Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Four

...

"Querida, your friend is here for the show!" Mrs. Yolanda called from the front door.

"Okay, Mama; I'll be right there!" Magenta called back, checking that the bowls of popcorn and chips and sweets were all set perfectly around the pillows and TV. She'd invited everyone over to watch the Maxville Fashion Week show with her, and was planning on hosting the best girls' night the world had ever seen.

"I'm already upstairs," Wendy said, knocking on the door.

"Oh, awesome!" Magenta said, grinning broadly as she opened the door. "Guess who got paid royalties for their very own action figure?" she asked, posing as Shifter for Wendy.

"That's amazing! I can't believe you got paid!"

Magenta made a squealing noise out of pure happiness, laughing as she hugged Wendy. "I know, right? It's the best day ever!"

"Can I see how much you got paid? I'm, like, the only one out of my friends who still doesn't have a job, which is why they're both running late, by the way. I need to live vicariously through you, but it's totally fine if you don't want to share," Wendy added quickly.

"Oh, why not? Here," Magenta said, taking her phone out and navigating to her banking app. Unlocking it, she showed Wendy, grinning broadly.

She frowned. "Uh, I thought you got paid?"

"I... did?" Magenta said, looking at her phone, her eyes widening when she saw there was only a hundred dollars in her account.

Where the hell was her money?

...

"Now, most of you know Zona thanks to the political stance she has taken recently, but today she's going full diva and providing an overview of yesterday's newcomers day at Maxville Fashion Week! Remember, listeners, this is an exclusive just for Labyrinth; Zona was the only reporter who was allowed behind the scenes of the runway! So, Zona, let's start with what I'm sure is the easiest question: who was your favourite?" Honey asked, grinning.

"The crowd favourite was obviously Bright Designs and for good reason. My personal favourite was actually Gemstone's Astraea 'Star' Collection was stunning, especially when Gemstone and Bright Designs paired their designs to show them together at the after party! I honestly felt like I was looking at literal stars, and of course, the way Gemstone displayed that heart inside the rib cage was phenomenal. I've never seen anything like it before. She told me that she plans on auctioning off the heart and the ribcage, with seventy percent of the proceeds going straight to charity."

"That's fascinating. Do you know what she plans on doing with the other thirty?" Honey asked curiously.

"Probably buying a Bright Designs piece. The models I spoke to were over the moon because Gwendolyn - the owner of Bright Designs - let them keep the outfits they wore on the day. Those models are so lucky, and I was tempted to go back into modelling just to get my own Bright Designs outfit," Zona said with a laugh. "Hopefully everyone's seen the videos of the newcomers? Bright Designs were different in that their models were not only diverse in shape, size, and colour, but also in physical abilities and age. The youngest model was fourteen, Stevie Kenarben, and the oldest was Roberta Robertson, both in wheelchairs. Several of the models were amputees, all of the models were sizes ranging from four to twenty-eight. Gwendolyn said the designs were designed that way so everyone could see what fantastic clothes they could have, no matter their body types. It's really a limitation of the fashion industry that they only design clothes for thin mannequins when humans aren't mannequins. Remember Doll Face? Not even she looked like a store mannequin," Zona added, shaking her head.

"The poor dear had so many medical issues," Honey said in sympathy, frowning. "Now, for those of you who haven't seen the video on Labyrinth's website yet: Bright Designs had twenty-six unique designs that each model wore when they went down the runway. It was done in a sequence to represent a rainbow, and each of the twenty-six designs were named after food, from Lemon Meringue Pie to Rye Bread to Dragon Fruit Sorbet. Grilled Eggplant was one of my favourites, followed closely by Roasted Blue Corn, and Orange Zest Icing."

"I loved Pineapple Pizza, which is weird because I hate the food, but that outfit was so pretty! Oh, and the Zucchini Noodles outfit was jaw dropping; did you see the handbag it was paired with?"

"Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream's tote bag was expandable, if I remember correctly?"

"Yes, it was. Oh, Beetroot Soup's shoes looked so comfortable. Bertie, uh, Roberta Robertson, refused to let me anywhere near them, and with good reason."

"From the photos you've taken, it looks like the Astraea 'Star' Collection went well with Liquorice Straps and Zebra Cake's outfits. The photos have been uploaded to Labyrinth's website with permission from both Gemstone herself and the owner of Bright Designs," Honey added.

