I got home the same day the moving truck showed up next door.

It was a bit of a shock. The Weathers had always lived next door. I'd barely known Storm, but Skye was my parents' choice for babysitter. She was like fifteen years older or something, but she kept looking after me until I was old enough to stay home alone, even after she moved into the city. Sometimes she'd come home to visit her parents and then look after me while my parents went out. When I was a little older, in high school, her parents moved to the coast to be closer to her brother and his kids when they retired, and they left her the house. I think they sold it to her or something, but I don't really know. Her place became a bit of a sanctuary for me as my parents started to fight more and more, my mom retired and my dad started to find out about her affairs. They didn't break up or anything, but they sure fought, and I sure wanted a quiet place to do my homework or just chill and watch videos.

Skye alternated between mothering me a little and just leaving me alone, though she did cook me about one supper a week. We didn't talk a whole lot about much. I looked after her place a couple summers for some extra money when she travelled to visit her family, and then I went off to university.

So when I saw the moving truck next door on the same day I got back for summer break, I had to dash over, through the thin line of trees that separated my parents' property from Skye's, and find my lifelong friend. She was standing outside as the truck door opened, and she gave me a cheerful wave.

"You're not moving away, Skye?" I asked, rushing over and giving her a hug.

She laughed. "No, no, I just have some friends moving in. They needed a place, and I figured, I have this big house, all by myself..." She trailed off.

I'd taken care of that house a few times. Two big bedrooms on the second floor, two in the basement that were full of storage boxes. I nodded. "Yeah, okay, good. I was worried I'd be here all summer and I wouldn't see you!"

Skye smiled. "We're having a barbecue in the backyard Friday, you and your folks are welcome to join us."

"I would love to!" I threw my arms around her again. "Mom and Dad are going to spend the weekend in town, they're going to see a show, but I'd be happy to not have to order in a pizza." I grinned. "So who are these friends? Why aren't they helping move things?"

"Emi's inside, sorting boxes. You'll like them, I think. Tempest has just gone to get us some late lunch."

"Cool, need any more help?"

Skye shook her head. "You just got back yourself! Go home, relax, we'll get together in a couple days."

I snapped a salute and we both laughed. "Alright, I'll just pop over Friday?"

"Great, yeah, any time after six or so."

"Need me to—"

"Just bring yourself, Rita. We've got everything else covered."

I smiled and headed back to my own house, excited to reconnect.

I tried not to spy on my neighbour. I just ended up in the front room sitting by the window reading a little more often than I usually would. I could see two different vehicles regularly going back and forth, not that I was paying that much attention, both of them pretty sensible four-door cars, Skye's familiar blue sedan that she'd had for a few years, and another, older, white car of a similar make. It was hard to see the figures in the cars, the house wasn't that close to the road, but I don't think I ever saw anyone driving alone.

I felt a bit bad not helping out, but it sure seemed like there were enough hands to do the moving work.

I could hardly wait for Friday evening. I wanted to meet these new friends of my neighbour. These new neighbours, really. I think my dad noticed. He commented Thursday evening that it seemed like every time a car went by, I perked up. I think he was teasing me about missing Skye, and the general comforts of home, while I was away. He wasn't wrong, but I was far more excited than I ought to have been about Friday dinner.

For whatever reason, I didn't tell my parents. They assumed I'd be calling for pizza or Chinese from town or something, or maybe scrounging from the pantry. Instead, about an hour after they'd left, after I'd had a chance to put on a nice floral sundress and paint my nails and put on a bit of eye liner and blush, I slipped on my nice sandals and headed out through the trees.

The party was already well underway. I could hear them laughing before I saw them, it sure sounded like a good time. I rounded the corner and conversation stopped briefly. Five women (or, as I soon found out, four women and one enby) sat in lawn chairs around the unlit fire pit in the back yard, with a sixth empty chair just waiting for me.

Skye stood up. "Everyone, this is my neighbour, Rita. I used to babysit her." I flushed a bit at the introduction. "And she's just back home for the summer after her first year at university."

