The ride to school the next morning gives me a crazy sense of deja vu.

I feel tense and uncomfortable. The Windsong uniforms are the worst. I’m practically sitting on the edge of my seat so I’m as far away from Taehyung as possible. The only difference is that it’s not the first of day of school and it’s freezing cold outside.

The tension in the air is so uncomfortable it’s suffocating.

Suddenly, I feel something hit my arm. I look over with furrowed eyebrows- and then look up at Taehyung in surprise.

"Is this an amulet?" I ask. It's beautiful- a thin gold chain with a glowing red pendant hanging off the end.

“It’s for your protection,” he replies, his eyes focused straight ahead. “A lot more powerful than that street trinket you’re wearing.”

My hands defensively fly up to my choker. “This isn’t just a street trinket.”

“Whatever. Just put it on.”

With difficulty, I try to latch the necklace on. This is unfortunately a difficult feat to accomplish when you’re sitting in a car. An exasperated sigh escapes my lips as the amulet slips off for the fourth time.

“I’ll just ask Dev to put it on at school,” I mutter.

Taehyung finally turns to look at me. His gaze is withering, condescending enough to reduce me to the trash under his foot. “Come here,” he commands.

When I reluctantly shrink away from him, his jaw clenches. “Now.”

I scoot towards him, my stomach twisting in trepidation. The unexpectedly gentle way he pushes my hair to the side causes a jolt of surprise to run through me; I hold my breath as Taehyung fixes the amulet on my neck. Goosebumps prickle at the back of my neck as his fingers linger on my skin.

For a moment, we are both still.

Then I murmur, “Thanks,” and slide away from him.

There is an unreadable expression in Taehyung’s eyes as he watches me. If the driver hadn’t cleared his throat and announced, “We’re here,” then I don’t know what he would’ve done.

“You look frazzled,” Dev says as I join him and Tom in front of the lockers in the main hallway.

“Oh, uh, really? Just... nervous to be back, I guess.”

“How was your first night back at the Kim Residence?”

I shoot him a wry look. “Well, Taehyung didn’t throw my bags into the pool this time, so that was a plus.”

“Well, as long as all your clothes are still intact.”

“Yeah, Lucy looked like she was going to beat up Taehyung after he did that.” I scan the crowd of students. “Where is she anyway?”

“If she doesn’t get here by first period, we’re going to her house,” Dev says. “I’m seriously concerned about her. Honestly, I’m tempted to make her move in with me until I’m convinced she’s okay again.”

“That’s not a bad idea. Man, I’m so-,”

Suddenly, Tom gasps. Dev and I look at him in confusion.

“What?” I ask.

“Look,” he murmurs, his eyes glued on something on the other side of the hallway.

I turn around.

My jaw drops.

Lucy- or at least, I think that’s Lucy- is walking towards us, her backpack slung over a shoulder. Everyone around her stares in shock as she passes them. I don’t blame them at all- she looks like a completely different person.

Her long, waist-length black hair has been chopped to her shoulders and dyed a light brown. She’s wearing heavy eyeliner, her skirt’s hiked up way too far above her knee and her uniform shirt’s untucked and she doesn’t look like she gives a damn about anything and what the actual , this cannot be Lucy Chen, the poised, quiet, studious Lucy Chen, what the hell is going on?!

“What the actual ,” Dev breathes.

“Morning,” Lucy says monotonously.

“Lucy,” I say, forcing myself to keep my voice steady. “I... what?”

“Are you okay?” Tom demands, grabbing her hands. “We need to talk- we’re all really worried about you, Luce-,”

“Calm down,” Lucy says, snatching her hands away from his grip. “I just wanted a change.”

“A change? But...,” I nervously look at Dev and Tom. “I mean... you look good. I- we’re just... not used to seeing you like this.”

“Mmm.” Lucy opens her locker and puts her books in as we (along with the rest of the students in the hallway) watch her in utter astonishment. My phone buzzes with a text- I check the screen.

Sofia: Yo wtf is up with Lucy, literally no one will shut up about her. Wtf is going on

Joo: just see her for yourself

A few minutes later, when Sofia and her friends “coincidentally” walk through the main hallway, they gawk just as much as everyone else.

My phone buzzes once again.

Sofia: YO HOLY

Joo: I KNOW.... she said she just wanted a change??

Sofia: UHHHH..... I MEAN.... SHE LOOKS REALLY HOT?

I look up. Sofia is giving me a look that screams what the ? I nod frantically, and then search her group for Jimin. He is nowhere to be found.

Joo: where’s jimin

Sofia: Idk... I think he came to school early for student council stuff

Joo: ah

Lucy seems utterly unfazed by all the attention she is receiving. After she retrieves her things, she emotionlessly says, “Let’s go to lab,” and heads down the hall. The crowd parts in her path.

“Let’s go, I guess,” I say under my breath.

That’s the only time I see Lucy all day. She’s MIA at lunch, the classes we share, and after school. Dev, Sofia, Jin, and Tom have no idea where she is, either. After texting and calling her a million times, she finally said went home early sorry in the group chat.

“I’m going to go track her down,” Dev says as we head to the parking lot. “You two can do your magic training. I’ll keep you updated.”

Tom nods. “See you tomorrow.”

“Okay, I don’t want to be paranoid, but isn’t a sudden change in appearance a sign that someone... you know...,” I wince. “Tom... we have to help her get her memories back.”

