"So are you in?" Kalim's cheerful voice was loud enough to be heard from down the hallway. Ever since you, a magicless human, ended up in Twisted Wonderland, Kalim had made every effort to be your friend. He was a little boisterous, but you appreciated the upfront friendliness in comparison to most of the other NRC students.

"I don't know..." you said, thinking over the party invitation. "I have a history paper to do for Professor Trein. Besides, isn't it kinda last minute to put together a party?"

"Jamil can handle it!"

He said it so easily. Without pausing or blinking. Kalim just knew Jamil would prepare a dorm party just because he asked. You were the only one who seemed to notice the twitch of Jamil's eye or the brief scowl that came over his features. This wasn't the first time Kalim had dumped a bunch of work on Jamil in favor of having fun with friends. Now that you think of it, you don't think you'd ever seen Jamil with friends of his own. Friends that didn't come for Kalim first, Jamil second.

"That's not fair," you found yourself speaking without even thinking.

Kalim paused. He didn't seem angry about your protest. But rather, it seemed that it had genuinely never occurred to him that Jamil doing so much alone after a day of classes and other chores wasn't okay.

"It's no problem," Jamil said automatically.