It's a kind of magic

It was early on a Tuesday evening when Noah's cell phone beeped, alerting him of an incoming text message.

David:

hey man u around? i ned to show u sumthing

Looking up from the pile of books on his desk, half homework and half research, Noah reached for his cell phone.

Noah:

Just working on some stuff. What's up?

David:

can u meet me @ triangle park?? i need to show u sumthing nsane

Noah:

Yeah, give me a few min. See you there.

David:

k k


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David forced himself to sit on the small boulder in the tiny park ear his house and not pace back and forth, although he couldn't quite keep himself calm enough to stop his leg from shaking. He was so full of nervous energy he thought he might burst any moment. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he saw noah pull up into the small parking lot nearby and start walking over towards him.

"Hey!" he said, loud enough to let Noah know where he was. he stood up and wiped the dirt and gravel off his pants, "So... you're probably wondering why i asked you here this evening."

Noah rolled his eyes, jogging over to David.

"Yeah, a little," Noah replied with a smirk. "Some of us actually do our homework before the morning its due. What's up?"

David exhaled quickly to steady his nerves. The sun was just beginning to set behind the trees and he knew he needed to get this over with while it was still light.

"Ok... so. I need to show you something very important, but I need you to promise me something. Promise you're not gonna freak and that you won't tell anyone else."

Noah raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Is this a wibbly thing, or, like, did you get a tattoo or something?"

"It's... more the former. Pretty much exclusively wibbles, actually."

Noah sniffed reflexively.

"Okay, well, what do we got?"

"Ok..." David said, circling to the other side of the boulder, putting it between himself and Noah, "...here goes."

David reached down and put the fingertips of one hand lightly on the surface of the rock and closed his eyes. For a short while he simply stood there, breathing steadily and appearing in deep concentration. Then, suddenly, there was a loud cracking noise and a long, jagged fissure formed through the surface of the rock, spreading quickly and crumbling the top few inches of the boulder into small chunks.

David exhaled and opened his eyes, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.

Noah watched, a little dubious at first, then impressed as the rock began to crumble. He was about to say something when the smell hit him. Overpowering, but not unpleasant, it smelled similar to tilled earth, only much more concentrated. Noah started coughing, shaking his head.

"That's *cough*, wow, that's pretty cool."

David smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, you say that... but there's a problem. I shouldn't be able to do that. That kind of effect should take several minutes and a ritual circle."

He wiped the stray dust from his clothes once again and sighed.

"Mr. Winters mentioned something a while back, about people called 'Channelers'. They're pretty rare, but they can use magic more readily than other people. Faster. It's like they're a better conduit for mystic energies for some reason. I think I may be one. And I'm pretty sure the woman who calls herself my grandmother is too."

Noah gathered himself, one final cough getting his reaction under control.

"So, like, the Force is strong in this one?"

David shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm like a fucking Jedi, man."

He reached down and grabbed a handful of pebbles from the top of the boulder, pouring them from one hand to the other nervously.

"I mean, this is huge and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it. Should I tell people? Do you think they'd freak?And like, if Mr. Winters finds out he might decide to stop teaching me, and... I really don't want that."

Noah shrugged back.

"I don't know, man.  What does it really mean, anyway?  Like, you just have a higher amperage than everybody else?  Is that bad, somehow?  I'm kind of in remedial tutoring on this stuff."

"I guess?" David said, uncertainly, "I don't know a whole lot about that part of it yet. At the very least it means I have more... magical potential, I guess? It's not bad per se, but I'm afraid Mr. Winters will think it's too dangerous for me to be messing with this stuff."

He paused a moment and sighed.

"I mean... maybe it is."

"Yeah...I know how that is," Noah offered, leaning against a nearby tree.  "Have you ever done anything like that without meaning to?  Does it feel, I don't know, hard to control or anything?  Like its going to get away from you? What exactly are you worried about?"

"Not that I know of, I haven't. I mean, I have to concentrate pretty damn hard just to get any effect at all. I don't... man, I don't even know what I'm worried about. Maybe that people will think I'm a freak? Well... more of one, I guess."

"Dude, since when do you care what people think? And what people? I'm," Noah stopped to look around first before continuing, "I'm a freaking werewolf. Madison has dreams of the future. Cecilia comes from, like, a whole family of witches and wizards like something out of Harry Potter. Lil just did her own magic, man. Addie may not be entirely as deep in the weirdness as the rest of us, but, and neither of you should take this the wrong way, but, she's not exactly normal herself."

Noah sniffed.

"I think you're in pretty good company."

David sighed and tossed the handful of pebbles on the ground.

"Yeah... you're right. I guess all this stuff has me kinda freaked out a bit. And I don't want to do anything that might jeopardize what I have with Addie. Or with the rest of the gang. I mean, I'm still not really used to having friends, plural."

"Dude, I think we're all in this for...well, I don't know about the long haul, but the foreseeable future. We're not going anywhere, not for, you know, a year and a half at least."

Noah smirked.

"As for Addie, she likes you, man. You, specifically. You don't have to worry so much. Just go with it. It really isn't as scary as it seems. And don't worry about the magic stuff. Lil's apparently been crazy about it even before she knew it was real, and they're bffs. You should be fine."

"I hope so," David said, nodding, "Thanks man. I guess... I guess I just wanted to show someone and know they wouldn't be weird about it. Thanks for that. You've always been there for me, you know? Not to like, get sappy on you or anything."

"Shit, man, you know I got your back," Noah said with a faux gangsta nod. "Besides, this all looks like its going to get worse before it gets better. We're all going to have to stick together."