My arm clock buzzed and beeped incessantly. I groaned, rolling over in bed and trying to ighe noise. If I was sore yesterday, that was nothing pared to today. My entire body felt heavy and sluggish. I was exhausted, and my muscles were tight and achy. But, I still had to get up.

  With a grunt, I rolled out of bed and slowly sat up.

  "Ughhh..." I groaned, stretg my arms out above my head, only to wince as the pain shot through my body.

  I rubbed at the muscles in my thighs, trying to ease the soreness. My arms and back were equally as bad, but they weren't as noticeable. My stomach felt like it was cramping up, too, probably from all the extra protein I tried to eat yesterday.

  "Stupid gym. Stupid weights. Stupid muscles," I grumbled. I stood up, walking to the bathroom.

  My pigtails were somehow still intact. How did Stel make them so well?

  She was too good at making pigtails. The ribbon bows made me look like a little doll.

  I reached up to take them out, only to wi how tightly they were tied. It was going to be impossible to uhem.

  I sighed. I couldn't keep them in forever. Eventually I would have to let my hair down.

  I'd just have to wait until after school when I had more time to deal with them. Maybe I'd ask Stel for help. It would take forever to get them out on my own.

  Unless she was dead set on keeping them in me. I could just imagihe smug grin she would have on her face if she saw me trying to take them out.

  I sighed again, shaking my head.

  Whatever.

  I washed my fa the sink, brushing my teeth. I quickly got dressed and put my shoes on. It wasn't a training day, so I could take it easy today. Just the sparse csses we had to attend at the Academy, along with lunch, and then I'd go find Al to hang out.

  It was kind of a shame. I had wao train more, but I wasn't going to be able to do anything more than a walk in the park right now. My body hurt too much.

  I opened my closet, frowning at the rge number of new clothes Stel had bought for me. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had too many options. Too many choices. I didn't know what to wear. It was all so... girly. There were so many skirts, blouses, and frilly tops. What was I supposed to do with them?

  I sighed, settling for something less... unfamiliar. A pair of jeans and a new cute t-shirt with a cute cartoon animal on it, with some anime character on the back. I could live with that.

  I winced as I pulled my jeans up, my thighs hurting from the exertion. I was going to o take it easy today, that was for sure.

  I threw the shirt on and pulled up a belt around my waist, tightening it to keep the pants from falling down. Then I slipped on my sneakers, tying the ces tightly and slinging my backpack over my shoulder before heading out the door and closing it behind me.

  The sound of footsteps echoed through the halls as I locked the door and stepped out of the dorm room. I looked up to see a familiar blonde-haired girl walking up the hall.

  "Oh. Sienna..." Madison said. She wore a blue and bck casual dress and had a white ribbon in her hair.

  She looked away awkwardly.

  "Hi," I replied. "How are you?"

  "I'm fine," she said, putting on a quick perky smile. "Just going to css."

  I nodded. "Yeah. Me too."

  There was an aause.

  "About yesterday..." she began.

  "Hm?"

  She shook her head. "It's nothing. Nevermind. I'll see you ter."

  She turned and walked away, her shoes g against the tiled floors.

  "Wait." I called out after her. "What were you going to say?"

  She paused mid-step, looking back at me.

  "It's just..." she trailed off.

  "Just what?"

  She bit her lip. "I just... I'm sorry, okay? For everything. For the way I came off. For how Sammie and Stel acted. I'm not a bully. I'm not that type of person. I just... I'm sorry."

  She turned around, walking away from me without another word.

  "Hey! Wait!" I called out after her.

  She paused, turning back around.

  "What's up?" she asked.

  "Why are you apologizing to me?"

  She bit her lip, looking away. "I know you don't like me. And that's fine. But, I just wanted you to know that I'm not that type of person. I'm not a bully. And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I was."

  "Alright..." I said. "Well, I accept your apology."

  I wasn't sure how else to respond to that.

  She urning around and walking away again.

  I watched her go, unsure of what to think. Then I followed after her, catg up to her. She stopped, turning back to face me again.

  I smiled. "Look. It was all a misuandiween them. I'm not gonna hold a grudge against you for that. So, don't worry about it, alright?"

  She stared at me bnkly for a moment before nodding slowly Then she blinked, her eyes scrutinizing me.

  "Pigtails?" Madison asked, staring bnkly.

