Chapter XIII

The following days seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye for Lilly and, before she knew it, the retake test was only a day away. Despite her initial misgivings about both Brad and her ability to actually teach him, she still stuck to her promise and did her best to help him pass the test, especially given the fact that she realized that she hadn’t truly understood him before. To find out that he wasn’t as terrible of a person as she had believed made her want to actually help him and so, she did everything she could to teach what she knew. Yet, even that wasn’t enough. At the end of the day, she still wasn’t somebody who excelled at communication and so, she struggled with putting what she knew into words that Brad could understand. Because of that, he hadn’t really improved since the first day of their study sessions even with them getting together every day before school and during lunch. Her week had been so packed that she hadn’t gotten much of a chance to help the Magic Club with their gem investigations and it was looking like that sacrificed time wasn’t going to have been worth it. As it stood that afternoon, Brad would be lucky enough to get a “D”.

She recalled how dejected Brad had been during their lunch session that day with a twinge of guilt. She knew a lot of it was her fault for being so incapable of explaining the content and so, she felt bad for wasting his time when he could have been getting help from somebody who knew what they were doing. That being the case, she had suggested that he just keep the money since she hadn’t done what she promised to do. His response, however, had surprised her.

“No, don’t worry about it,” he said. “I came to you and asked for your help and you did what you said you would do. It wouldn’t be right not to pay you after you’ve spent all week trying to help me.”

She shook her head. “But it’s not like my help is actually going to amount to anything. If anything, I’ve just wasted your time.”

“Lilly,” he replied, his voice firmer than it had been moments earlier. “Like I said, it’s nothing for you to worry about. Hell, I should be thanking you for even giving me the time of day after what those Magic bastards probably said about me. Honestly...thanks for trying. Not to mention that I’m an unteachable jackass to begin with. It’s probably more my fault anyway…”

Thinking back on the conversation only made Lilly clench her teeth in irritation and she suddenly found herself running even faster than she had before. She was at cross country practice doing laps around the neighborhoods and she realized that her mind kept wandering back to Brad. In the few days that she had been teaching him, she found that she really didn’t want Brad to fail the test. It was why she was genuinely considering doing something that she was sure the Magic Club would think was insane. In fact, even she couldn’t be certain that it was even a good idea, yet she couldn’t help but to consider it more than once since she spoke to Brad at lunch.

It would only be a temporary solution but...it’s probably all I can do at this point, she thought hesitantly.

Lilly scowled, once again attempting to shove the thoughts from her mind as she turned her attention back to running. She glanced up from the pavement to see Matt Briggs just ahead of her. Part of her wanted to pick up the pace and run him down, knowing there was nobody ahead of him, but then she recalled Coach Francis’s instructions to run at a more casual pace that day. Internally sighing, Lilly only slightly increased her speed but not enough to catch Matt before she rounded a corner and the front gates of the school came into view. She was on her last lap so once she made it back, she was free to go home. That meant she had only a few more minutes to decide whether to approach Eric about her idea or not.

Hell, I’ll probably just be wasting my time. After all, he doesn’t have any reason to help Brad...and I’m sure he’d be especially against letting him in on that stone. Lilly frowned. Not to mention he hardly knows me. Maybe he’d consider it if it were Vinny or Damien asking but he has no reason to help me out with something like this. I’m not an actual club member, after all.

As she slowed to a stop the moment she went through the gates, her thoughts then shifted to her conversation with the Magic Club the afternoon of the first day of her tutoring job. She had told them all about what Brad had said about how he feels regarding his school image and his relationship with his friends and was met with very mixed reactions. Vinny seemed almost certain that Brad was simply putting on an act because she was a girl and while Damien and Liz weren’t as certain as he was, they were both skeptical of whether what he said was true or not. Eric, surprisingly, didn’t offer any opinion. Instead, he seemed to be deep in thought for the majority of the conversation and only spoke on occasion. Yet despite their reactions, the more Lilly interacted with Brad, the more certain she was that he was telling the truth. Unless he was some acting prodigy, she didn’t think he could fake the emotions in his voice when he talked about how people saw him.

“Good job, Harper!” Coach Francis called over to her with a broad smile. “Go get some water and stretch. Then you’re free to go.”

Lilly nodded to her before making her way toward the table that she normally put her stuff at. She was so distracted by her thoughts and her internal struggles that she didn’t even notice that there were two people sitting at that table until one of them spoke.

“Man, they weren’t kidding,” Vinny said cheerfully. “You really are freakishly fast!”

She looked up, startled by the sudden voice, only to see Eric and Vinny sitting across the table from her with grins that suggested her surprise was amusing them.

“I mean, I had heard you were quick but you came in second out of the whole team,” Eric added. “Truly, you are an inspiration, my friend.”

