[Sig – 13 years] → starts during Xander''s PoV


    "Really?" Aunt Rachel asks.


    Why does she keep acting like I might be lying? I just told her I wanted to do a weekly progress stream on my magic progress and she''s spent more time asking me if I''m sure than I did telling her I wanted to do this.


    "It was your idea!" I roll my eyes. "Why are you asking me, like, a bazillion times if I''m sure?"


    "Don''t roll your eyes at me," she snorts. "I''m just surprised you decided to. When do you want to do it?"


    "Now!" I answer.


    "With your friends over?" She asks.


    "Yeah!" I nod. "They wanna see what I can do now, too! That''s actually what made me think about it. Their dads have all said they don''t care if they show up in my streams!"


    "Alright," she says. "Give me about ten minutes to finish what I''m working on, alright?"


    "Alright!" I say. "How come you always hide what you''re working on before you let me open the door?"


    "Because you don''t need to know what I''m drawing."


    "It''s something sexual, isn''t it?"


    "No," she rolls her eyes. "It''s stickers for the chat app you use. It''s a commission that came in yesterday, and I''m giving it priority. Just give me ten and I''ll be ready to moderate. And do not start without me, understand?"


    "Yes, ma''am!"


    I salute to her, then close her door and head back down to the basement.


    "Aunt Rachel said I can do it!" I tell the others. "Let''s get the camera set up! Though I don''t know how we''ll do that in the yard…"


    "We can use your phone," Sam says. "Just unlock it and give it to me and I''ll do it."


    "Okay!" I give him my phone, then we wait for Aunt Rachel to come out.


    "Ready?" She asks.


    "Yeah!" I answer. "Are you? You took forever!"


    "I said ten minutes and it''s been seven," she says.


    "That''s, like, eighty-four longer than I wanted to wait!"


    Aunt Rachel rolls her eyes at me as she takes a seat.


    "I''ll be watching chat from here," she tells me. "You do your thing."


    "Alright!" I look at Sam. "Ready? Let''s go!"


    "Give me a second to start it!" He laughs. "I put it on that starting soon screen Isaac made a little bit ago while we waited so that some of the chatters would show up before we actually start. I''ve gotta switch it over and it''s not as easy on a phone as I thought it''d be."


    "Hurry, hurry, hurry!"


    Sam takes forever to start the stream.


    "And… go!" He says.


    "Hi, everyone!" I wave. "It''s TheUltimateBastion again! Did you like that starting soon screen? My friends and I were goofing around a little bit ago and made it! I''ll probably get a proper one later. So I know you''re all probably wonder… ''why''s Seb doing a stream right now, live, in his backyard, rather than another gaming stream or some athletic stream? And that stream title? He''s a mage? What kind?''


    "Well!" I say. "I''ve got some answers for you, so don''t be too weird!"


    "You''re the weird one," Connor snorts.


    "Says a weirder one!" I say. "Anyway! I''m actually a kid from an ordinary family, no magical background at all! Just a standard North American kid!"


    "Not with those abs and grades you aren''t," Connor says.


    "You''re just jealous I get better grades than you," I stick my tongue out at him, then look at the phone again. "Oh! By the way, that guy you''re hearing''s Connor, one of my best friends! The camera''s a little shaky because it''s actually my phone, being held by Sam, another best friend of mine. Aunt Rachel and the guy who actually made up the starting soon screen – his name''s Isaac, another best friend of mine – are also off-camera. If you''re wondering how I can have multiple best friends, well, it''s because they''re all tied for first!


    "Anyway," I say. "Aunt Rachel actually gave me a good idea a couple of days ago! See, last year, I started taking lessons in learning how to use magic. A couple of days ago, I changed teachers to this awesome dude in town and it was when I got home that Aunt Rachel made the suggestion!


