was carrying the bags with the heavy cans. "Let me carry that."

"Oh no, it's fine," Claire said, shifting her weight, but Deuce was already reaching over. He grabbed the canned fruits and added the bag to his load.

"Don't worry. I've carried a lot of heavy stuff before," he explained.

"You shop a lot?" Claire said, surprised. Deuce never seemed to be the type. Or maybe he has a girlfriend who loved to shop. Though that didn't seem to fit Deuce's personality either.

"Oh, I mean, I help my mom whenever there is a flash sale," he clarified as they arrived back on Main Street where the Great Seven statues were. "She buys way more than we need usually, so I help her with the bags."

"You and your mom are really close, huh?"

"Uh, yes. Well, actually… that's not completely true… I always made my mom…" He fell quiet again, and Claire gathered that she had broached on a rather sensitive topic. Deuce noticed the look on her face and hastily changed the subject. "So, do you have those where you are? Flash sales?"

"Hmm, no, not really. At least not where I live. We do have large warehouses where you can buy almost anything in large bulks for a very cheap price. Though, there are other places in the world that does flash sales and –"

Claire's explanation cut off suddenly as a large shadow abruptly appeared from the side of the street and collided against them. She heard a cracking sound coming out from Deuce's shopping bag and saw the bottom now stained and leaking.

"Shoot, the eggs!" Deuce said, frantically looking into the bag.

"Hey! Watch it!" the voice snarled.

Claire winced and looked up to see a familiar pair of students.

"Wait." One of them widened their eyes with recognition, "You're that Magicless who broke the egg on my pasta!"

"I most certainly did not," Claire said, indignantly.

"Well, you are in charge of the raccoon that caused it! And now you go and bump us again."

"You're the one who bumped into us! Half of the eggs are destroyed," Deuce snarled, holding up the leaking bag.

"You're saying this is our fault?" the guy scoffed.

"Yes. Please pay for the eggs. And apologize for the chickens while you're at it," Deuce said.

Chickens? Claire gave a bewildered look at Deuce, but he looked dead serious.

"What?" The two guys roared with laughter. "The eggs didn't hit the ground, right? Besides, we saved you time and effort in breaking them for you."

"You made a bigger deal earlier about your egg on your pasta," Claire shot back. "And these eggs were supposed to be used for baking! The least you can do is apologize!"

"Oh, shut it, Magicless," the guy snapped. "I don't know how you got into this school, but your kind is certainly not welcome here."

"'Magicless?' Is that the best insult you can come up with?" Claire snorted and spat back angrily, "What does that have to do with the situation at hand?" The next thing she knew, the guy grabbed her by the collar of her blouse and lifted her up in the air.

"You think you're safe just because you got accepted to this school?" he snarled and shoved her to the ground. "Listen real close, Magicless. You're at the bottom of the food chain. You think we're just going to listen to you just because a couple of eggs broke?"

Claire swallowed hard, trying to not look scared as she glared back defiantly.

"Take that back!" Deuce roared. Claire and the two bullies turned around, surprised by the sudden outburst. "Those eggs… they could've become baby chicks, but they sacrificed themselves to become the tart we were going to make. And now they don't even have the chance to do that! What do you have to say for yourself? HUHHHH?!"

Deuce's teal eyes blazed with hot anger as he cracked his knuckles. The calm polite expression he usually wore was replaced with a manic one.

"W-what's your problem?" one of the delinquents said, unable to hide the whimper in his voice.

"If you won't pay for the eggs, I'll punch you for each one you broke," Deuce said.

"What?!" The guys stared at each other, wondering if Deuce had gone crazy.

"Start gritting your teeth!" he snarled.

Before the two could react, Deuce dropped the bags and slammed his fists into their stomachs. True to his word, he pummeled a total of 12 times each. While they doubled over, he grabbed them by their collars. They tried to fight back but he merely lifted them up to the air.

"Apologize to the baby chicks!" Deuce ordered, his face inches away from theirs. "NOW!"

"S-sorry! We're sorry!" they squealed. "We're sorry for all the chickens!"

"And apologize to Claire!"

"Huh?" The two looked genuinely confused this time.

"What do you mean 'Huh'?!" Deuce snarled, "You were rude to her as well! Apologize! And if I hear you call her that again, I'll make sure you end up with more than just broken teeth!"

"W-we're sorry!" the sputtered immediately.

