Central Avenue Publishing Edition
Copyright © 2014 Talia Aikens-Nunez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Central Avenue Publishing, an imprint of Central Avenue Marketing Ltd.
www.centralavenuepublishing.com
Published in Canada. Printed in the United States of America
First Central Avenue Publishing Edition published by arrangement with Pinwheel Books
OMG...AM I A WITCH?
ISBN 978-1-77168-025-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-77168-026-4 (ebk)
1. JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic 2. JUVENILE FICTION / Girls & Women
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design & Layout: Susan Gerber Editor: Marlo Garnsworthy
Illustrations: Alicja Ignaczak
To My Loving and Supportive Family
OMG... Am I a Witch?!
one
April tightly held the little, white, fluffy dog as she sat on her bed, her heart pounding so hard, she thought it would pop out of her chest.
“Arrr!” he yelped.
Oh gosh, I’m choking him. She tried to trace the outline of the pink dots on her green blanket, but her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Breathe. Just breathe. I can’t believe I just did that. I can’t believe . . . wait—I wonder, what else can I do? Who else can I turn into a dog?
Her enormous, ugly, fire engine red glasses slid down her face. The sweat that gathered at the tip of her nose dripped onto Austin’s head.
“Sorry about that.” She wiped the sweat off his cotton ball-looking head, rubbing it farther into his fur. Holding him with one arm, she wiped her clammy hand on the blanket. She switched the dog to the other arm and wiped her other hand.
Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth—ugh, that yoga class I took with Mom was stupid. She said there would be other girls there my age. Nope, just a bunch of old, deep-breathing moms.
Mrs. Appleton yelled upstairs, “April, is that you?”
Freak! Freak! Did Mom see me run in with Austin? She will kill me! She can’t find out about Austin or, my, uh, powers. Wow! I have powers! Would she even be able to tell this is him?
She picked up the dog and took a good look at his face. She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
“Nope, you look nothing like him. You’re smaller than a football. And have more fur than anything else.” I have to fix this ASAP.
“Grrr . . .” Austin growled.
“Austin, shhhh!” April pleaded, putting her finger over her tightly squeezed lips. “Please, please, please be quiet. I’m trying to figure out what to do. I’m still shocked no one saw you on the bus.” She grazed her hand over his head, which was so small it only partly covered her palm.
“Grrr . . .” Austin growled again.
“This is what I get for Googling ‘how to turn your brother into a dog.’ It actually worked!” April threw her head back and looked at the ceiling. Her eyes filled with tears. “If I just had someone else to ride with on the bus this . . . this . . . this would never have happened.” She wished Grace had been there to ride home with. April continued to pet Austin. She knew he understood her.
The soft fur brushing against her hand soothed her. “If I knew that new girl, Eve, a little better I would have sat with her instead of—” She looked down at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. Her hand dropped to the comforter.
“Sorry, Austin,” she sighed. “We just have to sneak downstairs to the computer without Mom seeing us. And, I can Google ‘how to undo turning your pestering brother into a dog.’”
“Grrr . . .”
“Well, it is sort of your fault this happened.”
“Grrr . . .”
“Well, fine. Maybe no one really deserves to be, you know, turned into a dog, but . . . but, you are soooo mean and annoying.”
Austin grumbled. He turned his head away from her. She ignored him.
“OK. Well, how about I text Grace and ask her to do the search? She has a computer in her room.”
Click-clack. Click-clack. The steps got closer. The sound grew louder. Click-Clack. Click-CLACK. Her heart raced as she heard each step.
“April, are you home?” her mother yelled up the stairs.
“Yes, Mom!” April yelled through the closed door.
“Is Austin home, too?”
April held her breath as if that would stop time. Her heart pounded so hard she felt it in her head.
“Uh . . . I think he . . . uh . . . had practice?”
Tell her more so that she doesn’t try to find him. Think fast. Think fast.
“I don’t know what he’s doing.” She took a deep breath again. “But, uh, he said he would be home later. And, to tell you not to worry . . . or call . . . he’ll be home.”
OMG! I have never ever lied to her! I am a horrible daughter. But, her mother couldn’t know about Austin. She would be so mad at April if she knew she had turned him into a dog. WOW! Did I really just do that? Did I really just turn my brother into a dog and lie to my mother in the same hour?
Click-CLACK. Click-clack. Her mom returned to the living room.
April let out a huge breath. “Geez, that was bad.”
Austin grunted as if he agreed.
“Thanks, Austin . . .” She straightened her back and squeezed her shoulder blades together, looking down at him under her glasses. “Even though you are a year older than me, I kind of like feeling . . . bigger and . . .” she cleared her throat, “witch-ier!”
“Grrrr . . .”
“Well, too bad I’m the witch and you’re the dog.”
Am I really a witch?
two
April had always been curious. Three years ago, when April was in the second grade, she had discovered she could search for answers to her questions online. She was excited by her new discovery of Google. But, that is how she had gotten herself into this mess. What does all of this mean? What else can I do? What will happen if people, the wrong people, find out about my, uh, powers?
