The Society of Imaginary Friends

Inside Cyrus’s house, everything was in meticulous order. There wasn’t a speck of dust or an item out of place. The walls were painted white, and there was something almost clinical about the extreme order in the house. Valerie was distracted from her observation by a delicious, familiar smell. She turned to Cyrus, delighted. “Is that roast turkey? I didn’t think I’d ever get to eat that ever again!”

“If I’d known you’d get this excited over turkey, I would have brought you here ages ago. Sometimes you’re ridiculously easy to please, Val,” Cyrus said, the anxiety leaving his voice for the first time since he’d seen his father.

A short woman with long, red hair appeared. “Welcome home, dear,” she said, giving Cyrus a light hug and kiss on his cheek.

“Missed you, Mother.”

“You must be Valerie and Kanti. You’re exactly as Cyrus described you,” she said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

It was strange how parents and children could be so different. Cyrus was so warm and full of life—the exact opposite of his parents. Maybe they were friendlier when they didn’t have the burden of two extra guests to feed.

“Thanks for having us, Mrs. Burns,” Valerie said.

“Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Kanti added.

“Where are the rest of the guests?” Mrs. Burns inquired.

“The other three are fending for themselves. It turns out that we won’t have to deal with them at all. Is dinner ready?” Mr. Burns asked.

“Yes, dear, Cara’s finishing the gravy. Why don’t you all sit down?”

Cyrus’s mother disappeared into the kitchen as they all sat down at the table. Valerie could hear her arguing with a girl she assumed must be Cara in the other room.

“I can’t believe you’re letting her in the house! She’s the reason Cy left and never came back!” the girl said passionately.

“Keep your voice down! Don’t embarrass us. Azra asked us to do this. We can’t very well turn her down, now, can we? Mind your manners.”

Valerie was shocked. Were they talking about her? Was she the reason Cyrus hadn’t come home? Cara and her mother burst out of the kitchen, their hands full of plates piled with traditional American Thanksgiving food.

Cara had red hair, like her mother, and Cyrus’s blue eyes. She was only a year or two younger than Cyrus. Cara shoved a plate in front of Valerie, spilling some of its contents onto the table.

“You must be Cara. I’m Valerie. I’ve been really excited to meet you—Cyrus has told me a lot about you,” Valerie said, smiling tentatively.

Cara snorted. “I’m sure he barely mentions us. But we know plenty about you. You’re all he talks about.”

Cyrus turned bright red. “Enough, Cara! Nice to see you, too.”

“Sure, whatever, big bro. Bet you’re overjoyed at a chance for a family reunion.”

“Children, I’ll thank you to be quiet and eat your food,” Mr. Burns glowered.

For several minutes, everyone chewed quietly.

“This is delicious, Mrs. Burns. I’ve really missed traditional Earth food,” Valerie said.

“Thank you.”

More silence. Kanti and Valerie exchanged glances, and Kanti nodded, acknowledging that it was her turn to try to dispel the awkwardness with a safe subject. “So, Cara, is it true that the science programs in the schools here rock?”

Cara stared back at Kanti, clearly trying to figure out what to make of the weird-looking girl wearing a Ludicrous T-shirt. Cyrus’s mother gave her a nudge, and Cara sighed dramatically before replying, “We’re studying life science right now. It’s kind of cool.”

Kanti was genuinely interested. “There isn’t even a class offered at my Guild on life science—not enough students interested to form a class. What kinds of things do you get to do?”

“We watched caterpillars grow into butterflies and released them at a park last week. It was beautiful,” Cara replied, warming to the subject.

Kanti’s eyes were wide. “Wow, that sounds better than magic.”

“That’s the kind of thing you’re missing out on, Cyrus,” his mother said softly.

“Don’t start, Mother, please.”

“Don’t take that tone with me,” she replied sharply, but then the harsh expression on her face relaxed into concern as she examined his face. “You’re exhausted. You haven’t been getting in to fights again, have you?”

“That fight wasn’t his fault, Mrs. Burns, I swear,” Kanti said. Cyrus elbowed her under the table, and Kanti immediately turned back to her food, realizing that she had opened a can of worms.

“So there was a fight. I knew it. You really have turned your back on everything we stand for,” Cyrus’s father reprimanded.

“I get it! You’re ashamed of me. Do you have to remind me every time I come home?” Cyrus shouted, upsetting the gravy bowl in his angry rush to leave the table. Then he stormed out the front door, slamming it behind him. Valerie started to get up to follow him.

