Life Isn’t So Simple Anymore.

The notification came in at 9:47 in the morning while Zoey was still deciding what to eat for breakfast.

She looked at it. Set her phone face-down on the counter. Poured herself a bowl of cereal and ate it standing up. Then she picked the phone back up.

She had eleven messages in the group chat.

She read the first one from Alexander, which was one sentence, and then she put her phone in her pocket and went upstairs to get dressed. She'd deal with it later. She had somewhere to be.

Callie was already at the cafe when she got there, which was a surprise because Callie was usually incapable of being anywhere on time. She was sitting at the window table with two drinks in front of her with pride radiating off of her because she had arrived early and was very pleased with herself about it.

"I was here first," she announced.

"Nice."

"I've been here for like ten minutes."

"I’m shocked."

"I ordered you the chocolate one because you don’t like coffee."

Zoey sat down and took the chocolate drink.

Katlyn came through the door exactly on time and dropped into the chair across from Callie. She was wearing a jacket Zoey didn't recognize, something new, and her hair was slightly different from how she used to wear it.

"I’m surprised to see you’re even here at this time," Katlyn said to Callie.

"I'm growing as a person."

"I didn’t say all that, now."

"What?!"

"Ten minutes early once is not a personality change."

"It's a start." Callie spread her hands. "Growth is a journey, Katlyn."

"Mhm." Katlyn looked at Zoey. "How are you?"

"Good," Zoey said. "Actually good. Not just saying it."

Katlyn nodded once. That was the end of the check-in. Zoey appreciated that about her.

They went to the mall after the cafe because Callie had decided she needed new shoes and the word need was doing a lot of work in that sentence. The mall on a Saturday had its own particular feel. Families with strollers, teenagers in packs, the disgruntled emotions of retail workers who had been there since opening. Zoey walked between her two best friends and let the noise of it wash over her.

"Okay," Callie said, stopping in front of a shoe store with the decisive energy of someone who had been mentally preparing for this moment for weeks. "I need your honest opinions. Both of you. Not nice opinions. Honest ones."

"I'm always honest," Katlyn said.

"That's true. Zoey, you have to actually say things this time. You can't just nod."

"I'll say things."

"Promise."

"Callie."

"I just need to hear your mouth."

"I promise I'll say things."

They went into the shoe store.

Callie tried on seven pairs of shoes over the course of forty-five minutes, which was not what Zoey expected when she was talking about honest opinions. She thought she was about to ask something serious!

Anyway, each shoe pair got a genuine deliberation. She talked through her reasoning out loud as she modeled each one, turning her foot this way and that, asking for opinions as if she was making a significant life decision.

Katlyn gave blunt and honest responses. She had opinions about shoes that Zoey had not known about.

Zoey said things, as promised. She was honest too. But Callie ignored all of her opinions and for good reason. Zoey didn’t know shit about shoes. All her shoes were bought by her mom or with the supervision of her mom. She didn’t do fashion. So they worked around it. If she thought something looked good, Callie would place it back. If she thought something looked bad, Callie would grab it. She wasn’t offended. Zoey just could accept reality for what it was. Her taste in fashion wasn’t the best.

"These are not for me either..." She put them back. "Why do I always want the ones that aren't for me?"

"Story of your life," Katlyn said.

"Oh my god, that was about more than the shoes, wasn't it."

"I don't know, was it?"

"KATLYN."

Zoey smiled. She couldn't help it.

Callie bought the second pair. They were the right choice and she knew it. They got food after. A place they'd been going to since junior year, a spot that was nothing special except they made it theirs. The booth by the window that they always somehow ended up in. The same order Zoey always got because she'd found what she liked and wasn’t a fan of trying new foods.

"Okay," Callie said, when the food arrived and the first immediate hunger had been addressed. "Updates. I'll go first."

She had a new crush. He was in two of her pre-enrollment classes at Blue Ridge and had talked to her about her major for twenty minutes at orientation and she had come away from the conversation completely unable to remember what her major was.

"That's a red flag," Katlyn said.

"It's not a red flag, I was flustered."

"You forgot your own major."

"For like a second."

"What's his name."

A pause.

