Books for Girls - WITCH SCHOOL - Books 2-6: Book 1 is FREE!

by Katrina Kahler

  Alice went next and Charlotte and Gerty cheered for her as she and Miss Firmfeather flew around the yard. Stef walked over to the candy-floss stand where a group of second-years were holding a stick of color-changing candy-floss.

  'That looks so cool,' Stef said to them.

  'You have to get some, the flavors change depending on what color it is,' a girl with waist length blonde hair said.

  'The pink is watermelon favor,' a wavy-haired, petite girl said.

  'A large candy-floss please,' Stef said to the owl and it held the stick in its beak as it spun it around the candy-floss.

  Stef was on her way back over to the others when a giant bubble engulfed her and lifted her up into the air.

  'What the fudge,' Stef said, as she she looked down at the ground and saw Sonya and Silvia waving back at her. They blew another huge bubble that surrounded another unsuspecting girl.

  'Put me down right now,' the girl shouted.

  Stef shrugged before she sat down in the bubble and put her feet up against it, rolling herself forwards as she bit off chunks of her candy-floss.

  The other girl in the bubble saw what Stef was doing and copied her, her outcries soon turned into shouts of joy as she rolled around the yard. Soon girls were begging Sonya and Silvia to blow bubbles at them and dozens of girls were rolling around in the huge bubbles.

  Stef's bubble lowered itself onto the ground before it popped and Stef walked over to her friends. Charlotte and Gerty both pulled chunks off Stef's currently green candy-floss.

  'Yum apple,' Gerty said.

  A Beyoncé tune began to blare out across the yard and Miss Dread was using the Save the Princess court for a dance floor.

  'Come on girls, come and dance,' she gestured them over.

  'I love this song,' Gerty grabbed Charlotte and Alice's arms and pulled them forwards and Charlotte called out to Stef to join them.

  Stef stood on the side-line as she finished her candy-floss and watched as the other girls joined in on the dance floor and copied Miss Dread's moves.

  'And spin,' Miss Dread said, as she spun on the spot and all the girls copied her.

  Stef finished her candy-floss and joined the girls on the dance floor.

  Five Beyoncé songs later and the girls walked off the dance floor out-of-breath but in full spirits. They stood on the side-line and retrieved their breath before they walked across the yard.

  'Got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love,' Gerty sang.

  'What now?' Charlotte asked.

  'We haven't been on Dexter yet,' Alice pointed over to the far side of the yard where girls were bouncing on the dragon's belly.

  Demi and Destiny were already bouncing on Dexter and Alice eagerly joined them, followed by the others. To start with all the girls were being sensible and careful, avoiding bouncing into each other, but then Charlotte misjudged her bounce and accidentally brushed into Demi's arm. Charlotte thought that Demi would shout at her, but instead she giggled and gave her a gentle shove.

  Soon all of them were bouncing high on Dexter, holding hands and laughing.

  'Higher!' Destiny yelled, as she pulled on Alice and Stef's hands. 'Let's jump higher!'

  Destiny pulled on their hands too much and then they all tumbled down onto Dexter's belly, giggling.

  'Do you think we'll get a party like this, every time one of our team wins?' Gerty asked.

  'I hope so,' Demi replied.

  'It's worth it just for the candy-floss, talking of which,' Stef shuffled her way over to the ladder by the side of Dexter.

  The rest of the girls stood back up and grabbed each other’s hands before they began to bounce again. Charlotte couldn't hide her smile, she didn't like conflict and she was glad that they were getting on with Demi and Destiny. Winning Save the Princess had shown them that they were a team and they succeeded far more when they worked together.

  Alice slowed down her jumping and tugged on Charlotte's arm as she gestured for her to look across the yard. Charlotte stopped on the spot and Demi followed Charlotte's gaze.

  When she saw what Charlotte was looking at...Demi abruptly stopped, the smile vanishing from her face.

  Standing across from them, her blond hair swiped behind her back and a severe look on her pretty face was Margaret Montgomery. The yard fell silent as the rest of the girls noticed her, including Stef who almost dropped her candy-floss.

  Charlotte found herself thinking about the vial of fairy dust that was tucked away in the draw under her bed. She regretted the fact that she didn’t have it on her...as she could have done with some guidance right now. The girl who'd nearly got her expelled and who'd turned her into a cockroach, leaving her to be squashed, was back at the Academy.

  Margaret looked far from happy as she glanced over at the girls who were on Dexter and who had clearly been having a brilliant time without her. She felt betrayed and angry and she clutched her wand tightly as her unfaltering gaze remained fixed in place.

  Book 3

  My First True Love

  Chapter One

  The season was fall and the crisp sunset-shaded leaves surrounded Charlotte like a blanket. She looked down and saw that her feet were bare and with each step the leaves rustled beneath her.

  Although she was outside it held the warmth of a summer’s day and the floral print sun-dress she wore suited the temperature.

