Chapter 9

Travis watched the sun come up over their tiny backyard. There was no sign of the creeper from last night and his magical radar was quiet too. He let Kyle sleep until quarter to eight, he wanted to let him sleep longer, knowing he'd be tired, but they had to catch the bus at ten after eight or they'd be late.

There was no reason to stay home Bruno and Bo were already gone. He'd had breakfast with them before they left. He'd filled up on fruit salad and bananas because there'd be no time to stop at the seven eleven for a breakfast burrito like they normally did.

When Kyle opened his eyes Trav was dangling a bunch of bananas at him which was his way of saying dude we're late and there's no time. Kyle groaned and got with the vertical pretty fast. He was dressed and washed up in ten minutes. The dude was seriously on a mission.

They walked to the bus stop in silence there was no need to talk about what happened last night, besides without Lauren they couldn't guarantee not being over heard. It was a miracle they got there in time though, the bus had passed them even before they got to the stop which made them have to run waving their arms and yelling 'heeeeeyyyyy' like freaks.

But they made it and Travis legs had protested the whole time. Kyle was out of breath when he got on the bus but Trav noticed he wasn't even winded. He had to chuckle to himself and admit he was getting in peak physical shape. Who knows if that thing showed up again he could probably out run it.

When they took their seat it looked like Kyle didn't know whether to go back to sleep or eat but he guessed he was more tired than hungry because he nodded off right away. Travis was tired too but he forced himself to stay awake. He didn't want a repeat of yesterdays missed stop incident. No way was he exercising any more than he needed too.

When he thought of running again this afternoon he groaned. How long did she intend to keep this up? He knew he could out stubborn the woman but it would help if he had an end date on the horizon -- something to work towards. She couldn't possible keep this up forever. Could she?

Travis took the bushel of bananas out of Kyle's backpack and peeled one. He began to munch on it. It would leave only five for Kyle, but he was sure he'd understand that he needed the extra calories for his stupid run today. He put the rest back and zipped up his bag quietly careful not to wake him.

By the time they made it to their stop Trav's eyes were threatening to close. There's something about being in a bus that lulls you to sleep. It must be the gentle rocking and the quiet. No one really talks on a bus except those idiot people that seem to hold one sided conversations in their Bluetooths. You gotta hate those super self involved people. Could they really not tell they're as annoying AF?

Travis pulled the cord to stop the bus and gave Kyle a hard shake. He woke up right away and they got off in record time. They were at the school in a few minutes which gave Kyle a few minutes to eat before their first class. He sat down on the front steps to enjoy his simple breakfast. So Trav sat with him. The day was turning out to be a beautiful day for mid March. There was no sign of rain and it felt like the temperature was already in the mid 60's. Yeah it was a hell of a day to be alive Travis thought as he sucked in a deep breath and waited for his friends. They'd have no time to talk until lunch but if he could find the time to tell them before lunch they might have time to think of solutions as well.

When Tuma called to them, "Mr. Stone, Mr. Audney do you intended to impede everyone's progress up the stairs?"

He and Kyle looked up and quickly apologized when they realized that Travis' extreme girth was forcing all the students to pass them in single file.

"Sorry Mr Tuma," they both chimed before they stood up and proceeded into the school themselves.

He'd guessed there wouldn't be time to speak to his friends after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Human classes that morning were uneventful aside from a C+ he'd earned in math. He was really proud of his mark and he couldn't wait to show Bo. She'd be over the moon. She'd worked with him for hours explaining basic algebra over and over again, until his brain hurt.

This was his first C in the class since they started adding letters to math equations. When they'd done that he'd thought he'd lost his way for good, but here he was. He felt so proud of himself for bringing his mark up from a D- to a C. When they introduced 'solve for X' he never thought he'd be able to like letters again, but here he was.

When lunch rolled around he was starving. Gladys the lunch lady was as old as dirt and twice as gritty. She hated everyone but him, probably because he took the time to learn her name and thank her sincerely when she served him. He never missed an opportunity to ask her about her grand kids too. Today she gave him a big smile when she saw him and piled his plate high with Mac and Cheese and chicken nuggets.

Travis's eyes rolled back in his head at the sight and he groaned with pleasure which made her laugh.

"Thanks Gladys I'm starving. Hey how was your granddaughter's recital? Did she rock the joint?"

Gladys just laughed which got a lot of strange looks from the students that were used to her stern looks.

She nodded her head after thinking about it for a moment and said, "yeah I guess she did."

"Hey guess what?" Trav crowed, he couldn't wait to tell everyone, "I got a C+ in algebra!"

"That's fantastic news Travis." She reached over to the cold section and grabbed a piece of chocolate cake to add it to his tray and said, "Tell Connie on the cash that's on me."

Travis' face split into a wide grin, "Geez thanks Gladys."

She called, "You're welcome," to his departing form before she snapped, "who's next!" to the next person in line.

He had to laugh when they jumped though. He knew she was just playing there wasn't a mean bone in the woman's body.

When he got to the table he was surprised to see he was the last one to get there. They were all looking at him as he approached which suggested to him that Kyle had told them about the creeper last night.

When he took his usual seat between Kyle and CJ everyone started talking at once.

