"I bet you fifty dollars that I could hit the bull's-eye," I said to my best friend, Ben Fellows.

He snorted. "You're on. I think I'll use my fifty to take Sherrilyn out on a date."

I scowled at him. "You wouldn't!"

He smirked. "I guess you'd better hit that bull's-eye."

I made a face and tore the paper off the end of the straw. I put my mouth to it, aimed, and blew. It flew through the air and landed right on target-the wart on my grandmother's photograph.

"Score!" I shouted.

Ben looked nonplussed. "Sorry Kit, as amazing as that was, I have absolutely no money."

I threw the straw into the trashcan. "I figured that. You never do have money; you always blow it on your ship models."

He gave me a dirty look. "Building model ships is an art."

"A nerdy art."

He threw a punch at me, but I easily dodged it. I ran out of my kitchen and into my living room, where Rosalinda was sitting on the couch watching television. Ben jumped on the couch and his head landed in her lap. She looked down at him, and he smirked at her. I laughed as she twisted his nose until he cried out.

"Linda! I was just kidding! Geez!"

"Ah, the Rosalinda Torture Technique," I said with mock fondness, "I know it well. As does every guy in Athens, I believe."

She only smiled, and then went back to watching T.V.

"Are the neighbor kids in my house again?" said a voice coming from the top of the stairs. My mom walked down the stairs gracefully, and turned to face us. "This house is always full of kids. I'm not running a foster home, Kit."

"But we love you so much, Mrs. Bae," Rosalinda said without taking her eyes off of her show.

My mom's icy look vanished, and she smiled. "I know, sweetie." She started walking toward the kitchen, and then called back, "Kit, your father wants to speak to you about your grades."

I sighed. By grades, she meant spells. Not that she knew that, of course. Sorcerers rarely tell their wives what they are, mostly to avoid being judged and having their secret told. So, Dad teaches me in secret the spells I need to learn.

"What about my friends?" I protested to her. "The rest of the group is coming. I can't just ignore them."

She pretended to sigh painfully. "Your friends will have the run of the house, just like they always do. And I'd better get dinner going if I'm going to feed all of these squatters."

"Can you make spaghetti?" Ben asked.

Mom smiled. "Just for you, Benny."

I snickered as Ben whooped with happiness. He was such a nerd sometimes.

I ran upstairs to my dad's study where he taught me spells. I enjoyed the lessons very much, but my dad was not a very patient man. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't physically or verbally abuse me, but he's quick to a temper. He gets along well with my friend, Zeke, who has gotten into more than one fight at school.

"Hey," I said as I entered the room. "What are we learning today?"

He looked up from the book he was reading. "We're just reviewing today."

I groaned, which received a dirty look from him."

"Are you complaining? Because we can stop these lessons at any time, and you can live your life without magic."

I shook my head. "No, Sir. I'll listen."

"Good."

After he finally let me go, it was dinner time, and all of my friends were gathered around the table. I didn't have any brothers, so my mom was happy to have guests for dinner, no matter how much she complained. She said she had always wanted a big family, but she started having problems after she had me, and she was unable to get pregnant again. So, she kind of adopted my friends, and treats them like family. Rosalinda was always her favorite, and is always pushing us to get together. Unsuccessfully.

"You're not failing school, are you Kit?" Jenny asked me as I sat down at the table.

I smiled at her. "I'm touched by your concern, but it is not needed. My dad and I just had a long, meaningful conversation about my future."

My friend, William, looked up from his food and raised his eyebrow. "And what did you conclude?"

I maintained my smile. "Well, after looking at several options, and weighing the pros and the cons, I have decided that I want to be…a hobo."

The guys at the table laughed, while the girls just rolled their eyes.

"You decided that there were more pros than cons to being a hobo?" Jenny asked.

"Yes," I said, unashamed. "And my dad is going to support me the whole way. He said that he's even going to buy me my own bench at the park."

Another round of snickers ensued, before my mother chastised my foolishness. I looked around at my friends; Jenny was daintily twirling her spaghetti around her fork with the help of her spoon, and taking really small bites. Rosalinda was picking at her food, as usual, only nibbling at her noodles. She bumped Jenny with her shoulder a few times, causing the blonde to spill some of her food. They started a fork poking fight, only to be stopped by my mom, and then were content with giggling and nudging each other.

William had his sunglasses on indoors, so he had to occasionally take them off in order to see exactly what he was eating. He kept glancing at Zeke, who was scraping the sauce off of his noodles. I don't know why, I guess it was some kind of obsessive compulsive thing. My other friend, Johnny, was attempting to twirl his whole plate onto his fork.

All of these things were completely normal for them. The only one acting out of the norm was Ben. He wasn't eating at all, just staring at his plate. I watched him for a little, his gaze occasionally wandering to the space behind him. Suddenly, he gave a start and he fell out of his chair.

"Ben!" Jenny screamed as it happened. She ran over and pulled him to his feet.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Bae. He hasn't been feeling well lately. I think we should go now. Thanks for dinner," she said, nearly all in one breath. She dragged him to the door, and left without another word.

I briefly wondered if he was alright, but then Johnny spilt his entire plate onto the floor, and the incident was forgotten.