"Oh, Liquorice Straps' crown? The poor dear lost that at the after party; I'm not surprised, but I hear Gemstone is personally creating a new crown for Stevie, isn't she lovely? Oh, and speaking of lovely, Blueberry Pancakes' anklet and necklaces were so fragile that he almost had a panic attack over losing or breaking them and Gwendolyn talked him down. She's got such an amazing energy, I can't wait to meet her again."

"It looks like we have several callers on the line. Good morning, what did you think of Maxville Fashion Week?"

"Can you talk about any other designer? Bright Designs' names are making me hungry!"

The call ended abruptly and Honey grinned when she realised the caller had been the one who had called about the Hawaiian pizza the last time she had Zona and Babel in her studio.

...

Magenta woke up early with a silent alarm buzzing on her wrist. Her FitBit had been on sale and it was her first "yay, I got paid!" treat after being paid for defeating those two villains. The silent alarm was amazing, especially since it meant she could get up and get ready for school without waking Will. Now that he could fly up to Sky High again, he was sleeping in as long as he possibly could.

By six-thirty, Magenta was showered, dried, and dressed and scrolling through her phone at the Stronghold's kitchen bench as she ate a bowl of cereal.

Josie yawned widely as she headed downstairs, startling abruptly, her hand on her chest when she saw Magenta sitting at the bench. "Oh, Magenta! Good morning, dear. I... I didn't realise you were here last night."

Magenta's eyes widened. "Um. Well, Will wanted help with his Communications for Heroes, something about us working together to provide a united speech. I helped the best I could."

"That's nice, dear. You realise Will is still under house arrest?" Josie asked as she adjusted her bathrobe, thankful she'd thought to put it on this morning.

"Well... Yes, but it was dark and cloudy; no one saw him, honest! And he was dressed as Airborne, so if they had seen him, they wouldn't have known it was Will."

Josie set her coffee mug on the coffee machine and tried to work out if that was Magenta's reasoning or her son's. "Everyone knows that Will is Airborne, Magenta. Who he's dressed as doesn't matter," she said, trying not to sound rude, but it wasn't even seven-thirty and she hadn't had a coffee yet. Deciding it was too early to bullshit, Josie looked at Magenta as her coffee poured from the machine. "You two are being safe, aren't you? I'm still far too young to be a grandmother, Magenta."

Magenta flushed brightly, her eyes wide and she clenched her phone tightly so she wouldn't shift and run away. "Um, yes. We are. I don't... I mean, I'm still young, and... You know, I should probably go now. The bus will be here soon," she said, looking at the clock and realising the bus was still another thirty minutes away, but that didn't matter if it meant leaving right now.

"Will's not flying you?"

"He's still asleep. I have to get there early for... a club," Magenta lied, hoping to escape the house and Josie as soon as possible.

"Don't clubs usually start before the bus arrives?"

"You're right. In fact, I just remembered that I left my jetpack here, I can use that to get to school," she said quickly, remembering Terrence's jetpack from all those months ago when Will had fought Villainess.

"Oh, are you sure? Where did you leave it?"

"In the secret sanctum."

"You weren't playing pinball last night, were you?" Josie asked, narrowing her eyes even as she flew to the dining room to get to the secret sanctum.

Seeing the jetpack in the corner with some of Steve's more questionable trophies (dear god, she had to get rid of that awful whip), Josie checked the pinball machine before flying the jetpack up to Magenta.

"Thank you! See you later, Josie. Enjoy your coffee. Bye!" Magenta said, running out the door without looking back.

...

"You're sure you don't mind giving us a lift, Pat?" Maleah asked as she climbed into the car after her brothers.

"Of course not; we all have to get to school and it's a waste of fuel for Nigel to drive me on my own. Besides, I like the company," Pat said with a grin.

"Give me coffee or a pillow," Kiara groaned, sliding into the car and curling up on a large seat to sleep.

"Does she actually want either of those? We're early; I can get Nigel to stop somewhere."

Najair shook his head, tucking his pink hair behind his ear. "Don't worry about it; Key falls asleep in the car so much that Pepe is seriously worried about her getting her licence."

"She won't even remember asking," Lorcan confirmed.

Maleah reached over her sister to close the door properly.

