"Not to worry, my dear. After an hour of recharge time you'll be back to normal. Any sooner and you could kill yourself." Mateo replied, and Ashley sighed with relief.

"Doesn't change my plans.” Edwin called back to the pair. “Ashley, do you have anywhere to be? My family is at work, so you can hide at my place if you want."

"Shit!” Ashley exclaimed. “I was supposed to be babysitting my little sister! She'll burn the house down if she's left alone!" She couldn’t think of a way to get back to Cecilia without revealing her new form.

"Hmm…" Edwin paced back and forth on the hill, formulating a plan. "We can still check in on your sister if we pretend we’re your friends. The only problem is, well, this,” Edwin motioned to his ill-fitting clothing. “Hey! Our clothes are dry now!” He ran back under the bridge, where the stone met the ground. “Ew, my sweater is still wet.” He raised the grey clump for Ashley to see, which was now covered in dirt.

“Great, now instead of looking like a boy in a wet skirt, I’ll look like a boy in a dry skirt. You’re full of great ideas.”

“Well, there’s one easy way to remedy that…” Edwin looked around from his position under the bridge. “I don’t think anyone can see us from here. And I have a pair of pants…”

“No! I’m not stripping in public, especially not with you here! Mr. Fox, there has to be another option!” Ashley turned back to where Mateo had been standing, only to find he had disappeared. “Mr. Fox?” As suddenly as he had appeared, the little talking animal had taken his leave.

“I don’t want to wear your clothing either! You’re the one who wants to see your sister! I’m just trying my best to help!” Edwin yelled, not appreciating Ashley’s ungratefulness. He could have just walked home and left her with her own problems.

Ashley walked over to Edwin’s spot underneath the bridge, sighing. “I guess if this is the only option…” She wiggled off her shoes, making sure to stand on top of them and not touch her socks to the ground. “Don’t look at me, though. Got it?”

“I expect the same from you.” Edwin turned around, and the two began undressing. Their years of gym classes proved useful, training them in the art of the quick change. Ashley pulled off her sweater vest and shirt, only to realize that the bra she had put on in the morning was no longer there. Being completely topless was mortifying.

“Can we hurry this up a bit?!” Ashley complained to Edwin.

“I’m trying! It’s just a little weird for me to be wearing a bra! Sorry!” Edwin pushed his shirt into Ashley’s back, flustered.

After an equally awkward exchange of bottoms, Ashley turned back to see Edwin, slipping his shoes on. She was surprised by how, well, normal he looked. He wouldn’t be out of place in the crowded hallways of Snapdragon.

Edwin noticed her staring and blushed from embarrassment. “Skirts are so weird,” he mumbled, trying to flatten the cloth out. “Not to mention cold.”

“I’m freezing too.” Ashley missed the warmth of her sweater vest, and wished Edwin hadn’t kept his sweater out of the magical drying machine. “I’ll lead the way home, I guess.”

Edwin grabbed his wet sweater from the ground, and noticed their backpacks sitting next to it. “These weren’t here before. I’m sure of it” Ashley joined him, and the two dug through their belongings, surprised to see they were completely dry.

“This is way too creepy. We need to leave.” Ashley quickly grabbed her things and started walking up the hill and back to the road, Edwin following close behind.

-----

Cecilia Reading relaxed on a beige love seat, thoroughly enjoying a container of blueberry yogurt and some newfound freedom. Her sister had run off somewhere, completely ignoring their mother’s orders again. With a smile, she flipped through the television channels, nothing catching her eye. “She is so getting grounded.”

Hearing a sudden knock on the door, Cecilia sprang to her feet. Why did Ashley have to come home now? Cecilia didn’t even do anything fun yet. She unlocked the door, surprised to see two strangers who were most definitely not Ashley. A quick glance at their school uniforms revealed that they went to her sister’s school.

“Hello! Are you Ashley’s little sister?” the girl smiled.

“Uh… yeah…” Her bright-blue hair was obviously dyed, and burned Cecilia’s eyes a bit.

“Good! She had mandatory choir practice, and asked us to come check on you.”

“And you are?” Cecilia scoffed, looking at the pair with a stink eye.

“I’m… Ash, and this is…” the boy gestured to his partner with an awkward smile. His hair was also just as dyed, in the fakest red Cecilia had ever seen.

“Eliza.” The girl answered sharply. “May we come in?”

“Sure, whatever,” she led the two strangers to the living room. “You don’t need to watch me, you know. I’m already ten years old. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me, so do whatever you want.” Cecilia walked off to prepare the guests some snacks, looking back on her mother’s “good hostess lessons.”

“Oh! We have your sister’s bag, can we take it to her room?” “Eliza” asked kindly.

“Yeah, yeah.” The pair walked up the staircase by the front hall to Ashley’s bedroom. It was fairly plain, with a bed in one corner and a sofa underneath a window on the opposite wall. Papers littered her desk in large, unbalanced stacks, and a few articles of clothing lay spread across the floor. “Ash” headed straight to the closet.

“What did I tell you? My plans always work.” Edwin boasted, while poking around the new room. “Good thing your sister is so relaxed.”

“And that’s the problem! She didn’t even ask to see ID’s or anything! You see why I have to watch this child?!” Ashley dropped her backpack at her desk, flopping backwards onto her bed. “I hate my life,” she groaned.

