The Sleeping Girl

Epilogue: Three Months Later

"You wanna go to the mall after school?" asks Carmela.

"I dunno," says Mike, hesitantly. "Shouldn't we go to training?"

"It's friday," says Carmela, rolling her eyes. "We do deserve a break, Mike."

"I have to take Iz home, and then back here for rehearsal at six thirty," says Peyton. "Their championship performance is tomorrow, and they've been working super hard, especially to fill the hole from Chloe."

"Oh, cool, I almost forgot," says Carmela. "Are you going to watch?"

"Yeah probably. Why, do you wanna come? I know Iz would appreciate it."

Carmela looks around at us. Mike shrugs his shoulders.

"Sure," I say. "I'd love to see it."

"Oh, cool, I'll tell her that. But anyways, back to the original point, I can go to the mall, as long as I'm back home by, like, six."

"Ohmygosh, yes, let's go then," chirps Carmela. "I know that some stores are having a spring sale."

"I think I'll sit this one out," says Mike. "You ladies can go get clothes, but there isn't much appeal for me."

"What you don't wanna get a new dress?" teases Peyton.

"Not really," says Mike.

"I'll stay home too," I say. "I have to do more reading for English. I'm still not completely caught up."

Carmela pouts for a second, then shrugs. "Okay, fine. Has Lartin been going hard on you?" she asks, referring to the English teacher that we share.

"It's been better," I say. "I'm just a slow reader because of all those new words. Probably like what reading Shakespeare is for you."

"Must be hard," says Peyton, sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine," I say, waving it off. "I actually enjoy it."

Peyton opens her mouth to say something, but the bell cuts her off. Groaning, I scoop up my tray and dump it in the trash can, grabbing my backpack and getting up. I'm not looking forward to ninety minutes of math.

"You'll drop us off at headquarters before going shopping right?" Mike asks.

"Of course," replies Carmela. "Meet me at my car."

"Cool. Bye!"

I walk through the halls, thinking of how different my life has been than I'd ever imagined. It's been three months since Chloe went to sleep, and everything has changed in that time.

Right away, Amanda started pushing math, and science, and all sorts of incredible information at me. At first it was just about impossible, and it's still hard, but I'm a fast learner. After two months, she enrolled me in the same school that Mike and Carmela are going to, and in the same grade too, which helped.

Peyton and Isabelle couldn't really be left alone after all that they knew. The next day, I went to the hospital to heal fully heal Isabelle, and she'd demanded to know what had happened to her best friend. I'd felt incredibly guilty that her best friend was pretty much dead to her and had ended up telling her everything.

The next day, Peyton and Isabelle has come straight up to headquarters demanding to join society. At first we were reluctant, but they already knew everything. (Amanda was furious about that, but there was nothing that could be done.)

For the past three months, Peyton and Isabelle have been training with us. They're actually really fast learners, surprisingly. Isabelle was especially good at harvesting the magic that Chloe has been drawing out.