Me, My Elf & I by Heather Swain Page A

only for evil, you can make yourself sick or lose your powers for a while or worst of all, you have to leave Alverland forever because your heart becomes dark.
    I never thought anything could make me feel that bad, but this is a thousand times worse because Bella pretended to be nice and she lied , saying she’d help me. I want nothing more than to plague those mean girls with the Curse of Wrinkled Butts, Contagious Belching, Bloody Tears, and Swollen Tongues. I want their noses to grow long and twist into their mouths. Their ears to blow up like cauliflower and their hair to turn to straw. And at this very moment, if I knew how to send a spell through the wires of a computer, I’d zap them with everything I’ve got.
    “So?” says Ari. “Still feel sorry for them?”
    “No.” I grind my teeth until my jaw aches.
    “You wanna kick some Bella butt? Waste her at the one thing that’s actually important to her?”
    “What’s that?” I ask, thinking for a minute that he means Timber.
    “The audition,” he says simply.
    “I don’t know, Ari.” I shake my head. “How could I beat her? She’s a professional and I’m just . . . me. What if I end up making a total fool of myself ?”
    “Look,” Ari says. “Mercedes and I are really good at this. I can make a résumé that would convince anyone to hire you and Mercy’s a great actress who could totally coach you . . .”
    “If she’s a great actress, why isn’t she trying out?”
    “Mercedes will have her chance someday,” Ari says. “But she and I both know this isn’t the time. The description of what the casting agents are looking for just doesn’t fit her. See, that’s the thing, Zeph. The biz, I mean TV and movies and stuff, is not just about talent or experience. These agents are always looking for something different. Something new. Something they’ve never seen before. You’re new. You’re gorgeous. You’ve got this quality, I don’t know what it is, but I’m telling you, you’ve got IT. Now, you just have to want it.”
    I consider all this. I’m not sure I believe him, but it feels pretty good to have someone think I’m special, and not in a weird way. Plus, this is what I came for, to perform. Not to mention that I could get even with Bella.
    “Or,” he says, leaning away from me, “you can just be MooMoo at the mercy of Bella like everyone else around here.”
    That hurts. I look at him squarely. “All right, let’s write my résumé.”
    “You don’t think it’s lying anymore?” Ari teases me.
    “I want that ELPH part,” I say coldly, imagining how furious Bella will be if I get the part and she doesn’t.
    “Yahoo!” Ari hollers. He dashes a note quickly to Mercedes:
    —Now Z’s p.o.’d!
    She writes back:
    —Let’s kick some A!!!!!!
    “Let’s,” I say, and vow to myself that I’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure that I beat Bella at her own game.

chapter 6
    I’M STILL SHAKING with anger as I walk home from Ari’s house through the park, so I cool myself off by casting silly spells. First I whip up a tiny leaf tornado beside the path. A group of kids playing nearby stop and stare at the spinning leaves, then run screaming toward their nannies who sit chatting on a bench. I didn’t mean to frighten them, so I flick my fingers at the leaves, and they float gently to the ground. The kids run back to the pile and poke it with sticks. A hawk flies above me. Seems like every time I’m in the park, I see this same bird, which is sort of comforting. Maybe its nest is nearby. I point to the hawk, trying to catch it in my power, but it soars higher beyond my reach. I settle for a yellow butterfly, instead, and bring it fluttering in a zigzag pattern toward me. I land it on my nose to stare cross-eyed at its wiggly antennae and long curled proboscis.
    Kids do this kind of thing all the time in Alverland. Altering nature is the first way we use our magic and learn the consequences of using our powers for the