The XYZs of Being Wicked

by Lara Chapman

  Ivy jumps off the bed and runs for the door like she’s being chased by a herd of giant scorpions.

  I drop the amulet under my gown.

  “Where are you going?” I ask Ivy, and this time my voice is audible.

  Ivy whips around, her hand over her heart. “What ha—Where’d you go?”

  “Hello, I’ve been sitting here the entire time.”

  Ivy shakes her head maniacally. “No. No, you haven’t.”

  “Sit down,” I tell her. “You’re freaking me out.”

  She laughs, more like a crazy person than my friend. “I’m freaking you out? That’s funny!”

  “I don’t understand,” I say. “What happened? What’d I miss?”

  “One minute you’re sitting across from me, the next minute you’re gone.”

  “Gone? What do you mean gone? I didn’t move.”

  “Well, you sure as heck weren’t sitting here.”

  I stop talking and think. Neither one of them could hear me? I thought Kendall was just ignoring me like she always does.

  “You really couldn’t see me?” I ask her, voice shaking.

  “How many times do I have to say it? I couldn’t see you, and Kendall couldn’t see you.”

  “You couldn’t hear me either?”

  She folds her arms over her chest. “No, Hallie. No. We didn’t see you. We didn’t hear you. Know why? Because you weren’t here. You weren’t here!”

  Her voice is at the peak of hysteria, and I want to calm her down, but I don’t have an answer for her.

  I shake my head. “But I was here. I was sitting right here. I never moved.”

  “Then why couldn’t we see you?”

  I look at her, scared and confused. Her face mirrors my own feelings. Something really weird just happened. The blood in my body turns to solid ice.

  “I think I became invisible.”

  Twenty

  My mind is still spinning like a category four hurricane when I walk to history the following morning.

  I’m terrified about what happened last night. Did I really turn invisible? And if I did, how did I do it? It’s not like I wished to be invisible, but I was worried about Kendall seeing the amulet. The whole situation is too outlandish to be true, even for Dowling.

  I looked up spells in my Book of Shadows to see if there is an invisibility spell, but I couldn’t find one. Maybe Kendall and Zena cast that spell on me. Maybe they finally figured out how to cast spells successfully. I think about the Grimoire they were reading from and make a mental note to find one. Surely there’s more than one copy. If I can get my hands on a copy of the Grimoire, I might be able to figure out what spell they put on me.

  I’ve barely got a foot in the doorway when I hear girls in the class calling to me.

  “Hi, Hallie!”

  “Love your hair today, Hallie!”

  “Need a study partner?”

  I stop by Lady Jennica’s desk, suspicious about the attention. But one look at Ivy waving me toward her furiously, and my feet are back in motion.

  Every girl I pass on the way to my seat smiles, waves, or says something nice to me. The girls at Dowling have always been nice enough, but nothing like this. This is more like the attention Kendall and Zena normally receive. Everyone knows they’re the popular girls. Well, maybe not popular, but powerful. They have been since day one.

  I hold my hand over the amulet as I sit down. Ivy leans over and whispers into my ear. “They did the same thing to me.”

  I lean back and look at her. Something isn’t right. Something really weird is going on. Even Lady Jennica is smiling at us instead of writing on the board or filing her nails like she normally does.

  At exactly nine o’clock Kendall and Zena walk in. They wear matching headbands, bracelets, and attitudes. Instead of being greeted with a chorus of hellos from the class, the room is silent. The unusually cold greeting gives them pause, and their smug faces fade briefly.

  “Have a seat,” Lady Jennica says to the pair, her tone shorter than normal. She has never really liked Kendall and Zena, but today she seems downright snippy with them.

  They take their seats quickly, and Lady Jennica sits on her desk. Her dainty feet are strapped into six-inch heels that lace halfway up her leg with black satin ribbon. I can’t imagine ever wearing those kinds of shoes.

  But I also never thought I’d be able to make myself invisible, so what do I know?

  Lady Jennica instructs us to work on our project, and while I work, I watch Kendall and Zena. They are repeatedly ignored when they make a joke, or are blown off when they ask other girls for help.

