I gather my hair up into a bun, wiping sweat off my neck as I do so. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a flicker of movement and light coming from a car at the far end of the lot. It’s the only car around this late in the evening. Wondering who’s still on campus, I walk closer to the car, squinting against the flickering light coming through the windows.

The two figures in the car are pushed up against each other, hands grasping at each other desperately. Their magic glimmers, silver and red streams twisting across their bodies. I realize, belatedly, that they’re sharing magic. The girl tosses her blond hair out of her face, sliding her fingers reverently over the stubble on the man’s chin. There’s something familiar about . . .

Holy shit.

It’s Mr. B and Brittany.

I duck instinctively so they don’t see me. Mr. B leans away from Brittany and bumps his head back against the window. His eyes stay fixed on her, not noticing my presence. He looks . . . sad? Frustrated? The expression wrinkles his brow, and I can almost see the lines that appear on his forehead, the ones that remind you he’s older than he acts.

Brittany leans into him, bringing her lips to his, and my stomach twists. Then I’m running, running who knows where. The potions bottles in my backpack clink wildly against each other with each step I take. I run out of the faculty parking lot, through the main lot, and past the fine arts building. I only stop once I’m off campus, panting on the sidewalk underneath the wide road floating alongside our school.

I pull my phone out from my backpack. Should I call Ana? She’s at dance, so she won’t answer. Still breathing hard, I punch Lex’s speed dial. It rings, and I wait with my heart in my throat for her to answer.

The phone rings, and rings, and keeps ringing. My heart sinks. There’s no way she’s going to answer. But just as I’m about to hang up, the miracle of miracles occurs, and she answers the phone.

“What’s up?” she says flatly. I can hear the sound of her EDM playing in the background.

“Lex,” I say, my voice crackly with emotion. “Thank god. I—thank god.”

“What happened?” she says, confused. The volume of the music dramatically decreases. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No. Mr. B, he—I saw him and Brittany. I didn’t mean to, but the car broke down, and my dad couldn’t come pick me up . . .” I can’t get my thoughts together. “Nobody noticed, but they were so close. Like, weirdly close. How did nobody see it? And the scholarship—”

“Okay, calm down,” Lex says. “What’s going on?”