Callista liked watching the Great Splotching Championship. She usually got out pretty quickly, so that left her plenty of time to watch people get covered in rainbow paint. It was entertaining.

And she could cheer for her best friend as Zoe crushed her opponents, en route to win her third Splotching Championship in a row.

Then someone across the room shouted something.

Callista whirled around. Larrina was in the middle of a heated argument with Lady Marya.

"I'm telling you, there was interference!" Larrina said. "We should redo the match."

Lady Marya nodded slowly. "Who do you think interfered? I didn't see anything."

"That's because you can't see people's brains," said Larrina. "I know I didn't intend to grab the splotcher and throw it at Everly. That would be cheating. I wouldn't do that."

Callista was starting to get a horrible feeling in her stomach.

"Okay," Lady Marya said. "Then why did you?"

Larrina groaned. "I'm telling you, someone interfered. I demand a rematch." She pointed at Jaye, standing halfway across the room. "I think it was him."

Lady Marya sighed. "I suppose we could investigate, but we aren't going to pause the Championship. After Everly recovered, she still beat you fair and square. Whether he interfered or not will not affect the results of the match."

Jaye wouldn't, Callista thought frantically. But, Larrina had been causing so much trouble, might Jaye want to get her back even more? Even knowing that mesmerizing another student, especially during a competition, could get him in loads of trouble, maybe even expelled. The rules Mesmers had to follow were strict. Her twin brother was a loyal troublemaker.

He would. Even knowing that it would be a terrible idea. Even knowing that Zoe and I can handle Larrina. He'd still want to help.

Callista supposed it was sweet. But Zoe would put Larrina in her place just by winning the Splotching Championship, she was confident. Jaye didn't need to interfere.

But Callista suspected he had.

And she knew that Larrina did, too.

Even if Lady Marya hadn't offered to investigate, it would come out eventually.

Jaye was in trouble.