Under a Spell

by Amanda Ashby

“Fine. Just mind your manners, and don’t try to make Jessica play shark the entire time,” their mom lectured.

  “But she likes it,” Meg assured her before racing out of the room and thundering down the stairs and out the back door.

  “Well, that was easy. So what about you? Would you like to come with me?” her mom asked as she went over to the window to watch Meg scramble over the back fence and into the Daltons’ yard.

  “Actually, I’m not sure.” Sophie’s mood immediately plummeted as she remembered that today was when she was meant to be going to see the Djinn Council. Except, thanks to her losing her magic, she couldn’t go. However, the idea of going to see her mom’s ex-boss Mr. Rivers didn’t exactly fill her with excitement. She’d have just as much fun sitting in her room sulking.

  Her mom frowned as she cleared some clean laundry off Sophie’s computer chair and sat down. “Is everything okay? You don’t seem quite yourself this morning, and you were quiet last night at dinner, too. And while I understand how upset you were about throwing away your father’s old things, I thought you would be a lot happier now.”

  Sophie felt her bottom lip start to tremble, and she took a deep breath to pull herself together. “I’m fine. I mean, I am happy. It’s just I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

  For a moment her mom paused and started to study Sophie’s face thoughtfully. “Is this about the conversation we had the other day? When you were asking me if anyone had ever hated me?”

  Sophie blinked for a moment in confusion before she realized her mom was talking about back when Melissa Tait had been just annoying, rather than been able to control Sophie’s every move, and in turn ruin her life.

  “Unfortunately, she still hates me.” Sophie sighed, since really that was at the heart of everything.

  “Well, have you tried to talk to her?”

  “It’s not that simple.” Sophie studied her fingers and tried to remember what her djinn ring even looked like. “She isn’t exactly the kind of girl who likes to talk. Besides, it’s too late.”

  “Sophie.” Her mom looked at her in surprise. “That’s not like you. What happened to your positive thinking? You’re always the one who reminds me that we can change the world with our thoughts. And look what happened with the studio. You told me that a few days could make all the difference, and you were right. It’s part of your magic.”

  Sophie felt her lip start to tremble again. “Trust me, Mom. I don’t have any magic. I wish I did. Maybe then things would be different.”

  “You know your father always said that real magic happened here,” her mom said as she touched her heart, and Sophie looked up sharply.

  “D-dad talked to you about magic?”

  “Well, not about real magic, obviously,” her mom conceded, sounding quite surprised. “But yes, he did mention it from time to time. He said that people think magic is a physical thing that comes from the mind, but he thought it was heartfelt. Like how you got Meg and Jessica talking again. Your father would’ve said that was true magic.” Then for a moment her voice wavered. “He also used to say that you and your sister were the two greatest pieces of magic he had ever done. Of course, I tried to tell him that I did all the hard work, but, well…” her mom trailed off, and for a moment they were both silent.

  Sophie tried to make sense of what her mom had just told her. Not all magic was djinn magic. Some magic came from the heart.

  Well, Sophie might not have her djinn ring anymore, but she still had a heart. For a moment she mulled over the possibility. Could she really fix this without djinn magic? Suddenly Sophie glanced at the time and jumped to her feet. She had no idea if she really could do it, but as a positive person she knew that she had to give it one final try.

  Melissa had said she would be at cheerleading practice in the gym, and while Sophie had no idea what time it was going until, she figured that was the best place to start. Of course, if Melissa wasn’t there, Sophie would be in trouble since she was due at the Djinn Council in an hour. But she would deal with that later.

  “Actually, would you mind driving me to school on your way to Mr. Rivers’s shop?” Sophie said as she grabbed a hoodie. “There’s a big practice with the cheerleaders and basketball players going on.”

  “Cheerleading and basketball?” Her mom raised a surprised eyebrow, but Sophie just shrugged. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s really going on?”

  “It’s really long and complicated, but I sort of need to get there quickly. There’s some magic that I need to do.”

  “I have no idea what I just managed to get across to you, but I’m pleased it worked.” Her mom quickly got to her feet.

