Funny Tragic Crazy Magic (Tragic Magic Book 1) by Sheena Boekweg Page B

putting yourself in. Oh, and me too, by the way.”
    “Are
you okay?” Joe asked. I didn’t know how to answer that. “How much trouble are
we in?”
    The
weight of the consequences of stealing the notebook seemed to catch up with
him, his voice sounded stressed.
    “We’re
fine, Joe.” I took a deep breath. “Giara was pretty cool about it. You know, if
she wasn’t making plans to kill you, I think we would be friends.”
    It
was true. I didn’t trust her, and every impulse in my body wanted to run away
from her. But when I thought about it, I always had the impulse to protect her,
to find a reason for her actions and justify them.
    Joe
laughed, bringing me back to the present. He so thought he was indestructible.
    “Yeah,
she seemed cool,” he said. “It wasn’t that bad today, not as bad as we thought.
It was cool actually to see your mom. She was beautiful, Riz.”
    Tears
came to my eyes, but I smiled, “Yeah, she really was.”
    The
silence that fell between us was as comforting as a hug.
    I
spoke first. “It’s been a long day, Joe. I’m going to bed. Don’t come over.” He
started to say something, but I interrupted him. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Alright,
I’ll see you then,” Joe said, and then he hung up.
    I
held the phone against my ear for a few seconds longer, listening to the dial
tone.
    Giara
would be proud.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
     
    The
sucky part about being a spy for the Grandmothers was that I was already doing
what they wanted me to do. I couldn’t fight against being Joe’s friend, and I
wasn’t going to teach him any runes. Most days, I almost forgot that underneath
the skin on my hand was a contract saying I would betray my best friend.
    Things
did change between Joe and me, and it wasn’t Joe doing the changing. It was me.
I stopped caring about trying to make him like me. I stopped wearing the transformation runes when I was around him, and I always hung out in baggy tee shirts and
pajama bottoms.
    I
even stopped noticing so much when Joe touched my arm or my leg. He was a
naturally touchy-feely type person, and I was the only one making a big deal
about it. There were things that I didn’t allow happen anymore, like lying down
together. We were just friends, for real. I was the one making that line, and I
held it closer to what my mom would have wanted than Joe did.
    The
best thing, the thing that really changed the direction of everything, was that
I started hanging out with Meg again. That was the best thing I did.
    Meg
and I were back, stronger than ever. I started being the friend she deserved,
not the lousy friend I had become that year. Actually calling her before she
called me, spending time at her house, and going to her swim meets. I was at
one of her swim meets about a week after meeting with the moms. Almost all my
friends were there, cheering Meg on as we did Julie and Chris when they
performed in the school musical. I think our hearts were definitely in the
right place, but it messed Meg up more than it helped her, with her stage
fright and everything.
    Joe
was there, but he wasn’t sitting by me, he was sitting by… someone, I don’t
remember. I was sitting by Ryan, who was being unusually quiet. This made
sense, since I was being unusually loud. Julie and Chris sat on the bleacher
step behind me, their conversation echoed in that weird
sound-reflecting-on-water thing.
    “So,
Larissa,” Ryan said, “Do you like…” His voice trailed off.
    I
had a hard time hearing him over the reflected sound waves, the whistles, and
the tinny music that was playing over the loud speakers.
    “What’d
you say?” I asked him.
    “Nothing,”
he said, not looking at me.
    It
was Meg’s turn up. I shouted at her as the swimmers lined up for the race,
“Yeah Meg!”
    She
turned and waved at us, and then pulled at her swimsuit, trying to cover more
of her body. I guess bringing a bunch of guys to watch her in a swimsuit wasn’t
as supportive as I thought it