She couldn’t help but to smile, feeling her cheeks turning red due to their compliments as she did so. “T-thanks,” she managed to get out. Then, desperately wanting to turn the conversation away from her, she asked, “So what are you guys doing down here? Shouldn’t you be in the clubroom?”

Eric shrugged. “Eh, we got bored. Damien had to leave for a dentist appointment and Liz went home early to study more for tomorrow’s retake test. Since it was just the two of us, Vinny suggested coming out here to hang out with you once you were done.”

“Oh, okay,” she replied softly, feeling her body tense up at the mention of the following day’s retake test.

Then, as if Eric’s comment reminded them, Vinny spoke.

“Speaking of that stupid test, how’s everything going with the big oaf? Has he collected his third brain cell yet?” The blonde boy smirked slyly. “Or has he finally displayed his true colors to you?”

Lilly scoffed, finding herself more irritated by Vinny’s insults than she thought she would have been. However, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him off and instead remained quiet as she tried to find a way to respond.

“Be nice, Vin’,” Eric admonished softly. “Whether you like him or not, Fischer’s at least trying to do well on the test. He might be a quick-to-violence buffoon, but at least he wants to improve himself. I can respect that.”

Lilly looked at Eric in surprise, having never expected the boy who she saw Brad shove into a locker to jump to his defense. Vinny didn’t seem particularly bothered by Eric’s comment and simply laughed.

“Say whatever you like, Eric,” he replied. “But I’ve had enough experience with that asshole over the years to know that he’s nothing but the stereotypical football player who, if not for...certain circumstances, would have beaten the shit out of us a long time ago.”

Lilly glanced down at the ground, knowing that the circumstances he was referring to had to do with the rumors surrounding Damien. Part of her wanted to ask him about it but the other part didn’t feel like she knew them well enough to pry into their business. If Vinny wanted to explain it then he wouldn’t have been so vague.

“I know you like to forgive people and good on you but I’m keeping an eye on that bastard so long as Lilly is associating with him,” Vinny continued. “I don’t like him and I never will.”

“I’m not excusing his actions over the years,” Eric said. “But I do think we should take what Lilly told us into account. If it’s true what he told her then it would seem we were the ones who caused our rather unstable relationship simply by assuming he was the one behind the initial teasing.”

“Ha!” The blonde boy shook his head. “Right…If he was telling the truth and like I said, I don’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth.”

Eric sighed and, as if deciding that his words weren’t going to get through to Vinny, turned to look back at Lilly, who had been silently watching the exchange.

“So? How is it going?” he asked. “Does it seem like Fischer might actually pass that test?”

Seeing how genuinely interested the boy seemed, Lilly couldn’t help but to regret that she couldn’t give any good news.

“No...I don’t think so,” she replied. “I’m not very good at explaining things and so I haven't really been able to teach him properly. I’m better at just doing the work. I can’t really explain how to do it. In fact, I don’t think my tutoring is going to help him at all.”

Eric frowned. “Oh. Too bad.”

“Well, sucks to be him,” Vinny grumbled. “If he were us, he could just have Lilly switch bodies with him and take the test. Too bad he’s spent three years shitting on magic. In fact…” The boy looked up at Lilly and made a pouty face that might have been intended to be endearing but came across more creepy than anything. “You think you could do me a solid and take the test for me, Lil’?”

Lilly snorted, eyeing him irritably. “Not a chance in hell, Vin’,” she growled. “Study on your own.”

“Ah, damn,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Well it was worth a shot, wasn’t it.”

Lilly internally grimaced, having had her very proposition suggested as if it were utterly preposterous. Vinny had essentially confirmed that there was no way they would ever let Brad know about the stone, let alone allow him to use it.

But I guess that makes sense, she thought miserably. This is too crazy of a situation to just let anybody in on. Magic exists. It’s not like that’s something we can just go parading around...no matter how much I wish I could help Brad.

“Why don’t we just have Lilly switch with Brad to take the test?”

For a second, she thought she had imagined Eric’s words as they seemed so ridiculous that she knew she had to have been hearing things. So, when Vinny turned to look at Eric like he had gone utterly insane, she realized that his words had been real. Eric Reiner had actually suggested what had been on her mind.

“Are you crazy, Eric?” Vinny hissed. “Like hell we could ever let an asshole like Bradley Fischer know about The Switch! Letting him swap with Lilly would be absolutely disastrous for us!”

Lilly opened her mouth to speak but found herself still too stunned to formulate any response. She just stared at Eric’s calm features while trying to deduce if he was joking or not. However, there was a determined look in his eyes that suggested that he meant every word he said.

“I don’t think it would be all that disastrous,” Eric replied. “In fact, I think Brad would keep it a secret if we asked him too. Especially after doing him as big of a favor as we would be. He’d be in our debt and anyway, even if he did tell anybody else, they’d just think he was insane.” Eric then grinned causally. “After all, us having magic is the biggest joke of the school, right? They’d never take him seriously.”

