CHAPTER 7: The Girl Who Finally Spoke

Hana lowered the sketch from her chest.
Her cheek still stung. Her hands still trembled. But when she looked at Whitney, she did not shrink.
“You forgot to wash off the proof,” she said.
The sentence was soft.
It destroyed the room anyway.
Whitney’s confidence collapsed in stages. First her smile disappeared. Then her shoulders dropped. Then her eyes moved from Hana to Ms. Carter to the other students and found no rescue there.
Ms. Carter took one clean sheet of paper from the side table and placed it near Whitney.
“Set your hand down,” she said.
Whitney did not move.
“Now,” Ms. Carter said.
Slowly, Whitney lowered her right hand. The blue smear transferred faintly to the clean sheet, confirming what everyone already knew.
Mason looked away, not because he regretted speaking, but because watching a person’s power vanish was still uncomfortable.
Hana did not look away.
She had spent too long being looked through.