  It’s impossible to ignore the way the girls in class, and even Lady Jennica, are drawn to me and Ivy, like there’s an invisible magnet pulling them to us. People are smiling at us for no reason, offering help we don’t ask for.

  Kendall keeps glaring at me, like I’m making people dis her. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t hate the way people are treating me. It’s nice to actually be noticed.

  Kendall shifts in her seat, intermittently sighing and rolling her eyes when she can’t harness the attention of anyone in the room. Even Lady Jennica has busied herself with other girls.

  I sit back in my chair and absorb this feeling of being . . . important. I’m instinctively drawn again to miserable Kendall.

  Now you know how it feels, I think. I turn my attention to my work and don’t think of Kendall for the rest of the class period.

  The closer I get to seeing Lady Rose, the more nervous I get. I have to talk to her today. I know it’s not my turn, but I have to talk to her about what happened last night.

  Journal in hand, I walk to her desk before class starts.

  “Good afternoon, Hallie,” she says softly. She sits back in her chair like she was expecting me. Maybe that’s her gift. Maybe she’s psychic.

  “Lady Rose, would it be possible for me to speak with you today? I know it’s not my turn, but this is really impor—”

  She holds up her hand to stop me. “Of course. I’ll call you up first.”

  My muscles relax in relief. “Thank you.”

  I walk back to my desk to a chorus of heys and hellos from every girl in the room. It’s been happening all day, and it’s about to drive me crazy. I used to think I wanted to be noticed, but it’s exhausting smiling and talking to everyone. At this rate I’ll never get a second alone to return the amulet.

  I sit down next to Ivy, and she gives me a big, excited smile. “I can’t believe how much attention we’re getting!”

  I shake my head. “I can’t believe it’s that important to you.”

  “Hallie Simon. You are not going to ruin my fun. We’re going to enjoy every second of popularity we get. Understand?”

  I laugh at this. I may not care anything about being the center of attention, but Ivy obviously does. I’ve enjoyed watching Kendall squirm all day, but I’ve never really wanted to be popular. It just seems like too much work.

  Lady Rose lights the incense, and the room quickly fills with the sweet and spicy aroma that I’ve come to love. I used to think only hippies burned incense, but it turns out witches love the stuff too.

  When Lady Rose closes the door, the class knows it’s time to get quiet. Many girls still haven’t discovered their gifts. Kendall and Zena have both spent time with Lady Rose, but she has never announced their gifts. I wonder if that’s because they don’t know their gifts or because they asked her not to tell.

  She calls my name first, and I walk quickly to her desk with my journal.

  “No one can hear us?” I ask her before I begin talking.

  “No one,” she assures me.

  “Okay. Something weird happened last night.”

  She nods her head but doesn’t seem surprised.

  “I was talking to Ivy in my room and was showing her—”

  I stop myself from telling her I was showing Ivy the amulet.

  She nods again, encouraging me to continue.

&nb
sp; “I was showing her something, and then Kendall walked in.”

  “That’s your roommate, right?” she asks.

  “Right,” I say, then wonder how she knows that. Witch school, I remind myself.

  “When she walked in, I didn’t want her to see me, and I—”

  I look up at Lady Rose. Can I really trust her? I have a final battle with myself about whether or not to tell her. To tell anyone.

  “What happened, Hallie?” she asks, leaning in closer, speaking in a whisper. “I know this can be scary, but you can tell me. It’s okay.”

  I take a deep breath and, on the exhale, say in a rush, “I disappeared.”

  Lady Rose cocks her head to the side, like she heard me wrong. Great, now I’ve stumped the teacher who knows everything about witch powers and spells.

  “What do you mean, you disappeared?” she asks.

  “Ivy said that when Kendall walked in, I disappeared. I was invisible. She couldn’t see me, my clothes, my hair. Nothing. It’s like I wasn’t there.”

  “Could you see her? Hear her?”

