Gabby was first to wake that morning. The sun had just risen, and the alarm hadn't even gone off yet. Carefully, she stepped over her companions to have first claim of the bathroom. Almost there, she tripped over Emily and hit her head on the door.

"Oww," Gabby moaned, sitting upright and rubbing her head.

Emily woke up and looked around sleepily. "Is it time to get up? I didn't hear the alarm."

"No," Gabby whispered, "You still have a bit to sleep."

Emily glanced at the clock. "Well, I might as well get up now, since it's only ten minutes earlier than the alarm. I'll go make some breakfast."

"Alright," Gabby agreed and headed to the bathroom to shower and get ready.

Ten minutes later, the alarm screamed and woke the others up. Kara lay in her sleeping back and groaned for someone to turn the nuisance off. Lindsay popped up, armed with her pillow and eyes wide. Adriane sat up, rubbed her eyes, and stumbled over to the alarm to turn it off.

"Alright, let's get going," Adriane commanded, "Get up, Kara."

Kara moaned and covered her head with a pillow. Adriane winked at Lindsay, who had lowered her pillow in a less threatening manner.

"Well, I guess you won't have time to get ready then," Adriane sighed, "What with everyone hogging the bathroom before you. I'd be surprised if you got a single drop of hot water."

Kara popped up, a wild look in her eyes. "I'm next in the bathroom!" She ran and sat next to the door.

Laughing, Adriane said, "It works every time."

As Gabby opened the door, Kara dove inside, startled Gabby, and made her jump. Kara slammed the door, leaving a giggling Adriane and Lindsay and a wide-eyed Gabby. Adriane and Lindsay left the room to change, both had taken showers at night, and Gabby told them there was breakfast in the kitchen downstairs. In twenty minutes, all five girls were downstairs in the kitchen and enjoying Emily's cooking.

"Gran put more food in this kitchen than I know what to do with!" Emily exclaimed, passing toast to Kara.

Adriane smiled. "Gran is known for going all out. I should have warned you."

"Well, I'm not complaining," Gabby said after finishing her second egg, "I love big breakfasts, and you're a great cook, Emily!"

Emily blushed. "Thanks."

Lindsay shrugged. "I'm more of a cereal person."

"I saw a few boxes of cereal in the pantry," Emily said, "You can have that instead if you want."

"Well, since you cooked all this food, I'll have it tomorrow," Lindsay decided.

"I don't know how you can choose cereal over a real breakfast," Kara sighed, "It's just not American."

Lindsay moaned, "That's what my whole family says!"

Adriane got on the bus first, since it was her stop. The others followed behind her and they sat at the back of the bus. Most of the passengers were half asleep in their seats, but one familiar face was interested in the extra little bodies boarding the bus. Joey got up from his seat to move farther back on the bus.

Once everyone was seated, and the bus was in motion, Joey peaked over his seat at Adriane sitting with Lindsay. "Who's the kid?"

"My name is Lindsay," Lindsay introduced herself curtly.

Adriane smiled at Lindsay's attitude. "She and her friend Gabby are shadowing us for a while. They're our test run kids for a new program at the preserve."

"Cool," Joey said, "What is it?"

"Learning through nature," Adriane explained.

"Well, I recommend you keep them close," Joey warned, "You don't want them getting picked on."

Lindsay looked up at him solemnly. "Gabby and I are used to that."

Joey's eyes grew a little. "Sorry," he muttered and sat back down.

"He's right though, Lindsay," Adriane insisted, "Stay with us. High school is a bit rougher than elementary school."

"Fine," Lindsay sighed and slumped in her seat.

Gabby followed Emily to her Geometry class and took a seat next to her. Emily was excited to impress Gabby with high school life and watched the girl's wondering expression with enthusiasm. So far, no one had really paid much attention to the two out of place little kids following her and her friends, and Emily was beginning to wonder what had everyone's attention.

She heard one of Kara's friends, Tiffany, whisper behind her, "I know! That new kid is so hot! It's weird how he never takes off his hat, though."

"Yeah, my brother says he has an excuse out of gym," another girl whispered back, "Do you think something is wrong with him?"

Tiffany giggled quietly, "I don't care! He's cute!"

