Her beach.
Her exile.
Esmeralda sniffled as she looked over at the small pewter cauldron resting upon the dark ash of her fire pit, the flames having no doubt extinguished shortly after she inhabited Bawdry’s body. Already, the cauldron and the rack of ingredients resting on the wooden counter seemed foreign to her. She opened her hands, stared at her fingers, and knew she had changed. Esmeralda Faustus had been ExSponged.
She would never be able to brew again.
Gordy sat in the cafeteria, his chin resting on his fist. His cheeseburger and fries lay untouched on his tray.
“How does it keep you out of the lab?” Adilene asked from across the table. She had only nibbled on her meal as well. A baggie of neatly stacked carrots and celery sticks rested in front of her, as did a bottle of water.
“It’s like a personal ward,” Gordy muttered. “It won’t let me in.”
Gordy’s mom had tied the Sequester Strap to the outside doorknob of the family lab the previous morning. The sparkling blue material had only been attached with a simple knot and looked easy enough to remove, but Gordy soon discovered that it was impossible for him to open the door. No matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn’t budge. Mrs. Brexil had coded the strap to Gordy’s DNA, which meant until she or another member of the Chamber lifted his ban, he would not be permitted into the lab.
“I didn’t think your mom would actually go through with it,” Adilene said.
“She didn’t have a choice.” This was the worst thing that had ever happened to Gordy. Worse than Esmeralda Faustus. Worse than the Eternity Elixir. Not being able to brew at home was like having his legs cut off.
“But you can still make stuff, right?” Max asked, slurping pink yogurt through a plastic tube. He had brought his lunch as well, and plenty of it. The paper sack bulged with an assortment of processed snack cakes, cheese puffs, and pudding packs. “You just can’t do it at home.”
Gordy sighed but nodded. “I’m not supposed to make any potions outside of my B.R.E.W. training sessions. If I do, and get caught, they’ll never get rid of that stupid strap.”
“See? It’s fine.” Max shrugged. “It could be worse.”
“How could it be any worse?” Adilene demanded. She was taking the news almost as bad as Gordy. When she had heard that he was no longer allowed inside the lab, which meant she was no longer allowed inside either, Adilene had almost broken down in tears.
Max rolled his eyes. “He could be dead!” he said, though hardly coherent through the fistful of cheese puffs crammed into his mouth. Max labored to swallow the puffs and then washed them down with his soda before wiping his chin with the back of his hand. “And we can still go with him to B.R.E.W. because we’re his lab partners.”
In his own way, Max was right. It could’ve been worse. Gordy’s Blind Batching at the Brexils’ house could have caused a major accident.
Adilene fidgeted with her celery sticks. “I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’ve made a new friend. She doesn’t go to school here, but she’s come to my house a couple of times now.”
“Where does she go to school?” Gordy asked.
Adilene opened her mouth but frowned. “She never told me. But she has potions.”
At the mention of potions, Gordy’s ears perked up. “What kind of potions?” How had Adilene made friends with a Dram who didn’t go to the school?
Adilene dropped her hands below the table and pulled her backpack into her lap. “I need you to see something.” She started to unzip the pocket.
A bright, vinyl shopping bag dropped onto the table with a thud. Gordy looked up to see Sasha Brexil squeezing into the seat next to Adilene.
Adilene hurriedly lowered her backpack and stared at Sasha in shock.
Sasha wore a gold headband in her hair and large hoop earrings. “I hate eating in the cafeteria. It’s so filthy.” She pulled a container of salad out of her bag and a bottle of vinaigrette, which she set out in front of her on the table. She drizzled dressing over her salad and speared a few leaves of lettuce with her fork. Then she noticed Gordy gawking at her in disbelief. “What?”
“What are you doing?” Gordy demanded, no longer feeling the need to treat Sasha like royalty. Because of her hideous mother, Gordy’s life had been ruined.
