The trouble all started the morning that Davis came to school wearing that stupid trinket around his neck.

It was so ridiculous looking that Hyman - who at least tried not to give his best bud a hard time in the middle of class - had to say something. It was a huge, blotchy brass charm that bulged out his profile even when tucked under his shirt, with smooth pink stone in the center. It looked cheap and was obviously gaudy, and definitely not something someone who was already low on the popularity totem pole would be wise wearing into class. But wear it Davis did, and since Hyman was down there with him - and too sentimental to abandon his friend to the wasteland of loserdom he was sprinting into - it was up to him to get to the bottom of this.

“What in hell is that thing?”

Harshly. Get to the bottom of it harshly.

Davis, who had only just sat down after giving the whole class a look at his ridiculous accessory, didn’t seem to notice. He leaned back in his seat, but only turned his head around to his friend. “Like it?” He said, fingering the charm like it was a rose. “It’s a gift from my Uncle Anastasios!”

If Hyman had ever liked it, he surely didn’t now. “Your Uncle? The one who’s on the run from the cops, that Uncle Anastasios?” Hyman had only met the guy a handful of times, and he already knew taking a gift from him wasn’t the best of ideas. Davis idolized the guy, but Hyman wasn’t so sure. “You sure that thing’s not stolen?”

“Nah, come on. My Uncle’s cool. He’s just on the run ‘cause marriage laws are bogus.”

“Oh?” Hyman snorted. “Would you secretly get married in five different states just to get a tax break?”

Davis looked uncomfortable. “Well… no.” He said uneasily. “But it wasn’t like those were fake! He really did get all those women to fall for him! So it was a tiny bit illegal to get married all at once. He’s still a total player!”

“Wearing stuff like that? I doubt it.”

“I’m serious! Last time I saw him before the whole manhunt thing, I told him about how we’ve been… y’know… having problems getting girls to notice us. Then a week ago he sent me this in the mail! His letter said this would get me everything I wanted, just like him.”

Hyman sighed. They were teenage boys, it was true. They had some very simple things on their minds. They were unpopular teenage boys on top of that. Halfway through junior year, and they couldn’t get a girl to talk to them if their lives depended on it. It was getting to be a real problem. But he didn’t exactly want a wanted felon stepping in to fix that problem for him.

“Like him?”  Hyman voice went high with disbelief. “‘On the run from the cops,’ remember?”

“I don’t mean that. But… I dunno,” Davis sighed and looked back down at the charm, “he had everything anyone ever asked for. Money, mansions, hot women. He just had a… way with people, y’know? Especially women. Meanwhile, we can’t even get Asmund off our backs.”

At the name, Hyman hissed and instinctively looked around the room - as if saying it would summon he who possessed it. But no, the subject of their endless hardship was apparently cutting school again today. Small favors.

“You’re lucky he hasn’t seen that thing,” he said in a hushed, whispering voice. “I don’t know whether he’d steal it or slug you just for wearing it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Davis murmured. To Hyman’s relief, he was this close to taking the charm off. “But Uncle Anastasios could… it’s not like I don’t know he was a shallow jerk with a shallow life, okay!” He suddenly snapped, dropping the charm in his shirt. Their classmates were starting to stare now, but thankfully Davis actually noticed and lowered his voice. “I’d just like for once like to meet girls I could really be close to, y’know? Like I was on a tv show - they could be stacked and sexy, or small and cute, whatever. As long as we can get that special connection going, someone I can talk to like we can. Maybe this will help with that!”

Hyman stared at him, and stared and stared until Davis finally caved. He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish.

“… or maybe I’m being superstitious…”

“Wearing a hand-me-down from your playboy fugitive uncle, hoping it’ll help you get lucky? Nah, that’s not superstitious at all,” Hyman smirked. Davis could be a real goofball sometimes. “Maybe we should pick you up a rabbit’s foot after class.”

