Twisted Wonderland

Leveraging Charm

Epel sighs. "An' that's the long an' short of it."

"You picked a fight with a housewarden on your first day at school?" Deuce asks in disbelief.

"Ah didn't know how crazy strong the housewardens were, okay?" Epel quirks an eye. "Didn't you an' Ace pick a fight with yer housewarden right after orientation, too?"

Deuce rubs the back of his neck. "That wasn't intentional."

"Back home, the only way anybody ever saw you as powerful was if you were big an' buff an' strong." Epel rubs his arm. "So Ah've always been a soft target fer teasin'. Lookin' back now, Ah don't think Vil meant nothin' by what he said, but still..."

Deuce nods in understanding. "Now I get what you guys meant when you were talking about 'the usual' during practice. Rook was right when he said it wasn't a fight. It was more than that to you guys."

"Vil says Ah can act however Ah like if Ah kin take him in a fight. But it just ain't happenin'. Ah wanna be stronger..."

Deuce grows quiet and looks out to the ocean. "You know, before I left campus, Kalim and Rook told me something. They said that we have a 'power' all our own, and that we should make the most of it. So I thought about it, and I figured something out. I think my strength might be this hard head of mine."

Epel looks to Deuce curiously.

"I'm not smart enough to think about a lot of things at the same time." Deuce explains. "But that also means that once I put my mind to something, I can make a beeline for the goal without stopping. I think that's a power I can call my own. My weakness can be my strength."

Epel shakes his head. "That's all well an' good fer you, but it don't mean much fer me. In mah case, it's mah looks, right? Ah look all dainty and effeminate. How's that s'posed ta be a strength?"

A phone rings, interrupting their conversation. Epel looks to his pocket. "Oh, that's mah phone. It's... mah ma?" He holds the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Epel!"

Epel cringes. The voice on the other end was so loud that even Deuce could hear it.

"What in tarnation did ya do with that juice we sent ya?"

"Huh? The apple juice?" Epel scratches his head. "Ya said ta give it ta mah friends, so that's what Ah did. Why?"

"We're gettin' slammed with orders from all over the world!"

"Yer WHAT?" Now it was Epel's turn to be loud.

"Ah was wonderin' what the deal was. So Ah asked one o' the customers callin' in: Where'd ya hear about our juice? And y'know what they said? They said they saw it on Vil Schoenheit's camera or somethin'! Ain't Vil the leader of yer dorm?"

"Vil's camera...? Wait, you mean Magicam? Hold on a sec!"

Epel pulls up the most recent post from Vil. He's in the ballroom and holds one of the apple juice bottles sent from Epel's family. He's captioned the photo: My routine! #PostLessonHydration #HarvestTownAppleJuice #NaturalFlavor #GoodForTheSkin

Deuce stares wide eyed at his own phone. "Wow, you're right. Vil posted a picture of your apple juice on his Magicam account!"

"The phones are ringin' off the hook!" Epel's mother shouts. "It's total chaos over here! Ah'mma hafta call the co-op head an' get help from the neighbors just ta keep up with the shippin'! An' here Ah was wonderin' what ta do with all our leftover stock. Now the whole village is overjoyed! You done pulled through for us, Epel! You tell Vil the same, y'hear?"