“I’m eating lunch,” Sasha said. “Like you and your”—she glanced sideways at Adilene—“friends.”
“Don’t you have somewhere else you could sit?” Max asked.
“I usually go to my father’s office for lunch, but he’s having meetings, so I thought I’d join you.”
Gordy suddenly felt the need to stand up. “I’m no longer hungry.” He wanted to throw his cheeseburger in Sasha’s face, but knowing the identity of her mother, he might end up banished for such an act.
“Sit down!” Sasha jabbed her index finger onto the table. “We need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Gordy said. “Not anything nice, at least.”
“Yeah,” Max agreed, standing next to Gordy. “There’s a lot of other places to sit.”
Adilene scrambled out of her seat and gathered up her meager baggies of vegetables. Gordy watched her zip up her backpack and slide her arms through the straps. What had she been so eager to show them?
“You two can go wherever you want,” Sasha said. “But Gordy’s going to sit down and talk with me or there’s going to be a lot of problems for him.”
“You don’t scare me.” But Gordy felt his fingers shaking. It was probably just adrenaline, but he squeezed his hands into fists.
Sasha narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips in what had to be annoyance, but then she spoke, and her tone softened. “I’m sorry, Gordy.” She forced out a breath. “I didn’t know your mom had gotten herself fired.”
“Gotten herself fired?” Adilene blurted out.
Sasha waved a dismissive hand. “You know what I mean. I didn’t know you were going to get in trouble. I was just having a party, and we had fun. We became friends, I think.”
“I’m not your friend,” Gordy said.
“Yeah, not now, but we were,” Sasha replied. “We were on our way to becoming best friends. Until this mess happened.”
Max snarled. “You know, your mouth makes me want to punch it. And I don’t punch girls. Not even Adilene.” He nodded at Adilene for encouragement. She started to nod back, but then sighed and rolled her eyes.
Gordy had listened long enough. He turned to leave but felt a hand on his arm as Sasha stood and grabbed him before he could go.
“Wait,” she said, almost pleadingly. She looked down the table at the faces of several other students eating their lunches and watching their discussion as though witnessing some kung fu match. “Mind your own business, losers!” Instantly, the students all found something better to occupy their time.
The four of them sat back down at the table.
“I can fix this.” Sasha lowered her voice. “My mom listens to me, and she’ll warm up to the idea of removing the Sequester Strap from your lab if I can convince her.”
“She told you about that, huh?” Oh, how Gordy hated that woman!
“My parents tell me everything. I’m their princess, and they worship me.”
“How are you going to convince her?” Gordy asked, wary but interested.
“I’ve been invited by the Chamber to come to your training sessions. I’ll become your lab partner, and together we’ll show all of B.R.E.W. how important you are to the Community.”
Gordy stared at Sasha, unable to form a reply. Sasha as his lab partner? That was not the answer he had been expecting.
“Yeah, right!” Adilene said, laughing. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? But you don’t want to help Gordy. You just want to help yourself. And Gordy already has lab partners.” This time she did nod at Max, but he was
too busy licking cheese dust from his fingers.
Sasha fixed Adilene with a withering gaze. “Who are you again? Oh, that’s right. Adilene something-or-other. Please don’t tell me you are referring to yourself and Max as lab partners. You have to be actual Drams in order to do that.”
“Nuh-uh,” Max grunted. “We were there at Gordy’s first session.”
“And look where that got his mom,” Sasha said.
Gordy didn’t want to explode in the cafeteria. Sasha was the daughter of both the school principal and the Chamber President. She could make his life miserable. Worse, she could cause more problems for Gordy’s mom.
“Thanks for the offer,” Gordy said. “But Adilene’s right. I already have lab partners.”
“Oh, did I forget to mention that my mom says that you’ll have to pick just one lab partner? And I’m still going to be there at your training session, so . . .” Sasha jabbed another section of salad and stuck the fork into her mouth, chewing with an arrogant grace.
