I woke up refreshed; warmed by the sun shining through the window and bursting with ideas for the Booster Club Carnival. Solving problems for a carnival was much easier to deal with than a witchy ball.
On the walk to school, I brainstormed with Penny-Love. She loved my suggestion of a fishing booth, where kids could snag a wrapped gift on a fishing pole, but she vetoed a craft booth. I was into crafts and always working on a new project, like recently I'd finished embroidering a pillow to match my purple-and-white comforter. Creating useful decorations gave me a sense of satisfaction. But Penny-Love pointed out there wasn't time to create and collect craft items.
"Besides, crafts are boring," she said with a roll of her eyes.
I opened my mouth to argue, only PennyLove's attention switched to some kids walking by and she called out a greeting. Although we'd been friends for a few months, I was amazed all over again by her mega-popularity. Was there anyone at school she didn't know? Doubtful. And she was always being invited to cool parties, too busy to sit around at home doing crafts.
Of course since hooking up with josh, I'd been busy, too. When Penny-Love and I reached our shared locker, I looked around for Josh. Usually he was waiting for me with a funny story or new magic trick, but today he was a no show.
Of course, Penny-Love noticed his absence, but I pretended like it was no big deal. "His alarm probably didn't go off."
"He needs to get a rooster like you and Nona."
"Except that our rooster is time-challenged. He thinks that 3 AM is morning."
We both laughed and the subject was dropped, although a sense of unease stayed with me. Where was josh? Was he simply running late? Or was he purposely avoiding me? What if someone witnessed my kiss with Dominic and told josh?
Guilt made me nauseous. When I'd returned from Pine Peaks, I'd considered confessing to joshfor about two seconds-until I realized he'd never believe the truth. He'd think I was lying if I said I kissed another guy because a ghost possessed me. Josh was a total skeptic, positive anything paranor mal was a hoax or could be explained by science. He'd be hurt and think I was in love with Dominic-which was crazy.
Five minutes into first period, josh showed up. He waved at me, looking a bit embarrassed as he accepted a tardy slip. I was so relieved. Well, not about his tardy. I was glad things were okay with us. Everyone thought we were a great couple, and I was flattered that josh wanted to go out with me. I loved his high ideals, and being with him made me feel secure. I resolved to never ever do anything to risk our relationship.
We had silent reading, then a quiz, which made talking impossible. When the bell rang, josh came over to tell me he wouldn't be at lunch, but he'd meet me after school by my locker. Before I could ask what was going on, he hurried off to his next class.
Okay, I was curious, but not concerned. Josh had a lot of commitments: student council, volunteer work, and an apprenticeship in a professional magician's society. He couldn't spend all his time with me. I had stuff to do, too, like talk to Manny. So during lunch, I headed for the computer lab.
Manny DeVries, AKA Mystic Manny, was at his usual computer, up front by the door where everyone could see him. His two-finger typing method didn't slow him down as he typed at max speed. His black dreadlocks were tied back in a wild ponytail, and he wore a black T-shirt over safari shorts. Even in cold weather, when everyone else layered on warm clothes, Manny preferred shorts. When I asked him about it once, he said wacky shorts would be his trademark when he became a TV journalist. Then he added with a grin, "Besides, I gotta show off my great legs."
Manny was definitely a show-off. But would he agree to help out at the carnival? I hoped so. As Mystic Manny, he got a kick out of astonishing people with amazing predictions. It was our secret that his unusually accurate information came from me. See, we had this deal. I gave him predictions (harmless stuff like favorite colors and lucky numbers) and he used his investigative skills when I needed information. Like he was helping Nona, Dominic, and I track down this really old remedy book that belonged to my ancestors. So far the arrangement was working out great.
Still, I was nervous about asking Manny about the carnival. I came up behind him, standing there uncertainly while I tried to decide what to say.
After a few minutes, he spun his chair around to face me. "Beany, quit breathing down my neck."
"Don't call me Beany."
"You always say that, but you don't mean it." He flashed the wide grin that made him very popular with girls. I knew him too well to be dazzled by his charm, although I had to admit his dimples were cute. "So what do you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?"