  “It hasn’t yet,” Sophie said as they both rushed downstairs. From outside they could see that Meg was happily sitting in the Daltons’ kitchen giving what appeared to be detailed directions on how to frost a shark cake. Sophie’s mom exchanged a nod that seemed to contain a lot of information with Mrs. Dalton, and then she briskly walked to the car. Sophie gratefully followed her.

  The Saturday morning traffic was light, and Sophie wasn’t sure if it was because of the affirmation she was doing in her mind or because the traffic lights had a mind of their own, but they managed to hit only green lights the whole way over. In no time her mom was pulling the old Toyota up in front of Robert Robertson Middle School.

  “Okay, so I’ll go and see Max now, and I’ll be back in an hour to collect you. Will that be enough time?”

  “I hope so. And thanks, Mom,” Sophie said before she gave her mom a fierce hug. “Wish me luck.”

  “You don’t need luck, Sophie. You never have.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Sophie said as she jumped out of the car and raced toward the school. It didn’t take her long to run down the empty hallways until she finally reached the gym. The sound of sneakers squeaking on the wooden floors and the dissonant echo of cheerleaders practicing their calls rang out as Sophie pushed the door open, which meant that the practice wasn’t over yet. Well, that was good news, since this would definitely be harder to do if Melissa and Ben weren’t there. Not that she really had any idea what she was going to do—she just had to believe that it would work.

  She scanned the room, and out of habit her eyes immediately found Jonathan. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see him, but she could tell he was there by the way her hand immediately flew up to her eyes. Sophie felt her good mood plummet. Part of her longed to go over to him and explain the whole lousy situation. Unfortunately, thanks to Melissa’s earlier command, her feet stayed welded to the wooden floor. This was so annoying. Then she thought of what her mom had said.

  Her dad believed there was other magic, more powerful than what a djinn could do. Suddenly, Sophie had an idea, and she fumbled around in her pocket with her spare hand until she found her iPod. She held it up in the air and waved at him. “Song number three,” she called to him, not even sure if he was looking at her. And even if he was looking, would he know that she was talking about song number three on the playlist he’d given her? It was a Neanderthal Joe song called “Same Old Me,” about a girl who goes away to college. At the start it looks like she’s changed a lot, but underneath she’s still the same skater girl in love with the boy next door.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” a voice suddenly said, and Sophie felt her fingers come away from her face just in time to see Melissa standing before her. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was looking as stylish and icy as ever in her cheerleading outfit. “I thought I told you to—”

  “Enough.” Sophie put her iPod back in her pocket and then held up her hand to stop Melissa from making any more commands. “I think you’ve done far too much talking, so for once I want you to shut up and listen. But first I need to find Ben.”

  “He’s over there.” Melissa sulkily pointed. “But he won’t come over. He hasn’t even looked at me once this morning. Not even when I did a backflip. And trust me, my flips are worthy of attention.” />
  “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,” Sophie retorted as she grabbed Melissa’s hand and marched her over to where Ben was practicing his shooting.

  “Hey, Campbell, have you heard the latest?” he demanded. “It’s not bad enough that Coach is benching me for one game, now he’s thinking of benching me for the entire season. Not just because of the Spanish quiz but because I can’t get the ball in the hoop. Everything’s gone south since she touched the guitar pick and ruined it.” Then he shot the ball, and it hit the side of the hoop before dropping to the ground. “See? Jinxed.”

  “I keep telling you, you moron, if anyone jinxed you, Sophie did. Because—”

  “Enough,” Sophie suddenly commanded as she glared at both of them in annoyance. If it wasn’t for these two, she wouldn’t be avoiding Jonathan and she would be on her way to the Djinn Council to find out about her dad. Yet all they could do was stand there and blame each other. “You know what, Ben? Melissa is right. The only thing lucky about the guitar pick was that my favorite guitarist from my favorite band gave it to me. And you know the other reason I love it? Because Jonathan was there with me when it happened. So the only person that it meant anything to was me. To the rest of the world, it’s just a piece of plastic that doesn’t have any more magic in it than the stuffed ocelot that’s the school mascot.”

