"-and t-that's how the use of metaphor contributes to the overall message of the poem," I say, switching to the final slide.

You did fine. Smile and look past them.

I stare out at the class, most of whom are clapping in the resigned manner that accompanies the sixteenth-or-so presenter of the day. I pinch one hand with the other, trying not to feel the weight of all of their eyes.

They are not staring at you out of malice. It's just a presentation.

I sit back down, practically crashing into my desk, and the grinding noise of desk on floor prompts several people to look my way. I think if I could shrink into myself, I would, but I'm sitting here reminding myself over and over that I don't care, it doesn't affect me, they're not out to get me and my brain is ignoring it. Eventually, calm comes, in part because I reach into my bag and clutch the moonstone.

You survived. It's over.

I feel a light smile play at my face, born out of relief. If you had told me three months ago that I'd have a magical being assisting me with schoolwork, my mind would have jumped to cheating or full-on possession. Shiloh doesn't do either of those (thankfully). He's just there to center me. It's not a perfect fix, but hey, some things you have to work out on your own. I just need a little push.

One desk down, putting his feet up in front of the vacant chair in front of him, is Evan Drake. I get the uncanny impression that he's staring at me. I don't think I've ever seen him paying attention in class, and I'm honestly not sure what to make of him, but I'm even less sure why my brother hangs out with him.

During the remaining few minutes of class, I sketch down some concepts I'd been working on for a new comic, not that I had any old comics. Several mutants, including 'the bird kid' and the 'lizard guy' mentioned in Amanda and I's brilliant cover up, smile back at me from the pages. Sometimes I reference action poses from the group, although Garrett and Amanda are also a priceless well of facial expressions.

You should show them, says a voice in my head, although I have no clue if it's Shiloh or the budding part of me with a semblance of self-esteem.

Not in a million years.

Your loss.

Okay, so maybe Amanda. No one else, though.

Adam and I don't meet at the corner anymore, so I don't even feel guilty when I sneak away without so much as a message. The group is already waiting for me in the lair, sitting on some of the now normal-shaped pillows that seem to be multiplying every time we leave.

"You're sure there's no way to use it offensively?" Karen says, headlocking her pillow. "Can't you just... suck up things and never shoot them out?"

Garrett shakes his head. "It's like a Chinese finger trap. Or a pool tube. Maybe both. I can stretch or squeeze it, angle it however I want, bend it, but I can't create a portal without an exit."

"What if you made it a loop?" Karen suggests.

"Then it would have no entrances."

"Can you fold it into itself to another point besides the entrance?" Amanda asks.

"What?"

"Fold it into itself." Amanda demonstrates with her hands. "Liiike a B."

Garrett wrinkles his eyebrows up, a barely discernible motion through his large, pointed glasses (which are still as ridiculous as when I saw them the first time). Slowly, he shakes his head again.

"Guess you really did get the lamest powers," Karen says, rolling her eyes.

"Thanks." Garrett sighs. "Look, Shiloh, not that I don't appreciate being here, but maybe I could- I mean, I'm just dragging the team down."

"I wouldn't have chosen you if you weren't important, Garrett." Shiloh responds, trotting out of the corner. "This group is heavy on the offense, so they need someone to help them pull back. I have full confidence you'll figure out how to use your ability for offensive and defensive purposes as you continue your training."

"Momentum." Amanda says.

"What?" asks Garrett.

"You've played Portal, haven't you? Don't tell me the second biggest nerd here hasn't."

"Ooooh. Oh." Garrett says. "Oh." He stands up and forms a square with his hand, just beyond which manifest one portal overhead and one portal closer to our toes. He then drops in an apple from his pocket, which begins to fall through the portals over and over, going faster and faster, and then with an upwards swing of his hand, Garrett re-angles the upper portal so that it launches the apple across the room, where it explodes against the wall. He and Amanda high-five.

"I'm guessing we'll need something a little more lethal than an apple. What about a large metal ball?" asks Amanda.

"Woah, woah, we're not going to kill him." Garrett says, backing up. He looks to me, concerned, and asks, "Right?"

I put my hands up defensively. "I don't condone murder."

"Launch me, then." Amanda says. "I am all for tackling Ignatius."

"Right, if we're not killing him, killing ourselves it out of the question." Karen says.

"Speaking of powers, how's the technopathy coming?" I ask Karen, with an eager smile. I am very excited to talk about something that isn't murder.

Karen purses her lips. She shrugs, "I guess it's coming. I don't think I can do much with it yet that I couldn't do with electrokinesis or my hands, but as soon as I figure out how to get through basic security protocol or into the power grid, then we'll be cooking with fire."

"H-ha. Basic security protocol?" Garrett asks. "You're joking, right? You can- but it would take years of coding, along with a lot of frankly illegal activity, to-" Garrett throws his hands out.

Karen rolls her eyes. "Me? Illegal activity? Look, I can't even do HTML. It's more similar to a physical muscle. The more I use it, the better it works, so on and so forth."

"But you don't think you'd use it for anything dangerous, do you?"

"I'm not an idiot, Garrett, and you're not my keeper." Karen's death grip on the pillow intensifies. "If I figure out how to use it to our advantage, I will, but otherwise, I'm not going to touch it. Plus, what would I use it for?" They exchange a look, and Karen glares back at him. "Don't answer that. Amanda, how are your powers developing?"

