After my big makeover, I’d planned on cooling it with the magic for a while, if just to appease my parents, but then The Elite noticed me. And, well, I felt like the only way I could do what they wanted me to, and not get caught, was to get a little help from the universe. Besides, the magic I was planning to do wasn’t all that elaborate anyway. Just a flip of my hand here and a little spell there—I’d be in and out within ten minutes, tops.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this kind of situation really was the best use of my magic. I’d never done anything like this before, and given my propensity for falling all over myself, I knew if I had to do it on my own, I’d mess it up somehow. By using magic I could cut my chances of getting caught in half. And getting caught wasn’t an option. Nope, I definitely had to use magic.
After making a quick stop at the store on my way home, I headed up to my room to consult the witchboards. Once I found the spells I needed to pull it off, I got to work on all the other details.
Since the assignment called for serious stealth, I knew I had to find an appropriate outfit to match the occasion. Something black, of course, because I didn’t want to stand out. But it couldn’t be anything that would tip people off, either. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was coming to rob them and then call the cops before I’d even done anything.
I pulled on some black leggings, since those were practically a staple at school, and then paired them with a bright pink tank. Over that I threw on a loosely fitting, dark gray sweatshirt to hide my body shape in case I was spotted. Lastly, I stuffed my blond hair into an old baseball cap of my dad’s, giving plenty of coverage to my facial features.
Stepping in front of my full-length mirror, I surveyed my work. Unidentifiable yet still fashionable. Perfect couture for any girl looking to make a quick getaway.
I checked how I was doing on time.
Six thirty p.m.
Now all I had to do was wait.
My car was parked about a block away, and for the last half hour I’d been scoping out Principal Franklin’s house from behind the bushes across the street. Thank God, The Elite had let me go on my own, because creeping in the bushes wasn’t exactly chic.
It was only nine thirty, but the lights inside the house had been off for about forty minutes with no movement as far as I could tell. Since I couldn’t sneak around to the back without setting off any lights, I had to guess that the principal was already in bed, hopefully passed out to the world.
The traffic had died down a bit in the area, and cars seemed to be rushing by only every five minutes or so, which meant that I had a bigger window of opportunity to unleash the TP. There was always the chance that I would be seen, and in that case, I needed to be ready to run for it. Luckily, as a last-minute thought, I’d changed into sneakers to make things easier. Women were always running around in heels in action movies, and I never understood that. Sure, fashion was important, but if I had to run in heels, I was definitely going to end up on the ground.
Shifting my balance from one foot to the other, I knew it was time. I needed to get this done as quickly as possible so I could get back to the others at the Burger Barn and still be home at a reasonable hour.
It was now or never.
Focusing on the street lamp closest to me, I concentrated on slowing my breath until I was completely calm and clear. When I felt I was ready, I whispered, “Electro-reducto!” Immediately I felt the now familiar buzzing in my toes and fingers and knew that the power I was creating was expanding out into the street. Within seconds the lights all around me dimmed until nearly the whole block was black.
Confident that I was now covered in a blanket of darkness, I emerged from my hiding spot and lugged my duffel bag full of toilet paper across the street until I was directly in front of the principal’s house. I stayed low to the ground and watched for any sign that someone was awake inside. But the night was silent. I peered through the dark to try and find the motion detectors set up on the grounds. Once I spotted them, I performed the same dimming spell as before and knew that if the sensors were set off, they wouldn’t cast a glow on me or anything else.
It was time.
I stepped up to the gate and placed the bag on the ground at my feet. Unzipping it carefully, I leaned down to grab a few rolls. I was still ten feet away from the closest tree, but no way was I going to go inside the gate and get caught. At least out here, I still had a chance of getting away if I needed to. Luckily, I had magic on my side and a plan that would allow me to cover the whole area right from where I stood.
And then there was the time factor. The longer I stayed there, the greater my chance of getting caught—and if that happened, everything would be over. This was the part that had taken me the longest to figure out: how to get twenty-four rolls of paper to cover a yard before anyone caught me. After visiting more than a few message boards, I’d figured it out. And it was quite genius if you asked me.
“Here we go,” I said to myself.
I hugged the rolls as tightly as I could and closed my eyes. Concentrating on the energy that I could already feel building inside me, I pictured what was about to happen and then said the magic words.
“Pyronicus mizzle!”
Once the words were out of my mouth, I knew I was holding on to ticking time bombs. Literally. Without hesitating, I took the first roll and tossed it as hard as I could toward the house. Seconds passed.
One.
Two.
Three—
There was a cracking sound as the roll exploded, and then I watched as strands of toilet paper fell down in streams, landing on everything below.
“Cool.”
After that, I grabbed roll after roll and tossed it into the darkness, no longer bothering to wait for it to detonate before throwing the next one. It was like watching fireworks on the Fourth of July, and I had to fight against stopping to watch the show I was creating. Within minutes, every inch of the property was covered in white, and I questioned whether I really needed to use the full twenty-four rolls. But that was the number The Elite had given me and I wasn’t about to fail on a technicality.
