forgotten how good even the littlest spels could make me feel. I couldn't create something out of nothing--very few witches could, and that was some seriously dark magic anyway--but I could change things into different versions of themselves.
So I put a hand on my chest and smiled as my gym uniform rippled and receded until I was wearing a white tank top and khaki shorts. Then I pointed a finger at the water's edge and watched as a stream spiraled upward from the surface of the lake, spinning into a cylinder until I had a glass of iced tea hovering in the air in front of me.
I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself, and more than a little magic drunk, as I leaned back against the chaise lounge and took a sip of tea. I may be a loser, but hey, at least I'm a loser who can do magic, right?
I sat there with my sweaty arm over my eyes for several minutes, listening to the birds, the gentle lap of the water against the shore, and for those few moments I was able to forget that I was in some serious trouble when I got back to the school.
Lowering my arm, I turned my head to look at the pond.
There, just across the water, was a girl standing on the opposite shore. The pond was pretty narrow, so I could see her clearly: it was the ghost in green I'd seen my first day at Hecate. And just like on that first day, she was staring right at me.
It was beyond creepy, to say the least. Not sure what to do, I raised my hand and lamely waved helo.
The girl raised her hand in reply. And then she vanished.
There was no gradual fading away like I'd seen with Isabele's ghost.
Just one minute she was there, then she was gone.
"Curiouser and curiouser," I said, my voice just a little too loud in the quiet, and creeping me out even more.
My good mood had started to fade as the spel buzz wore off, and I looked down to see that my cute and much cooler outfit had dissolved back into my gym uniform. That was weird. My spels usualy lasted a lot longer than that. The lounge beneath me was starting to feel a little harder too, and I figured it was only about five more minutes before I was sitting on hot mossy stone again.
My thoughts turned back to my parents and their apparent penchant for being big ol' liars. But even as I tried to work up righteous anger at them for getting me into this mess, I knew that wasn't what had my ugly gym shorts in a twist.
It was that my worst fear seemed to be coming true. It's one thing to be different around people who you're realy, wel, different from. It's a whole other problem to be an outcast in a group of outcasts.
I sighed and lay down on the lounge, which now had moss creeping up one side. I closed my eyes.
"Sophia Alice Mercer, a freak among freaks," I mumbled.
"Pardon?"
I opened my eyes to see a figure hovering above me. The sun was directly behind her, turning her into a black shadow, but the shape of her hair made Mrs. Casnoff easily identifiable.
"Am I in trouble?" I asked without getting up.
It was probably a halucination brought on by the heat, but I was pretty sure I saw her smile as she leaned down to place a hand under my shoulder and maneuver me into a sitting position.
"According to Mr. Cross, you have celar duty for the rest of the semester, so yes, I would say you are in a great deal of trouble. But that is Ms. Vanderlyden's concern, not mine."
She looked down at my hot-pink lounge, and her mouth twisted into a little pucker of disgust. She placed her hand on the back of the chair and my spel fel away in a shower of pink sparkles until my lounge became a perfectly respectable light blue love seat covered in big pink cabbage roses.
"Better," she said crisply, sitting down beside me.
"Now, Sophia, would you care to tel me why you're here by the pond instead of reporting to your next class?"
"I'm experiencing some teenage angst, Mrs. Casnoff," I answered. "I need to, like, write in my journal or something."
She snorted delicately. "Sarcasm is an unattractive quality in young
So I put a hand on my chest and smiled as my gym uniform rippled and receded until I was wearing a white tank top and khaki shorts. Then I pointed a finger at the water's edge and watched as a stream spiraled upward from the surface of the lake, spinning into a cylinder until I had a glass of iced tea hovering in the air in front of me.
I was feeling pretty satisfied with myself, and more than a little magic drunk, as I leaned back against the chaise lounge and took a sip of tea. I may be a loser, but hey, at least I'm a loser who can do magic, right?
I sat there with my sweaty arm over my eyes for several minutes, listening to the birds, the gentle lap of the water against the shore, and for those few moments I was able to forget that I was in some serious trouble when I got back to the school.
Lowering my arm, I turned my head to look at the pond.
There, just across the water, was a girl standing on the opposite shore. The pond was pretty narrow, so I could see her clearly: it was the ghost in green I'd seen my first day at Hecate. And just like on that first day, she was staring right at me.
It was beyond creepy, to say the least. Not sure what to do, I raised my hand and lamely waved helo.
The girl raised her hand in reply. And then she vanished.
There was no gradual fading away like I'd seen with Isabele's ghost.
Just one minute she was there, then she was gone.
"Curiouser and curiouser," I said, my voice just a little too loud in the quiet, and creeping me out even more.
My good mood had started to fade as the spel buzz wore off, and I looked down to see that my cute and much cooler outfit had dissolved back into my gym uniform. That was weird. My spels usualy lasted a lot longer than that. The lounge beneath me was starting to feel a little harder too, and I figured it was only about five more minutes before I was sitting on hot mossy stone again.
My thoughts turned back to my parents and their apparent penchant for being big ol' liars. But even as I tried to work up righteous anger at them for getting me into this mess, I knew that wasn't what had my ugly gym shorts in a twist.
It was that my worst fear seemed to be coming true. It's one thing to be different around people who you're realy, wel, different from. It's a whole other problem to be an outcast in a group of outcasts.
I sighed and lay down on the lounge, which now had moss creeping up one side. I closed my eyes.
"Sophia Alice Mercer, a freak among freaks," I mumbled.
"Pardon?"
I opened my eyes to see a figure hovering above me. The sun was directly behind her, turning her into a black shadow, but the shape of her hair made Mrs. Casnoff easily identifiable.
"Am I in trouble?" I asked without getting up.
It was probably a halucination brought on by the heat, but I was pretty sure I saw her smile as she leaned down to place a hand under my shoulder and maneuver me into a sitting position.
"According to Mr. Cross, you have celar duty for the rest of the semester, so yes, I would say you are in a great deal of trouble. But that is Ms. Vanderlyden's concern, not mine."
She looked down at my hot-pink lounge, and her mouth twisted into a little pucker of disgust. She placed her hand on the back of the chair and my spel fel away in a shower of pink sparkles until my lounge became a perfectly respectable light blue love seat covered in big pink cabbage roses.
"Better," she said crisply, sitting down beside me.
"Now, Sophia, would you care to tel me why you're here by the pond instead of reporting to your next class?"
"I'm experiencing some teenage angst, Mrs. Casnoff," I answered. "I need to, like, write in my journal or something."
She snorted delicately. "Sarcasm is an unattractive quality in young
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