Only then did Deuce let go of their collars. They quickly scampered away without looking back once.

"Next time you decide to stuff your face, you better apologize 100 times for the suffering you cause!" Deuce roared. He took several deep breaths before he noticed how eerily quiet it was.

Oh no… Deuce realized his mistake too late. Claire stood on the sideline, clutching her shopping bags tightly to her chest as she tried to process what she just saw.

"I-I…" He so badly wanted to melt through the floor or even run. However, his body froze as Claire opened her mouth.

"Deuce, are you okay?" she asked.

He winced and stared down at the ground. She had asked a perfectly normal question after the scene he just made, yet he found himself unable to look at her. He heard footsteps and saw her feet were now in front of his.

"Deuce?" she said.

"I'm so sorry," he finally said to the ground.

Suddenly, Claire's upside-down face was next to his, and he quickly stood up straight, flustered at how close she was.

"No need to apologize," she said, raising one hand. "I was just surprised by the sudden outburst." She tried to make it sound light-hearted and like it was not a big deal, but Deuce could hear the worry of the sudden appearance of his alter ego or rather…

"That actually is the real me…" he mumbled.

"What? The real… you?"

His heart pounded wildly as he tried to read Claire's expression. He had to tell her about it –about the past that he never wanted to admit. But what was the cost? She had always been nice to him and…

"Deuce? What do you mean by that?" Her voice was calm and gentle, though firm to let him know that she wasn't dropping the subject this time.

"I was a lot different before I came here. In middle school, I got into a lot of fights and skipped school. I rebelled against my teachers and hung out with the wrong crowd. Got into a lot of trouble obviously… I bleached my hair and street raced at night. I-I even used magic on those who didn't have any…"

He looked away, unable to face her now.

"Wait, is that why you were acting all weird at lunch today? And at the forest?" Claire's eyes widened.

"I just… Cater said that bad things could happen to you because… because you don't have magic." He winced for saying the terrible truth. "I guess I just didn't realize how much of my past I saw as proof of his warning."

"But you don't do that. Not anymore." It was not a question.

"A couple of weeks before my last day of middle school, I overheard my mom talking to my grandmother. She blamed herself, saying things like, 'Is it my fault he is doing all of this?' 'Would it had been better if he had two parents?'" Deuce paused for a moment and closed his eyes, remembering the sobs he heard through the crack of the kitchen door. Claire remained quiet, her face not showing a hint of emotion as she waited for him to continue.

"But, she was wrong," he said, this time his teal eyes were filled with resolve, "I was the one who did all those terrible things, and I realized what I was doing was just wrong. I swore I wasn't going to make her cry again. When the carriage came for Night Raven College, I thought it was a miracle and a second chance for me to make things right with my mom. That's why I decided to become an honors student. So, she can be proud of me."

"So that's why you were desperate to not get expelled." Claire's eyes widened with realization as she remembered how insistent Deuce was that night at the mine – saying that he rather died than leave this school.

"But then I went ahead and did this! After making that promise, I went ahead and got angry." Deuce sighed as he watched the egg yolk drip to the ground. He may have dyed his hair back to its dark blue color and wore his uniform proper and neat, but at the end of the day, he couldn't hide who he was. All of his efforts were useless in the end.

"But, does being an honors student means you have to silently bear everything?" Claire asked.

Deuce gave a startled and confused look. "What do you mean?"

"An honors student doesn't mean you can't be mad when you disagree about something," Claire said, raising her index finger up, "It's not like you were looking for a fight. You did everything in your power to avoid violence, and all you wanted was an apology. Besides, I was at fault too. I escalated the situation even though it was clear I was at a… disadvantage. I'm so sorry that it made you do something you didn't want to do."

"No, don't say that. I wanted to! Wait, I don't mean like that! I mean I'm not looking for a fight! I just…" Deuce knew he was babbling incoherently now and took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. "I'm just frustrated that people don't see how amazing you are. They just see you as someone without magic, but you definitely are more than that!"

Claire stared with her mouth wide open and then immediately burst out laughing.

"Wh-what's so funny?" Deuce sputtered.

"Nothing, I'm just… thank you," she smiled as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I shouldn't have laughed like that, but your words were so sweet."

"Sw-sweet?" Deuce flushed, feeling embarrassed.

"Maybe it's not my place to say this, but I think your mom would definitely be proud to see you now. You are not one who would start a fight, but you won't hesitate to stand up for others. That is a quality I definitely admire, and I'm definitely relieved."

