Disclaimer, you know.

Alex found himself wondering what it was about Thursdays that always put him in strange situations. He was now in the kitchen at Gale Hall, his mother and Brianna were showing him some simple recipes that he could make if he found himself there alone. The next day, Friday would see him going back to the school as it was another gym day for dorothy. He was looking forward to that, as this gave him something interesting to talk about. He had chosen Gale hall as the learning location as he didn't feel like making a mess out of the kitchen in the palace.

"Till now the most I've been able to cook was a hardboiled egg." Alex said with a shrug as he glanced at the beast in the reflection of a mirror on the wall.

"well, at least you can't start a fire with a hardboiled egg." The beast said.

"well, if something gets in the burner then maybe." Mrs. Teak said addressing the both of them.

"Personally, I think pancakes are the best, but it's hard to justify making a mess to do it entirely from scratch every day." Brianna said snapping her fingers, causing a kettle to set itself on the stove.

"Well, anyone can make a sandwich in a pan as well." Both alex and the beast said, "Grilled cheeses and such."

"Pastrami on rye with some provolone is one of your father's favorites." Mrs. Teak added wiping down the counter.

"Well, I can't really speak for dad," Alex said sighing," But dorothy would definitely agree on the pancakes."

"Would I?" Dorothy asked curiously, this caused alex to jump.

"Dorothy, shouldn't you be in school?" Mrs. Teak asked curiously.

"Auntie em and uncle henry forgot I had a doctor's appointment today, I got out a few minutes ago." Dorothy said, "we dropped by the shop and Mr. Teak said you two were here."

"and you decided we could use the company, or did you want to see how this was going?" he and the beast asked curiously

"Little bit of both to be honest." She said walking over to the counter and picking up a hardboiled egg, "but you aren't wrong, however I've never made pancakes on my own before, I've helped, but never done it on my own."

"Well it's a lot simpler than baking." Brianna said with a giggle.

"Did Rose tell everyone about that?" Dorothy asked curiously.

"no, your aunt did." Mrs. Teak said,

"Oh, Dorothy, what a surprise." Came the voice of the Wizard as he came into the kitchen with a basket.

"did you and Jude find the ingredients?" Brianna asked curiously.

The wizard nodded and placed the basket on the table as well as a list.

"The Hatter brought us both here, he's waiting in the sitting room." The wizard said then turning his attention back to dorothy, "Ace isn't with you, is she?"

"nope, she's still at the school, Betsy, ellie, and trot are keeping her company" dorothy said taking a bite from the egg she had peeled, "Betsy still smells a little like wet dog, but that might just be my oversensitive sense of smell, but it seems she and Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths have gotten over the post transformation sickness."

"Well it did hit them like a truck." Madeline said appearing in the room, causing everyone to jump

"I'm not gonna justify you with a response mads." Alex and the beast said growling.

"You don't need to justify me." Madeline said giggling, "but you do need to justify your chess game." She added

"what chess game?" Dorothy asked curiously.

"He and his other personality have been playing chess all morning." The wizard shrugged, "I thought it seemed interesting."

"I think it's pointless." Madeline said firmly.

"Well it can only end in stalemate." Dorothy said looking at alex.

"Well you weren't around to play against." Alex mockingly complained.

"I offered to play but he said he wasn't sure how the beast would act." The Wizard added.

"I mean it's understandable, things start getting frustrating, the beast bursts out and causes damage…" Madeline trailed off, clearing her throat, "I'm not helping…am it?"

"Not even remotely." Alex said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, why don't you two play a round?" Mrs. Teak suggested, "We can get the baking stuff set up, and call you once we have everything."

Meanwhile, back in Kansas, at the school.

As dorothy had said, Betsy and trot were now back in the class. Their seats were next to each other behind Aislynn and Ellie. Both Dorothy's seat and Alex's old one remaining vacant. As they listened to Mr. Pryce's lecture, however, ellie noticed something odd. Zeb wasn't really paying attention, he seemed to be staring off into space, daydreaming. This was her best friend's cousin, she wondered what the matter with him was. She tapped Aislynn on the should and drew her attention towards him. If Mr. Pryce noticed any of this, he chose to ignore it. Aislynn giggled and scribbled something down on a scrap of paper which she handed to Ellie. At that moment the lunch bell rang and as everyone else filed out, zeb still seemed to be lost in space. Ellie walked over to him and snapped her fingers a few times.

"Hmm, wha…oh!" he said snapping to attention

"Boy, you seemed rather out of it." Mr. Pryce said chuckling.

"So, you did notice?" Aislynn asked

"noticed what?" Betsy, Trot, and donna asked curiously.

"That Zeb was completely spaced out." Ellie said sighing.

"So, I have to ask, though you don't have to answer, what`s her name?" Mr. Pryce asked curiously.

"what?" Donna asked curiously, "you mean he's in love?'

"no, he obviously thinks zeb has a minor concussion." Ellie said sarcastically.

"I mean, that could also be it." Madeline said appearing in the room with Jude, making everyone jump.

"Jude?" Ellie asked excitedly running over to him.

The two embraced.

"Before you ask, no his uncle has no idea he's here." Madeline said smiling, "he's supposed to be working with Ace's grandfather and Brianna, Brianna, with the help of Mrs. Teak are trying to teach alex some basic cooking."

"How's that going for him?" Aislynn asked curiously

"for alex, or your grandfather?" she asked.

