The Faded Star

Chapter 13: Wow

A/N: Hi! I hope you've been doing well, loves! I'm so sorry for the lack of a chapter update last week! I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't happen again! Unfortunately, this chapter is on the shorter side, though it still has multiple POVs. I'll write longer chapters in the future, don't worry.

Anyway, that's enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and as always, comments and kudos are welcome! Just please be respectful to each other, yourselves, and me; that's all I ask of you (any of my fellow theatre kids catch the reference?)!💜🦋

"How unfair it's just our luck. Found something real that's out of touch." -Birdy (from her song, "Not About Angels")

Alex's POV

We arrived in the gym of our old high school to the sounds of singing, cheering, and a techno track blasting through the speakers. When I didn't immediately see Kenzie, I was worried we were at the wrong place, but something told me Kenzie was there. I still wasn't sure how it worked, us poofing where we wanted to. In this case, I guessed it had something to do with my connection to Kenzie.

Reggie tapped me on the shoulder and when I met his eyes, he nodded to something behind me. Turning, I saw Julie, Kenzie, and the other girl from the studio standing a good ways away, talking. Well, it looked like Julie and the other girl were the only ones talking. Kenzie wasn't facing either of them, instead focused on the five girls performing in the middle of the gym.

I wasn't entirely sure why, but I had a bad feeling, and it was only growing. Maybe, it was because of the way Kenzie was watching the performance. Maybe, it was because even from this distance, I could see her eyes shining, and it wasn't just because of the bright stage lights. Or, maybe, it was because she was standing there, motionless, and that wasn't like her. In the few days I'd known her, I had never seen her so still.

I poofed, almost all traces of logic long gone, and appeared several feet closer to the trio, not bothering to tell the boys first. Nothing mattered except her. Not the tears welling in my eyes, not the tell-tale sound of Luke and Reggie immediately flashing to my side. Not my hands clenching into fists, wanting nothing more than to tackle her in a hug, to hold her close. A privilege the universe had taken away from me. But it didn't matter.

As long as she was okay; as long as her friends looked after her, everything would be okay. Fortunately, they seemed to realize something was off too, as their attention went to her. The girl in the overalls said something but got no response aside from Kenzie's fingers reaching up to toy with the rings on her necklace.

I had to fight every single brotherly instinct in me not to interfere. If Kenzie was going through what I thought she was, then me, Luke, or Reg stepping in to help her would likely go over horribly.

Seeming to understand my struggle, said boys each took one of my hands, reminding me I wasn't alone. It was true, I wasn't alone. They cared about Kenzie too, even though they didn't have the connection to her that I did, so I squeezed their hands in reassurance.

Then, Julie's eyes landed on us, widening as if a lightbulb had appeared over her head, and in almost any other circumstance, I would've laughed. Though that idea vanished a second later when the other girl spoke again, her words shocking me to my core, "Mackenzie Alexandra Marie Mercer."

I didn't get to process it. Not when my relief at Kenzie's return to herself outweighed everything else. Once the other girl went to sit on the bleachers, I quickly composed myself before the boys and I went over to the girls. I needed to know for sure that Kenzie was actually okay, or at least as okay as she could be after her panic attack.