Danny had first come to Parry McCluer High School as a long-dreamed-of adventure. And the dream had come true. He had made friends. He had learned how to use his power and he had done good things with it. A few pranks, too, but he hadn’t used it to win races and he hadn’t hurt anybody, unless you counted humiliating Coach Bleeder.

Now, though, he came as if he had graduated, then found out he had flunked a test after all and had to come back. Only nobody knew he had been gone. Nobody knew he had failed. His friends didn’t believe him when he told them.

They were gathered in the old smoking area—the one that the teachers regularly checked. But since they were only talking, not smoking anything, it was a good place for Danny and his friends to gather.

“So can we use the gate?” asked Pat.

“I told you, nobody can.”

“I thought you said it was wild,” said Wheeler. “Anybody could use it.”

“We’re not letting anybody get near enough to use it,” said Danny.

“Then what’s the big deal?” asked Hal. “Is it, like, the last gate you can ever make?”

“No, I can make as many as I want.”

“So can you take us to that other world?” asked Laurette.

“Why would I do that?” asked Danny. “You’re not mages, it wouldn’t do you any good, and what if you got stranded there? It isn’t a safe place.”

“You’re right,” said Pat. “Here, you can only get run over by cars or catch some hideous disease or get blown up in chemistry class.”

“I didn’t blow anybody up,” said Hal.

“But you tried,” said Wheeler.

“I tried to get them to cancel school for the day,” said Hal.

“Can we stop talking about your failures, Hal?” said Xena.

“Yeah, let’s go back to talking about mine,” said Danny.

Xena gripped his arm and spoke so earnestly and pressed so close that he could feel her breath on his cheek. “You haven’t failed at anything, Danny North,” she said. “You’re, like, a god.”

“The god of screw-ups,” said Danny.

Xena kissed his cheek. “Your screw-ups are better than other people’s successes.”

“So you went to the other world. Westil,” said Laurette. “That was supposed to make you more powerful.”

“I don’t feel any different,” said Danny.

“Well, can you do stuff you couldn’t do before?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you know?” asked Laurette.

“There isn’t a manual,” said Danny. “They kill mages like me. They don’t exactly provide me with instructions.”

“Who reads the instructions?” asked Laurette. “Haven’t you tried anything?”

“I wouldn’t even know what to try,” said Danny. “I made gates before. I can still make gates.” He shrugged.

“So you can take us to Disney World?” asked Sin.