The Witch by Jean Thompson Page A

in the world has changed but some things don’t change. Men don’t!”
    And then her mother got a weird, pitiful look on her face and she said, “Baby girl, you have so much to learn,” and made as if she was going to touch her and Janice jumped back and her mother’s expression went back to its normal suspicion and contempt. “Fine. You keep on going down that same road, see where it takes you.”
    Her mother was unhappy for life because Janice’s father hadn’t wanted to stick around, who could blame him, and so she looked at everything like it was about her.
    Maybe she was all over the Internet now being a famous slut. She’d made him swear never to do that but what if he got madat her and did and her mother found out. Her stomach crawled into her throat every time she thought about it. Then another day would go by when none of that happened, and maybe nothing would ever change in her whole boring stupid life. Even her iPod got stuck playing the same song, one she kept trying to get rid of, a girl singer going on and on about a chance chance chance for romance mance mance, shut up shut up shut up.
    Janice went to the mall by herself. There wasn’t anybody else to go with now that Marilee had her head up her behind. She missed Geronimo, not for the pervy stuff, not exactly, but because he had been sort of a friend. She moped around trying on sunglasses and leather jackets and then she bought a Coke and sat in the food court listening to her music, which was the great thing about an iPod, you could always look like you were doing something.
    She’d pretty much given up pretending Richie Cruz was ever going to notice her. It was all dumb and hopeless. She hadn’t seen Richie or his trashy girlfriend and anyway who cared about them? They could do whatever they wanted. The summer had gone on forever. Every day she woke up with the same heat headache. Every day there was nothing for her to do except take up space and watch the world like it was a clock.
    Then Richie Cruz walked into the mall, or no he was already inside but she hadn’t seen him, and for a moment or two it tripped up her brain, she couldn’t make sense of his being there. The idiot song buzzed in her ears, take a chance let’s dance make romance mance mance, and here was Richie coming straight toward her with his sleepy, slow-footed walk, his thumbs hooked in his pants pockets, pointing down, lookee here! and he was smiling! Smiling at her!
    Janice froze up. Dance dance dance. Richie and his greeneyes closed in on her. She thought she was going to be sick. He stood next to her chair. She couldn’t even look at him. She smelled his dusky musky aftershave. She could have buried her nose in his pants pants pants. For a second she was afraid she had actually done so. He said, “Hey, can I see that?”
    He meant the iPod. Janice unhooked the earbuds, still making their tiny noise, and handed it over.
    Then he was walking away again. Not in any big hurry. He fiddled with the iPod, probably trying to change the song.
    She just sat there. She would sit there the rest of her life.
    But then it got even worse. From the same direction Richie had appeared, Marilee and another girl, another blond girl just like Marilee so the two of them looked like doll twins, came toward her with their heads together, whispering. They stopped at Janice’s table, grinning and rocking back and forth on their heels, they were so excited about making fun of her. Marilee said, “We told Richie you were in love with him and you want to have his baby.”
    Marilee waited for Janice to say something and when she didn’t, she said, “So anyway, now he knows you have the hots for him. That’s what you wanted, right?” The two of them walked away, laughing and shaking their heads so their blond hair swished like horse tails.
    After a while Janice got up and went home and when her mother asked her what