It's Magic~! (BellaSage x Dyn01)

[Dyn01]

Clothes all on? Check. Backpack? Check. Cell phone? He tapped his right thigh to feel for the smart phone that he carried with him everywhere. Check. Keys? Mirrored the same motion to his left thigh to hear a familiar jingling. That was certainly his keys for sure. Check. Wallet? It was in the same right rear pocket that it always was. Okay, then he was good for him to go. With that, he closed the door to his room, making sure that the door was completely shut.


The apartment that they lived in was a two bedroom and one bathroom, with a living room and kitchen that was attached to each other. The living room consisted of a small table, a futon that his father used rather often even though he had his own room, and a small television. Attached to it was a small purple piece of electronics- it was actually a Nintendo GameCube- that had begun accumulating dust. The kitchen was about as quaint. A simple counter, oven with a table top, a sink and a refrigerator that lied so close to the edge of the kitchen that it rested right next to the carpet for the living room. The kitchen had one window, above the sink, and that was all that there was for windows in the room.


It was normally kept up rather well, especially considering how attentive to detail his father was… But the actual apartment had a musky smell to it- He had a feeling that he knew what the smell was, but decided not to actual voice anything about it. His father had mentioned that he was thinking about dating once again, and he noticed that a particular woman had been sticking around the apartment. He wondered why he had to get into it with a woman that seemed to be closer to his own age than his father's , but he assumed that it had something to do with a 'mid-life crisis' or whatever.


Anyways, there was no older woman here, nor was there a sign of his father. All that was truly left was the musky smell, a disheveled bed, and a plate covered by another resting on the nearby kitchen table. Walking over to the table, he could notice that there was a slip of paper placed methodically over the plate.


'Work called in early. Will probably be working late. Take an umbrella with you, downpours expected this afternoon. Talk later.– Dad


He removed the plate resting on top of his food to see a set of bacon and bread. When originally made, they must have been steaming hot, but now the plate as well as the actual food was cool to the touch. "When did he leave? At five?" he wondered aloud as he moved to prepare his breakfast- well, to call it 'preparing' when he was only going to microwave it was a little-


---


School had been in session for the past two months. Halloween had passed a couple of weeks ago- he certainly had fun hanging out at the Halloween party- and Christmas was fast approaching. Or slow, depending on how long a normal week of school went for people. Although things began to settle into a rhythm, there was always something new to talk about. The newest fashions, watching sports, the drama of high school; it was never boring. He had gotten used to walking the same path to school every weekday, and noticed the same group of people walking ahead of him like they always did. They were rowdy, which would normally draw attention if not that people were already used to it.


Putting on a small smile on his light pink lips, he approached the group. "Yo, what's up?" he asked, raising his hand to the group. A few of the people in group were quick to acknowledge him, and looked at him- until only recently, he was used to them looking down at him. Not figuratively, of course. Literally. Hitting his growth spurt was such a blessing.


"Yo, Theo!" one of them beat the others to the punch. Theo, short for Theodore. His full name was Clark Theodore Lawrence. Apparently, they decided to name him after 'Clark Kent' from Superman. He had no idea why they chose to do that or why no one spoke out about how absurd it was, but it was how it was. Only a select people were allowed to call him by his first name- and if not for attendance, not one of his peers would even know of such a name. "So alright, man. Since you're here, you get to hear the great story of this guy-" He gestured to one of the people walking alongside him, who proceeded to lightly elbow him. "-ended up throwing up on his date last night. I mean, that was just-"


Theodore could not help but smile a little bit at the ribbing back and forth. Certainly, things did not change much…

 

[Wisterian]

"Krystebelle Ann Thomas! Wake up!"

"Nuh uh." Kryste moaned, covering her head with the pillow. Translation: How dare you use my full name, tyrant; it is an ungodly hour, and I hate you for waking me up.

"Let me guess, went to bed late and forgot your alarm?" Kryste's mom said from her doorway. She replied with an affirmative grunt, and did not move. "I'd be angry, but at least you are at home, reading until all hours and not out doing whatever it is that teenagers do these days." The overhead light flipped on, and Kryste curled into a ball to avoid the sudden brightness. "Get up, get a shower. Your breakfast is in the microwave. You have twenty minutes to get ready or you will have to run to school." She could hear her mom riffling through the stack of books on her desk, then the zip of her backpack, and then the thud as it hit the floor. "There, I've been generous and helped."

Kryste peeled the pillow from her head, and cracked an eyelid, suddenly comprehending what her mom had said. "Wait, what? Run? Can't you take—"

"Not this time, Krys. Alex had an early morning meeting today, and I have to take Sammy to preschool…" She glanced at her watch. "Right now. If you hurry, you can walk at a frenzied pace instead." Her mom leaned over to press a quick peck on Kryste's forehead and then disappeared from the room. Kryste heard her little brother tearing down the hallway, loud as an elephant, her mom calling after him as they descended the stairs and went out the door, slamming it shut. When all was silent at last, and she was at last sufficiently convinced of her need to rush, Kryste sprang from her bed.

