A Magical Bond | 3

When Sione had casually invited her to GeekCon, after weeks of speaking to her in mostly monosyllables, Cassie couldn't help but get her hopes up. Maybe he was finally coming around. They would cosplay together as Harnocks students and their old friendship would be restored! Of course, she should've known she was kidding herself. While she dutifully donned her Harnocks crest sweater and pointy black hat, Sione dressed up as some cocky space smuggler with a ridiculous name she could never remember from the latest blockbuster sci-fi. She thought he looked like an idiot, but he told her she was the embarrassing one.

"I can't believe you're still so into all that Henry Puffer crap," he said contemptuously. "You know, no one over the age of 10 likes those books anymore. You look like a total baby."

"Whatever," she replied, maintaining a chipper tone and a fake smile. "You're wrong. I'm sure there'll be plenty of fellow Pufferheads around."

Sione only graced her with an eye roll and disbelieving chuckle before running off to claim one of the virtual reality gaming mats before anyone else did. "These are the newest models!" he shouted excitedly. "They're not even on the market yet!" Somehow, Cassie couldn't bring herself to care. What was so fascinating about gluing your eyes to a blindingly bright screen for hours on end while looking a complete fool while dodging imaginary obstacles?

Instead, she wandered the festival grounds, hoping to happen upon a group of faithful Puffer fanatics who would actually get her. Unfortunately, Sione's words were quickly proven right. Everyone there was either dressed up as some sleek action hero or dark sci-fi baddie or not dressed up at all! As she passed, many of them stared and whispered. "Get a load of this weirdo," one girl muttered to her friends before adding more loudly, "Whose poor, misguided, dorky kid sister is that?" Cassie smiled stiffly, hoping she looked confident and unbothered, not wounded and mortified like she felt inside.

"Hey, you!" Sione exclaimed when he'd finally gotten his fill of gaming. "Where are all your Pufferhead friends?" he asked, between chomps of his messy burger. "I figured this place would be swarming with other fans by now."

Needless to say, the rest of the day went miserably. For the only time in her life, Cassie was happy to shove her Puffer paraphernalia into her suitcase and forget she had ever put it on in the first place. She couldn't even bear to look at it.

But she couldn't let Sione's incessant barbs derail her progress and put her tenuous new life in San Myshuno at risk. So she kept her head down and worked as hard as she could, which meant attending school every day and prioritizing her homework above all else.

When she wasn't thinking about her education, she was attending to any household chores that needed doing. Sione's parents were often busy with work, one of them being a politician and the other an in-demand music producer, and she never wanted to come across as ungrateful or lazy while staying in their home.

One day, Noelani pulled her aside and told her gently that she was working too hard. She needed to give herself a break every now and then. What was something that truly brought her pleasure? Cassie thought hard. It was a question she had never been asked. She could hardly say Henry Puffer, so she fished around in her head for another answer. "I used to like making these silly little arts and crafts projects," she said finally. "But I haven't done anything like that in a long time." A couple weekends later, Noelani surprised her by taking her to an art class at a nearby studio. To Cassie's surprise, she immediately loved it and soon started attending three times a week.

Then one day, while tidying up the apartment, she found the soccer ball that she and Sione used to kick around as kids whenever she visited. She started practicing her footwork, more to pass the time than anything else, and found that it was a strangely meditative activity for her. Besides, she actually had pretty decent reflexes and coordination! Maybe next season she could try out for the soccer team and have a real shot at making the cut.

Although her relationship with her mom had been strained for a while, she found that it was easier to communicate with her online. It turned out that having some distance between them was exactly what they needed. They chatted for a half hour or so every other night. Cassie never broached the subject of magic, and Malia never embarked on spacey, quasi-deranged rants about guarding her daughter against the curse of Sulani at all costs. They got along swimmingly.

