The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress

by Shani Petroff

  “I was calm.” I picked up the pace as we walked to homeroom.

  “Your face was redder than a cherry tomato.”

  “It was hot outside.”

  “Angel,” she chided me. “You can’t let Courtney get to you. You’re way too sensitive. Who cares what she says?”

  I stopped outside of the classroom. “Fine. So I got a little worked up. It won’t happen again. I’ll just stay away from her and anyone else who might make my powers flip out.”

  And that definitely included Cole.

  chapter 5

  The day was shaping up to be one of my all-time top ten worst ones ever. First, dealing with Courtney at the steps, then trying to ignore Cole in homeroom.

  “Hey,” he said when I took my seat behind him.

  I gave him a slight nod. I had to keep my cool, which would have been a lot easier if my heart wasn’t thumping like I just ran a marathon. He was going to want answers about what happened the other day. But I couldn’t give them for two reasons. One: There wasn’t a good explanation. And two: I didn’t trust myself to speak around him. That would just be asking for my powers to act up again.

  “What was that all about the other day?” he asked, rolling his pen between his fingers.

  I didn’t even know exactly what he meant. The fireworks? The tree? The running off? There was a lot of messed up stuff to choose from. Part of me was glad I couldn’t talk to him. Saturday’s events had run over and over again in my head nonstop all weekend. And you know how people say everything gets better with time? Well, they’re wrong. The playback only got more and more cringeworthy each time I ran it through my head. Having to be so close to Cole made it even worse.

  I pretended not to hear him. But he kept pressing me.

  “When did you engrave the tree? It wasn’t there on Friday. Did you sneak over in the middle of the night and do it?”

  I ignored him and reached down into my backpack. I tried to make it look like I was busy searching for something important. I hoped Cole would see that and drop the subject, but he just kept hounding me with his questions.

  “I can’t figure out how you got the fireworks to go off. Did you have some kind of detonat—”

  That’s all I heard. Before he could even finish his sentence I got up, grabbed the bathroom pass, and left. I had no other choice. Being in the same room as Cole made it hard to breathe.

  I wanted to tell him the truth. That I wasn’t crazy—there was a good reason for my bizarre behavior. But I couldn’t. And until I could guarantee that I wouldn’t set off my powers simply by talking to him, I had to stay away.

  For some reason, though, he seemed really determined to talk to me. Maybe his mom wanted me to pay for ruining their tree. He finally managed to catch up to me in the hall before last period. Cole looked at me, then Gabi. It was pretty clear he didn’t want to have the conversation in front of her, so she took the hint and backed up a bunch of steps. I knew she was totally still listening, though.

  “What’s going on?” he asked me.

  I just stared at him. I put one hand on my hip and the other by my side in an attempt to look all breezy, but I’m pretty sure it came across as panicked.

  “You’ve ignored me all day.”

  The hand by my side instantly made its way to my mouth, and I started grinding on two of my fingernails. I was afraid to speak. My nerves were flying way beyond the speed limit. One wrong word and who knew what kind of problems I could cause Cole. I was ignoring him for his own safety. Why couldn’t he see that?

  We stood there for a moment not saying anything. Then Cole mumbled, “Whatever” and walked away. “Wait,” I yelled, unable to stop myself. I couldn’t let him leave. Not like that.

  He turned back to me. “What?”

  The hallway was about to get busy. I could see Max Richardson heading my way. Unfortunately, Max had a major crush on me. He was nice and all, but let’s put it this way, if the school held an election for biggest nerd, Max would win—no contest. I didn’t need him butting into my conversation with Cole. And he wasn’t the only one approaching. I could see Cole’s best friend, Reid Winters, and Lana coming, too.

  “I, it’s just . . .” I didn’t know what to say. The wrong words would only make things worse.

  “Hey, Angel,” Max interrupted, oblivious to the social taboo of interrupting a conversation between a girl and her crush, especially, but not limited to, when the girl was trying very hard to correct the impression she gave of being a complete psycho. “Got a whole bunch of new CDs. Want to take a lo—”

  “Not now, Max,” I snapped. I didn’t mean to. I’ve always been nothing but nice to Max. I guess I couldn’t help it, though. I was like one giant raw nerve.