"Thanks, Nigel," Pat called, the car driving onto the road a moment later.

"Did you see Jewel and Zach's debut at Maxville Fashion Week?" Najair asked. "Twitter's been going crazy over it."

"I heard Labyrinth's report this morning, Honey interviewed my sister."

"I keep forgetting you're related to famous people."

"Sor's not famous," Pat said, wrinkling his nose.

"Honey doesn't interview anyone, Pat," Maleah said, rolling her eyes.

"She takes calls from the public, that's bad enough," Lorcan muttered.

"It provides a more thorough response than just one person's idea or point of view. Plus, it's good entertainment; that Hawaiian pizza guy called again. Taking calls from the public is a good thing! But my point still stands that Honey only interviews famous people," Maleah added to Pat, who put his hands up and nodded.

"All right, I concede."

Maleah grinned smugly. "That's what I thought. Lorcan, what about you?"

Lorcan just looked at her and without breaking eye contact, put headphones over his ears, pointing at them. "Can't hear you, Mal."

She glared and gave him the finger. "You suck, Lore."

He grinned back at her. Najair rolled his eyes and threw two wrapped sticks to them. Maleah's eyes widened and she tore open the packet, shoving the stick into her mouth and chewing. Lorcan took a bite of his instead, and Najair waited until they were both calmer to put the rest away.

"Crickets again?" Pat asked curiously.

Najair shook his head. "Nah, Dad's making too many fast food jokes for crickets. Ma had a craving for tarantula, so we got chocolate spiders as a treat. Those two get snippy when they're hungry and the sticks are easier to carry and eat than some of our other foods. I didn't think you'd want Nigel being distracted by crickets jumping around in the car while he's driving."

Pat frowned. "Nigel is the car."

"What?" Najair asked in surprise.

"Nigel. It's the name of the car; it's fully automated for both road and sky driving. You didn't notice the change in scenery?" Pat asked, nodding to the window where clouds surrounded them.

"What the... " Maleah said through a mouthful, turning around to see the driver's seat empty. "Mierda!"

"Can we get lifts with you every day? The bus feels like a truck in comparison to this," Najair said, looking around.

"The windows lock at this height for a reason, please don't try to open them," Pat said to Maleah as she tried to open one.

"Right, of course. Sorry."

"What are you going on about?" Lorcan muttered, looking at his sister and brother, taking his headphones off. Najair and Maleah both pointed to the window beside him and Lorcan's eyes widened when he saw the clouds. "What the... when? How?"

"We're in a fully automated car, Lore. Nigel is the name of the car."

"Is Nigel sentient? Should we have said hello?"

"Good morning, Lorcan, Maleah, Najair, and Master Patrick."

"Just Pat, Nigel."

"Of course, Master Patrick."

Pat rolled his eyes. "Nigel is not only a flying car, he's also a smartass."

"Incorrect, Master Patrick. I am a car, I have no ass."

...

Magenta landed at Sky High, a plan formulating in her mind. She was going to talk to Craig before school started and ask how he started dating two people. He could tell her the secrets and then she'd use those tricks on Lorcan. And Malik, once she tracked his address down. Oh, and Hagen tomorrow when the University of Maxville students came for their session. Oh, then there was that cute boy she'd seen on a bus to Westville a few weeks ago.

Magenta was sure he'd looked at her (or maybe the sign by her head), which obviously meant he was interested in her. She just had to find him and then she could date him, and still be Will's sidekick, and she might not get questions about whether she was being safe with Will if she wasn't having sex with Will. That totally made sense.

Her hands were still shaking from the flight and she was pretty sure her legs were going to turn to jelly if she thought about just how high she'd flown all by herself and without the GPS coordinates for the school. She'd seen a car flying in this direction and followed them, hoping for the best and determining that people with flying cars were probably Sky High students.

Did the Mafia have flying cars? Did they throw people out of them if those people displeased them? Wasn't that in the Godfather?

"Get hold of yourself, Magenta," she muttered, some sane part of her mind realising that she was in shock and about five seconds away from puking out of fear.

Shifting to a guinea pig, Magenta ran through the parking lot and towards the school, her fear and emotions fading as she focused on her destination.

"Thanks for the lift, Nigel."

