We ended up binging the night away with The 100, Parks & Rec, Dark Matter, and arguing about who the best character was ("Emori is underrated!"; "Ya'll are dumb, Andy is clearly the smartest out of all of us!", which wasn't a lie; "FIVE IS LITERALLY THE BEST JUST TRY TO CHANGE MY MIND I DARE YOU!", yeah that last one was from me). It was fun.

That is, until the snack supply ran out.

Everyone immediately pointed fingers at Skye and Gracie, because duh. They lived for food.

I couldn't stop myself. If Lyn were here, she'd be able to magic more food to us.

That thought echoed in my mind until the rest of the night blurred together, and before I knew it, my eyes fluttered open as I stared up at a white ceiling. 

I listened to the gentle breathing of my friends around me, the occasional mumbling from each of them. My arm was laying above my head, and I felt a bit overheated.

I felt even more so when I realised my head was laying on someone's stomach.

Please just be the dog. Please just be the dog. 

For hell's sake, please be the damn dog.

Of course, this is real life we're talking about. Wishes only come true in stories or movies.

Funny. We have literal superpowers, our lives are already something straight out of Wattpad. Why would thinking "wishes are only for fairytales" make any sense in this situation?

I realised I was distracting myself from reality, yet again.

I anxiously tilted my head to see the sleeping form of a person above me on the bed. She was still asleep, and the long brown hair shielding her face from my view gave me a hint at who it was.

Forgetting my whole mission here was stealth, I scrambled off my friend, feeling my face go red. Hells' sake, Gyps. You're losing it. Stop being awkward.

What is wrong with me?

Surprisingly, none of my friends stirred. In fact, the only movement from the others was Skye groaning, rolling over to be closer to Gracie and muttering something that sounded like "stuff you, that cereal is mine."

I rolled my eyes affectionately. What a nutcase. That's why we love her.

I stepped around the crinkled chip bags and glanced at Casey's analog clock pinned high and proud on the wall. Nine in the morning.

Makes sense, but I thought I would've slept for longer. All of us had stayed up until one, after all.

Hmm. I'll worry about it later. I need to sort myself out first, before solving magical teenager sleep schedules.

Muted sunlight filled the corridor outside when I opened the bedroom door. I still felt the sides of my neck burning from how I had woken up.

Maybe cold water would help. Splashing it on my face would cool my skin, and drinking it might calm the butterflies that were trying to rip apart my ribcage, along with my heart.
I cringed. Ew ew ew. What a teenager sentence. What am I, a purple prose writer now? My younger self would be ashamed of me.

This all must just be my hormones messing with me.

I was not allowed to get awkward around my friends like that again.

I made it to the bathroom, muttering curses when I stumbled in like a drunkard. I wasn't thinking straight.

Oh, the irony.

Straight.

That was my whole dilemma, you see. All my life I realised I never once thought a boy was cute or "hot", like my other friends (obviously not the ones in Case's room, or Lyn for that matter – apart from Skye and Grace, they all refrained from drooling over any "cute" stranger they passed by. All of us made a pact: sisters before misters. Even Lily, who had a boyfriend herself at that time), and I had never found anything attractive in the opposite gender.

I flicked the tap on, wincing when the handle gave a loud squeak in feedback from getting abused by my fingers. 

The water poured out and my fingers danced, manipulating it as easily as fire melting ice.

I sighed in contentment when the water splashed against my face and neck, calming the skin. Twirling my fingers, the water rushed into a nearby mug, which I grabbed and downed.

I heard footsteps behind me and whirled around to find Oreo padding through the house, the dappled sunlight bursting from the thick clouds and through the window making her black and white fur glow.

She hissed at me before rubbing against my leg, making me chuckle. Cats are insane.

Oreo got up on hind legs and pawed at the mug, knocking it over. I caught the water before it made a mess and held it in the air, letting Oreo lap it up as if it were in a bowl.

"Morning Gyps," a voice from the corridor yawned. 

"Hi Ms Dustin," I replied, thankful that my legs were shielding the sight of levitating water. I carefully released my grip on the liquid, letting it slowly fall until Oreo was satisfied. 

"I never noticed that before," I nodded at a picture hanging on the wall depicting two cowboys wielding lassos.

"Yeah, we got it from William's mother. He never liked it," Casey's mum stated, turning her attention to the aforementioned painting.

I quickly dumped what was left of the levitating water down the drain. 

"Cya!" I cheerily departed and skipped down the corridor back to Case's room, my before awkwardness and anger gone.

I burst into the room to find most of my friends already up. Skye was still asleep, but no surprise there. Aaaand Gracie was drawing on her face.

No surprise there either.

"Where were ya?" Lily asked, stretching in the manner that reminded me of a cat.

"I went to get some water," I explained. "Mary almost caught me, but I used my super stealth skills to divert her attention before it was too late."

Grace snorted from the floor.

"Oh hush," I slapped her shoulder playfully.

"Idiot! You ruined my drawing! I'll never forgive you!" She gasped dramatically, putting the back of her hand to her forehead as she fell on the bed.

I had indeed messed up her drawing; she had been creating a lovely masterpiece of a moustache above Skye's lip, and now one of the outlines spiked past her cheek. Darn.

The rough movement made the girl in question stir, rubbing her eyes.

"Why all the yelling? It's like five in the morning," she groaned.

I smirked. "It's fifteen past nine, but alright."

She pat her mouth as she yawned, and immediately the rest of us burst into laughter.

"What the–" Skye cut herself off, dangerously putting a finger to her lip, then drawing it back and looking at it. The ink came with her finger.

"Oh my god," she groaned, making the rest of us lose it.

I slapped a high five with Grace, then chucked an empty chip bag at Skye.

"Abuse!" She gasped melodramatically, emphasising the second syllable of the word. "Y'all are so rude!"

Gracie rolled her eyes. "We'll get it off later," she sighed. 

"Who's down for more tv?" Case asked, grabbing the remote from the desk

"Hell yeah!" We all quietly cheered, and Case switched on the show to resume our morning of fun and laughter.

<⚙︎>

The rest of the morning made me forget why I had woken up in such a nervous mess. 

But regardless, there was still a thought plaguing me. It was quiet, creeping silently at the back of my mind. It was lurking, and sometimes I almost forgot about it, but it wouldn't go away.

I was not allowed to like girls.