Under a Spell by Amanda Ashby

to tell her. For a moment she looked over to where Harvey was staring helplessly at her from the bleachers, before she slowly turned around to face her nemesis. Somehow, she didn’t think her new affirmation was going to help much.

9
    O H, HEY, BABE. I WAS JUST GETTING SOME GOOD luck for my Spanish quiz. There’s no way I’ll get benched for tomorrow’s game now.” Ben let go of the guitar pick.
    â€œOf course you’ll pass it,” Melissa said in a surprisingly nice voice as she beamed at Ben and smoothed down her short cheerleading skirt and matching fitted top.
    â€œWell, I will now that Campbell has helped me out,” he assured her before galloping across the courts. Once he had gone, Sophie took a deep breath and started to speak before Melissa could open her mouth.
    â€œOkay, so I know what you’re thinking, but I promise that nothing happened. Nothing. I mean, the only reason I let him touch the guitar pick was because he’s your boyfriend. I thought that it might make you like me more, and—”
    â€œRelax,” Melissa commanded as she held up a perfectlymanicured hand. “I’m not going to bite your head off. I actually just saw that you’d signed up for the tryouts and wanted to say that, if you like, I could help you out a little.”
    â€œY-you can?” Sophie blinked as she realized that Melissa was actually smiling. Did that mean she was being nice two times in under a minute? Surely that had to be some kind of record. Then she narrowed her eyes. “Did Jonathan bribe you to say that?”
    â€œOf course not. For a start, Jonathan is a complete amateur when it comes to bribing anyone,” Melissa said, like that was a bad thing. Then, when Sophie didn’t look convinced, she let out a sigh. “Okay, so here’s the thing. Even though Jonathan and I aren’t exactly the ‘joined at the hips’ kind of twins, he’s still my brother, and I figure if he likes you, I should at least make an attempt to get to know you. I mean, we must have something in common.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what I said, when my friends and Jonathan tried to tell me trying out was a bad idea,” Sophie exclaimed in excitement. S
ee, she knew the Universe wouldn’t let her down.
    â€œWell, just shows what they all know.” Melissa shot her a conspiratorial wink before frowning. “Of course, it doesn’t guarantee you’re going to make the squad. You’ve still got to impress Miss Carson, and there are a few other contenders for Donna’s spot.”
    â€œI’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Sophie said as sheresisted the urge to grin.
She knew that this had been a good
plan.
    â€œI hope so, because I’m starting to think that this might be fun. Anyway, come on. Miss Carson is waiting, and you still need to get changed.”
    â€œChanged?” Sophie blinked as she looked down at her ill-fitting gym shorts and her oversize T-shirt. “Can’t I just do the tryouts in this?”
    â€œRule number one if you want to be friends with me. Always dress the part.” Melissa made a clicking noise with her tongue as she nodded for Sophie to follow her. As they headed toward the locker room, Sophie glanced over to Harvey, who just held up his arms and shrugged, as if to agree that Sophie’s plan hadn’t been such a dumb idea after all.
    â€œHuh, well, I didn’t expect that it would fit quite so well,” Melissa said in surprise when Sophie stepped out of the changing cubicle. Then she brightened. “I suppose that means it’s a sign you should be on the team, right?”
    â€œI hope so.” Sophie returned the smile and crossed her fingers, since her well-fitting outfit was actually a result of djinn magic rather than a sign from the Universe. She glanced down at her skirt. While it wasn’t quite as fitted as Melissa’s was, at least it no longer