It's Friday. Alex joins his friends at school.

Alex grabbed his backpack and shoved the Grimoire into his jacket pocket as his phone started to ring. "We're two minutes out, amigo! No skipping today!" A familiar accented voice cackled down the line.

"No worries, conejito." He answered with a familiar confidence born of repetition. "Are you gonna stop this time, or are the twins dragging me into back seat again?"

"Asshole! That was one time!" The caller laughed as he grabbed his house keys.

"Yeah, one time that almost left me with roadburn! See ya soon." Alex laughed hanging up and pocketing his phone with a flourish as he double checked he had everything for the day. "Keys, wallet, cell phone, backpack, hell porn. Good to go!"

And not a moment too soon as a horn sounded from the curb. Alex grabbed his backpack and jogged out the door heading towards the idling van even as the side doors swung open.

"You happy, ese? " The caller, Paulina Escobar, yelled back from the driver's seat. "Stopped and opened doors for you and everything."

"I see this." Alex grinned as he clambered in and yanked the doors closed. "And you didn't even jump the curb this time! What's your secret? Phone book? Booster seat?"

"Fuck you, ese!" Paulina called back. "I may be fun sized, but I can still see over the wheel just fine!"

A low rumbling laugh issued from the passenger seat. "Is that why you insist on having me sit here?" The dark lanky form of local goth Edgar Allen Poe, aka Black Eddie drawled. "Am I your seeing eye giant?"

"Blow me, Eddie!" Paulina snapped back. "Just cause you're freakishly tall don't mean shit!"

"On the contrary." Eddie grinned. "You being half my height means you barely have to crouch, let alone kneel."

"Asshole." Paulina grumbled.

"See, that's the thing..." Terrence Torrence chimed in.

"The lady made no denials." His twin sister Theresa threw in. The two played the twin angle to the , casually causing synchronized mayhem as Terry, regardless of gender.

"All you fuckers will be so much more bearable once you lose your V cards." Paulina grumbled from behind the wheel.

"Is six people enough for a proper orgy?" With her thick glasses, comfortably functional clothes, and casually hanging hair, Erin McClain was the textbook definition of a girl geek. "Because the best bet to lose that unwanted accessory is here in this van."

"Are you seriously down with that?" Alex asked in surprise.

Erin smiled shyly. "Well, it's not like you guys would talk about it, right?"

Paulina flicked her eyes up to the rearview mirror. "Seriously, girl? That's kinda kinky."

"And we're all misfits. Do you really see any of us getting any, honestly?" Eddie mused.

"Are we seriously considering a six man orgy?" Alex stared, trying to wrap his brain around the concept. Terry seemed thoughtful.

"I find that I'm not entirely opposed to the idea." The more female Terry mused aloud, "but I'm more interested in what Alex has there."

Alex blinked in surprise as the Grimoire's pages tumbled under his thumb. When had that come out his pocket? "Magical mystery prop I found in a bulk purchase."

"That's no language I've ever seen." Erin said, leaning forward to get a better look.

"I don't think it is a real language."Alex shrugged casually as legible text caught his eye. "We can just make up some Latin sounding nonsense. For instance this here could say-"