They didn't end up finishing the game, as the lunch bell rang before Quinn's force made it to the opposite end. Natalie walked out with him while Tyler and Steven went off to their own classes.

"What's that game called?" she asked.

"Did you like it?" Quinn asked, surprised.

"Maybe. I think it could be fun." She shrugged. "I liked watching you guys play it."

"Way more fun to play than to watch. If you want, I could teach you sometime."

"Sure."

"Is it cool if I come over to your place with the decks?"

Natalie hesitated. "I… I dunno."

"Oh! Sorry," Quinn apologized. "I just… My parents kinda get annoyed when we just play games all day. They're usually pretty cool, and Dad even plays it sometimes, but they think I have to focus on school." He grinned. "They don't know that I can do all my homework in study hall before I even get home. Anyway, we usually trade off between Tyler's house or Mitch's apartment, but I thought maybe you'd want to learn with just us?"

"I do, but it can't be my place. I can't have anyone over. Sorry."

"Oh."

Natalie felt her face heating up again and cursed herself. Why can't I stop being embarrassed around him? "Can we go to the library or something? Or maybe just here after school?"

"Library sounds good. They don't let kids stick around here unless they're in a club."

"Like the Glasses Club?" she joked.

"It's not a real club." He laughed. "Guess we have to get you glasses now. Want to meet up tomorrow? I have a family thing tonight but nothing at all tomorrow."

Natalie felt a burst of joy at the invitation. Someone actually wanted her to hang out. She finally wasn't alone anymore. She had to stop herself from grinning like a crazy person and dancing the whole way home. She tried to answer as calm and casually as he'd asked.

"Yeah. Tomorrow sounds great."

Natalie: hailey!

Hailey: Hi, Natalie. What's up?

Natalie: it went great!

Natalie: were gonna hang out after school at the library tomorrow!

Natalie: hes teaching me how to play their game

Natalie: im part of the glassses gang now!

Hailey: The glasses gang?

Natalie: they all wear glasses so they call themselves that

Natalie: do you think i should get glasses too

Natalie: maybe itll be okay since steven doesnt wear them

Hailey: How's he in the Glasses Gang then?

Natalie: he used to

Natalie: now he wears contacts

Natalie: is wearing glasses annoying?

Natalie: i feel like it would be super annoying

Hailey: I wouldn't know. My eyes are perfect.

Natalie: i think mine are too

Natalie: perfect is 20/20 right?

Hailey: Pretty much, yeah.

Natalie: ya

Natalie: mine are perfect too

Hailey: Go team perfect eyes!

Natalie: so i guess i shouldnt wear glasses

Hailey: Probably not. But hey, one of them doesn't either so I think you'll fit right in. Just be yourself.

Natalie: be jenny you mean

Hailey: Well yeah. Be yourself, just not your name.

Natalie: its ok i got it

Hailey: I'm sure Lily's glad you're getting out of the house a bit too.

Natalie: probably

Hailey: You did tell her right?

Hailey: Natalie?

Natalie: sorry i gotta go

Natalie: lily says dinners ready

Natalie: good luck with your mission tonight

Hailey: Thanks. Good luck with your friend tomorrow! Don't beat him too badly.

Natalie: night

Hailey: Goodnight!

Natalie decided that absolutely nothing would happen the next day at school. Nothing at all could get in the way of her having a good day after school. She hadn't had a terror attack since the first few days, before she'd gotten used to the huge crowds everywhere. She still hadn't told Lily or Kendra about those, but she'd talked about it with Hailey, and Hailey said it was a pretty normal thing for what they'd all gone through. Talking with Hailey helped her a lot.

She made it all the way to science class in fifth period before something went wrong.

The teacher brought out a small Bunsen burner and ignited it. Natalie leaned forward, excited. She'd always loved watching candles and other little flames dancing and burning in place, and that interest had doubled over when she'd awakened and learned how to control fire herself. Fire was one of her specialities, even though it was outside her affinity. Cinza was surprised how well she could control it, which only made Natalie more excited. It was one of those things that made her special, like her animal friends or how she was one of the special awakened like Hailey and Hector.

She wondered where Hector was now. They'd talked a couple times since he'd left for Canada, but she didn't get much out of text from him like she did from Hailey. Hector just didn't talk very well over the internet. She missed him a lot. He'd always been friendly, given her free candy out of his store, played hide and seek with her when she was little, and watched out for her when her dad couldn't. He was what she imagined a friendly uncle would be like. She'd never known anyone in her own family past her mom and dad, so Hector had been her first replacement family member.

She'd had a lot of replacement family members.

Natalie was so lost in thought and memories that she completely missed what the actual experiment was about. Her eyes glazed over staring at the flame pouring out of the burner, thinking back to days spent running around Rallsburg with Jenny.

Remembering what had happened to her.

Natalie's fist clenched underneath her desk. She hadn't forgotten why she was out here, living with a fake name in a huge crowded school in a noisy, angry city. Two horrible evil men had forced them out here. One of them was dead.