Eventually, Sione snagged a goody-two-shoes girlfriend, Janie, who he was constantly canoodling with on the couch. All of a sudden, he, too, started dressing like a snobby prep and walking around with his nose in the air because he took honors classes and maintained a beyond perfect GPA. Cassie felt physically ill every time she saw them together, and she realized with dawning horror that it wasn't only because of their uppity attitudes. She was jealous. As dismissive as he'd been to her lately, she actually liked Sione. No, she liked liked him. It was a mortifying revelation. They lived together! They had known each other almost their entire lives! He was practically her brother! But she couldn't deny her incredibly crush-adjacent feelings. She wished she were Janie. It was as simple as that.

Maybe he would finally wake up from this holier than thou phase he was in if he knew how she really felt. Even if it didn't work, she would forever regret it if she let the opportunity slip by. One morning, she bolted off her air mattress, marched straight into his room, and planted her lips firmly against his, sour breath and all. For a fleeting moment, he gave in.

Then he flinched away abruptly, his eyes wide with bewilderment. "What the hell was that all about?" he demanded.

In an instant, Cassie's bravado shriveled into nothing. "I-I like you," she stuttered, too ashamed to make eye contact. "I only just realized it, but I have for a long time. I thought you might feel the same."

"Cassie, I have a girlfriend."

"I know, but..." Her voice trailed off pathetically. He scoffed at her silence and stormed out of the room. What had she been thinking? It was a stupid idea. Of course he wasn't interested in her that way. In his eyes, she was just a dumb little kid who refused to get over her immature childhood interests and grow up already.

The breakfast table had never been more tense than it was that morning. Sione wore a scowl for the entire meal, ignoring her presence entirely. Every attempt his parents made to engage either of them in conversation failed miserably. "What's going on with you two?" Nani finally asked. "Are you in some sort of trouble? Should I be expecting a call from your principal about your conspiring ways?"

"Of course not, Mom," Sione replied bitterly. "I'd never stoop to delinquency the way some people have." Cassie's heart dropped even more precipitously.

"Hey, Cassie's been reformed," Noelani piped in. "Besides, it might do you good to cause some trouble. Maybe you'd be a little less self-righteous." Sione didn't have a comeback for that. Noelani winked at Cassie in solidarity.

As the days and weeks and months rolled on, things remained awkward between them. They either argued non-stop about the pettiest things or iced each other out with the silent treatment. All of a sudden, it was already college application season, but all they could think about was how to one-up the last insult the other had thrown at them. Even in the midst of campus visits, they couldn't keep their animosity under control.

Sione's parents watched them bicker from the sidelines, well aware by now that interference was futile. "What has gotten into them lately?" Nani exclaimed. "Have teenagers always been like this? Were we like this?"

"For the sake of preserving their academic futures, we'd better split them up now," Noelani decided. "I'll take Cassie to Britechester while you and Sione check out Foxbury."

As they stopped at a coffee kiosk before stepping onto the Foxbury campus proper, Nani tried and failed to get Sione to open up about his recent sulky moods. "Why have you been treating Cassie so horribly since she got here? You two used to be close. I don't understand it. You were always such a kind-hearted boy."

"I'm not a boy anymore," he responded spitefully, turning his back and closing the door on any further conversation. It wasn't as though he could explain to his mom what was really going on. He'd never told his parents about the bullying he experienced as a freshman for being such an immature, naive Puffer-obsessed child. Being a natural overachiever in high school was hard enough, but harboring an intense devotion to a kid's fantasy series that had already gone out of style was near impossible if he meant to survive all four years. So he cast all things Puffer away, even though he secretly hated doing it, and swore to himself he would never look back.

It wasn't Cassie's fault she reminded him of the most miserable time in his life, but every time he looked at her he felt the past he had buried barreling toward him at full speed, which terrified him. A stronger person could have withstood it. But he was weak. He was pathetic. Upholding his new, marginally cooler persona mattered more to him than breaking his childhood best friend's heart. He hated himself for being such a jerk to her, but at least it didn't have to go on much longer. As adults, they would go their separate ways and, ideally, never have to think about each other again.

"I'm going to the robotics lab," he told his mom now, stomping impatiently away.

She hastily grabbed her coffee and hurried to catch up. "Honey, you already know that lab inside and out. Don't you want to see the rest of campus?"

