Kelly McClymer-Salem Witch 01 The Salem Witch Tryouts (23 page)

Being the Dorklock, he tried to bargain me up to two goof-ups. But I refused, countering with the stipulation that
I would take the blame for his next
big
goof-up, not anything minor. Not that I really cared. But I didn’t want him to get suspicious. I hadn’t told him that I didn’t know if I
would
come back, so I’d had to make the bargaining look good, even though my heart wasn’t in it.

So that’s how I found myself back at Beverly Hills High School on a bonfire night. I stood there a minute, just watching the crackling fire. I’d always loved bonfire night. If things had been different, I might have been there with Brent. Although, to be fair, maybe I’d have been there with someone else. Boy-girl stuff is unpredictable in high school, be it mortal high school or witch high school.

I’d attempted a bit of a disguise: a cute but shapeless sweatshirt and a ball cap Pd never be caught dead wearing otherwise. The last thing I needed was for someone to recognize me and tell Maddie I was there before I could find her myself. I had to know if the picture was real. Or if someone with a grudge against me had doctored it to do a little long-distance torturing.

Turned out the distance wasn’t so bad. It hurt much worse to see them in the flesh.

Maddie was there. With Brent. They were only a few feet away, turned toward the bonfire, arms wrapped around each other. No way was this a first date. I remembered how she had stopped telling me about Danny Trimball and had just let me think she was still seeing him. When all along, she’d
been with Brent, not saying a word to me about it.

I felt my hurt and anger rush through me like an inferno. For a microsecond, I was distracted, wondering whether I had a Fire Talent. But who cared? All I cared about was the sight of my best friend hugging my boy. I couldn’t wait to see what she would have to say when she saw me. The rat.

I waited for her to turn and catch sight of me. I was sure she’d recognize me, even if no one else did. We were best friends. We
had
been best friends forever.

I stood there for what seemed like so long, I could have been in one of Daniel’s time bubbles. The bonfire burned down, couples started to drift away, and the teachers went around breaking up those who had gotten too wrapped up in their darkness-enhanced make-out sessions to notice it was time to go.

I heard Maddie laugh and Brent lean down to whisper in her ear as they turned toward me. It was dark, but I knew she’d know me. If only she’d look at me instead of up at Brent.

Chezzie brushed by them, her newest boyfriend on her arm. I didn’t recognize him, but Maddie had said he was the football captain and had transferred in from somewhere else. “Better be careful Pru doesn’t come by for a surprise visit, Maddie.”

Maddie laughed again. She didn’t even have the decency
to look ashamed. “Pru is happy in Salem, Chezzie. She’s got a new car, a new squad, and a new boyfriend.” And then she looked right at me.

I don’t know if I was more angry that she could say something that was so opposite of the truth—that she might not know me well enough to know it
wasn’t
the truth—or more afraid that when our eyes met, I’d know that I’d lost my best friend. But I never had a chance to find out which was worse. Because when she looked at me, she didn’t react. Worse, she—and Brent—walked right by me as if I weren’t there. Because, technically, I wasn’t.

It took me a second to realize that I had turned invisible—involuntarily—for the first time in six years. Invisible. So I’d seen Maddie, but she hadn’t seen me.

I let her walk away, arm in arm with Brent. The irony of the fact that she was wearing the cute jacket she’d borrowed from me sometime last fall was not lost on me.

I debated running after her, despite the fact that my feet seemed planted to the ground. But what would I ask her? Why she hadn’t told me she was seeing Brent? Or whether I could sleep in her closet for the next year and a half so I didn’t have to go home to my loser life in Salem?

I was still debating when Mom popped in behind me, busting me big-time. I confess, I’d never been so glad to be busted in my life.

“Prudence,” she started, just as if she could see me.

I ran at her and wrapped my arms around her. “Mom, I don’t belong anywhere now.” Then I started to cry. I didn’t stop for a long time, even after we were safely back in Salem.

