Be Careful What You Witch For

by Hoobler, Thomas

  “But it goes on to say that this hysteria was brought on by a teacher who made her class read a play about witches, and encouraged them to believe that there are witches alive today,” Olivia said.

  “It must have been the dry summer we had,” Tilda remarked. “Always makes the late-season berries more intensely flavored.”

  “But Aunt Tilda, this is just the opposite of what happened,” said Olivia.

  “Fortunately,” Tilda observed, “people generally believe what they read in the newspapers is true. Despite all evidence to the contrary.”

  “Poor Ms. Noyes,” said Olivia. “It’s so unfair. She won’t be able to get a job teaching anywhere.”

  “I spoke with her the other day,” Tilda said. “I understand she’s planning to write a novel. I’m sure she’ll do well. She’s quite talented.”

  The day that The Knickerbocker School finally reopened, Olivia got out of René’s cab to see a crowd of students on the steps of the school. Right in the midst of them was Madison, whose treatment had apparently been successful. Madison was smiling and laughing, and obviously happy to be the center of attention once again.

  Olivia’s heart sank when she saw Alex standing next to her. She hadn’t heard from Alex during the entire two weeks the school had been closed. She figured Yolanda had told his parents about the strange girl who brought books of magic spells into the apartment. But now, since the spell on him had been lifted, Alex had obviously gone right back to his true love.

  Olivia slung her backpack over her shoulders and headed for a side door. Climbing an empty staircase, she wondered if Aunt Tilda could get her into a different school at the end of the semester. One where she could get a fresh start.

  Surprisingly, when she reached the corridor where her locker was, she found Dulcimer waiting for her. Now she had bright blue hair, but no piercings except for a couple of gold rings in her earlobes.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” replied Olivia. “Have you gone Goth again?”

  “Not totally,” said Dulcimer. “But I wasn’t happy with being all conventional. So I’m trying blue as a compromise. What do you think?”

  “It suits you better than brown,” said Olivia, fingering her own blondish hair. “How does Tim like it?”

  “You know, I also decided he wasn’t my type.”

  Olivia nodded, trying not to show how relieved she was. “Did you make up with Paul?” she asked.

  “He’s still a little upset at me,” Dulcimer replied. “That’s okay. He advised me to stay away from you, though.”

  “I don’t blame him,” Olivia said. “Can you still play music?”

  “Actually, I can,” said Dulcimer. “I think I always could have. I was just going through a phase of rebellion, you know. Speaking of which, are you ready to become Olivia Yearwood, instead of Olivia Bettendorfer?”

  “My aunt’s name is Bettendorfer,” Olivia said. “So I think I’ll keep it for now.”

  “People know who you are anyway,” Dulcimer said, “so you can’t hide. But I told them it isn’t cool to make a big deal of it and that if they just treat you normal, you’ll have your mom arrange a free rock concert at the school. Any group we want.”

  “Dulcimer!” Olivia said.

  “Yeah, well, so I lied. Oh, look who’s here.”

  Olivia turned and saw Alex. He certainly could move quietly.

  “I’ll let you guys catch up,” Dulcimer said. “See you at lunch, Olivia.”

  Olivia waved as Dulcimer left. She looked at Alex. He’d acquired a tan. “Hi,” she said.

  “Hi,” he replied. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me.”

  “Mad? Why?”

  “’Cause I didn’t call you. My father took me on a boat trip and wouldn’t let me call anyone.”

  “You didn’t have any... therapy?”

  “Naw. My dad doesn’t believe in it. He said a couple weeks on the water would fix me up. Which was true, because I didn’t imagine I had been an animal, like some people did. I missed you, though.”

  “I missed you, too. When I saw you with Madison...”

  “Oh, yeah. Well, we used to be kind of close and I thought I’d tell her it was cool that she’s out of the sylum.”

  “I’m sure she appreciated that,” said Olivia.

  “Yeah, she told me she wanted to apologize to you.”

  “Apologize? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Apparently her shrink suggested it. Part of the steps Madison is supposed to follow. See, it was crazy when she thought you were a witch.” He shook his head. “Just a delision.”

  “Delusion?” she suggested.

  “Right. Anyway, you want to come over after school?” he asked. “I found this really, really rare issue of the X-Men on eBay. We could read it together.”

  “Actually, I’ve got an after-school project now,” she said.

  “Doing what?” he asked.

  “My aunt and her friends are teaching me how to use herbs.”

  “Sounds boring.”

  “I guess it could be,” she agreed.

  More Great YA Reads from Booktrope

  Dragonfly Dreams by Jennifer J. Chow (Juvenile Fiction / Paranormal) After 17-year-old Topaz dies during childbirth in historical Fresno, she must overcome family conflict and battle evil spirits to raise her daughter up right. A paranormal story about motherly love and immigrant drama.

  Deceit by Rebecca Clark (Juvenile Fiction/ Fantasy & Magic) When the popular boy at school begins to show interest in Alexa Jenkinson, she thinks her luck just might be changing. Until the unthinkable happens, the boy in her dream appears and everything changes.

  Crystallum by Laney McMann (Juvenile Fiction/ Fantasy & Magic) Kadence Sparrow wasn’t born a devil’s child—she was turned into one—now she’s hiding from the truth, and running for her life.

  Forecast by Elise Stephens (Young Adult Fantasy) When teenager Calvin finds a portal that will grant him the power of prophecy, he must battle the legacies of the past and the shadows of the future to protect what is most important: his family.

  Would you like to read more books like these?

  Subscribe to runawaygoodness.com, get a free ebook for signing up,

  and never pay full price for an ebook again.