"I was going to say I forgot that too but I don't want to give you more ammunition," Callie said.

"What is his name, Callie."

"...Blake."

Katlyn looked at her.

"I KNOW," Callie said.

"There's already been a Blake."

"This is a different Blake."

"You are going to have the exact same experience you had with the first Blake."

"You don't know that."

"I know that."

"Zoey, tell her she doesn't know that."

Zoey ate her food.

"Zoey."

"I think Katlyn knows that," Zoey said.

"Oh my GOD." Callie pointed at both of them. "You two are supposed to be my friends. Friends are supposed to be supportive."

"I'm being supportive of your future self who is going to have to hear about Blake for the third time," Katlyn said.

"It'll be the second time, the first Blake barely counts-"

"It counts."

"It barely-"

"Callie." Katlyn's voice was not unkind. Just certain. "You're going to do it anyway. We know that. You know that. Just at least let us say we told you so in advance."

A pause.

"Fine," Callie said. "You can say you told me so. But only once. And only if it goes badly."

"When," Katlyn said.

"IF. Oh my god."

Zoey was fully smiling now.

Callie looked at her. "You're enjoying this."

"I am enjoying the food."

"Not the food, me making questionable decisions!"

"The food is good, you’re right."

"The food is the same as always. You're enjoying watching me doing something I know isn’t good for me."

"I'm enjoying lunch," Zoey said.

Callie pointed at her. "Despicable. You're despicable and I love you."

Katlyn's update was shorter. She was enrolled at Golden Gate, starting in the fall like both of them.

"Are you nervous?" Callie asked.

"No. Not really. Although I am sad, I won’t be with my girls anymore.”

"You’re sad! I’ve been crying about it almost every night whenever I think about it!"

"I know. I’m usually on the phone while you’re crying…"

"My phone too," Zoey added innocently.

Callie looked at her feeling a little aggrieved by these two always teaming up on her.

“You two just wait! Once I become a college gal, I’m going to be so mature, and hot, and sexy, and not someone you can make fun of anymore!”

“I think you saying that is enough to prove you won’t.” Katlyn chuckled.

“I believe in you.” Zoey didn’t, but she said it anyway.

“See! Katlyn, why can’t you be more like Zoey!? When she lies to me, at least it helps me feel better.”

“Because I’ve known you longer than Zoey. And Zoey’s too kind to tell you that you are hopeless. You are too young, too pretty, too white, and too free to make mature decisions.” Katlyn spelled it out for her.

“What does me being white have to do with anything!?”

“See how you focused on that part instead of my entire point? It's a subconscious thing. Only time can break that down. When you’re not so young anymore. Not so hot. Not so free…” Katlyn grinned at Callie.

“Zoey! Tell her she’s wrong!”

“I dunno. Why do you make bad decisions even when you know they’re bad?” Zoey was genuinely curious. Callie’s choice in men was awful.

Don’t get her wrong. If Zoey had her way with this world, she’d probably be the biggest slut in the world. But still, she wouldn’t like actually develop relationships with terrible men that she knew were terrible. Horrible personalities, horrible behavior, horrible friend groups… She just didn’t understand. The men Callie picked didn’t have floating red flag signs above their head, but at the same time they pretty much did.

“I…” Callie almost didn’t know how to respond. “I can’t help it, okay. I like what I like. What can I say…?”

“We’re just telling you, you can do better. You need to do better.” Katlyn didn’t go easy on her.

“Before it's too late, you know?” Zoey added.

“Fine! I’ll try and become a better person, I guess! I’m just so terrible and awful, I need to have a surprise intervention about my choice in men! I’m sorry!”

Katlyn rolled her eyes, “We just want what’s best for you.” She poked her cheek.

They were quiet for a moment. The restaurant moved around them, other conversations, other tables, the comfortable noise of a Saturday afternoon in a place that had been there for years. They walked after that. No agenda, just the city on a Saturday, the kind of walking that was really just being somewhere together without needing a reason. Callie found a store with things she didn't need and considered buying them anyway. Katlyn found a bookshop and went in for three minutes and came out with two books.

Zoey's phone buzzed twice in her pocket. She left it there.

