Under a Spell

by Amanda Ashby

  “Thanks, Harvey.” Sophie once again realized how lucky she was to have such amazing friends, especially when they had problems of their own going on. “You really are the best.”

  “I know,” he said with a smile. “Now go and do your thing. But watch out if Melissa folds her arms, because in body-language talk, that’s a declaration of war,” he warned, just as his stomach made a growling noise in protest at having missed lunch. Without thinking, Sophie closed her eyes and made a wish. The next second a surprised-looking Harvey was holding a supersize Big Mac combo.

  He widened his eyes in appreciation. Sophie grinned. She was in such a good mood that she couldn’t help but make sure everyone else felt as happy as she did. Then she pushed open the gym door and glanced around her.

  The sound of sneakers squeaking against the wood assaulted her ears, as hopeful cheerleaders were high kicking and spelling things at the same time. Over in the corner the members of the squad were standing around watching (except for Donna Anderson, who sat on a bench with her leg covered in a huge cast, looking miserable).

  For a moment Sophie shuddered. Normally, she would rather poke herself in the eye with one of Kara’s sketching pencils than spend time in this kind of environment, but extreme circumstances called for extreme measures.

  She took a deep breath and was just about to head over when Ben Griggs suddenly appeared next to her. “Hey, Campbell, there you are. I’m totally stressing about my Spanish quiz this afternoon. If I don’t pass it, I won’t be able to play in the game tomorrow. I was wondering if I could touch the guitar pick again to give me some good luck. My old man will hit the roof if I get benched.”

  What? Sophie gulped. Letting Ben Griggs touch her guitar pick had already caused far too many problems with Melissa. “The thing is—” she started, but Ben cut her off.

  “Please, I really need you to help me out here. Come on, Campbell,” he wheedled.

  Sophie stifled a groan as she remembered her new affirmation. I am a kind and friendly person who gets along with everyone. Against her better judgment she had to admit that it wasn’t very kind or friendly to say no to Ben when he was freaking out. She reluctantly pulled the necklace out from under her T-shirt.

  “Fine, but be quick. I’ve got to go join the rest of the cheerleaders.”

  “Totally,” Ben agreed as he reached out and clutched the guitar pick like it was some kind of holy grail. Sophie was just wondering how long he was going to take when she glanced over to the bleachers and caught sight of Harvey making weird faces at her.

  She wrinkled her nose. Was he trying to remind her that Ben Griggs was a pyromaniac who liked to beat up on sixth graders? Because, hello, she already knew that. She raised her eyebrows at him, but instead of stopping, he began a series of hand actions. She really must ask Malik about whether her djinn powers could extend to mind reading, because this was making no sense at all.

  “Well, well. Isn’t this nice and cozy,” Melissa Tait’s voice suddenly rang out from somewhere behind Sophie’s shoulder. Too late she figured out what her friend had been trying 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

  OH, 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.

  “Of 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.

  “Well, 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.

  “Okay, 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—”

  “Relax,” Melissa commanded as she held up a perfectly manicured 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.”

  “Y-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?”

  “Of 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.”

  “That’s exactly what I said, when my friends and Jonathan tried to tell me trying out was a bad idea,” Sophie exclaimed in excitement. See, she knew the Universe wouldn’t let her down.

  “Well, 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.”

  “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” Sophie said as she resisted the urge to grin. She knew that this had been a good plan.

  “I 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.”

  “Changed?” 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?”

  “Rule 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.

  “Huh, 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?”

  “I 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 trailed down below Sophie’s knees. And she had managed to make the top, which had obviously been designed for someone with a large chest, a better fit for her almost nonexistent boobs. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to make the cat-vomit yellow stop clashing with her pale hair, but at least she no longer looked like a little girl who had just raided her big sister’s closet.

  “Great, so let’s get out there,” Melissa said as they hurried back onto the court, where Miss Carson was blowing her whistle.

  “Quiet, please, ladies,” the coach called out as all the wannabe cheerleaders crowded around her. “Melissa’s going to take you through a warm-up, and then we’ll start the tryouts. Clear?”

  Everyone nodded and formed three lines while Melissa marched to the front. Sophie managed to find a spot as far toward the back as she could and took a deep breath. So far her plan was working, but it really all hung on how good her transcendental wishing skills were. Before she could worry, Melissa clapped her hands and started the warm-ups.

