"Maybe."
We continued picking plants for a while until Alice said, "You say this girl's dress is beautiful?"
I sighed. "It's perfect."
Alice smiled, and in the light from the orb, I could swear her teeth actually gleamed.
"Would you like to change that?"
CHAPTER 24
Classes were canceled the day of the ball, and since it was another one of those beautiful, clear October days, nearly everybody spent it outside.
Everybody but me. Well, me and Jenna. Even with her bloodstone, she wasn't the biggest fan of the outdoors. She was curled up in her usual spot, on her bed, covered with her throw, and a manga in her hand.
I sat on my bed staring at my stupid dress dummy, which was still wearing the pillowcase. I'd spent most of the morning trying to turn it into something at least halfway presentable, and had had absolutely no luck. I couldn't figure it out; I knew I wasn't the world's best witch, but a transformation spell just should not have been this hard. True, I'd never attempted anything as elaborate before, but I should have at least been able to make a little black dress. But even that had turned out shapeless, with a crooked hem to boot.
I sighed, and Jenna exclaimed, "Damn, Sophie, I'm supposed to be the moper. What is your problem?"
"This freaking dress." I pointed at the offending object. "Nothing I do works."
Jenna shrugged. "So don't go."
I glared at her. Jenna wasn't going to the ball, so she didn't understand why I so badly wanted to go. I didn't really understand why I wanted to go either, although it probably had a lot to do with Archer in a tux.
I didn't want to tell Jenna that, though. "It's not the ball; it's the principle of the thing. I should be able to do this spell. It's just not that hard."
"Maybe somebody cursed your dummy," she joked, turning back to her manga.
My hand sneaked into my pocket and closed around the small object that seemed to be burning a hole there.
When Alice suggested doing a spell on Elodie's dress, I had initially said no way. "I could get kicked out for doing magic on another student," I'd told her.
"But it wouldn't be you," Alice argued. "It would be me. You would just be the carrier, as it were."
That had made sense, and I have to admit I'd felt a little giddy when
Alice had reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny bone, probably from a bird. Alice having bones in her pocket probably should've freaked me out, but by that point I was used to Alice's weirdness. Like the necklace that first night, the bone glowed softly in her hands. She'd smiled as she gave it to me.
"Just slip this into the hem of her dress."
"Do I need to say any special words or anything?"
"No. The bone will know what to do."
I remembered those words now as I fingered the small, smooth bone.
I'd had it for a week, and I still hadn't used it. Alice had promised that the bone would only turn Elodie's dress some horrible color when Elodie put it on, and that didn't sound too bad. Still, I was worried. Every spell I'd ever tried to do on another person had gone badly, and even though I didn't like
Elodie, I didn't want to accidentally hurt her. So the bone had stayed in my pocket.
But if I wasn't going to use it, why hadn't I thrown it out?
With another sigh, I got off my bed and went to the dummy. Even though it didn't have a head, its very posture seemed to be mocking me.
"What up, loser?" I imagined it saying. "I'd rather wear this pillowcase than any of your ugly designs."
"Shut up," I murmured as I put my hands on it and, yet again, concentrated as hard as I could. "Blue, pretty, please . . ." I muttered.
The fabric rippled and promptly became a sequined, bright blue hot pants outfit that looked like a majorette's uniform.
"Crap, crap, crap!" I cried, hitting the dummy so that it spun on its stand.
Jenna looked up from her book. "Now that's fetching."
"Not helpful," I growled. God, what was wrong with me? I'd done spells way harder than this, and they'd never, ever come out this badly.
"I'm telling you," Jenna said, "you got a bum dummy. Nobody else seems to be having this hard a time with theirs."
"I know," I said, leaning my head on the dummy. "Even Sarah
Williams, who is, like, the worst witch ever, made this really pretty red dress. It's not as fancy as Elodie's but--"
I stopped, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
It didn't make sense for me to be having so much trouble making a dress. Maybe Jenna was right: maybe my dummy was cursed.