“You’ll finish your dinner, young lady. My house, my rules. Then bed. I don’t want either of you causing any trouble and making the neighbors talk any more than they already are.” Mr. Burns’ tone didn’t leave any room for arguing.

They ate the rest of their food in silence. After dinner, Mrs. Burns showed Valerie and Kanti a small room with two twin beds, and they quietly changed and turned out the light. Kanti fell asleep right away, but Valerie lay awake, waiting to hear Cyrus come back. What if someone had followed them from Arden after all, and Cyrus was in danger?

Quietly, she slipped out of bed and crept out of the house. Outside, the stars were harder to see than when they were in Arden because of the lights in the city. But in the distance, the lighthouse glowed brightly, a beacon in the night. Cyrus had to be there. But she couldn’t leave—hadn’t she learned that the hard way when she had disappeared without telling Dulcea? Instead she softly called for Gideon.

“The island is free of magic,” Gideon’s voice came quietly out of the darkness. “You’re safe.”

“Cyrus ran off during dinner. I have to find him. What if he’s hurt?”

“Chrome followed Cyrus when he left. If anything had happened to him, I would know.”

She was relieved. “Is it okay if I bring him back?”

“I will accompany you. Jet will stay with Kanti.”

“Thank you.”

She hurried down the street, using the bright light from the lighthouse as a guide. It was farther than she had guessed, and an hour passed before she and Gideon reached it. Chrome was noiselessly circling the base of the lighthouse in the dark. When he saw them, he gave a quick nod, indicating that everything in the area was safe. Chrome sent her an image of Cyrus huddled at the top of the lighthouse, and she knew that her guess as to where he was hiding was right. As she approached the door at the base of the lighthouse, Gideon joined Chrome in scouting the area in order to give Valerie and Cyrus some privacy.

The door was slightly open, and Valerie went inside. There was a small kitchen and a few sofas inside. It was cozy, and much more welcoming than the Burns’ house. A set of stairs spiraled to the top. She hurried up the stairs, and sure enough, standing at the top, staring out at the ocean, was Cyrus.

“You found me,” he said, turning around. His eyes were slightly red and swollen, but she knew better than to ask if he’d been crying.

“It’s nice up here, away from the rest of the world. So this is where you discovered your power for the first time, huh?” Valerie asked, still breathless from her climb.

“Yeah, the best and worst day of my life.”

“What do you mean?”

“Discovering my power made a whole new world of possibilities open up before me. I could do anything. But it was also the first time my parents seemed really disappointed in me. Obviously, it wasn’t the last time. You know, if I stayed in Messina, I’d probably follow in my dad’s footsteps and take over maintaining this lighthouse. But as much as I love it here, I’d suffocate if I could never use my power. My parents don’t understand. They think magic is turning me into some kind of violent gangster. They don’t understand the beauty of using their powers and letting magic rush through them.”

“The last thing you could ever be is violent.”

“I know that, most days. But sometimes, when my dad looks at me as if I’m some disgusting distortion of the son he once knew, I worry that he’s right. Maybe someday, my magic will warp me into a power-hungry villain, like he thinks it will.”

“But lots of people with powers don’t abuse them, like Azra, or Jet and Chrome.”

“I guess.”

“And your sister, she agrees?”

Cyrus shook his head sadly. “No, I think she’s mad at me because after I left, my parents started keeping tight control over every aspect of her life. They’re afraid she’ll run away and turn out like me.”

“I think she misses you.”

“I miss her, too. But my parents never let her visit me, and I dread coming home because every time I do, it’s always more fighting. I’m so sorry that you and Kanti have to deal with this, Val. So, so sorry.”

She heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and Kanti’s head popped into view. “So your parents are tools. Join the club. Hopefully, they’ll come around and understand you’re being who you are. But even if they don’t, they love you, in their own bizarre way. That’s what I tell myself about my parents.”

“She’s right. Your parents wouldn’t be so mad if they didn’t care. They’re not perfect, but they’re yours,” Valerie said. Cyrus’s parents were angry because he had left them to see the world. That meant they loved him enough to want him around.

“I say, let’s take Cara and ditch your parents tomorrow. We’ll check out the museum, and you guys can show us the sights,” Kanti suggested.

“Yeah, what do ya think, Cy?”

Cyrus nodded, and his eyes glinted with a little of their old mischief. “Even without magic, we can still have some fun. I have a few ideas that my parents wouldn’t approve of.”

Kanti grinned. “Those are the best kinds of ideas.”