One week later, Magenta made the first move when the sun rose.

The birds started singing morning songs as the first rays of sunlight illuminated the campus. Most people were still asleep, but the kitchens and cleaners were already up, as well as the practicing soccer team.

Blue and Jasper were on the soccer team and they had practice every other morning in the early hours of the day. Blue was mid-center attack and Jasper was on defense. Soccer was Blue's passion, and he never wanted to give it up, despite knowing his parents didn't approve that soccer was his biggest interest.

Their coach Mr. Hames was a stickler for rules, and made them get onto the field at six am on the dot, or else they had to do laps every minute late. It just so happened that day Blue missed his alarms and got onto the field five minutes late.

"You know what to do, Harrison," Mr. Hames said.

Blue groaned, trying to get the sleep dust out of his eyes before he started jogging around the field. Jasper wanted to do his announcer thing but decided against it, seeing as Coach Hames was watching him like an angry eagle.

While the boys were at practice in the early hours of the morning, Magenta and Shelby snuck over to Blue's room, their feet padding against the concrete. Magenta knew why Blue missed his alarms. Not because he overslept, but because Jasper agreed to help her tamper with his clock.

The junior boys dorms were next to the swimming pool, up a few flights of stone steps. Surrounded on either side by green plants and bushes, Magenta's favorite flowers were the honeysuckles. When she was in sixth grade, she would go right up to the honeysuckle bush by the pool. Then when she thought nobody was looking, she would pluck some honeysuckles and suck the honey from them. She knew how to do this because some seniors showed her, and ever since then she loved honeysuckles. But one day, there were no more honeysuckles and Magenta realized she'd taken them all.

Moral of the story: do not steal honeysuckles from bushes, or they just might all be gone in the blink of an eye. Magenta glanced at the place where the honeysuckle bush used to be, as they moved past the stairs and arrived at the boys dorms. They tiptoed over to Blue's room, which thankfully was not in the main block or else they would have to sneak and get past tens and tens of other smelly boys.

Magenta hopped on one leg and linked arms with Shelby. As Magenta hopped, she slipped over a rough bumpy part on the pavement, and Shelby caught her, hands splayed out to catch Magenta from landing on her face.

"Figures," Shelby said, puckering her lips, ever the mother guardian for her best friend.

Shelby ushered Magenta forwards, "just be careful, Mag!"

Magenta said sorry sheepishly, touching the back of her neck.

Magenta got the key from Jasper the night before who gave her his copy of spare keys when she promised to include him and pay for planning Shelby's upcoming birthday surprise.

Jasper looked like a stone gargoyle as Magenta explained her prank. Jasper was thin with an athletic build, but he struck an imposing form when he chose to be intimidating. He squinted and assessed Magenta as she looked at him with puppy eyes.

"Fine! As long as I get to see what happens," Jasper approved.

Magenta and Shelby neared the door outside Blue's room. The sounds of others snoring in the main building could be heard even here. Shelby stopped in her tracks, the wheels in her head rotating.

"Wait, what if it's locked?" Shelby asked.

"Oh, I have my ways," Magenta said with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Shelby's eyes transformed into giants as she saw Magenta take out the key. It was a small brass key, with the room number etched on the top.

"Magenta! How did you get that? Oh..." Shelby realized who it must have been.

"Sneaky sneaky. That's my girl," Shelby whispered, elbowing Magenta and praising her for her crafty negotiating skills.

The girls went into Blue's room. Blue had a messy room, and that came as no surprise to Magenta and Shelby. But something that caught Magenta's eye was his impressive book collection. He had a sparkling bookshelf with all sorts of books. Blue read everything from Dickens to Shelley. That made Magenta scratch her head. She'd never known Blue to be much of a reader, so she wondered why he had those books. She even saw some titles that weren't well known, like the Dirge Children series by one of Magenta's favorite authors, Penny Gathford.

Shelby quipped, "Ooo Blue the nerdy one. Pretends to be dumb and asleep all the time during class but is very smart and literature-y!"

"Yeah, maybe. Let's get this going!" Magenta declared and Shelby nodded somberly. Shelby put the black bag down, which carried all their supplies.

They became fairies, sprinkling their magic around the room.

Blue returned to his room from soccer practice to find toilet paper everywhere. Sweat dripped between his eyes and he wanted to shower. But as soon as he opened the door a roll of toilet paper fell on his shoulder.

"Thanks for letting me use the toilet. Paper. Xoxo, M."

Blue found the note atop his thoroughly teepeed bed.

Rotating around his room, Blue could barely see anything except toilet paper. The bed, the desk, the floor, the shoe rack, the closet. The only uncovered things were his books, which sat clear and pristine, devoid of any toilet paper. The toilet paper wasn't even white. There was a dark substance smeared over the paper, it looked dried.

Blue roared Magenta's name, his steps going towards the door. He slipped across the floor, stopping him from running out. There was some kind of smooth substance across his bedroom floor that caused easy slips. Blue didn't even want to know what the substance was.

Jasper arrived in time to see Blue with his bottom on the floor, and Jasper doubled over in laughter.

"Stop laughing," Blue said, blowing a strand of hair from his eyes. Jasper leaned against the door and bent over, still laughing his guts out.

"Man, she's good." Jasper nodded appreciably.

Blue shook his head.

"You gave her the key, didn't you?" Blue said, a wave of calm.

Jasper stepped back, one foot by the threshold.

"Uh, no, I don't know what you're-"

Blue threw a roll at Jasper, and Jasper ducked, attempting to save himself. Jasper said, "Mayday, mayday!"

Blue chased Jasper around for a while before they stopped, already tired from a grueling practice drill.

"I'm gonna take a shower, then I'll sort this...stuff out," Blue said, motioning to all the toilet paper.

Jasper said, "Hey man I'll help you, it's my fault kinda anyways."

"She's not good. She's bad. Baddie Maggie." Blue said, his eyes softening at the mention of the old nickname he gave her.

Jasper saw the expression on Blue's face change. Blue didn't talk about his feelings that much. Lately, he'd been more obsessed with pranking than usual and Jasper wondered why exactly this was the case. But it didn't take too much wondering to know. Jasper had known since the whole fighting began. Why Blue was fixated on Magenta and no other girl ever took his attention.

Blue could be more popular in terms of the status quo. He was sporty, smart, good-looking by conventional standards. Black hair, brown eyes, tall, sturdy in that typical soccer player but with a sort of lithe dancer movement, it looked effortless the way Blue held his posture. But Blue only cared about Magenta. That much was evident by the way he spent his time, the words he said, the way he acted with Magenta. Blue could 'hate' on Magenta all he wanted, but Jasper knew his best friend.

Blue was in love with his frenemy.

"Yeah huh, you like her," Jasper said.

"Who says!" Blue said.

"I say so, and I know you best, apart from your daily sweaty socks," Jasper said.

Blue pushed the thought to the back of his head, even if he was aware of the truth he would not admit it yet.