I think Mom was planning to ground me some more, maybe lecture my ears off. But I was such a mess, she didn’t have the heart to do it. She just held me tight and whispered, over and over, “It’s hard right now. I know, honey. But it
will
get better. It will.”

I tried to believe her. And then, when that failed, I tried to act like I believed her. But nothing helped.

Dad started to go into “Rambo Lecture” mode when we popped back into the kitchen. But Mom just shook her head and they stood together, arm in arm, like Maddie and Brent had been, while I climbed the stairs to my room.

Even the Dorklock left me alone. Although that might have been because Mom was grounding him every way possible for his part in my crime. Whatever. I was just glad to be left alone.

I sat on my bed, in my Rapunzel tower, wondering if Rapunzel had regretted leaving with the prince. I put my fingers on the red streaks on my bedspread and, holding my breath, zapped them away. My bedspread was as good as new. No memories left.

I pulled my cell phone out and checked the picture again. Yep. Maddie and Brent. You expect people who don’t like
you to be a beeyotch to you. But your best friend?

I printed the picture—a good, clear eight-by-ten, which made the crime so much worse. Maddie was smiling that “I’m so happy” smile. Her makeup was a little off—she always overdoes the eye shadow if I’m not there to stop her.

I got out my candles and lit them. A good zit spell was just what she deserved. My hands were shaking as I paged through the book. I knew there had to be one-there were anti-zit spells thousands of years old.

The tears in my eyes made it hard to read, but I refused to give up. At last, I found it.

Hie! And Fie! And Fickle Skin.

Raise red welts, and puss within.

Time and money can’t defeat.

The blemish’d soul shows upon the skin.

Not the most elegant spell, but I guess whoever had written it had been too angry for elegance. I could so relate.

I looked at the picture and wiped away my tears. “There are advantages to being a witch, Maddie.” And I was glad, for the first time, that there were.

I wished I could see her face when she woke up in the morning. On second thought, who’d want to look at that gross thing? Not me. And I hoped not Brent.

I touched Maddie’s clear face in the picture. “Some
things are sacred, Maddie. I thought you knew that.”

Mom knocked softly. “Prudence, do you have the book? I need it.”

I swept away the picture so she wouldn’t see it and I quickly flipped the book to a random page. Mom wouldn’t approve of zit spells. Not even for boyfriend stealers. She was like that.

“Here it is—” I closed the book and started to get up to hand it to her. But then I stopped and zapped it to her.

She blinked for a second, as if she was surprised. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Might as well live like a witch, now that we’ve joined the better witch club of Salem.”

I’m pretty sure she thought of several things to say to me before she settled on, “Things will get easier, honey. You’re such a hard worker. Have I told you recently how proud I am of you?”

“I like straight A’s.” For a minute, we both pretended that I was still a straight-À student, a head cheerleader, and not a loser. “I guess this witch stuff isn’t so bad.”

Sometimes it could be downright good, as a matter of fact. I crushed the photo behind my back and zapped it into oblivion. After all, Beverly Hills was dead to me now. Forever.

When I got back to school, it was almost an anticlimax to find out that I’d gotten a week’s worth of detentions for not bursting Daniel’s time bubble right away. Big surprise. Well, actually, it was. I had thought, given my recent dive into the depths of the unlucky, that I’d get kicked out of Agatha’s just when I had no place to go back to in Beverly Hills.

For a second, I was almost happy with mere detention. But I should have known Agatha wasn’t as forgiving as she seemed in front of my parents. No. She went to Coach Gertie to try to get my probational status revoked. Coach had said no. So far, Agatha hadn’t tried any other indirect punishment. But I knew enough about Agatha to know that
her wrath was like a giant iceberg. Only the tip showed. I’d have to watch my back for any sudden chills.

No one said a word to me when we popped into our lockers the next morning. Even Samuel didn’t say anything sympathetic when I offered him the half a brownie Hi hadn’t wanted. Okay. Apparently he was choosing to believe the rumor that Daniel and I had done more than kiss in that time bubble.