“Okay, okay. Guess, you’re right.” Davis said with a laugh, knowing that since his friend wouldn’t let him live it down any time soon he might as well own up. “But what about you? Tell me you got the tickets.”

Hyman was happy for a change of subject, even if he did bring this up in the first place, and even if he could still see that stupid charm bulging through Davis’ shirt. Especially this subject change. He pulled a pair of tickets from his bag and waved them in his friend’s face. “Oh, you know it! “Blistering” Bob Trager and Kai “King” Zhao, five rounds, one steel cage! Keep your Saturday clear, pal!”

“Oh, man!” Davis squealed, though he could be forgiven for the childish burst. He turned to take a look, though Hyman wasn’t about to let those tickets out of his hands - just in case. He did, however, notice for the first time that his friend hadn’t once turned his whole body to face him until now. Obviously, he was very excited. “This is gonna be-”

Time seemed to slow down, for some reason.

Davis was now completely facing him, and as he did Hyman caught a bright glint - maybe even a flash - from his chest. It almost looked like it came from the amulet, which was odd given how there were multiple layers of shirt between it and Hyman’s evidently fragile eyes. He was going to comment about it, but the thought seemed to slip his mind as quick as it came...

“-the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Hyman blinked. That was not at all what he thought would be the end of that sentence. He turned to Davis, but his friend was no longer looking at him. He was leaning over his desk, head laid on crossed arms, staring blankly at the blackboard.

“… huh?” He stammered.

“I said it was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen,” Davis whispered, shooting his friend a look.

“The fight?” Hyman said. He was loud when confused, and everyone around him turned to look. Davis sat up bolt straight, and muttered a quiet “what are you, crazy?” out the side of his mouth.

Hyman was about to ask what the damage was when the teacher stepped forward. When did she get here? “Mr. Warner!” She bellowed. Hyman cringed. “I’ll ask you not to talk in class, or you’ll be sent to the principal!”

Hyman was even more confused now. He’d cop to being disruptive, but class hadn’t even started yet, had it? He looked up at the clock and his jaw dropped. It was almost noon. Weren’t they waiting for first period just a moment ago? Had the day really been that boring that he zoned out for half of it? He grunted a short apology and laid low until the teacher turned away, but getting very weirded out.

“Of course not the fight!” Davis whispered, once the heat died down. “I’m talking about the way she looked at me when I… well… “ He blushed. Hyman had no idea why. “Sorry I bailed on you for most of today, but… well, you saw her, right? Totally worth it.”

It seemed he was still zoned out, because Hyman had no idea what Davis was talking about. “What? ‘Her?’”

“You know, ‘her?’ The girl I’ve been talking to all day? The amazing one with eyes like the sun and hair like a cloud, and the laugh you could listen to for days?” He sighed dazedly. “I guess she just transferred in, but she’s so cool!”

Hyman stared at him. The words made sense together, sure, but never when either of them were the ones saying them. Since when did they know any cool girls? Let alone any cool girls who would talk to them all day long?

Davis noticed the look and grumbled at him. ”Don’t look at me like that! She was sitting right… hey, where’d she go?” Davis looked around the room in surprise. “I guess she doesn’t have all the same periods we do. I’ll have to introduce you two later.”

This was still unbelievable. “Uh, huh…”

“Look, you’d have noticed her if you’d been around.” Davis snapped. “Where have you been all day?”

It was a little worrying that Hyman couldn’t think of a solid answer for that. But where else could he have been? “I’ve been around. I guess it all just ran together today.”

Remembering that he also hadn’t been paying much attention to anything else all day, Davis dropped the subject. He figured he probably just hadn’t noticed his friend sitting somewhere different for once, since Hyman definitely wouldn’t start avoiding him out of nowhere or anything. “Yeah, Mondays are always boring. But at least it’s halfway over.”

“Yeah…” Hyman muttered. He noticed the amulet was still under Davis’ shirt. It made him uneasy, somehow. “Halfway over.”

