Ryan knelt down next to me, and while he wasn’t quite wringing his hands, he was close. “Not a lot,” he said, a dull flush creeping up his neck. “I mean, I’m a dude, it would look weird if I slathered my whole mouth in a bunch of rose lip gloss, you know?”

There was nothing funny about this situation, but I couldn’t stop a brief smile. Seeing it, Ryan smiled, too, giving a nervous laugh. “I need to go through Saylor’s things, see if there’s anything else that works for mind control, since I can’t keep carrying lip balm everywhere.”

“Maybe there’s something you could work into an aftershave?” I suggested. “Or that gross boy body spray they’re always advertising?”

He sniffed, shoulders rising and falling. “I don’t wear that crap,” he reminded me, and I nodded.

“I know. Trust me, you wouldn’t have lasted long as my boyfriend if you had.”

That made Ryan smile again, and he looked over at me with squinted eyes. “What is it you call David? That word he hates?”

“Boyfie,” I answered, and Ryan laughed.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t have lasted long as my girlfriend if you’d said that.” He was still smiling, just the littlest bit, but then he looked back at Mary Beth and all the humor left his face. “She’ll be okay, right?”

I leaned in closer to Mary Beth. Her eyes met mine, and I could tell she was trying to focus. “Mary Beth?”

Another blink, but nothing else. Next to me, Ryan stood up, chafing his palms against his thighs. “Oh God,” he groaned. “I’ve lobotomized her. I’ve lobotomized my girlfriend with a—an effing potion.”

He didn’t say “effing,” but I didn’t bother admonishing him. We were in F-word territory for sure.

Crossing the room in two long strides, Ryan moved to his desk and snatched up the little pot of lip balm. “Screw this stuff,” he said, and before I could stop him, he’d opened the window and thrown it out as hard as he could.

Now I shot to my feet. “Ryan!” I said sharply. “So you screwed up using it once. That doesn’t mean you won’t use it again. And what if someone else finds it?” Moving to the window, I ducked my head out, even though I knew I wasn’t going to be able to see it.

“I suck at this,” Ryan moaned, dropping his head into his hands as he sat down heavily on the bed. “I screwed up the spell with Bee, and now I’ve screwed up with MB, too.”