My answer flies out of my mouth. “Of course!” I smile, though my heart is breaking. That’s almost all the money I have saved. What if something else happens, and we need more money?

This is why I have to get on the fast track to making money. My parents deserve a car that works and regular vacations in foreign countries and a house with magitech security so they don’t have to worry about people breaking in. This is why I need the scholarship.

“We’ll pay you back,” Mom says fiercely.

“You don’t have to,” I say.

“We will.” She throws garlic into the pot of water on the stove and then glares at the mixture like it personally offended her in some way. When I drink the immune booster with my dinner, it tastes like an apology. I want to tell her she has nothing to be sorry for, but I know she won’t listen.

This convinces me that talking to Brittany is the right move. If I can get her to come forward on her own, there’s a better chance this will all work out okay. I could get out of this without losing my shot at the scholarship. There’s still a chance that I won’t have to ruin everything I have to achieve.

Chapter 34

T. K. Anderson Magical Magnet School is proud to announce its nominees for this year’s Brockton Scholarship Award:

Ana Álvarez

Rebecca Callahan

Jacob Greenberg

Liam Hollowell

Shayna Johnson

The Brockton Scholar will be selected by a panel of judges and announced at the scholarship ceremony next week.

—Email from T. K. Anderson

The nominee announcement feels like a sick joke. I should be happy. This is it, the moment I’ve been working for all this time. But instead I stare at the email, wondering if I only got this because Mr. B thinks I’m pretty. My parents freak out over the announcement, of course, and I have to fake some enthusiasm to celebrate with them.

Thankfully, I don’t have to pretend for too long because Ana picks me up soon after to drive me to school. Liliana, Xiomara, and Isabel are raising hell in the back seat, so Ana doesn’t kiss me hello, even though I can tell that she wants to from the look in her eye.

“She made me sit in the back for you,” Liliana informs me as I slide into the front seat. “I usually get to sit there, but I gave it up because you’re cool.”