——

The rest of the day went on just like that. Davis kept going on and on about the new girl in school - and apparently it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination, because Hyman overheard a few other people talking about her too. Mostly about how she was or wasn’t getting along from the girls, jokes about how pretty she was from the guys, and how weird it was that she was talking to Davis of all people from everybody. Hyman couldn’t really make an opinion about it, because he’d yet to even meet her. And he’d actually tried looking, too. Davis apparently met up with her again during midday break, but by coincidence Hyman spent the period at the nurse… or at least, that’s what he figured. Last he remembered from break, he got hit in the head by a flying basketball some idiot shot wide. Then Davis ran up to him to see if he was alright, and then nothing until the following period.

Which was just perfect. His best friend was chatting it up with a cute girl, and he was stuck with a concussion!

He and Davis didn’t get a chance to talk until school let out, and by then it was obvious to everyone that the poor guy had driven himself straight into infatuation. They met up in front of the school so they could walk home together, as they did every day. It wasn’t smart to walk home alone: Asmund might have skipped school today, but that didn’t mean he’d miss out on the chance to take whatever rage he had out on his favorite punching bags should he find them alone.

Since he didn’t want to spend the whole walk hearing about Davis’ new crush - he’d spent what little time in class they had to talk gushing about the size of her “petite little ears,” for pity’s sake - he cut across the inevitable fawning and starting talking about the upcoming fight instead. Perfect tickets, close enough to catch a flying tooth or two! Possible new girlfriend or not, Hyman was pretty sure Davis would still be excited. And we was, but despite Hyman best efforts he was in for a surprise…

He should have realized when Davis looked uncomfortable, “W-well… this is a super weird coincidence, but,” he muttered, looking at the sidewalk. “You know, Cynthia… that’s her. Her name is Hyacinth, but she told me to call her…” He coughed awkwardly. “Anyway, turns out she has tickets for the fight too. Pretty good ones. And I was thinking…”

At the time, Hyman couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He rounded on Davis, and yelled at the top of his lungs. “You’re seriously thinking of bailing? We’ve been planning this for months! You just met that girl today! And I don’t even see her around, do you?” Davis looked at the crowd of students leaving the school building, but had to admit he didn’t see her. He was about to try and calm his friend down, but Hyman wasn’t having it. He pulled Davis so they were facing each other and jabbed his finger in his friend’s chest, preparing to give the lovestruck moron a real piece of his mind, odd glinting in his eyes be damned…


And Hyman had to accept that. A free date with a girl who actually liked cage fights? How could Davis have just turned it down? It was just confusing. Where did this girl come from? How had she just hit it off with Davis so quickly? And why did everyone seem to know her but him? It’d be easier to swallow some girl putting his best friend in a haze if he had an actual face to go along with it, but nothing! Where did she even live? Davis was so out of it he barely even remembered.


They both waved as Hyman walked in. There were always a couple free seats wherever they chose to sit, especially with Graham not using the chairs half the time. The four of them were close, though Nikau and Graham were closer to each other than they were to Hyman and Davis and vice versa. Davis liked to call them the Brothers’ Gram - not because they were related, but because they were so inseparable despite being total opposites that they might as well have been.

Graham waved even wilder when Hyman came close. Hyman greeted them with a smile. “You guys spending the break pounding the books too, huh?”

“Obviously,” Nikau said roughly, though Hyman knew not to take it personal. “Better to keep fresh now than fail a surprise test later. Though this one is supposed to be with his photography club, instead of distracting me.” He jerked his thumb at Graham, who had been grinning since Hyman said "pounding."

“I told you, mom, they cancelled the meeting.” Graham snapped. “Something about someone accidentally ruining all the film. And for once it wasn't me.”

They both looked at Hyman expectantly. With his track record for books they probably expected him to be out playing basketball or something.