  “Nice,” Cole said, the sarcasm fully on. “Really nice.” He ran his hand through his hair. “You know what? You’re just not the person I thought you were at all.”

  NO! Now he thought I was a terrible person. “I’m sorry,” I spit out. “I didn’t—”

  “Look what we have here,” a voice I knew all too well called out from behind me. “A lover’s spat?” It was Courtney, and Jaydin was right next to her.

  “Ooh,” Jaydin said cocking her head to one side and giving Cole a smile that made me want to beam her to another continent.

  “Stay out of it,” I warned them.

  “What fun would that be? Finally coming to your senses, Cole?” Courtney asked, moving in closer to him.

  “Not now, Courtney,” he said, staring up at the ceiling.

  Courtney looked around the hallway and her eye’s narrowed in on Max, which wasn’t exactly hard. He was the tallest guy in the whole school. “I get it,” she said. “Angel finally realized who her true soul mate is.”

  Lana, who had been watching everything, chimed in. “Of course, she’s perfect for the Jolly Green Giant. It’s a match made in loserville.”

  “Only, he might be too good for her,” Courtney piped back in. “She is exceptionally spazzy, not to mention out of her mind, thinking she’s way better than she is.”

  “Quit it,” I yelled. Why wasn’t Cole the one jumping to my defense? Did he believe what she was saying? Courtney’s taunts felt like they were hammering into my temples. I couldn’t take it anymore. “You think you know me? You don’t know anything. None of you.” I fought the tears from escaping my eyelids. “I’m sorry, Cole. I gotta go. Come on, Gabi.”

  But Gabi didn’t even acknowledge me.

  “Gabi!” I said again. She just gazed around with a clueless expression on her face. I scanned the rest of the group. They all had that same completely clueless expression, too.

  No. No. NO.

  What had I done?

  chapter 6

  I shook Gabi by her shoulders. “Say something.”

  “Angel?” she responded as the bell went off.

  Yes. That was good. My spell, curse, whatever it was, was only temporary. “Thank God, you remember. Let’s go.”

  “Aren’t you Angel? Daughter of the devil?”

  Uhh?! Why was she asking me that out loud? Why was she asking me at all?

  Before I could respond, the rest of the group stirred back to life. Somewhat. “I think I know Angel,” Reid said, his voice flat and monotone.

  “Pretty,” Max said, running his fingers through my hair.

  “I think Angel is a wannabe who wishes she were me,” Courtney interjected. Only her voice didn’t have the same bite it usually had when she was insulting me. Instead, it was almost lifeless.

  I had no idea what was going on. Then it hit me. My powers took my words way too literally again. I had said, “You think you know me. You don’t know anything.” So now they actually thought they knew me, but apparently not anything else!

  This was bad. Way bad.

  I took another look at my classmates. They just stood there, their bodies limp and their eyes vacant, staring into space. If all that was left in their brains was information about me, they were basically helpless. W
ould they even know how to eat? Pick out clothes to wear? Flush the toilet? I was in way over my head.

  “Why aren’t you all in class?” the principal, Mr. Stanton, asked as he headed in our direction.

  My seven groupies, Gabi, Cole, Courtney, Lana, Reid, Jaydin, and Max, just stared at me.

  “Um, yeah, it was my fault,” I explained. “I had to tell them something, but we’re good now. On our way to class as we speak.” I tried to usher the herd of zombies to English.

  But it wasn’t an easy task. Gabi kept walking into the wall. Courtney started spinning, and Lana and Jaydin followed suit. Apparently, some things never changed. Max plopped himself on the ground, Reid tripped over him, and Cole just rested against a doorway.

  “What’s going on here?” Mr. Stanton demanded. “Are you all looking for a detention?”

