Night cloaked West Base, cold and grey. Ali gazed across the expansive runway that served as a lawn, meeting area, and take-off. Bleak weather seemed to fit his mood.

He lowered himself into a sitting position up against a wall, hugging his knees up against his chest, and cradling his head on his arms.

The guards moved about, oblivious to his presence. What was new? Ali was ignored by the adults and hated by the boys. Oh, and, he might as well add on the fact that he was mobbed by all the girls.

So he’d mastered the art of illusions. He could cloak himself in invisibility, making himself appear as though he wasn’t there. All anyone could see should they look at him was whatever was behind him. He was see-through, in essence.

Sometimes he enjoyed it. People could still hear sounds through the illusion, so occasionally, if he was feeling down, he’d scare his sister or his parents. Or one of the staff members. Really, they were all fun to frighten. And usually, they’d laugh about it when they realized they’d been had.

But today, he wasn’t invisible because of that. He just didn’t want to be found. He knew that he, Alonzo, and Hanna would need to be heading out soon, but the other two weren’t awake yet, and he hadn’t been able to sleep.

He laughed softly, careful not to be loud enough to let the guards, who were standing a few yards away, overhear him. It was 0200 hours. Not likely anyone but the night watchmen would be out this early.

Someone walked over to where he was sitting.

It was Alonzo.

Ali flinched, surprised.

His friend shouldn’t have been awake. Ali had been staying with Alonzo last night, and when he’d snuck out five minutes ago, Alonzo had been sound asleep. Well, it appeared that someone was a very good faker.

He knew it was no use trying to hide. Alonzo had shown a special affinity for piercing through illusion. He couldn’t be tricked.

Ali didn’t understand their abilities, really.

Only his dad was magic. His mom couldn’t do anything with a spell. Ali’s teachers said that he had magical creatures in his family line. That his mom had just been skipped or that her magic was dormant and sometimes magic did that. He and Hanna had just happened to be the next group in their line to be picked.

And Alonzo? The half-Spanish, half-English boy was an anomaly. As far as could be told, his parents weren’t magic, and no one in his lineage was. So where he’d gotten his magic, no one knew. It seemed to have shown up unexpectedly and with no explanation.

But Alonzo wasn’t complaining, and neither was Ali.

“Hey. What’re you doing up, Ali?” Alonzo sat down on the ground next to him, rubbing sleep from tired eyes.

Ali shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep. You?”

Alonzo gave him a sharp glance. “No. I could’ve. But you came out here, and I figured maybe something was wrong. So I came to check up on you.”

Ali grimaced. “Nothing to check up on, as you can see, Alonzo.”

“Hey. What’s going on between you and Hanna, Ali? You two used to be so close, and now, it’s like you can’t look each other in the eye without fighting.” Alonzo picked at the grass between his crossed legs.

“I don’t get it, ‘Lonzo! It’s like she hates me! I just want her to tell me why she’s so upset with me, but she refuses and when I push, she gets all quiet and sometimes, I think she's going to cry. I don't know what I'm doing wrong!” Ali burst out.

His friend looked up, startled. “Ali!” He hissed. “Keep it down a bit. The guards are staring.”

“They can’t see me.” Ali muttered, playing with a blade of grass he’d picked.

“Yeah, well, they can see me, and they’re going to start thinking I’m off my head if you start yelling and I’m talking to thin air.” Alonzo whispered.

“Nah. They’d know someone was playing with magic. We’re on a magical, training Base, Alonzo. Not only that, they can hear me talking if I'm close enough or loud enough.” Ali dropped the grass, fiddling with the buttons on his jacket.

“Look, do me a favor. Shimmer back into visibility or whatever it is you do.” Alonzo waved a hand at the guards. “That way, they know who I’m talking to, and no one gets too curious about us.”

“Fine.” Ali muttered a few words under his breath, and Alonzo saw the bubbly, shimmery quality disappear.