The other was her father.

A shout of alarm brought her to her senses. Natalie stood up instantly, sensing danger but not knowing what it might be yet.

Her teacher's arm was on fire.

Natalie felt like the world had dropped into slow motion. The rest of the class was still seated, mouths wide open. A few looked like they were about to scream. No one else had moved yet. The teacher was staring at the flame billowing up his clothes wide-eyed, but there wasn't a fire extinguisher in reach. Natalie tried to think what else they could use, but she didn't know what was good for putting out fires.

She did the only thing she could think of. Natalie ran forward from her desk to the teacher's side. He was a bit shorter than average, so she didn't have to reach too far, but he was twisting away and reaching for something on the desk nearby. Natalie focused on the fire with her mind, feeling the churning heat and the way it seemed to be constantly moving in circles inside itself. She started to press on it, suppressing and choking it away—but what if everyone else saw? What would happen if the fire just put itself out?

With her hands, she grabbed the part of his arm that was on fire. The flames started to lick at her palms, but Natalie pushed them away before they could actually do any harm. As her hands closed around his sleeve, she smothered the fire completely with a whispered spell, reducing it to a tiny wisp of smoke trailing into the air.

She let go and took a step away. The teacher just stared at her. So did the rest of the class. A fire alarm she hadn't heard now shrieked in her ears, but no one moved.

Natalie didn't know what to do. She decided she should just follow the rules and try to be normal, so she walked back to her desk, picked up her bag, and walked out the door—just like in the fire drill they'd done a week earlier. Every single person watched her go, while the burner still quietly hissed on the desk in front of their teacher.

If Natalie thought she could get away so easily without notice from the school, she was sadly mistaken. As soon as she'd made it outside, she was chased down by the school nurse. They sat her down at the far end of the parking lot away from the milling crowd of students waiting to go back inside. Her science teacher was a few steps away, also being examined. His sleeve was a little singed, but he was otherwise totally fine.

The nurse took her hands and looked them over thoroughly. He had nice, soft fingers. "Do you feel that, Jenny?"

"Yeah."

"No pain at all?"

"Nuh-uh," Natalie shook her head. "I'm totally fine."

"I don't get it," he said, sitting back on the curbside. "You said she grabbed your arm while it was on fire, right?"

"Yeah," the teacher replied, dumbfounded.

"I put it out," Natalie answered with a shrug.

"What on earth were you doing?" cut in an angry voice. It was the grey-haired principal, looking absolutely livid. She stomped over and grabbed her teacher by his burnt sleeve, pulling him aside. Despite that, they were still speaking loud enough that Natalie could make out every word.

"A fire experiment for middle schoolers?"

"It was just a demonstration. They weren't going to do anything themselves," he protested.

"That wasn't on the curriculum. And you set yourself on fire?" Her mouth opened and closed a few times, like she didn't know what to say next. Natalie could relate. "We'll be discussing this later," she added angrily. "Is Jenny all right?" she continued, turning to the nurse.

He nodded. "Totally fine as far as I can tell. It's like nothing happened."

She looked down at Natalie oddly. Natalie tried to look totally normal, but she wasn't sure what that would be in this situation. She settled on a smile, but that seemed to confuse them even more. The principal dismissed the other two, then sat down next to Natalie. She put her hands on her own face, rubbing her eyes as if she were exhausted. "Jenny," she started.

"Did I do something wrong?" Natalie asked, dropping the smile since it hadn't seemed to help at all.

"No. Well…" She paused. "How did you put the fire out?"

"I choked it. You're supposed to choke fires, right? Make them stop breathing so they can't burn anything else."

She nodded. "There's something to use for that though. Your teacher had a fire blanket on the desk nearby that's specially made to help put out a fire. But you used your hands, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"May I see them?"

Natalie hesitated, but she held them out, palms up. The principal grasped them, surprisingly gently for how harsh she usually acted, and felt along her palms. "How aren't you burned?"

She shrugged. "I guess I got lucky?"

The principal shook her head. "That's not how that works." She closed her eyes. "Is this part of why you're a special case?"

Natalie didn't know what to say. She put her hands in her jacket pockets, trying to appear unthreatening. The principal seemed afraid of her, and that reminded her of all the other people who had been afraid of what she could do.

Those people had tried to kill her.

"I can make this go away, I think," the principal added, opening her eyes and looking at Natalie very seriously. "You've been a perfect student so far and you weren't trying to do anything wrong. Just… try to draw less attention to yourself? If it's something bigger than this, there's only so much I can do."

Natalie nodded. The principal seemed like an okay woman. "...Are you going to tell Lily?"

She looked at Natalie oddly. "Is telling your mother a bad thing?"

"No, but…" Natalie felt anxiety bubbling up inside her. What if they started keeping a closer eye on her? How could she go out and meet her new friends then? "She doesn't need to know."

The principal sighed. "As long as it doesn't happen again."