    "You''ll note the stream title!" I say. "It''s ''Magic Training Log #1''! Since I''m from an ordinary family, no magical background, and not years or a lifetime of professional mentors teaching me, I kind of have a unique perspective on magic when it comes to mage streamers. See, most are people who''ve either been doing magic for years are from magical families or whatever. Me? Not so. I have to build up bigger mana reserves and actually work my butt off on practicing my magic skills.


    "So what I''m doing," I finally get to the point. "Is I''m going to be sharing with all of you my progress! That''s unlike other mage streamers, who are just doing performative magic or competitive or such. My goal is to eventually switch to learning lightning magic, but that takes a ridiculous amount of mana and skill, so I''m starting more basic and am learning air magics.


    "Now," I say. "Air magics aren''t really visible, so I can''t just show what I can do that way. But what I can do is use objects to help demonstrate! Connor!"


    Connor tosses me a small, inflated beach ball and I catch it.


    "So you can see this ball is already filled up," I say. "I filled it up with my breath, not with air magics, as I wanted to be full for this. This ball is what I''ll use to demonstrate. Before I get into that, though, I want to say something to everyone."


    I pause for dramatic effect.


    "If you''re like me and are from a nonmagical family who did research on how to use magic and to find an instructor," I say. "There''s a chance you found one who''s teaching you wrong. My old instructor was, and that''s why I stopped. Know Carter and Tate? The guys I appeared in a stream for the other day? They''re actually the ones who let me know I was using magic wrong, and I was using it the way I was taught.


    "If your instructor is teaching you to use magic through a specific method," I say. "It''s entirely possible that they don''t know how magic works at all. Every person has little quirks in their mana flow which affects how they can manipulate mana. When a magical bloodline develops, those quirks make it easier to use certain types of magic."


    I set the ball down, then hold my hands out toward Connor, who throws me a second beach ball, this one complete clear. There''s glitter inside of it, which flutters around within it. That took us some effort to get inside but we eventually figured it out.


    "See the glitter inside?" I ask. "My previous instructor was teaching me to use magic by shaping my mana in this formation to channel it into the spell."


    I focus on the ball for almost twenty seconds as I try to manipulate the wind in the way I want. Over those twenty seconds, a small twister forms within it, the glitter allowing it to be seen by the way it gathers and swirls.


    "She taught me to view mana as a force which you channel in a funnel," I say. "Gathering it from a wider space and then narrowing it down until it reaches a small point which you use to fuel the spell. She said that''s how all air magic is cast."


    I shake my head.


    "Tate, Carter, and Tate''s dad found out and told me that was wrong," I say, then concentrate on the ball. "And not only is that partially wrong, it''s completely wrong. The spell your casting doesn’t require you to channel your mana into it in a strict input like that. Um… I''m not good enough to do this while talking. Hold on."


    The glitter slowly starts to move towards the outsides of the ball, the air within it swirling in a more spherical form this time.


    "Here we go," I keep focusing on the ball. "This is tiring, by the way, so I''m going to keep staring at it. But this is how my mana wants to be shaped. Except that how the glitter is? It''s on the outside. More like…"


    I stop manipulating the air within the ball and cast the first spell I ever cast after learning how my mana really wants to form. Small flakes of snow form around my body, sending shivers through me from where it touches bare skin rather than cloth. Fortunately, it melts pretty fast in the summer heat.


    "My mana prefers to be ''out there''," I say. "It''s a little hard for me to explain like this, but think of it like my mana wanting to be an aura around me that needs to be gathered up! Oh, and that small bit of snow is all I can do with a single cast right now. If I want to generate more, or over time, I have to cast it over and over and over again. Not gonna do that."


    I drop the ball, then pull a deflated ball out of my pocket.


    "And now for the start of the progress log!" I say. "There are only a few spells I can do right now, and you saw my manipulation of the air with the glitter. I can sort of manipulate it in a small space – which is why I used small balls rather than big ones – though as you can see, this ball is bigger.


    "Right now," I open the blow valve. "I can''t create air within it very well, but I can manipulate the air inside. I can also create air right above my palm, so I can fill it up with generated air. Watch!"