“Why are you so horrible?” Adilene demanded.
Sasha swallowed. “You don’t even know me. I’d like to ask you something—why do you want to stunt Gordy’s growth?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Gordy asked.
“Without actual, qualified lab partners, you’re never going to be properly trained. And from what I hear, it’s important for you to do well at these training sessions. I’d hate for something bad to happen to you because Adilene lacked the skills to assist you.”
Adilene folded her arms and leaned across the table. “I can almost brew,” she said, her voice steady. “Tell her, Gordy. Tell her how close I’ve come to making a potion.”
“It’s true.” Gordy remembered how Adilene had almost successfully concocted a Sottusopra Serum in his lab. “She’s actually really good.”
“But she’s not a Dram, right?” Sasha asked.
“No, not yet,” Adilene answered.
Sasha sneered. “You’re too old to suddenly become one. Surely Gordy told you that.”
“Then how do you explain how I almost brewed a potion by myself?”
Sasha scratched her cheek with her fingernail. “Was Gordy always in the room with you when you mixed? I thought so,” she answered before anyone else could. “I believe the correct term for that is Projecting. Which means that the Dram can use their ability through someone else. You were just the instrument, Adilene. No different than a cauldron or a spoon or any other lifeless utensil in Gordy’s lab. A dog could almost brew a potion with someone like Gordy watching him. Was Max there too?”
Max’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just call me a dog?”
Adilene’s smile faltered. She caught her breath and looked at Gordy worriedly. “Were you just Projecting through me?”
Gordy shook his head. “I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Look it up,” Sasha suggested. She pressed her hand to her chest. “I could help you, of course. With my expertise and connections at B.R.E.W., along with your natural skill, you’ll be an Elixirist in no time.” She pointed her fork at Adilene and Max. “Or you could waste these precious training sessions with two fake Drams who won’t offer any true assistance when your sessions require Dual Mixing. You know what that is, right?”
Gordy did know about that. Many difficult potions required two or more qualified Elixirists to mix together. If Max and Adilene truly never became Drams, those types of potions would be impossible for him to brew.
“If you’re not careful, you’ll end up banned from B.R.E.W. for life,” Sasha continued. “The choice is yours.”
“Well, I don’t choose you,” Gordy said. He stood and stalked away from the table.
Max caught up to him a few steps later. “Nice one!” Max elbowed him in the ribs. “But five bucks says you have an appointment with her dad later this afternoon. He’ll probably give you detention for hurting his princess’s feelings.”
For some reason, Gordy doubted that would happen. Sasha didn’t want him to think he had gotten the better of her. Punishment from the principal would prove otherwise. Gordy looked over his shoulder to where Sasha sat, still eating her salad and smiling at something on her phone. Gordy doubted their conversation had bothered her at all.
“Where’s Adilene?” he asked, looking around.
But Adilene was no longer in the cafeteria.
Adilene blew her nose into a paper towel and stared at her reflection in the girls’ bathroom mirror. After hearing Sasha describe Projecting, she couldn’t keep herself from running from the cafeteria and leaving Gordy and Max behind. How could she have been so foolish? What made her any more special than the thousands of other girls her age who were born without the potion-making gift? Nothing was going to change. Adilene knew that, but it didn’t make Sasha’s words any less painful. She swallowed as more tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
“Why are you crying?” someone asked from behind her.
Adilene wiped her eyes and whirled around in embarrassment. She flinched in surprise when she saw Cadence sitting on the radiator beneath the bathroom window.
Covering her mouth with a paper towel, Adilene peered around to see if anyone else had followed Cadence into the room. “Where did you come from?”
Cadence pointed at the door. “I wanted to come and see you again.”
“In the bathroom?” Adilene scrunched her nose.
“Well, no, but I can’t really walk into your classroom. It’s not my school, you know? I saw you run in here, and you looked sad. Why are you sad?”
“I’m not sad,” Adilene lied. “I just have a cold.”