I pressed my hands to the pillowcase again, but this time I didn't think of a dress. I just said, "'Fess up."
For a moment nothing happened. I wasn't sure whether I should feel relieved or disappointed.
Then, very slowly, two glowing handprints the faint burgundy color of watered-down wine appeared on the front of the dress.
Relief surged through me, but that was quickly swallowed up by a white-hot wave of anger.
"How did you do that?" Jenna asked from behind me. She was on her knees staring at the handprints.
"It's a revelation spell," I said through clenched teeth. "Lets you know if an object has been messed with magically."
"Well, at least you know that you're not a crap witch."
I nodded, but I was nearly shaking with fury. Here I'd been thinking I was just useless, and it had been Elodie all along. It had to be her. Who else would want to make sure I couldn't go to the ball? God, the whole thing was almost too fairy tale to handle.
And the thing that really bothered me was that I hadn't used my curse on her dress. I'd felt bad about using it.
Well, screw that.
"Where's Elodie right now?" I asked Jenna.
Her eyes were wide, so I knew I must have looked pretty scary.
"Um, I heard Anna say they were going down to the beach with a bunch of people."
"Perfect."
I headed for the door, ignoring Jenna as she called out, "What are you going to do?"
I hurried toward Elodie's room. There was no one in the hall to see me as I slipped in.
My heart pounding, both out of fear and anger, I walked over to the window, where Anna's and Elodie's dress dummies stood. Anna's dress was black with purple trim and a short train. She'd look amazing in it, but it was nothing compared to Elodie's dress.
I hesitated for a moment.
Then I thought of Elodie laughing at me in class as I'd tried so hard to make just one damn dress, and my nerve came back.
I dropped to my knees and fished around in the filmy layers of skirts until I found a small gap in the hem. I slid the tiny bone inside and gave it a light pat. It glowed brightly inside the dress, shining dull red through all the layers of pink. I held my breath until the glow went out, then I ran for the door.
The hall was empty, so I was able to sneak back to my room unseen.
Jenna was still sitting on her bed when I came in.
"What did you do?"
I walked over to my bed and pulled out the small pouch of dirt I'd hidden there. "Let's just say turnabout is fair play."
Jenna opened her mouth, but then closed it again as she watched me pour some of the dirt on my hands. She probably thought I'd totally cracked up as I marched over to my dummy with dirt-covered hands, grasped it around the waist, and closed my eyes.
This time I didn't even think anything specific. "Dress," was all I said.
As usual, I could feel the dress slip and slide under my hands, but it was different this time. My hands felt hot, and it was like there was an electric current running through me.
I heard Jenna gasp, and when I stepped back and opened my eyes, I gasped too.
The dress wasn't just beautiful, it was stunning.
It was peacock blue satin, and green lights seemed to dance inside the fabric. The top looked like a corset, strapless and boned in the front, and as I spun the dummy to the back, I saw that i
t laced up with a bright green ribbon.
The skirt belled out from the cinched-in waist, and, most impressive of all, there was a panel of actual peacock feathers running down the front, starting at a point just under the corset top and widening as it reached the bottom, like an upside-down triangle.
"Whoa," Jenna breathed. "Now that is a dress. Sophie, you're going to be gorgeous."
She was right, I thought, feeling dazed. I would look gorgeous.
"What was that stuff you put on it?"
I wasn't ready to tell Jenna about Alice, and I had a feeling she wouldn't take the words grave dust well, so I just shrugged. "Magic powder."
Jenna looked skeptical, but before she could ask any more questions, I gave her a bright smile and said, "Let me make you one."
She gave a startled laugh. "You really wanna make me a dress?"
I nodded. "Why not? It'll be fun, and then you can come with me to the ball."
"I don't think so, Soph," she protested weakly, but I was already pulling one of her nightgowns out of her dresser. I pressed my still-dirty hands on it and just thought, Jenna.