I had to admit, the whole thing was actually sort of fun, and I began to wonder if I could use the same spell to accomplish more productive things. Like decorating the Christmas tree or watering the lawn with exploding water balloons. I was so caught up in what I was doing, in fact, that I didn’t even notice I’d gone through my whole supply until I reached in and my hand hit canvas. Slightly disappointed that the fun was over so soon, I looked at my watch.
Nine forty-five p.m.
I’d only been at it for a little over five minutes and I was already finished. I took a step back and looked at the scene in front of me. It was a wonderland of white. The house looked like a monstrous igloo and the trees like little ghosts swaying in the night. It was better than I could have imagined.
“Whoa,” I said, admiring my work. I took out my phone and snapped a few quick pics before slipping it back into my pocket. “Now, for the final spell.”
Even though I’d tried to tell myself that pulling the prank on Principal Franklin wouldn’t really do much damage since the toilet paper would eventually disintegrate anyway, I still sort of felt guilty over the whole situation. So, to balance things out, I decided to do a spell to speed the clean-up process. My hope was that Principal Franklin would wake up the next day with a yard full of white, but that by that weekend, it would all have magically disappeared. That way, The Elite got their revenge and Franklin wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the year picking chunks of TP out of his bushes.
I was just about to say the words to the spell when I heard a sound nearby that made my head jerk away from what I was doing. I’d been so focused on the task at hand that I’d forgotten I was also supposed to be concentrating on not getting caught.
I strained my eyes through the dark and looked for anything that might seem out of place. But nothing stood out. Everything was as it had been before. No one
was there.
Taking a few more deep breaths to calm my nerves before continuing, I reminded myself that I only had one more thing to do before I could leave and meet the others. I centered myself and prepared to do the last of the spells.
“Velocimous alacrity periomo.”
The toilet paper took on the slightest hint of a glow before returning to its natural color. And just like that, everything was done. It was time to flee the scene.
Rushing back across the street, I swung by the bushes I’d been hiding in before, to pick up my purse and stakeout snacks. After making sure I wasn’t leaving behind any evidence that could be tied back to me, I began to walk down the street in the direction of my waiting car.
As I neared the corner, I looked back at the street behind me.
“Electro-lumino!” I let the power flow through me to illuminate the lamps that I’d dimmed before. With the street-lights back on in the neighborhood, I could easily see Principal Franklin’s house and all the damage I’d done. I couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Not because I’d TP’d the principal’s house but because of how much my life had changed. Less than a week ago, my only knowledge of magic was what I’d read on message boards, and now I was pulling off multiple spells in one night. I was so happy, I couldn’t stop grinning. I had a feeling that the principal’s reaction would be of an entirely different variety.
By the time I got back to my car and made it over to the Burger Barn, the adrenaline from earlier had worn off and all I could think about was passing out. I wondered if my sudden exhaustion wasn’t also a side effect of using so much magic. My parents had warned me that first night that coming into my powers would drain me, but they hadn’t said whether magical energy also depleted physical energy. It was a question I filed away for later.
Right now, I just wanted to give The Elite the proof they’d asked for, scarf down a burger and fries, and then crash.
I pulled into the parking lot and took a space that was far away from the entrance, so people would be less likely to see me from the windows when I arrived. I pulled off my sweatshirt and tossed it into the backseat, took off my cap to let my hair flow free, and dabbed on a bit of lip gloss to touch up my look. I had a few smudges of dirt on my hands and face but managed to get rid of them with a swipe of a leftover piece of toilet paper that had been ripped off one of the rolls.
When I was ready, I skipped over to the entrance and slipped inside without anyone seeing me, and then headed over to the booth where the others were sitting.
“Hey!” I said, sneaking up behind them.
“Brooklyn!” Camden said, unable to hide his surprise. I smiled and sat down as they scooted over to make room for me.
“Shouldn’t you be over there now?” Gigi asked, confused.
“I’m done.”
Rhodes looked at his cell. “But it’s just after ten.”
“Yep.”
“Did something happen?” Gigi asked, frowning.
“Nope. Everything went fine,” I said cheerily.
“Wait, you’re finished?” Eliza asked, shocked.
“No way you covered that place by yourself in less than an hour,” Wheatley said, shoving fries into his mouth.
“Um, I have pictures. Want to see?” I asked, taking out my phone. When I’d pulled the pictures up, I handed it over to Gigi, who looked at them, her jaw dropping a bit, before passing it around the table.
“Did you have help?” Camden asked.
“I assumed you guys wanted me to do this on my own,” I said.
“This place is trashed!” Rhodes exclaimed when it got around to him. “Dude, Frankie’s going to be supremely pissed off when he wakes up tomorrow morning.”
“I can’t wait to see the look on his face!” Eliza bounced up and down in her seat. “This is awesome, Brookie!”
“How did you do it?” Gigi asked, regaining her composure.
“I told you,” I said, shrugging. “I have a way of making things happen.”
I was expecting her to push back, to demand to know my secrets, but after a few seconds of mulling this over, Gigi nodded. “Good job,” she said, sharing a look with the others before turning back to me. “One down, more to go.”