Wait, was that Lorcan's voice? Who was Nigel? She didn't know anyone called Nigel; what was this Nigel boy doing giving her Lorcan a lift to school? Why was Lorcan getting a lift with a boy anyway? She'd take him, she had a jetpack and everything!

"I liked Bright Designs' show, but I think Gemstone's jewellery show was better. The heart suspended in the rib cage was suspended by hundreds of tiny diamonds; it was incredible!" Lorcan said, plaiting his green and black hair over his shoulder.

Magenta's eyes widened. She knew Gemstone! This was how they could connect; she could introduce Lorcan to Gemstone as her special friend and Lorcan would realise that she was cool and famous and fall in love with her! She didn't need Craig to help her trick him, he would truly love her.

Shifting back to her human form, Magenta stepped out of the bushes she'd hidden in and stepped forward with a broad smile. "I know Gemstone."

"¡¿De dónde diablos vienes?!" Lorcan cried out. (Where the fuck did you come from?)

Magenta reached out to grab his hand, smiling. "I was waiting for you."

"Siniestra," Kiara said, placing her bare hand on Magenta's forearm. (Creepy.)

Magenta blinked, sure that the light was playing tricks on her because Kiara's skin was mottled black and blue, just like her hair. Her mind was foggy a moment later and Magenta dropped to the ground.

"I don't think I poisoned her too bad, but we should take her to the nurse, just in case," Kiara said, but didn't move to help the fallen teen.

"What the fuck is wrong with her?" Lorcan snapped.

"We don't have the time to list it all, Lore. C'mon, Naj, you're the strongest: you can carry her."

Naj didn't bother arguing that Lorcan was stronger than him; he didn't want his brother to have to carry Magenta after all of her seriously uncomfortable and horrifying lusting after him. He was wondering if he could drag her by the hair when Pat stepped forward and lifted Magenta swiftly.

"Let's get to the nurse quickly; if we report her, it'll be the first strike in the anti-bullying initiative. Also, I don't want to touch her for too long, she's damp from flying through the clouds," Pat muttered, heading into the school.

"It's wrong that I'm even more attracted to him now that he's carrying trash like that, isn't it?" Najair asked, grinning.

"You and me both," Lorcan muttered, Kiara and Maleah both nodding in agreement.

...

"Magenta Yolanda did this, you're sure?" Principal Powers asked, surprised enough to question Lorcan.

"She hasn't exactly been subtle, Principal Powers. This morning was just the icing on the cake and I can't take it anymore. I've been to the counsellor every day since I started here because of her behaviour and inappropriate remarks. I can't... Being ambushed before school is just going too far," Lorcan said, not feigning the disgust in his voice or the cramping in his stomach.

Linda's eyes widened at his mention of the school counsellor, bringing up the record of students who had seen him in the past two weeks, and Lorcan was scheduled every day, usually around recess or lunch time. "I am sorry about this, Lorcan. I will deal with her personally and ensure she has detention scheduled at a time that will not interfere with you or your time here."

"Thank you, Principal Powers."

Linda nodded, looking at the screen for the cafeteria. Just yesterday, Magenta had practically leaned over Lorcan who had shrunk back away from her as far as he possibly could. Linda supposed she was lucky that the Sylvan-Colores children wore long-sleeved clothing and gloves; that sort of attack would no doubt result in one of the poison dart frogs releasing their poison in the cafeteria.

"Can I go, Principal Powers? I need to get ready for homegroup."

"Yes, of course. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Lorcan. Again, I apologise that this is happening."

Lorcan nodded, not accepting the apology since it wasn't hers to deliver, but not rejecting it entirely. "My brother Hagen warned me how... zealous Magenta was, I just didn't think it would result in this. I mean, I thought Becky was going to be a bigger problem considering what he told me last week."

"I've been keeping an eye on her and, it seems, missing other people causing issues. It won't happen again."

"Thank you, Principal Powers," Lorcan said, grabbing his bag and heading to his locker.

Linda turned back to her screen and rewound the video to start reviewing the footage more closely.

...

"Are you sure Zach's okay, Eth?" Craig asked as they headed to lunch.

"He's fine, just exhausted. He had six panic attacks in the last three days, and needed a day to recover before he snapped and tried to stab someone. Whether it was with a strand of spaghetti or his design scissors is anyone's guess."

"I'm going to visit this afternoon, okay? I'd offer to bring food, but I can't cook, so..."