  I nod emphatically. “That’s the thing. I said something to Kendall, and they didn’t hear me. I thought I was there, but I wasn’t, somehow. I know this sounds crazy, and I thought my gift was mind manipulation, but maybe it’s this. Maybe I’m the Incredible Invisible Girl. Maybe I’m just a freak. Maybe I—”

  Lady Rose puts her hands on my shoulders. “Shh,” she says softly. “Shh.”

  Suddenly I miss my mother so much, I want to cry.

  “I thought this might happen,” she says.

  I sit straight up in my chair. “You did? How?”

  Lady Rose looks at me, like she’s not quite sure how much she should tell me.

  “Am I going crazy?” I ask her. “I feel like I’m going crazy.”

  She chuckles and shakes her head. “No, Hallie. You are definitely not going crazy.”

  “Then what is it?”

  My heart squeezes when she looks at me with uncertainty. I want her to know what’s wrong with me. I need her to know.

  “I’m not exactly sure yet,” she tells me. She opens a drawer and pulls out a small, dainty bracelet. It’s silver with little red stones in it. It looks like an antique, and I don’t take it from her when she hands it to me. “Take the bracelet, Hallie.”

  I look at the bracelet, then at her. “What’s going to happen?”

  She gives me an apologetic grin. “I don’t really know yet. But nothing bad will happen. I can promise you that.”

  She fastens the bracelet around my left wrist without asking my permission. And I know I don’t have a choice. I must wear the bracelet.

  “I want you to wear this every day. Don’t take it off until I ask you to return it.”

  “Why?” I ask, my voice small and whiny, like a two-year-old who doesn’t want to eat her broccoli.

  “It’s the only way I’ll know what’s happening to you. Please,” she says, taking my hands and looking at me intently. “Please trust me.”

  I swallow the knot in my throat and nod.

  What choice do I have?

  Twenty-One

  Three Dannabelle Grimm books cover the space between me and Kendall.

  I’ve read each one, but I haven’t done any of the work. For once I’m determined to stand up to Kendall and make her do her fair share.

  “Have you done the reading?” I ask. I’m careful to keep my left hand in my lap so as to avoid any questioning about the bracelet. Like I don’t have enough questions of my own. Has Lady Rose bugged the bracelet with some kind of camera and microphone?

  Kendall gives me a look. “What do you think?”

  “I think I hope you’ve read it or we’ll never get the project finished.”

  “I’ve read enough.”

  I tilt my head to the side. I’m not sure if it’s the amulet or the bracelet or my total lack of common sense that makes me challenge her.

  “When was Dannabelle Grimm the High Priestess?”

  Kendall crosses her arms over her chest, like she’s too good to answer.

  “From 1845 to 1851. How did she die?”

  More death glares shoot through me.

  “Pneumonia. What was her gift?”

  Kendall sighs deeply. “Why don’t you tell me?”

  “Inheritance. That means she could inherit gifts from other witches just by touching something they owned.”

  Kendall shrugs, but the stubborn shield around her seems to crumble just a little.

  “Look, Kendall. I know we’ll never be friends. I’m okay with that. But my grade is riding on you doing your part. Let’s just get the work done, get it over with, and go back to ignoring each other.”

  Hearing the words come from my lips is like a liberating out-of-body experience. I am getting used to standing up to Kendall.

  I look at the bracelet Lady Rose gave me, then back at Kendall’s defeated face. Did Lady Rose’s bracelet obliterate my fear of Kendall? Did she give me a power?

  Kendall opens her spiral, then grabs the smallest Dannabelle Grimm book from the pile, completely unaware of what’s going on. Somehow I have absorbed fearlessness from a bracelet.

  Without looking up at me, Kendall says, “Let’s start the outline.”

  Most nights, Ivy hangs out in my room and Kendall hangs out in Ivy’s with Zena. Unlike most nights, when we study and chat, tonight I watch Ivy get ready for the social, and grow more and more impatient with each outfit change.

  She tries on her third outfit—a pair of jeans with bling on the pockets, and a white shirt with a cute little ruffle on the bottom. The zebra-striped flats on her feet add just the right touch.

