OMG... Am I a Witch?! (7 page)

nineteen

“You did that again, didn't you?” Grace asked, looking at April.

April stared at the door. “Uh . . . yeah . . .”

“That is super cool, BUT super creepy at the same time.”

“So, I bet that keeps happening?” Eve said, smirking and looking at April's walls.

“And, I . . . uh . . . sorta made Austin float when we were at the park.”

“What!” Grace's jaw dropped.

“Well . . . I really did make him float up, uh, higher and higher. I thought about how he looks like a cloud. You know, because he's white and fluffy. So he started to float up . . . toward the sky. But, I caught him before he drifted too high.”

Austin grumbled. Grace's mouth was still open.

“I . . . I . . . I don't know what's happening.” April looked down at the rug. Her glasses slid down her nose. She pushed them back up.

Eve cleared her throat. “Your room is so pretty. Pink is my favorite color.”

April picked her head up to look at Eve. “I picked the brightest pink I could find in the store.”

“I love the glitter, and the beads remind me of New Orleans,” Eve said, looking at the block lettering on the wall that said A-P-R-I-L outlined with brightly colored glitter and different colored beads. Eve touched the beads. “I like bright colors, too.”

“Oh, you would love these jeans I have then.” April took a pair of rainbow-striped jeans out of her dresser.

“Oh, aren't those the bee's knees!” Eve said.

“Huh?” April tipped her head to the side.

“Oh, yeah, that's just something my mom says. It means . . . uh . . . like . . . aren't those great. You know what I mean?” Eve gave a shy smile.

April laughed. “I get it.”

“OK, girls. Let's stop the fashion show and start working,” Grace said, giving a little attitude.

“Ok,
Gracie.
” April rolled her eyes. Grace glared at her. She hated being called Gracie.

“Oh, yeah,” Eve said, putting her book bag on the ground. She unzipped it and, with her teeth pressed together, grunted “Uh, uh,” as she tried to pull out the biggest book ever.

Grace sat on the floor next to Eve. “Let me help.” They both pulled . . .
FLOP!

Achoo!
Grace quietly sneezed.

“I know. It's SO dusty,” Eve said, wiping the hard brown leather-bound book with her hand.

Grace opened the book. “The cover is so rough and heavy.”

“What does that say?” April asked, putting one knee down on the ground.

'Choo . . .
Austin sneezed. He shook his head around as if the dust were bothering him, too. He trotted under April's bed.

April looked under the bed. He had collapsed in the far corner. “Still have allergies as a dog, huh?” He was using his paw to rub and cover his nose. Then, she leaned in between Grace and Eve who were looking at the book. April closed the heavy front cover and ran her hand over the raised, braided trim. The edges were so bulky and hard. “It looks like a picture frame, but it feels sorta like leather and the snake skin from science class.”

She ran her pointer finger across the large black letters on the cover that spelled
Magie.
“What is that? What does ‘Maggie' mean?” April asked.

“It's ‘mah-gee' not Maggie. And
magie
means ‘magic' in French,” Eve said, opening the book.

“Girls.”

They froze as April's bedroom door opened. They slowly turned to see April's mom in the doorway with Eve's mom standing behind her.

OMG! OMG! Please, oh please, I hope we're creating a wall in front of this book. What if Eve's mom asks why she brought it over? Oh crud—Austin! Oh Austin, please stay under the bed . . . please, please, please . . .

twenty

“Girls, Mrs. LaRue is going to run a few errands, then she'll come back to pick up . . . are you okay?” Mrs. Appleton eyes widened as she looked at April. “Honey, you are as pale as a ghost.”

April swallowed. She slid closer to Eve and Grace.

Please don't let them see the book. Please don't let them see the book. Please Austin, stay under the bed.

“Oh no. I'm fine. We're just working on our essay.”

Eve's mother poked her head into the room. “Eve honey, I'll be back in a couple of hours. Call me on my cell if you need me, ok?”

Eve could not speak. Grace lightly nudged her. Eve nodded her head up and down.

“Was Austin up yet when you girls left?” Mrs. Appleton asked, looking at April.

April held her breath. “Uh . . .”

“They were still sleeping. I think they stayed up later then we did playing, um, that new video game,” Grace said, not blinking, with a big smile on her face.

“Oh, boys!” Mrs. Appleton said, looking at Mrs. LaRue. “Ok. If you girls need anything, I'll be downstairs.” She closed the door. She and Eve's mother kept talking as they walked down the stairs.

April collapsed to the floor. “OMG, how come we didn't hear them coming?”

“We were all staring at the book.” Grace turned the pages, making a rustling sound.

April sat back up. “Oh, yeah.”

Grace wiggled her nose. “The pages smell like the reference section at the library. You know—the old library smell.”

“They are almost as thin as tissue paper. They kind of feel like the old newspaper Mom used to wrap the dishes Nana gave her that are in the basement.”

April looked closer at the old pages. She rubbed the slightly torn edges of the first few pages between her fingers. “They look like they were once white but—”

“Arrr . . .” Austin started to cry.

“What is that?” Eve asked. The girls peered under the bed.

Austin flopped onto his side with his legs stretched out. “Umph,” he sighed with his mouth open. His tongue lay limp on the rug.

“Awww. He is so cute. You sure you don't want to keep him like this?” Eve asked, reaching her hand out to pet him.