Despite Eric’s argument, Vinny immediately shook his head. “No, absolutely not! I know you’ve got a fricking mega-boner for helping people but this is a situation where I absolutely can’t agree with you. Brad Fischer is a piece of shit! If we let him know we have this kind of power, there’s no doubt in my mind that he would either try to blackmail us into using it for him again...assuming he doesn’t just come right out and steal it from us!”

“He won’t steal it, Vinny,” Eric said with a tone of absolute certainty that threw even Lily off guard.

She couldn’t figure out why he seemed so set on that course of action. She was the only one who had spoken directly to Brad and even she couldn’t say for certain that Vinny was wrong. Eric had been the one that Brad bullied all the time so he should be more against it than her.

So why is he so okay with this?

“I honestly don’t get you,” Vinny grumbled. “You always do this. Why do you trust people you hardly know so easily?”

Eric grinned confidently. “Have I ever been wrong before, Vin’?”

“Uh…” Vinny scowled. “Just because you haven’t been wrong yet doesn’t mean you won’t be eventually. There’s no way we could ever let Brad know about the stone. And hell, even if we did, I wouldn’t trust him for even a second in Lilly’s body! He’d be in the girl’s locker room copping a feel before we could stop him!”

Lilly’s cheeks immediately went red and she hurriedly glanced around to make sure that none of the other cross country members were paying them any attention. She wanted to tell the two of them to shut up but couldn’t find a way to interject into the conversation.

Eric shook his head. “Not if they only stayed swapped during fifth period. And even if he did get a chance, remember that the gem won’t make you attracted to your current body.”

“So?!” Vinny asked incredulously. “Maybe he undresses as her and takes pictures of her naked for when he swaps back! You consider that?”

“He won’t do that?”

“You don’t know that!”

“I do.”

Vinny looked ready to continue protesting so, before he could speak, Eric got to his feet and grinned challengingly at his friend. “Alright, Vinny, I’ll concede that Lilly could be at risk if she were to swap with Brad. So, to remedy this problem, here is my suggestion.” Without elaborating, Eric reached into his pocket and produced the orange stone before turning and facing Lilly. “If she’s the one at risk then she’s the one who should decide whether to do it or not.”

Then without further warning, he tossed the stone into the air and toward her. She barely reacted in time to reach out and grasp the little gem before it fell into the grass, clutching it tightly to her chest. Vinny stared at the two of them dumbfounded but after a moment, he simply sighed.

“Fine,” he muttered. “Let Lilly decide. Just know that I think doing so would be a horrible idea.”

“So you’ve said,” Eric mused.

Lilly turned to stare down at her palm, the little rock resting nicely against her skin, sending waves of warmth throughout her arm. She could hardly believe what had transpired. Without saying a single word, Eric had done exactly what she wanted him to and had given her the gem. For the time being, how to use its power was up to her.

“Now, I must be going,” Eric continued. “Use that power wisely, dear Lilly. It's a high responsibility I’m entrusting you with. Don’t let me down.”

With a wink, Eric waved her goodbye and turned to make his way toward the school’s gates. Vinny sighed then muttered a soft “see ya” before following after his taller friend. However, as they walked, Vinny looked back over his shoulder at her with an expression that seemed to beg her not to use it and part of her did feel hesitant to do so after hearing all of the blonde boy’s fears. Yet, another part knew she was being given the chance to help Brad and she wanted to do what she could. Eric sounded so confident that it almost eased her concerns.

But why though? she wondered as she walked over to her backpack resting on the table’s bench. What makes him so sure Brad won’t do anything he shouldn’t?”

She opened the front pocket of her backpack and tucked the stone within, wishing she had a pocket in her running shorts to store it in. Sighing, deciding she could just consider the situation more overnight, she turned back to do her stretches. Unfortunately, her peace and quiet didn’t last long before someone else’s voice alerted her to their presence.

“You’ve become quite cozy with the magic nuts, haven’t you, Harper?”

She sighed, really not in the mood to deal with him, before turning around to see Jay Brooks sitting on the bench beside her backpack, grinning his normal almost borderline creepy grin.

“I wouldn’t say that,” she replied softly. “They’re just...helping me out with something.”

Jay narrowed his eyes and, for a moment, she wondered if he knew she was lying but, if he did, he opted to keep it to himself. Instead, the boy simply sighed and glanced down at the grass with an almost tired look.

“Helping you, huh?” he said. “Could it possibly have something to do with your little incident last week?”