"That's a lame excuse, Cee," Warren said, shaking his head. "Everyone can cook, you just need to follow instructions."

"I've burnt water before."

"That's not something to be proud of, dude," Adam said, shaking his head.

"You can't cook, either."

"I don't cook, there's a difference."

"Zach and I can't be here all the time to cook for you, you realise that, don't you? I'm going to teach you how to cook. At least eggs or something, Jesus," Warren muttered, shaking his head.

"In the meantime, my mother provided food for today," Pat said, setting a basket on the table.

"What?"

"Our parents have decided to cook in bulk because they saw Ethan's article about food poisoning - "

"I wrote that last year!"

" - and they don't want us to eat cafeteria food and get sick," Pat finished.

"What did you get, Pat? It's not fancy stuff like fish eggs or something gross, is it?" Craig asked, wrinkling his nose.

Pat shook his head. "My mother hates caviar. So does my father, actually. I think I'd probably puke if I saw it myself," he mused. "Personally, I think she liked the irony of sending our food in a basket after Jetstream tried to get her gift baskets, but y'know my Mam: she wouldn't confirm or deny." Pat grinned when several of his friends snickered. "Mam sent burgers, individually wrapped, and... oh, a shitton of fries," he said as he opened the basket.

"I love your mother. Tell her that emphatically and with sincerity," Craig said seriously.

"Veggie burgers, and the fries were baked, not fried. It matched at least three criteria in their list."

"There's a list?" Ethan asked eagerly.

"Dude, food first," Adam said.

"She didn't include bugs in case you had preferences, but if you can eat fries, you're welcome to those, too," Pat said as he started to hand out the wrapped and labelled burgers.

"Is there tomato in these? They're not going to be soggy, are they?" Terrence asked.

Robin rolled their eyes. "You're complaining about free food; ungrateful much?"

"I'm a picky eater, leave me alone. And soggy bread is disgusting, no one can argue with me on that."

"They're deconstructed so we don't get soggy bread," Pat explained, pulling out several tubs of salad and meat patties. "Layla, Justina, this one's for you two," he said, sliding a labelled tub down the tables.

"Thanks, Pat," Layla said with a warm smile, ignoring Will's glowering from the other side of the cafeteria.

Their table descended into chaos as they unwrapped their burger buns and talked over each other and reached around others to get the meat patties, salad tubs and sauces, grabbing a pack of fries each.

"Pass the tomato."

"Are there pickles?"

"Why is the lettuce purple?"

"Oh, carrots!"

"Eww, how much sauce are you adding to that?"

"Is this sweet potato?"

"Any more fries?"

"Don't even think about it or I'll stab you with this carrot stick."

"It's cabbage, dork."

"All of it. Can I have yours?"

"I'll share my fries with you."

"Ow, you stabbed me!"

Layla watched as their friends built their burgers - Craig had stacked his burger so high that she was concerned he'd dislodge his jaw by eating it - and offered her fries to Lorcan beside her. He shook his head at her offer, his mouth full of ants.

"Thanks for offering. I think Mal would eat some, but the rest of us are happy with the bugs."

"Where do you get them?" Wendy asked curiously.

"Ma and Pepe catch them for us; Pepe's rebuilding his ant farm so we can have fresh snacks," Kiara said. "You okay, Justina?"

"There's lots of screaming going on there. Can I... can I just tell them they're going to a better place?"

"You're going to lie to our lunch?" Maleah asked.

"It's better than the truth, right?"

"I'm going to eat them either way, I don't care if they think they're going to ant heaven," Najair said, shrugging.

"What would be in ant heaven?" Craig asked around a mouthful, with half of his burger having fallen out of the bun and onto his fries.

"More ants," Justina, Lorcan, and Maleah said in unison, grinning at each other.

"All right. Don't look at me weird for this, okay?" Justina said, taking in a deep breath before setting her burger down and making clicking noises, wiggling her fingers in a way that made Warren think of antennae.

"Aww, they're not running around anymore."

"Cool. Thanks, Justina."

"Are they praying?" Donny asked, looking between Justina and Lorcan's container of ants.

"Um... Yes?"

"You introduced religion to the ants? Does this make me their god?" Lorcan asked with an evil cackle.

"This is a really fucked up analogy for religion," Donny muttered, burying his head in his hands.

