by Molly Snow
“What’s the matter, Cathy?” Tiffany mocked, as she and her two friends walked ahead.
“Just keep walking.” Surla wasn’t in the mood to be bothered by the snob. Something more troubling was on her mind.
She hopped easily over the small stone wall, to the park, and headed to a tree with three of the same notices posted. After ripping them down, she continued gathering more. “So, so many,” Surla murmured. Sheets blew all around her, twirling through the air and catching in bushes and benches. Pretty soon she held a stack of about twenty.
“Hey!” Surla recognized the growling voice from behind her as she kneeled, picking up another. Her heart skipped a couple beats when she turned to see Idis scowling at her.
“What do you think you are doing?” The frenzied witch snatched the papers out of Surla’s shaking hands.
Surla brushed a flyaway strand of brown hair out of her eyes nervously. “I-I was just… collecting some?”
“What do you mean, ‘collecting some’?” She copied the unsure answer.
Her glowing, pale green eyes made Surla feel as if Idis could see right through to her true identity.
“Um… uh, uh,” she stammered. “Because I-I.” Stop acting like this, Surla! she scolded herself. If you keep this up, Idis is sure to figure it out.
“Oh, just shut up and get out of my way!” A cold hand pushed Surla down onto a bench. She then proceeded to nail a flier to a tree with a small hammer held in her dress pocket. “I don’t want to see you pick up any more of my missing cat notices. If you even had a clue as to who I am…” Idis aimed wrong, hitting her thumb. “Ouch!” she yelped, dropping the hammer on her black boot.
If only you had a clue as to who I am, Surla considered with fright. Without hesitating any longer, she hopped the wall and jogged to Cathy’s home.
She entered the house through the unlocked garage door. Once in the kitchen she heard the sound of splashing water and singing. “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the streeeam!”
What is she doing? Surla quietly peeked around the corner to see the living room, where Cathy was scrubbing the wooden floors. Green sponges were hooked to each paw. “Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dreeeam.”
“If you’re going to croon, stay in tune.” Surla laughed, surprising Cathy.
“Don’t scare me like that. For a second you sounded like my mother. She would have had a heart attack if she saw a singing cat!”
“What happened in here?” Surla saw a bucket of sudsy water and muddy paw prints everywhere.
“Sadie, the dog from next door, chased me all around outside and before I could jump back inside through the window I ran into a muddy puddle.”
“I never did like dogs.” Surla said as she grabbed a sponge from underneath one of Cathy’s paws. “I’ll help. It will get done quicker.”
“Thanks.” Cathy’s skinny tail popped up suddenly. “What happened at school today? You know I’ve been dying for you to tell me.”
“School was fun, but let me first tell something more important that happened after school.” She pulled off her tennis shoes before cleaning.
“What?” Cathy stopped in interest.
“I ran into Idis at Revere Park.”
“No way! An encounter with the witch?”
“Yep. And she’s been really busy lately.”
“What do you mean?”
“She must have over a hundred fliers about me.” Surla groaned. “Maybe two hundred.”
“Really!”
“Uh huh, and there’s nothing I can do about it, because she threatened me when seeing that I gathered a bunch of them.”
“Oh no,” Cathy growled. “What if my mom sees one of those?”
“All we can do is hope she doesn’t.”
“You’re right.” Cathy continued scrubbing the floor. “What’s today’s good news?”
“Well, I saw Craig in P.E. We were on the same tennis court and he told you he was sorry for not giving you a ride home Friday.”
“Oh my gosh! He did?”
“Yes.” Surla laughed. “But he didn’t even recognize you at first.”
“He didn’t?” Her voice lowered in disappointment.
“Oh, don’t worry. I can tell he thinks you’re cute.” Surla looked down at the tight black outfit she had picked out. “Everyone thought you were. You received so many compliments and heads turning today. One compliment I know was from a guy named Todd, and then another by a girl named Chrissy.”
“Chrissy and Todd?” Cathy’s ears stood straight up like radars.
“Yes, why?”
