OMG... Am I a Witch?! (4 page)

ten

Austin's glassy eyes looked so sad. April sighed as Austin hung his head. She collapsed to her knees to get closer to him.

“It didn't work.” She picked Austin up and held him with both hands. “I'm sorry, Austin,” she whispered in his ear. She kissed his head, and the lump in her throat grew bigger and bigger.

Swallowing hard, she dropped onto the bed, tears falling from her eyes.

Her glasses were dripping, and her tears wet Austin's head. She put him on the bed. He lay down with a sigh, turned his head away, and covered his face with his paws. She dried her glasses with her shirt.

What have I done? I'm such a super horrible sister. How come it didn't work? Why can I make some things happen but not this one little—well not so little—thing happen? What if I never get him back?

Grace's eyes darted from the open closet door to the window to the bedroom door. She was feverishly tapping a pen on her desk. She always had that focused look when she was thinking hard about something.

“Oops. I forgot to close that closet door,” April said, putting her glasses back on.

BAM!
The closet door slammed shut. April held her breath. She and Grace looked at each other. Neither of them blinked.

“What! What just happened?” Grace whispered.

“OMG . . . oh my . . . that keeps happening.” April looked down at the ground.
Geez, I thought me turning on the fan by just thinking about it the other day was just a fluke.

“What do you mean ‘that'?” Grace asked, using her fingers as quotation marks.

“I keep thinking about something small . . . like . . . like turning on the fan or closing the door. Then, poo
f
! The door closed on its own. You saw it . . .”

Grace took a deep breath. “April, I have an idea. But you have to trust me.”

April stared at Grace. “Ok.”

“You know the new girl in school, Eve?” Grace asked.

“Yeah. Eve LaRue, right? She rides our bus.
Eve was a few rows away from Austin and me this afternoon.”

“She may be able to help us.”

“How?” April raised one eyebrow.

“Well, she told me something,” Grace whispered. “Remember, that day last week when you were sick? I ate lunch with Eve. I asked her where she was from. She said Nor Leans, Louisiana. She said her dad got a new job, so that's why they moved up here.”

“I wish you would have introduced us before,” said April. “Then, I would have sat with her on the bus. And, NONE of this would have happened. Austin wouldn't have been making fun of my glasses, I wouldn't be thinking about maybe being a witch, and I wouldn't be freaking out about my mom and dad finding me with Austin—who's a DOG!”

“Chillax, April. Try to—”

“Sorry. I am trying to chill out and relax.” April threw her head back and let out a loud sigh.

“So . . .” Grace continued, “when I got home, I was bored. I searched online about Nor Leans, Louisiana. I found out that a lot of French people live there. And it has a weird spelling N-E-
W
O-R-L-E-A-N-S.”

April smiled. “Thanks for the social studies report.”

“AND,” Grace continued, “a lot of witches live there.”

April rolled her eyes and jumped off the bed. “Boy, you can tell long stories,” she mumbled under her breath. She started playing with the nose of one of the teddy bears sitting on top of Grace's bookshelf. He was brown. His fur was mostly soft with a few spots. He looked as if she had fallen asleep on him a few times with her mouth open.

“So, the next day at gym,” Grace continued, “I asked Eve about New Orleans and I told her about what I found online. Then, Eve whispered in my ear that her grandma was a witch doctor.”

“Really!” April looked at Grace, wide-eyed in amazement.

Grace nodded. “Yep.”

“OK?” April stopped walking around her room and shrugged. “So, how does that help us now? What should I do?”

eleven

“Nada.” Grace was taking Spanish this year. She tried to use it every day. “Let's call Eve and ask her what to do. After gym, I got her number so we could hang out sometime, maybe to come over to paint nails and watch movies, like we always do.”

Grace dialed. She put the phone on speaker.

“Hello?” said a girl's voice.

Grace turned the volume down on her phone. “Hello, may I speak to Eve?”

“This is she.”

“Hi, Eve. This is Grace . . . from school. Remember me?”

“Oh, yeah. How you doin'?”

“I'm good. I'm calling with my friend April. She also goes to school—”

“Arf.” Austin let out a quiet bark.

“Austin, be quiet,” April said, trying to muzzle him. He growled.

“Do you have a puppy?” Eve asked.

“Well, uh, that is why we are calling you.” Grace swallowed. “Remember how you told me about your grandmother? Well, April sort of turned her brother into a dog.”

“Oh my!” Eve gasped. “How did you do that? Was it your fairy godmother?” She chuckled.

April's hands started to shake. A lump grew in her throat. “Well . . . I found this spell online that I, um, tried and poo
f
! It worked.” She swallowed. “Since your grandma was a witch healer we thought maybe you could help us—”

“Wow.” Eve sounded amazed. “Maybe you have ‘the gift.' And, I reckon you mean ‘witch doctor.
'
” She laughed. “Yeah, I'll help ya'll out.” She had a little accent.