  I groaned. "Stel's handiwork, and I 't undo them. Or at least, without a pair of scissors and some product right now."

  She giggled. "You're too cute, Sienna."

  The tension in the air dissipated almost immediately.

  We weren't friends. Far from it. But, I'd promised before my training exercise that I'd give her the be of the doubt. She seemed to ultimately be a nice person, if a bit tone-deaf and out of touch with regur people. That was my read on her. So, maybe I could start fresh with her too.

  She smiled. "You wao take a crack at it? I've done a lot of styling before, and if they're not ing out, it's probably because they're a little twisted up."

  I sighed. "Unfortunately I'm running te, so maybe ter? But yeah, if I 't get Stel to, that'd be great. Thanks."

  She grinned. "Sure. Later, then."

  I nodded. "Okay."

  She pulled out her phone and ope up, typing something in.

  "What's your number?" she asked. "We live right across the hall from each other. You just e over when you need help and we hang out. You know, if you want to. I mean, I know you don't like me very much, so I get it if you don't."

  I gave her a curious look. "I don't dislike you. I just thought you were a little rude aled, but I'm willing to look past that."

  She frowned. "You don't pull any punches, do you, Sienna?"

  "Unlike your crazy redhead friend, no," I retorted.

  She ughed. "That's fair. Well, here. Let me get your number and I'll send you a message. Then you text me ter."

  "Cool," I said with a smile. I rattled off my number and she pu into her phone.

  A few moments ter, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw the message she had sent me.

  It was just a simple smiley face emoji.

  "Well, there you go," she said.

  I smiled, nodding. "Alrighty, Madison, I'll talk to you ter then?"

  She nodded back at me. "Sure thing. Have a nice day, Sienna. And sorry once again, about everything. I'll make sure Sammie gets her head on straight, too."

  "Thanks," I replied. "I appreciate that."

  "See you soon, girlie."

  And with that, she spun around a, heading toward her dorm room.

  I looked at my phone, seeing the time and realizing I was already running te. I groaned, dashing down the hall. I had to hurry or I was going to miss my first css of the day.

  I arrived at the lecture a few minutes after the bell rang. Everyone was already in their seats, and the teacher was standing in front of the room, reading something off of a sheet of paper. The students looked over at me as I walked into the room.

  Great.

  "Uh, sorry I'm te," I apologized. "It won't happen again. Promise."

  The teacher raised an eyebrow at me, before shrugging and waving me in. He was an entleman, with salt and pepper hair and a ly trimmed beard. His suit ressed and he wore a pair of gsses on his face. He robably in his te fifties or early sixties, judging by the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He had an air of authority about him, but he didn't seem like the type to yell at students for being tardy. And he didn't have to worry about me. It was a fluke and wouldn't happen again.

  "We're pretty x about poli that regard, Miss..."

  "Russo," I supplied. "Sienna Russo."

  "Miss Russo. That's right. Well, Miss Russo, you take a seat o Siobhahere."

  He poi ay seat o a redheaded girl with freckles.

  "Thank you, sir," I replied as I walked over to the redhead. "Sorry to interrupt."

  He smiled. "No worries. Now, as I was saying, my name is Mr. Tillman, and I'll be teag you social studies this semester. Let us take a moment to settle in."

  Siobhan smiled at me as I approached the desk beside her. She was wearing a bright yellow dress and had her neck-length red hair tied up into a French braid with side bangs on top of her head. Her deep greewinkled with excitement. She looked like a girl door type. Probably a bit of a wallflower with how she held herself.

  I slid into my seat a my backpack down on the floor. Siobhan gave me a nervous grin and a half-hearted wave.

  "Hey there," she whispered cheerfully. "I like your hair."

  I blushed slightly. "Oh, thanks," I said as I took my seat.

  She gave me a quice-over. "I'm Siobhan. o meet you..."

  "Sienna," I replied. "o meet you, too, Siobhan."

  "Sienna, huh? That's a pretty name."

  "Thanks," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed. I hadn't been expeg such a warm reception in this css. I wasn't really sure how to react to it.

  "Yours is pretty cool, too," I replied, trying to return the pliment. "I've never met a Siobhan before."

  Her smile widened. "Really? Well, gd I could be the oo introduce you to the 's Irish."

  I smiled back, feeling a bit more fortable. Siobhan seemed like a nice person.

  Mr. Tillman coughed up front, and we fell quiet turning our attention to him.

