As Gen and Jamal walked down the hallway, a thought occurred to Jamal.
“Wait, don’t you take the bus?” Jamal asked.
“No. I usually have one of my friends give me a ride home.”
“They can drive a car? You’re friends with seniors?”
“Kinda. I have a friend whose older sister is a college student.”
“Oh, I see.”
“What about you? I don’t want to make you late for your bus.”
Jamal shook his head. “Don’t worry. My house is within walking distance of the school.”
Gen nodded. “That must be nice. I live on the other side of town.”
Jamal nodded to that. There is only one high school in town, so almost the entire school body rely on school buses.
“I guess. I rather relax on a bus, then walk around with a heavy backpack though.”
“Have you considered lightening the load?” Gen asked.
Jamal nodded. “I did actually. But I never know what I’ll need in my classes. I tried leaving some of my stuff at home once, but it turned out I needed some of the textbooks and tools I left at home that day. I can never be two prepared.”
Gen nodded. That makes sense.
The two of them ignored the stares from the other students as they left through the school’s front door. The front yard was filled with school buses and students trying to get to said buses.
“You should be more careful.”
Jamal and Gen jolted as they turned around to see Max standing next to the school’s entryway.
“I-Whatever do you mean?” Gen responded. She has no idea who this student is.
“The more accidents you have, the more people that will notice.”
Before Jamal and Gen could ask for clarification, Max walked away and entered his bus.
“Wa-was he waiting for us just to warn us?” Jamal mustered.
They just stood there in silence as they contemplated what he said. Was he talking about their fusion powers, or that rumor about them dating? It’s hard to tell with him. But he did bring up a good point. There is already 3 other people besides from Jamal who knows about the fusion powers. They got to be more careful from now on to prevent more people from finding out.
Jamal turned to face Gen.
“I think Max has a point.”
Gen blinked in confusion. “Max? You mean that guy who just spoke to us?”
Jamal nodded in affirmation. “Yeah. Don’t worry though. I don’t think he means any harm. Even if he did figure it out, I doubt he be the type of guy to give people a straight answer. But he does have a point. We need to be careful about concealing our powers. We already slipped up a few times already. We don’t want the wrong people to know about this.”
“Yeah. People like me.” She replied sarcastically.
Jamal rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. What if the government catches wind of this?”
“They probably won’t believe it. They might do some investigating, but some as long we play dumb, that’s all that would happen.”
Jamal nodded to that. That’s actually a good answer. “We already know magic exists. What if evil organizations exist too?”
“Then we experiment with our powers during the weekend and figure out how to better hide them. Isn’t that what you said?”
Jamal didn’t have a comeback for that. “Y-yeah. That sounds like a plan.”
Jamal scanned the school’s front yard as students mill around to their buses.
“Alright. Is this where your friend picks you up?”
“No. She is waiting at the parking lot.”
Jamal scrunched up his face in confusion. “Then why did you follow me out here?”
“I leave through the same entrance.” She clarified.
“Okay.” Jamal said simply. He had no idea that Gen leaves through the same entrance.
Gen checked her phone to see that her friend has already texted her asking her why she is taking so long.
She sent back a text saying that she is coming.
“I got to go. Don’t want to keep them waiting. It’s nice meeting you.”
Jamal nodded. “Yes. In case you need me, you have my phone number and email.”
As Gen was walking away, a thought occurred to Jamal. “Wait! Don’t we live far away from each other? How are we supposed to reach each other if one of us gets in a fusion accident? And tomorrow is Saturday, so we probably won’t have an easy way of seeing each other during the weekend.”
Gen stopped in her tracks. “That’s a good point. Well… When push comes to shove, I can just call one of my friends to take me. It’s not that big of a deal. But I obviously can’t come over all the time. My friends have lives and gas to pay for afterall.”
Jamal nodded with comprehension on his face. “What about your parents?”
Gen didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t prefer relying on them. Maybe when there is no other option. But for now, I don’t want to worry them. Especially after what happened today.”
A thought occurred to Gen. “What about you? What if I get stuck again? How are you supposed to get to me?”
Jamal contemplated for a moment.
“I… I don’t know. My mom is usually at work all the time. And my older sister takes the public bus and is usually at college most of the time...”
“You mean the sister you sat on this morning.” Gen inserted.
“Yes.” Jamal answered in embarrassment.
Gen sent Jamal a question look.
“Don’t you have any friends you can ask to give you a lift?”
Jamal shook his head.
“You should know the answer to that. It’s just me and my family.”
Gen took a moment to look through Jamal’s memories.
“Wow. She really is a dragon mom. So you’re not allowed to go any were else by yourself besides from home?”
Jamal’s eyes were downcast. “Not according to my mom. I can technically try, but I don’t want to risk my mom finding out. She’ll yell at me if she finds out.”
”I’m sure she means well. The fact that she talks to you at all means she cares. She works from early morning to right before you come back from school, right? She’s probably just tired.”
“…”
Jamal staring at the ground.
*BUZZZZZZZZ*
Gen pulled out her phone to see 10 short texts from her worried friend.
“I need to go. If you need me, you can text me.”
Jamal kept staring at the ground. “Right. See you next wee-“
“Hey Jamal!”
Jamal turned around to see Craig approaching him like a best friend being reunited after many years.
“C-craig… What are you doing here?”
“Remember that favor you owe me? Let me tell you about it before my bus leaves.”
Jamal glanced back Gen. She, for her part, was already a few feet away from Jamal, so she pretended that she is not paying attention by texting back her friend on her phone. Amazingly, despite the rumors about her and Jamal, Craig doesn’t notice Gen.
“Sure…” Jamal reluctantly relents.
Craig, who never considered that anyone was listening in, explained his plan to Jamal in the middle of the crowd. “Alright so… You know about my twin sister Craicy?”
Jamal scratched the back of his head. “I think?... I heard of her… But I don’t think I met her before.”
“Alright, so… My sister has been feeling unhappy about her life lately and I think your magic trick can cheer her up.”
“Um… How do I do that?”
Craig glanced back as the school buses. The ones up front just started leaving.
“I gotta to catch my bus. Can I have your phone number so I can text you the plan later?”
Feeling a little confused and curious, Jamal complied. “Okay…”
Craig pulled out his phone and Jamal quickly typed in his phone number.
Craig put away his phone. “Okay. I need to go. Remember that favor!”
He then ran off to his bus. He managed to make is just before it could drive away.
Gen had a confused look on her face. "That guy is Craicy's brother?"
"I guess so." Jamal casually replied.
"Oh..." Gen shuffled her feet uncomfortably.
A awkward silence was shared between the both of them.
Gen put away her phone. “I need to go too. My friend is getting inpatient.”
“Alright. We can talk later.”
Gen nodded as she ran off to the parking lot.
Jamal just stood there at the front of the school alone. With the buses gone, the only other people in the front are either people who missed their buses, or people who are staying for after school activities.
Feeling numb by the day’s events, Jamal decided to walk home…
_____
The 1's note to Twendos: Sorry for taking so long. I plan on writing another chapter. Hopefully, it won't take nearly as long this time. Hope you can wait!