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Penny

THE CHECKOUT PERSON SMACKS HER GUM, STARING AT THE FIFTY-FOOT coil of rope sitting on the conveyor belt.

“It’s for a project,” Penny says. “I have to hang a… tire swing.”

“Uh-huh.” She rings Penny up and hands her the rope. But right as Penny is about to leave, the girl leans in conspiratorially and says, “Hey.”

Penny stops. “Huh?”

“Use Vaseline. Otherwise the ropes will chafe.”

Penny’s face goes as red as the girl’s Ace Hardware smock. She practically yells, “Oh my god, no, I’m not using this for sex stuff.”

The old woman standing next in line clears her throat, and Penny channels her inner Olympic power-walker on her way out of the store.

Once she’s outside, Penny stares down at the rope, which they’ll be using for the curse-breaker spell in three days. She still doesn’t know what to make of her visions of the past. Every single one has felt significant, as if they’re torn-out chapters of a book Penny desperately wants to read. Why is she seeing these specific moments? And what’s missing?

“Think, Penny,” she mutters to herself. “What did you learn?”

One: Giovanni cast a spell to make Ellie Barrion fall in love with him when they were young.

Two: Charles Barrion blackmailed Giovanni.

Both are revelations, but the second piece of information stands out. The De Lucas hate the Barrions, but Charles Barrion’s reputation is pretty much spotless, besides the classic rich-white-guy arrogance. If the blackmail worked, that means Barrion Heating & Cooling must’ve become much more successful after Giovanni started using his magic to help the company.

Can Penny find a way to prove it? If Giovanni’s magic really saved the Barrions’ company, it must’ve been a sudden change. The company would’ve gone from the brink of bankruptcy to making tons of money. She could definitely prove that, right?

Sure. If she had access to a bunch of top secret corporate information.

Penny’s thoughts are interrupted by familiar voices. Behind her, Yvonne Mason and Hannah Hartley walk out of a thrift store that sits right next to the hardware store.

“Crap,” Penny mutters. She wants to avoid literally everyone she knows after the vodka-cranberry incident, but she especially wants to avoid Yvonne and Hannah. Anything said to them will end up online, guaranteed.

Penny turns around to go back to her car, trying to act casual. But either she’s not fast enough, or her hair is way too big and noticeable today, because Yvonne gasps.

“Look who it is,” she says.

The words glue Penny’s feet to the concrete. She gives them a half smile. “Hey.”

They don’t smile back. Hannah glances at Yvonne, relying on her friend to tell her how to act.

Yvonne chooses violence.

“I’m surprised you’re… you know. Out and about.”

Comebacks and bad jokes and straight-up insults form right behind Penny’s teeth:

Why would I be hiding?

I’m not the one who embarrassed herself at the party last week.

Did you know vodka-cranberry is as effective as pepper spray? Spread the word and stay safe, ladies!

But Penny just stands there. Because anxiety has her tongue, and it won’t let go.

“What you did to Dylan was really shitty,” Hannah says, and she sounds so reasonable, so mature. Like Penny is the one who needs to grow up.

It’s suddenly ten degrees hotter outside—except it’s not really the heat making Penny sweat. It’s fear. The thing she’s always been afraid of has finally happened: People are whispering about her the way they’ve always whispered about her mom. Her reputation doesn’t belong to her anymore. And there’s absolutely nothing Penny can do about it.

Then she has another realization: She’s still standing.

Penny’s grip on the rope loosens, leaving a sting on her fingers. She’s okay. This won’t be the end of her. She’s afraid, but that fear is turning to something else.

Anger.

“And you stood by and let Dylan livestream what she did to me. Did it ever occur to you to stop her?”

Yvonne and Hannah gape at her. Penny probably looks more shocked than they do, so it’s time to leave. They start whispering to each other before Penny is out of earshot, but she can’t bring herself to care.

By the time Penny is sitting in her car, she’s beaming. She probably looks unhinged, but that’s fine. Because that felt good . Jump-off-the-highest-diving-board good.

The hardest thing about anxiety is that it hides who you are. You have opinions and ideas, but they’re locked up like wild horses behind a gate. Whatever you might contribute to the world, good or bad or funny or pointless, it’s hidden from everyone but you.

But what happened a few moments ago felt like coming out of hiding.

As she drives out of the parking lot, hands shaking on the steering wheel, Penny tries to bring her focus back to the task at hand. Curse. Barrions. Blackmail.

In the distance, Barrion Heating & Cooling appears between buildings.

Maybe she’s feeling invincible after having stood up for herself, because Penny turns the Prius onto a street that leads directly to the Barrions’ company. The leftover bravery from her pseudo-confrontation won’t last long, and she needs all the momentum she can get.

If she wants to find out more about what happened between Giovanni and Charles—if the company truly was on the brink of collapse—the answers have to be here. If Penny lies a little, maybe she can find them.