Chapter 2

I leaned against the cold brick wall outside the library, the overheard words replaying in my mind. Ethan, Chloe. My two anchors. Gone.

A flood of memories washed over me, small things I hadn't understood before. Chloe "forgetting" to give me the notes for a history quiz I' d missed, then acing it herself. Ethan suddenly being too busy to help me with a complex physics problem, then Chloe miraculously understanding it the next day. Little "favors," small "slips." It wasn' t just the locket, it was a pattern. They had been undermining me for a while, and the locket was just the final, devastating tool.

The kindness in Ethan's eyes when he helped Mom, Chloe's supportive hugs – were they all lies? Part of a long game?

The hurt was a raw, open wound, but then anger, cold and sharp, began to crystallize. They thought Sarah Miller was just a naive bookworm they could manipulate and discard. They were wrong.

I wouldn't just "be fine." I would fight back.

I went back to Mr. Abernathy' s shop. This time, I didn' t hesitate.

"The locket," I said, my voice hard. "Ethan Davis got it from you. To swap my luck to Chloe Thompson."

He didn't look surprised. He just nodded slowly. "I sell items, child. I do not control what is done with them. The locket transfers academic fortune, yes. Or misfortune. It works if the wearer considers the giver a 'true friend' or 'loved one'."

That explained why it had worked so powerfully on me. I had trusted them completely.

"Can it be reversed? Can I get my luck back?"

"Fortune, once given or taken by such means, rarely returns to its original course unchanged," he said. "But the locket can be... redirected. Its nature is to draw from one and give to another, based on the giver's intent and the recipient's connection."

He looked at me closely. "You want to turn the tables?"

"Yes," I said, without a trace of doubt.

He rummaged in a drawer and pulled out a tiny, almost invisible silver charm, no bigger than a grain of rice. "This, added to the locket, will subtly alter its attunement. It will still draw academic fortune, but it will give it to the one the new giver considers a deep part of their life, even if that connection is now... complicated." He also handed me a plain, inert locket, identical to the one Chloe had given me. "Wear this one. Let them see it."

My hands were steady as I took the charm and the fake locket. I knew exactly who would receive the modified original. Ethan. Despite everything, the years of friendship, the shared history, he was still a deep, though now painful, part of my life. He had started this. He would feel the consequences.

The next day at school, I found Ethan by his locker. I forced a smile, a sweet, slightly sad smile.

"Ethan," I said softly, holding out the original locket, now with Mr. Abernathy' s tiny charm nestled inside its clasp, almost invisible. "I know things have been... weird with my scores. But I wanted you to have this. For good luck on your big game tonight, and for your college applications. You' ve always been such a good friend."

I saw a flicker of something in his eyes – surprise? Guilt? But he took it.

"Thanks, Sarah. That' s... really thoughtful of you." He even managed a charming smile.

He glanced at the plain, inert locket I was now wearing. "You're still wearing yours?"

"Of course," I said, trying to sound hopeful. "Maybe my luck will turn around."

He patted my shoulder. "Sure it will, Sar. You' re a fighter."

Liar. He was so confident, so secure in his deception, already seeing me as a problem solved. He had no idea what I' d just done.

A new storm was brewing, and it had nothing to do with magic lockets. Brenda Lexington, the mayor' s wealthy, arrogant daughter, was furious. She cornered Chloe by the cheerleading squad' s lockers, her voice shrill.

"You stole my essay, Thompson! That national scholarship was mine!"

Chloe looked terrified. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Brenda."

"Don't lie to me! It's my exact paper, word for word! My dad will hear about this! You'll be expelled!" Brenda shoved Chloe hard against the lockers.

Several of Brenda' s friends smirked behind her. The essay was a big deal, a full ride to a state university plus a cash prize. Chloe, emboldened by her stolen "luck," had apparently gotten greedy and plagiarized.