Four friends in their senior year of high school

Sam looked around the table at his friends, gauging their reactions. He was a fairly normal guy, at least in his opinion. A little on the skinny side, he guessed. Wiry was the word his parents used. Scrawny or wimpy were what some of the jerks at school called him. He wore a t-shirt, jeans, and a hoodie.

"What the fuck is this?" Luke asked. He was a shorter and pudgier than Sam. Quick to anger, which didn't help when he was the target of some of the same jerks who picked on Sam for being wiry. It had led to him being roughed up more than a few times.

"A book, obviously," Jack replied. He was tall and skinny, almost skeletal. He tried to put on weight regularly. He tried a lot of things, really. Constantly reinventing himself and trying to fit in with the cool groups. He seemed somewhat blind to how **** he seemed when he changed up his style or tried out for some new team or club to try and elevate himself.

"No shit," Luke said again, shaking his head.

Alex was quiet, staring at the book and adding nothing. He was usually quiet, unless he was really into something. He preferred to sit back, wait, and see how things progressed. It made him less of a target, but also left him unprepared when attention did come his way.

"It's a magic book," Sam finally said. "I found it at the old shop downtown."

"Bull shit," Luke said. "There's no such thing."

"It seems legit. It's got spells, and rituals. Think about what we could do with this?"

"Could be dangerous..." Alex said. He looked around, clearly swallowing before speaking again. "Um, you know, if it is real."

"Big fucking if," Luke said.

"I tried something," Sam said. "Watch." He recited the words he had memorized earlier and a flash of green appeared above his hand, leaving behind green flames. He let it stay for a moment, let it sink in with his friends, then dismissed it.

"Holy shit," Jack said.

"Why didn't you fucking start with that?" Luke asked.

"It's called building suspense," Sam replied, rolling his eyes. "We could try something, in here, see what we can make happen."

"Could be dangerous," Alex added again.

"Or start smaller, summon something to do the dirty work for us?"

All four friends looked at the book, considering.