“Meena already explained why we can’t,” he says softly. “I hate it, too. But... this might be better than the alternative.”

“Really? Because this is pretty ing bad.”

“At least she’s not killing us.”

“Lucy wouldn’t do that even if she got her memories back.”

“Did you find Lucy yesterday?” Tom asks Dev. My eyes flicker to him as I pour hydrochloric acid into a molten quartz mixture.

Dev miserably shakes his head. “She wasn’t at home. I tried going around to our usual spots, but she wasn’t there, either. When I asked her about it in class today, she just said she was out.”

I check the clock on the wall. “It’s only 5 PM. Do you think she’ll be in the student council office right now?”

“I don’t know. We could check.”

“We might as well. These mixes have to set overnight, so there’s not much we could do here right now.”

Ten minutes later, the three of us are on our way to the student council office. I fling open the door, hoping to see Lucy sitting at her desk. Unfortunately, I am greeted with a bored-looking Jimin instead. His lips curl up into a wide grin when he sees us.

“Hey, guys,” he says in a warm voice. Disgust fills my stomach; after what I heard him say and threaten to do, his fake demeanor physically repulses me. However, I have to act nice to him so he doesn’t suspect anything. Unfortunately, I can only force myself to muster a half-assed smile that looks more like a grimace.

“How was your break?” Dev asks in a voice bordering on murderous at the same time as I say, “Have you seen Lucy?”

Jimin chuckles. “My break was great, and no, I haven’t seen Lucy. Actually, I haven’t seen her since we got back- well, except for once. I barely recognized her.”

Tom, Dev, and I exchange uneasy glances.

“So you three don’t know what’s going on with her, either,” Jimin says, watching us. “She didn’t come to the student council meeting last night, and she hasn’t been replying to my texts. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of her to neglect her duties.”

“We’ll ask her about it when we see her,” I say. “Uh, we’re going to head out now. See you.”

“Stay safe,” Jimin says with an innocent smile. “It’s pretty dangerous out there.”

“What?” Dev says, his fists clenched by his side.

“The weather. The roads are iced out. Watch out.”

Chills run down my spine. I can’t get out of the student council office fast enough. As I close the door, I swear I see Jimin laughing at us.

“What a ing psycho,” Dev breathes.

“I need pancakes,” Tom groans, burying his face in his hands.

Dev and I wholeheartedly agree. We end up driving to IHOP, where an exhausted waiter tiredly informs us that there’s a “buy-one-plate-get-one-free” offer going on, and to please let him know when we’re ready to order.

“Busy day?” I ask sympathetically.

The waiter, whose nametag reads Johnny, sighs. “Just a lot of customers.”

As if on cue, I hear loud roaring from the other side of the restaurant. A group of rambunctious children, accompanied by a beefy, equally loud woman, are crowded around a corner booth, causing utter chaos. I see mashed potatoes being flung at waiters, crayons being used to draw stick figures on the walls, and innocent passerby being tripped. Their mother isn’t doing anything about it- if anything, she’s contributing to the dysfunction. She’s currently yelling at a waiter about her food.

“Yeesh,” Dev says. “Sorry, man.”

“Eh, it’s okay. Some days are just like this. Can I get you three anything to drink?”

“We’ll have waters, please,” Tom quickly says, cutting me off. I turn to him in confusion as Johnny walks away.

“I could’ve told him that myself,” I say, but Tom rapidly shakes his head. There is a look of panic in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Dev says.

“Those aren’t kids over there,” Tom whispers furiously. “They’re imps.”

“Yeah, I know they’re out of control-,”

“No, dude. I mean they’re literally imps. The magical creatures.”

Me and Dev’s jaws drop.

Slowly, the three of us look over at the corner table. Half the children are now racing around the restaurant, cackling wildly.

“You can literally never avoid magic in this stupid city," I grumble.

A/N: i'm so sorry for the late update friends. if you didn't read my last update, i've recently been diagnosed with anemia, hypothyroid disease, and (just found this out last friday) polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). honestly......... i can't even stress enough how much it meant to me when all of you started commenting words of support after i posted that update. i posted that update chapter when i was super emotional and sad on the bus and i started CRYING when i read your comments lmao, i was SO moved and i'm just so grateful for having you guys in my life.

this thanksgiving, i am the most grateful for my family and friends. u know that expression like for every cloud theres a silver lining or every shadow has a sun or some bull like that..... ya thats been my life for the last few weeks.... i've been so scared of telling my friends about health/opening up about it because honestly? it's depressing. who the wants to hear abt having to take 4 different pills at different times every day and how all my meds are causing ty side effects? i didn't want to tell them or you guys bc i didn't want to burden y'all..... like it's just depressing lol. but wow...... after i finally opened up all of my friends have been so ing supportive and constantly checking up on me and just......... im SORRY to be a emo but i guess all of my happiness/gratefulness came to a capstone today when this guy randomly knocked on my door and was like "yes there is a cookie delivery for you" and one of my classmates had cookies delivered to me. also i've never had the best relationship with my family but this last month, they have been SO kind and supportive..... i'm shook lmao like #wow a civil conversation with my mom where both of us don't start screaming at each other after 2 seconds??!?!! what a concept!

anyway, i'm so ing touched and idk i was really happy and was like hey! i wanna write again! so yeah here we are :--) heres to hoping for triple updates this thanksgiving break!