  “See?” Melissa shot him a smug smile that Sophie ignored as she turned to Jonathan’s twin sister.

  “And you’re not much better. So what if your boyfriend wants to touch my guitar pick? There’s no reason to steal all of my jewelry and ruin my life just because you were jealous of something so ridiculous.”

  “But—” They both started to protest at once, but Sophie shook her head.

  “No buts,” Sophie admonished as she turned to Ben. “Now, you’re going to pick up that basketball and shoot three hoops; if they all go in, then you’re going to turn to Melissa and apologize for being such a muffin head. And you”—Sophie shifted her focus to Melissa—“are going to stop trying to meddle in things. He either likes you or he doesn’t, but trust me, you can’t make it happen just because you want it to happen. Are we clear?”

  “No, because it’s stupid. For a start, he’s been missing the hoop all morning, so what makes you think he’s going to get it in now?” Melissa folded her arms and poked out her bottom lip in a sulk.

  “Because there’s no such thing as good luck or bad luck. It’s all down to Ben, and since he likes you and he doesn’t want to screw up anymore, he’s going to make the shots. Isn’t that right, Ben?”

  “Well, I did like her before she put the jinx on me,” he admitted before Sophie raised her eyebrows at him. “Fine. I’ll shoot the stupid hoops.”

  At that moment Jonathan threw a basketball to him from across the court. Sophie didn’t dare look at him because she didn’t want to embarrass herself any further. Instead, she watched as Ben caught the ball and halfheartedly lined it up. He took the shot, and it went straight into the hoop without even hitting the backboard. Melissa made a small gasping noise.

  “Huh.” Ben seemed surprised as someone else threw him a second ball. This time he bounced it three times and then aimed and shot. Again, it went straight through the hoop. “Okay, did you see that? It went in twice, and I’m standing at the halfway line. I mean, seriously. It went in twice.”

  “Aren’t you going to try to get it the third time?” Melissa asked in a surprisingly soft voice, but Ben shook his head as he shot her a goofy look.

  “Actually, I don’t think I need to. I think I get what Sophie was saying. I was dumb to think you were jinxing me; obviously, you’re the one who was bringing me good luck.”

  Sophie stared at him. Had he not just heard her speech? There was no such thing as good luck—the only reason the ball had gone in was because he had wanted it to. However, before she could say anything, Melissa let out a distinctly goofy-sounding sigh.

  “Really?” Melissa squeaked as she stepped toward him.

  “Really,” he said as he moved closer to her. They both seemed completely oblivious to the fact that they were standing in the middle of the Robert Robertson Memorial basketball courts about to kiss. Then Sophie wrinkled her nose. If they were about to kiss, did that mean she had—

  “Oh, by the way, Sophie,” Melissa’s voice suddenly broke through her thoughts. “You can have this back. Costume jewelry is so last year.” And without another word she tossed an apple-shaped, rhinestone-studded ring into the air and turned her attention back to Ben. Sophie gasped as she held out her hands to catch it. Unlike when she tried to catch a basketball, she managed to grab the ring without even fumbling.

  As she slid it back on her finger she felt a surge of energy go racing through her. She looked at the time. It was one minute to ten, so without another word Sophie hurried from the gymnasium and clapped her hands for Malik to appear. She had done it.

  16

  OKAY, SO TELL ME WHAT THEY SAID. DID THE BIG ONE with the big spotty nose chew on her lip? Because that’s a really bad sign, since whenever she chews her lip, some djinn gets beheaded. Oh, and did you remember to say ‘thank you’? And please, please, please, tell me that you didn’t make any jokes, because the Djinn Council has absolutely no sense of humor whatsoever.”

  “Malik.” Sophie put a reassuring hand on his arm as they sat in the waiting room of the Djinn Council chambers. Well, it was where his arm was supposed to be, but since he was actually a ghost, it felt like she was patting thin air. “You don’t need to worry.”

  “Of course I need to worry,” he insisted. “Especially since they wouldn’t even let me go into the chamber with you in case I tried to help you. It’s like they don’t trust me.”