She put Austin between her elbow and body. With one hand, she unzipped her book bag and grabbed her phone. As fast as her fingers could move, she texted Grace: OMG . . . I may be a witch?!
Within seconds, Grace texted back: HA HA VERY FUNNY . . .
April texted: I’m not kidding! Can U Google 4 me how 2 undo spell that turned ur brother into a dog?
Her phone quickly rang.
She answered it. “OMG Grace! I don’t know what to do! We need to Google how to fix this!”
“Well . . . what happened?” Grace asked. “You turned Austin into a dog? Really? And, can you also morph into a werewolf? Then into a mouse?”
April felt her body tighten as her breath quickened.
“Arrr!” Austin yelped.
“Oh sorry, Austin. I—”
“OMG! Who was that? Was that who, or what, I think it is?”
“Yep,” April answered in a low voice. She cleared her throat. “Definitely a dog. I, um, squeezed him a little too hard.”
“You HAVE to get over here. STAT.” Grace watched too many doctor television shows. She liked using their lingo.
“You can’t tell anyone!” said April. “I mean, no one else can know. Ok?”
Silence.
“Hello Grace? Are you there?”
“Uh huh, just busy pinching myself to make sure t
his isn’t a dream.”
“Or nightmare. I can’t believe I just turned my annoying brother into a dog. I mean he deserved it. Well, sorta. I feel even more horrible because I had to lie to my mom.”
“Breathe, April. I do have to say, you were quite clever to be able to sneak him off the bus and into your house with no one seeing you.”
April straightened her back and smirked. “I guess you’re right. I am pretty clever.”
“April, just come over so we can try to figure this out. It will be easier for us to Google over here since I have a computer in my room. At your house, we would have to sneak downstairs and do it with a parent over our shoulders. Right?”
“Yeah. You’re right. See you in a little while.”
“April, I can see your house from my window,” Grace laughed.
“You’re right again. See you in a minute.” April exhaled hard and dropped the phone on her bed.
Holding Austin and his mouth shut with one arm, she walked to the door and opened it. He wiggled his body, pressing his paws into her side.
“Arrr . . .”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize I squeezed that hard,” she whispered to him.
She gently placed each foot in front of the other. Her hand grasped the railing. She peered down the stairs. Like a penny to a magnet, she found her mother’s voice.
All clear. Go for it. She’s yapping on the phone again.
The words became louder.
April’s heart started to beat faster. She quickly backed up, bumping Austin’s tail on doorway to her room. “Grrr . . .”
“Sorry,” she whispered. “But be quiet, or I’ll do it again—harder.”
Should she leave Austin here? No. I need to find a way to get him out of the house with me. She looked around her room and froze as she saw her book bag. Perfect. I’ll put him in that.
He wiggled. She held him tighter. Using one of his front paws, Austin tried to push April’s hand off his mouth. With her free hand, she took her weekend homework, notebooks, and books out of the book bag. She stuffed Austin and her cell phone into it.
“You’d better be quiet—or else.”
Austin whimpered. He looked so cute and fluffy. She kissed his head. “I’m sorry, Austin.” Beads of sweat formed on her nose, causing her ugly red glasses to slide down. She pushed them back into place. “I would never do anything like this to anyone but, but—you pushed me!”
Austin moved his back legs, raising himself higher out of the book bag.
“You were picking on me, as usual. You just didn’t expect me to fight back this time, did you?”
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
“Stop trying to get out the bag. We have to get to Grace’s. Do you want to be a dog forever? If you don’t stop, I’ll use my witch powers and do something worse to you.”
His eyes grew larger. His movements stopped. He slowly sat down.
Maybe I really am a witch. I can get the Prankster of the Year to listen to me.
She zipped up the book bag, put it on, and ran down the stairs. She reached for the front doorknob. Frozen, with her hand on the knob, she looked into the kitchen.
“Mom, can I go to Grace’s house?”
“Hold on one second . . .” April’s mom said as she put the phone down and came toward her.
Oh no! Is she going to say no? Please don’t open my book bag. Then I will have to explain. She will soooo kill me!
three
“If your brother is hanging out with Michael, tell him to give me a—” AHCHOO! Mrs. Appleton covered her nose.
“Bless you,” said April.
Oh no. I have to get Austin away from her. This is why she said we can’t have a dog—SHE’S ALLERGIC!!! OMG! OMG! This being-a-witch stuff is super hard.
April started nervously tapping her foot.
“Thank you. Uh . . . tell him to call me,” Mrs. Appleton said.
“Grrr . . .”
Austin, be quiet.
April reached her arm around, under the backpack, to her shoulder, acting as if she were scratching her back. The backpack shifted and tossed Austin around.
“OK, Mom, I love you.” April grasped the doorknob and turned.
“Do you have to go to the bathroom?” April’s mom asked, looking at her tapping foot.
“No.” April stopped tapping. “I just, um, wanted to go hang out with Grace, you know?”
Her mother’s frown turned into a smile. Mrs. Appleton leaned in to give April a kiss on her forehead and AHCHOO!
