What can I do?

15: At least a good year?

"Are you kidding?"

"Not at all! Then Edric stopped his illusion of the principal and we realized that the teacher was lecturing Emira the whole time!"

"One of my best performances, if I may say" the sister joked, faking a sophisticated accent.

The Blight twins had always been the jokers of their grade, but it wasn't until they joined the magic specialization that they really showed the full potential of their humor. Nevertheless, as everyone else present was in other programs, Glimmer had decided to play narrator, seemingly to the greater pride of the twins.

"Dang it" Bow muttered. "If only I knew magic. Your section looks so much funnier!"
"Hey there!" Adora laughed, giving him a friendly nudge. "You"re saying you're bored with us, are you?"

"OF COURSE NOT! It's just... You know what I mean!

It was a particularly well-known fact in the sports section that Bow was a living comedy show. When he didn't have way too serious expressions, he always reacted with too much intensity, causing general laughter around him. This time was no exception.

The most amused by all this comedy were certainly DT and Hugo. Since they arrived in town, the twins had been excellent hosts so it was especially interesting to learn more about their ongoing behavior. They had only been at the Porters' house for an hour and they were probably already laughing more than they had been the rest of their lives.

The older ones were all outside, seated on chairs. Only Entrapta was not with them. Not being really good on the discussion part, she had returned a few minutes earlier to join the youngest who were watching a movie in the living room. If you'd asked her why, she would have surely answered that she wanted to study the behavior of a recluse with near strangers. Surprisingly, Kipo seemed particularly at ease with others. She already considered Gus as her friend and seemed to get attached to Willow quickly. The movie was a comedy and the young terrian was unable to contain her laughter. She seemed as resistant to humor as a drunken teenager after her first bottle ever. This childish behavior had touched everyone, even Entrapta found herself smiling when those cat eyes opened wide, as if to absorb as much information as possible.

In truth, if anyone had trouble with sociability, it was Wolf. The little one had settled down at the couch's send opposite to Kipo and had said practically nothing of the evening. She had lost her irritated look from the start, but she wasn't smiling either. She seemed... bored? It looked like it anyway. Gus and Benson had tried to include her in their jokes, but the youngest of the group seemed determined to remain silent.

After a while, the film came to an end and before Kipo's enthusiasm, it was decided that there would be a second. However, as Benson was looking for a good choice in the library, a dark-skinned man with braided hair came into the room and knocked a few bangs on the wall to announce himself.

"Boys? Meal is ready. Are you coming to help us?"

"On it, dad!"

And with that, the two brothers follow their father into the kitchen to take the plates. Luz and Amity follow them just in case, leaving Willow, Wolf and Kipo on the couch and Entrapta leaning against a wall. Willow then had an idea and, as a smile sprouted behind her glasses, she stood up in turn.

"Are you coming to Entrapta? We're going to help them with the drinks."

"Huh? They are good enough, aren't they?"

Willow had to use great willpower to suppress a sigh and grabbed Entrapa's hand to pull her after her.

"Trust me, our presence will be useful elsewhere."

"What?" the older girl wondered before seeing who was left in the room. "OH! You mean..."

"Yes! Now let's go."

And just like that, Kipo and Wolf found themselves alone in the room. Kipo was nervous while Wolf was already gritting her teeth. The youngest had understood what was going on and was not interested. Unfortunately, that was without counting on Kipo's naivety.

"Say Wolf ... What did I do wrong?"

The youngest gave her a look, but didn't answer.

"Listen, I can see you're mad at me. I want to apologize but you have to tell me what I did!"

"You want to know what you did !? You left! We had a lot of fun together. I thought you were my friend, but you disappeared and you come back a month later all smiling as if nothing had happened!"

"I..."

"You could at least have said goodbye."

The room fell silent for a moment. Wolf had said what she had to say while Kipo had no excuse to defend herself. However, the pink girl ended up deciding to give her reasons, as bad as they were.

"I had no choice but to leave. I can't tell you why, but it was really important. I had a lot of fun with you too. When I saw you at school, I was really happy to see you again. Wolf, you are my very first friend and I want this to continue..."

Wolf watched her with some doubts. But seeing the pleading eyes that she threw at her, the younger had to recognize her sincerity.

"All right ... I believe you. But you gotta tell me the whole story someday okay?"

"PROMISED!"

Wolf didn't even have time to regret her words before arms covered in pink fur dragged her into a hug. For the first time this evening, Wolf laughed.

In the courtyard, the preparations for the meal were completed. Three plastic tables had joined the wooden one already present and there were enough chairs for everyone. George, Lance and their two youngest sons had brought several plates of stew and the girls had brought several bottles of juice and non-alcoholic cider. All that was missing were the two latecomers. Willow was about to go pick them up when the back door opened, revealing two young girls both with genuine smiles.

The group settled down at the tables, each taking a plate and a glass, all in good spirits. However, George got up before they could eat, his glass in his hand.

"I know you are all hungry, but listen to me for a moment please. You are all young. Some more than others, hehe. But you are still in those beautiful years which will make you who you will be in the future. School will teach you about life, but not only with lessons. You learn to work with others, to recognize who you can count on, to decide what is important to you. Today marks the start of another year full of experience for all of you. So toast to you. TO A GOOD YEAR!"

"TO A GOOD YEAR!" replied all the others.