Sorry I didn't post over the weekend! It was really hectic, but I didn't have school today so I was able to finish it. Hope you enjoy!

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully, and soon it was the weekend. As usual, Zarina spent it completing homework assignments and chatting with Lyrei using her Imparter.

I can't wait to graduate Foxfire, she thought to herself miserably late Sunday afternoon. She had decided to change up the location to focus better for this last stretch of homework. After a bit of debating, Rina ended up going with the rock island in her house's backyard river.

Zarina only had one assignment left, but it was big enough that her regular desk in her bedroom didn't cut it.

Of course, there was the concern of dropping the homework in the water, but Zarina knew her telekinesis would be able to save it. Besides, Zarina thought to herself as she wrapped up the assignment, I'm not clumsy enough to do something like that.

The next day, Zarina went to school feeling proud of her accomplishment. Technically, the assignment she'd worked on yesterday wasn't due until the end of the week. However, she had a feeling that with all of the ability detecting going on, she wouldn't have another good chance to complete it.

As she sat down next to Lyrei during lunch, she noticed something different in the air. No, not the air—she was different. Whenever she looked at Lyrei she began to notice the little things: how Lyrei's eyes sparkled when she smiled, or the way she fidgeted with her registry pendant when she spoke. Lyrei didn't seem to realize what had happened, but for some reason she also seemed to be doing everything she could to make Zarina notice her.

"Darnit!" Zarina exclaimed as her fork clattered to the floor. She reached forward to pick it up, and as she did, a darker hand brushed against hers.

Lyrei.

A wave of heat crashed over Zarina, and she was sure people could see the blush coming from a mile away. They both awkwardly pulled apart and Zarina picked up the fork, getting up from their lunch table to exchange it for a new one. It was also partially to clear her head, because her arms still had goosebumps, and her cheeks still felt very warm.

For the rest of the day, all Zarina thought about was Lyrei. It was like when she'd been forced by her mother to ignore Rei. Except this time, she thought of the feeling of Lyrei's hand on hers; the sound of Lyrei's laugh; and all the other little things she'd noticed at lunch.

When she came home, however, it was to the sight of her mother glaring at her from their doorway.

Uh oh, she thought to herself, grimacing as she walked stiffly past the threshold to hang up her school back. Zarina didn't even wait for her mother to speak before turning around to her and bringing up the subject herself.

"I know something's wrong, Mom, so what is it?"

Her mom just narrowed her eyes, shaking her head wordlessly.

"Come on, Mom! If it's about my Charging ability, I already told you I'm trying the best I can to control it."

"No, it's not that. It's about something much smaller," her mom said flatly, and Zarina froze. She could think of many things that were smaller than the ability of a Charger, but there was only one that her mom would have found out about.

"Wh…what do you mean?" she asked hesitantly, hoping that if she just played dumb, her mom would somehow forget or drop the punishment.

"You know exactly what I mean," Zarina's mom snapped, stepping closer to her daughter. "Today I went through my pockets to find that there's only one Imparter: mine. Everyone in this household knows that there should be one more in there, yet it seems to have somehow gone conveniently missing."

Rina sighed. There's no getting out of this one, she thought to herself glumly.

"Fine. Yes, I know what you're talking about. I stole the Imparter while you were sleeping after a day of having to ignoring Lyrei. She's my best friend, Mom, and I just couldn't stand the sight of her. She looked so hurt and betrayed, so I stole the Imparter to apologize."

Her mom scoffed. "Well, that is certainly unacceptable. How have I not heard about this from Silva Pemberley yet?"

I guess if I'm going to tell her one part of the story, I may as well spill the whole thing.

"I…I gave her half of my Prattles collection so she wouldn't tell you about me talking to Lyrei," Zarina confessed, looking away.

This time, Zarina's mom was completely silent for about a minute. During that minute, Rina shifted back and forth uncomfortably, fidgeting while she waited for her mom to say something. Anything. Yelling or scolding was better than the cold shoulder; at least then, she knew what her parents were feeling rather than having to guess based on an emotionless face.

Finally, her mother straightened up. "Since I can't keep you from her anyways, I think it's only fair that I let you continue to be friends with the girl—"

"Yes!" Zarina exclaimed, jumping up in the air as she cut her mother off.

"Hold on, I'm not done," her mom said sternly, holding up a hand. "I have decided that you can continue to be friends with the Torven girl, but on one condition: You must get a boyfriend."