Her question answered, Emily turned her concentration back to the lesson. Gabby fidgeted next to her, uncomfortable with the odds stares some kids were giving her. Because she was an honors student, she had a little bit of a clue what the class was talking about. Still, she was only in third grade and didn't understand everything the teacher was saying.

At the end of class, the teacher stopped Emily and Gabby. "Yes, ma'am?" Emily smiled cautiously, afraid they did something wrong.

"Don't worry, you aren't in trouble," The teacher laughed, "I just thought I'd recommend you explain the lesson to your shadow again after school. Teaching is an excellent way to study, and she is expected to learn something while she is here."

"Thank you for your consideration, ma'am," Gabby said politely.

The teacher smiled at the young girl. "No problem, it's great to see such willing young minds around here."

"Thanks, Mrs. Hays," Emily said as she lead Gabby out the door.

Just as the girls came through the door, a boy collided directly with Gabby. Gabby was knocked into the door and the boy stumbled, his hat coming off. He freaked out, ignoring the girl that he ran into for a moment, and frantically grabbed for his hat on the ground. Quickly shoving the thing over his brown hair, he surveyed the two he disrupted.

"Sorry," He apologized, "I didn't see you there."

Gabby was gaping at the boy's head. "It's okay."

Emily realized this must be the new boy, since she didn't recognize him. "Hey, I haven't seen you around before. What's your name?"

The boy smiled, much more relaxed now. "I'm new here. My name is Hunter."

"I'm Emily," Emily introduced herself and her younger friend, "This is Gabby."

To Gabby, Hunter asked, "Aren't you a bit young to be in high school?"

Gabby giggled, forgetting what about the boy's head had her captivated, "I'm shadowing Emily as part of an honors program."

"Wow," Hunter said endearingly, "You must be pretty smart, huh?"

Gabby beamed at him. "You bet!"

Emily glanced nervously at the clock. "We better get going. The bell is going to ring soon."

"Alright, nice to meet you guys," Hunter said, "Would you mind if I sat with you at lunch though? I don't know anyone yet."

Emily smiles. "Sure, look for us. We're pretty easy to spot."

Adriane dragged Lindsay through the lunch line, but the girl wasn't very hungry. "It's alright. I don't eat much," she kept insisting.

"You have to eat something," Adriane demanded, "It isn't good for you to skip lunch. Don't you want to be strong like me?"

Lindsay's eyes widened. "Yeah!" The girl grabbed an apple and milk out of the cooler.

"Good girl," Adriane praised her and smiled.

They met the rest of the group, plus Kara's other friends, by the usual table in the shade of a large tree. Kara was already gossiping about the new kid, Hunter. Adriane hadn't met him yet, but he was she'd heard about all day. Lindsay couldn't care less about some strange new boy in the school; she was new herself. Plus, she was far more interested in going back to Ravenswood to learn more magic.

Interrupting the group's flow of gossip, Emily said, "You guys might want to stop talking about him. It would be really awkward if he heard you."

"Why would he hear us?" Kara asked, "He'll probably sit with Kyle and his friends. Kyle has a thing for nabbing the new kids."

"He asked if he could sit with us," Gabby said shyly, not sure if she should be talking to the other older kids, "Emily told him he could."

Everyone stared at Emily with open mouths. "No way!" Heather exclaimed, "When did you talk to him?"

Gabby answered for her. "He ran me over."

No one commented; instead, they stared passed her to the boy now standing next to the table.

"Sorry again," Hunter said, startling Gabby and making her whip around to look at him.

His blue eyes were friendly as he asked if he could sit next to her.

Lindsay and Gabby scooted apart to make room for him. Lindsay did so grudgingly. The table sat in awkward silence as the majority of the girls simply stared at their new addition. Adriane cleared her throat to break the silence and snap the other girls out of their daze.

None of the others were willing to say anything, so Emily asked, "How do you like Stonehill so far?"

Hunter smiled. "It's great. I love the forest preserve you guys have. Most towns don't care to preserve nature."

Adriane beamed. "Thanks, I live there, but they help run it."

"Yeah," Molly grumbled, "And she always gets all the credit for it."

Lindsay growled, "Why does it matter who gets the credit? It's all for the animals, right?"

Molly sighed, "Yeah, sure, whatever. I just think it would be nice to get some appreciation."

"You're such a Barbie," Lindsay scoffed.