The other three gave me a friendly wave and said some sort of cheery greeting. I waved back, pushing down any shyness I might have had (which wasn't much) and walked towards the group. As Skye went inside to get me a drink, I very quickly met Tempest, thin and tattooed in denim shorts and a loose t shirt with a guitar across her lap; Lyric, fuller-figured (though not as much as Skye) and wearing a full blue dress; Erynn, a fairly pretty average-looking office worker still in her nice slacks and blouse from her work day; and Emi, a waifish Asian enby wearing a black bikini that left almost nothing to the imagination.

They were all instantly likeable, and I fit in immediately. Especially with Emi there, someone around my age. It's not like Tempest or Lyric were that much older, and I judged Erynn to only be a couple years older than them, but Emi made me feel comfortable, and soon everyone was telling me their life stories.

Well... almost all their life stories.

Other than Tempest and Lyric, who had been friends and roommates for a long time, the five of them would change the subject very quickly if it came to how they met. I didn't understand what they had to be cagey about, but I didn't pry. Much. But I was curious.

We'd been sitting around for about an hour when Skye got up again and announced that she was going to fire up the barbecue. I offered to help move the food from the kitchen to the yard, which gave me a chance to talk to Skye alone.

"So," I asked as my host gathered sauce and spices together, "How did you all get together?"

She paused. And she hesitated. "It's... difficult to explain," she replied.

I picked up the plate of raw chicken. "So which one of them are you fucking, then?" I teased, stacking it on top of the basket of potatoes.

She dropped the plastic bottle of barbecue sauce. "Uh."

I turned and stared. "I was joking."

"Emi," she said, like she hadn't heard me.

Emi? I thought.

"... and Erynn."

"Oh. Huh."

I hadn't expected any of that.

"So... uh..." Skye started to gather things together again.

"Yeah, sorry. So how do Tempest and Lyric fit in?"

"It's... You know, I'll let the others explain, after dinner, alright?"

I shoved my curiosity down and carried the food to the door. "Okay, but if I don't get answers tonight..."

"Like I can keep secrets from you!"

The two of us emerged into the yard again carrying the food and laughing. Emi scurried over immediately to take a bunch of the spices from Skye. Erynn, meanwhile, took the plate of chicken from me. Lyric was piling wood in the firepit, and Tempest was tuning up her guitar.

"I don't know if you have to get the fire ready," Skye began. "Figured we'd eat inside and then stay in."

Lyric just looked over at her and smiled a mysterious smile, and that seemed to answer Skye's objections, which of course just raised more questions that I knew wouldn't get answers until after supper.

Skye put the potatoes on the grill and the rest of us sat down. Tempest started strumming on the guitar, and there was something... odd about it. Not wrong, just different. And I couldn't tell you what was odd, either. It wasn't like there was a misplaced note or a strange rhythm or whatever. It was more like inside her playing were weird little emphases, little bits that were in unusual places, just enough to catch the ear.

And I wasn't the only one to notice, it seemed. A glance around the circle showed that every one of the newcomers was listening as attentively as I was. Lyric had her eyes closed and was leaning back in her chair, Erynn and Emi were practically staring. Both of them seemed to want to move, but I couldn't tell why. I didn't feel like moving, I just felt like listening.

Tempest wrapped up her little solo, and I resisted the urge to applaud. Lyric broke the silence first. "It's beautiful, Temp."

"Thank you," the musician replied. "I was just... inspired yesterday."

She put an odd focus on that word, and I supposed it had some meaning to the others there.

"Funny," Emi said. "I got inspired myself last night."

"Ooh, cookies?" Erynn asked.

"Dessert, anyway," they replied with a grin.

I found myself intrigued. More intrigued.

"Could mean something coming," Lyric said, and she looked at me, and I kind of felt she was looking inside me, staring right at my soul. I fought the urge to squirm uncomfortably in my seat. Instead I just turned to Skye, who was just putting the chicken on the grill.

Skye looked back at me, and I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I was nervous, and I couldn't tell why. All I knew is that something was going on, and it had to do with me.

"After dinner," she said, and for some reason, those two words were enough that I could take a deep breath and calm down. I nodded, and then the music began again, and my thoughts kind of got tangled in trying to anticipate those little unusual moments again and again and again... I wasn't really aware of how long Tempest was playing, but she stopped just as Skye was coming back outside. I hadn't even noticed Skye taking the food off the barbecue or bringing it inside.

"Food's on," our host said, and we all got up—I was surprised at just how hard it was to move, but I was hungry—and we went inside. The others were talking, but I was just thinking to myself, I'm not even sure about what.