    The ball begins to inflate and once it finishes, I plug the hole and toss it up in the air, catch it, then toss it to Connor, who smacks it hard with one hand, sending it flying across the view of the camera. If I weren''t streaming right now, I''d chase after the ball to send it back to him.


    I really want to do that right now.


    "Next up," I grab the small ball that''s empty and hold it above my right palm. "Levitating via air magic. That and what I just showed you is about all I learned under my previous tutor, over the course of a year. It was a real struggle for me to do it the way she was teaching. Now that I''m channeling my mana properly, however, I can do it more easily and for longer. However, I still end up losing control after a bit. Let''s time it! Wait. I don''t have a stopwatch-"


    "We can use my phone!" Connor says. "I''ll start the moment you say ''go''! Just lemme grab it!"


    "Come into camera view if you''re gonna do that," I say, and he comes over to stand to the side of me, facing toward the ball. "Ready?"


    "Yup!" He says. "Just tell me when!"


    "Aaaand… go!"


    The ball lifts up and begins to float about an inch above my palm, wobbling a little while turning slightly in each direction from the wind that''s been conjured to levitate it. Even though it''s easier now, it does still take a lot of concentration after the first ten seconds. Eventually, the ball drops onto my palm.


    "Time!" I call.


    "One minute, fourteen seconds!" Connor announces, showing me the stopwatch before showing it to the camera.


    "The only other things I can do right now," I say. "Is pass the ball back and forth between my hands using air magic, and doing that with someone else. The latter takes a lot more effort since I''m actually casting a spell over and over rather than sustaining one, and it takes two people to do so I can''t really show that one off. But I can do the first. Connor, time it! But, uh… give me a second to recover. It probably doesn''t seem like it, but that actually took a lot out of me!"


    "While you rest," Aunt Rachel says. "Your chat''s been asking questions. Why don''t you answer them?"


    That means people are actually watching. I''m really curious how many people are still around from yesterday''s stream – I know I gained about 2,000 Followers since then, but I don''t know how many are actually sticking around and watching. Most of those came from Xander''s baking stream, and I''m doing pretty different stuff from that.


    "Sure!" I answer. "You gonna ask?"


    "Anyone can if you want," Aunt Rachel says.


    "I know some of them," Sam says. "One of the big ones is them wondering why you wanted to learn magic."


    "Lots of little things!" I answer. "I figured it might impress my parents if I became good at magic, since we don''t have any magical bloodlines. But we also have Lucas Gates of the Gatewood Gates in the area, and I heard about how much of a magical prodigy he is and he''s one of my inspirations. It''s why I want to learn lightning magics!"


    "That was another question," Aunt Rachel says. "Why you wanted to learn lightning magics."


    "Yeah!" I say. "Part of it is because of Lucas Gates, and part of it is because I think it''d be cool to throw lightning around!"


    "You are not throwing lightning around in my back yard," Aunt Rachel says, and my friends all chuckle.


    "Not yet, at least!" I tell her. "I don''t have the magical skill or mana capacity for that!"


    "Not ever!" She laughs, as do my friends.


    I answer a few more questions from chat, then I''m ready to play with the ball a bit more.


    "So before," I say. "I levitated it using air magic and now, I''m going to use air magic to pass it back and forth between my hands! This is a continual spell, so we''ll see how long I can maintain it! Are you ready, Connor?"


    "Ready!" Connor announces. "Say when!"


    "Set… go!" I conjure and manipulate air around the ball to move it back and forth between my hands, which I hold about two feet apart.


    The ball wobbles as it moves between my hands, taking about fifteen seconds for each pass.


    "Wope!" I exclaim as the ball falls.


    "Forty-eight seconds!" Connor announces.


