“Yeah, yeah. I got it—you don’t want to say.” He laughs, and it’s so condescending that I can feel my blood pressure rising.

“No. I don’t have one. And I don’t have a big family, and Black people aren’t naturally stronger magic users.” I give him my most venomous smile. “Any other questions?”

He scoffs at me. “I didn’t say all that. Why are you getting so mad?”

I’m so angry I can’t even look at him. This is why I don’t fight back when people are assholes to me. Even if I think of something to say fast enough, I somehow always end up on the losing side. I’m the one who’s crazy, or too angry, or seeing racism where there isn’t any.

“Whoa, buddy.” Ana slides up next to me, wearing her frostiest expression. Her eyes are practically ice chips. “I think you should go before you really piss off the strongest witch in our grade.” She shrugs. “Just a suggestion. She could probably brew a Death by a Thousand Cuts potion and poison you before you figured out how to pull your head out of your ass.”

I’m a little pissed that Ana thinks I need her help. And I’m surprised she’s offering it. But mostly I’m just tired, and she’s way better at this kind of thing than I am.

Eli gapes at her like a perplexed goldfish. “I didn’t—”

“I think the word you’re looking for is congratulations,” Ana says. A few seconds pass, and he doesn’t move. She raises her eyebrows like she’s confused about why he’s still standing there. “Bye.”

That finally gets rid of him. I sigh as I reach for my softened lump of nickel and drop it in my cauldron. The taste of victory has gone sour in my mouth.

“You can’t murder him on school grounds,” Ana whispers. “So maybe just beat his ass at potionworking?”

I snort. “That’s the plan,” I mutter. Mom always told me that success is the best revenge.

At the end of class, we all gather to test our potions. When I apply my Magnetizing potion to one of the magic practice cubes Dr. Davidson has given us, every metal object in a five-foot radius flies toward the cube. Only a few other people brew potions that work. Ana, of course, is one of them, though her magnet ends up being slightly weaker than mine. When I look over at Eli, his practice cube is lightly smoking with no metal objects attached. He refuses to meet my eyes.