“Girl, you would rather study then come hangout with everyone else in our sorority?,” Grace Stanfill asked over the phone.

“Maya, you really need to have fun sometimes!,” Lila McConnell added.

“Guys, I’m sorry, but I really need to study,” Maya Thompson said apologetically. “Maybe next time.” Maya heard her other friend Nora Lewis scoff.

“It’s always next time,” Nora muttered. “But whatever. Have fun studying Maya.” And with that, the girls hung up. Maya exhaled, set her phone down on the table, then stood up.

As Maya walked over to the nearest book shelf, she heard a scream. She turned around to see a boy with teal hair lying on the ground with a leather book sitting in front of him.

“Oh my god, are you okay?,” Maya asked with concern, helping him to his feet. The blue hair boy rubbed the back of head.

“I mean, I’ve been better, but yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered. Then the boy met Maya’s dull brown eyes. “Thank you.” Maya blushed, then looked again.

“Your welcome, umm…what’s your name?”

“Carter Stanford,” he said with a smile.

“Nice to meet you Carter,” Maya replied. “I’m Maya Thompson.”

“Pleased to meet you Maya Thompson,” Carter said with a bow. Maya laughed a little. She hadn’t laughed since entering college, so it felt quite refreshing.

“Well, I need to…go, uhh, read now, so, I’ll see you later Maya,” Carter muttered nervously.

“Okay...” Before Maya could finish, Carter picked up his book and walked off.

“Bye.” Maya pressed her lips together, then walked over to the book shelf. About a minute of scrolling through the multitude of books, a crash come from the other side of the book shelf. Maya rushed around the corner of the shelf to see Carter standing back to back with the shelf. In front of him was a man around the age of 30 with shaggy blonde hair aiming a gun straight at him.

“Give me the book, boy,” the man growled.

“Girl,” Carter corrected. “If your gonna kill me, at least get my pronouns right.” The man pressed his lips together.

“Just give me the book,” he hissed. “You don’t know what kind of magic your dealing with.” Slowly, Maya backed up a little bit, accidentally knocking a book of the shelf.

After a few seconds, the man’s voice called out “Who’s there?” Maya froze.

“Who’s there?,” the man called again. This time, Maya slowly peaked out from behind the book shelf. Once she was full shown, the man’s eyes widened.

“The book and an ancient one,” he muttered, his gun still aimed at Carter. “This is my lucky day, for sure.”

“What do you mean by ancient one?,” Maya asked nervously.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” he growled. “You know what I’m talking about.” Maya shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but I really don’t,” Maya insisted. The man rolled his eyes.

“Nevermind,” he murmured. “You.” He pointed at Carter. “Give me the book.”

“In your dreams,” Carter snapped. The man shrugged.

“Hard way it is,” the man replied. Then his gun went off. Suddenly, everything around Maya went black except for the bullet and Carter. In a split second, a blue fire surrounded Carter, stopping the bullet’s entry.

“What the-,” Maya gasped. At her words, the fire receded. When Maya’s regular sight returned, the man and Carter were both gawking at her.

“I knew that you knew about your power,” the man said with an evil smile. Then the man charged at Maya. Quickly, Maya rolled out of his way towards Carter. When Maya stumbled back up to her feet, Carter grabbed her shirt’s collar.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that we need to leave,” Carter whispered.

“I am 100% on board with that,” Maya replied. And with that, the two sprinted towards the library’s exit.