“Well, it’s just that Chrissy hangs out with Tiffany, the girl I told you about who I don’t like at all, and Todd… well, he’s that really cute quarterback of our football team.”
“He is cute.” Surla stopped in thought for a second. “Do you think he’s cuter than Craig?”
“I don’t know.” Cathy sighed. They were almost done cleaning the floor. “They are about the same, but if I had to choose… I would choose Craig, of course. He just seems like a really cool guy. He can get any girl he desires.”
“Well, things are starting off pretty good between you two so far.” Surla finished the last dirty spot, then returned the bucket and sponges to underneath the kitchen sink.
“Hi, Cathy. Hi, Licorice.” Julie came in the front door, as they were laying on the couch, exhausted by the day. She took a seat next to them exclaiming how tired her feet were.
“Hi, Mom.” Surla sat up and yawned.
“I smell Pinesol.” She smiled, looking at the shiny wood floors. “Thanks. I’ll finish up later with some wood wax.”
“No problem.” Surla pulled down her high ponytail that was giving her a headache.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot.” Julie pulled a folded up piece of paper out of her pants pocket. “This was posted on our door, before I left to the post office this morning.”
Cathy and Surla turned to each other. Both had apprehension spelled across their faces. They knew what was to be shown—Idis’s missing cat notices.
“I just thought this was important… a Halloween party at Revere Park. There will be dancing, contests, and spooky treats.” She then read straight from the notice. “This event is for both of the city’s high schools to attend. They can have fun and be safe at the same time.” She paused and looked up at Surla in the eyes. “Well, Cathy, what I was thinking was… you should go to this party… you know, because you aren’t as social as you could be.” Cathy rolled her yellow eyes as her mother continued, “You haven’t had any friends over in a while… and the only person who calls is your cousin in Kentucky.”
Surla thought that to be funny and grinned. Cathy on the other hand did not find it amusing at all—her right ear twitched.
Julie sat there, waiting for some response.
“I’ll go.” Surla smiled slightly, but inside she couldn’t hold her excitement, Oh boy, oh boy, sounds so fun!
“Did I just hear you say you’ll go to this Halloween party?”
“Yes, Mom. Don’t worry, I’ll go. It sounds like fun.”
“Well, I’m happy I didn’t have to beg.”
“Oh, no. It’s fine.” Surla leaned over to rub her cheek against Julie’s in a purr, but was grasped into a hug.
The next day at school, in a light breeze, Surla played tennis with Craig again. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, except for Chrissy. She was constantly missing the ball, even if it headed straight for her racket. The guys were ahead in points, of course, and Chrissy didn’t seem to care.
What’s wrong with her? She was doing so well yesterday. Why isn’t she putting much effort into it today? Surla thought.
After losing all of the games to Travis and Craig, Surla ran to the corner of the court to get a drink of water. Chrissy collected the rackets and returned them to the stand. As Surla drank, Craig snuck up from behind and tickled the sides of her stomach.
“Hey!” She turned aroun
d, wiping water from off her chin.
He smiled and his blue eyes lit up. “Sorry, but you were drinking for so long, I was wondering if you were going to save any for me.”
She laughed, playfully pushing his shoulder. Craig then took a quick drink and turned to Surla again. “Hey, um, can I get your number?”
My number? she thought, puzzled. “13?” I like that number.
Chrissy unknowingly saved her from more embarrassment by tapping her on the shoulder and saying, “Come on… Mrs. Brown is calling us. We’ll be late for our next class.”
“Oh, okay.” Surla looked to the locker room and saw the teacher waving for them to hurry up. “Bye, Craig.” Surla walked off with Chrissy.
“I guess I’ll get it later then!” Craig called.
“He’ll get what later?” Chrissy asked, concerned.
“Oh.” Surla recalled his strange question. “He said he wanted my number.” They entered the musty locker room.
“Don’t give it to him.” Chrissy’s big brown eyes were serious.
“But why?”
Chrissy pulled her hair out of its short ponytail, then continued, “I warned you about how Tiffany likes him. Just take my advice and don’t do it; don’t give him your number.”
