Out of Sight (14 page)

Sophie stared at him in alarm. “Are you serious? No one can hear me? How can you tell?”

“You live long enough, you pick these things up. Plus, that revolting cat has been standing at the door for the last five minutes glaring at me, but it hasn't so much as blinked in your direction.”

Sophie spun around and discovered it was true. Mr. Jaws was sitting low to the ground, his dark eyes fixed firmly on Malik. She hurried over and knelt down beside him, something that normally would've made the cat go all
Exorcist
, but instead he didn't even blink.

She hurried out into the hallway. “Mom? Meg?” she yelled at the top of her voice, but there was no answer, and she reluctantly went back into her bedroom and took a deep breath. “Okay, so this is not good. Kara is going to kill me.”

“Sorry.” Malik shot her an apologetic look. “Though if it's any consolation, you definitely get used to it. Plus, it's only for a few hours.”

“You don't understand.” Sophie shook her head in despair. “I promised her that I'd be there for her. Okay, there's only one thing to do. You're going to have to go in my place.”

“What? You want me to go to the movies with a bunch of kids? Er, no thanks.” He shuddered.

“You have to. You need to explain to Kara what's happened and just keep an eye on her. I know she'll be fine, but still, a promise is a promise. Besides,” she added in a cajoling voice, “remember that it's
The Wizard of Oz
, and—”

However the rest of her words were lost as Malik suddenly snapped his fingers and disappeared from sight.
Well, that was Kara sorted out.
Now all Sophie needed to do was hurry downstairs and leave a note to remind her mom that she was going to Kara's for the day and then pretend to leave the house, before really heading back up to her bedroom and waiting for the whole invisible thing to wear off. Why did she get the feeling it was going to be a long day?

S
OPHIE HADN'T BEEN KIDDING WHEN SHE HAD
thought it was going to be the longest day ever. The good news was that her mom hadn't seemed remotely bothered when she'd seen Sophie's note reminding her that she was going to be at the movies with Kara. The even better news was that she had
totally
busted Meg sneaking into her bedroom and snooping through her stuff. Sophie had no idea what she was looking for, but she was still going to pay for it later. Just because her sister was only six didn't mean she shouldn't respect personal space— especially when that personal space was full of magic books and overpriced ingredients from Rufus's Bazaar.

However, now it was almost three in the afternoon, and despite checking the mirror approximately every thirty seconds, she was still completely invisible. She let out a sigh and turned her attention back to the flying-carpet book she had been studying.

Not that she was a fan of homework, but if they were going to go to Sheterum's mansion next week, Sophie wanted to make sure she was prepared. She was just going over the best way to avoid turbulence when she heard a scraping noise from over by her window.

She stiffened. She was sure it wasn't Malik because he wasn't a fan of nature. Ditto for Mr. Jaws, who preferred to save all of his climbing for the furniture. Which—

There it was again. Sophie grabbed the silver box that her dad had given her (which, as well as containing the recipe for Solomon's Elixir, was actually pretty heavy and therefore perfect for hitting someone on the head with). Then she clutched it to her chest and cautiously made her way toward the window.

Her heart pounded in anticipation. What if it was an intruder? She lifted the box high above her head just as the window sash eased open, but before she could bring it down, she recognized a familiar-looking sneaker. It belonged to Harvey. So did the leg that was attached to the shoe. Sophie immediately lowered the box as she watched her friend climb in through the window.

“Harvey Trenton. Don't you ever scare me like that again,” she yelped as she tried to recover her poise.

“Sophie?” Harvey looked around the room in confusion as he awkwardly untangled his long legs. “Why can I hear you but not see you?”

“You can hear me?” Sophie blinked in excitement as she dropped the box onto the bed and rushed over to the mirror. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of her reflection, but, still, the fact that he could hear her was a definite improvement of things.

“Well, yeah. Why? What's going on?” He pushed his long bangs back off his forehead and looked even more worried than normal.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Sophie said as she still tried to get over the shock of seeing him at the window. “Since when do you climb into second-story windows?”

“Since I called your mom and she told me that you were at Kara's,” Harvey retorted. “Besides, just because I don't always do guy things doesn't mean that I can't do guy things. It was actually pretty easy. Your mom might want to think about moving the trellis. It's almost like a stepladder. Anyway, the reason I'm here is to find out what the heck's going on.”

Sophie let out a long groan as she nodded for him to sit down, then remembered that he couldn't see her. “You've got no idea how crazy things have been. The good news is that my plan to put that tonic on Mr. Rivers to stop him from dating my mom totally worked. Unfortunately, the bad news is that—”

“Let me guess. It made you invisible.”

“That's right,” Sophie said in surprise. “Have you seen Malik? Did he tell you?”

“Er, no. I'm just guessing from the fact that I can hear you but I can't see you. Plus, this isn't the first time that your djinn magic has backfired,” he said, looking at her in concern. W
ell, he was actually looking at the dresser, but Sophie didn't have the heart to tell him that she was sitting cross-legged on her bed.
“So what happened? How long are you going to be stuck like this?”

“Malik thought it would wear off—oh, about two hours ago—but the fact you can hear me means that it hopefully won't be too much longer. Oh, and we need to be quiet because my mom thinks that I'm over at Kara's house. I said that we were going to hang out after the movie. That's why she told you I wasn't here.”

“I know, but it doesn't tell me why Kara's mom totally refused to let me in the house just then. My mom decided that Camp Just Kill Me Now was full of loonies and crazy people, and so we stayed there for only half a day before turning right back around and coming home. Anyway, I thought I'd surprise you guys and see how the movies went, but instead Kara's mom gave me the total ‘not on my watch' treatment. It was weird. So then I tried to text K, but she didn't reply, which was when I called you. By then my worry meter was on full alert, and I decided to climb up to see what I could find out. I was actually expecting Malik to be here, not you.”

