Ivor reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a thin strip of parchment , covered in strange runes . He struck a match , letting the paper burn until it curled to ash . Then he scooped the ashes into a cup of water and stirred . " Drink this , " he said , his voice low but steady . " It's a cleansing potion . No spell , curse , or hex will cling to you once it's in your blood . " The moment it slid down my throat , the necklace around my neck loosened with a sharp snap . I gasped and pulled it off easily . Ivor then mumbled something under his breath while holding the pendant , as if sealing its power . Then he smiled at me , saying , " Parasitic charms are my cat's favorite snack . Once it's gone , the one who bound it will feel the backlash . " You're free now . Don't worry , and just go live your life . " His black cat let out a lazy meow , as if saying , " Leave it to me . " By the time Ivor finished , my grandmother and mother had already set the table . The five of us sat down and shared dinner as if nothing bad had ever happened . Afterward , Ivor left , his cat curled in his arms . The next day , I went back to school . The second I stepped onto campus , Jesse found me . He was grinning so hard that I knew he had good news . Their team had just won first place at the international competition . I was honestly so happy for them . But , at the same time , I couldn't help wondering what had happened with Nicole's group . Jesse just smirked and told me to check the school forum . When I pulled out my phone , the whole forum was already on fire with gossip about Nicole . [ So it's true ! She only got into Arkenville University because of her parents pulling strings . Both of them just got fired and are under police investigation . ] [ Serves her right ! I knew there was no way someone like Nicole could code that well . She had been plagiarizing the whole time ! ] [ Thank God she didn't compete . Otherwise , we'd all be embarrassed watching her crash the whole thing . ] Everyone was talking , and apparently , Nicole's group had been completely ruined . Right before the competition , her buggy program wiped out all the work they'd done for weeks . Nicole's teammates were so mad that they actually went after her . Mark jumped in to protect her and ended up in the hospital with broken bones . Meanwhile , the international judges were so impressed by the hidden bug in Nicole's code that they turned it into a bonus challenge . Since I was the one who'd designed it in the first place , I solved it pretty easily , and I even uploaded the solution on an academic forum . Within hours , it spread everywhere . [ Damn , that's genius ! I didn't even know it was possible to solve it that way ! ] [ She's a real prodigy . I've been stuck on this for days and couldn't figure it out . ] [ Wait a second ... Usually , only the original creator would know the answer . Does that mean this program was Kelsey's all along ? ] [ Of course it was . Why else would Nicole accuse Kelsey of stealing her work when she couldn't even code ? ] 1/2 Coupler 2 +15 Bonus Just like that , my reputation flipped completely . People started giving me credit and respect , and for once , it actually felt good . A few days later , the organizers of the international competition reached out and invited me to join them . While I was still trying to decide , I also received a letter from Professor Briggs , offering me a place as his graduate student . It was my ticket to further study and do even more of what I loved . Meanwhile , something awful happened . Nicole lost it and showed up at the hospital to see Mark . No one knew what went down between them , but all I heard was that she shoved him right out the 15th - floor window . His body hit the ground , broken . During his final moments , he muttered something about parasitic charms and cursed Nicole . And Nicole really did end up cursed . She clawed up her own face until she didn't look human anymore . She was eventually locked up in a psych ward . But none of that concerned me now . I packed my things and prepared for grad school . I decided to focus on what mattered - building a future in the field I loved and pushing myself further . Up ahead , my clear , bright path was waiting for me . Continue Reading