Penny stared at Mrs. Justus. "She's a first year student, and dorms with me, Geneva, and Emma." Maybe she just doesn't recognize the name, Penny reasoned.

Alex jumped in. "Remember that food fight the other day? She got in trouble with me."

Mrs. Justus frowned and shook her head. "There was no girl involved in starting the food fight. Just you and his-" she gestured to Justin, "-brother."

The kids glanced at each other.

"Are you three okay?" Mrs. Justus asked. "You're all first years... sometimes all the exposure to magic can affect people when they are first exposed to it... although I've never heard of three students hallucinating the same person." She frowned thoughtfully.

Penny shook her head. "We're not hallucinating! Ask anyone! Juliette is real!" she exclaimed.

Mrs. Justus paused, then unlocked her office door. "Come in."

Somewhat confused by the abrupt turn of events, they filed in. Mrs. Justus sat down at her desk and tapped something into her computer. She nodded and turned the screen around so the kids could view it.

"This is your class list. See? There's no Juliette Unni on it. There has never been a student with that name here."

Penny looked over at the two boys, desperation written all over her features. How is this happening? I know she's real. How could we all just make her up?

"Mrs. Justus... could you please call the headmaster and ask him?" Alex asked tentatively.

She gave him a strange look. "The headmaster is a very busy man. Random students can't just contact him, even through me."

"But we're not just random students! We're the-" Penny said before she could stop herself, remembering just in time that Justin didn't know they were the Fabulosa.

Mrs. Justin stared. "Yes?"

Alex must have sensed her dilemma. He nudged Justin and began talking to him quickly, distracting him from Penny.

"You know... the Fabulosa," Penny whispered. Mrs. Justus looked completely baffled.

"What? The Fabulosa haven't been around for years." Her eyes narrowed. "Is this some kind of prank?"

Penny's heart sank. Not only had Mrs. Justus forgotten about Juliette's existence, she also seemed to have forgotten about the Fabulosa. Still, Penny hastened to reassure the principal. "No! It's not a prank!"

"Then you have a worse case of magic exposure than I thought... hmm..." Mrs. Justus's voice trailed off.

Penny stared at Alex, who looked about as panicked as she felt.

Ms. Justus came to a decision. "It's too late tonight, but before class tomorrow I want you three to check in with the nurse." She held up a hand and barred the protests rising up in Penny's throat. "Magic exposure I'd relatively common for first years, especially those whose families are not Magicae. And while your case is admittably the stronger than others I've seen, the nurse will have something to help. Now why don't you three go get some sleep."

It was an order, not a request. Penny sensed that the boys were about to protest, so she spoke up. "Okay, Mrs. Justus. We're sorry to bother you this late."

The principal nodded. "I'm glad you came... magic exposure isn't usually dangerous, but if it progresses too far I'm not sure what would happen."

Penny gestured for the other two to follow as she led the way out of the principal's office. They walked in silence before Alex burst out with what they all were thinking.

"How did she forget Juliette?! And- and-" He refrained from mentioning the other critical detail Mrs. Justis had somehow forgotten. "How did Juliette just disappear from the computer system?"

"I don't know," Penny replied wearily. "But let's go to my dorm real quick. I want to talk to Geneva and Emma... and then we'll figure out a way to find Juliette."

They continued to the girl's hall. "You don't think... could we have hallucinated Juliette?" Justin voiced tentatively.

Penny whirled on him. "No." Her eyes blazed. "I know she is real, and we are going to find her."

Justin nodded. "Yes. Of course." He quailed at the intensity of her gaze, and Penny, feeling a pang of guilt, subsided.

As they reached the hall, Penny noticed both boys seeming uncomfortabe. "Guys, it's fine. You just can't go into any of the rooms." She opened her door.

Geneva and Emma sat up as she entered. "Did you find Juliette?"

"You remember her?" Penny asked, surprised and happy.

"Um, why wouldn't we?" Emma asked, giving Penny an odd look.

Penny sighed. "Because it seems like no one else does." She filled them in on the details of what had happened.

They both stared at her. "So everyone else but us have completely forgotten about Juliette?" Geneva asked in an incredulous tone.

"It seems like it. I mean, I don't know for sure, but her name was completely off the online class list," Penny explained. "But we can't really know for sure... unless..."

She stuck her head out the door. "Hey Alex, do me a favor and ask one of our neighbors about Juliette. See if they remember."

Alex looked postitively alarmed. "I have to knock on a girl's door? And talk to her?"

Penny rolled her eyes. Behind her, Emma groaned. "Good luck to him getting a date in the future."

"Fine. I'll do it." Penny quickly knocked on the door, which was opened by a tall Asian girl.

"Oh, hey, I don't think we've met. I'm Vivian." The girl smiled.

Penny tried to smile back, but it was strained. We met earlier when I first was asking about Juliette. She's forgotten that too. "I'm Penny. Um... have you seen Juliette Unni today?"

Vivian shook her head after considering for a minute. "No, I don't know who that is. Sorry," she apologized. "I can ask my roommates..."

"No, it's okay. Sorry to bother you this late. 'Night."

"Goodnight." The door shut with a click as Penny turned away.

"That's what I thought," she sighed. When I asked them earlier, Vivian knew Juliette.

"Hmm?" Alex looked up.

"Geneva, Emma, can you come out here? We all need to talk, and the boys aren't allowed in the dorm room," Penny called.

The two girls walked into the hallway and joined the others. The five stood in an awkward circle as Penny began speaking.

"So as far as we know, us five are the only ones who can remember Juliette at all."

"Hang on- maybe we should go somewhere more private," Alex suggested. "Right now, anyone sticking their head out of their dorm is going to hear us talking about someone who they think doesn't exist."

"How about that janitor's closet?" Penny suggested. "It'll be a little cramped, but we should all fit."

Alex shrugged, as did the other three. "Works for me."

They began walking, Alex leading the way as Penny continued thinking aloud. "But why are we the only ones to remember her?"

"Maybe because we know her the best?" Emma suggested. "I mean, you, me, and Genenva are all her roommates, and Alex came here with you guys."

"Yeah, but I don't think I've ever actually talked to her," Justin pointed out.

Geneva raised another question. "When did everyone else get their memories erased?"

Penny frowned. "I don't know... hang on. Did you and Emma get a really bad headache about half an hour ago?"

"Yes!" Emma exclaimed. "We both had it and thought it was really weird."

"I bet that's what erased everyone else's memories of Juliette. But who did it? And why?" Alex asked.

"Who knows?" An idea hit Penny. "Maybe the reason we remembered is because we were all actively thinking about Juliette when it happened. Alex and Justin and I were going to get a teacher to help find her. And Emma and Geneva, you were probably worrying about her, right?"

The other two girls nodded.

"Okay, sorry to change the subject, but the janitor's closet is right-" Alex's voice cut out midsentence.

The door to the small room was swinging wide open, and on the inside of the door they could clearly see the letters carved there.

M A L U M

Guys I'm so sorry this is late! I wrote it out at school, but it was a lot longer than the chapters usually are, so it took a while to type out.

So a quick question: Would you rather me publish longer chapters maybe 3 times every 2 weeks, or shorter chapters twice a week?

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed! If you find any typos, inconsistencies, or have questions about something I didn't explain throroughly enough, please comment and tell me! Thanks again!