New Girl (6 page)

‘Shut up, all of you! I'm
not
wearing this stupid, ugly dress. In fact – in fact, I'm not even going to
be
in the fashion show, so you can all find someone else to laugh at!'

‘Oh,
Twink
–' started Kiki.

Twink didn't wait. Jetting back behind the oak-leaf screen, she flung off the horrible dress and struggled back into her uniform. Then, pausing only to grab her bag from the pile on the floor, she flew out of the Great Branch as fast as she could.

.

Chapter Six

Crystal magic takes place in many ways. One of the most common is to take an appropriate crystal (for instance, rose quartz for love, amethyst for inspiration, etc.) and cast a corresponding spell upon it. The crystal then acts to strengthen the spell, and also provides a handy talisman. This is especially useful when . . .

Twink groaned and flipped a page. This book was just the same as the other two had been. Pages and pages about how to use
crystals for fairy magic, but not a single word about how to reverse a crystal prophecy!

Twink looked up, and realised she was alone in the second-year Common Branch.

She sighed and stretched her wings.

.

.

And now she needed such advice more than ever. Ever since Twink's outburst in the Great Branch several weeks before, the entire Second Year seemed to be avoiding her. Kiki had given the dandelion-leaf dress to Jax to wear, and told Twink that she could work on the lights for the fashion show, if she preferred.

‘And Twink,' she started to add, rubbing her purple wings together fretfully. ‘I didn't mean – that is, I –'

But Twink had only stared stonily at her, until Kiki finally gave up and turned away.

So now Twink was working the glow-worm lights, high up in the rafters. She tickled the worms' tummies to turn them on and off, and put bright crystal panels in front of the lanterns to change the spotlights into different colours.

It wasn't terribly exciting work, and Twink spent long hours watching the models practise with her chin propped on her hand. Nobody even seemed to remember that she was up there, and she felt very alone.

At the same time, the fashion show was really starting to come together. The second-year fairies were gaining in confidence more and more as the days went on, sashaying down the flyway like real models. Even Lola was skimming about stylishly now, looking almost as sure of herself as Sooze.

The only one who didn't seem to be having fun was Jax, who complained that she wasn't the ‘type' to model. ‘This really isn't my thing,' she muttered once, as she struck a pose. ‘How do models keep from being bored to death?'

But the biggest surprise of all was Bimi. The blue-haired fairy had grimaced nervously the first few times she practised her moves, flying almost as stiffly as Twink had done. Yet bit by bit, she was clearly starting to enjoy herself. Just the day before, Twink had watched, open-mouthed, as Bimi flitted gracefully down the flyway, executing a series of midair pirouettes that made the stars on her dress flash like diamonds.

‘Bimi, that's great!' Kiki shouted as the other girls burst into applause.

‘It wasn't bad, was it?' Bimi smiled broadly, her expression radiant.

Twink had stared down from the rafters in amazement. Instead of blushing and ducking her head shyly, Bimi actually seemed pleased by the attention. She held her head higher than usual as she flitted back to the changing screen, and flipped her hair back in a very un-Bimi-like way.

Then, later that night, Bimi and Kiki had talked about fashion for ages, decorating each other's wings with a special glittery polish. Trying to read one of her books on crystals hidden inside a petal mag, Twink had watched in horrified amazement. Bimi had
never
decorated her wings before! What was happening to her?

Now, in the second-year Common Branch, Twink stared down at the useless books in frustration.
I've
got
to find some way to reverse the prophecy soon,
she thought miserably.
Or else it'll be too late, and Bimi will be gone for good.

Stacking the three books together, Twink took them back to the Glitterwings library. Mrs Stamen was at her mushroom desk, surrounded by high shelves that touched the ceiling. It was very quiet, with only a few girls flitting about the highest shelves, far overhead.

‘Did you find what you needed?' asked Mrs Stamen, checking the books in with a snail-trail pen.

Twink sighed. ‘Not really,' she admitted.

The librarian looked at the spine of one of the petal books. ‘
Crystal Magic
,'
she read in surprise. ‘No, we don't have many books on crystals, I'm afraid – it's a very specialised field. But you could always ask Miss Sparkle if you have any questions about them.'

Twink blinked. ‘Miss
Sparkle
? But she teaches Fairy Dust!'

Mrs Stamen nodded as she turned away to help another student. ‘Yes, but she's made quite a study of crystals – there's probably not much about them that she doesn't know.'

.

.

‘Thanks, Mrs Stamen,' murmured Twink.

Flying out of the library, Twink bit her lip thoughtfully as she headed back towards Peony Branch. The dour second-year head wasn't Twink's favourite teacher, and the thought of telling her about the awful fortune she had seen wasn't very tempting. She'd probably just tell Twink she had been a moss brain to look in the crystal in the first place!

Suddenly Twink started. Bimi and Kiki were drifting down the trunk towards her, deep in conversation. Without thinking, Twink ducked into a knothole. The two fairies stopped nearby, hovering and chatting.

‘How do you think I should do my hair?' Bimi was saying. ‘Should I wear it up in a ponytail, maybe with some dewdrop ornaments?'