  “No, sir,” I answered, trying to lift Max off the ground to no avail. He was heavy. I racked my brain for something to say before Stanton interrogated my unresponsive classmates. Or worse, before Gabi opened her big mouth again and filled the principal in on my family secret. “This is part of our English project. It’s a play I wrote. It’s experimental.” I started to applaud. “Good job everyone. Do it just like that in class. Great rehearsal.”

  I don’t know if Stanton bought my story or not, but I fled the scene before I could find out. “Follow Angel, everyone,” I chirped, feeling like a bizarro pied piper. “Come this way. Come with Angel. You know Angel, right? Angel is me. Follow me.” I just had to get them through last period. Then I’d have time to figure out how to fix everything.

  The group went with me to English, but when we got inside they just stood there.

  “Well, take your seats,” Mrs. Torin told us. “We don’t have all day.”

  I led each zombie to their desk as the whole class watched. They must have thought we had lost our minds. Which was true in a way. I tried to laugh it off. “We’re doing an experiment for science class. It’s about survival of the fittest and how some people become leaders and others become followers and it’s my turn to lead and guide.”

  “Do it on your own time,” Mrs. Torin interrupted.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I answered, as I put Gabi, the last of the herd, in her seat.

  Mrs. Torin started her lesson on Romeo and Juliet. She called on Jaydin first. “What form does the prologue take?” she asked. Jaydin just stared into space. “Well?” Mrs. Torin pressed on.

  “It’s a sonnet,” I yelled out.

  “Good, and what else can you tell me about it? Reid?”

  No answer.

  “Cole.” Silence. “Courtney.”

  She was picking on everyone under my evil influence. Not that I was surprised. Mrs. Torin loved calling on people who didn’t look like they were paying attention.

  “Uh. I know,” I said out loud. “Shakespeare used rhyming couplets.” I was totally on a roll.

  “Right,” Mrs. Torin said. “What else? Someone other than Angel. Gabi, what about you?”

  Gabi didn’t answer, either. She couldn’t.

  Mrs. Torin slammed her copy of the play shut. “Did any of you do the reading assignment?” A few kids raised their hands. Mrs. Torin, looking frustrated, called on them instead.

  At the end of class, Mrs. Torin gave the class a hard stare. “I want you all to read the next two scenes. And for those of you who didn’t do your homework over the weekend, I suggest you catch up pronto. There will be a quiz tomorrow.”

  She walked out with the rest of the students—the normal ones—when the bell rang. I was stuck with the nitwits.

  “Return to normal,” I commanded over and over again, but it wasn’t working. They still looked at me with glassy eyes. “Come on,” I shouted.

  Still nothing. What if they were like this forever? I had to fix them. This was way worse than what happened with Cole on Saturday. This . . . this could virtually ruin seven people’s lives. Eight if you counted mine. Because there was no way I’d be able to live with myself knowing I was responsible for turning my classmates into puppets. I definitely deserved to be sent to prison for this. Only Gabi and the rest of them would probably follow me and just stare and point and make me feel even guiltier than I already did. I was panicked. And left with no other choice.

  I knew what I had to do.

  Filling my lungs with a deep breath, I shouted, “Lou! Help me!”

  chapter 7

  “You’ve got to fix this, you have to make them normal,” I begged when Lou popped in the room. “I really messed up. I’ve emptied their brains.”

  “Completely?”

  “Well, they seem to know who I am. But that’s it.”

  He let out a low whistle as his eyes scanned over my classmates who were sitting there like stuffed animals. “Impressive. Total erasure of memories is very advanced. Very dangerous, too.”

  My nails were now nonexistent. Had I made Max, Gabi, Cole, and everyone else brain-dead for the rest of their lives?

  After my powers went haywire a while back during the school musical, I had asked Lou to erase what happened from everyone’s minds. He wouldn’t do it—said that it could have serious consequences. And that was just a matter of blocking out a few minutes from people’s memories. I just erased every bit of information ever to have crossed my classmates’ minds. What if it wasn’t reversible?

  “You can undo this, right?” I looked up at him, my eyes pleading my case. If Lou couldn’t help me, I was done for. How could I go on, knowing I destroyed seven lives? The answer was simple. I couldn’t. If Lou didn’t fix this, my life was over, too. “Please.”

