The next day, Taeyeon had once again woken up later for school. This time though it wasn’t because of her reoccurring nightmares, she just genuinely felt exhausted. She took a deep breath of the dusty apartment and thought “Using magic really takes a toll on the body, doesn’t it? I should probably try to limit my uses until Ghost begins training me.” She left her room with no rush as she had already decided to once again visit McDonald’s for breakfast, this time she had her mind set on a couple of golden hash browns. She approached the dining table whipping away the drool from the corner of as she thought about those delicious hash browns. She noticed a note on the table that read:

“Tae, since you forgot your wallet yesterday I wouldn’t be surprised if you did it again. So here’s $10 for your breakfast. Have a good day at school and stay safe. I'm job hunting today so wish me luck!

P.S DON’T BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!

-Shinju :D”

“Shinju?” Taeyeon thought. It had been a while since Ghost had used his real name, that even with Taeyeon’s brilliant mind, she had almost forgotten it. She could already feel the trust strengthening between them and began to wonder when she could once and for all uncover the truth about her parents. Were they a part of this magical world? Were they powerful mages? More and more thoughts began to circulate within Tae’s mind. The possibilities of how her parents were involved with magic were endless, there was even a chance they had no ties to magic and simply abandoned her when she was little. But Tae shook her head, “There must be a reason why they had to leave so suddenly.” However, there was no time to think about this, as she had already missed the first period at school. “Oh , best be on my way. Hopefully I'll get to see that cutie Tiff.”

She made her way to the McDonald’s, this time with money in hand and prepared to pay with her own finances. She walked over to the counter and ordered the two crispy hash browns she had been craving all morning. She picked up her order and there was still no sign of the eye smiling beauty. “Hmm, was I too late this morning?” Tae wondered. She made her way to the condiments section before leaving, but as she squirted out a dollop of ketchup two hands blind her from behind. As an instant reaction, she elbows the person behind her, not even knowing who those soft hands belonged to. “Aishh, I try to say hi and this is your response.” Tiff scoffed with anger evident in her pouty expression.

“Who blinds people they’ve met once? For all I know you could have been a ert.” Taeyeon rebuts.

“And if I am?” Tiffany suggests give a quick wink. Taeyeon froze at this remark, she had not expected her comment to backfire so quickly. Tae’s face had transitioned from a milky white to a deep rose red. “Damn Taeyeon, I was just kidding. Don’t get too shy on me.” Tiffany tease while showing off her signature eye smile.

“Pfft, I wasn’t getting shy.”

“Then why’s your face so red?”

“It’s hot in here…” Before Taeyeon could even finish her sentence, Tiff cut her off.

“We’re in New York, in the winter. It’s not hot at all.”

“What do you want me to say then? You’re hot? Please, don’t flatter yourself so much Tiff.” And to make sure Tae’s face wouldn’t reveal the truth once again, she dashed to the exit. “Hey wait, for me!” Tiff eagerly rushed behind her. “This girl, could she be any more obvious.” Tiffany thought.

Taeyeon didn’t stop running until she had reached the school, fearing she would expose too much about her crush for Tiff. She finally made it to her third-period classroom and nope, there weren’t any green robed men this time. Just Sunny reading books, and yes books plural. A whole stack of them, in fact, had been placed on the desk beside her, she seemed to be skimming through each book like a flipbook. “Sunny, what are you doing?” Taeyeon couldn’t pinpoint exactly what Sunny was achieving by flipping through the thick books, so she had no choice but to ask.

“Studying.”

“By flipping through a textbook in a second? How does that work?” Sunny stopped her constant page flipping and looked over at Tae with a blunt look.

“I guess we can both do extraordinary things that can’t really be explained. Can’t we Tae?”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been researching all I can find about adrenaline and other hormones that could push people beyond ordinary limits, how its help people do extraordinary actions. But in most cases, it runs out fairly quickly once the mind has calmed down. Your sudden bursts of strength, speed and precision makes no biological sense Tae. Believe me, I’ve searched for a reason.” Taeyeon took a closer glance at the stack of books and realized they were all about hormones and rapid reactions.

“It could just be all down to luck then?” Taeyeon suggested.

“It could be, but besides from being able to comprehend information at a blinding speed, I’m also able to perceive people’s slight body languages that express when they’re lying. And Tae, you have a horrible poker face.”

“Sunny look…”

“No it’s cool.” Taeyeon was surprised, she was expecting a full blown interrogation about to commence from the other girl.

“Clearly it’s a big secret and you’re not quite ready to share with me, probably because we only met yesterday. But I have two things to say before I just let this slide. Number 1: If its drugs, stop taking it or at least give it to me so we can work out any dangerous side effects. And Number 2: Don’t lie to me, there’s no point because I can always tell.” Sunny flashed a smile in anticipation for Tae’s response. It was clear to Tae that Sunny also had an amazing mind and that trying to hide anything from her would be futile. So she decided to just be truthful, but still withhold key information, like magic is real of course. “It’s not a drug Sunny I swear. There are no major health issues except probably exhaustion, but I’m working on fixing that. For now, that’s all you need to know, but thanks for concern and not pestering me about it.” Sunny seemed satisfied with the response and signaled Taeyeon to sit next to her, at the desk with a huge stack of books. "Well make that strength useful and take these back to the library." Sunny laughed at Taeyeon's shocked expression.

The third period ended, and everyone was once again assembling at the hall. With all the obstacles removed from the area, the hall seemed even bigger than yesterday, and the crowd’s voices echoed constantly throughout the room. “Sunny, what are we doing here? I thought we had Chemistry next?”

“Today’s 'Choose your Club Day' Taeyeon. Everyone needs to pick a club to do every Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.”

“I’ve never really been into joining social clubs, probably because I’m really antisocial.”

“Don’t worry Tae, most clubs are chill. As long as you don’t enter any sports clubs.” Right when Sunny had said that, it became apparent to Tae that all the sport clubs captains were eyeing her every move. “Umm, why are they all looking at me?”

“This is high school Tae, word travels fast. Especially about an extreme gifted athlete, all the clubs want you in. My suggestion is don’t join any of them.”

“Got something agains