All of Jenna's protests died on her lips when she saw the dress: hot pink, with thin straps and a sparkling belt at the waist that I thought might be made out of real diamonds. The dress was perfect for her, and before long she was holding it up and spinning around.
"I don't know what your 'magic powder' is, and I don't care," she said with a laugh. "This is the most beautiful dress I've ever seen!"
We spent the rest of the afternoon transforming our shoes until we each had the perfect pair. By the time evening fell, we were both dressed, and if I do say so myself, looking pretty hot. Jenna had piled her white-blond hair on top of her head, with her pink streak falling over one eye. My own hair was actually behaving for once, and I'd let Jenna arrange it into a low bun at the base of my neck, a few tendrils escaping around my face.
We walked downstairs arm in arm, giggling. There was a crush of people in the narrow hallway leading to the ballroom. I craned my neck, looking for Archer and Elodie, hoping to discover what gross color Elodie's dress had become, but I couldn't see them.
I'd been pretty impressed with Jenna's and my dresses in our room, but now I saw that we were hardly the most spectacular people there. A tall blond faerie bumped into me, and her dress, a concoction of ice-green sparkles, chimed softly, like bells. I also saw a shapeshifter in what looked to be a gown made entirely of white fur.
The boys were a little more sedate. Most of them were just in tuxes, although a few had been more daring and were wearing long coats and breeches.
We were just about to enter the ballroom when I felt something warm press up against my back. I thought it was just some random person crowding me, until a voice whispered in my ear, soft and low, "I knew it was you."
CHAPTER 25
I tried to whirl around, but it's hard to do when you're squashed between a bunch of people and wearing a big dress. I ended up accidently elbowing Jenna, who gave a startled squawk, before I could finally turn to face Archer.
Both of us widened our eyes and said, "Whoa."
Then I immediately blushed. Oh my God, had I just looked at Archer and said, "Whoa"?
But . . . wait a minute. Had Archer just looked at me and said, "Whoa"?
We just kind of stared at each other. Archer more than deserved his "whoa." This was a boy who could make a school uniform look good. What he did to formal wear was damn near criminal. He had lied about his bow tie being pink. He wasn't even wearing a bow tie, just a regular tie, and it was black, like everything else he was wearing.
But the best part wasn't the way he looked. It was the way he was looking at me.
"That dress," he said at last, his eyes still skimming over me. "It's . . . something."
I fought the urge to self-consciously tug at the low neckline and just smiled. "Thanks. I just, uh, whipped it up."
He nodded, but he still looked a little shell-shocked, and it was all I could do to keep a big goofy grin off my face.
Then I remembered what he'd said. "What do you mean, you knew it was me?"
He shook his head a little, like he was trying to clear it. "Oh, right.
Elodie."
My heart seemed to stutter in my chest, and I could actually feel my face paling.
"I just saw you from the back and said that had to be you. Elodie said there was no way it could be."
"Oh." I glanced over and saw Elodie coming up behind him. She glared at me, and I was surprised to see that her dress looked perfect.
The bone will know what to do, my ass, I thought, but I was kind of relieved. My anger had faded once I'd been able to make a killer dress. I figured that was a way better revenge than messing up her dress anyway.
"How on earth did you pull that together?" Elodie asked. She tried to keep her tone sweet, but her eyes were cold and angry.
I just smiled back and shrugged. "It was the weirdest thing.
Apparently I got a cursed dummy."
Her eyes widened a little before she broke my gaze. "Weird," she mumbled.
"Yeah, it was. Luckily, I was able to lift the curse, and then--tada!" I held my skirt out with a bright smile, and was rewarded with Elodie's scowl.
"Don't you think it's a little . . . loud?" she asked.
Before I could answer with something cutting, Archer turned to her.
"Oh, come on, El. She looks great and you know it."
That did it. The goofy grin could no longer be held back. Archer smiled and winked as he and Elodie slid past us and into the ballroom.
I turned to Jenna, who laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, girl, you got it bad."
