“Man, I wish we’d had more time to mess with that thing,” Derek complained as he walked Ryan home. It was dark, and drizzle could be seen racing past the light blooms from the streetlamps. “You’re not bringing it to school tomorrow, are you?” He meant for it to come across as a warning but couldn’t completely hide the note of hope that Ryan wouldn’t take the advice.

“Something like this? I know the camouflage is pretty good, but I don’t think the reward outweighs the risk. Especially if Witkins were to find out.”

“More like Wit-LESS-kins…” The lame joke floated out of Derek’s mouth and was lost to the damp night air.

“Yeah, but you’re not wrong,” Ryan said, trying to cheer his friend up from the utter failure of a pun. “Anyway, thanks for having me over tonight, maybe we can do something at our afterschool program tomorrow.”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Derek winced. “I couldn’t help but brag on you a little, but now that my white lie is out, we’re in too deep. You’ll just have to attend the program with me.”

“Little late to sign up now,” Ryan said. “Plus, it is really more your thing, not mine.”

“What even is your ‘thing’ huh, Ryan? Can’t hurt to give it a try. The teacher is pretty cool, I don’t think he’d mind a newcomer, however late into the semester it is.”

“Fine,” Ryan conceded. “We’ll see about that tomorrow.” They’d arrived at Ryan’s house by this point, so they gave each other another fist bump and parted ways.

Before his shower that night, Ryan set the PerSpectives on their cradle on his nightstand, then placed the orb from his pocket next to the hefty and completely illegible book. After he left the room the orb rolled over to rest against the spine of the tome.