“Ms. Z.!” I called out as I saw her walking down the hallway. Ever since that night at Principal Franklin’s, I’d been seeing more and more of The Elite at school. There were impromptu conversations in the hallway and short talks with Eliza during the class we shared, and I was even invited to sit with them at lunch a few days that week. I wasn’t a part of their group just yet, but after a week, things were progressing better than I’d expected.
But that meant that my regular schedule had sort of taken a backseat to my new mission. And the few times I’d stopped by Ms. Z.’s office, she’d been in with another student or her door was closed. There was so much I wanted to catch her up on, but I was finding myself busier than I’d ever been before.
That’s why, when I caught a glimpse of her in the hallway, I called out to her without hesitating. Ms. Zia turned around at the sound of her name and saw me running toward her, a smile growing across her face. “Brooklyn! Where have you been? I feel like you haven’t come by in ages,” she said, placing her hands on her hips.
“Omigosh, I have so much to tell you. You won’t believe what my life has been like lately,” I said. I glanced around us, noticing for the first time that people were staring and most likely listening to our whole conversation. It had been this way ever since The Elite had deigned to notice me. Suddenly people cared about what I thought. They analyzed my every move and had even begun to copy my style. The day before, I’d worn a sort of sash around my neck, and the next day I saw at least three other girls at school doing the same thing.
It was so bizarre. And totally awesome.
I gestured for Ms. Z. to walk with me. “So, what’s up?” she asked, mirroring my excitement.
“I can’t really get into it here,” I said, suddenly paranoid that everyone was listening to us. “But do you want to have lunch soon? Maybe Thursday or something?”
“Of course. You know I’m always up for lunch,” Ms. Z. answered. She gave me a sidelong glance. “But can you give me a hint?”
I smiled. I could always tell when the counselor in her was coming out. She got this look on her face and her voice became lower. It was nice to know that even though we might argue, she still cared about what happened to me. Just like sisters.
“Let’s just say that I’m no longer invisible,” I said, pulling her away from the crowded part of the hallway and giving her a little spin before striking a pose. Then I leaned in to whisper to her. “I’ve sort of been hanging out with The Elite.”
When I pulled back, I could see the shock registered on her face.
“Oh, wow. Really?” she asked.
“Yep!” I said, wanting to squeal but holding it in.
“How do you feel about that?”
It was such a therapist thing to ask, but I was in too good a mood to care. “Are you kidding? I feel incredible about it. All I ever wanted was to feel like I fit in here, and now the most popular kids in school want to hang out with me. Me. The person no one knew existed a month ago.”
“Exactly,” Ms. Zia said, crossing her arms. “Are you sure you want to be friends with people who only noticed you after you had this big makeover? Wouldn’t you rather they like you for you? The real you?”
“This is the real me!” I said, trying not to let what she was saying get to me. She was always fighting with me on the subject of popularity, and for once I wished she’d let it go. “Just with a little better packaging.”
“Oh, Brooklyn,” she said, shaking her head. “Your packaging was fine before.”
“I know,” I agreed, not looking to get into another argument. “But this is a huge opportunity for me. I mean, if I’m going to own my own PR firm one day, I need to know what it takes to be one of them. One of the ones everyone wants to know
about.”
“PR people shape the way people look at that world—they don’t live in it,” Ms. Zia reminded, but quickly moved on. It seemed like she didn’t want to fight anymore either. “I just want you to know that you don’t have to change for anyone. You’re a pretty cool girl all by yourself.”
“Awww, it’s like we’re in an after-school special,” I said jokingly.
She snorted. “Please. If this were an after-school special, you’d be pregnant and I’d be trying to adopt your baby,” she said. “This, my dear friend, is lightweight stuff.”
“Okay, so lunch, then? Thursday?” I asked.
“You know where to find me,” she said as she turned and walked away.
I couldn’t stop grinning as I continued on to my next class. Things were still okay between me and Ms. Zia, and even though I thought she worried a little too much, I really did think she was happy for me.
Life with The Elite was better than I ever could’ve imagined, too. It was taking time for them to warm up to me, but eventually I’d win them over. Most of them, anyway. Wheatley had started to let me see his softer side instead of always scowling at me. Not that we were besties or anything, but I wasn’t as scared to be around him anymore. Camden was critical but fair and after I’d done such a kick-butt job at Principal Franklin’s house, he’d started treating me less like an outsider. Rhodes was always surprising me with his ability to pull facts out of thin air, and we’d started playing a game where every time I saw him, I’d ask him another obscure trivia question to see if he could answer it—which, of course, he could. Eliza still insisted I’d had plastic surgery, but she didn’t seem to be mad anymore that I wouldn’t divulge my doctor’s name.
And Gigi . . . well, Gigi was a little more difficult to read. Her moods were guarded, and though she was always nice to me, I couldn’t help but feel like there was still some resistance to my being around. Not that she said anything outright. It was more of a subtle hint in her voice. Like there was always a hidden “but” at the end of her sentences. “I’m so glad you’re here (but we’ll just have to see how long it lasts).” Or “I absolutely adore that dress on you (but it would look better on me).” I figured it was just going to take a little longer to get her to trust me, but I was definitely up for the challenge.
What the Spell Part 1 Page 7