Surla decided she would have to wait until after school to ask Cathy what she wanted to do about the situation. How bad can Tiffany be? she thought, undisturbed.
In Chemistry, Surla sat next to Todd again, since he saved a seat for her. Mrs. Spencer was at the front of the class, giving another one of her hard-to-understand lectures. Everyone was expected to write notes, and that’s exactly what Todd and Surla did, except they were writing them to each other.
Using his elbow, Todd passed the paper onto her side of the long lab desk they shared. Surla glanced down and read: You look really nice today, just like you did yesterday.
She had chosen to wear a navy-blue turtleneck, from Julie’s closet. Her hair was down this time, with the ends curled from rollers, and her eyes were once again emphasized by the black liner.
She wrote back in loopy letters: Thank you. You look really nice also.
His dark hair was styled neatly and when he read her response he smiled, showing dimples. He wrote back: Have you decided if you want me tutoring you after school?
Surla had completely forgotten to ask Cathy’s mom if it would be all right. I really need the help though. Especially since there will be a test soon! Remembering that, she had made up her mind: Yes, I have thought about it and decided I would like you to help me.
She pushed the note over, and he quickly jotted down: Great! I’ll teach you about Chemistry, while we make some of our own :0)
Surla had a good idea of what he meant by that. I’m not supposed to be attracting you. I’m supposed to be attracting Craig, she thought. So, she wrote: Let’s just stay with the dictionary’s definition of Chemistry, for now.
After class, Surla let him know that tomorrow would be good for him to come over. She needed time to tell Cathy and her mom about it first.
This time, when walking home, Tiffany, Lisa and Chrissy were ahead of Surla. Tiffany wore a red cotton dress that, according to the wind’s direction, blew to and fro along with her hair. She had to admit, Tiffany was a very pretty human. Perhaps a little too thin, she thought; but, very pretty, nonetheless.
Her eyes then scanned over to Lisa. Her black hair was incredibly long, reaching passed her rear in a thick braid. Her figure was cute; she was petite.
Surla noticed Chrissy’s brown hair actually had some red highlights in it. She wore a turtleneck, like Surla today, but it was black. All three of them together made an incredible sight.
HONK! HONK! A red sports car pulled up alongside the girls. Tiffany smiled brightly as the driver’s window rolled down. Craig’s blond hair was blowing back with the breeze. “Hi, Tiffany. Hi, Lisa. Hi, Chrissy.”
No ‘hi’ for me! Surla stopped in her tracks.
“Hey, Craig.” Tiffany walked over to him with books in her hands. “I’ll just throw my stuff in the back.” She waved over her two friends.
“Actually,” Craig stopped her, “I think I owe someone else a ride.” His eyes looked to Surla and she smiled.
Tiffany glanced around. “Who?” she said as if she was oblivious to Surla’s presence.
“Cathy.” He called her over with the wave of a hand.
“Her?” the snob said in disgust. “Well, fine. That’s all right, because I’m getting my license soon and won’t need a ride home anymore.” She turned around sharply, pulling Lisa’s arm. “Come on.”
Surla waved bye to Chrissy as she entered the sports car; but, in response the girl just shook her head, then kept walking with her friends.
Craig took off, speeding as usual. “So, where do you live?”
Surla had to jog her memory for the street names. “Oh yeah, Spaulding Way off of B Street.”
He laughed. “Did you almost forget where you live?”
“No… it’s just, never mind.” She had no good answer.
“You always walk home?” he asked like he already knew the answer.
“Yes.” Surla looked in the rear view mirror at the three girls turning into dots, then disappearing in the distance. “Tiffany looked pretty mad back there.”
“She’ll live. Sometimes she can really get on my nerves.” He turned on some rock music.
“She gets on my nerves all the time,” Surla said as he turned a corner almost reaching Cathy’s house. “It’s that house with the peach tree in front.”