  Ten minutes later, despite her panting, Sophie couldn’t help but conceal a grin since normally she couldn’t manage more than ten lunges in a row, but thanks to her wishing skills, she had done thirty. Even Miss Carson had looked impressed. But real proof was going to be when she did her own routine.r />
  Thankfully, she had managed to get last in line, which meant that she could watch everyone else and study their moves. Finally, it was her turn. She was just about to start when Melissa hurried over to her.

  “Hey, I just want to wish you luck.” Melissa grinned.

  “You do?” Sophie widened her eyes, still not quite able to take in the personality change in Jonathan’s twin sister.

  “Don’t look so surprised,” Melissa said as she reached out and smoothed down Sophie’s uniform. Then her face wrinkled in concern. “Oh, you forgot to take your watch and jewelry off.”

  Sophie looked at her blankly. “Was I supposed to?”

  “Um, yeah.” Melissa nodded her head. “The reason Donna broke her leg was because her foot got caught around a necklace that Amber Smith was wearing, so now it’s a new rule. And since Miss Carson came up with the rule, she might take points off if you ignore it.”

  Sophie quickly started to tug at her watch and her other jewelry and passed them over to Melissa. “Will you hold them for me while I do the tryout?”

  “Of course I will.” Melissa beamed. “Anything to help you make the team.” Then she walked back to the judging table, where she and the other cheerleaders were sitting. Once she was gone Sophie loosened her shoulders and headed to the center of the floor. She took a deep breath before she concentrated on visualizing herself doing the routine. She could do this.

  She was a strong and positive person. Not to mention a djinn. She was going to nail this routine. For herself. For Jonathan. And for her dad.

  She grinned as a familiar tingle went racing through her and she felt her physical body and the image in her mind merge into one. The music started, and Sophie made her first move. Her body twisted and prepared to turn andthen…she felt herself fall into an undignified heap on the floor.

  Okay, so that definitely wasn’t part of the plan. She tried to ignore the laughter that was springing up from all around her. Instead, she focused on getting to her feet and trying to redo the move. However, despite visualizing every step, the second time she attempted the turn she fell to the ground even harder.

  “Right, Sophie, well, that was an interesting routine.” Miss Carson blew her whistle to signal that the tryouts were over. “Thank you to everyone who came out today. We’ll be posting the name of the new member outside my office tomorrow.”

  Without another word Miss Carson headed toward the exit as Harvey came racing over.

  “Are you okay? What happened?”

  “I’ve got no idea.” Sophie shook her head as she awkwardly got to her feet. “I mean, one minute everything was perfect, and then suddenly it wasn’t. I guess I haven’t quite mastered the transcendental conjuring stuff after all.”

  “I knew this was a bad idea,” he reminded her before letting out a sigh. “But don’t beat yourself up about it. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “Worse than humiliating myself in front of the entire school?” Sophie raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, first of all, it wasn’t the entire school, it was about twenty people; and second, it could’ve happened in front of the Djinn Council,” he pointed out.

  “You’re right. I can’t believe I lost my focus like that.” Sophie flushed as she realized she had been so concerned about Jonathan and trying to make Melissa like her that she had forgotten about fine-tuning her skills. “I wonder if we have time to go see Malik before next period? Maybe he can tell me why my routine didn’t work.”

  “If it involves leaving the gym, then I’m all for it,” Harvey said as they headed for the exit. Sophie glanced at her watch, only to realize it wasn’t there. She let out a groan.

  “Oh, man, I forgot to get my stuff from Melissa. I had to take all my jewelry off and give it to her just before I did my routine. I’ll be only a second,” Sophie said as she hurried back to the table where the cheerleaders had been sitting.

  Sophie waited until Melissa closed the folder she had been writing in, and when she looked up, Sophie gave her a little wave. However, instead of returning it, Melissa stared right through her before standing up and heading for the exit.

  “Hey, wait up,” Sophie puffed as she hurried to catch up with Melissa and her long legs.

  “I beg your pardon?” Melissa suddenly stopped and turned around, her brown eyes narrowed and menacing and her tone dripping with icicles. “Are you speaking to me?”

  “Er.” Sophie paused and blinked for a moment as she realized that she had been a bit premature to think that Melissa had started to like her. Was this because she had screwed up the tryouts? Then she remembered that she had more important things to worry about. Like learning to nail her magic so she could impress the Djinn Council. “Um, yeah, I wanted to get my jewelry back from you. I gave you two rings, a bracelet, my watch, and, of course, the necklace with my Neanderthal Joe guitar pick on it.”

  “Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Melissa shrugged before she folded her arms tightly in front of her chest.