The light was going golden when they split up, the late afternoon kind that made everything look briefly like it was from a better version of the same day. Callie hugged her the way Callie always hugged, too hard, too long, nearly suffocating her with her chin on the top of Zoey's head because she had the height advantage and she used it.

"Thursday," Callie said, which was not a question.

"Thursday," Zoey said.

Katlyn waved at her.

Zoey watched them go. Stood on the sidewalk in the late afternoon light for a moment by herself. She felt, for reasons she couldn't fully articulate, exactly like a person who had just spent a day being a person and nothing more complicated than that. Her phone buzzed again. She took it out.

…

She sat on the front steps of her house and scrolled back through everything she'd missed.

The group chat had been going all day.

[Alexander]: okay so. the Star Clan's Luminaurora branch. does anyone want to start or should I.

[Lindsay]: I saw. I've been trying to comprehend it since this morning.

[Alexander]: someone slaughtered the whole branch. their estate. every single person there. no survivors.

[Jacky]: those bastards deserved it

[Lindsay]: Jacky. we cannot condone wanton slaughter no matter who the target is. What principle are we even standing on if we celebrate people being killed for their beliefs, however reprehensible?

[Jacky]: the principle that racist fucks die

[Lindsay]: What if someone did this to people YOU cared about? You wouldn't think it was a good thing then would you?

[Jacky]: someone hurts my people I'm hunting them down myself so that argument doesn't work on me plus my people arent retarded racists

[Tiffany]:[gif of a woman clapping slowly with sunglasses on]

[Lindsay]: Tiffany.

[Tiffany]: What!! She made a great point!!

[Alexander]: setting that aside for a second. whoever did this. I'm trying to think of who even could. the Star Clan wasn't just healers. they had actual magjistars of all grades. a single person doing this would have to be... I genuinely can't think of who fits

[Lindsay]: I've been thinking the same thing. My working theory is a group. but I can't think of what any group gains from targeting the Star Clan specifically. everyone needed them. even rival clans or people who hated them, benefited from having them exist. nobody had a reason to do this that makes logical sense

[Joseph]: not daemons either. this doesn't read like daemon work

[Alexander]: agreed. We’d definitely know if it was daemons

[Lindsay]: Luminaurora is completely stretched after the war. they're outsourcing the investigation to another branch. which means answers are going to take time, if they come at all

[Caroline]: All life is precious. I cannot celebrate this regardless of what they believed or said. What was done to that clan was a sin.

[Jacky]: cool story

[Tiffany]:[gif of a cat pushing something off a table]

[Caroline]: Tiffany.

[Tiffany]: Sorry sorry I'll behave!!! Probably!!!

[Joseph]: @Zoey

She read her name. Kept scrolling.

[Joseph]: Zoey. I reached out to my master about your mother's situation. Kali is looking into it. She knows people we don't and she has reach in parts of the magji world that most of us don't have access to. She'll find something if there's something to find.

[Alexander]: if Kali is on it that's a relief

[Lindsay]: agreed. Kali has connections that go beyond any single branch or faction. if there's a something somewhere she will find it

Zoey sat with that for a moment.

She looked up from her phone at the street. The evening settling in around her neighborhood, the ordinary sounds of it, someone's music from a window, a kid on a bike, Bruce's car in the driveway because he'd come home while she was out.

She looked back down.

[Joseph]: one more thing. regarding the Star Clan situation. Zoey, what do you think?

She read that three times.

She thought about Daniel Star's face. The voice that never changed register when he said the things he said. She didn't type anything for a long moment.

Then she typed:

[Zoey]: I don't know who did it. And I hope whoever it was is okay.

She put her phone in her pocket and went inside.

Bruce had made dinner. Something that smelled like garlic and like home, coming from the kitchen, and she could hear him moving in there, the particular sounds of him being the person who kept this house running while she looked for things that might save the woman who should have been the one doing it with him.

She stood in the hallway for a second.

Then she went into the kitchen.

"Hey," she said.

Bruce looked up from the stove. "Hey. Good day?"

"Yeah," she said. "Really good day actually."

He smiled.

"Good," he said. "Dinner's in ten."

She sat at the kitchen table and waited.