2.28 Cheat

Reve uses his whole body to make shapes in the snow.




Another day, same sink to check...

Reve comes home grumpy from school. Every day is a challenge to not talk about all the things he knows—but is not supposed to know—about his classmates and teachers. 

 The living room is the BEST place for sorcery sparring.

"You two are weird," Reve interrupts to point out.

One plant saved from the cold. Only one. 

The school is teaching Finley's son about the great mummy wars.

One night Junpei gets up to check the sink and OH NO THERE IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT.

Now Junpei is never going to get over those fears!

Sadly, none of Junpei's frantic hand-waving fixed the problem, so he's forced to temporarily abandon sorcery as the go-to solution and bust out his mom's old toolbox.

It's the talk of the town when some guy throws a swimwear party, so of course Finley is here to be the media presence.

Mayor Kelley Vanderburg approves of this party.

The party is more of a snore-fest than anticipated, but the mayor's wife is always up for an interview, so it's not a complete waste of Finley's time.

More mail from Timmothy.

From one party to another! The day after the great swimsuit bore is Reve's birthday.

Junpei has a minor panic attack.

 "What's with you?" Accalia's concern sounds more like blunt accusation.

 "Nothing!" Junpei says, since he has no idea why cold panic washes over him sometimes.

 In the background, Reisa realizes she's at a child's birthday party. Surely this is a mistake.

Rusty Menon showed up with his daughter, Harriet.

Reve wishes for 39 more cakes.

And the crowd goes wild.

Accalia's son, Hawthorn. Not cool enough to have an E in his name.

Reve enters his awkward teen stage.

...And realizes all his friends are still little kids.

Reisa's main concerns in life have not changed.

"And he makes more money than me!" she complains about her brother, "even though I've been working there longer!"

Lewis abandoned his career in science to pursue one in business, at his future wife's urging. Corporate entanglements now have him essentially managing the budget the The Daily Springs, which makes him a more important player there than Reisa or even Finley.

Fortunately, Reve doesn't have to wait very long for his agemates to catch up to him.

"So what happens in the book, Newt? Give me a synopsis so I can pretend I read it."

Now that they aren't little kids, everyone wants a better place to hang out than at the playground. The upstairs area at Colby's is under renovation but suitable for their needs.

Akantha Song aged up with the evil trait. Teenhood is opening up many new possibilities for her. Oh yes.

The Colby twins, Parley and Sonia.

Julie Lho and Akantha Song play some skeeball while Sonia practices what she swears would be a cool trick shot, if she could get it to work.

Otto Nali shows up, and the boys proceed to play dominoes.

"This is boring," Reve grumbles.

It might be slightly less boring if he could refrain from using his psychic powers to cheat...

"So, the dance is on Monday," Akantha brings up. "Have you thought about who to bring?"

"With this unappealing selection of teen boys?" Julie snorts. "Are you crazy? I guess you are. You go outside in crop tops."

"I like the sun. Don't judge me, skort-girl."

"...Well, I'm going to ask Otto," Akantha announces.

"Ugh. When did you get so excitable?"

"I didn't. I just know what I want."

Reve makes this place a little more interesting by spray-painting swear words on the wall.

"Don't look now," Sonia whispers to her sister, "but I think Archer is making a bid for attention."

It says "your mother".

Sensing that Sonia finds his pointless rebellion totally hot, Reve tries to flirt with her.

"Not if you were the last guy on Earth!" Sonia snaps.

Parley thinks Sonia is being a little too hasty.

Reve is confused.

Sonia was into him! Why is she denying her feelings?

Was it something Reve said???