“I thought a change of pace would do me good,” he explained casually. “Real life has got me zoning out recently.”

“I heard that,” Graham laughed.

Nikau smirked. “You two should try actually focusing on something for once."

“Good idea!” Graham said, and suddenly he turned to Hyman and yelled at the top of his lungs. “FOCUS!”


As it turned out, nothing. He blinked until his eyesight came back. Nikau was rolling his eyes but otherwise hadn’t flinched at all, and Graham was laughing as people around him shushed and looked nastily at him. It had just been the flash of Graham’s camera. Hyman breathed a sigh of relief, though he had no idea why he had reacted that way. He wasn’t sure what was going on with him, but he felt compelled to ignore it for now.

“Heh…” he laughed weakly. “You got me.”

“Totally,” Graham said. He nodded over to Nikau, who hadn’t flinched at all. “Don’t feel left out, I got him earlier. He’s just mad about it.” Nikau snorted, and halfheartedly threw a rolled up paper at him which missed by a mile. “I’m starting a new collection.”

Hyman was about to say something about where he could stuff that collection, but before he could the three of them caught onto voices just outside the library. One of them was definitely familiar, though Hyman hadn’t expected to hear it all the way down here today.

“Oh sweet, it’s Davis!” Graham said excitedly. He jumped to his feet. “Now I can finish it!”

“Guess he didn’t have as much fun with his mystery girl as he thought,” Hyman said. He was not bitter. No way. Nikau didn’t look like he’d believe him if he said it out loud, but he meant it. No bitterness at all.


They didn’t have to guess once Davis came in view of the door, because the other person came with him. He was tall and pale, towering over Davis with tattooed muscles that looked like they’d broken faces on a regular basis. He had a mop of shaggy, dirty blonde hair, and stomped along in ripped jeans and dark black tank. They weren’t just arguing, they were close to fighting: Davis was pulling away from him, trying to get away, while the other boy kept yanking him back.

Hyman jumped to his feet. “Damn it all, it’s Asmund!” Clearly, he wasn’t skipping school today. And he had wasted no time in going after them this time.

Nikau didn’t stand up, but he did watch on with concern. “What does that guy have against you two, anyway?” He eyed the shelves, hoping Graham hadn’t gotten lost in the endless forest of books. If it came to fight, it would be best to have all of them on deck.

“One day in grade school we talked back to him, and he never let it go,” Hyman joked, without humor. Asmund was never a laughing matter.

They could clearly hear what they were talking about now. “You are your bushy headed pal dodged me yesterday, but I hear you got yourself a girl now!” Asmund hissed, yanking at Davis’ shirt. “Where do you get off stepping around around with a better looking piece than me, huh?”

“What’s it to you?!” Davis replied as he tried to squirm away.

“Don’t get smart, loser.” Asmund snarled. “You want to start dating some desperate little bimbo, that’s her problem.”

Surprisingly, this got Davis to snarl right back. “Hey, she’s not-“

“But if you want those dates to go smooth, you’re gonna have to pay up!” Asmund continued as if Davis hadn't said anything. He threw his fist into the wall beside Davis’ head, making the smaller junior jump. “Otherwise you won’t be getting lucky any time-“

Suddenly, Davis did something very surprising. Usually, the two of them would try to get away from Asmund, or appease him until they could. But Davis’ confidence boost had apparently turned him insane, because instead he palmed Asmund on the chest and shoved him to the opposite wall. “Why don’t you piss off already!”

Hyman gasped, and even Nikau stood up. “Has Davis gone crazy?” Hyman shouted. It was going to be a painful few minutes. “Asmund’ll kill him!”

And yes, Asmund looked like a rabid bull with a hemorrhoid problem, and looked ready to bloody his fists on Davis’ small, fragile face. Hyman took a step forward, ready to defend his friend. Even Nikau was putting his notes aside.