Emi served us all salad as the main course cooled, a nice mix—I detected lettuce, kale, celery, and pear, at least—in a light raspberry vinaigrette. It was refreshing, and combined with the scent of the chicken in front of me managed to make me hungrier.

"So what are you studying?" Erynn asked me as I was about half done my bowl.

I swallowed. "Arts major, looking for math and theatre, but we'll see. Planning to go into education."

"Hey that's great!" Emi said enthusiastically. "I was two years into biology when I decided I'd had enough. If I'd had better teachers maybe I wouldn't have given up!"

"Pretty big assumption that I'd be a better teacher."

Skye pointed her fork at me. "You'll be great."

And the others all voiced their support, which felt amazing. I'd had people giving me love and support my whole life, but at that table I believed them. It's hard to explain, but their words hit me deep in my heart, and everything they said, these virtual strangers, felt true in a way that most people telling me how good I am and how smart I am never really did before that.

The potatoes and chicken were excellent, but I could hardly taste them. It wasn't just the compliments, the casual conversation was pulling me in. I could feel myself learning about each of them, growing in insight, learning things about them that they weren't saying. I felt the sexual attraction shared between Emi, Erynn, and Skye, the deeply comfortable platonic friendship that Lyric and Tempest shared with each other as well as the other three, the passion they all had for Tempest's music and Lyric's art and Emi's baking... So many little things about their lives popped into my mind as I listened to them talking with one another, as I answered their questions, as they answered mine. Emotions, of course, but details, too, like the time Skye had got a speeding ticket on the road into town, or Tempest's pregnancy scare, or the crush Lyric had on one of her design professors. It wasn't a smooth or predictable process, but it was fascinating, and I got to know so much about them.

"I've got clean-up," Erynn said as we finished our meal. "Emi will get dessert ready, why don't the rest of you—"

"We'll head out to the fire," Lyric finished.

"Great idea," Skye said. "See you two in a bit?"

Emi nodded. "Yep, soon as I digest that, I'll bring out the pie."

I made a noise like, "Oooh! Pie!" and follow Lyric, Tempest, and my neighbour out to the back yard.

We lit the fire that Lyric had piled up before dinner and got a good, warm blaze going. It wasn't really necessary, even as the sun was setting it was still nice outside, but there's always something special and comforting about a fire, and I needed a little bit of comforting. The sudden onset of telepathy or whatever it was that I was feeling at the dinner table suddenly had me a bit shaken, which was probably understandable. And it wasn't like I could tell them about it; I sure wasn't going to let them know that they were revealing all their little secrets to me.

Which meant that I had a secret of my own. I swallowed, nervous.

Skye patted me on the shoulder as she walked by, a gesture that was oddly comforting. I was about to say something, to not say something, to get out of the chair and run home and never look back... I was about to act, somehow, but Tempest picked up the guitar again, and I was fixed in place. I couldn't move. I had nothing to move for.

The music poured out of her fingers, and the popping of the fire played like a rhythm section. It bent and twisted around her melodies, danced and fluttered in the wind. I was absolutely transfixed. I lost all track of time, all track of everything, really. At some point, Emi, I think, put a plate in my lap, and my fork moved automatically to my mouth. I had never suspected that taste could be such a powerful part of a musical performance, but I couldn't stop eating until I was done.

And the thoughts! All their thoughts sang to each other, words and names and voices, friendship and family and sex and love and magic and everything everywhere all rang together in such perfection and I could see Her there, see Her dancing in the fire, not in the licks of the flames that spun around Tempest's strumming but in the shadows they cast over the trees and the house and me and my friends dancing naked in the light, here was something, someone, a deep Presence, a sensation I knew and felt my whole life but had never been aware of until that instant and could never not be aware of, ever again. I was a fish who finally discovered the atomic bonds between hydrogen and oxygen and could see them with her own eyes. I was witnessing divinity as She occurred, as She was born in embers and lived in shadows and died in sparks, over and over and over again, hearing Her secrets whispering to my soul.

She was in them, in all five of them. In the steps they were taking; in the ideas they were sparking; in the kisses Emi and Erynn were sharing, and then Erynn and Skye, and then all three of them; in the flavour of the pie that I just finished eating.