"Are we going to be eaten by Super God?" Craig asked.

Ethan rubbed his temples. "I'm going for a walk. We don't have enough time or lifetimes to get into this discussion."

"Is Super God like Godzilla? Holy shit, I just discovered the truth about Super God! You can't change my mind!"

Justina stood and followed Ethan out as Lorcan kept cackling between mouthfuls.

"Say another thing about Godzilla and I'm spitting in your lunch, dude. Regular spit, not acid," Adam said.

"Does Super Godzilla count?"

"Yes. Shut up."

"We have the weirdest damn conversations," Warren muttered. Layla could only nod in response.

...

"I don't know if I want this, Honey. Not that I don't appreciate the offer, of course, because I really do. And Zach is a great kid, and his vision is amazing, plus he made me this outfit in like three minutes, so obviously I'm biased that way. But I really want to pursue my acting - "

"I'm going to stop you there, Gwendolyn. This job isn't an either/or offer. You can still act and be the face of Bright Designs. Think of the job as you acting as a CEO for a business. You'd get real world experience while expanding your acting repertoire and keeping a steady income. With benefits," Honey added, handing over a piece of paper listing said benefits. "The TV show you're planning on auditioning for will put you in the pilot as a newscaster, not the lead role as they promised. They'll blame the focus group for not wanting a black woman in a lead role. I am sorry," she said genuinely.

"Oh, I hate when they do that," Gwendolyn muttered.

The benefits were damn good, and she could even have three days off a week to continue her professional development as an actor. When she did get a role, she would have an assistant to run Bright Designs until she wanted to return.

"This all seems... like you know what's going to happen?" Gwendolyn said, frowning.

Honey thought about all of her interactions with Gwendolyn to date and realised that she hadn't exactly introduced herself properly. "So sorry, Gwendolyn. I'm Hourglass."

Gwendolyn's eyes widened. "Holy shirtballs."

...

"Hey, Pat?" Craig called, his stomach full of food and he didn't regret a thing.

"If you say you love my mother again, it's going to get weird."

"I do and it's not, but that's not what I was going to say. Remember the party that Chad threw?"

"Yeah. You were there, weren't you?" Pat asked.

"Huh, how'd you know?"

"No one follows high schoolers around, and considering Will made out with a mink coat, the only logical explanation is that someone who could change their form would be there."

"That... that's not how logic works."

"It does in my head," Pat said, shrugging.

"Did you just say that Will made out with a mink coat? Craig, what the hell?" Robin asked, looking between Pat and Craig in confusion.

Craig grinned. "I shifted to Ry's form and, of course, Will followed me around like a dog on a leash."

"Eww," Ry said, looking sickened.

"Sorry, man, I knew it would work. So, he managed to follow me into a bathroom."

"Double eww."

"And there was a coat closet in there - don't look at me, I didn't design the house - so I slipped in there. He found me and tried to kiss me, but I shifted to Shrinker and fell into the pocket of a mink coat. Which Will made out with, thinking it was me. What? I didn't want him anywhere near me with those gross lips and the smell from what he'd been drinking."

"That's super gross," Justina said, looking as sick as Ry.

"Do you think Will's still got a crush on Ry or has he moved on to the quadruplets?" Robin asked.

"What?" Maleah asked in alarm.

"You haven't noticed him staring at you?"

Maleah paled. "I thought he was looking out the window or something."

"Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Speaking of bubbles... Hi, Milo!" Craig called wildly, waving to him across the courtyard.

Milo turned around in surprise at his name, frowning when he saw Craig waving; he waved back briefly, still looking confused.

"Wait, what do we do about this Stronghold thing? I'm going to puke if he stares at me again."

"I can bleach your brain?" Donny offered.

"You can do what now?" Maleah asked in alarm.

"Remove the memory."

"Um... no. That's a bandaid, not a solution."

"I'd offer to push him off the edge of the school, but he flies," Warren said.

"Shame," Kiara muttered, her siblings nodding in agreement.

"Hey, Milo. Whatcha doing?" Craig asked.

"Standing here."

"Are you using your power outside of class?" Ethan asked, seeing bubbles floating away in the distance.

Milo blushed and shook his head quickly.

"You're so bad at lying. There's bubbles right there," Craig snickered.