"Relieved?" That was a word Deuce wasn't expecting to hear.

"Well, you shared a part of your past that is pretty painful. That takes a lot of courage and trust. I'm glad I'm a friend who you can trust," Claire said with a cheerful smile.

Deuce stood there a bit confused as Claire quickly checked the contents of the bags.

"Well, only some of the eggs are ruined," Claire said optimistically, "The other carton didn't break. I think we still have enough to make the Mont Blanc." She redistributed the ingredients from the ruined bag into the others before handing back Deuce's bag. "Anyways, let's go," she said, "The others are probably wondering what's taking us so long."

"R-right…" Deuce mumbled. They continued walking, and after a long silence, he finally had to ask. "Aren't you worried?

Claire tilted her head to the side in confusion. "About what?" she asked.

"People may hurt you, especially since you… since you don't have magic. After what happened in the botanical garden, I-I'm worried…"

There was a long silence as Claire slowly considered his words.

"If we're being honest here, I still am," she admitted. "I'm not surprised at how people see me. I mean, I've personally seen how cool magic can be.

"Dealing with someone without any can be… challenging to say the least – no need to look like that," Claire said as Deuce opened his mouth in protest. "I'm just stating a fact. It's no surprise that people with magic would be viewed as more capable. That's a concept that can't be changed overnight, and to be honest, I wasn't planning on doing anything about it."

"What do you mean?" Deuce asked, bewildered.

"Well, I'm not from this world; I didn't want to stir up any trouble here. I figured it would be best if I keep my head down, especially since I don't have magic or basic knowledge about this place. Of course, I say that now, and look how things turned out." She gave a sad shrug. "I seem to have a knack of getting myself into trouble."

She hesitated briefly and added, "Don't tell Grim and Ace, but that was part of the reason why I didn't want to become a student in the first place. I figured a lot of students who worked so hard to get here wouldn't be too happy to know that someone without magic just waltz right in like a teacher's pet."

"I'm sorry," Deuce said, flustered, remembering how he and Ace were pushing for her to accept the offer. "We made things worse, didn't we?"

"Wait, I never said that." She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "Look, I know it has been only a day, but after some serious thought and getting to know y'all, I realized that I was being so closed-minded that I didn't consider the opportunity to learn about this world. You two and Grim really helped open my eyes on that, and I'm really happy to call y'all my friends."

"R-really?" Deuce felt the edges of his mouth turning upwards into a grin.

"Yup," she nodded, "I want to learn as much as I can about this world. No more hiding in the shadows. Not to mention, seeing people use magic is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm going to take a step out of my comfort zone."

"Are you sure?"

"Deuce," she said calmly as though she read his mind, "I may not get along with everybody here, and that's okay. Not everyone has to like me or agree with my decisions. The only thing I can do is be the best version of myself. But with that being said, I'm definitely going to be careful. This might sound selfish, but I hope you and Ace can help me in the future."

"You don't need to ask," Deuce insisted. "You saved us from being expelled. You are a very important friend, and I know Ace feels the same."

Claire gave a small laugh and grinned.

"Thanks, and I know I'm going to regret saying this when I have to save you both again, but I am relieved that I met you guys. Who knows, maybe if other students see how we are getting along, they might look at people without magic differently and hopefully for the better."

Deuce hadn't thought about it like that. Although she came from a different world, Claire had quietly started learning the intricate parts of the world with magic. She clearly thought about this issue carefully but confidently before making her decision. As Deuce watched Claire brush a strand of hair from her face, he started to see her in a new light. Maybe he was finally understanding what Crowley meant – about her being what this school needed.

"Oh, by the way," Claire said, continuing down the road, "Back there, what were you going on about with 'apologizing to the baby chicks'?"

"Well, those eggs could've hatched baby chicks," Deuce said, happy that the atmosphere had lightened up considerably, "I figured that an apology would let them rest in peace… What?" Deuce noticed Claire's strange look.

"Uh, Deuce. I don't know how else to say this, but chicken eggs are unfertilized. They would never become baby chicks."

"Wait… WHAT?!"

Author Notes

Poor Deuce. He had been living a strange lie. And we learn why he was so uncomfortable each time when Claire was bullied

It is nice to see Claire feeling confident about herself though I think she is starting to regret telling Deuce about the chicken and egg situation XD

-JD