“Thank you, Eve!” April said happily. “But what is ‘the gift'?”

“So, April, my
grand-mère
was a witch doctor,” Eve said.

“Your . . . who?” April asked, scratching her head.

“I should explain.
Grand-mère
is ‘grandma' in French. Many people in my family speak French.”

“Remember, April? I told you a lot of French people live in New Orleans!” Grace said.

“I get that. I'm not
that
slow. Eve just seems so . . . uh . . . normal and . . . well the witch doctors I've seen in movies—”

Eve laughed. “Movies also have talking animals.” The girls laughed. Austin's groan sounded like a laugh. The girls laughed harder.

“So, my
grand-mère
has a spell book,” Eve said. “I found it one day. My mom sent me down to the gross basement. It's dark and  . . . ewww! Anyway, April, my
grand-mère
said if you can do spells, then you have a gift.”

“WHAT?” April shrugged her shoulders.

“She said gifts can be fun and exciting, but they also bring a lot of responsibility,” Eve said. “And, if you are not careful, they can bring big problems. But, that the universe gives us all blessings. This may be a gift you have.”

“So, my gift may be that I am a witch?”

twelve

“Yep. You may be a witch. So you can do spells like this one,” Eve said.

“OH NO! OH NO!!! I will NEVER do anything like this again. I've learned my lesson,” April said, staring at Austin. “I like experiments. BUT, I kind of . . . uh . . . miss my brother. I won't say those words EVER again. AND, I'm scared about what Mom and Dad might do to me if they find out.”

“Well, let's meet here tomorrow morning. Eve, can you bring your spell book?” Grace asked.

“Yes ma'am,” Eve said with her polite Southern accent.

Grace looked at April. “Actually, let's meet at April's house, since my brother will be here.”

“Good idea, Genius Galapagos,” April chimed in.

“OK,” said Eve, “I'll be over in the morning with the spell book.”

“Arf,” Austin quietly barked.

“Perfect. I guess Austin agrees, too,” April said, sitting back down on the bed. She tucked Austin under her arm.

The girls laughed.

“Oh NO!” She jumped off the bed again.

“April, what's wrong?” Grace asked.

She pointed to the clock “Look! It's already five o'clock.”

“Uh oh,” Grace said. “Oh my gosh! Austin is supposed to get out of practice soon . . . in less than an hour.”

“We don't have much time,” April said as the blood rushed to her face.

“How are you going to get through tonight . . . with Austin . . . as a dog?”

“Oh! I have an idea,” Eve said.

“Please share. We need all the help we can get,” Grace said, looking at the clock.

“Your brothers are best friends, too, right?”

“Yes,” they replied together.

“Grace, ask your mother if April can sleepover. Then get your mother's cell phone and text April's mom, asking if both April and Austin can sleepover. That will get you time until tomorrow. You just have to hide Austin tonight.”

April and Grace exhaled. Grace's smile grew bigger and bigger. “I know just how we can do it.”

“Eve, you are SUPER smart!” April said, grinning. “Tomorrow, we will turn Austin from white and fluffy to brown haired and scruffy. I hope.” She tried to keep the smile on her face. “Eve, we will see you tomorrow morning. Be here early, ok?”

“Yes ma'am,” Eve said. “See ya'll in the morning.”

They hung up.

Grace quickly moved her eyes to meet April's. “OK . . . here's the plan . . . I'll go downstairs and ask my mom if you can sleepover. You come downstairs and go into the dining room. She leaves her purse on the table, and she keeps her cell phone in the side pocket. Grab it. Then, we'll come upstairs. Sound good?”

“But, what do we do with Austin?” April asked, looking at the little white dog.

He looks so sad and depressed
, she thought.
I don't think he has lain still like this since . . . well . . . ever! I am such a horrible sister. What kind of sister turns their brother into a dog? I can't believe I got myself into this mess.

“Let's put him back in the closet,” Grace said.

April gently placed him on the closet floor, giving him a farewell pat on the head. “I'll be right back.” She stood up. “Oh geez!” she said as she grabbed Grace's trashcan. She started digging through it, taking out all the used paper and napkins.

Grace's eyes bulged. “WHAT are you doing?”

April shooed the shoes out of the front corner of the closet. She feverishly flattened the papers on top of each other and placed them in the corner. “Just in case he has to go potty: a little wee-wee pad.”

As April closed the closet door, leaned her back against it, and stared off into the distance.

OMG! This REALLY could backfire on me. What if my parents find out? I would never—and I mean NEVER—see the light of day again. Forget sleepovers. Forget dances. Forget ever learning to drive. Forget life . . .

April blinked hard. She took the phone from Grace and started texting her mother.