  “Well, since you asked so nicely . . .”

  A squeal escaped from my mouth. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

  “Hold on there a second.” Lou held up a finger and wagged it. “There is one condition.”

  I should have known there’d be a catch. The devil didn’t do anything without getting something in return. But whatever it was, I couldn’t say no. Not with so many lives on the line. I crossed my arms and waited for Lou to seal my fate.

  “From now on, you’ll let me train you on how to use your powers.”

  I was hardly in the position to argue that I had my powers under control. Trying to stay calm wasn’t making my “special gift” go away, no matter how much I wanted that to be the case. It was time to give in and trust Lou—at least somewhat. “You win. I’ll train with you.”

  “Lovely,” he said. “Now let’s take care of your little problem. Take my hands.”

  I did as he instructed.

  “Now I’m going to transfer all of my evil into you—”

  “What!?” I shouted, pulling my hands out of his and backing away. I didn’t want to turn into a she-devil. Well, more of one than I already was.

  Lou let out a hearty laugh. “I’m just playing. Come back.”

  Funny. Real Funny.

  I cautiously stepped back toward Lou and put out my hands.

  “Relax,” he told me. That would have been a lot easier if he hadn’t made the crack he just made. “Now, I need you to clear your mind. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths.” He paused while I did as instructed. “Now, I’m going to let my powers combine with yours to restore the knowledge that’s been taken away from your friends.” Moments later I felt a surge run through me to Lou and back again.

  “Okay, freak show. What’s your problem now?”

  That voice could only belong to one person.

  I opened my eyes. Courtney was back to her old tricks, but Lou was gone. Everyone else appeared to be back to normal as well, and they were all staring at me standing in the middle of the room, looking like a moron with my arms outstretched before me.

  “I’m talking to you,” Courtney spat. “What’s. Your. Problem?”

  “Nothing,” I answered. “Just going home.” It didn’t matter that she was being obnoxious again. I was just glad to have her back. I almost gave her a hug. Almost.

  “You’re skippin
g class?” Jaydin asked.

  “Class is over,” I told her.

  Courtney rolled her eyes at me. “No it’s not. You are sooo weird.”

  Reid and Lana whispered to each other. Apparently, neither of them remembered getting to English class. Or anything that happened afterward. Which I guess was a good thing. Only, how was I going to explain it?

  “Where’s the rest of the class?” Cole asked, looking around at everyone. Everyone but me. He obviously still remembered our fight. My momentary relief over not ruining my classmates’ lives was overshadowed by the realization that Cole now viewed me as an awful human being. Which was worse than having him think of me as a lovesick Chihuahua that wanted to be at his side all the time.

  “Yeah,” Max echoed. “What’s going on? Weren’t we just in the hallway? How’d we get here?”

  I had to tell them something. So, even though I was in no mood, I put on a smile and tried to chuckle. “You guys are funny. Quit pretending you don’t remember sitting through Mrs. Torin’s lecture on Shakespeare.”

  Gabi scrunched up her nose at me.

  “Go with it,” I mouthed to her.

  “Yeah,” Gabi said. “Mrs. Torin went on and on. I guess it was easy to block out. Umm. We need to go. See you all tomorrow.”

  Thank God for best friends. “Bye, everyone,” I said, grabbing Gabi’s arm. I gave Cole a small wave, but this time it was him doing the ignoring. “Oh, and don’t forget there’s a quiz on the next two scenes of Romeo and Juliettomorrow,” I managed to get out.

  I’m glad I remembered that one. I didn’t need to be responsible for them all failing English. It would just be one more reason for Cole to hate me. Even if he didn’t know it.

  chapter 8

  “What’s eight times seven?” I asked Gabi as we headed back to the old McBrin house.

  “Enough,” Gabi yelled. I had been quizzing her the whole way to make sure there wasn’t any permanent damage from my brain erasure. “I told you I remember everything that happened before you blitzed my brain.”