  Sophie resisted the urge to grin as she reassured him. “I did everything you told me to do. I said thank you to all of them, and then I performed three different magical feats, including a very cool transcendental thing where I made one of the chairs do backflips all the way across the room. While I was sitting in it. And you know, if I do say so myself, I think it went pretty well.”

  “Yes, but that’s just what they want you to think. It’s the oldest trick in the djinn book,” he said as he twiddled his thumbs and once again anxiously looked around the room. “Be nice and kind to the newbie, and then wham bam, you find yourself sent to Siberia with only a very lightweight polar fleece for protection. And why are they taking so long to decide?” Malik protested as he glanced at the large clock on the wall.

  Unfortunately, it had three faces and twelve hands, and Sophie didn’t have a clue what it said. As for her own watch, which Melissa had finally given back, it said that it was only one minute after ten, even though she was sure they had been there for at least an hour. Malik had tried to explain how time worked differently in the djinn dimension, but as far as Sophie was concerned, his explanation sounded a bit too much like something her math teacher might say, so she had zoned out.

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head as she thought back to her interview. Her first shock had been to discover that the reason Malik had often described the Djinn Council as a bunch of old women was because they were, in fact, a bunch of old women. They also were just as scary as he had led her to believe. But funnily enough, after having to spend the last few days dealing with Melissa Tait and her arctic gazes, Sophie hadn’t felt remotely scared. And as for the demonstrations they’d asked her to do? Well, even though it had been a while since she’d used any magic, she quickly discovered that it was just like riding a bike, but without the ugly helmet or the uncomfortable seat.

  “Well, I do,” Malik continued, still looking agitated. “It’s because they’d decided to say no, and you know what? That’s not good enough. In fact, I think I’m going to go in there and give them a piece of my mind right now. So what if I’m not the most fabulous djinn who was ever created from smokeless fire, I’m still Malik the Great, and that has to stand for something. Oh, and you know, they’d better not hold the whole getting-bo
und thing against you, because I’ll tell you what, the way you managed to negotiate your way out of that was pure genius. In fact, you could probably even manage to get yourself unbound from Sheterum himself, and furthermore—”

  “Who’s Sheterum?” Sophie blinked, trying to keep up with Malik’s rambling, as her grip tightened on the small silver box that her dad had given her and which was now perched in her lap.

  “What?” Malik paused for a moment and gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Oh, he’s this techno-sahir who uses the Internet to track down and bind djinns. Hateful fellow. Almost up there with Solomon. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, if they think for one minute that they can—”

  “Er, Malik.” Sophie tried to nudge him as one of the old women from the Djinn Council suddenly floated out, holding a piece of paper. However, since he was noncorporeal, her nudge didn’t work, and he kept on talking.

  “No, I mean it, Sophie. Even though you didn’t know I was on the basketball court with you because I was invisible, I heard the whole speech you gave to Melissa and Ben, and it was very moving. Especially the part where you told them what the guitar pick meant to you. The way you were emoting. You know, they could make that into a movie—oh, and Zac Efron could play me. Plus—”

  The old woman djinn was now glaring at Malik through a pair of thick bifocals as she made a clicking noise with her false teeth.

  “Seriously, Malik, enough.” Sophie tried to catch his attention again, this time by waving her hand in front of his face. “I think the waiting is over.”

  “What?” He blinked for a moment before he glanced over to where the old woman was still hovering. His lip curled in distaste. “Oh, it’s you, Farizad. I should’ve known.”

  “Malik.” The old woman gave a curt nod of her head. “I can see that death hasn’t stopped you from mouthing off at all. Anyway, the council has made a decision, so if Sophie, daughter of Tariq, would like to come with me, she can hear it.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t try and stop me from coming in this time, because I won’t stand for it. As her djinn guide I have a right to be there, and you’d better not try to stop me, Farizad, because we’re not in Persia anymore.” Malik poked his bottom lip out much the way he did when Sophie wouldn’t conjure him up any more Cheetos.