Amanda swings the brush around a few times with all the practiced grace of someone who has done color guard since elementary school. I consider asking her if she's ever tried it, but I never went to anything that would explain my proficiency with this shield, either.

"I know there has to be some way to draw with this thing. Once I figure it out, it'll be goodbye Ignatius and hello tricorns."

"What's a tricorn?" I ask.

"It's a three-horned unicorn."

"Mhm. Where do the extra horns go, exactly?" Karen reaches into her pocket for her phone.

"In the eyeholes, obviously."

"Then how does it see?" asks Garrett.

Amanda knocks herself on the head with the pole end of the brush. "It doesn't need to see! It's a three horned unicorn! Its bloodlust will lead it straight to its victims."

Karen mutters, "Good grief. Aright, Will, any developments you'd like to share while we're going around?"

"I'm sticking with Luna," I announce. "No power developments, though I think this is pretty self explanatory. It's a shield. Sometimes it's a little cold, I guess?" I'm met with total silence. I bury into my pillow and pretend that I was in no way involved with the now-dying conversation.

"Okay." Amanda says at last. "See, I was thinking CMYK. Like, you know, the ink colors."

"Like, no, we don't." Karen says.

"Like maybe you should? Geez, tough crowd."

Something pinches my back and I swing around to see a golem-like cactus, about three feet tall and covered in tiny bristles, standing over me. It's the same kind as the ones in Ignatius's house, and I have no doubt that these are the minions Ignatius created right before we escaped. "It's battle time," Shiloh explains. I'm almost grateful for the distraction. The pillows disappear beneath us and I fall onto my chest.

My shield makes a discontented screeching noise as I drag it along the ground to pull myself up. Amanda and Garrett get straight to it, with Garrett attempting to use the new portal trick to no avail before giving up and going back to his halberd.

Karen shocks several, but the succulents, feisty creatures that they are, don't seem to mind. "Damnit, Garrett, pass me a halberd."

He shoots one through the air and Karen sloppily tries to dice them. They're faster than they look, and we're ducking around them more than fighting them, but I'm thrilled to get a few good shots in. My shield has a way of aiming true, and surprisingly, each time I go to pick up the shield it feels colder in my hands. The sensation is muffled by the gloves, but frost is definitely forming around the ridge. What do you know? The thing aims better and hits harder every time.

"Get ready for winter," I say, bowling another succulent over.I was hoping to knock it back, but the shield cleaves through its 'head' instead and it stops moving.

"Are we doing one-liners now?" says Amanda, thrilled.

"No," say Karen and Garrett at once.

Shiloh nods as Garrett dispenses of the last one and they all disappear into thin air. "Not bad."

"Let me guess. We're going to have to try to defeat Ignatius again, aren't we?" asks Karen.

"I've been leaving it up to you guys for a reason. I honestly can't recommend you go if you don't feel ready, but I also have to admit that the longer you leave this man alone the more powerful he will become." Shiloh says.

"It's time." I say. "Two weeks, no more. We knock this out together." I put my hand out, and Amanda puts hers over it. Garrett and Karen join up and Shiloh puts himself on his haunches so that he can reach his paw into our little handpile. "We've got this."

Nothing happens. We stand there for a while, waiting for someone to call something, and Amanda yells, "Tricorns!" and lifts her hand out. "Bye!"

"Tricorns it is?" I say. "I've got to go study for quarter exams. I don't know about you guys."

"Tricorns." agrees Garrett. "And exams. Maybe some Portal, now that I'm in the mood. See ya."

Karen watches him leave, fist clenched, and when it's just her and I in the room, she adds, "Total idiot. I'm not going to break into a bank or something, I was thinking at worst that I could switch off the cameras in the area so we didn't have to risk the Neighborhood Watch. Or you know..." she pauses. "Look. I had to get these powers for some reason."

I look for Shiloh for support, but I can't find him. Instead, I nod dumbly.

"You trust me, right?"

Another nod.

She nods back, then an uneasy smile flits across her face. "Right. Let's go save the world, Luna."

The walk home is short, but it feels like an eternity going up the stairs. My parents are downstairs, talking and working on dinner together (which is one of the few things we do as a family, besides maybe church). The smell is tempting but I throw myself onto my bed and spread my books around the mattress and begin studying. Shiloh's presence fills me with confidence, a direct antithesis to the dread I usually feel at this time of year. I might get one A- maybe even two- and if that's not magic, I don't know what is.

"What are you doing?" asks Adam, legs crossed on the bed. He has his phone held over his head.

"Studying. What are you doing?"

"Also studying." he says.

"Right," I say.

"I'm serious." he says. He gestures to his books, arranged in a parallel structure to mine.

"I think I'm going to do well this time," I say, gingerly brushing through my math textbook. "Seriously. This year has been such a rollercoaster but I think I've finally figured things out."

"Me too." Adam says. "This has been good for both of us. Being our own people. I dunno."

"Totally," I say. You don't know the half of it. "Thanks for coming to Naval Brigade, by the way. Again."

"Oh." he laughs. He's got kind of this cruel, harsh edge to it, so that it seems condescending, or maybe just older. Tired. "Thanks for the invite. Sorry I never gave your nerd stuff a chance. Kind of a dick move."

"It's fine," I say, and we return to peaceful, mutual silence.

I keep running over that laugh in my mind, as if something is off about it, like I could replay it backwards and discern some subliminal messaging out of such a small gesture. Honestly? Maybe it's that I don't get much out of Adam, because I don't know why else it sticks with me so long.