    "Not as good as for hovering it," I say. "But not too bad for someone who only learned how to do it two days ago, in my opinion! And now you''ve all seen what I can do and how much I can do! I''m gonna make a spreadsheet to include the times for it, and we''re gonna add in a new line for them after every log stream! So next Wednesday, we''ll do it again and I''ll update the sheet! That''s all-""


    "Hold on!" Sam calls out. "Chat wants to know if you can see how long you can maintain the funnel! And how long you can maintain pushing the glitter into a sphere against the ball!"This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    "Oh!" I bounce a little. "Didn''t think of that! Yeah! Let''s do that! Though I do need to rest a bit before I can try another. It really puts a strain on my mind to hold spells as long as possible. Same with casting repeatedly. When I did that during my lesson to pass the ball back and forth, I got a headache after only five passes. Let''s talk again!"


    When it comes time for the funnel, I manage to sustain it for thirty-two seconds. For the wind ball, I only manage seventeen seconds.


    "We''ll put those in the spreadsheet!" I say. "Thanks for watching, everyone! Oh! And I''ll be back tomorrow, at about 7 PM Mountain Time! That''s going to be Aunt Rachel and me playing a game… I haven''t learned the name of yet! But I hear it''s pretty popular and she wants to do a server with me, so you''ll get to see my first attempt at the game then if you come back! Byyyyye!"


    I wave as I call an end to the stream, then Sam announces he''s ended it.


    "I think?"


    "You did," Aunt Rachel says. "And now that it''s done, it''s time to make dinner. What do you boys want?"


    <hr>


    [Xander – 12 years]


    "You don''t need to help," Ms. Kimberly tells me. "You can play with the others."


    For the most part, I was watching the others play games or shoot hoops, feeling very awkward and unsure of what to do. I don''t like playing basketball because of the bumping that can happen, and I didn''t know how to play the other games that were being played. Some of the other kids chatted with me a little, but it felt like they were forcing themselves to. They''d stay for about five to ten minutes, then swap out with someone else. Russell stuck around with me for a bit, but then I told him he didn''t have to stay with me.


    And he kept staying with me until I was very clear that he could go play basketball like he wanted.


    Now it''s time to get dinner from the delivery driver, and I volunteered to help bring it in.


    "I know," I say. "But I like helping and an extra pair of hands is helpful, right?"


    "It is, indeed," she says. "Alright, you can come."


    I set Trenton on a chair and follow Ms. Kimberly and another supervisor (whose name I don''t remember right now) out of the Fellowship Hall and to the doors where I was let in with Russell. There, we meet the delivery driver, who''s pulled his SUV up to the door with the trunk of it facing the door, the back of it open. They ordered pizza, breadsticks, and wings.


    Ms. Kimberly checks all of the boxes, then pays the delivery driver and gives him a tip on top of that. That part confuses me, since tips aren''t necessary. They''re something that''s paid extra, if I remember what Mr. Trey said, and he usually only does it if the service is above standard by a decent amount, if I''m remembering what he said correctly.


    This is just… delivery. Russell''s talked about books he''s read with me before and in some alternate-Earth stories, tips are sort-of required for some workers. Those stories often sound like horror tales to me, with things like plastic that isn''t biodegradable, car fuel that releases a lot of gas into the air, and a giant plastic trash heap in the ocean.


    If someone tried to make that a reality, then they''d have the elementals, spirits, and fairies revolting. They''d also probably have to deal with Grandpa Adrian putting a stop to them and Santa putting them on the Permanent Naughty List.


    "A tip?" I ask.


    "Yes," she says. "Since it''s such a big order and we do it regularly, they start preparing things a little bit ahead of time so that they can actually make the food faster. That''s why they were able to get it here right at six, too. And he has to deliver a large amount of things, make sure they get here safely and while still hot, so we give him a tip as a bonus."


    "Oh," I say. "That''s really nice."


    The delivery driver chuckles a little as he hands us the boxes. I''m given four of the boxes, though one of them is just breadsticks. Ms. Kimberly and the other supervisor take most of the other boxes, though the delivery driver comes in with us to carry the rest.


