"You figure she's made it to Iqaluit by now?" Harper asked quietly.

  I shrugged then shook my head, "We didn't get a flight number or anything. All my aunt said was they'd be setting out this morning. She didn't even say what time."

  Ellie pointed out, "There's also a time difference between Saskatoon and here? They're an hour or two behind us. So it's still mid-morning there. My guess is Judith's team are probably still in the air, on their way to Yellowknife. Their connecting flight to Iqaluit wouldn't be until some time this afternoon."

  "That's assuming they've even left Saskatoon yet," she added.

  The tall handsome jock frowned for a few seconds before responding, "Maybe they won't even get off the ground? Violet and the other magical girls could have headed straight out there yesterday, right? They might have figured it was easier to stop Judith and her team before they even got started."

  "Maybe?" I shrugged again. "Violet never told me what their pns were or anything, she just asked for more information then thanked me after I sent it."

  After my aunt's unexpected visit I spent the rest of the day hanging out with Ellie. It wasn't quite as fun as we'd expected, since a lot of the conversation was about everything my aunt said and the new revetions about my mom being really good at dark magic. Plus there were a few more interruptions in the form of texts from Fiona.

  She'd ask for crification or she was looking for more information or whatever. I answered all her questions, but she didn't answer any of mine. Like were the magical girls going to go after my grandmother, what were they going to do, and would they want me to join them.

  It was frustrating being ignored like that, but considering we were talking about saving the world I tried not to let it get to me. I figured Fiona and the others were probably busy, and they definitely had a lot of stuff to worry about that was more important than answering the new girl's questions.

  Harper joined Ellie and I as soon as he'd done all the chores his folks had for him, then we had to go over all that stuff again so he knew what was going on. The three of us tried to make the most of things, but it wasn't a great evening with all that doom and gloom hanging over us.

  Now it was almost noon on Friday and we were chilling in a little cafe just north of the main crossroads. I still hadn't heard from Fiona, and for all we knew my grandmother was already on her way up north to try and end the world.

  Barely a full week had passed since I found that pink gold ring, and if things went badly then there was only another week left before my grandmother opened a rift and handed the Earth over to some otherworldly monsters.

  "That sucks," the cute tomboy frowned as she adjusted her gsses. "I get that the situation is intense, but it feels like she's keeping you in the dark about all this stuff. Which seems kind of rude after you answered all her questions yesterday."

  I shrugged once more, "They're trying to save the world. I'm sure they don't want to waste time answering all my silly questions. That and they probably don't trust me, considering my grandmother is the one who's out there trying to kill everyone."

  "I guess," Ellie said, although she was still frowning as she had a sip of her iced cappuccino.

  We were all quiet for a bit after that, just sipping our drinks and chilling out together. Or maybe we were all lost in thought, since there'd been nothing but heavy topics all week long.

  Eventually Harper broke the silence. He kept his voice down as he asked me, "Have you used the ring at all since Tuesday? I know Ellie said things wouldn't wear off until tomorrow, but that was just a wild guess right?"

  "Or are you going to wait until it does wear off, then start timing the transformations again?" he added just as quietly.

  I grimaced slightly before admitting, "I had some weird feelings about it the other day? Like how my original pns all fell apart Monday afternoon, then by the end of the day Tuesday it seemed like my original body was already gone forever. I wasn't exactly having second-thoughts or anything like that, but it felt like I needed some time to try and sort everything out, you know?"

  "Like I have no idea how I'm going to get my ID updated if I stay like this," I continued. "As much as it sucked going back to my guy body, at least my drivers license and health card would be valid. Then I could start the process to get that stuff updated, right? And my student records and whatever else I'll need. So yeah, it's kind of a big decision and I needed to think it all through."

  Ellie asked, "So what are you going to do? Let this expire so you go back to your original body?"

  They could both probably tell how uncomfortable the idea made me, and I sighed then shook my head. "I thought about it, but no. Even if that would make the paperwork stuff easier, even if I'd only have to do that for a few days or a week or whatever, the idea still fills me with dread. I'd rather stay like this and put up with some extra hassles."

  "So does that mean you've used the ring again?" Harper asked softly.

  "Yeah," I nodded. There was a bit of a blush on my face as I added, "I used it before I went to bed st night. And I didn't undo it until I woke up this morning. So that was about seven or eight hours I guess?"

  Both my friends' eyes widened, and I could tell by the look on Ellie's face she was probably trying to do the math in her head. Like she was going to revise her estimate for when I'd turn back to my guy self again.

  Except before she could say anything I told her, "I don't need to know when it might wear off. I'm just going to keep using it now and then, so I know it'll never wear off. Or maybe if I get a chance to talk to Fiona again, I'll ask if she knows how that works. Or if there's a way to just make it totally permanent, so I never have to worry about it again."

  "Ok Bke," the cute tomboy nodded. Then her lips curled into a little smirk as she asked, "So you spent all night as a magical girl? But you wouldn't have gone to bed fully dressed though. Does that mean you figured out how to get the bustier off? Because I'm still avaible if you need help with that. Just sayin'."

  By the time she was done Harper was grinning as well, while my cheeks felt a little hotter. I ended up busying myself with a few gulps of my iced tea, rather than try and respond to her teasing.

  Then Harper caught us both off guard when he suddenly asked, "I know this is probably coming out of the blue but I'd like to take the two of you out somewhere nice for dinner tonight. As in, I'd like to ask you both out on a date. With me. Tonight."