She tried to force herself not to wince at his words. She had considered herself lucky that neither Alice nor Jay had brought up the incident since the morning after. They had told her that, whenever she was ready, she could talk to them and hadn’t pried any further. Though, that didn’t mean she didn’t notice the two of them giving her weird looks every now and then, as if they desperately wanted to talk to her.

And the club being around me so often probably isn’t helping anything, she realized.

“No,” she muttered. “Don’t worry about it, Jay. It’s nothing important.”

“Nothing important?”

Jay narrowed his eyes and this time, she was absolutely certain that he suspected she was hiding something from him. Her thoughts shifted to the gemstone in her backpack right beside the boy and, for a moment, she wished she could just tell him all about it so he would understand what happened that afternoon. However, she not only wasn’t sure what Jay would do with information like that, she also couldn’t bring herself to do anything that Eric hadn’t explicitly said she could do. The only person she was allowed to tell was Brad and she couldn’t do anything else. So, wanting to get the conversation onto any other possible subject, Lilly asked a question unrelated to the topic of the club.

“So where’s Alice? I noticed she wasn’t here earlier.”

Jay sighed and shrugged. “She had an early shift at her job so she couldn’t come to practice today. That’s all.”

Lilly nodded. “Ah, gotcha.”

The conversation quickly died and so, she decided to simply return to her stretches. She wanted to be done as fast as she could be so that she could get home to try and figure out what to do about Brad the following day. She didn’t have the time to be dealing with Jay at the moment. Once she had the Brad situation dealt with, then she could go about trying to find something to do about Jay and Alice.

Much to her relief, after a moment, Jay got to his feet and muttered a soft “see you tomorrow” before making his way across the courtyard and toward the front gates. She watched him go for a moment, knowing that he was irritated with her and that he knew she was lying but there wasn’t anything she could do about it. In fact, she knew she should be thinking it was for the best. She had been trying to avoid Jay and Alice for a while so if they started getting irritated with her then maybe she’d finally be left alone.

“Is something going on? Like…something we should know about because…if so, then we’re here for you. Just…ask and we’ll help.”

“...we’ll keep whatever it is secret if you want. Clearly you don’t want anybody knowing.”

She felt her stomach churn as she remembered the words Alice and Jay had spoken to her when they confronted her about the incident. They had been so understanding and comforting and even after a few weeks had passed, she couldn’t fathom why that was. Their words had been genuine and she didn’t know what she had done to deserve them. After spending so much effort trying to push them away, they should have been questioning her constantly and they weren’t.

What is wrong with me? she wondered as she finished her last few stretches. Is it possible that I...don’t actually want to push them away anymore? Do I even have the right to want that after how I treated them?

She grimaced, plopping herself down onto the spot where Jay had been sitting only minutes earlier. For a moment, she stared up into the sky, watching as a few clouds slowly moved across the expanse of blue.

I can’t let myself get distracted, she thought. I’ll figure out Alice and Jay later. For now…

She reached toward her backpack’s front pocket and reached for the zipper before pulling it open. She then reached into the pocket so she could retrieve the stone. However, when she did, her eyes went wide. Panic started to spread through her body as she frantically sat up and felt all along within but there was no sign of the little orange stone.

Shit! Where the hell is it?!

Praying that she put it in a different pocket and forgot, she unzipped every other compartment of her backpack and checked every nook and cranny she could but no matter what, she couldn’t find any sign of it. The stone wasn’t in her backpack anymore.

But where could it have…?

Her body suddenly went cold as she recalled something that made her want to throw up. Jay had sat down when she had her back turned to the table.

While I wasn’t looking...is it possible he…?

Lilly clenched her teeth, furious at herself for having been so stupid.

That son of a bitch!

***

As the sun was setting over Wilham, Jay Brooks stared down at the little orange gemstone within his palm. He was walking through the neighborhoods around the school, taking a different route than he normally did on the chance that Lilly realized the stone was gone before he could get far enough away. He knew she would be furious when she found out and that he would have no choice but to face her the following day but he couldn’t help himself. When he saw Eric hand Lilly the stone from across the courtyard, he knew his only chance to investigate it had come. He was especially certain that he had to take the chance when Lilly turned her back to the table. Being as quiet as he could, he sat down on the bench and slowly unzipped the front pocket of her pack so he could quickly swipe the stone and shove it in his pocket. She had never suspected anything even as he was walking away.

What’s wrong with me? he wondered. What do I think I’m going to find by stealing this?

But even as he asked himself the question, he could feel the soft warmth emanating from the stone. Combined with the fact that Lilly started acting crazy and shouting about the stone’s power after touching it only made him feel like there was something he was missing. However, nothing had happened after he stole it so for all he knew, he was just looking for answers where there wasn’t anything to find.

I’m such a piece of shit, he thought. I’m so fucking stupid. Why am I doing this? When she finds out and inevitably hates me...

I’ll absolutely deserve it.