She was still giggling, and I was still smiling like a lunatic when we entered the ballroom. I don't know what I had been expecting, but the ballroom blew me away. There were no paper streamers and balloons here.
Instead, the room glowed with soft faerie lights, smaller and softer versions of the orb Alice always made for us. Each light rested on what looked like a dark purple flower. They floated high in the air, bobbing softly like they were caught in a gentle breeze. The chandeliers weren't lit, but their crystals had been turned violet for the occasion, and the fairy lights made them sparkle like amethyst. The mirrors were uncovered too. I thought that might bug Jenna, but when we looked in them and saw only me, she just pointed and said, "Look. In Mirrorland, you're still a dateless wonder," which made us both laugh.
The floors were no longer the shiny light wood they usually were, but a deep and glossy black. I shook my head in wonder. "This is . . . wow."
"I know," Jenna said. She took my hand and squeezed it. "I'm so glad you made me come."
We hovered on the edge of things for a while, watching everybody dance. I remembered the prom I'd gone to with Ryan, where everybody had danced like they were auditioning for a rap video. This could not have been more different. The witches and shapeshifters were all waltzing, which freaked me out a little. No one had told me ballroom dancing lessons were a prerequisite for going to Hecate. The faeries were off to one end of the ballroom by themselves, doing some elaborate dance that looked like something out of Elizabethan England.
I spotted Archer and Elodie dancing, and my breath caught at how beautiful they both were: Archer, tall and dark, and Elodie, her hair glowing in the lights, her dress floating around her. But then I looked at their faces and saw that they were clearly arguing. Archer was frowning and looking at a spot somewhere over her head, and Elodie seemed to be talking a mile a minute.
Then suddenly Elodie pulled her hands from Archer's and clutched her side.
A slow feeling of dread rose up in me as I watched Archer lead her off the dance floor. She was trying to smile, but it was more like a grimace. I saw her wave him off and mouth the words "I'm fine." But then she gasped and clutched her side again. I saw Anna push her way through the crowd, Mrs. Casnoff in tow. By now Elodie was nearly bent double.
"I wonder what's going on," Je
nna said.
"Maybe she got a stitch in her side."
"Yeah. Maybe."
I looked over and saw that Jenna was looking at me with a troubled expression.
"What?"
"What did you do to Elodie's dress this afternoon?"
"Nothing!" I insisted, but I'm a terrible liar and I knew it was showing all over my face.
Jenna just shook her head and turned back to watch Elodie, who was now being led from the room by Mrs. Casnoff and Anna. Archer went to follow, but Elodie turned back and said something to him. We couldn't hear, obviously, but it was clear from her expression that she was pissed.
Whatever she said, Archer backed up a couple of steps and raised his hands in front of him. Elodie turned back to Mrs. Casnoff, and the two of them left the ballroom, Anna and Archer trailing behind.
Archer came back about twenty minutes later, looking flustered and angry.
I could feel Jenna's eyes on my back as I crossed the room to him.
"What was all that about?" I asked him.
He was still looking at the door they'd led Elodie out through. "I don't know. She was fine, then she started saying her dress felt too tight, like it was shrinking or something. It just kept tightening she said, and she was having trouble breathing. Mrs. Casnoff thinks the dress was cursed."
I was glad he was still looking away from me so that he didn't see me flinch.
The bone will know what to do.
Had Alice known this would happen, or had I screwed it up somehow? Maybe I was supposed to use it right away, and the magic on it had, I don't know, soured or something in the week I'd held on to it.
Or she'd known, a voice kept whispering. She never meant for the dress just to change colors. She'd meant for it to hurt Elodie.
But why would Alice want to do that? I knew she didn't like Elodie, but this seemed really harsh. No, I must have screwed it up somehow, like the love spell on Kevin.
"Hey," Archer said.
"Yeah," I said weakly. Then I smiled and tried to sound more enthusiastic. "Yeah, I'm fine. That's just . . . you know, weird about Elodie."
"Yeah," he agreed, looking back toward the door.
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