Witch Ball - BK 3 (3 page)

That night I plugged in my angel night-light
and lit a white candle for protection. I had no idea what I was protecting myself against, but I felt calm
after whispering a prayer and asking Opal to watch
over me. I hoped she was listening.

I woke up refreshed; warmed by the sun shining through the window and bursting with ideas
for the Booster Club Carnival. Solving problems
for a carnival was much easier to deal with than a
witchy ball.

On the walk to school, I brainstormed with
Penny-Love. She loved my suggestion of a fishing
booth, where kids could snag a wrapped gift on a
fishing pole, but she vetoed a craft booth. I was
into crafts and always working on a new project,
like recently I'd finished embroidering a pillow to
match my purple-and-white comforter. Creating
useful decorations gave me a sense of satisfaction.
But Penny-Love pointed out there wasn't time to
create and collect craft items.

"Besides, crafts are boring," she said with a roll
of her eyes.

I opened my mouth to argue, only PennyLove's attention switched to some kids walking by
and she called out a greeting. Although we'd been
friends for a few months, I was amazed all over
again by her mega-popularity. Was there anyone at school she didn't know? Doubtful. And she was always being invited to cool parties, too busy to sit
around at home doing crafts.

Of course since hooking up with josh, I'd been
busy, too. When Penny-Love and I reached our
shared locker, I looked around for Josh. Usually he
was waiting for me with a funny story or new magic
trick, but today he was a no show.

Of course, Penny-Love noticed his absence,
but I pretended like it was no big deal. "His alarm
probably didn't go off."

"He needs to get a rooster like you and Nona."

"Except that our rooster is time-challenged.
He thinks that 3 AM is morning."

We both laughed and the subject was dropped,
although a sense of unease stayed with me. Where
was josh? Was he simply running late? Or was he
purposely avoiding me? What if someone witnessed
my kiss with Dominic and told josh?

Guilt made me nauseous. When I'd returned
from Pine Peaks, I'd considered confessing to joshfor about two seconds-until I realized he'd never
believe the truth. He'd think I was lying if I said I
kissed another guy because a ghost possessed me.
Josh was a total skeptic, positive anything paranor mal was a hoax or could be explained by science.
He'd be hurt and think I was in love with Dominic-which was crazy.

Five minutes into first period, josh showed up.
He waved at me, looking a bit embarrassed as he
accepted a tardy slip. I was so relieved. Well, not
about his tardy. I was glad things were okay with
us. Everyone thought we were a great couple, and
I was flattered that josh wanted to go out with me.
I loved his high ideals, and being with him made
me feel secure. I resolved to never ever do anything
to risk our relationship.

We had silent reading, then a quiz, which made
talking impossible. When the bell rang, josh came
over to tell me he wouldn't be at lunch, but he'd
meet me after school by my locker. Before I could
ask what was going on, he hurried off to his next
class.

Okay, I was curious, but not concerned. Josh
had a lot of commitments: student council, volunteer work, and an apprenticeship in a professional
magician's society. He couldn't spend all his time
with me. I had stuff to do, too, like talk to Manny.
So during lunch, I headed for the computer lab.

Manny DeVries, AKA Mystic Manny, was at
his usual computer, up front by the door where
everyone could see him. His two-finger typing
method didn't slow him down as he typed at max
speed. His black dreadlocks were tied back in a wild
ponytail, and he wore a black T-shirt over safari
shorts. Even in cold weather, when everyone else
layered on warm clothes, Manny preferred shorts.
When I asked him about it once, he said wacky
shorts would be his trademark when he became a
TV journalist. Then he added with a grin, "Besides,
I gotta show off my great legs."

Manny was definitely a show-off. But would
he agree to help out at the carnival? I hoped so. As
Mystic Manny, he got a kick out of astonishing
people with amazing predictions. It was our secret
that his unusually accurate information came from
me. See, we had this deal. I gave him predictions
(harmless stuff like favorite colors and lucky numbers) and he used his investigative skills when I
needed information. Like he was helping Nona,
Dominic, and I track down this really old remedy
book that belonged to my ancestors. So far the
arrangement was working out great.

Still, I was nervous about asking Manny about
the carnival. I came up behind him, standing there
uncertainly while I tried to decide what to say.

After a few minutes, he spun his chair around
to face me. "Beany, quit breathing down my neck."

"Don't call me Beany."

"You always say that, but you don't mean it."
He flashed the wide grin that made him very popular with girls. I knew him too well to be dazzled
by his charm, although I had to admit his dimples
were cute. "So what do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

"Don't you?" He arched his pierced brow.

"Well ... yeah. But not for me."

"It never is."

"I'm trying to be serious here."

"Try harder. Did you know that when you're
tense, you get a twitch in your right eye?"

"Do not!" My hand flew to my eye and it felt
normal. I noticed he was laughing, and realized he'd
been joking. "I don't know why I bother with you.
You're impossible!"

"Thanks." He stood and bowed. "Now tell me
what you want."

"It's the Booster Club ..." I went on to explain about the carnival and the idea for a fortunetelling booth.

"Would I get to keep the money I earned?" he
asked when I'd finished.

"No."

"How about a fair percentage? Say like 60%?"

"Not even one percent. Notice the word fundraiser-it means to raise funds for a good cause.
Not for a lost cause."

He laughed. "Can't blame a guy for asking."

"So will you do it?" I asked.