“And that's what you would've found if only I hadn't managed to turn myself invisible.” Sophie let out a long groan. “I mean, at least you can hear me now, but this morning it was nothing. That's why I sent Malik along to explain what had happened and to make sure she was okay.”

“And have you seen him?” Harvey wanted to know as he walked over to the bed and sat down. Sophie just managed to scramble out of the way before he squished her. Did she mention that she was totally over this whole invisible thing?

“No—” she started to say. Before she could finish there was a rustling noise in the corner, and Malik suddenly appeared. “You're back,” she squealed as she shot him a hopeful look. “So how did it go? Was Kara okay?”

“Okay, so the good news is that I love that movie. I mean, did Judy have some great shoes or did she have some great sh—?” Malik asked before Harvey cut him off.

“What about Kara? She didn't lose the power of speech or anything when she was with Patrick, did she?”

Malik winced. “Okay, as it goes, there is some bad news, but before I tell you, can I please just remind you that I'm a two-thousand-year-old djinn. A dead djinn. I'm really not equipped to handle these sorts of situations.”

“W-what sorts of situations?” Harvey asked in a cautious voice. “What happened?”

“Remember how she had problems speaking around Patrick?” he asked, and when Sophie and Harvey both nodded their heads, he let out a sigh. “Well, this time she had problems shutting up. It was like a river, and I swear I heard words like
bedazzle
and
Barbie doll
s, not to mention her telling him about the time she had forgotten to wear underpants in first grade.”

“Oh, no.” Sophie let out a strangled groan, but Malik held up his hand to silence her.

“Trust me, it gets worse.”

“Worse than the no-underpants story?” Harvey shuddered.

“I'm afraid so. You see there was also a Fanta/popcorn incident, and honestly I'm not even sure how it was physically possible, but somehow Kara managed to tar and feather her date with her snack bar items. In front of the entire drama club.”

“So what happened then? What did she do?” Harvey asked in a hoarse voice, and Malik shrugged.

“She did the only thing she could do. She ran out of the movie theater and went home. I tried to stop her by telling the story of how I embarrassed myself in front of Cleopatra, who then refused
ever
to set eyes on me again, but for some reason that just made her more upset.”

A sickening sensation burned in Sophie's stomach. Poor Kara. She had been so worried about this date, and, as it turned out, she had good reason to worry. A cold chill rushed through her as she got to her feet.

“I have to speak to her.”

“She's not answering her phone, and her mom won't let anyone in,” Harvey reminded her, but Sophie just shook her head as she raced over to where the carpet was rolled up. For a moment Harvey blinked, probably because to him it was invisible. However, Malik could see it perfectly well, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Sophie, what are you doing?”

“I'm going to Kara's,” she said in a determined voice. “I need to tell her how sorry I am. Besides, you know as well as I do that I need the practice. I can visualize Kara's bedroom almost as well as my own. Please, Malik, don't try to stop me.”

For a moment Malik looked torn, then finally nodded. “Fine. But I want you to come straight back here afterward. No joyriding.”

“What about me? Can I go?” Harvey asked eagerly as he realized what was happening. But Malik shook his head. “Not this time, big guy. When Sophie's moved off the stabilizers and can do a three-point turn without falling off, then you'll get your chance.”

“Thanks, Malik,” Sophie said as she quickly spread out the carpet onto her bedroom floor. Once it was smoothed down, she crossed her legs and went through everything that Malik had taught her. First she cleared her mind, and then she created a bubble around herself before visualizing Kara's bedroom and blinking three times.

Next thing she knew, there was a tug in her stomach, and when she opened her eyes she was sitting on Kara's floor, looking up at where her friend was sitting cross-legged on her bed. Kara's long hair was hanging like a curtain over her face, and there was a sketch pad in her lap, but it was her red-rimmed eyes that made Sophie feel the worst. Without saying a word, Kara dropped her head and began to sketch.

“Kara, I'm so sorry. I feel terrible that I wasn't there,” Sophie said in a rush, but instead of looking up, Kara just kept on sketching. “Please, K,” Sophie tried again. “Could you stop drawing for just a moment so I could talk to you? I know how bad you must be feeling, but you've got to try to let it go. It wasn't your fault.”

Kara suddenly looked up, her normally pale green eyes seeming somehow much darker. Almost like wood. “I know it wasn't my fault.”

“Oh,” Sophie said in surprise. “Well, that's good. I mean, it's all about having a positive attitude.”

“Actually, it's all about figuring out who my friends really are, because as far as I'm concerned, this was your fault.”

“What?” Sophie blinked. “Look, I really do feel bad about that, but you've got to know that I'd never do anything bad to you on purpose. Oh my gosh, Malik did tell you I was invisible, right? And that besides not being able to see me, no one could hear me, either?” Sophie suddenly asked, knowing that when it came to details, Malik wasn't always the most reliable.

“Yes, I know all about that. But can't you see? You only got turned invisible because you didn't want your mom to go on a date with Mr. Rivers, so you used your magic. You even used your magic to help Melissa Tait and her picture frames. But what about me? I needed you to be there with me. I didn't even want your magic; I just needed you to remind me that no one should
ever
hear the story of how I forgot to wear panties in the first grade. But you weren't, Sophie. You weren't there when I needed you.”

Sophie widened her eyes in confusion. She had expected her friend to be mad, but she hadn't expected this. “Kara, I'm—”

“No. Sorry isn't going to cut it this time.” Kara gave a firm shake of her long dark hair as she thrust the sketch into Sophie's hand and then stood up and marched to the door. “I'm going downstairs, and when I come back up, I want you to be gone.”