Alex woke up to whispering.
At first he thought it was Marcus talking in his sleep—the guy had been muttering about "apple trajectory analysis" and "biodegradable combat techniques" when Alex went to bed. But this was different. Multiple voices. And they were coming from outside.
He rolled over and checked his phone. 6:47 AM.
Who's up this early?
The whispering got louder. Alex dragged himself to the window and peered through the blinds.
There were maybe twenty students clustered outside Building C, all looking up at his window. When they saw him, the whispers turned into excited murmurs.
"There he is!"
"He looks so normal."
"My sister says that's how all the really powerful mages are. They hide it."
Alex let the blinds snap closed and stumbled back to bed. "Marcus. Marcus, wake up."
"Hmm?" Marcus rolled over, his hair a mess.
"There are people outside our window."
"What people?"
"Students. They're staring at our room."
Marcus sat up and looked out the window. His face went pale. "Oh. Oh no."
"What?"
"They're here because of you."
"Why would they be here because of me?"
Marcus gave him a look. "You defeated me with an apple core yesterday. In front of half the academy."
"That wasn't half the academy. That was like... fifteen people."
"Fifteen people who have phones and social media accounts."
Alex groaned. "This is why I hate technology."
"The video already has three thousand views."
"What video?"
Marcus held up his phone. On the screen, Alex could see himself flicking the apple core with perfect accuracy while Marcus's fire tornado raged around him. The camera had somehow caught the moment of impact in slow motion.
"I look tired," Alex said.
"You look terrifyingly calm."
"I was tired and calm."
"That's not how everyone else sees it."
Alex watched himself on the tiny screen, dodging flames while eating an apple. "I really do look tired."
"The comments are calling you 'The Fruit Ninja.'"
"That's stupid."
"Some people think you're a secret government agent."
"That's even stupider."
Marcus scrolled through his phone. "Others think you're the lost heir to some ancient magical bloodline."
"Do I look like lost royalty to you?"
Marcus studied his face. "You look like you need coffee."
"Finally, someone who gets it."
They got dressed and tried to leave for breakfast, but the crowd outside had grown. Students parted as Alex walked by, some of them bowing slightly, others just staring.
"This is weird," Alex muttered.
"Just keep walking," Marcus whispered back.
They made it to the cafeteria without incident, but Alex could feel eyes on him the entire time. When they got in line for food, the lunch lady—a round woman with flour-dusted aprons—lit up.
"Oh my goodness! You're the apple core boy!"
"I guess?"
"Such creativity! Such innovation! Here, take extra bacon. Creative minds need protein."
She piled his plate high with enough food for three people. Alex stared at the mountain of eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns.
"This is a lot of food."
"You need to keep your strength up for all that apple throwing!"
"I only threw one apple core."
"Modesty! I love it!" She winked and handed him the plate. "There's fresh fruit at the end of the line. Apples are particularly good today."
Several students in line behind them snickered.
Alex and Marcus found a table in the corner, but it didn't help. Students kept walking by, pretending to go to the condiment station just to get a closer look.
"They're treating you like a celebrity," Marcus said.
"I don't want to be a celebrity."
"You probably should have thought of that before you revolutionized combat magic."
Alex paused with a forkful of eggs halfway to his mouth. "I revolutionized what?"
"That's what Professor Stone called it. 'Revolutionary application of everyday objects in combat scenarios.'"
"I threw garbage at you."
"Biodegradable waste," Marcus corrected. "You were very specific about that."
"Because it's true."
"Whatever it was, it worked."
Alex ate in silence for a few minutes, trying to ignore the stares. A girl with curly red hair approached their table nervously.
"Excuse me," she said. "Are you Alex Chen?"
"Unfortunately."
"I'm Emma. I was wondering..." She twisted her hands together. "Could you maybe help me with something?"
Alex looked at Marcus, who shrugged. "What kind of help?"
"I'm having trouble with my healing magic. It keeps going wrong. Like, really wrong. Yesterday I tried to heal a paper cut and accidentally gave someone a rash."
"That sounds like a you problem."
Emma's face fell. "Oh. Right. Sorry for bothering you."
She started to walk away, but something about her dejected posture made Alex feel bad. "Wait."
She turned back hopefully.
"I don't know anything about healing magic, but... sit down. Maybe we can figure something out."
Emma practically bounced into the chair across from him. "Really? Thank you so much!"
"Don't thank me yet. I might make it worse."
"I doubt that's possible."
Emma held out her hand. There was a small cut on her palm from a paper edge. "I've been practicing on this. Watch."
She placed her other hand over the cut and closed her eyes. A soft green light began to glow, but it flickered and sparked like a broken light bulb. The cut didn't heal—instead, the skin around it turned slightly blue.
"See?" Emma said miserably. "I can't control it."
Alex studied her hands. "What are you thinking about when you do it?"
"The spell components. The proper hand positions. The theoretical framework for cellular regeneration."
"That's a lot of thinking."
"Professor Martinez says healing magic requires precision and focus."
"Hmm." Alex looked at the cut again. "Can I try something?"
"You know healing magic?"
"Not really. But I know about being relaxed."
Alex gently took her injured hand. "Close your eyes."
"Okay."
"Don't think about spell components or frameworks or any of that stuff. Just... think about the cut getting better."
"That's it?"
"That's it. Like, imagine it's already healed. Don't force it, just... let it happen."
Emma's brow furrowed in concentration.
"You're thinking too hard," Alex said. "Pretend you're half asleep."
"Half asleep?"
"Yeah. Like when you're lying in bed and you're not quite awake but not quite asleep either. Everything's soft and warm and easy."
Emma's face relaxed. The green light appeared again, but this time it was steady and warm instead of flickering.
"That's better," Alex said. "Now just... let it do what it wants to do."
The cut began to close. Within seconds, it was completely healed, leaving only smooth skin behind.
Emma's eyes snapped open. "It worked!"
"Nice job."
"But I didn't do anything! I just... relaxed."
"Sometimes that's all you need."
Emma stared at her healed hand, then at Alex. "How did you know that would work?"
"I didn't. I just figured being stressed probably doesn't help with magic."
"But that's... that's not how they teach it here."
Alex shrugged. "Maybe they're overcomplicating it."
"You just revolutionized my entire approach to healing!"
"I told you to relax. That's not revolutionary."
But Emma was already gathering her things. "I have to go practice! Thank you so much!"
She hurried away, practically glowing with excitement.
Marcus stared at Alex. "You just fixed her magic."
"I told her to chill out."
"She's been struggling with healing spells for months. Professor Martinez was talking about transferring her to a different program."
"She was trying too hard."
"And you knew that how?"
Alex poked at his hash browns. "It seemed obvious."
"Obvious."
"When you're stressed, everything's harder. It's common sense."
Marcus was quiet for a long moment. "My family's spent generations developing our fire magic techniques. Rigorous training, precise control, endless practice."
"Okay?"
"You beat all of that with an apple core."
"And?"
"And now you just solved Emma's problem by telling her to relax."
"So?"
"So maybe..." Marcus paused. "Maybe you're not as average as you think."
Alex looked at him. "I'm really just average, Marcus."
"Right. Average."
Marcus was making air quotes again. Alex was starting to think everyone at this school was a little weird.