She flew through her morning preparations. It took fifteen minutes to shower, pull her rust colored hair into a low ponytail, dust a smattering of makeup across her face and jump into a pair of dark jeans and a tank top. She stopped by her room to grab a cornflower flannel shirt and her backpack, and tore down the stairs, ignoring breakfast in the microwave, grabbed a travel mug, filled it with lukewarm coffee from this morning, ripped her IPod from the charger and then dashed out the door. The cool autumn air felt like ice, so she juggled around her mug and backpack to pull on the flannel as she walked. Kryste checked the time. If she ran, she would just make it.

___

"Finally! I was waiting for you this morning." Meghan nearly tackled Kryste when she finally turned up at school, angling for her locker. Kryste had lived a few doors down from Meg since birth, and the two had walked to school together since they were old enough to do so. "Where were you?" She said, leaning against a row of lockers with her arms crossed. She didn't seem to notice Kryste's messy hair, or the fact that she was leaning heavily against her locker, out of breath from her frantic run to school. It was less than two minutes until the morning bell, but as usual the halls were still was filled with stragglers who would wait until an official reason to move. Kryste was amazed to find Meghan among them. Usually she was already in the main office, doing gofer or filing work for the school secretary. Because she liked it, that's why. "I had to walk with my brother and his horde of addle-brained jocks." She jerked a thumb to Stephen and Kryste glanced over at him. Meghan and Stephen may have been twins, but they didn't have very much in common but their model-like appearances: tall with golden hair, bright blue eyes, and tanned skin. Meghan was a brain and Stephen preferred physical pursuits. He stood with an assortment of athletes, a few that Kryste only knew by name because they had classes together, and one or two that she had actually seen outside of school. They were jocks, yes, but the "smart" ones, if there was such a thing.

"They can't be all bad." Kryste said of the group, glancing over them before looking back to Meghan. In fact, she didn't know any of them well enough to say so otherwise. Meghan just shrugged, sneering past Kryste at her brother. "I didn't set my alarm, and my mom couldn't drive me. So I ran…ish." She had adopted a walk-run, sprinted through yards she wouldn't have otherwise, and taking as many shortcuts as she could muster.

"You don't run." Meghan said automatically. It was a mantra of sorts that Kryste had adopted during a particularly annoying jogging week in gym.

"Desperate times." Kryste shoved her books into the locker as the bell rang and people began filing away to their classes. "Where's Avana?" She asked, looking up and down the hall as they stepped into the tide of people.

"You didn't get her text?"

"I'd need a phone for that." Kryste reminded her.

"Mom is still holding out on you?"

"Until I graduate…Avana?"

"Oh yeah. She's 'sick.'" That was code for the Devi family had gone on vacation. Avana's parents were both partners in a successful law firm, very well-off, and liked to go traveling on whims. They always took Avana with them, to show her the world outside of this town, school or not, and got her off with a sick excuse. Kryste was secretly jealous. Sort of. Quite frankly, the idea of being so far from home terrified her. And to just go, without preplanning…well, it suited Avana's carefree existence quite nicely. "They decided to go to the Caymans last night. Late."

"Lucky."

The two parted ways as Meghan darted off to her French class, and Kryste slid into the Biology lab just before the bell finished ringing and hurried to her seat. She wasn't doing so well with the being on time thing today.

 

[Dyn01]

First period was always hard for Theo. He never found himself to be mathematically-inclined and Pre-calculus was the cause of many late nights or early mornings for him. His teacher seemed to be pleased with him, and also believed that he was some kind of savant… But he simply found math to test his want to go to back to sleep. Not to mention that he was the only one out of his friends who was taking this class. It made him feel uncomfortable as his phone continued to buzz in his pocket- essentially, it was people putting up posts on different social media sites while they were in class. That was the real kicker- being kept out of the loop.


That said, Pre-calculus itself was not something that he minded taking. It challenged his mind so much, but it was also the last math requirement that he had for him to graduate. It would allow him to focus on other pre-requisites during his last year and a half of school. That and also, the teacher was a recent college graduate, so she- yes, she- was an older woman, but not too old. Mature, and not outright old. She was a kind person, and very nice to look at. She probably also realized it as well, but just took it in stride. "So, what is wrong with Michelle's factoring… Theo?" the teacher asked.


"Um…" Theodore squinted as he looked at the board for a moment. He took out his reading glasses- he was nearsighted- before reading the board. "You need to multiply everything by each other, so you need to multiply the 4 across 2x and 6." The teacher was satisfied with his answer, and Theo was satisfied with just knowing that he would not have to face the teacher's wrath. He crossed his arms over on his desk as he focused on the numbers that were in front of him. Well, he did get up early today and had a rather calm and relaxed morning. He felt a little bit more attentive than usual. Getting some praise by the teacher also made his heart flutter just a little bit- maybe he did have a slight crush on her.