"Alex, my grandfather can definitely take care of himself." `Aislynn said giggling.

"well, from my standpoint things appear to be going well." Madeline said sitting herself down at Dorothy's desk, "they've been at gale hall for the majority of the morning."

"Didn't want to mess up the palace kitchen?" Donna asked curiously.

"that was his logic, yes." Madeline said, taking her hat off and pulling a cup of tea from it.

"So, are we still on for the tour of the University, Saturday?" Aislynn asked as she started

"Barring a sudden letter from Cassandra, yes we're good to go on Saturday." Madeline said turning her attention to Zeb, "So, who are you falling for?" She asked curiously

"Seriously?" Zeb asked curiously

" well we cant force you to tell us, Glinda would kill me if I used that spell for a start." Ellie said taking out her wand and pointing it at Madeline, "and I can't in good conscience allow you to use it either Maddie."

"Have you always been carrying your wand?" Mr. Pryce asked curiously.

"its always up her sleeve." Jude said taking a step back and moving to the other side of her so he was away from her wand arm,

"And you know that how?" Betsy and trot asked in unison.

"he was her date to the wedding, in case you two forgot." Madeline said sliding her own wand back up her sleeve "Ellie you can lower your wand, I may be the better user of the two of us, but even I wouldn't go toe to toe with Glinda."

Ellie lowered her wand and led Jude over to her desk.

"so, what are the class couple currently up to?" Donna asked curiously.

Zeb, glad to have been forgotten for once, turned his attentions to eating his lunch.

"well, right now, dorothy has dropped herself into a chess game that was originally being played between alex and the beast." Madeline said giggling.

"How does that work?" Mr. Pryce asked curiously, "the way you guys have explained it, that can only end in stalemate can't it?"

"Dorothy's sentiments exactly." Madeline sighed before sitting at Dorothy's desk, "and she seems to be winning which is impressive as its 2 versus 1"

"did they make any bets?" Aislynn asked curiously as she finished her sandwich.

"not that I've heard." Madeline said shrugging, "And I would definitely be the second person to know."

"Well third or fourth if alex came up with the idea." Betsy giggled.

"Jude, do you mind if I ask you something?" Aislynn asked curiously as she turned her attentions to him.

"sure." Jude replied as he took a seat next to ellie

"How come your uncle doesn't let you come to the palace more often?" Aislynn asked, "I mean, its not like you'd be in any immediate danger." She added

"its not the immediate danger that my uncle worries about, it's the general exposure to magic." Jude said sighing, "He doesn't trust magic that much as it was magic that struck my parents blind"

"magic was involved in the accident that left your mother and father blind?" Ellie asked sounding rather shocked, "you never told me that?"

"Because I don't want you…" he then gestured to group as he had met all of them at the wedding, "any of you, to worry about me, or for you to stop practicing" he said then turning his attention back to ellie

"does he know that Brianna occasionally uses magic to assist her needs?" Aislynn asked curiously.

"I think he suspects it, as its usually only the two of us." Jude sighed.

"doesn't the parlor close for the season on Friday?" Madeline asked curiously.

"it does, we'll be breaking it down on Monday though, when the tour of the university is said and done." Jude said taking a letter from his pocket.

"You got one?" Ellie asked in shock, "I know all the girls got one as well, but I didn't think…"

"someone apparently thought I should be a part of your group." Jude said chuckling, "you know how much I had to beg my uncle to say yes?"

"Didn't approve of Cassandra's class?" Madeline asked.

"Not a jot." Jude said shaking his head.

"what changed his mind?" Ellie asked curiously.

Jude said nothing, he simply smiled.

"Oh come on Jude, don't leave me in the dark of all people." Ellie said groaning before taking a bite from her sandwich.

"I promised I wouldn't tell, because it wasn't a what, it was a who." Jude said, the smile not leaving his face, "and that's all I'm saying on the subject." He finished.

Aislynn let out a giggle, this giggle was followed by one from Donna.

"What's so funny?" Betsy asked curiously.

"We'll explain later." Donna giggled.

Ellie, however had an idea, and it wasn't one that she felt entirely comfortable with. She knew it couldn't have been dorothy who convinced him, as today was the first time she had been to Oz since Sunday. Glinda had been blocking her out recently, but she knew her sister could be very persuasive if need be. Ozma, and the wizard also popped into her head. But the Wizard only learned about the university visit on Sunday. What made her least comfortable were the ideas that it was either Alex or Cassandra. She wasn't sure why she was worried about alex because if it was him, well the fact that he could go told her that no one tried anything dangerous. but Cassandra intimidated even Glinda at times. But if it was Cassandra, well, it simply worried her.

Meanwhile back at gale hall.

"Checkmate." Dorothy said giggling, leaning across the board and kissing alex.

"How did you manage that?" Mrs. Teak asked curiously.

"Well, it was either luck, or he threw the game." Dorothy said with a little grin on her face.

"Dorothy, how could you think so little of me?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

"because it was never a fair game from the start?" Brianna asked curiously.

"anyways, we have everything set up, come on you two." Mrs. teak said with a giggle.

A little down to earth chapter, before things get interesting again. Sorry its taken so long to get this up actually, but the virus going around has kinda thrown a spanner in the works. Stay safe out there my beautiful readers. Also to answer the question posed in the reviews, I do not, unfortunately have any artwork pertaining to this story or any of them for that matter. Im a better writer than I am an artist, i am good at envisioning scenes in my head though.