"Don't you?" He arched his pierced brow.
"Well ... yeah. But not for me."
"It never is."
"I'm trying to be serious here."
"Try harder. Did you know that when you're tense, you get a twitch in your right eye?"
"Do not!" My hand flew to my eye and it felt normal. I noticed he was laughing, and realized he'd been joking. "I don't know why I bother with you. You're impossible!"
"Thanks." He stood and bowed. "Now tell me what you want."
"It's the Booster Club ..." I went on to explain about the carnival and the idea for a fortunetelling booth.
"Would I get to keep the money I earned?" he asked when I'd finished.
"No."
"How about a fair percentage? Say like 60%?"
"Not even one percent. Notice the word fundraiser-it means to raise funds for a good cause. Not for a lost cause."
He laughed. "Can't blame a guy for asking."
"So will you do it?" I asked.
"Well . . ." He paused to make me squirm. And damn it, it worked. I thought about how disappointed the cheerleaders would be if he refused. They were counting on me and I couldn't let them down.
"Okay," he finally said. "I'll do it."
I started to jump for joy until he added, "But there's one condition."
"What?"
"So I don't come off like a fake, I'll need some real predictions." He glanced around and lowered his voice. "From you."
My first impulse was to refuse, but then I thought, "Why not?" This wasn't much different from the predictions I supplied each week for his newspaper column.
What would a few more hurt?
Josh was true to his word. After school he was waiting for me by my locker.
But he hadn't come alone, and when I saw the self-satisfied smirk on Evan Marshall's face, I wanted to smack him. Why did josh have to bring my worst enemy along?
I didn't just dislike Evan. I loathed him. He was only out for himself. He used people, never taking the blame for any of his actions. His ex-girlfriend Danielle nearly died because of him. When my helping her resulted in Evan getting kicked out of school sports, he'd threatened to get even with me. Josh may be able to forgive Evan, but I couldn't.
Purposefully turning my back on Evan, I slipped into josh's arms. I hoped Evan would get the message and get lost.
"I have a surprise for you," Josh told me.
"A new magic trick?" I guessed.
"Nope. You know how I entertain kids as a clown?"
I nodded, thinking of the giggles and smiles when josh literally clowned around with magic tricks for hospitalized kids. I really loved that side of him.
"Well, Penny-Love cornered me and asked if I'd make balloon animals at the carnival. I figured, why not?"
"Great! It'll be more fun with you there."
"I hoped you'd feel that way."
"Are you coming in your clown costume?"
He groaned. "Do I have to?"
"It's for a good cause. Plus I love a guy in uniform."
"Anything to win your love," he said, his dark eyes flashing.
Love? The word made me uneasy, but flattered, too. I was tempted to ask josh if he was teasing or serious. But not with Evan's gaze burning into my back. Besides, how could I talk about love with Josh when guilty thoughts of Dominic confused me?
/> "Evan volunteered to help out, too," Josh said, stepping away from me and patting Evan on the shoulder. "He's in charge of the Hoop Shoot booth. Isn't that cool?"
"Well ... yeah," I said, swallowing the lie like a big, fat bitter pill.
"I'm glad to pitch in to support the Booster Club," Evan said too smoothly. "Everyone should give back to their school. Don't you agree, Sabine?"
"Uh ... sure."
"Josh's community spirit must have rubbed off on me, probably cause we've been hanging out since we were kids." He paused. "How long have you been dating-a week?"
"A month," I said sharply.
"Is that all?" Evan flashed a satisfied smirklike this was a basketball game and I'd fouled while he'd made a perfect shot.
"Evan needed a ride home and since he lives next door, I said I'd take him," Josh added halfapologetically. "You okay with that?"
No way! Evan is an asshole and he makes my skin crawl! He hates me and will do anything to split us up.
That's what I wanted to say anyway. But that would only make me come off like a selfish witch and Evan the nice guy.
"So how about it, Sabine?" Evan leaned toward me. "Mind if I tag along?"
I shrugged. "It's not my car."