‘Maybe,' said Kiki. ‘Or you could just wear it long, with little sparkles sprinkled in it!'

‘Ooh, silver and gold, to match my wings!' cried Bimi. ‘I could even sprinkle some on my arms – wouldn't that look glimmery?'

Twink made a face.
What
had come over Bimi? She sounded exactly like one of those silly fairies from the upper years, who only cared about wing polish and making their petal skirts shorter. She'd be swooning over boy
fairies next!

‘Oh, Kiki, I never thought I'd actually be a model!' Bimi's blue eyes shone. ‘And in such a gorgeous dress, too. You're doing a great job on the show, you know. Everyone's having a brilliant time.'

‘Except for Twink, I suppose.' Kiki pushed her lilac curls back with a sigh. ‘I really feel awful that I've come between the two of you, Bimi.'

Twink stiffened. She hadn't realised that Kiki knew about their friendship – Bimi must have told her.

‘Well, it's not
your
fault,' said Bimi. ‘I tried talking to her over and over again, but she was just impossible. I've really had enough of her this term, Kiki. She's changed completely!'

Still talking, the two fairies flew away. Twink felt icy cold, and then a searing heat blazed through her. How could Bimi say that
she
had changed, when Bimi was the one suddenly going on about wing polish and hairstyles?

And now . . . and now Bimi had had enough of her. The heat left Twink in a rush as she struggled against tears. It was too late, then. There was nothing she could do.

‘No!' she decided suddenly, clenching her fists. Spiralling quickly up the trunk, Twink dodged past a crowd of older girls and landed, breathing hard, on the ledge outside Miss Sparkle's branch. She knocked.

‘Come in,' called a voice.

Miss Sparkle was sitting at her mushroom desk, marking petal papers. She looked up as Twink flitted in. ‘Yes?'

Twink's throat was dry. ‘I just wondered if I could ask you something,' she blurted. ‘About – about crystals. Mrs Stamen said that you'd made a study of them.'

Miss Sparkle raised an eyebrow. ‘Yes, that's right,' she said drily. ‘Why do you need to know about crystals?'

‘I – I just do,' said Twink. ‘It's really important.' She held her breath, half expecting Miss Sparkle to tell her off for wasting her time.

Instead Miss Sparkle considered Twink for a long moment, and then nodded. ‘Come to see me after breakfast tomorrow,' she said, standing up and shuffling the petals together. ‘You can ask me whatever you like then.'

‘Boring,' said Sooze.

Kiki looked exasperated. ‘Sooze, we've been over and over this. There's going to be glimmery music playing, and different-coloured lights – we don't
need
anything else.'

Twink undressed for bed mechanically, barely listening to the argument. A knot twisted in her stomach at the thought of her meeting with Miss Sparkle the next morning. What if the Fairy Dust teacher couldn't help her after all?

‘But lights and music are so ordinary,' insisted Sooze, pulling on her thistle-down dressing gown. ‘We need something different. Like – like an explosion of fairy dust flares! Something to make everyone sit up and take notice!'

‘That's what the
dresses
are supposed to do,' groaned Kiki. ‘If you have fairy dust flares going off all over the place, nobody will even notice them.'

‘I think Kiki's right,' commented Zena, polishing her orange wings. ‘The dresses are glimmery enough – we don't need lots of flash and sparkle.'

‘That's what I think, too,' said Bimi. Twink had noticed that she spoke up much more often these days, eager to put her opinion in. ‘We put Kiki in charge, Sooze, so let's do what she says. She knows all about fashion shows.'

A ripple of assent ran across the branch. ‘Besides, fairy dust flares might smudge the dresses,' pointed out Mariella. ‘Especially if
you're
in charge of them, Sooze.'

Sooze huffed out an irritated breath. ‘Honestly, you're all so boring! If you'd just let me
try
it, then you'd see –'

‘
No
, Sooze,' laughed Pix. ‘The majority has spoken! Now come on, it's time for lights out – Mrs Hover will be up in a minute.'

The fairies chatted to each other as they climbed into their mossy beds. Twink pulled her petal duvet up around her pointed ears. No one paid any attention to her, or even appeared to notice her silence.

Her other friends had had enough of her, too, it seemed. They were used to her being an outsider now – someone who kept to herself, and didn't join in.

But maybe that's all going to change,
thought Twink, screwing her eyes tightly shut.
Maybe Miss Sparkle can give me a crystal spell that will put things right again. Oh, I hope she can!

The next morning after breakfast, Twink knocked shyly on Miss Sparkle's door. ‘Come in,' the voice called again. This time Miss Sparkle sat waiting as Twink entered, her white wings folded neatly behind her back.

‘Take a mushroom,' she said, motioning. ‘Now, what do you need to know?'

Twink sat down, feeling very small suddenly. She took a deep breath. ‘Well – you see, I – I stayed with Bimi over the last holidays, and –' Haltingly, her story came out: going to the crystal caverns, what Bimi's father had said, and how she had sneaked back to look into the mysterious crystal.

Miss Sparkle raised an eyebrow. ‘You shouldn't trust crystal visions, Twink. They're not very reliable.'