“I wish I stayed with the Magus,” Kirk complained to his friend as he shuffled through the crowded school hall.
“He was a phony!” Emily reminded him. “Besides you didn’t have a choice. But look at all these kids! Isn’t this better?” Kirk shook his head.
“It would be better if I could practice my magic,” he replied.
“SHHHh,” Emily shot him a look. “You don’t have to tell the whole school.” Kirk rolled his eyes and pointed at a frazzled boy. He was staring at a black hole that occupied the inside of his locker.
“WHO STOLE MY BOOKS?” the boy yelled as they walked past.
“I don’t think anyone would be surprised if we used magic here,” he said. “This doesn’t feel like a normal school.”
“You’ve never been to a normal school,” she reminded him. “The one you went to was created by the Magus.” Emily stopped at her locker and began working the combination.
“No, I haven’t. But we’re only here because someone you delivered pizza to asked you if you wanted to go to school. That’s not normal.”
“He wasn’t some random guy. It was Aurelio Luna from SoundCrowd!” Kirk rolled his eyes again.
“You hadn’t even heard of them until we started delivering pizza.”
“So?” Emily asked as she reached for a book in her locker. “I’m a fan now and that’s what’s important.”
“Hi! I’m Mundo,” a violet-haired girl popped up next to Kirk. “I heard you were a fan of SoundCrowd, want to join my club?”
“No,” Kirk replied.
“What kind of club?” Emily asked her.
“Coach Luna asked me to put a team together to practice against his team. What are your character classes?” Emily shrugged.
“We don’t have any. We’ve never been in the AlterNet,” she replied with a trace of sadness. Despite her tone, Mundo burst into laughter.
“Told you we didn’t want to join,” Kirk said to Emily. He turned to walk away and Emily followed him.
“Wait!” Mundo stopped them. “What’s wrong?” Mundo looked at Emily and recognized her hurt feelings. “Wait.. are you serious?” Emily nodded.
“Yeah. Why would we joke about that?” she asked. Mundo looked at them with wide eyes.
“This school is in the AlterNet.” she said.