Which meant I needed to get Samuel back on my side again. I’d already lost my quota of friends for the year. And, oddly enough, the idea of losing Samuel as tutor buddy and mortal groupie made me want to cry. Again. I might have, if I wasn’t already drained dry. So I pulled out the big guns. I lured him back for one more tutoring session by leaning in and saying, “I have a favor to ask when you come to tutor tonight.” I said it right before we popped out of the hallway and into our first classes, so he couldn’t answer. I trusted curiosity—and that pesky crush of his—would ensure he showed. Fortunately, I was right.

“You want me to do what? For whom?” Samuel flipped his lenses at me, as if maybe looking at me in another dimension would change what I had said. Fat chance. With Maddie and Beverly Hills dead to me, I needed to make it here even more than I had before.

“I told you. I want to be head cheerleader at Agatha’s next year. Which means I need to make Tara my friend now.”

“I’m not a Magic Hacker, I’m an Earth Talent, Pru.”

“Right. And a powerful one too. If you can’t get around a few location spells, I don’t know who can.”

He seemed alternately pleased and horrified that I thought so highly of his skills, and that I had finally begun to catch on to the magic stuff enough to ask him to stretch his skills to the breaking point.

“Look, if you can’t hack a few spells so we can play hooky, maybe I’ll just have to ask someone else.” Not, of course, that there was anyone else to ask now that Daniel had gone for good (although rumor had it that Agatha was doing the big search thing and all would be forgiven—again—if she found him).

Apparently this hadn’t escaped Samuel’s notice either. “I’m sure Daniel would have done it for you if he hadn’t run away.”

“Daminee, all he did was try to show me how to get around my mom’s anti-kissing spell. And the monkeys made sure I didn’t even get to find out if it would have worked.” Oops. I told the white lie to save his ego. But I shouldn’t have said anything of the kind to Samuel. Because I could see the next thing out of his mouth would be …

“That’s because he tried a time bubble. It was bound to set off the sensors. He’s such a show-off. If you want to get around that anti-kissing spell, I can show you.”

Right. Seems like a great idea … unless you don’t want
Samuel suggesting that he test out the success of his spell with a little lip-lock between friends. Between Maddie and Daniel—and two weeks’ detention—I’m so over that right now. “I’ll figure it out on my own.”

The thing I hate most about Samuel is that he’s no dummy. He was hurt. “Fine. If I’m not good enough to show you the anti-kissing spell, you can figure out the skipping-school spell on your own, too, then.”

Great. I had lost Maddie, and now I was about to lose Samuel. I considered wringing out just a few more tears, but then realized that crying wasn’t likely to make Samuel anything but squirmy. He was a boy, even though I sometimes forgot it. So, instead, I said, “Can’t you give me a break? I’ve had a hard couple of days.” I’d told him about Maddie.

“Sorry. I just don’t like to think I’m being used.”

“Are you kidding? You’re the only friend I have left in this world right now.” I’d said it to reassure him. But suddenly I realized it was true. Somewhere in the midst of sharing curry and chocolate cake, tutoring, and trading mortal tidbits, we’d become friends. I trusted Samuel like I used to trust Maddie. Completely. “I just don’t want to wreck our friendship with any—well, you know.”

“Okay.” But he hadn’t lost hope, I could tell, because instead of flipping me off and leaving, he immediately said, “You skipped school in your old school, didn’t you?”

“Yes. But we only had security cameras and security
guards to fool—not binding spells and teachers so old, they not only know every trick in the book, they know the counterspell as well. Besides, I have to do it well enough not to get caught. I can’t afford another detention. And if I get Tara into trouble, that will be the end of making nice with the head cheerleader.”

Samuel nodded. “Tara will roast you alive if you get her a detention.”

“But she’ll owe me if I don’t.” I had suspected that taking Tara on a hooky drive in my car would be the way to her heart ever since I saw her knock that clumsy girl off the court with a switch of her little finger.