He just dug into his delicious meal and savored every bite until Zach jumped into to quiet everyone down.

He let out a loud whistle to get everyone's attention which everyone ignored.

Trav could tell they were freaked out at the idea that Liam might consider targeting them at home. Most of their parents had no magical ability; they didn't even know the magical world existed. They'd be sitting ducks.

Lauren spoke up from her spot next to Zach with a suggestion he hadn't thought of.

"Guys," she called to get everyone's attention, "There's a simple solution. I can come by on Saturday and ward everyone's home.

Kelly crossed her arms at the other end of the table and said snidely, "Fat lot of good that's going to do when Liam's powerful enough to break through the wards of the council guards."

"What do you suggest we do as an alternative, nothing?" Megan asked just as snidely.

The table erupted again. Travis sat back and ate.

It wasn't like his friends to argue; he could tell they were all on edge, but this was getting them nowhere. But he and Kyle weren't the thinkers in the group at best they were the plucky sidekicks or the comic relief, but he couldn't stand to see them at each other like this, beside it was spoiling his appetite, SO he took his hand, and rolling it into a fist, slammed it down on his end of the table making everyone's tray bounce. And privacy spell or no privacy spell everyone in the cafeteria had heard it.

All eyes turned to him in shock. The only suggestions he normally made in their conversations was where to eat, but here he was, so he'd better think of something clever to say and fast, nothing came to mind so he said instead, "I got a C+ in algebra. " and shrugged his shoulder.

That was it the entire crew lost it. They all started laughing hysterically. He didn't know what was so funny, but he joined in because laughter is contagious.

After they finished laughing and congratulating him on his mark things were a lot calmer. It was like the wind went out of their sails.

Only Lauren spoke then, much to Trav's relief, "I know simple wards aren't going to be very effective, but they may be able to hold them off long enough for the rest of us to get there."

"Yeah but what's to protect us when were alone, "for some reason Kelly emphasized the alone part.

Zach cut in, "I suggest we wear our weapons where ever we go from now on."

"Si," Donnie chimed in, "but we are not as . . . how you say it . . . badass as Kelly, no? We are no match for Liam's gang.

"I agree," Connor said, "Some of us have pretty lame ass powers. Weapons aren't going to be enough."

"Yeah I practice ritualistic magic that's no match for their skills." Brenna added.

"Why not set up a buddy system then, where there's always a magical wielder with a non wielder?" Ray suggested from his spot next to Ollie.

"I've got Liv's back and her front," Marley chuckled as she wiggled her eyebrows comically.

Ollie's baritone chuckle echoed across the table as everyone laughed.

Quinn chimed in, "Lauren can have my back and front too," Which made Lauren sputter, spitting out her drink and blush furiously.

Lauren took out a note book but before she started writing she said to the table, "please don't take offense if I put you in the no powers section, okay?"

Everyone agreed with a nod.

Lauren divided her piece of paper into two columns then she began to write down the magic wielders names on one side and the none magic wielders on the other.

In the end she had a rough idea who was going home with whom.

"Meg and Cam you live on Sea Cliff the closest wielder to you is CJ so I suggest you all pair up."

They nodded in agreement.

"Marley you're not a weilder but you're pretty invincible so you can take Liv and Ollie.

"Ray spoke up then and said but they live closer to me, so I should take them."

Marley just gave him a shocked look, "Sorry my friend, but being her girlfriend trumps the geographical thing.

"She's right Ray beside you're closer geographically to Brenna and Connor. So would you mind escorting them?"

Ray shrugged dejectedly for some reason until Ollie threw his arm around him and gave him a shake that made him smile.

"I'll take Zach and Quinn since they're closest." Lauren announced

You could tell by the look on Zach's face he didn't like being lumped in with the helpless one bit.

"Ryan you live closest to Kyle and Travis would you mind escorting them?"

"No problem Lauren, "

"Hey Ryan," Kyle wiggled his eyebrows at him."I hope you're the kind of escort that puts out."

Shy Ryan turned so red that he was a whole other color.

Suddenly the entire table got quiet. And he was trying to guess why when it was suddenly spelt out for him.

"I can make sure Xan gets home safely." Kelly offered.

Actually," Xander spoke up before she could even end her sentence," that won't be necessary I can get Dom to pick me up at school."

The look on Kelly's face at his words was tragic. Trav wanted to look away but it was like trying not to look at an accident on the side of the road. You knew it was a douche thing to be fascinated by it, but it was basic human nature.

Kelly blushed furiously, but she responded in a nonchalant voice, "that's cool I'll make sure Donnie gets home safe."

Donnie beamed from ear to ear, but said nothing.

The bell rang then which was a relief because it felt pretty damn awkward at the table after that little exchange.

Magical classes went great that afternoon. And guess what he had to do in training afterward? If you guessed run -- go straight to the front of the class, do not pass go -- you are one hundred percent correct.

He'd gotten zapped more times than he could count but it did nothing to increase his speed. His tank was empty. He needed help getting to the showers again today, but this time it was his friends who took him. Each one of them as they passed le Fay gave her a dirty look. They were sending her a clear message 'When you mess with our boy, you mess with us.' And he loved them for it.

****************** THANKS FOR READING********************

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