Casey flung herself into her seat in fourth period and leaned against the wide desk, resting her chin on her folded arms. Today was her first full day back at school. The only thing that was keeping her from skipping was Stephen Strange's threats to find her and drag her back to class. Probably wearing his wizard sorcerer magician outfit. The potential embarrassment was enough to keep her in her seat, at least for now.

"Hey, Casey."

She glanced at her desk partner as he slid onto the stool beside hers. "Hey, Liam."

He set his laptop on the desk and opened it up, fidgeting with some of the keys. Casey smiled just a little at his nervous energy, knowing he was actually looking forward to the class. He always had liked school.

"Look, I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times today, but I really am sorry about your grandpa," he said, "I get it."

"Thanks..." she said, recognizing the empathy in his tone. She knew she should've been more accepting, but she was getting tired of saying 'thanks' to people. What else was she supposed to say? Still, she appreciated the effort.

Their teacher walked into class, followed by the last few stranglers, which prompted Casey to zone out. Sure, Stephen could force her to come to school but he couldn't make her focus.

Or so she thought.

She was watching Liam type up notes when she noticed her pencil start rolling across their desk on its own. It wasn't like the desk was tilted or the room was off-kilter and neither of them had touched the pencil since the beginning of class. Casey narrowed her eyes.

The pencil rolled over toward the notebook she had dragged out of her backpack after the teacher had arrived and bumped against it.

"Looks like Molly's here," Liam whispered, referencing the school's obligatory ghost story.

"Guess so," Casey said.

Her pencil rolled away from the notebook again and then bumped against it, more insistent this time. What? Casey raised an eyebrow and looked around, wondering if someone was playing a joke on her. The pencil did it again, so she grabbed it, twirling it in her fingers.

Now that the pencil was under control, the notebook paper rustled. Or it did until she sat the tip of her pencil on the page. Then the paper seemed the calm down.

What was going on? Oh, wait… No way… Casey wrote a few notes and then set her pencil to the side again, far away from her notebook. After a few minutes, the pencil rolled back toward her and bumped against her fingers, insistent.

"That's just weird," Liam said. He glanced around as Casey silently fumed, gripping the pencil tightly enough to crack it. So that's how it was going to be.

"I have to go," she said, rapidly packing her things.

"Ms. Kinmont? Is everything all right?" the teacher asked, putting her hands on her hips, her expression concerned.

"I have to go," Casey repeated, flinging the pencil and notebook into her bag. Rage bubbled under her skin, making her disregard Stephen's threats and ignore her classmates' stares.

Liam's eyebrows were inching up toward his hairline. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just—need to take care of something." She slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out to the sounds of her classmates talking about her.

"I'll send you the homework!" Liam yelled after her as the door slammed behind her.

Fury carried Casey down the hallway, out the door, and into the bright chilly afternoon. She was going to punch Stephen Strange in the face the next time she saw him. Or at least she was going to kick him in the shin.

There was a yellow and orange flash of a sling ring portal as she passed by an empty alleyway, and suddenly Stephen was walking beside her with his long-legged lope. Instead of his weirdo clothes, he was wearing jeans and rumpled blue button-down. "What did I say about skipping class?"

Casey whipped to the side and aimed a kick at his legs, but he stepped back, easily avoiding her attack.

"Hey, calm down—"

She started to kick at him again and then settled for balling her hands into fists. "I can't believe you were keeping tabs on me at school! Who does that?!"

"What?" he said, seeming to be honestly confused that she was upset, "I wanted to make sure you were all right on your first day back."

"Then you should've texted or emailed! Not…what was that, anyway?" she demanded. She pointed a finger at him, forcing him to take a step back unless he wanted her to jab him in the chest. "How did you move my stuff?"

"Astral projection and kinetic manipulation," he answered, "And I wouldn't have had to intervene if you had actually been paying attention in class."

"That's not the point." Casey gave a growl of frustration and started to walk, not really caring where she was going but knowing she wanted to get away from him. Still he followed her, easily keeping up with her.

"What is the point, then?" he asked, "Look, I knew today might be tough for you, and I wanted to help—"

"That doesn't give you the right to spy on me all day long," she snapped. Pain welled up in her chest, warring with the sadness that was already there.

"It wasn't all day. It was only a couple times."

"How am I supposed to know that?! You can't do that. It's not okay, and it'll make me feel like I'm under magical house arrest or something."

They walked in silence as it started to snow, little pitiful flakes swirling through the air. A couple landed on Casey's cheek, and she wanted to wipe them away but she was worried Stephen would think she was crying. She definitely wasn't, she was just incredibly irritated.

Stephen eventually sighed and rubbed a hand across his face as they paused at a crosswalk. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Well, it wasn't," Casey said. She shoved her hands deep into her pockets and glared at the crosswalk light, willing it to change. The instant before it switched, she stormed forward, nearly getting taken out by a bike messenger.

"Pay attention!" Stephen's hand shot out and yanked her back before she could get clipped, and he gripped her arm firmly, keeping her in place. "All right. You're right this time." He rolled his shoulder as if it was a difficult thing to say and then frowned at her, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm new to this whole guardian thing, and I thought I was doing the right thing. Let me make mistakes every now and then."

"So does that mean you're going to trust me in the future?" she said, glowering up at him. "How am I supposed to know that you're not astral projecting and stuff and spying on me?"

"For now, you'll just have to trust me, too," Stephen said, "But I'll teach you how to do it. That way you can know for sure that I'm not keeping an eye on you."

"Spying."

"Watching closely with concern."

Casey glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. "Promise."

"Yeah, sure. We'll start your training tonight. It's not going to be easy, you know."

That was fine with her.