"Yeah, pipsqueak?" Molly threatened, "You better be careful what you say. You're on our territory."

"Calm down," Adriane whispered in Lindsay's ear, "It's not a big deal."

Lindsay growled, gripping the wooden table hard, "But she's being a jerk."

"Cut it out, Molly," Kara demanded, "She's just a little kid."

"Stay out of it, Kara," Molly snapped, "She's a little kid who needs to learn her place."

Lindsay growled again, gripping the wooden table even harder, but said nothing. She didn't want to disappoint Adriane.

"That's right, runt," Molly sneered, "Keep to your place."

"Hey, cut it out," Adriane insisted, "She just really likes the preserve."

Molly let out a short, mocking laugh. "Yeah, sure, it's the preserve she likes. You know as well I do that she's trying to be like you, Adriane."

Lindsay stood, slamming her hands on the table. "You may act like you're older and more mature but you're no better than bullies on an elementary school playground." The tree that was the source of their shade shook.

Gabby leaned across Hunter to whisper, "Don't make her any madder, Lindsay. We don't want a fight on our first day."

"Your friend is smarter than she looks," Molly mocked.

"That's it!" Lindsay screamed and launched herself across the table at Molly. Everyone watched, stunned, as Lindsay knocked Molly to the ground, her hands around Molly's throat.

"Take it back!" Lindsay demanded, shaking the girl by her neck, "Take back what you said about my friends!"

"Lindsay!" Adriane yelled, scrambling around the table to reach her. Kara and Emily jumped up too, trying to pry the furious little girl off of Molly. Hunter and Kara's other friends stayed at the table, watching in amazement. Gabby got up, but didn't want to get in the way.

After much yanking and struggling, Lindsay was in Adriane and Emily's grip, being held back. Kara tended to her friend, checking that she wasn't hurt. A few nearby tables had turned to observe the threatening child beating on the older girl, but no one alerted the lunch aids. Molly got away from her attack with only a headache and some suspicious looking marks on her throat to show. Kara led her away to the bathroom, trying to convince her not to tell anyone about the incident. Tiffany and Heather followed Kara to the bathroom. Adriane and Emily sat Lindsay down at the table again.

Adriane gripped Lindsay's head and made the girl look her in the eye. "Look at me. You will never anything like that again. Do you understand me?"

"Fine," Lindsay muttered, "But she had it coming."

"No excuses," Adriane barked, "Promise you won't do it again."

"I promise," Lindsay sighed.

Adriane released her and went to check on Kara and Molly. Gabby sat next to Lindsay, trying to calm her friend.

Emily sat across from them, next to Hunter. "Sorry about that," she apologized, "This isn't an everyday occurrence, just so you know."

"No problem." Hunter smiled. "I'm not going to lie; that was pretty funny."

Emily smiled back at him, but something caught her eye on the table. Where Lindsay had been gripping it, there were now burned handprints. She quickly covered them up, hoping Hunter hadn't noticed. Concentrating the best she could without drawing anyone's attention, Emily tried to heal the burned wood. When she lifted her hands away, the burns were still there but significantly faded. After all, Emily's skill was healing living things, not inanimate objects.

The bell rang and everyone slowly made their way back inside. Emily grabbed Gabby and led her to their next class. Lindsay stayed behind to wait for Adriane. Hunter waited until Emily and Gabby had gone before talking to the still grumbling little girl.

"Hey, I saw you move that tree, and you left burn marks in the table," Hunter told her.

Lindsay's eyes widened. "I don't know what you're talking about," she sputtered.

"Don't worry about it," Hunter laughed, "I'm a mage too."

Lindsay sighed in relief. "Good, I don't want to give them anymore reason to get mad at me."

"Yeah, but you can't tell them about me being a mage, alright?"

"Why not?"

"Well, some people don't like to have their identities know by everyone," Hunter explained hesitantly, "I don't want them asking me a bunch of questions either."

"Oh, alright."

"But if you want, I can teach you how to control that temper of yours."

Lindsay perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah, all you have to do is control your powers better. I can teach you in secret, so Adriane and everyone will be really impressed how strong you are."

"Cool! When would we meet?"

"I know where Ravenswood is. Meet me at the gate at midnight, when everyone is asleep."

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