Edwin sat down on the sofa, chuckling. “Just chill out, it made things easier for us.”

“It feels like nothing is easy now.” She placed a hand on her forehead. “How much time do we have left?”

“Twenty minutes. Walking took longer than I expected.” Edwin sighed. “Can I do something about this?” He lifted up his wet sweater.

“We can’t get it clean fast enough, but I have a plastic bag you can put it in.” Ashley begrudgingly got up from her bed and went to her closet, pulling out a plastic grocery bag and throwing it at Edwin. “Here.”

“Thanks.” He placed the sweater inside and tied the ends, making sure the wet clothing wouldn’t touch anything. Satisfied, he placed it at his feet. Ashley went back to her bed, and the two sat in silence for a moment.

“Hey.” Edwin looked into Ashley’s closet. “Do you think I could borrow some clothing you don’t like? In case we get stuck like this again?”

“I don’t see why not.” Ashley got up once more, and began sorting through her clothing, placing items for Edwin into another plastic bag. “You’ll do the same for me, right?”

“Of course.” In a short amount of time, Edwin was thrown yet another bag, this time with filling.

“It’s strange that Ceci hasn’t come to check on us yet.” Ashley looked to the clock, seeing they still had ten minutes left.

“She probably forgot. You know how kids are.”

“Maybe you’re right.” She sat back on her bed. “So, what do you think of all of this?”

“Uh… its kind of weird, but being superheroes seems pretty cool. Almost worth all this drama.”

“I wish we knew more. Like what was that monster we fought? Why was it attacking? I guess Mateo might not know, but the uncertainty is stressful.”

“But we did defeat it, which was pretty cool.”

“Terrifying, though. How long do you think we’ll have to do this? Forever? How are we supposed to be adults with jobs and also defend this place? What if we move?”

“What if a monster appears while we’re in school?”

“Oh my god, I didn’t even think about that. This sucks.” Ashley stretched. “At least the magic is cool. Don’t want to be rude, but fire magic is cooler than water.”

“Oh really? I’m the one that’s going to never become dehydrated. Can’t drink fire, can you? Water’s practical.”

“Practical doesn’t mean cool.” Ashley scoffed.

“Just don’t come crying to me when you catch yourself on fire, okay?” Edwin smiled.

“You’ll bring me some of your clothes, right?” Ashley asked.

“I told you I would. Don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t steal your stuff without a fair exchange.”

“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget.”

Edwin looked down at his phone for a minute before restarting the conversation. “Also, Ash? Really? What kind of undercover name is that?”

“I couldn’t think of one! What, have you thought about a name for your female alter-ego?”

“No!” Edwin was especially insulted by Ashley’s claim. “I just know people who have names other than Edwin, and I can remember them.”

“It was a stressful moment.” Ashley grumbled.

“We’ve got like five minutes left,” Edwin said, checking his phone. “Wanna change back?”

“We better.” Ashley walked over to her dresser, pulling a folded sheet from it’s place with her other spare linens. “How about some privacy this time?”

“Much appreciated.” The two managed to hang the sheet across the room, holding one end down with a weight at the top of Ashley’s bookshelf, the other end clipped with a clothespin to the window’s blinds.

Finally returning to their original uniforms, the pair snuck down to the entrance. Cecilia was nowhere to be found, so they tip-toed through the front door. As they shut it, they began to glow, and in a flash of light they returned to their original forms.

“Yeah!” Edwin exclaimed. “I’m taller again!”

“Just go home, I’ve had enough of today.” Ashley grumbled.

“Aw, come on,” Edwin motioned to the house, “After all this, aren’t we friends now?”

“Bye.” Ashley stepped inside her home once more, shutting the door in Edwin’s face. Left behind on the porch, Edwin sighed and set off back to his home.

“Hey, Ceci,” Ashley called as she wandered into the kitchen. “Where are- oh.” Cecilia emerged from the other doorway, a tray of glasses sitting on the table.

“What do you want?” she huffed “Did your friends leave? I couldn’t find them.”

“Yeah, they left once I got back..” Ashley noticed Cecilia was carrying a plate of cookies. She grabbed a few, making sure to include an audible “Yoink!”

“Hey! Those weren’t for you!”

Ignoring Cecilia’s claims, Ashley playfully replied, “Oh, you shouldn’t have. I’m so lucky to have the best sister in the whole world.” She leaned in and hugged the younger girl, despite her pushing and twisting in Ashley’s arms.

“Don’t touch me!” Cecilia complained, wiggling free of Ashley’s grasp. Sticking her tongue out before leaving, Cecilia ran back into the hallway, away from her older sister.

Munching on one of her cookies, Ashley returned to her room. She looked at her bag, thrown haphazardly on the floor. No, homework wasn’t going to be done just yet. She flopped onto her bed instead. Ugh. How had the day even been real? Maybe she just hallucinated the whole thing.

Ashley rolled over, noticing the book sitting on her dresser. She'd have to think things through logically, just like world famous supernatural detective Stem Sinword had in The Bottomless Well. Now, what would Stem do? First, find physical evidence the events occurred. There was the keychain on her bag, given to her by Mateo. She couldn't explain how it would be in her house without accepting the events of the day transpired. And the sheet was still strung up across her room. Ashley rolled over to face her wall, deciding lying on the soft pillows for a little longer wouldn't do any harm.