” Jack looks at us, while pouring each of us a cup of coffee. “We do try, you know. We're pretty talented at just being so young and free,” Kayl...ee says, giggling at her own comment. “Anyway, so, any big plans for tonight, Julie?” “Nope, not a one. I told you, I wasn't making plans. I'll order in some food and have some wine.” “Or not,” Jack says, handing me my coffee. “I was thinking you could come out with me. I'll pick you up around seven?” “Yay! Plans. How nice of you Jack, aren't you just. And no single pursuit has more perfectly encapsulated the meeting place of those two great ideals than that of Magic.Magic, as dreamed by the men and women who slavishly pursue it, is the ultimate expression of doing whatever the fuck you want. Not a fan of aging? Boom, twenty-six forever. Gravity would prefer you stay on the ground? Fuck you Gravity, we're flying up in this bitch. Your neighbor somehow hasn't transformed into a snail yet? Well I hope he's ready for a one-way ticket to. Such official terminology was too vague to assess.Extreme circumstances could mean anything from threatening a teacher to burningthe school down. Heck, he'd seen some student profiles that had seen themseriously reprimanded for refusing to conform to Clementine's strict religiousattitude and attend church every Sunday morning. Expulsion usually meantextreme over-reaction, as far as Chris was concerned. Besides,he thought, unclipping a photocopy of Chloe's polaroid from the letter andstroking. It was written all over their faces. Still, other than kvetch about it, there was nothing left to do than what I'd told them we should do. The breakfast dishes were gathered and taken to my camper. Lizzy and Helena cleaned them up while Samantha and Vicky tidied up the cave. In our discussion that morning we decided that we'd keep the caves as a base camp. That would allow us to leave the trailer and the Argo here and let us move a little faster through the valley. The girls had drawn straws.