"I helped josh pick out this car, talking the dealer down to a good price, and now josh is helping me with my studies," Evan added, lightly patting josh's shoulder. "Once my grades are up, I can get back into sports."
"You've improved a lot already." Josh looked uneasily between Evan and me, probably because he knew I was glad Evan had been kicked off the team. "But maybe we should talk about some-"
"Sabine thinks I'm a jerk," Evan interrupted in an injured tone. "I guess I deserve it, but I'm trying to make it up to everyone. Honest."
You don't know anything about being honest!
"I said some harsh things," he went on, "and I regret it. That's why I picked this out for you, Sabine." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pale yellow card.
I eyed the card like the plague. I expected to open it and find anthrax or poison. But it was simply a greeting card with a lovely picture of a bouquet of flowers and a simple message, "Can we be friends?"
I'd rather befriend a rabid skunk. I wasn't naive enough to fall for Evan's pathetic gestures. Unfortunately, josh felt differently, and was staring at me with such a hopeful expression. I couldn't disappoint him.
"Well . . . " I sucked in my pride. "Okay."
But when we reached the car and josh went around to the trunk to put away our backpacks, Evan grabbed my wrist. "That's not all," he said in a low voice.
I jerked back and rubbed my wrist. "What's your problem?"
"Not my problem. Check the envelope." His menacing tone confirmed everything I already thought about him. He was dangerous and still out for revenge.
Making sure josh wasn't watching, I looked in the envelope.
I pulled out a folded newspaper clipping from the Arcada Hi-Jinx, dated over five months ago. There was a photo of a husky football player, Kip Hurst, waving his helmet in victory. Underneath the photo was the tragic caption: Star Player Dies in Car Crash.
I'd had a vision warning of Kip's death, only he refused to listen. I became the school joke-until he died. Suddenly everyone blamed me, as if knowing made me guilty. Classmates, teachers, and even my own mother turned against me. It had been a relief to move away and start over. At Sheridan High, only Manny and our Goth friend Thorn knew about my past. Everyone else thought I was normal, which is how I wanted it to stay.
But now Evan knew my secret.
How long before he told josh?
SATURDAY
Horrible dreams chased me into dark corners where there was no escape. A horned devil with Evan's face sprung out. I ran, slamming into walls, stumbling, falling, crying out for help. A light appeared, so bright it hurt my eyes. A shadowy figure carrying a fiery beacon glided forward. Was Josh coming to rescue me? I raced toward it, then stopped when I saw the figure clearly-a headless skeleton! And the fiery ball in his bony fingers was his own skull!
"Sabine ... Sabine ..."
"Go away!" I shouted, running but falling again, then finding my back against a solid wall. The skeleton wore Kip's number 17 football jersey. The glowing skull was coming closer ... closer ...
"Sabine!"
Jolted awake, I sat up in bed. My heart was pounding and my T-shirt stuck to my sweaty skin. I blinked, trying to sort dreams from reality. I felt exhausted and weak, as if I'd truly been running, and I was a bit surprised to find my room bathed in daylight. Was it morning already?
Someone banged at my door. "You okay, Sabine?"
"Dominic?" I questioned in confusion. He lived in a barn loft apartment and was usually busy every morning with chores. I pulled my covers up and shouted for him to come in.
He opened the door and strode in. "Why are you still in bed?
"I was sleeping-until you arrived."
"Don't you know what time it is?"
I glanced over at my bedside clock. "Seven forty-nine. My alarm isn't set to go off till eight."
He shook his head. "It's an hour off."
"No way." I lifted my arm and looked at my silver moon watch. Then I shrieked, "Almost nine! But I'm due to set up at the carnival at nine! I'm late! My clock must be broken. But why didn't Nona wake me up? She was going to drop me off on her way to a client meeting."
"She's still in her room. I didn't want to disturb her-"
"But you didn't hesitate to disturb me?"
"That's different." The corners of his mouth curved, and I tugged my covers up higher around me. He was impossible, helpful one moment and insulting the next.
The house seemed empty without the aroma of Nona's morning tea brewing. She was usually up before me every morning, doing a private ritual of herb tea and gratitude prayers. "I better wake Nona," I said quickly.