    When we return to the Fellowship Hall, the other two supervisors are putting more things out on the tables where food and drinks already were. More fruit and veggie trays, giant bottles of soda and juice, and a giant bowl of salad. The pizzas are put on the tables, organized by topping, and the breadsticks, cheesy breadsticks, and wings are set down separately.


    "Okay!" Ms. Kimberly calls out claps her hands once after all of the food is set out. "Dinner!"


    Everyone comes over this way and I start to move out of the way so that I don''t get crowded and the others can get their food first.


    "No, no!" One of the high schoolers says. "You helped bring it in, so you go first."


    Some of the other kids all nod or agree with him on that. That''s such a weird rule but they all really seem like they mean it, so I go first. Two slices of beef, one cheesy breadstick, a bowl of salad, a bowl of fruit, a small bowl of fruit dip, and a cup of lemonade, then I find a spot to sit and hope this isn''t taken by anyone. There''s not a bag sitting here, at least.


    Russell and a few others join me at the table and talk while eating. They''re mostly talking about some show they watch, so I don''t have anything to contribute to it. Everyone''s allowed to go back for seconds and I''m not too sure about doing that, but since pretty much everyone else does, I grab a couple of more slices of pizza, another piece of cheesy breadsticks, and some more fruit. When someone finishes eating, they throw away their trash and then return to where they were sitting for dinner instead of returning to playing.


    Why are they all just returning to the tables instead of going back to playing?


    "Okay!" Ms. Kimberly calls out and claps once nearly everyone has finished eating dinner. "We''ll be splitting into groups now based on what you all want to do! As usual, you can keep playing in here, or you can go out to the parking lot or yard to play! Will there be anyone who wants to play Sardines inside?"


    What''s Sardines? I look around and see nine of the other kids raising a hand, but I really don''t know what Sardines is.


    "Hold on," Russell says. "I don''t think Xander knows the game. Xander?"


    "I don''t," I shake my head.


    "You know how in Hide-and-Seek how one person seeks and everyone else hides?" He asks.


    "Yeah."


    "It''s the opposite of that," he says. "One person hides and everyone else looks for them. If the seekers find them, they have to hide with that person. So the person hiding needs to hide in a space that can fit everyone else who''s seeking except the last seeker. Once the last seeker finds them, they become the new hider and everyone else seeks."


    That sounds crowded.


    "Oh," I shake my head. "I don''t want to play that."


    "Didn''t think so," he says, then raises a hand. "I''ll play, though."


    "Okay!" Ms. Kimberly says. "The lights are already out or dimmed in most of the building, you can play anywhere that isn''t locked or one of the bathrooms! Stay inside the building for it! Go on and have fun!"


    The kids playing Sardines leave the Fellowship Hall, then those who want to play outside head out there. I''m not really sure what to do, but there are five of the kids who stay inside. They all want to play Charades, so one of them gets some paper, some pencils, and a bucket from the "fun" closet at the other end of the room. Everyone gets to write down three things to act out, myself included. The papers are split into even-sized slips so that it''s not easy to try and go for someone''s own.


    I''m not too familiar with doing something like this and struggle to come up with something to write. Once I do, I fold each of my three slips in half the way everyone else did and drop them into the bucket.


    "Do you know how to play?" One of the other kids, whose name I''ve already forgotten, asks me.


    "Sort of?" I answer. "Um… you have to act out what''s written on the paper."


    "One person is It," he tells me. "And they have to try to get us to figure out what''s on their paper. They hold up fingers showing how many words it is, then they hold up a finger to tell us which word they''re going to act out. Then, they act out what word they''re trying to get everyone to guess, and they''re not allowed to talk until the round is over. It keeps going until either it''s guessed or all of the guessers give up. Whoever guesses it correctly first gets to be the next It, and you''re not allowed to guess if you realize that it''s one you wrote down."


    "Oh."