He came to a stop in front of the small home. Before she opened her passenger-side door, Craig’s warm hand reached for hers. “Wait,” he said and she turned in her seat, seeing him smile softly, “if ever you need a ride, just ask. The weather is getting colder and colder.” His hand still held hers. “Oh, and I guess you can just give me your number when you feel comfortable.”
She would have given it to him right then if she knew what he was talking about. “Thanks a lot, Craig.” Surla opened the door and he gave her hand a squeeze before letting go.
As soon as she entered the house, Cathy was at her feet all bright eyed. “What just happened? I saw you exit Craig’s car!”
“Cathy, Cathy, Cathy, Cathy.” She picked her up and cradled her in her arms. “First, I want to know how you knew that?!”
“If you must know, I am stuck here all day by myself watching talk shows, napping, or perched on a windowsill watching birds.” She was slightly embarrassed of her quick confession. “Anyway, while looking out the window, I saw you drive up in his car—Craig’s car! So, pleeeeease hurry and tell me what happened.”
“Okay,” she said, self-satisfied. “I’ve been hooking him by my cat-like ways.”
“Tiffany, this is not fair,” Chrissy said, still walking home with her and Lisa. “What has she ever done to you?”
“Look, Chrissy,” Tiffany said with much conceit, “Cathy is trying to ruin my reputation… and I’m not going to let her get away with it.”
“No, she’s not,” Chrissy defended. “She’s just finally coming out of her shell.”
“All these years, I have been the girl who guys go crazy for. I am not going to let some geek-gone-gorgeous steal that away from me,” she said matter-of-factly. “She deserves whatever’s coming to her.”
“My phone number is 555-9145.” Cathy showed Surla the buttons on the cordless phone. “Okay, the phone is to talk to people that are far away. You talk into it and they talk back through their phone. You can hear each other.”
“Ooh! I saw your mom using it last night and was wondering what she was doing.” Surla laughed.
“I can’t believe Idis didn’t have one of these.”
“Well, she had something like this. She got in contact with other witches through a mirror.”
“Now, that sounds a little too much like a fairy-tale to me.”
“A little too fairy-tale-like, huh.” Surla tilted her head. “How would y
ou describe our situation?”
“Okay, you win.”
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” Idis contorted her body into the sexiest move she could make, in front of a full length mirror. Black iron wound around it in a gothic manner. “Well?!” she yelled at it for an answer.
“I’m sorry, Idis,” the congenial deep voice said, “I’m not in the mood to play Snow White.” The glass swirled with changing colors.
“Oh well,” the witch grunted, “what I really wanted to do was call up my sister, Gretchen.”
“Gretchen?” he repeated. “All right.” Sounds of dialing started. Then slowly coming out of a blue fog, a tall beautiful woman in a bikini appeared with a seascape rolling behind her.
“Yes, Vladimirror?” the woman purred.
“Who are you?” Idis’s neck protruded like an angry chicken. “You sure aren’t my sister!”
“Oops,” the mirror chuckled in embarrassment. “I must have hit redial.”
“Well, Vladimirror, I see what you do in your spare time. Now get Gretchen!”
“Okay, okay.” There was a series of beeps, like more dialing, and this time out of a green fog, a short, frumpy witch appeared. She wore layers of old clothing and her red hair was stringy. “Well I’ll be a good witch!” She cackled sarcastically. “You haven’t called me up in ice ages, Idis! You must have some crisis going on.”
“Gretchen, I need you to do a favor for me,” Idis choked out.
“A favor from me?” She cackled some more. “What’s wrong? Did your cat finally run away?”
“Yes!” she yelled, stomping her boot’s sole on the floor.
“Well, what do you want from me…? To build a fire, to clip your toenails?” Gretchen paused, then continued, “Oh, that’s not possible. Your toenails are probably harder than a tooth!”
“That’s not true.” They argued like children. “I just clipped them last week!” Idis took a deep breath in to calm herself. “I, uh, was wanting to know if I could borrow your cat.”
“Ha ha! Little Pusface wouldn’t want to spend a minute with you. Besides, how would I do my magic without him?”
