The following Monday, Genesis met up with Charlotte at school to tell her what had happened.

"You've got to be kidding me," Charlotte said when Genesis had finished explaining what had went down at the party. "You actually turned Jesse into a girl?"

"Yes, I did," said Genesis.

Charlotte shook her head. "Well, I'll bet Jessie's gonna have a tough time adjusting to being a girl," she said. "Did he-or she-text you at all after you changed her?"

"No," said Genesis. "She said we were breaking up. And now I'm starting to regret turning him into a girl."

"Well, you said he cheated on you, right?" Charlotte asked.

"Right."

"You said it was with...what was that girl's name again?"

"Tina. Tina Peters."

Charlotte froze in her tracks. "Tina Peters?" she asked.

"Yeah. What? Do you know her?"

"Yes. She works at Tommy's Burgers."

"She does?"

"Yeah. She's a cashier there, like me."

"Wow," said Genesis. "That's quite a coincidence."

"Oh, but it's not just that, either," said Charlotte. "She used to go to our school."

This couldn't be. Before the party, Genesis had never met Tina. Then again, Eastern Plains High was a fairly large school, so there were probably a lot of people she'd never gotten to know. "Why'd she leave?"

"It was because of Ramona," said Charlotte.

"Really?"

Charlotte nodded. "When Ramona was in her freshman year, she was starting to take over as the school's 'mean girl.' Tina was already pretty popular, until Ramona became her rival. The thing is, Tina didn't know it at first. Ramona became part of Tina's clique, but then she turned Tina's cliquemates against her and kicked her out. After that, Ramona became the new queen of the school. And Tina became an outcast. That's why she transferred to another school."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Apparently Tina used to be the most popular kid in middle school. To have that taken away from her when she got to high school...that must've been rough."

"I'll bet it was," said Genesis.

"You didn't tell Tina you were Ramona's stepsister, did you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're sure Jesse would never cheat on you, right?"

Genesis frowned. "I thought he wouldn't," she said. "Until the other night."

"Well, what if he didn't want to cheat on you? What if Tina put something in his drink?"

Genesis almost scoffed at Charlotte's suggestion. Then she remembered that Jesse had been acting kind of woozy after she caught him kissing Tina. "Maybe," said Genesis. "But why would Tina do that?"

"I don't know," said Charlotte. "I wouldn't be surprised if she still wanted to get back at Ramona. But how could Tina have known you'd turn Jesse into a girl when you saw him 'cheat on you?' And what would she have to gain from it?"

"If she really was manipulating me..." Genesis was starting to feel worse than ever. Why didn't she see it before? It should've been so obvious that Jesse was drugged into kissing Tina. Maybe Charlotte was right about Tina conspiring against her, maybe Tina was just pulling some stupid party stunt, but it didn't really matter. She owed Jessie a huge apology.

"I've gotta get in touch with Jessie," said Genesis. She pulled out her phone and accessed Jessie's contact information. She dialed the number, but was immediately met with the click of someone hanging up on her. "What?" Genesis cried. "She blocked me?"

"Oh no," said Charlotte.

It was all Genesis could do not to burst into tears right there. She'd pushed away her boyfriend-the only boyfriend she'd ever had! And, just like with Ramona, it was all her fault. She should've seen through Tina right away, but she didn't. "Oh, Charlotte," Genesis sobbed. "What have I done?"

***

Later on that day was yet another training session at Megan's place. However, when Genesis showed up, Megan immediately knew something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," Genesis admitted. "I just made my boyfriend break up with me."

"What?"

"Me and Jesse went to a party, and I thought I saw him cheating on me with another girl, so I turned him into a girl. But then he-er, she-said we were breaking up."

"Ouch," said Megan. "Maybe she'll be willing to forgive you? Maybe when you turn her back-"

"It won't work," said Genesis. "She's already blocked my number. Jessie's already shut me out of her life." She sat down on Megan's couch and started crying. "Oh, Megan, what am I doing? First Ramona got lung cancer, and now my ex-boyfriend's a girl, and she hates me. All because of me using my magic on them."

"Oh, Genesis," said Megan. "Neither of those things were your fault."

"Yes, they were," said Genesis. "Why did Mirna have to make me her successor? Just why?"

"I'm sure she had her reasons," said Megan.

"But all I've been doing with my new powers is screw things up," said Genesis. "I've already burned bridges with Jessie, and even if Ramona does get cured of her cancer, she'll probably still be mad at me for the whole smoking thing."

Megan thought for a moment. "Well, there might be a way for you to undo your mistakes," she said.

"What?"

"By preventing them from happening in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just last week, I heard that the Council Of Witches was developing a new magical contraption," Megan explained. "They were creating a device that could create a magical rift in time. In theory, it could let you go back days, months, or even years."

Genesis' heart leapt. "Really?"

"Really."

"Do you think they'll let me use it?"

Megan's face fell. "That's the hard part," she said. "It's a semi-confidential project. It's not likely that they'll let you, or even me, use it. We're probably going to have to sneak into the Council Of Witches' headquarters and steal it."

Genesis felt a jolt of dread. "What?"

"It might not be so hard," said Megan. "I've been to their headquarters before. I know where they keep their secret projects. If we get in there, I can get us to where their time-travel device is. Then, once we're in there, we can use it to go back in time to prevent Tina from drugging Jesse, and Ramona from smoking those cigarettes. Then we'll come right back to when we left and put the time-travel device back. No one will be the wiser, I promise."

Genesis didn't know what to say. She'd copied off her classmates' papers in the past, and she'd once borrowed an eraser and failed to return it, but breaking and entering was in a different league altogether. But the way Megan said it...it sounded like they might be able to get away with it. And if it could get Genesis her stepsister and her boyfriend back, then it would definitely be worth it. "Alright," she said. "Where's this headquarters?"

"It's right here in Virginia," Megan answered. "Just an hour's drive away from here."

"Can you drive?"

Megan nodded. "Meet me here after school," she said. "Then I'll take you to the Council Of Witches' headquarters."

"Alright," said Genesis. "I'll be here."

To be continued...