Asia snorted and replied, “You wouldn’t look suspicious if your posture was more like a giddy, daydreaming schoolgirl instead of a scowling Terroa.”

“Watch your mouth. I’m not a terrorist.” Xafira snapped without moving a muscle.

Indiua rolled her eyes as she flipped her backpack inside out, turning it from a camouflage backpack into a generic schoolbag. After a few more tense seconds, they were all transformed from a small army of rebels, into a clique of giggling teenagers as they flounced out of the alley. Asia quickly morphed from her original 11-year-old body into a teenage personification of innocence complete with big blue eyes, golden blond curls, and a bunch of freckles.

Xafira managed to keep a black look from her face and pasted on a fake grin as she listened to Trisenda say some long, complicated story of what she wore on her date last night and how she spilled water all over the floor and it was SO embarrassing.