First period went by quickly, and Theo stretched his back as he got up from his seat. He checked the papers that his teacher had given out, showing him that he had gotten an average 78 during his last test. It was not good, but Theo did not have any problems with it. Next was gym. Working up a sweat was something that he had always enjoyed doing even now that he did not do anymore sports. Maybe even more so now because he did not have any opportunities to do any kind of sports. As he moved to his next class, he received a text message. It was from one of his friends, letting him know that he would be busy getting ready for a big meet- he was part of the track team- and that he was going to stay until late. Theo sighed. "So I guess I'll be heading home on my own today," he muttered to himself, responding to his friend with a few quick movements on his keyboard, before closing his phone and continuing to the gym.

 

[Wisterian]

Kryste mentally snoozed during her Biology class. She sat in the middle of the class, strategically positioned between the overachievers in the front who begged to answer questions; and those in the back who sat there to avoid the teacher's gaze. It never worked to sit in the rear of class. The teacher's eye was naturally drawn to that area, as Kryste has learned in freshmen year maths class. She never thought she'd ever live down the embarrassment of being called on so often, and stammering over the answer. In the middle, with her equally average lab partner Jamie, she was nearly invisible. And that was how she liked it. There was no lab today, just preparation for the upcoming lab. The teacher droned on and on, and Kryste took notes without really understanding what she was writing. At some point, her notes had devolved into scribbles and then ornate scrolling drawings around the margins of her notebook. She did not claim herself an artist like Avana, but she had to admit they were pretty decent for something she had come up with on a whim. Not that anyone would ever see them. After she was done, they would be tucked away until it came time for studying for a test. That meant opening her notes and pretending to be gleaning some deeper meaning from them, feigning committing each line to memory, when all she really did was read the notes through once, and then critique her drawings. The rustling of paper drew Kryste's eye briefly to her right. Jaime had pulled his biology textbook onto his lap to mask the graphic novel he was reading. He did that often, but he was quick enough to come up with a reasonable answer should the teacher's gaze fall on him. Not that he always got it right, but Kryste usually picked up his slack. They had an easy, informal alliance as lab partners.

The bell woke Kryste from her stupor, and she took no time to gather her things and left the room with everyone else. She had pledged to be on time for the rest of the day, even though the next class was gym, which had so far she had come to revile. First, there was the getting changed and being forced play team sports with her supposed peers, most of whom were polar opposites of one another. There was the group, mostly girls, who complained and tried to get out of doing anything vaguely resembling physical activity. And then there was the group, mostly boys, who relished it, the naturals. Kryste was one of the former group, the complainers, but she feared authority and did what she was asked anyway, like the naturals, even though inwardly, she was awkward and loathed every moment of it. Then there was the sweating. She never seemed to have the time to shower properly, even though the others did. Why time seemed to run more quickly for her, she didn't know.

Kryste found herself grumbling as she went into the locker room, and passed by the already crowded rows to her locker, far in the back. She didn't speak to anyone as she got dressed in her sweats and t-shirt and laced her trainers. Rather, she listened to the others talk amongst themselves. Oh the secrets she knew simply by shutting her mouth when everyone else was running theirs. Kryste paused in front of the full length mirror to study herself briefly while she listened. She straightened her messy ponytail, smoothing down a few flyaway hairs. There was nothing of particular interest today. It was the same old gossip of who was into whom (Alexa had a crush on the new guy) and which boy (Stephen) was the current hottest of them all, and which ones (Mark, Ryan, and Theo) could possibly unseat him, given a few "if" factors (if he got contacts, if he broke up with Brooke, if he showed more interest). Theo, really? He didn't seem the gossipers' type. Kryste didn't know him all that well; perhaps he was. She had only passing interactions with him at Meghan and Stephen's house once, and then again in the second period gym, but he might as well have been a stranger to her in both places.

And then she overheard the dreaded news fresh from the girls in first period gym of the day's activities—running a mile on track around the football field, first, followed by some "Olympic style" games on the field after. I don't run. She nearly said aloud. But at least running was a solitary task, and no one cared. She knew how it was going to look before she set foot outside. She would be behind the true runners, in the middle, in front of the gossipers who could not be bothered to run at all. In the middle, as always, and as she liked it. Perhaps she could take her time on that, stretch it out long enough so she'd not be forced into making a fool of herself with the long jump or some other nonsense. Kryste grimaced as she followed some of the girls out of the locker room and into the gym where they sat on the bleachers, continuing their gossiping. Kryste sat a few rows up, alone, as usual, and also how she liked it.