    But if I try acting, I''ll get accused of lying and no one will like me and maybe even beat me. But if I back out now, then they''ll hate Russell for inviting me here and then he''ll hate me for losing his friends.


    "What''s wrong?" He asks.


    Crap. They''ve already realized something is wrong. Was it that obvious?


    "I don''t act," I tell him, then realize I can probably get away with an honest explanation that doesn''t upset anyone. "I''m really bad at it."


    That''s inherently true because I have zero experience with it at all that I can think of and acting is definitely a developed ability.


    "Oh!" He says. "It''s not really acting, but if you don''t want to do it, is there something else you want to play? We''d talked about playing this earlier which is why we got the stuff for it, but if you want to play something else, you can and maybe one or two of us might join you."


    "I''m fine with watching," I tell him.


    "You sure?" He asks, and I nod.


    "I don''t think any of us will have an issue with you guessing," the only high schooler in the group, a boy who looks about sixteen, says. "Even if you don''t act as It at all. Right?"


    They all agree on that, but I''m not too sure so I just watch while they play. At least, at first. I really get into watching them play and trying to guess things on my own that I accidentally blurt one out when I realize what it is.


    "Bowling!"


    I didn''t even write that one down, someone else did.


    "Yes!" The girl who was trying to get us to guess says. "It was bowling!"


    "You got that fast," the high schooler tells me. "All she did was make a sort of underhand throwing motion with her hand."


    "I go bowling most Tuesdays," I say. "So I make a similar motion a lot."


    "You go bowling?" He asks. "Play on a team?"


    "For fun," I tell him. "But some of my friends have been invited onto a team. They declined because they''re not competitive and just like playing for fun, too."


    "That''s cool," he says. "What''s your average?"


    He probably wouldn''t believe me if I just said it, so I grab my backpack and pull out my scorecards from yesterday to show him. His eyebrows go up when he sees it, and he looks at me.


    "A 300?" He asks. "You scored a strike on every round?"


    "I practiced a lot."


    "Wait, seriously?" One of the girls asks, and everyone crowds over to look at the scorecards, so I move back a little. "Whoa!"


    "Who''s Trey?" One of the other boys asks. "Is that one of your not-bowler friends?"


    "That''s my foster dad," I say. "He was playing with me last night, but he sometimes plays with my friends'' dads. Except for S.G., his dad doesn''t go bowling."


    The others invited me to the sleepover last night, but I didn''t go because I was too tired and felt I''d probably just sleep through it. When I arrived at the house after, I went up to my room, got ready for bed, laid down, and passed out until my normal wake-up time.


    So I definitely wouldn''t have managed to stay awake for the sleepover.


    "That''s cool," he says. "But your bowler friends don''t play with you?"


    "They play either in the next lane or two lanes over," I tell him. "It was the next lane yesterday. We met from bowling for fun, but I like bowling by myself or with Mr. Trey. They''re a bit noisy and hyper."


    "Okay," he chuckles.


    The high schooler gives me the scorecards back, and I put them back in my backpack as the game resumes. Once all of the slips have been done, the game switches to Bird, Fish, Beast. I''m not familiar with it, but the rules are simple enough for me to learn.


    Everyone except the one who is It sits in a circle, and the one who is It stands in the center and points at them in turn, saying Bird, Fish, or Beast as they do. They stop on someone and quickly count to ten, and that person has to say a bird, a fish, or a beast before the count is finished. They''re allowed to rush the count, but they must clearly say each number in it.


    If they succeed, then the person who is It keeps going. If they fail, then they become the new It. If they say an animal that''s already been given, then they become It.


    Broad categories aren''t allowed: we can say something like "mouse" or "rat", but not "rodent". "Deer" only counts for the normal view of deer and not for elk or a moose even though those are both types of deer.


    Those rules are extremely simple and easy to remember, and I have fun trying to come up with something when it''s my turn.


