“About what?” Mary Beth asked, and I practically groaned. I was getting used to the idea of her and Ryan together, but that didn’t mean I liked having to factor her into things like this. Right now, my main priority was getting Bee out of the courtyard and somewhere private. Tears were leaking down her cheeks, carrying a fair amount of her mascara with them, and I didn’t like the way that table of freshman girls was still watching her.

I nearly had to go up on tiptoes to wrap my arm around Bee’s shoulder, but I did it anyway, tugging her close. “It’s nothing,” I told Mary Beth, then flicked my gaze up at Ryan. “Can we?”

With that, I started pulling Bee toward Nash Hall. Maybe it wasn’t nice to let Ryan deal with getting rid of Mary Beth on his own, but that wasn’t my problem.

As we walked back into the school, a blast of air-conditioning washed over us, making Bee shiver, and I chafed my hand up and down her arm. “It’s okay,” I said again. It was becoming my mantra, no matter how untrue it was. Bee only sniffled in response.

“The newspaper room,” David said from behind us, and I started steering Bee that way. We were still getting a few confused looks, and I wondered if that was from Bee crying, or from no one remembering who she was.

I was going to throttle Ryan. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t entirely his fault, and the spell was bigger than he’d thought, but I needed someone to be mad at, and he’d do.

•••

Michael and Chie were in the newspaper room, but when David asked if we could have a second, they cleared out. Chie glared at me as she picked up her bag, but I ignored that. I had bigger things to worry about right now than one of my boyfriend’s besties being hostile all the time.

Bee was still shaky when she sat down in one of the rolling chairs at the back counter, and David watched her with a slight frown, taking a seat on top of a desk. I went over to sit by Bee as Ryan walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it, arms folded over his chest, the sleeves of his T-shirt tight over his biceps.

“Is there anything you can do?” Bee asked, raising her head to look at Ryan. She wasn’t crying, but she was still kind of sniffly, and I got up to go get the box of tissues on Mrs. Laurent’s desk.