  "Now, as we know. We had a truly... horrifit i weeks. Some have taken to calling it a cataclysm. Not just a cataclysm, but The Cataclysm. But, the world has suffered simir tragedies before. The Great Floods caused by the supervilihan at the turn of the previous tury that destroyed coastal cities and triggered massive migrations, shaping the world we know today. The colpse of the European Eiunity, and the subsequent wars between member nations. Professor Lunatrix's heinous experiments with Unit 672, and the fallout that resulted in the Sce and formation of the Sn Coalition. And, of course, the most ret of these tragedies was caused by the superviliness known as the Dark Empress, or Nox, which resulted in the death of millions upon millions across the western hemisphere. The Sce. The Bck Pgue. The list goes on." He paced the room, walking bad forth as he talked.

  "But that's all in the past. The crisis we faced two weeks ago will have profound impacts on the world to e. It's the same thing we saw with the other tragedies I mentioned. We're still rec from the Nightmare of Nox, and we're still rec from the Sce. But, we have to move forward. We 't dwell on the past. We o look forward, to the future. And that's what this css is all about. Moving forward, and uanding how the past has shaped the present, and how we shape the future for the better. To that end, we're going to start this css by looking at some of the most ret events in the world. And, of course, there's only one pce to begin."

  He turo face the css and gave a wry smile. "The Cataclysm. A tragedy that will be etched into the minds of our children and randchildren feions to e. A tragedy that will never be fotten, no matter how much time passes. A tragedy that will forever be remembered as the day the world almost ended."

  I swallowed hard. It was strao hear my own experience discussed in a history css.

  "Now, the details surrounding the Cataclysm are still ing to light. We know it was a dimensio of some sort. The first of its kind, but beyond that, we're not quite sure what happened. Whether it was cause by a supervilin or not, it was a world-spanni that has led to tless deaths. It has already ged the geopolitidscape and the bance of power in the world. It will tio do so for years to e. And, of course, it's the biggest story in the world right now."

  He paused, taking a sip of water from the gss on his desk, before fidgeting with a projector. As he did so, Siobhan leaned over and whispered to me. "Were you iy when it happened?"

  I nodded.

  "Yeah..."

  "Were you scared?" I sure as hell was, she whispered, fidgeting with her fingers.

  "Terrified," I replied quietly. "I was actually at the first orientation. My best friend dragged me off to ruhe brea the auditorium maed. It was a nightmare and we almost didn't make it."

  Siobhan nodded, a solemn expression crossing her face.

  "That's horrible... but I'm gd you're okay. I was caught out iy whehing was going to hell."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, it was... awful. The mohat came out of the portals. The chaos and the destru. People were being killed left and right. I saw some horrible things happen."

  My eyes widened.

  "Woah... How did you escape?"

  Siobhan gave a nervous ugh.

  "Luck, I suppose? I'm from a family that runs a boutique pnt shop downtown. So I was making a delivery to a cafe when the breach started to happen."

  She paused.

  "I had to miss orientation because we were uaffed and the cafe was a big er of ours. My dad is the owner of the shop and was out on another delivery himself. Mom wasn't home either and my little brother was in school."

  "So what happened?"

  She swallowed. "Somehow I wound up taking care of a bunch of kids. I grew up in a rge town by the woods, you see, and so I'm really familiar with being outside and raised to deal with shitty situations. My family loves hiking and stuff, and so when the breach started happening I rounded up a couple of the kids who'd been separated from their parents and booked it. Did my best to avoid gettied by the monsters and all."

  I nodded, my eyes wide with surprise. "And you made it through okay?"

  Siobhan nodded. "Yeah... We made it through. Somehow. We made our way to an abandoned sp store and barricaded ourselves in there until everything died down. I had some water and snae for the kids, and I mao sge for more food while they were resting. We hid there for three days before we got rescued by a rescue team."

  I stared at her for a long moment before shaking my head in disbelief. "Wow... that's amazing."

  Siobhan ughed. "No, it isn't. It was terrifying and I'm not even sure I want to be here at all, to be ho."

  I raised an eyebrow, giving her a questioning look. "Why's that?"

  "You said you came here with a best friend, yeah?" she asked.

  I nodded. "Albert. He and I have bee friends since grade school. He's a good dude, and we've always watched out for each other. I've had a bit of a rough home life."