"Craig, don't antagonise Milo. He'll tell the truth if and when he wants to," Layla said. "Come on, guys. Let's keep walking. You're welcome to join us, Milo?"

Still blushing, Milo shook his head.

"I just wanted to make a new friend," Craig whined as Warren led him away.

Milo stood there for a few minutes, utterly confused as to what the hell had just happened.

...

Magenta woke up in the nurse's office, blinking groggily and wondering what had happened. The last thing she remembered was talking to Lorcan. Then she'd had some awful dreams that involved Lorcan's face twisting into his hair and a hairy monster flying at her, nothing like her smooth and well-groomed guinea pig form.

"Oh, good, you're finally awake. I was thinking I'd have to call the hospital. Or your parents," Nurse Spex added, squinting through her glasses. "Now, do you remember what day it is? And your name?"

"Magenta. Thursday."

"All right, Thursday."

"What? No, my name is Magenta."

"I know, I was just checking. Try to sit up. Nice and slow, there you go. Do you have a headache? How about dizziness or nausea?" Nurse Spex asked.

Magenta licked her lips. "I'm thirsty, but I feel okay."

Nurse Spex nodded and filled a cup of water, bringing it to Magenta. "How about now? Better?" she asked once Magenta had finished drinking.

"Better. I feel okay now."

"Good. She's fine, Principal Powers," Nurse Spex called, taking the cup and throwing it in the recycling bin, making a happy noise when it went in.

Principal Powers flew into the room in her comet form, landing in her human form and adjusting her jacket. "Thank you for calling me, Nurse Spex. Could you give us a moment?"

"Of course, Principal Powers," Nurse Spex said, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

"Privately, Nurse Spex," Linda added when she saw Nurse Spex's shadow in the frosted glass.

"Damn."

Magenta frowned. Was whatever happened to her really so bad that Principal Powers was coming to check on her? She hadn't even checked on Will when his nose had been smashed in Save the Citizen.

"How are you feeling, Miss Yolanda?"

"I feel fine. I was thirsty, but nothing else bad. No headache or dizziness or nausea," Magenta recited.

"I'm glad to hear it, Magenta," Principal Powers said with a thin smile. "I'd like to talk to you about Lorcan Sylvan-Colores."

Magenta's eyes widened. "Do... do you think he did this? He didn't, we were talking and I... Well, I guess I must have collapsed or something. But I'm fine! Lorcan didn't do anything to me."

"Yes, I am aware of that, Miss Yolanda. Unfortunately, the reverse cannot be said."

Magenta's brain was obviously still fuzzy because she didn't know what Principal Powers meant.

Her confusion must have been clear on her face because Principal Powers sighed and clarified. "Your behaviour towards Mr. Sylvan-Colores has been deplorable."

Magenta went bright red. "What? Why? I haven't... I've been making friends with him!"

"No, Miss Yolanda, you certainly have not. You were present during the assembly where I told everyone about the anti-bullying initiative, were you not?" Principal Powers asked.

Magenta frowned in confusion. "Well, yes. But what does that have to do with this?"

"Your behaviour towards Mr. Sylvan-Colores has intimidated and frightened him, forcing him to feel as though he has to do something he doesn't want to do. That's not friendship, that is, in fact, the very definition of bullying."

"B-but... But how do I make him my friend?"

"You cannot make him be your friend, Miss Yolanda, that's not what friendship is. I would have thought you would realise that, especially after how many friends have deserted you and how the ones who've stayed by your side have treated you kindly, despite certain events in the last year," Principal Powers said.

Magenta's cheeks burned as she remembered how surprised she'd been by Layla's friendship after starting to date Will. She'd been so nice and friendly, letting Magenta come to her, and - that was it! She had to let Lorcan come to her. Of course! She would get his attention by showing him what he was missing and then let him come to her and beg for her love and attention. It always worked in the movies, after all.

"Do you understand what I am saying, Miss Yolanda?" Principal Powers asked.

"Yes, Principal Powers, I think I do," Magenta said with bright eyes.

Principal Powers was somewhat concerned by the expression in Magenta's eyes but pressed on. "You realise this is an offence in the anti-bullying initiative, Miss Yolanda? That means you'll have detention every night this week."

"Yes, Principal Powers."

It was perfect; that would give her time to plan everything to the finest detail!

...

End of the hundred and thirty-fourth chapter.