But then, something very strange happened…



All this happened in less than a second, but from Hyman’s point of view it seemed to take an eternity. Time finally seemed to reassert itself, but that didn’t make things make any more sense. Where there had been the most intimidating bruiser around a second before, there was now this demurely dressed young woman bobbing on her feet in stockings and pleats.

And more miraculously, nobody else seemed to notice!

Hyman stared. He glanced over to Nikau. He was staring too. Nobody else was. They were just going about their business. Not even Davis seemed to bat an eye. He and the girl who had been Asmund a second before were still talking, but their voices weren’t raised any more. Davis looked confused, but it wasn’t the shocked reaction of someone who had just seen something impossible. It was the pleasantly surprised reaction of someone who wasn’t expecting to be spoken to.

And then the two of them were walking over. Hyman was sure he couldn’t handle this. He hadn’t even finished process it yet. What?!

“Hey, guys!” Davis said, with a gesture for the girl to come closer. She was short, but there was a definite curve to her as she came - both of which made this all the more unbelievable! She seemed timid. Asmund was never timid. She inched over to them and fidgeted uncomfortably, but glanced over at Davis and… was that a blush? “Check it out, this is Unnr! I just met her in the hall! She transferred in for her final year, and wants me to give her a tour of the school!” He hid a thumbs up for only Hyman to see. Hyman was a bit too distracted to return it.

“What the..! How did you… how did she…” Hyman gestured back and forth from Davis to… “Unnr”… but couldn’t think of any think better to say. He looked to Nikau for some kind of support, any kind of support, but the other boy seemed to be at a loss for words.

Davis frowned. He didn’t seem to be on the other boys’ wavelength at all. In fact, he looked at them as if they were acting crazy. And “Unnr”  just seemed confused. She looked back and forth between the two dumbstruck boys, “These are your friends? My, they are… strange! Eeep!” She squeaked, and she threw her hand to her mouth. “I-if you don’t mind me saying so, that is. I’m sorry!”

“Don’t be,” Davis said, glaring at his two wide-eyed friends. “They’re just making a little fun at me. It’s kind of rude, though.”

Hyman was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to form words for the next hour at least, and so kept his trap shut.

Luckily, Nikau managed to recover more quickly. “I-I’m sorry,” He stammered out. “It’ just… quite surprising to meet you.”

She positively beamed. Asmund didn’t do that either. “Oh, thank you! It’s so lonely being here, and I’d very much like to be friends!”

“S-sure,” Nikau gulped. “I-I’m sure we’ll see you again.”

“I’d like that!” She said, with a tittering laugh. Then she turned to Davis and edged up to his side, leaving them both red faced. Asmund definitely didn’t do that. “So, what do you plan to show me next?”

Davis gulped, and pointed back to the door of the door of the library. “I-I’ll show you around in a second,” he squeaked out. So much for being a "player." “J-Just give me a minute.”



The two practically fell over, but Davis didn’t notice them because Graham had fixed on him. “I don’t think your new girlfriend would appreciate your roving eye, no matter how sweet she is!” He laughed, turning the camera to reveal a perfect shot of Davis staring at Unnr’s back.

Davis punched him in the arm. “She’s not my girlfriend yet! She’s just a girl who needed some help! And you’d better delete that before someone sees!" He tried to look mad, but he and Graham soon broke into boyish giggles.

Nikau stared at them in disbelief. ‘You mean neither of you-" He stopped, then started again. "Don’t you realize what just happened?”

“You mean besides our very own Davis getting in there with two cute girls in the span of two days? First the chick from class yesterday, and now a petite honey like that?” He clapped Davis on the back. Of the whole group Graham’s fit physique and laid back attitude brought him the most experience with girls, so Davis glowed at the compliment. “Wherever these ladies are transferring from, I want to go there!” He laughed, though he did notice the other two not joining in. “Why, did I miss something? I got a little lost in the endless forest of books, and I just got back.”