Cadence squinted and shook her head. “You don’t have to be ashamed. I heard what that girl told you in the lunchroom.”
“You heard that?” Adilene wiped her nose with a paper towel and tossed it into the trash can.
“I was there, but you didn’t see me.” Cadence held up a vial of inky-blue liquid identical to the one Adilene had in her backpack. The one she had almost showed Gordy before Sasha had arrived.
“You were invisible?” Adilene asked.
Cadence nodded. “Why didn’t Gordy stick up for you? Why did he listen to that girl?”
“He did stick up for me,” Adilene protested. “Why aren’t you in school?”
Cadence’s smile faltered, but then she composed herself. “It’s like I told you,” she said. “I’m homeschooled.”
Homeschooled? Had she told her that? Adilene tried to remember the conversation the two of them had shared on Saturday. “But you’re not at home right now.”
“I know. I took a break to come see you.” Cadence looked sympathetic. “And I’m glad I did.”
“I have to go back. My lunch is almost over, and then I have class. You should probably go too. Is your Uncle Carlisle somewhere?”
Cadence nodded. “He’s outside the bathroom waiting for me.”
Adilene looked at the bathroom door and shuddered. She hoped Cadence hadn’t noticed, but the thought of her creepy uncle loitering in the hallway gave her the heebie-jeebies.
“Here’s what you should do.” Cadence climbed down from the radiator. “You should try that potion I gave you. You brought the bottle, right?”
Adilene glanced at her backpack. “I did, but I wanted to show it to Gordy first.”
Cadence nodded. “Don’t you think you should try it first, before you show him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t trust me, do you?” Cadence asked.
“It’s not that,” Adilene answered, folding her arms. “I just . . .” Why was she being so cautious? How many times had Gordy concocted something new and exciting and immediately tried it out? Sure, he was good at potions, but that didn’t make it any less dangerous. Gordy took risks. Drams took risks.
“Okay, I’ll do it.�
� Adilene dropped to her knees and fished out the vial from her bag. “You’ll just need to show me how again.”
Cadence grinned. “This will be so much fun!”
The atmosphere inside Gordy’s house felt oddly eerie. Silence engulfed the living room, and only Gordy’s hollow footsteps sounded on the kitchen floor. His parents had taken the twins to their after-school activities: soccer for Isaac and gymnastics for Jessica.
Gordy poured himself a glass of juice and unsleeved a handful of fig cookies from the pantry. Then he heard footsteps on the second floor and almost spilled juice down the front of his shirt.
“Hello?” Gordy called out, replacing the glass of juice with a potion vial from his bag and abandoning the half-nibbled cookies on the counter. “Who’s there?” His voice came out high-pitched, and he labored to keep it in check. A muffled giggling of female voices drifted down the stairs, and Gordy’s blood ran cold. “If you jump out at me, I’m going to smash this bottle in your face!”
“In my face?”
Gordy spun around and almost launched his Vintreet Trap at Max, who stood in the open doorway.
“Whoa!” Max held up both hands to shield his face. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Were you the one running around upstairs?” Gordy’s heart threatened to burst from his chest. He knew it couldn’t have been Max—the giggling had definitely been from a girl—but he was hoping for an easy explanation.
Max knitted his eyebrows. “I just got here. Why are you whispering?”
Gordy responded by pressing his Vintreet Trap into Max’s fingers, the potion bubbling. “Make sure you throw it at their feet, okay?”
“Who’s feet?” Max regarded the greenish liquid as if it were a school textbook. “Why are you acting like a spaz? I thought we were going to play video games.”
“Someone’s upstairs!”
Finally, Max seemed to understand.
Gordy attacked the front pocket of his backpack and pulled out another vial, this one a pipette with orange fluid and streaks of blue crisscrosses. Aunt Priss’s Funnel Formula was guaranteed to make a mess and stop any intruder dead in their tracks.
The Transparency Tonic Page 14
