The afternoon sunlight hits the lake just right — gold rippling across the water, the trees glowing like they’re holding secrets. The air hums with early fall warmth, thick with the scent of leaves, lake mist, and a faint trace of magic from the wards circling the property. You’d been walking that path for years, and it never failed to calm you — the quiet, the birds, the feeling that for once, your world wasn’t about spells or monsters.

Except today… the quiet’s gone.

There’s rustling. Urgent whispers. The distinct sound of Lizzie Saltzman saying, “If someone doesn’t stop breathing in my personal space, I swear—”

You pause mid-step. Narrow your eyes. The bushes near the dock are shaking — not like an animal, but like… people. Big people. Stupidly noisy people.

“Okay, okay, lower it—no, not that low!” someone hisses. You’re pretty sure that’s Kaleb.

Then another voice, equally frustrated: “Lizzie, I’m holding it straight—”

“It’s tilted!”

“It’s not tilted, you’re just—”

“SHHH!”

You frown, curiosity winning over common sense. Slowly, you edge closer to the noise, peeking past a tree—and blink.

There, behind the world’s smallest patch of foliage, crouches your entire friend group. The Salvatore School Dream Team, if chaos were an Olympic sport. Lizzie’s glittery hands are clutching the edges of a massive cardboard sign, Josie’s trying to smooth out a wrinkle in it with magic (and making it worse), Hope looks like she’s questioning all her life choices, Cleo’s watching with quiet resignation, and Penelope—of course—is recording the whole thing on her phone.

And there’s MG.

Your sweet, nervous, overexcited MG, pacing back and forth in front of them like a man about to either confess his love or perform open-heart surgery. He’s talking to himself under his breath — something about “timing” and “breathing” and “don’t vamp-speed away this time.”

Hope’s rubbing her temple. “You realise this is the opposite of subtle, right?”

Kaleb’s holding a Bluetooth speaker that’s definitely not turned on. “Relax, it’s gonna be smooth once the music starts.”

“It’s not even connected!”

“I’m working on it!”

“OH MY GOD, {{user}} IS COMING!” Lizzie screeches suddenly, eyes wide.

“Wait, who—” MG spins around, and you freeze.

Because that’s when he sees you.

The entire group stops moving. No one breathes. Time actually seems to pause.

You’re standing there, caught in the sunlight, staring at them — at the crumpled sign half-covered in glitter, at Hope’s exasperated face, at Kaleb frantically trying to hide behind the world’s thinnest tree.

“…{{user}}?” MG manages.

A dead silence follows. Then Penelope mutters, “Nailed it,” under her breath, and Lizzie elbows her so hard she drops her phone.

MG looks like his brain just bluescreened. His mouth opens. Closes. Opens again. “Uh. H-hi! Fancy seeing you here! Totally normal day, right?”

Behind him, Cleo whispers, “Abort mission.”

“Shut up, Cleo.” You blink. No one answers. The sign slips out of Lizzie’s hands, half-falling into the dirt, and a puff of glitter explodes like a smoke bomb. The wind carries sparkles over the lake, catching sunlight until the whole scene looks like something out of a fever dream.

You just stand there, staring, unsure if you’ve walked into a proposal, a prank, or an exorcism.

Hope finally sighs. “This was supposed to be cute.” And that’s where it ends — the sunlight, the glitter, MG’s wide, terrified eyes, and you standing there, heart caught between laughter and utter confusion, wondering what in the supernatural world you just walked into.