“Ewww . . . great . . . a Friday afternoon shower.” April wiped her face and forehead.
My mother just sneezed on me. Gross! She had to get this dog out of there before her mom got worse. Geez, I don’t want to make her sick.
“Sorry, honey. Have fun with Grace.”
“GRRR . . .”
“April, did you hear that?” April’s mom looked at the backpack. April quickly shifted from one foot to the other, tossing Austin around again.
“No . . . Nope, didn’t hear anything. Uh, OK, Mom . . . see you later.”
April opened the door and jumped down the two steps right outside the front door. Her mother followed, stopping at the doorway.
Mrs. Appleton looked at the ground outside the door and around the bushes on both sides. “I don’t see anything,” she said. “I wonder where that noise came from . . .”
April briskly walked away.
“The tissues are on the dining room table,” April said as she reached the end of the path and turned onto the sidewalk. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her mother search the ground outside the house.
She looks okay. I had to get him out of there as fast as I could. She remembered the time her mother had an allergy attack from being around Uncle Jim’s two dogs. Her eyes swelled shut. Her father had to rush to the pharmacy to get her some allergy tablets. Geez, I felt badly for her then . . . and I wasn’t even the cause of it. Now, I am.
She looked back and saw her mom go back inside. She bit her lip as she walked to Grace’s house. I will never lie to her again.
four
Grace opened the door before April could knock on it. She grabbed April’s arm, pulled her inside, and led her up the stairs past her brother’s room.
“Mom!” Grace yelled. “April and I are going to do some research online for our essay on the president.”
“That’s fine, girls,” Mrs. Galapagos said from the next room.
When they reached her room, Grace closed the door. She whipped her head around to meet April’s eyes. “What did you do? WHAT happened?”
April looked down at the bright blue carpet. As she lifted her head, she admired the clouds and sky painted on the walls. All she could imagine was floating off into the clouds. Or flying to the stars on the other wall. She fixated on the big yellow sun behind Grace’s bed.
Grace waved her hand in front of April’s face. “Earth to April . . .”
April dropped her arms. The book bag slid down her back and landed on the ground. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she unzipped it and took out the dog.
Grace’s jaw dropped. “Is that . . .”
April nodded.
“No way! Prove it!”
“How? I’m not the Dog Whisperer.”
Grace looked at Austin. “Wag your tail when I say my brother’s name. Justin . . . David . . . Aaron . . . Michael—”
“Arf,” Austin yelped and wagged his tail.
Grace’s jaw dropped and her eyes bulged.
“Hello, Grace? You ok?”
“Well, I guess this is Austin.” Grace looked into the little white dog’s eyes. She squeezed her eyebrows together. “How did this happen? When did it happen? And how come I didn’t know you could do this kind of . . . stuff?”
“I really didn’t mean to! I was mad one day last week so I searched online ‘how to turn someone into a dog.’ I found a spell book. I think it was called The Book of Magic or something like that.” April shrugged her shoulder
s. “I didn’t know that I even remembered the spell until Austin was bugging me on the bus today. I warned him. I told him if he didn’t stop bothering me, I would turn him into a dog. He didn’t believe me. So I . . . uh . . . proved it?”
five
“Whoa, whoa, April. Let’s start from the beginning.” Grace took a few deep breaths, and slowly sat on the chair in front of her computer. Her eyes stayed glued on the dog. “I’m scared to ask, BUT what happened on the bus? The one day I go to the doctor I miss all the good stuff.”
“So, Austin sat next to me—” April started.
“OK. That’s not a crime.” Grace threw her hands up in the air.
April rolled her eyes. “I know. Let me finish.”
“Sorry . . .”
“You know I broke my glasses last week. That’s why I’m wearing these huge ugly red ones. I mean, seriously, what other fifth grader has big red glasses?”
“You’re right! NO ONE else does,” Grace agreed. “They kinda look like red hula hoops.”
“Thanks, Grace.”
Austin let out a little whimper, which almost sounded like a laugh.
“Seriously? You’re a dog. How can you laugh?” April flopped onto the bed. Her feet just touched the carpet. “So . . . he said, ‘Hey, Awkward Appleton, can you see the ants on the ground outside the bus—since you’re wearing magnifying glasses?’” April made her voice deeper and lifted her shoulders, trying to mimic Austin.
Austin let out another little laughing whimper.
Grace shot Austin a cold glare.
“Then he started making fun of my braces, calling me ‘metal mouth’ and ‘brace face.’” She looked down at her hands.
“That is SOOO mean!” Grace said, quickly moving her eyes from April to Austin. Austin groaned and turned his head away.
“AND, this morning he only left me crumbs in the cereal box . . . on purpose. He had two bowls of cereal and only left a few drops of milk! I had to eat oatmeal with water. He knows I hate oatmeal, and I hate it even more with water.”
“Geez! Older brothers are so annoying. But you’re luckier than me. You could have Michael as an older brother. The other day he came into my room, farted, then ran right back to his room.” Grace wrinkled up her nose.
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