    If someone fails to out-count the one they called on five times in a row, then everyone in the circle does something they call "nose-goes" to pick the next It, so that one person isn''t stuck being It the entire time. I think that''s a pretty fair rule, but they have to teach me what nose-goes is, and it''s apparently where everyone puts a finger on their nose and whoever was last to do so becomes It.


    As we play, some of the kids who were playing Sardines comes in and joins us or begins shooting hoops, though a few kids break off from the circle to play cards. I want to join them, but this game is a lot of fun.


    Eventually, though, the adults who are supervising in here start bringing out the desserts. There''s a wide selection of cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and more. Some of them are on paper plates or in plastic zipper lock bags, so I''m pretty sure that means others brought stuff as well. Since that''s happening, I get up and grab my backpack, then walk over to the adults.


    "Yes?" Ms. Kimberly asks. "Did you want to help?"


    "I brought cookies," I tell her.


    "Oh, right!" She says. "You can put them on the table, if you want. We''ll move them if there''s a better spot."


    "Okay," I open up my backpack and pull out the platter of cookies, and she gives me a surprised look. "Is this too many?"


    "You had an entire platter in there?"


    Oh, right.


    "Um… it has a spatial expansion enchantment," I tell her. "Also an anti-theft enchantment and one which lets me just grab whatever it is I''m going for. That one was tricky to put on with the others, but then I realized that Greyson''s design is… kind of weird."


    "You put it on, yourself?"


    "A magitech engineer and a spatial enchanter?" One of the high school girls asks from the Bird, Fish, Beast circle. "Really?"


    She recognized me from the streams? At least, I''m pretty sure she did because I haven''t mentioned that I like doing magitech to anyone here tonight. But she didn''t say anything at all, so I guess I was right about not being that great at it.


    "Yeah," I nod as I set the platter down on the table. "But it was Greyson''s design for the enchantment… modified to remove a bunch of unnecessary stuff and to change the security enchantment from a shock to a barrier."


    "That''s pretty cool," she says.


    "Did you bake the cookies with magic?" A sixth-grade boy asks, bouncing on his feet from where he''s watching desserts get put out. "I saw your stream yesterday and that was so cool!"


    "You''re a streamer?" Ms. Kimberly asks.


    "I''ve only streamed twice," I tell her. "Once was because I was showing my hoverboard to a streamer and he wanted to stream, and then yesterday to bake some giant muffins."


    "They were bigger than he was!" The other boy exclaims. "Like, this huge!" He stretches out his arms. "And he ate one of them all by himself on stream!"


    "A giant one?" Ms. Kimberly asks. "You do some pretty big magics?"


    "He used time magics to do the baking!" The boy excitedly tells her. "And he''s a Lumaria King, too! You didn''t realize when he showed up on a hoverboard? He''s super cool! His baking video got in my feed ''cause I was looking up baking recipes ''cause we''re having a birthday party for my cousin soon and I saw it and it was awesome!"


    More than one of the kids here saw at least one of my streams or videos? But I''m not that good at it. And no one commented about it, either.


    Wait.


    Didn''t Russell mention he came out to wait for me when he saw me arrive? That means he saw me show up on the hoverboard, and others would''ve, too. Especially since I was doing circles in the parking lot while on the phone. No one''s even mentioned to me about the higher-tier stuff I have or can do.


    They definitely would''ve if they wanted to take advantage of me or try to get something out of me, I''m sure of it. Especially with how excited the other boy is talking about it.


    Now I''m just confused but I decide to just focus on his question.


    "I didn''t bake them with magic," I tell him. "I baked them the normal way."


    Or maybe they didn''t bring it up because they understood the warning that yesterday''s stream was?


    "That''s cool, too!"


    Once all of the desserts are set down and some more drinks are ready – including a large bowl of punch – us kids are allowed to get dessert.


    The rest of tonight''s gathering occurs here in the Fellowship Hall, with everyone eating snacks or playing games or shooting hoops. When it finally ends, I put the platter back into my backpack and pull it on, then say goodbye to the kids near me and leave, Russell coming out with me.


