“Just go,” I say. “Please, please drive.”

She blinks at me. “Okay.”

As we drive away, I see Mr. B lift a hand to wave at me. Brittany stares at the car, still wearing a tranquil smile as she watches us go.

I don’t say anything as we drive, taking the time to compose my thoughts. My heart is still beating a mile a minute, and there’s a fog of fear hanging around me that I can’t quite dispel. Lex parks in the lot of a nearby Starbucks, then gives me an expectant look. “Well? What happened?”

“Wait a second.” I FaceTime in Ana, who’s finished with her dance class. Her tiny illusion appears above the phone screen. She has her hair up in a slick bun, and she’s still wearing the sweats she likes to warm up in.

With very little preamble, I start spilling the beans on the absurdity of the last hour. Ana closes her eyes when I reach the part about Mr. B telling me that I won the scholarship. I wish, fervently, that she was actually here.

“So you’re just fine with that?” Lex interrupts me, bouncing up in her seat. “You’re just going to take the scholarship? After everything?”

“No,” I say, still watching Ana. “I lied.”

“Oh,” Lex says, relaxing. “And he believed you?”

“He’s the one who taught me how to act,” I say grimly. “It’s his fault that he fell for it.”

It’s not that the idea of not getting the scholarship doesn’t hurt. It does. But I can’t watch Mr. B continue to manipulate the witches he teaches like he has some right to do that to us.

Ana finally opens her eyes, and she looks dejected. “Are you okay, Ana?” I ask.

“I’m upset,” she says shortly. “But it is what it is.”

“Okay,” I say. “I’m really sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then Lex leans back in her seat, blowing out a long breath. “Wow, this is wild. So what’s the plan?” Lex asks, propping her elbow up on the center console as she leans in toward me.

I look between Lex and Ana, who are both staring at me expectantly. “I won’t tell people about Brittany. It’ll make things hard for her, and she doesn’t deserve that.”

Ana raises her thick eyebrows. “So you’re not coming forward?”

“No, I will.” It takes effort to sound steady as I say this. I’m terrified out of my mind, but I think I’m making the right choice. “I’ll just come forward about all the things Mr. B has done to me. And maybe we can get them to pay attention to what happened to Meredith, that other girl he did this to, if we show that he’s trying to do the same thing again.”

“Will that be enough?” Ana says.