  Behind two arched trees up ahead stood Gerty, Stef and Alice, who waved over-excitedly at Charlotte. She waved back before she began to run across to them. A gust of wind flew past her, causing the blue ribbon that was tied in her hair to come loose and flail in front of her. She reached out and grabbed onto it and began to weave it around her wrist, only the fabric kept on coming, until it was now snaked up the majority of her arm.

  She looked down at her ribboned arm questioningly and she was about to continue wrapping the ribbon around her wrist, only she realized that there was no more ribbon to thread.

  'Charlotte, over here,' Gerty shouted from up ahead, as she waved and jumped up on the spot.

  'Coming,' Charlotte shouted back, only her words seemed to get lost in the air.

  She looked back down at her arm to see that the ribbon had vanished, only she didn't linger on this fact, as if the ribbon had never existed.

  She walked across the leaves, only they didn't crumple beneath her feet any more, instead they popped and crackled like her mouth did after she'd poured an entire bag of Pop Rocks into it.

  Charlotte kept on walking forwards, only she didn't seem to be gaining on the others. Again this didn't seem to alarm her, instead she kept on walking until suddenly she stopped abruptly. The leaves blew up from the ground and whirled around her like a mini tornado.

  She blinked her eyes and saw that all the leaves had disappeared, revealing the vividly green grass beneath it. She looked up to see that Gerty was standing there, with Stef and Alice just behind her.

  'Charlotte, you made it,' Gerty smiled, as she grabbed Charlotte's her hand.

  'About time,' Alice huffed.

  As Gerty pulled her forwards Stef and Alice stepped aside and a boy with brown hair and wide eyes stepped forwards.

  'Charlie,' Charlotte smiled.

  'Come on Charlotte, there's not much time left,' he gestured for her to follow him.

  'Time left for what?'

  Charlie kept on walking, his pace quickening so that Charlotte had to jog to keep up with him. Suddenly the sky darkened and the grass beneath her feet vanished, revealing a black tar like substance that wrapped itself around her feet and tried to pull her down.

  'Charlie,' she shouted, as she tried to pull her feet free.

  'Come on Charlotte, there's not much time left,' Charlie turned to look at her and gave her a smile, before he turned his head back and then ran off.

  'No Charlie, wait. Please wait. Help me,' she shouted, only he kept on running until she could no longer see him.

  The black tar had dragged her down into it, so that it now reached he
r knees. The more she tried to pull herself free the more it seemed to pull her down.

  Her wand, she needed her wand. She patted her hands against the sides of her sun-dress, only it didn't have any pockets. She didn't have her wand on her, she was stuck.

  A girl with long blonde hair appeared and walked with ease across the tar towards her.

  'Please, help me,' Charlotte said, the tar now at her waist.

  The girl reached her and peered down at Charlotte, a smirk on her face; it was Margaret.

  'It looks like you're in need of this?' she pulled an oak wand from behind her back.

  Charlotte reached out and tried to grab her wand but Margaret pulled it away from her.

  She took a few steps back from Charlotte before she dropped the wand into the tar and watched as the black substance engulfed it.

  'Whoops,' Margaret sniggered, before she turned her back on Charlotte and walked away from her.

  'Please, come back,' Charlotte shouted, the tar now at her shoulders. 'Margaret!'

  The tar crawled up her neck and she took a deep breath in before it covered her mouth.

  She was falling in a vat of darkness. She tried to scream but it was met with silence.

  She landed with a bump on her feet, the crisp autumn leaves were beneath her and all her friends were stood beneath the two arched trees.

  'Are you alright Charlotte?' Gerty said, as she stood in front of her.

  'I think so,' Charlotte replied, before she walked alongside Gerty over to the others.

  'Hi Charlotte,' Charlie smiled.

  'Hi,' Charlotte smiled back.

  'Come on girls, let’s leave these love-birds to it,' Stef rolled her eyes, before she led a waving Gerty and a sulking Alice away.

  'It's just us,' Charlie grinned.

  'Yes, it is.'

  'Shall we go for a walk?' he held his hand out to her.

  'Yes, sure,' she put her hand in his and couldn't hide her smile as they walked hand-in-hand across the meadow of leaves.

  The sun grew brighter, far too bright for this time of year. It caused her hair to stick to her forehead and her arms to itch with sweat. She stopped walking and wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her arm.

  'Is something wrong?' Charlie looked at her worriedly.

  'No, no, I'm fine,' she forced a smile.

  Charlie's hand slid free of hers as sweat poured from her palms. Charlotte blushed as she wiped her hands against her dress, only the sweat didn't go away, instead it grew worse, streaming out of her pours like a river until soon both her and Charlie were floating in it.

  Charlotte opened her mouth to say Charlie's name, only her word was muffled by the sweaty water. She forced her head above the water as she glanced over at Charlie who had drifted further away from her and who she could see was battling with the water. The boy she liked was drowning in a river of her own sweat. This was bad, very, very bad.

  The sweat water vanished and she found herself back in Miss Moffat's Academy, in the great hall. She was relieved to see that Charlie was there, along with most of the girls from her class.