In the lab, he was confronted with a sight he had never witnessed there before: a cute girl. He immediately became a blubbering, awkward mess, much to his mom's amusement. "Are you a prospective student?" the girl asked, smiling brightly. "You look so cute in your fancy little cardigan." She giggled, and Sione felt his face go hot and sweaty. "I mean that as a compliment, really. My name's Amanda. I'm only a freshman, but, still, all of you high school kids look like such infants to me now."

"I got early acceptance, so I'm already basically enrolled," Sione replied, in an attempt to prove his maturity.

"Oh, congrats! Which department?"

"Computer science, naturally." He gestured at the equipment around them.

"Wow, I suddenly feel like a fraud for even daring to step foot in here! My friend just asked me to drop off a few things. I'm actually a history major over at Britechester." His face must have betrayed some unconscious bias because she added hastily, "I know, I know, staunch rivals and all... But, hey, if you can get over my traitorous affiliation, you should look me up next semester." She winked at him coyly before heading out. Sione's knees nearly buckled. It was all he could do to keep standing.

"You already have a girlfriend, you know," Nani reminded him gently as he scanned the student activity board, jotting down the meeting times of the clubs most relevant to his interests.

"Yeah, but we've both just been so focused on our studies lately," he replied distractedly. "We've barely had time to see each other. It's probably for the best to end things now."

"Is she aware of that?" Nani wondered aloud, already knowing she would never get a proper response.

Naturally, Sione's possibly-soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend was the first person Cassie ran into on Britechester's campus. Janie seemed to do a double take upon seeing her. "Oh, I almost didn't recognize you," she said, her voice dripping with faux friendliness. "I had no idea your grades were strong enough for you to be seriously considering Britechester."

Cassie smiled back with exaggerated sweetness. "Well, some of us don't feel the need to rub our grade point averages in other people's faces at every opportunity." The truth was Cassie hadn't applied yet and still wasn't even sure she wanted to, but she knew her chances were better than Janie was implying. She'd put in the necessary work.

"A little humility certainly goes a long way," Noelani added, extending a protective arm across Cassie's shoulders.

Janie blanched slightly. "Well, maybe I'll see you around," she responded lamely before moseying off.

"Thanks for backing me up," Cassie told Noelani once Janie had disappeared.

"I know she's my son's girlfriend, but I've never been terribly impressed by that girl." Cassie burst out laughing, shocked by Noelani's honesty, and they paused, contemplating what they'd just admitted. "Is that an awful thing to say? Honestly, I always kind of hoped he might go for you."

Cassie's face fell. "Trust me, he's made it abundantly clear he has no romantic interest in me whatsoever. These days, he doesn't even want to be friends."

Noelani heaved a weary sigh as the two of them circled the quad. "Yeah, he's been a little shit lately," they said bluntly. "But he'll get over it. I know it's easier said than done, but you shouldn't let it reflect on your self-worth. You're a good person, Cassie." They were both silent for a minute or two, taking in their surroundings. "Smart, too," Noelani added after a while. "What do you think of this place anyway?"

Cassie shrugged. "It seems nice enough, but I'm still not sure the college scene is for me. I'm not a natural academic the way Sione is. It takes a lot more effort for me to do well in my classes, and I don't know if I can handle four more years of working my butt off."

"A degree can open all kinds of doors, even if you'd rather go into the arts. You know, you can major in whatever you want - painting even. You'd probably have to suffer through a few math and science classes, but it might be worth it for all the experience and connections you'd gain."

After finishing their tour of Foxbury, Sione and Nani met back up with Cassie and Noelani on Britechester's campus, where they found the two of them engaged in a heated ping-pong match. "It looks like you guys are taking the whole your-entire-future-might-be-hinging-on-this thing very seriously," Sione quipped.

"Hey, you never know," Noelani replied, blocking Cassie's attempt to score a point. "I bet there's big scholarship money in this game!"