  For a moment Sophie just stared at the other girl as she tried to figure out what was going on. And what had Harvey told her about arm folding being a declaration of war? A prickle of alarm went racing through her.

  “B-but you do. I gave them to you. Right before I did my routine,” Sophie reminded her as she thought how much she loved her guitar pick. Granted, she didn’t think it was a good-luck charm like Ben Griggs did, but it still symbolized when she and Jonathan had first had their moment.

  “I don’t think so.” Melissa shot her a blank look as she flicked her perfect blonde hair over one shoulder and started to inspect her fingernails. “Oh, but come to think of it, now that you don’t have that stupid guitar pick, you’ll no longer have an excuse to hang all over my boyfriend. Gee, that’s too bad.”

  “Is that what this is about?” Sophie widened her eyes as she started to understand what was going on. “The guitar pick? Because I thought I explained that it wasn’t my fault that Ben keeps wanting to touch it. I even tried to talk him out of it before because I didn’t want to make you mad.”

  “Really?” Melissa gave a disinterested sniff. “Well, unfortunately, I don’t believe you. Still, now that you no longer have it, I guess it’s not a problem.”

  Sophie stared at her. “But what happened to the whole trying to get along with me because I’m a friend of Jonathan’s?”

  “Please, you’re so gullible.” Melissa rolled her eyes. “Now seriously, I need to go, because talking to you is giving me a headache.”

  “You are unbelievable! If you think for a minute that I’m going to let you keep my guitar pick, then you’ve got another think coming. Besides, Jonathan told me that you don’t even like Neanderthal Joe. Now I want you to give me back all of my stuff right now.”

  “Um, I don’t think so. Even if I did have them—which I don’t—what could you possibly do to make me change my mind?”

  “Let’s just say that you don’t want to find out,” Sophie retorted as a flash of annoyance went racing through her. Honestly, she was tempted to give Melissa a hooknose and split ends, but as she glanced over to the door, she realized that Harvey was impatiently waiting for her. Fine. Instead, she looked directly into Melissa’s dark eyes. “I wish you would give all of my jewelry back to me.”

  As she spoke a familiar tingle went racing through her. Ha. Suck on that, Melissa Tait, Sophie thought as she held out her hand so she could retrieve her stuff. However, after a moment she realized that Melissa was just staring at her. Okay, so that was weird. This time Sophie closed her eyes and concentrated.

  “I really wish that you would give me my stuff back.” Again there was the familiar tingle, but instead of the wish manifesting itself like it normally did, Melissa just narrowed her eyes and glared.

  “Okay, since you seem to be particularly stupid today, let me spell it out for you. Not. Going. To. Happen. Oh, and FYI, whatever little tricks you’ve been doing to impress people aren’t going to work anymore. Do you und
erstand me?”

  Then, without another word, Melissa marched out of the gym. As soon as she was gone, Harvey ran over, and this time Kara was with him.

  “Harvey told me what happened. You poor thing.” Kara gave her a hug, her pale green eyes full of concern. “I knew I should’ve come here instead of going to the stupid audition. Anyway, Harvey seemed to think that Melissa looked angry, though I’m pretty sure that she always looks like that. Is everything okay?”

  “No, everything’s not okay.” Sophie shook her head in disbelief. “Melissa Tait won’t give me back my stuff. It’s because she’s annoyed that Ben keeps wanting to touch the guitar pick. But that’s no reason to steal it from me. I mean it’s Eddie Henry’s guitar pick. I can’t believe she thinks that she can just keep it.”

  “So why didn’t you just wish for her to give them back?” Harvey pushed his long bangs out of his eyes.

  “I did.” Sophie tried not to panic. “But for some strange reason it didn’t work. I-I think my magic’s gone.”

  10

  WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S GONE?” HARVEY BLINKED a few minutes later as they all huddled together in the janitor’s closet. “How can it just be gone?”

  “I don’t know.” Sophie shot him a helpless look.

  “Okay, so the important thing is not to panic,” Harvey said in a panicked voice.

  “Look,” Kara chimed in, “I’m sure there’s a completely logical explanation for all of this. Maybe Malik forgot to tell Sophie that there’s a limit on how much magic she could use in one day? I mean, that totally sounds like something he would do.”

  “Actually, it does,” Harvey said, looking a bit less worried.

  “None of this is helping me,” Sophie pointed out. “Especially since Malik isn’t here.” She clapped her hands, but there was no sign of the djinn ghost. “Where is he?”