Austin's eyes narrowed as he let out a
growl.

“Sorry, sorry.” Eve pulled her hand away from him. “You're just a cute little doggie . . . that looks, uh, hungry or, uh, thirsty—”

“Oh, crud! I'll get him some water,” April jumped up. She went into the bathroom, which was next to her room. She grabbed the cup she used to rinse out her mouth after she brushed her teeth.

Perfect. Eww, I don't want a dog drinking out of my cup. Maybe I should use his cup. It's his, uh, mouth.

She put her cup back onto the sink counter and picked up his. She filled it with water, then hurried back to her bedroom.

Door, please open.

It opened. She walked through.

Door, please close quietly.
It gently closed. Eve and Grace stared with their mouths open.
This really is getting fun.

“Close your mouths. My nana says, ‘You may choke on a fly that way.
'
” April chuckled as she set the water down in front of Austin who was still under the bed.

“OMG . . . you really may be a witch.” Grace shook her head, and returned to looking at the book. “So . . .” She raised her eyebrows. “How did you get this big, old book out without your parents seeing you?”

Eve smirked again. “My mom was watching one of her DVR'd shows. And, Dad was still at work,” she explained. “My mom doesn't hear anything when she's into one of her shows.”

They all laughed.

“Ok. Give me a minute. I have to find that spell again,” Eve said.

The girls were silent. They looked over Eve's shoulders at the fancy French lettering. Each turn of a page crackled and let out the scent of old-book-plus-basement.

“What does it say?” April asked. “What do those symbols mean?”

Eve did not reply. She continued to mumble quietly to herself.

“Eve? Eve?” Grace asked, staring at Eve's face.

“Give . . . me . . . another . . . second . . . AH HA!” Eve exclaimed. “I've got it! Your brother will be back to normal in just a few easy . . .” Eve's eyes stayed focused on the page. “Well . . .” her voice raised an octave. “Well, maybe not easy for . . . um, you.” Eve bit her lower lip as she looked at April.

“Huh?” April looked over the top of her glasses. “What do you mean not easy for
m
e
?”

twenty-one

“

Well, um, let's just start with the first step, ok?” said Eve. “Sorry, about the zoning out. My French is ok, but I have to focus. I don't read it very fast. April, what is your brother's favorite drink?”

“Oh, that's a no-braine
r
! Chocolate milk.”

“OK! Can you go get some chocolate milk?”

“Ok, ok, ok,” April said, trying to convince herself this would be easy. “But, what if Mom asks me something about you-know-who?” She angled her head in Austin's direction. He was still busily licking up the water.

“Don't forget, we said earlier that they were up late playing that new video game. Just say that he's still sleeping. We both know he AND Michael sleep really late.” Grace looked at the clock. “It's not even ten yet.” Grace pointed at the clock, which read 9:42am.

“Yeah, I can do that. I want to fix this,” April dropped her shoulders, pushed out her chest, and took a deep breath. “I AM going to fix this.”

Austin finally stopped drinking. He grumbled.

“I know, I know. I said that before. This will work . . . this time. I'm sure.” April bent her body forward, looking under the bed. “Stay here. I'll be right back.”

She zoomed downstairs and zipped past the front door. She saw her father in the living room watching TV. She held her breath and whizzed through the dining room to the kitchen. She saw her mother and exhaled.

Ok. I can do this. Remember: video games late and they usually sleep late.

“Hey, kiddo,” her mother said.

“Mom, can I have some chocolate milk?”

“Sure honey. Usually that is your brother's favorite. I wonder when Austin is . . .”
ACHOO!!!

April's heart beat faster. “Bless you, Mom,” she said, handing her a tissue from the counter.

I just need the chocolate milk. I gotta get outta here.
April looked into her mother's eyes, which were watering and red.
Geez! I am making her sick, I dehydrated poor Austin, not to mention turned him into a dog over these stupid glasses . . . Geez.

“Thank you, honey.” Mrs. Appleton smiled at April. “What was I saying again?”

“This is, uh, for . . . Eve.”

Breathe. Just breathe. The faster I get this done, the faster Mom will feel better, and Austin will be back to normal.

Her mom sneezed again. She rubbed her eyes.

“Bless you, Mom. Are you ok?”

Her mother washed her hands. Then, she took a cup out of the cabinet.

“Yes. But my allergies are bothering me. Honey, have you been around any animals?”

April slowly took a step away from her mom. She shook her head.

Oh no! I am horrible.
She never lied to her mother, and now she had lied to her twice in one weekend. She had to get upstairs ASAP.

Her mother poured the chocolate syrup into the cup. She added the milk, stirred, and handed the glass to April.

“Thank you, Mom.”

OK. Act normal. But get upstairs fast.

“Uh . . . ok . . . bye.” She began to leave.

“Honey?”

She held her breath and turned around to face her mother.

“Do you and Grace want some chocolate milk, too?”

April dropped her shoulders and exhaled. “Oh, ok, I'll take up two more cups and we'll all share.” She smiled and took the two cups her mom handed her. “Bye, Mom.”

Don't spill it. Don't spill it.

As she returned to her room, she heard Grace say, “April's NOT going to like that.”

“What?” April asked, closing her door. “What am I not going to like?” Her stomach began to churn.