Very sorry for the late update! I had major writer's block, so this chapter is shorter than most, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. Since the school year is approaching I'll probably be posting a bit more infrequently, but I will try to make the chapters longer. Thanks for understanding!

Zarina sat there for about a minute before Lyrei finally answered. She could barely conceal the shaking of her hands as she swallowed and said, "I can explain everything. I–"

"What?" Lyrei cut in, her eyes blazing. "You ignore me all day, refusing to even look at me, and then you hail me in the middle of the night to 'explain'?" She shook her head. "I'm hanging up. Sorry, Zarina, but for now I need to find friends that would at least tell me why before they give me the silent treatment."

"Wait!" Zarina called, causing Lyrei to freeze. "You can choose to stop talking to me after this, but I wanted you to at least know why I did what I did."

"Okay," Lyrei said slowly, "but you better make it quick. I'm tired and I still have some homework leftover."

Taking a deep breath, Zarina closed her eyes and said, "It's my mom. All of it was my mom. We had a huge argument, and I ended up knocking her out with electricity. Her punishment was to take my Imparter away, and I wasn't allowed to have any sort of contact with you, even during school."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I knew that Mom had some way of finding out if I talked to you at all during the school day, so I did what I had to do. I didn't want to get a harsher punishment than I already had. I'm sorry, I should have said something."

"Yes. You should have," Lyrei replied, with an icy edge to her voice. "But I understand," she added after a second, her voice softer than before. "I just hope that you can get my trust back. It's not the same without you." Zarina's face heated up, and she hoped that Lyrei couldn't see the faint blush that was probably there.

"Me too."

They sat there for a bit, before Zarina broke the silence. "I have an idea to help you manifest. Here's what we'll do…"