  'Charlie,' she said, only as she spoke a pink frosted cupcake flew out of her mouth and hurtled over to Alice like a Frisbee, hitting her in the face.

  'I'm sorry,' Charlotte said and this time two more cupcakes flew out of her mouth and hit Gerty and Demi.

  Charlotte quickly placed her hands over her mouth and looked around the room. The others were now circling her, smiles on their faces as they eagerly waited for the game to continue.

  She couldn't hold on any more, the pressure was just too strong. She couldn't help but move her hands and her mouth immediately opened, causing dozens of cupcakes to hurtle out of her mouth and fly at people. Stef and some of the others managed to duck in time whilst others were hit on the arm and the head. Chuckles filled the room, chuckles that were aimed at her expense.

  The cupcakes kept on flying out of her mouth and she looked on horrified as a glittery blue frosted cupcake was spinning its way over to Charlie. The cupcake smacked into the side of his head, covering his hair and part of his face. He looked directly over at Charlotte, the welcoming look on his face had now changed into a look of disgust.

  An enormous fart echoed through the room, it was so powerful that it caused the entire room to spin. Charlotte found herself whirling around the room, surrounded by cupcakes…and Charlie, he was there too, looking over at her.

  She tried to swat the cupcakes away but the vortex that now surrounded her was too strong. Charlotte let out a loud scream, Charlie looked over at her and soon he was screaming too, so that their shrieks combined together.

  It was just her scream left, her single high-pitched scream as she was left alone in this vortex of cupcakes in a place in time that she didn't understand.

  'Charlotte, Charlotte,' a far off familiar voice said.

  Water, swirling, frosting and the sound of her name being called were all that currently existed.

  'Charlotte, wake-up,' the familiar voice said, as gentle hands shook her.

  Charlotte blinked open her eyes and three blurry figures leaning over her came into her view.

  'W-what? Where am I?' Charlotte looked around her feeling confused.

  'You're in your room, it's us,' Gerty said.

  'You had one heck of a nightmare, it woke us all up. I'm surprised it didn't wake-up the entire Academy. Whatever you were dreaming about must have been bad,' Stef said.

  'Well I'm glad you're awake,' Alice sighed. 'But I need at least eight hours of non-interrupted sleep else it is bad for my complexion and my mind. I refuse to take responsibility if I am late for lessons tomorrow, you can take the blame for it.'

  'Shut-up Alice,' Stef grunted. 'It's not like she chose to have a nightmare.'

  Alice huffed before she shuffled her way over to her bed.

  'You're so sweaty,' Gerty said, as she swiped a strand of Charlotte's hair out of her face.

  The word 'sweaty' was all it took for Charlotte to sit up with a start and put her hands to her face. Her forehead was damp with sweat but at least she wasn't swimming in it like she had been in her nightmare.

  'Are you okay?' Stef asked.

  Charlotte nodded and forced a smile.

  'Thanks for waking me up, like you said it was just a silly nightmare. I'm glad it wasn't real though.'

  'I'm glad it wasn't either, from your screams it sounded like it was a terrifying one,' Stef grinned.

  Gerty perched on the edge of Charlotte's bed and Stef copied her. They just sat there in silence for a few minutes and Charlotte was glad that they were there.

  Soon snoring sounds came from Alice's bed which caused the girls to exchange looks as they giggled.

  ‘At least she's getting her beauty sleep,' Stef snorted.

  'Do you think she realizes how loudly she snores?' Gerty whispered.

  'I think we should record it and play it back to her when she's irritating us.'

  'Stef,' Gerty gave a disapproving look.

  'What, I'm just kidding,' she smirked.

  'Thanks guys but I think I'll be okay now. You two should go and get some sleep, just don't snore,' Charlotte smiled.

  'Okay,' Stef stood up. 'If you need me you know where I'll be,' she said, before she headed across to her bed.

  'Are you sure you're okay?' Gerty whispered to her.

  'Yes thanks Gerty, I'm fine now.'

  'It's scary isn't it how real dreams can seem sometimes. I once had a dream that my hair turned green and that whatever spell I used to try and turn it back to normal only made it greener. I checked the mirror about twenty times in a row when I woke up, just to make sure that it was still blonde,' she patted down her hair.

  'Your hair looks lovely and in no way green,' Charlotte smiled. 'Thank you for looking after me.'

  'That's what friends are for. Now, are you sure you'll be okay?'

  'Yes thanks Gerty, I'm okay now,' she nodded as she looked at Gerty.

  Gert
y jumped up from the bed and half-walked, half-skipped over to her bed.

  'It wasn't real, it was just a silly dream,' Charlotte whispered to herself, as she looked up at the ceiling.

  She didn't want to close her eyes as she never wanted to enter that nightmare world ever again.

  ***

  It took Charlotte ages to fall back to sleep and when she finally did, it had felt to her like the bell signalling the start of the day had rung out almost immediately. She rubbed her tired eyes, got dressed and trailed behind the others towards breakfast, glad that there wasn’t a fitness lesson this morning and hoping that eating something would make her feel less like a zombie.