  She smiled sadly. "Well, I came here with the iion of studying biology and botany because one of my close friends is actually enrolled as a knight with bio based powers. I was hoping we'd get to see each other at orientation."

  Her expression darkened.

  "But, well, we've kinda drifted apart i few years. She's been so busy training, and she didn't even che to see if I was alive until the third day. It was a little upsetting."

  "Oh..." I said.

  "It was like... I don't know. Like, I didn't matter anymore, you know? It felt like I wasn't her priority. It's stupid, but..."

  "I get that," I replied.

  "I guess, it just hurts, you know?" Siobhan sighed, her shoulders slumping. "We were so close when we were kids. I alrotected her from bullies, but I feel like she just kind of fot about me."

  She shook her head.

  "I mean, she's my friend, and she's trying to save people. That's really amazing and noble. I just... wish she cared about me as much as I cared about her."

  "I uand that," I replied, patting her shoulder. "It's not stupid. I think it's perfectly natural for you to feel that way."

  "Really?" she asked.

  "Definitely."

  She smiled softly.

  "Thanks, Sienna. But anyway, looks like Mr. Tillman's done messing around with that thing and wants to talk again."

  "ht," I said, turning my attention back to the teacher.

  "Now, as you all see," the professan. "This is a map of the world at the time of the Cataclysm..."

  The teacher began to detail the history of Ameri diplomacy leading up to the event. I turned my attention away from the s, fog on what he had to say. The rest of the lecture passed by without i.

  As css came to a close, Mr. Tillman ed up his lecture and dismissed us. "Now, that cludes the lesson. If there are no further questions, you may go."

  Siobhan and I both stood up.

  "Well, it was nice meeting you, Sienna," she said with a smile. "I'll see you week?"

  "Yeah, of course!" I replied, smiling back at her.

  "And also, do you want to hang out some time?" she asked.

  "Sure," I said, pulling out my phoo give her my number. "What's your schedule like?"

  We exged numbers, and then parted ways. I looked down at my phone and furrowed my brows.

  It was weird to be making friends at the rate I was, even after I became a magical girl. I ractically a loner in middle school, and then suddenly, I had a small but growing group of friends and acquaintances.

  Maybe being a magical girl wasn't so bad, after all?

  I checked the time on my phone and realized that I had a couple hours to kill before my css. It was o have a break, but I didn't want to sit around and do nothing.

  I scrolled down through my tacts, smiling as it nded on Al.

  My thoughts went back to the short, terse exge we had when I s him.

  I'd barely spent any time with him through the month leading up to the start of school, and we'd quickly gotte up in our separate trations.

  I'd never even think about cutting him out unless something seriously terrible happened, of course, but I had been spending a ton of time with Stel since learning about our e, and then Ichigo had joihat circle.

  It didn't help that I was keeping him at arm's length, either. I trusted him unditionally of course, but I had a stra feeling that this business with my parents was more dangerous and more important than it seemed, and I couldn't help but feel like I didn't want him caught up in my family's mess.

  As much as he'd looked after me when I was a little girl, he didn't have any superpowers, and he didn't have any real defenses. If Stel and I dug into the past and uhed something terrible and it put him at risk, I'd never five myself.

  But, he was my best friend in the world. The person who was the first to accept me, and who I'd grown up with. I could at least try and spend more time with him. He wasn't a stranger. He was Albert.

  My fingers lingered over his taformation, and then pressed call.

  "Hey, Al?" I asked, waiting for an answer.

  "Sienna? Is something up?" he replied, and I couldn't help but notice a hint of nervousness in his voice. Had he been worried about how things would go the st time I'd seen him?

  Maybe I was just imagining things.

  I took a deep breath, trying to steady my sudden nerves. "Hey, are you busy?"

  "Nah," he said, his tone shifting. He robably smiling, which made me smile.

  "Awesome," I said, and my smile widened as I tio speak. "Do you want to e with me to lunch?"

  "Of course!" he said. "I'll be right over, Sienna. Just wait a minute!"

  I chuckled to myself, imagining him hopping off the bed to throw on clothes before running out of his room.

  "Okay, see you soon!" I replied, and then hung up.

  I turned, humming softly as I headed to the dining hall.

  It was a sunny day outside, the clouds were white and fluffy, the air was cool, and the campus was buzzing with activity. My muscles were still killing me, but the day erfect.

  Perfect.