He sighed. “Thanks. Man, the shimmering, bubbly looks illusions give to people and things are seriously creepy.”

“Sorry.” Ali gave Alonzo a grin. “But, really, do I actually look shimmery and bubble when I’m under an illusion?”

Alonzo shuddered a bit. “Yeah. And it’s so totally unnerving that I can barely handle it. Nearly makes me sick. But at least it’s just the illusions.”

This time, Ali was sincere. “Oh, wow. I’m sorry. I didn’t know illusions did that to you. Why didn’t you say something? No wonder you didn’t take the illusions class.”

Alonzo’s cheeks flamed. “Uh… Yeah… But that had a bit more to do with the fact that I’m really bad at illusions… And… I didn’t want everyone to know it…” He muttered. His cheeks were crimson and the color in them deepened as he whispered the next words. “And… Your sister’s in that class… And I didn’t really want her to see how bad I was at it.” He looked up into Ali’s face.

Seeing his bemused expression, Alonzo added. “I mean, that’s not the only reason. They tested me before they allowed me to opt out of that class. And the teacher… uh…” his eyes dropped to the ground. “Totally refused to teach me, point blank. I was… really bad.” Alonzo admitted, face and neck red now.

Ali laughed hard. He doubled over, fighting for breath. When he finally caught it, he managed to wheeze out, “So, you… Like… Didn’t take the illusion class because you were… afraid you might embarrass yourself in front of… Hanna! How long have you liked her, ‘Lonzo?”

Alonzo bit the inside of his cheek. “Since I was probably… twelve… But I wasn’t serious then. It was just a crush… Now though…”

Ali looked at him, eyes wide, grinning. “Alonzo, you’ve got to be one of the best actors I know. All these years, and neither of us have had any idea. I mean… Come on. All the other boys on Base? They can hardly keep their mouths shut around her, and you’ve managed to act oblivious for years.”

Alonzo bit his lip, fiddling with a coin he’d pulled out of his coat pocket. “That’s ridiculous. I’m no actor. I just… I was too embarrassed by my feelings to say anything.” He looked up at Ali, holding his best friend’s gaze with his bottomless brownish black eyes. “Don’t you dare say anything to Hanna, Ali! I don’t want her to know about this. Especially when we’re going into a dangerous situation. I mean… Like… I do want her to know how I feel, but I don’t want you to tell her. I want to show her my own way.”

Ali grinned. “Alright! Have it your way, Alonzo. Mum’s the word. Besides, might be amusing to see how you tell her. And even more amusing to watch her reaction.”

Alonzo’s complexion had been going back to normal, but at this latest jibe from Ali, he blushed. “Yeah, sure.” As if he was going to let Ali stick around while he told Hanna.

Too embarrassing to even contemplate. I'd probably die of embarrassment if he was watching when I told her the truth about how I feel about her. Alonzo made a sour face.

Ali clapped him on the back. “I’m not trying to be mean, Alonzo. I’m just a bit shocked, that’s all. Sorry.”

Alonzo smiled weakly. “Sure thing, Ali. Why don’t we go inside and get some sleep?” He yawned. “We need our rest for tomorrow, and we have to be up in another two hours.”

Ali nodded. “Okay. Guess we should go inside.” His eyelids dropped a bit. The effects of lying awake all night were finally getting to him.

He didn’t really want to sleep, though. He didn’t much like the dark, suffocating interior of West Base. He never had. Even as child, Ali had disliked sleeping indoors. The guards had caught him walking around outdoors looking for a better, less enclosed spot to sleep when he was around five or six.

Add in the factor that he tended to sleepwalk, and his parents had been forced to lock the door to the sleeping quarters when he was too little to know better than to leave the room and walk around outside.

Alonzo was right though. They needed their sleep, and he was more tired than he’d thought.

The two boys walked inside. As soon as they reached their bunks, they collapsed into them, and fell into a deep sleep.