OMG... Am I a Witch?! by Talia Aikens-Nuñez

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.
    â€œArr r !” 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.
    â€œSorry 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.
    â€œNope, you look nothing like him. You’re smaller than a football. And have more fur than anything else.” I have to fix this ASAP.
    â€œGrrr . . .” Austin growled.
    â€œAustin, 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.
    â€œGrrr . . .” Austin growled again.
    â€œThis 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.
    â€œSorry, 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. ’ ”
    â€œGrrr . . .”
    â€œWell, it is sort of your fault this happened.”
    â€œGrrr . . .”
    â€œWell, 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.
    â€œOK. 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.
    â€œApril, are you home?” her mother yelled up the stairs.
    â€œYes, Mom!” April yelled through the closed door.
    â€œIs Austin home, too?”
    April held her breath as if that would stop time. Her heart pounded so hard she felt it in her head.
    â€œUh . . . I think he . . . uh . . . had practice?”
    Tell her more so that she doesn’t try to find him. Think fast. Think fast.
    â€œI don’t know what he’s doing.” She took a deep