"Well . . ." He paused to make me squirm.
And damn it, it worked. I thought about how disappointed the cheerleaders would be if he refused.
They were counting on me and I couldn't let them
down.

"Okay," he finally said. "I'll do it."

I started to jump for joy until he added, "But
there's one condition."

"What?"

"So I don't come off like a fake, I'll need some
real predictions." He glanced around and lowered
his voice. "From you."

My first impulse was to refuse, but then I
thought, "Why not?" This wasn't much different from the predictions I supplied each week for his
newspaper column.

What would a few more hurt?

Josh was true to his word. After school he was
waiting for me by my locker.

But he hadn't come alone, and when I saw the
self-satisfied smirk on Evan Marshall's face, I wanted
to smack him. Why did josh have to bring my worst
enemy along?

I didn't just dislike Evan. I loathed him. He was
only out for himself. He used people, never taking
the blame for any of his actions. His ex-girlfriend
Danielle nearly died because of him. When my
helping her resulted in Evan getting kicked out of
school sports, he'd threatened to get even with me.
Josh may be able to forgive Evan, but I couldn't.

Purposefully turning my back on Evan, I slipped
into josh's arms. I hoped Evan would get the message
and get lost.

"I have a surprise for you," Josh told me.

"A new magic trick?" I guessed.

"Nope. You know how I entertain kids as a
clown?"

I nodded, thinking of the giggles and smiles
when josh literally clowned around with magic
tricks for hospitalized kids. I really loved that side
of him.

"Well, Penny-Love cornered me and asked if
I'd make balloon animals at the carnival. I figured,
why not?"

"Great! It'll be more fun with you there."

"I hoped you'd feel that way."

"Are you coming in your clown costume?"

He groaned. "Do I have to?"

"It's for a good cause. Plus I love a guy in
uniform."

"Anything to win your love," he said, his dark
eyes flashing.

Love? The word made me uneasy, but flattered,
too. I was tempted to ask josh if he was teasing
or serious. But not with Evan's gaze burning into
my back. Besides, how could I talk about love with
Josh when guilty thoughts of Dominic confused
me?

"Evan volunteered to help out, too," Josh said,
stepping away from me and patting Evan on the
shoulder. "He's in charge of the Hoop Shoot booth.
Isn't that cool?"

"Well ... yeah," I said, swallowing the lie like
a big, fat bitter pill.

"I'm glad to pitch in to support the Booster
Club," Evan said too smoothly. "Everyone should
give back to their school. Don't you agree, Sabine?"

"Uh ... sure."

"Josh's community spirit must have rubbed off
on me, probably cause we've been hanging out since
we were kids." He paused. "How long have you been
dating-a week?"

"A month," I said sharply.

"Is that all?" Evan flashed a satisfied smirklike this was a basketball game and I'd fouled while
he'd made a perfect shot.

"Evan needed a ride home and since he lives
next door, I said I'd take him," Josh added halfapologetically. "You okay with that?"

No way! Evan is an asshole and he makes my
skin crawl! He hates me and will do anything to split
us up.

That's what I wanted to say anyway. But that
would only make me come off like a selfish witch
and Evan the nice guy.

"So how about it, Sabine?" Evan leaned toward me. "Mind if I tag along?"

I shrugged. "It's not my car."

"I helped josh pick out this car, talking the
dealer down to a good price, and now josh is helping me with my studies," Evan added, lightly patting josh's shoulder. "Once my grades are up, I can
get back into sports."

"You've improved a lot already." Josh looked
uneasily between Evan and me, probably because
he knew I was glad Evan had been kicked off the
team. "But maybe we should talk about some-"

"Sabine thinks I'm a jerk," Evan interrupted in
an injured tone. "I guess I deserve it, but I'm trying to make it up to everyone. Honest."

You don't know anything about being honest!

"I said some harsh things," he went on, "and I
regret it. That's why I picked this out for you,
Sabine." He reached into his backpack and pulled
out a pale yellow card.

I eyed the card like the plague. I expected to
open it and find anthrax or poison. But it was simply
a greeting card with a lovely picture of a bouquet of
flowers and a simple message, "Can we be friends?"

I'd rather befriend a rabid skunk. I wasn't naive
enough to fall for Evan's pathetic gestures. Unfortunately, josh felt differently, and was staring at me with such a hopeful expression. I couldn't disappoint him.

"Well . . . " I sucked in my pride. "Okay."

But when we reached the car and josh went
around to the trunk to put away our backpacks,
Evan grabbed my wrist. "That's not all," he said in
a low voice.

I jerked back and rubbed my wrist. "What's
your problem?"

"Not my problem. Check the envelope." His
menacing tone confirmed everything I already
thought about him. He was dangerous and still
out for revenge.

Making sure josh wasn't watching, I looked in
the envelope.

I pulled out a folded newspaper clipping from
the Arcada Hi-Jinx, dated over five months ago.
There was a photo of a husky football player, Kip
Hurst, waving his helmet in victory. Underneath
the photo was the tragic caption: Star Player Dies
in Car Crash.

I'd had a vision warning of Kip's death, only he
refused to listen. I became the school joke-until he
died. Suddenly everyone blamed me, as if knowing
made me guilty. Classmates, teachers, and even my own mother turned against me. It had been a relief
to move away and start over. At Sheridan High, only
Manny and our Goth friend Thorn knew about my
past. Everyone else thought I was normal, which is
how I wanted it to stay.

But now Evan knew my secret.

How long before he told josh?