  I coughed and sputtered as I tried not to choke on my iced tea, while Ellie just slowly blinked her eyes and stared at him.

  "You know I'm not into guys, right?" she asked him, while I was still recovering.

  "Sure I know that," the handsome jock replied with a shrug. "But we're good friends, and it doesn't have to be a romance thing between you and me. Maybe you and I could have some sort of queer-ptonic retionship going on? Meanwhile I know you're into Bke, and she's into you. I'm pretty sure she's into me too. And not gonna lie, I'm definitely into both of you."

  He got a little more serious as he continued, "Look, the bottom line is I feel like all three of us are really close, ok? And with the threat of a world-ending monster invasion only a week away, I couldn't wait any longer. So yeah. I'm into both of you, I really like you two a lot, and I'd love to take you both out on a date. Ideally before the world ends."

  I finally found my voice while Ellie was still processing all that. I looked at her, then back at Harper, and finally nodded. My heart was racing and there were butterflies in my stomach, but I somehow managed to respond, "I would love to go on a date with both of you."

  My cheeks felt like they were on fire as I admitted, "I've kind of had a crush on you Ellie since the first time we met. And Harper, to be honest I was kind of scared of you at first? But as I got to know you better I realized you're really a nice guy."

  That just left the cute tomboy, and both Harper and I looked to her to see what she'd say. She still looked surprised, but it also seemed like she was thinking it over. It took another couple seconds though before she finally came to a decision.

  "Alright," she responded. Her cheeks took on a faint pink hue as she added, "I've never actually been on a date before, but I'll give it a try. I'm not going to get all dolled up in a dress or anything like that though."

  Harper grinned, "Awesome!"

  I found myself smiling as well. Then I pointed out, "Whether we get 'dolled up' or not, I'm still going to want to take some time to get ready. So what time are we going out?"

  "And where are you taking us?" Ellie added.

  He suggested, "How about that BBQ pce up in Markdale? We can set out around six, have dinner, then figure something else out?"

  "Sounds good to me," I nodded.

  "Yeah that works," Ellie agreed.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon in a sort of happy nervous excited state. The idea of actually going out on a real official date was still slowly sinking in, like it's the sort of thing I never thought I'd get to do. Especially not as a cute girl, going out with another cute girl, and a hot guy. At the same time. It was like the best of all possible worlds, and it left me wondering what I ever did to deserve such good luck.

  Harper dropped Ellie and I off at our homes around two in the afternoon, then he headed back to his pce so the three of us could all get ready and everything. Mom had already left for work by then, but Amelia was home. She and her friend Alice were watching TV in the living-room while I hurried up to my room to start getting ready.

  I wasn't sure I needed four entire hours but I ended up making the most of it. I showered and did what I could to make my hair look nice, then wasted a bunch of time trying to decide what to wear.

  I ended up in a pair of tight bck pants that hugged my hips and behind, because I remembered Ellie liked that. And I went with a little pink top with a scoop neck that sort of highlighted my chest, since I was pretty sure Harper would enjoy that. I didn't really have much in the way of make-up, but I did have some red lipstick so I used that to add a bit more colour to my face.

  "Woah," my little sister commented when I finally came back downstairs. "You look really pretty sis. What's the occasion?"

  Meanwhile Alice was staring at me in shock, since the st time she saw me was only seven days earlier when I was still in my original guy form.

  My cheeks coloured but I had a big smile on my face as I replied happily, "I'm going out on a date!"

  Amelia looked surprised but happy for me as she responded, "Seriously? You finally worked up the courage to ask Ellie out?"

  "Nope," I shook my head. My blush got a little brighter as I admitted, "Harper asked both me and Ellie out together? Like all three of us?"

  That left my sister looking even more surprised, but in a good way. She grinned, "From 'single' to 'in a pan poly retionship' just like that huh? Pretty wild. Congrats though Bke. Have fun on your date!"

  "Thanks Amelia," I smiled as I headed for the front door. "You and Alice enjoy your evening!"

  I actually had another fifteen minutes or so before Harper was due to come and pick me up, but I knew my sister's friend was about to ask a thousand questions and I really didn't want to have to answer them all. So I sat outside on the front porch, then pulled my phone out of my purse to kill some time while I waited.

  It was just a minute or two before six when I looked up from my phone in time to see someone pull up in front of the house. Except instead of Harper's beat-up old pick-up truck it was a motorcycle, and the young woman riding it definitely wasn't my best friend.

  "What are you doing here?!" I excimed as Fiona got off the bike and removed her helmet. "Shouldn't you be way up north somewhere, saving the world?"

  Before she could respond another vehicle pulled into our driveway, and this one didn't contain Harper and Ellie either. It was a high-end SUV with a rental company name on the licence pte protector, and inside were three very diverse looking young women of varying ages.

  They all emerged from the SUV, and I found myself facing the rest of the magical girl team. At least I assumed that's who they were, and a quick gnce confirmed the three strangers were all wearing bck gold rings like mine and Fiona's. And the fact that they were all here instead of on their way up north to stop my grandmother left me feeling very uncomfortable. At least they were all in their 'civilian' forms, instead of their magical girl shapes.

  "So Bke," Fiona said as she looked to me. "It's time for you to meet the rest of the team."

  PurpleCatGirl