Ava glanced at me and was just about to step in when I shook my head and forced a laugh as I said, "Well, if you mean alchemy in its truest sense of mastering nature, averting chaos, and extending life for an indeterminate amount of time"—a definition I'd recently memorized after researching the term—"then no, I'm afraid my intentions aren't anywhere near that grand. I'm just trying out a little white magick—hoping to cast a spell that will get me through finals, get me a date for prom, and maybe even clear up my allergies, which are about to go haywire since it's nearly spring and I don't want my nose to be all red and drippy for prom pictures, you know?"

And when I saw how that failed to convince her, especially the part about the allergies, I added, "Which is why I need all that rose quartz, since, as you know, it's supposed to bring love, oh and then the turquoise—" I pointed at the pendant she wore. "Well, you know how it's famous for healing, and..." And even though I was prepared to go on and on, reciting the full list of things I'd learned merely an hour before, I decided to cut it right there and end with a shrug.

I unwrap the crystals, taking great care as I cradle them each in the palm of my hand, closing my fingers around them, and picturing a brilliant white light permeating straight through to their core, performing the all-important "cleansing and purifying" step, which, according to what I read online, is merely the first stage in programming the stones. The second is to ask them (out loud!) to soak up the moon's powerful energy so they can provide the service nature intended them for.

"Turquoise," I whisper, glancing at the door, making sure that it's closed all the way, imagining how embarrassing it would be for Sabine to barge in and catch me cooing to a pile of rocks."I ask that you heal, purify, and help balance the chakras as nature intended you to do." Then I take a deep breath and infuse the stone with the energy of my intentions before slipping it into the bag and reaching for the next, feeling ridiculous and more than a little hot key, but knowing I've no choice but to continue. I move on to the polished rose quartz, picking them up individually and infusing them with white light, before repeating four separate times, "May you bring unconditional love and infinite peace." Dropping them each into the red silk bag, watching as they settlearound the turquoise before reaching for the staurolite—a beautiful stone believed to be formed from the tears of fairies, and asking it to provide ancient wisdom, good luck, and to help connect to the other dimensions, before moving on to the large chunk of zoisite, and holding it in both of my hands. After cleansing it with white light, I close my eyes and whisper, "May you transmute all negative energies to positive ones, may you aid in connecting to the mystical realms, and may you—"

"Ever? Can I come in?"

I glance at the door, knowing there's just an inch and a half of wood separating me from Sabine. Then I gaze at the pile of herbs, oils, candles, and powders, along with the rock I'm talking to in my hand. "And please aid in recovery, illness, and whatever else it is that you do!" I whisper, barely getting the words out before I'm shoving it in the bag. Only it won't fit.

"Ever?"

I shove it again, trying to jam it in there, but the opening's so small and the stone's so big it's not goingto happen without ripping the seams. Sabine knocks again, three firm raps meant to inform me that she knows I'm in here, knows I'm up to something, and that her patience is nearing its end. And even though I don't have time to chat, I'm left with no choice but to say, "Um, just a sec!" Forcing the stone inside as I run out to my balcony and drop it on a small table with the best view of the moon, before rushing back in and going into a full-blown meltdown when Sabine knocks again and I take in the state of my room—looking at it as she might see it, and knowing there's no time to change it.

"Ever? Are you okay?" she calls, with equal parts annoyance and concern.

"Yeah—I just—" I grab hold of the hem of my T-shirt and yank it over my head, turning my back toward the door as I say, "Um, you can come in now—I'm just—" And the moment she enters, I slide it back on. Faking a sudden bout of modesty, as though I can't bear for her to see me changing when I've never cared much before. "I'm—I was just changing," I mumble, seeing her brows merge as shelooks me over, sniffing the air for the remnants of pot, alcohol, clove cigarettes, or whatever her latest teen-rearing book has warned her against.

"You got something on your—" She motions toward the front of my shirt. "Something—red that—well—that probably won't come out." She twists her mouth to the side as I gaze down at the front of my Tshirt, seeing it marked by a big streak of red and immediately recognizing it as the powder I need for the elixir. Knowing its bag must have leaked when I see how it's spilled all over my desk as well as the floor underneath.

Great. Way to appear as though you were just changing into a clean shirt! I think, mentally rolling my eyes as she approaches my bed, perches herself on the edge and crosses her legs, her cell phone in hand. And all it takes is one look at the hazy reddish gray glow of her aura to know that the concerned look on her face has less to do with my apparent lack of clean clothes and more to do with me—my strange behavior, my growing secrecy, my food issues—all of which she's convinced lead to something more sinister.

And I'm so focused on how I might go about explaining those things that I fail to see it coming when she says, "Ever, did you ditch school today?"