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magic traces around her at all, Ari was inclined to believe she was just a teenage girl here who wanted to ruin her life, and not some ambitious Carules ready to take on the Prodigy. Just once, Ari wished that a threatened queen bee could be her biggest worry. But it wasn’t, and never would be, so with a sigh of her own she said, “Let me guess. Somehow, someone mentioned to you that the ‘new girl’ was hotter than you and now you are here to either a) pretend to be my friend so you can stab me in the back and ruin me socially or b) warn me away from whatever jock boyfriend you are currently planning your life with.”
    Charity opened her mouth to respond but Ari held up a hand — her injured shoulder shrieked in protest but she ignored it, and continued, “I don’t want friends and I don’t date. So save your breath and leave me alone. I’ve seen it all before.” She met Charity’s bright silver eyes defiantly.
    A mischievous smile danced across Charity’s lips. “Wow. Serious? Are you done?” Charity snickered.
    “What? No. Yes. I don’t… Why else would you sneak in here?”
    With a frown that told Ari she was worried about her coherency, Charity stood up. “I told you, I didn’t sneak out of the dance. We’re free to come and go. And I didn’t sneak in here. I would have just asked Ms. Neemer how you were doing, but she isn’t here. So I came to see for myself. No sneaking involved. Good grief, are you always so ornery?”
    Ari just blinked stupidly at her.
    “You look horrible, by the way. You haven’t seen a mirror, obviously, or you wouldn’t think you were hotter than me.” Charity glided across the room in her elegant black dress and pulled a mirror out of the drawer under the sink.
    “Spend a lot of… Oh… ugh. That is bad.” Ari groaned, losing her train of thought mid-sentence as Charity handed her the mirror. The whole right side of her face was swollen, black and blue.
    “Yep,” Charity agreed almost cheerfully.
    Ari looked up at her with furrowed brows, lowering the mirror. “So you didn’t sneak in here or out of there. Fine. What do you want?”
    Rolling her eyes and dropping her hands to her hips, Charity said, “To see how you’re doing! Good grief! Haven’t you ever had someone check up on you before?”
    “Not without ulterior motives,” Ari responded.
    Charity stopped mid-dramatic flourish and turned the full force of her silver gaze on Ari as she sank slowly onto the cot next to her. “That is sad.” It was without judgment or sarcasm.
    Ari gave a confused half-shake of her head and was trying to articulate a response when Charity sprang to her feet. “Well, I can see you’re going to be just fine. I’ve enjoyed our little chat. Oh,” — she paused in her half-run out the door, — “and I’ll check on you later. No ulterior motives required.” And then she was gone with a light clicking of her heels on the green and beige tiled floor.
    Ari was still dumbfounded, staring at the door when Ms. Neemer strode in a minute later. “Arianna? Are you all right?” she asked when she saw Ari sitting up in bed.
    “Yeah. Yeah, I think so.”
    ****
    Ari stayed in the infirmary the rest of Friday night, and all of Saturday, drifting in and out throughout the day. She suspected it was dinner time because she could just detect the smell of food. Her stomach churned. Food and her headache did not mix. Ms. Neemer kept asking if her head was getting worse and Ari dutifully told her no every time, but it was and all she wanted to do was sleep.
    She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling, trying to count tiles, when she heard the rumble of a male voice in Ms. Neemer’s office. Her ears perked up, straining to make out words. “Is Ari doing any better?” the voice asked. Even from clear in the other room, she could hear honest worry in the voice. Odd.
    “She’s sleeping. That’s the best thing for her now,” Ms. Neemer’s no-nonsense voice answered. Ari