Dominic stood there watching me, not making any move to leave.
"Go already," I snapped. "Feed the animals or muck out the barn."
"Already did."
"I have to get dressed, and don't need an audience."
"Too bad. Guess I'll just go."
"Please do."
As he turned, I realized he wasn't wearing his work clothes, but looked especially hot in black jeans, a blue shirt, and a leather jacket. Even his usually unruly wavy sandy brown hair was tamed. "Are you going out?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"To the carnival?" I guessed.
"Maybe later, after my class."
"What class?"
"Shouldn't you hurry and get ready?" Then he turned and left.
It didn't take a vision to know he was avoiding my question. But he didn't owe me an explanation, and I was in a hurry anyway. Thanks to my malfunctioning clock, I'd lost a whole hour. Even weirder-when I looked around the house, I discovered that all the clocks in the house were an hour off. What was going on?
I found out soon enough. When I woke up Nona and told her about the clocks, she admitted she'd done it. "It's for daylight-savings time," she said.
"But that's not for another week!" I exclaimed. "And the clocks fall back in October, not spring forward."
Her calm expression changed to confusion, and she buried her face in her hands. "What have I done?"
"Don't worry about it. Anyone can make a mistake."
"But it was more than a mistake."
"It's okay, Nona," I assured, hugging her.
"No, it's not and I'm so sorry. . ." Her words trailed off, then she took a deep breath. "We better get moving. Penny-Love will hit the roof if you're late."
Somehow, I managed to get dressed, grab my supplies, and make it to the community center in record time.
As expected, Penny-Love was frantic when I showed up. I apologized and said it was my fault for sleeping in. Penny-Love knew Nona had health problems, but not how serious they were. Keeping this a secret would be harder as the illness worsened.
Penny-Love assigned me to run
the Velcro Toss booth, which meant wearing a bulky sack-like costume with large patches of Velcro sewn all over. Customers would pay a dollar for three Velcro balls, which they would throw at me-a human target. Totally humiliating!
If running late wasn't bad enough, preparations kicked off with disaster. Jill couldn't find the money box, Catelyn broke one of the fishing poles, I forgot to bring the cheesy plastic crystal ball for Manny, and Penny-Love's artistic boyfriend had paints for his face-painting booth, but no brushes.
We were all frantically running around, snapping at each other and complaining that we'd never be ready in time. But gradually all the crises were solved. Jill found the money box, duct tape fixed the broken pole, and Penny-Love made a quick trip to my house for paintbrushes and the crystal ball.
While I was organizing a basket of sticky balls, I heard my name and looked up to find a fuzzyhaired clown with a big red nose and banana-feet flip-flopping toward me.
"Josh!" I smiled at my goofy boyfriend. I loved this playful side of him.
"What kind of costume is that?" he asked, pointing at me.
"An ugly, uncomfortable one." I plucked at the scratchy fabric. "Want to trade?"
"Not a chance. But I have some news that will cheer you up."
"What?"
"You have company." He gestured with his white-gloved hand down the aisle, where a tall, slim girl with masses of long, dark hair was hurrying toward me.
"Amy!" I squealed, jumping over the low booth counter.
"I'll leave you girls alone," Josh said, flip-flopping away on clown feet.
I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around my little sister. "What a great surprise! How did you get here?"
"Mom brought me."
"She did?" I asked, hope rising as I glanced around. "Where is she?"
"Gone. She's taking Ashley to Roseville to visit an old college friend with music industry connections."
"Oh ..." I tried to hide my disappointment. Would it have killed Mom to come in to see me? I knew she had issues with me being psychic, but we'd gotten along better at my sisters' party. Still it wasn't like she was going to change her attitude toward me overnight.
"I told Mom I'd rather spend the day with you," Amy went on, her blue eyes sparkling under the high ceiling lights. "You mentioned the carnival in your last email and it sounded way more fun than listening to Mom go on and on about Ashley's many talents." She emphasized Ashley's name with a scowl.
Witch Ball - BK 3 Page 2