She was in me, too, and all around me.

I got to my feet. I didn't hesitate. As the sunset spread across the sky, I threw off my sundress. I didn't need my underwear, either. I joined the other four dancers by the fireside, but I didn't dance. I just stood there in the warmth of the fire, and in the warmth of Her glow. I was in an absolute ocean of thought, my own, the other dancers', Tempest's, Hers, and so, so many more that floated to me from everywhere at once.

It was a small step. That was all it took. I might have been able to turn back, but there was never any reason to.

I stood in the fire.

I didn't burn.

I felt warmth, but it wasn't the warmth of flame. It was the warmth of love. Love from my friends. Love from Her. Love from the whole earth, from the whole universe.

I spoke.

I wish I could remember what I said. It was a dramatic soliloquy all my own. I told secrets. Secrets just came to me. My own. Theirs. Others', people I knew, people I didn't. Words poured out from me, and while I wasn't singing, the words mingled with Tempest's music and the popping of the fire. I was speaking loudly and clearly, but still I had no idea if I was being heard at all. The moon was high and the sky was dark long before I finished; it must have been midnight, at least. The wood had burned away some time before, and no one was feeding it, but the fire didn't die off until I finished, and when I did, it practically imploded into a cloud of sparks.

I stepped off my makeshift soapbox, dizzy, exhausted, feet covered in soot, but otherwise unharmed. I was carried to the embrace of four people, and soon five as Tempest joined us. Five people who I knew as well as I knew myself, and probably better than they knew themselves. I was exhilarated, and so were they, and despite all their dancing they still had the energy to help me move. I was practically carried inside, and then literally carried once we got inside so I didn't track soot all over Skye's floors. My newfound friends carried me to the bathroom, sat me on the edge of the tub, and took turns steadying me, holding me, and washing my feet until they were clean. It was a beautiful, tender moment, one I had never imagined or considered or experienced in my life to that point.

What came after was a dizzying blur and I wasn't fully sure what was happening. I may have passed out, or maybe fainted, but between the blur and the tiredness somewhere everything faded into love and comfort and the blackness of sleep.

At sunrise my eyes opened, and while the ecstasy was gone, the love, and the Presence, and the secrets, were all still there. I was laying nude in Skye's basement bedroom next to Emi, who was still asleep.

I could tell that they would gladly make love to me, if I woke them. I knew that secret. I could tell that it would be equally acceptable if I didn't want that. This wasn't the compulsion of the night before, this was an option, a choice. I could... I could do what I want.

What did I want?

What did I want? I wasn't entirely sure. I could know facts, facts about the world, facts about people, facts about the cute, petite, femme nonbinary person softly snoring beside me, but emotions, feelings, projections, those were things I didn't know. I knew what Emi wanted more than I knew what I wanted.

I ran my foot up and down the bed. I marvelled at the feeling of the sheet, the way such a simple thing could make my skin tingle. This wasn't something the Presence wanted, or didn't want, so I didn't have guidance on that question. I had to make a choice for myself. I had to know, to learn what I wanted.

That's the gift the Presence offered me. Knowledge, and the choice of how to use it. But the gift could only be directed outward.

Tempest and Lyric, and of course the lovely person lying next to me, had the ability to produce wonderful creations to bring in new people. Skye and Erynn knew best how to care for those creators. What I was being asked, in exchange for hearing secrets, was to guide my friends, to keep them away from trouble and to point them towards new recruits.

I had two questions in front of me, then. I knew that I was being offered a choice, in the way that the others hadn't been. Not that they aren't given options and choices, but I had the full knowledge of the consequences of that choice, and that was a little terrifying. If I accepted, it would mean a complete change in my life. I would have a new purpose, and it wouldn't be my own anymore. On the other hand, if I said 'no,' if I chose to return to my normal life, there would be no penalty, no cost. I would still be friends with Skye, and with the others, and I could probably still pursue a relationship with Emi if I wanted.

And that was the other question. In some ways, it was almost a harder decision. I didn't have to make an immediate choice on whether or not to follow the Presence for the rest of my life; I had time to consider that. But Emi was right there, and they would be waking up soon, and that moment might pass me by.

I ran my foot up and down Emi's leg. It was much more thrilling than the sheets. They woke, turned to me, and smiled softly, and I made a decision that changed my life.