Because of summer, I'll be posting more frequently, but I wanted to let you know some dates I won't be posting: June 17/18, June 24/25, July 15/16, July 22/23, and July 29/30. Other than that, I should be able to post almost every week, but I think my chapters might be a bit shorter. I hope you enjoy it!

Zarina ended up spending the rest of the weekend mostly holed up in her bedroom, completing her homework. The only times she came out were to hastily eat a meal, or because her parents were forcing her to go through the anger issues lessons they'd promised. She barely slept at all, only after she had completed all of her assignments and the extra credit work she'd given herself, which took her through all of Saturday night and into Sunday morning. So by the time Monday came around, Zarina was a mess.

She dragged herself through her morning routine, ignoring her parents' attempts at conversation, barely tasting her breakfast. The only thing on her mind was Lyrei, and how she was going to talk to her.

"Foxfire," she mumbled to the Leapmaster, looking dead ahead and scowling when her mom tried to pull her in for a hug.

"Zarina–" her father started, reaching out, but she had already stepped into the light and glittered away. Stop pretending everything's okay. It's not like you mean it.

As she reformed in front of the Foxfire campus, Zarina instinctively craned her neck to make out Rei in the crowd before remembering her mother's words. She probably had some way of figuring out if her daughter had made contact with Lyrei, and Zarina didn't want to risk her mom's wrath more than she already had. I'll find a way to talk to Rei, Zarina reassured herself before continuing on to the morning orientation.

There wasn't much news that Dame Mera had to offer as the school took attendance, but then again, Zarina barely paid attention to what the Foxfire principal was saying as she avoided her best friend in the crowd. It wasn't that hard, ducking and weaving among the other prodigies, since Zarina was shorter than most people in Level 4, and people older than that were even taller.

However, the real trouble was in the Level 4 atrium. Lyrei and Zarina had always ended up with their lockers super close together, so it took a lot of sneaking and waiting until her friend wasn't there to gather up her supplies for the day. It caused her to barely make it to her class on time, but it was worth it if it meant her mother wouldn't be unleashing even more cruel punishments upon her.

Every time Zarina passed Lyrei in the halls, her heart felt as if it was being squeezed by a frigid, cold hand and being pierced by a thousand knives at the same time. At lunch it was even worse. She still sat at Rei's table, but put as much distance as possible between them, and gave one-word replies–or not replying at all–whenever her friend talked to her.

As she left the cafeteria for Elementalism, Zarina caught a glimpse of Lyrei's face, staring straight at her. Rei's eyes were wide, dimmer than usual, and brimming with tears. Her hair was disheveled, and her chin trembled as if she would burst into tears at any second.

The whole rest of the day, Rina couldn't get that image out of her mind. It haunted her, like the human stories about dead people coming back as ghosts to haunt their place of death.

"Rina!" Lyrei cried, racing up to Zarina when it was time for their study hall session. She dumped her school bag on the table Rina was sitting at and plopped into the seat next to her. "I've been meaning to talk to you all day! Why have you been avoiding me?"

"Sorry, Lyrei, not now," Zarina mumbled, lowering her head. "I have a lot of work to do." Zarina had forgotten about the essay Sir Lorcan assigned based on his ethics lecture, and she didn't want to have to write it at home. She'd also just gotten assigned a bunch of busy work from that day's classes that she wanted to get a head start on. Working over the weekend was fine, but it wasn't her ideal way to spend the only days off Foxfire gave them.

Diligently working for the full hour, Zarina managed to complete the essay for her Charging session and partially complete an Elementalism assignment.

"Zarina? Is everything okay?" her father asked when she returned home from school. NO, half of her wanted to scream, but the other half forced herself to bite her tongue. Instead she nodded her head, keeping her eyes averted from making contact with his, and hurried upstairs. She then collapsed onto her canopy bed, not even bothering to change out of her Foxfire uniform before sobbing into her pillows. I'm a terrible friend, she thought. Rei will never forgive me.

After about ten minutes of this, Zarina managed to recollect herself enough to shower and change into a plain, sky-blue dress that cut off just past her knees. She ignored her parents trying to talk with her, even skipping dinner to avoid making contact with them.

Rina had decided that the only way to convince her mom to change her mind about Lyrei was to get really good at controlling her ability. She spent the entire afternoon in the yard behind their house, shooting lightning at the rocks scattered throughout the grass.

"My aim is fine, so what is it that I need to control?" she wondered aloud after an hour of practicing her ability. Rina thought about it for a while, eventually concluding that maybe she really did need to work on her temper. But how am I supposed to practice that?

Ultimately, Zarina decided that there was nothing else she could do at the moment.

When she came back inside, she found a plate full of vegetables on the dinner table with a note that said Eat as much as you want. –Mom.

Rina grinned. This was one of the nicest things her mom had ever said to her, even if it was only in writing. I need a way to save this, she decided, slipping the note into her dress's side pocket as she sat down to eat. But it still doesn't change the fact that she basically ruined my life. Her smile faded, changing into a frown at this last thought.

When Zarina was about halfway through the food, an idea popped into her head.

I think I know how to make it up to her.