But then the rowdy school mascot showed up, trailing a merry band of rambunctious students wearing face paint and athletic gear in Britechester's colors. A few of them plunked a keg down in the middle of the yard and immediately let it rip. "Let's go, kids," Nani commanded, eyeing the students disapprovingly. "I don't think we're ready yet to accept that you'll be experiencing this side of the undergraduate experience."

"Don't worry, Mom. Personally, I don't get the appeal." But Sione couldn't help making a small note of the tiny corner of his brain that thrilled with curiosity at the sight.

"Oh, look, a library!" he pointed out as they strolled aimlessly through the quaint, peaceful town that lay sandwiched between the two universities. "This is more like it." He stopped to admire the old, stately building. He could easily envision himself pulling intense all-nighters nestled amongst its cozy stacks as he steadfastly crammed for finals.

Cassie's eye, however, was more drawn to the crumbling yet magnificent ruins that sat on the outskirts of town, the only reminder left of Britechester's ancient beginnings. For one thing, it was a breath-taking sight that would be perfect for painting. But she also sensed something almost... mystical about it, like its grime-and-ivy-covered walls radiated energy at an entirely different pitch than its cozy, unassuming surroundings. She was probably making things up in her head, but it seemed like exactly the sort of place one might go to stealthily perform some ancient ritual of magic. Maybe there was more going on in this town than its excessively ordinary veneer suggested.

Upon returning to San Myshuno, Sione soon broke up with Janie, claiming he couldn't be distracted by anything during his last few months of high school and, as much as he enjoyed spending time with her, she was no exception. Then, for all intents and purposes, he disappeared, locking himself in his bedroom, where he blasted heavy rock music at all hours while toiling away on his mechanical gadgets to ensure they functioned flawlessly when it came time to present his senior portfolio.

Cassie, too, worked harder than she ever had before. At the last minute, she'd filled out an application for the University of Britechester, but if she had any hope of being accepted, she needed to bulk up her own portfolio in record time. She took her inspiration from the colors of the San Myshuno skyline at sunset and painted like her life depended on it.

Finally, an official-looking envelope in the mail delivered the news she'd been waiting for: she got in! She was still nervous about the idea of college in general, but it wouldn't hurt to give it an honest try. Besides, it would be even more nerve-wracking to find herself thrown into the world at large to fend for herself immediately. At least college would let her ease into adult life more gradually. On the eve of their graduation, Sione's parents made reservations at a fancy restaurant for a celebratory dinner.

"What's this surprise you keep going on about?" Cassie asked Noelani, who'd stalled her at the front of the restaurant while the others took their seats. "I really don't need anything else! You've done so much for me already."

"Just indulge me," Noelani said cryptically. Then they commanded Cassie to keep her eyes closed as they directed her toward the table.

"Mom!" Cassie exclaimed. When she opened her eyes, Malia was standing before her, beaming proudly. She pulled Cassie into a tight embrace. "What are you doing here? I had no idea you were coming!"

"Hey, kiddo," another familiar voice boomed from behind her. "You haven't forgetten about Dear Old Dad, have you?"

Cassie plopped into her seat, glancing from Malia to Javier and back again in disbelief. "Wait, you guys are in the same place at the same time and you aren't clawing each other's eyes out? Have I stepped into an alternate universe?"

"Your father and I have declared a truce."

"For one night only," Javier added with a wink, which made Cassie wonder if they might have reconciled in a bigger way than they were letting on.

"We're both so proud of how well you've been doing here, honey," Malia continued. "We couldn't miss our only daughter's high school graduation!"

"Or the opportunity to congratulate our only daughter on getting into college!"

Cassie blushed. She never doubted that her parents loved her, of course, but she wasn't used to receiving such easy praise from them. It wasn't until she heard the words from their mouths that she truly realized how proud she was of herself, too. For some reason, that had seemed embarrassing to admit, but now she finally gave herself permission to think it. That she would be sitting here at this table surrounded by family with the potential of a bright future ahead of her hadn't always been a given. She'd had to learn to want it for herself as much as others wanted it for her. Now that she'd made it this far, she figured she deserved to sit back and bask in the glow of accomplishment for a minute or two.