A rather slow chapter in the start... it picks up though... Dare I ask for ten reviews before I update?

Nita sure felt sick when she got up some time Saturday afternoon. She ached all over, including a throbbing head and rolling stomach. Exhaustion still pulled at her, aftereffects of the large wizardry involved in capturing the Senkle, draining its power, and banishing it back to where it came from.

She rubbed her bloodshot eyes as she stood up and, with effort, walked out of her room.

Dairine was coming up the steps. She looked about as bad as Nita felt. "Kit called about five minutes ago. Said he just got up and wondered how we were feeling."

"How long have you been up?" Nita asked. She knew her sister was still more powerful than she was, even with her dropping power ratings. However, if Dairine had used all that energy last night and wasn't tired today....

"About five minutes," Dairine gave a half-smile. "Mom wanted to know if I wanted breakfast, or rather, dinner. I told her my stomach couldn't handle it right now, and I was going to lie down for a couple hours, but I might eat dinner around six. I know I need food, but..."

"That might be okay," Nita said, "I'll go tell them that too and let them know I'm still alive."

"Grab some aspirin, too. I assume your head is pounding like mine?" Dairine asked. Nita nodded and the sisters parted ways.

***

By Monday morning at school, Nita was feeling much better, and much more awake. She'd slept well, catching up not only on sleep and energy lost on Friday night and Saturday morning, but from the couple weeks of little sleep and constant wizardry with the trees.

"Over your hangover?" Kit asked. Nita cracked a smile. Ever since Kit father had asked him if he was hung over once, after he had had severe after effects from a major wizardry, it had become an inside joke. Personally, if a hangover was anything like the rolling stomach, throbbing head, and aching body that Nita experienced after a draining of energy from a major wizardry, Nita felt that drinking wasn't worth it.

"Fully. I feel so much better. You?"

"Better." Kit paused, wondering if he should bring it up, but curious nonetheless, decided What the hell, and asked, "Have you talked to Louis?"

"No. He brought me flowers, though. He's so sweet." Now Kit was sorry he'd asked. As happy as he was for Nita, he didn't feel like hearing her swoon over Louis until school starts. Some things are just too much for a guy, even a best friend.

Luckily for Kit, the bell rang. Saved by the bell again, he thought.

***

Because of the wonderful surprise of a pop quiz in French, Nita didn't get to talk to Louis until lunch. He was oddly quiet in the food line. After sitting in silence for a few minutes, he asked,

"I trust you feel better?"

He sounded a bit stiff to Nita and this confused her. However, she replied, "Ten times better. I was really disappointed to miss the trip. How was it?"

She was expecting him to be overflowing with stories of things he'd learned and rocks he'd climbed. Instead, she got a terse, "It was fun."

"Did someone die on it, or something?" Nita asked, in a slightly humorous attempt to discover the root of Louis's aloofness.

Louis only rolled his eyes.

"What's your problem?" Nita asked finally.

"Do you even need to ask?" Louis said coldly.

Nita was extremely confused by this time. What was wrong with him? The flowers and note seemed to evidence that he had gotten over the fact that she had missed the climbing weekend. Had something else happened? If so, she was clueless as to what it was. "Yes, actually I do. What the heck is going on?"

"You really don't know?" Louis paused condescendingly before continuing. "Do I really need to spell it out for you, Ms. Hypochondriac?"

"What?" Nita asked, outraged. Heads turned towards her, always looking for some juicy gossip. She lowered her voice, "What on earth are you talking about?"

"Nita, we both know you weren't really sick this weekend." Louis accused.

How'd he know? Nita wondered, And anyway, after the Senkle, I might as well have been sick.

"What do you mean?" Nita asked, "The last thing I knew, I was sick. I sure remember the stomach ache and pounding head." It isn't a lie, she reassured herself.

"Oh, really? Are you going to deny that after you called me, you went out with Kit, too? You called from his house."

Nita was at a lack for words. She groped for a response- and found none.

"Silence speaks the loudest." Louis said before standing abruptly, grabbing his tray, and storming off, leaving a confused and tearful Nita to puzzle out what happened on her own.

***

Nita caught Kit after school, while he was on his way to the Library to tutor.

"He knows I wasn't sick, he knows I was with you, he's mad at me... he thinks I'm cheating on him with you..." Nita rambled.

Kit grasped her shoulders. "Calm down. Breathe. Now, tell me slower."

Nita took a deep breath that settled her. A little. "Louis is really mad at me. He knows that I was with you on Friday, and wasn't really sick. I guess he has caller ID, because he knew I called from your house. He made a lot of accusations." She took another breath.

"Okay. I'll take care of this, Neets. I... I'll figure something out."

Nita nodded, trying to bite back tears. "Thank you," she said shakily, and hugged Kit.

Nita, as independent as she was, was happy to just give it over to someone else for once. She was upset. She was confused. She didn't know what to do. She's give it a day or two, to organize her thoughts and to give Louis a chance to calm down, and then she'd take matters into her own hands.

Kit was already forming plans in his mind. The several that popped in his mind first— from turning Louis into a bug and smashing him to transiting him to an undeveloped galaxy, or perhaps simply pounding him in a pulp—Kit dismissed immediately. However, he would keep thinking.

Kit used to let everyone walk over him. Since his Ordeal, he stood up for himself a lot more. Actually, a lot fewer people messed with him. And the couple that did, most of the time Kit was content to ignore them. But this didn't just involve him. This was Nita. And no one messed with Kit's best friend. No one.

***

Meanwhile, Louis was leaving school, hoping that an intense rock climbing session would help take his mind of Nita, when he caught sight of her talking to Kit.

He told himself that it wasn't spying if he watched for just a moment, to see how she acted with him in public, now that her secret was out.

She looked upset. Louis began to soften towards her (not that he needed much convincing) when he saw them embrace.

Great. Not even three hours after we split, she finds someone new. Then again, Louis thought bitterly, he's not really new, is he?

***

The next day of school was extremely quiet for Nita. She talked to Kit before school and in Algebra, but didn't talk to anyone, including Louis, in any of her other classes. She ate lunch alone quickly, then spent the rest of her lunch hour in the Library.

Almost like last year, thought Nita sadly, as she realized how important Louis had become to her. She seriously considered telling him the truth, but convinced herself otherwise. She thought about things she could tell him, plausible excuses for the weekend. Just more lies.

***

Laying awake the night before, Kit decided how to solve the Louis problem. A nice, nonviolent confrontation with Louis that Nita needed not to know about immediately would work fine. That is, unless, Louis was particularly stubborn, in which Kit would revert back to one of his original ideas involving much pain on Louis's part.

After school, Kit headed towards the English department, knowing Louis had English with Nita last class. Though he had never met Louis, Nita had pointed him out several times. Kit knew what he looked like.

Kit caught sight of him walking down the hallway. With no regard for his fellow students, Kit quickly caught up with Louis, right as he opened the door out of the school. Kit fell into step behind him and said, "Louis. We need to talk."

~*~

I was totally thinking about the Snicker's Crunchers commercials while I wrote this. I envisioned Kit turning Louis into a bug and smashing him, then turning to the audience and saying, "Now that was a satisfying crunch." However, I can't kill Louis yet. He does have a role other than being a dream guy, save for his main flaw of intense jealousy. (But wouldn't it have been grand?)