  Ivy looks at herself in the mirror, twisting around to see her backside. “This is the one. Right? I don’t know. What do you think? Is this the one?”

  With our perfect hair and complexions still intact, what we wear isn’t as important as it used to be. “I like it,” I tell her.

  She turns to face me, hands on hips. Her gorgeous curly red hair frames her frustration.

  “That’s what you said about the other two.”

  “I like all three of them.”

  “Which one do you like the best? You have to have a favorite.”

  I stifle an eye roll. Ivy is way too happy with our newfound popularity. “Fine. I like this one the best.”

  “Me too,” she says with a smile. She rubs her hands together. “Now, what are you going to wear?”

  “Haven’t even thought about it,” I confess.

  “What in the world is wrong with you?” Ivy marches to my dresser, opens the drawers, and begins pulling out clothes and laying them on the bed.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I ask. “Have you forgotten that until Kendall’s spell went wrong, we were as invisible as air? Who cares what people think? I didn’t care before, and I don’t care now.”

  She shakes her head like I’m a lost cause. Maybe there is something wrong with me. “It’s a dance,” she says, pairing pants with shirts and shoes. “With boys.”

  “Who are witches. Or wizards.”

  “Even cooler.”

  “You realize we won’t be able to talk with them after we leave the dance, right? We have no cell phones, no email, nothing.”

  “But there’s always next year,” she says with a sly grin.

  I can’t help but laugh.

  “What do you think?” she asks.

  I look at the outfits on the bed. They’re all pretty boring. Before my transformation nobody noticed me, so it didn’t matter what I wore. But Ivy’s excitement is contagious and I find myself caring. About clothes.

  “You pick,” I tell her. Ivy’s fashion sense beats mine by a country mile, so I’m happy to let her be the boss.

  She analyzes the clothes, murmuring to herself quietly, switching tops and shoes around.

  I look at the clock. 5:40. “Twenty minutes,” I remind her.

  “Okay. This one.” She points to the first outfit,
which is a pair of denim capris with little worn spots on them. My mom bought them for me, but I refused to wear them to school. Even if everyone else was wearing them, I wasn’t going to. That would only have made me look like a wannabe, and Kendall would have teased me endlessly. Now I’m glad I packed them, because Ivy’s right. They’re perfect for tonight.

  The top is a simple bright pink short-sleeve shirt, the hem lined with rhinestones. It’s just dressy enough.

  “Good choice,” I tell her.

  I slip the clothes on, and when I look at myself, I feel more confident than I ever have. I run my fingers through my hair and let it fall naturally, still amazed that it looks so perfect.

  Ivy claps her hands. “Ooh! I’ve got just the thing for your hair.”

  She runs out the door and is back in less than a minute. In her hand is a multicolored polka-dot scarf. She puts it on my head like a headband and ties it under my hair. The long ends of the colorful scarf fall over my shoulder to my waist. She stands back, looks at me thoughtfully, then nods. “Perfect.”

  I turn back to the mirror to look at my reflection.

  I hardly recognize the girl in the mirror. I look more like the Crafters that walk the halls, with their impeccable good looks. I don’t know what Kendall did wrong in her spell, but I’m actually thankful she did it.

  “Shoes?” I ask Ivy.

  She looks at my choices. Black ballet flats, tennis shoes, and silver glitter Keds.

  “Keds.”

  I put the shoes on, then look at the clock. “ Let’s get Jo and Dru.”

  “Wait,” Ivy says. “What about the amulet?”

  I look at the pillow, where the amulet is hidden deep inside the stuffing.

  “It’ll show,” I tell her. “But . . .”

  “You’re not going to need it tonight,” Ivy says. “Tonight we’re just girls. Not witches.”

  I think for a moment, then look down at the bracelet on my wrist.

  “You’re right. I don’t need the amulet tonight.”

  We walk out of the room, and I take one last look at my pillow and pray I’m doing the right thing by leaving the amulet here. With a snap of my fingers, the door closes, and we walk to Dru and Jo’s room.