Nikau groaned, so Davis tried to recap instead. “Oh, nothing,” He said. “I was in the middle of…” He trailed off. His mouth was open, like was about to explain what had happened just a minute before. But then confusion came over him, like he was searching for the memory and came up blank. In end, he shrugged. “Y-yeah, it was nothing. I just ran into her. And speaking of which, I’ve got to go!”

He made to join the girl in the hall. But just before going Davis turned to face Hyman, who flinched on instinct. But this time, nothing happened. “You’re… not still pissed, are you?” He said, just between them. “If you are, I really am sorry. But please don’t take it out on Unnr. She’s new.”

Hyman finally forced his mouth to say words. What he wanted to say was “what did you do?” or “like hell she’s new!”, but instead it came out as “N-no. I’m not mad. I-its like Nik said. I was just surprised.”

Davis grinned, with a relieved sigh. “Yeah, it’s pretty crazy right? I mean, who girls in two days?” All of a sudden Unnr’s soft voice called out to him, and he spun on his heel. “Can’t keep a woman like that waiting! Wish me luck!”

He was gone before Hyman could form a response. Hyman could have sworn he actually clicked his heels as he rushed to the exit. Hyman’s “yeah… crazy” in turn was thus said to nobody, but summed up everything regardless.

Once his brain reattached itself, he glanced over at the only other person who seemed to still be sane. “Nikau…”

The reply was shaky. “… yeah, Hyman?”

“… what the fuck just happened?” Hyman whispered. “Was that real? It couldn’t be real.”

“I have no idea,” Nikau replied, which was rare enough to give even him a chill.

“But… but Asmund!” In his newly frantic mood Hyman suddenly lost control of the volume of his voice, and he was loud when confused. Some other students glared at him, but who cared about them? Now they notice these things? “He’s a… she’s a…”

“Oh!” Graham said suddenly, back in his seat on the carpeted floor. They had forgotten he was there for a moment. “Asmund was here? Is that why you guys were so on edge?”

Nikau glared at him, more frustrated than Hyman was upset. But then, his eyes widened. He quickly turned back to Hyman with a pure, bewildered look. “Yes, he is! And what about you?”

Hyman shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know what’s on either, dude!”

“No! I mean,” he started frantically. “What Graham just said when Davis was here. He spent all yesterday with that new girl in class, right? Did you ever meet her? Or even see her? Be honest.”

Hyman scoffed. He usually wouldn’t lie and say he was part of someone else’s good time. At least, not to his friends. “I never got the chance, but why-“

Nikau cut him off. It looked like he was stuck in a thought. “That’s right. I don’t think I saw you at all most of yesterday. It was weird looking back on it, but for some reason I just never thought about it until now. And I definitely didn’t see you and her around at the same time.”

Hyman tried to roll his eyes, but he didn’t like where this is going. “Y-yeah. So? It’s not like I was missing, I was just-”

“Let’s say you were missing.” Nikau replied. “You said you’ve been zoning out right. Losing time?”

Now he really didn’t like where this was going. “R-right?”

“So we have a girl who only seems to appear when you’re not around. A girl who is only ever seen around Davis, whose side you barely ever leave on the best of days. While you can’t even remember what you were doing during those times? After what we just saw?”

That did not add up well. Hyram couldn’t deny what that implied. He tried to think back - surely there was some moment where he could at least remember what he was doing during those zoned out moments, but he couldn’t. Even the trip to the nurse was something he only assumed happened. In truth, he just suddenly noticed that he was on the way back to class, and period was over. The nurse and the yard were from the same direction, it was possible that he could have spent the period there instead. Or as Nikau was implying, that she could have…

“Holy shit,” he gasped. There was a pit in his stomach the size of a freight train. “You don’t think-”

“Don’t think what?” Graham said from the floor. Bless him, he had no idea what insanity they were in the middle of. “Let me in on the joke, would you guys?”