    Mr. Trey is talking to another man, the two of them leaning against the front of Mr. Trey''s truck.


    "Hi, Dad!" Russell says as we approach.


    That''s Russell''s dad?


    "Hey, bud," Mr. Jackson (at least, I think that''s his last name since that''s Russell''s) gives him a half-hug. "All done?"


    "Yup!" Russell answers. "This is Xander, by the way!"


    "Nice to meet you, Xander," Mr. Jackson greets me. "Russell''s mentioned you quite a bit."


    He did?


    "Hello, Mr. Jackson," I say. "Russell, this is Mr. Trey, my foster-dad."


    "Hi, Mr., uh…"


    "You can call me ''Trey'' if you like," Mr. Trey says. "This isn''t a formal setting."


    "Okay!" Russell says. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Trey!"


    "Likewise," Mr. Trey says. "Xander looks about ready to fall asleep, so we should probably get going."


    Today had a lot of stuff going on for me and I feel really tired, especially after interacting with people so much. It was extremely fun, though, and I hope I get invited back again, even if I didn''t like the start of it where they were talking religion. The rest of it was fun, though, and I even felt like a normal boy towards the end.


    "I feel about ready to fall asleep," I tell him, then look at Russell and whisper. "Russell?"


    "Yes?" He whispers back.


    "Can I hug you?"


    I know we can''t date because he''s moving, but I still feel like hugging him as thanks for inviting me. Tonight was a lot of fun and my body wants to hug.


    "Sure!"


    I step closer and give him a hug, and he slides his arms under mine to return the hug. That makes me happy, because it means he''s not pinning my arms down.


    "Have a good night, Xander!" He tells me after we release each other.


    "You, too," I tell him. "Bye, Russell."


    "Bye!"


    I get into the back seat of Mr. Trey''s SUV, setting my backpack on the seat beside me, then buckle up. By the time Mr. Trey''s buckled in, I''m asleep.


    <hr>


    [Xander – 12 years]


    BOOM!


    "EEP!"


    I bolt upright, my breathing fast as my heart rapidly pounds in my chest. What was that? Something just woke me up. What was it?


    BOOOOOOOOOM!


    The rumble of the thunder draws out, and I bury myself under my blanket. Thunder. It''s thunder. It''s so loud. It''s so long. And there''s another. And another. Stop. Stop. Stop! I don''t want thunder! Too loud! Too loud! Too loud! Stop! It needs to stop! Please stop!


    Another scream escapes me and I throw my blanket off and get out of bed, then quickly change out of my sleepwear and into pajamas and socks before running out of my room and down to the other end of the hall.


    "Dad!" I start knocking on his door. "Dad! Dad! EEEP! DAD! DAAAAD!"


    It''s thunder it''s thunder it''s thunder!


    "Xander?" A voice asks from behind.


    "Mom!" I tackle her and wrap my arms around her, burying my head against her. Safe. Safe. It''s not safe here. "Dad''s not answering! AAAAH! THUNDER! DAD!"


    The door to Dad''s room opens, and he''s wearing just a pair of pajama pants. He must''ve been getting ready for bed and didn''t hear me because he was in the closet to change. It took him so long to hear me but he''s here now. I''m safe. I''m safe. I''m safe.


    "Dad!" I throw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him. "The-the-the thunder! It won''t go away! Ah! Again! Dad, please hide me! I-I-I-AH! Please don''t go, Mom!"


    "What do you want to do?" Dad wraps an arm around my back, rubbing it slightly. "You want to stay in here with the sound barrier on?"


    "Can I please?" I ask. "Please? EEE! Mom, too?"


    "Come on," Dad pulls me further into his room. "Katie?"


    "Let me grab some cards real quick," she says. "That might help a little."


    "Alright," Dad says. "You can stay as long as you want, Xander."