Review, and thou shalt be rewarded with a fun, fluffy Julian/Jenny chapter :)

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It was not in Julian's nature to play fair, but for Jenny, he was certainly willing to try. Thomas Locke, Julian had decided, was a mistake that could be easily corrected without resorting to tricks or dubious measures; if Julian over-reacted to the root problem, he risked losing Jenny, and then everything would be for naught. And anyway, why should Julian be worried? Even on a level playing field, dear little Tommy was no competition for the likes of him.

On Monday afternoon, Julian ignored the surprise on his peer's faces as he reclaimed his prior place at Jenny's lunch table.

"Oh good," Dee said in a contemptuous voice when her confusion ebbed away, "you're just in time for the barf-fest."

Julian raised his eyebrows quizzically, and Zach cut in to answer.

"Jenny and Tom are 'officially dating' now," Zach explained with complete disinterest.

"Huh," Julian picked at the ginger-panang curry stir fry his so-called mother had packed him, "don't you think we're all a little young for that sort of thing?"

"Thank you," Dee said, exasperated. It was the first time she and Julian had ever agreed on anything.

"Aw, I think it's romantic," Summer said.

Jenny was too busy giving Julian a dark look to add her opinion on the matter. Her displeasure let up slightly when her newly-proclaimed boyfriend put an arm around her shoulder.

"Who's 'we'?" Tom demanded, a defensive note just barely detectable in his otherwise reasonable tone, "and what does age have to do with it? Jenny and I wanna date, so we will."

"And I guess you guys will keep having your 'dates' after school?" Julian asked laconically, flickering the barest if glances sideways at Tom. It was Jenny, however, who answered.

"Actually, Tom's got football intramurals starting this week," the blonde said, sounding a bit glum.

"Oh, don't worry, Jenny," Julian smiled, "you can just come over to my house. I'm sure we'll find something to do."

"I don't think you should talk to my girlfriend like that," Tom interjected, glaring at the white-haired boy.

Julian feigned surprise at Tom's belligerence. "No offense Tommy, but Jenny and I were friends before you two even met. I know how I can and can't talk to her."

"I don't think you know her all that well."

"Oh, we go way back."

Something about the way Julian said that last statement made Tom go from clenching his teeth to swinging a punch at Julian's grinning face. Jenny and Dee, who'd been rolling their eyes at each other over how dumb boys could be, jumped up when Tom's fist struck Julian's cheek with an oddly subdued sound. The tables of middle-schoolers around them looked over, simultaneously alarmed and excited.

"Tom!" Jenny cried in shock and accusation.

"Holy cow," Michael, who'd wisely stayed out of the conversation until now, spoke up.

Zachary stared, and Summer put her hands over her mouth. Dee rushed around the table to hold Tom back, in case he tried to lunge at Julian again, but the brown-haired boy just blinked, looking substantially more bemused than Julian himself.

"I didn't mean to punch him," Tom addressed his girlfriend earnestly, "I just got really mad…and he didn't even try to duck."

"I didn't expect it," Julian replied calmly, "you should really learn to control your temper."

"Yeah, I'm…" Tom looked up at Julian, only to see that the blue-eyed boy was smirking. "…sorry."

Everybody at the table stared at their trays as an attentive lunch aid came to take Tom to the principal's office, except for Julian, who peered right into Tom's eyes and waved goodbye.

"Are you alright?" Jenny asked, turning to Julian worriedly.

"Oh, I'm perfectly fine," he replied seriously, just barely managing to keep a straight face.

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"That really wasn't okay Tom," Jenny told her boyfriend as they exited English class together later in the day, "I know Julian sets you off, and he might've been baiting you, but that's no excuse."

"I know, I know, I'm a hot-head," Tom sighed, "It wasn't right of me, but…I really don't like him, Thorny. There's something strange about the guy. I don't think you should hang out with him so much."

"He's my best friend, Tom," Jenny said with a hard edge to her voice, "and that's not going to change, so you'd better get used to it.

"Fine, fine," Tom grumbled, then he smiled at the blonde and went to kiss her cheek. Instead of accepting the token of affection, however, Jenny dodged away.

"Thorny…" Tom said, sounding hurt.

Usually, that ridiculous pout on Tom's handsome face got Jenny every time, but today she simply turned from him. "I'm gonna be late for class," Jenny said quickly. Tom watched, frowning, as she strode off down the hall.

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In the bathroom after lunch, Julian fixed his face. He watched as the blooming bruise faded from blue to green to yellow before disappearing completely into the skin. The pain was reduced to a dull, warm tingle of magic. It only required a miniscule amount of his power, and little more had been used to conjure the itching tincture Julian poured into Tom's school-standard chocolate milk while the boy wasn't looking. Julian smirked when he thought of how awkward Tom's visit to the principal must have been; Tom had already started scratching his neck when the aid led him off.

Julian didn't consider this little trick to be cheating, since it really had nothing to do with winning Jenny over. The truth was, Julian just didn't like Tom very much. Taking the punch, though, that was his first move, and it seemed to have yielded the desired results. Julian was interested in seeing how this competition he'd initiated would play out, though he was fairly confident that he knew how it would end.

May the best man win.