“What! What just happened?” Grace whispered.
“OMG . . . oh my . . . that keeps happening.” April looked down at the ground. Geez, I thought me turning on the fan by just thinking about it the other day was just a fluke.
“What do you mean ‘that’?” Grace asked, using her fingers as quotation marks.
“I keep thinking about something small . . . like . . . like turning on the fan or closing the door. Then, poof! The door closed on its own. You saw it . . .”
Grace took a deep breath. “April, I have an idea. But you have to trust me.”
April stared at Grace. “Ok.”
“You know the new girl in school, Eve?” Grace asked.
“Yeah. Eve LaRue, right? She rides our bus. Eve was a few rows away from Austin and me this afternoon.”
“She may be able to help us.”
“How?” April raised one eyebrow.
“Well, she told me something,” Grace whispered. “Remember, that day last week when you were sick? I ate lunch with Eve. I asked her where she was from. She said Nor Leans, Louisiana. She said her dad got a new job, so that’s why they moved up here.”
“I wish you would have introduced us before,” said April. “Then, I would have sat with her on the bus. And, NONE of this would have happened. Austin wouldn’t have been making fun of my glasses, I wouldn’t be thinking about maybe being a witch, and I wouldn’t be freaking out about my mom and dad finding me with Austin—who’s a DOG!”
“Chillax, April. Try to—”
“Sorry. I am trying to chill out and relax.” April threw her head back and let out a loud sigh.
“So . . .” Grace continued, “when I got home, I was bored. I searched online about Nor Leans, Louisiana. I found out that a lot of French people live there. And it has a weird spelling N-E-W O-R-L-E-A-N-S.”
April smiled. “Thanks for the social studies report.”
“AND,” Grace continued, “a lot of witches live there.”
April rolled her eyes and jumped off the bed. “Boy, you can tell long stories,” she mumbled under her breath. She started playing with the nose of one of the teddy bears sitting on top of Grace’s bookshelf. He was brown. His fur was mostly soft with a few spots. He looked as if she had fallen asleep on him a few times with her mouth open.
“So, the next day at gym,” Grace continued, “I asked Eve about New Orleans and I told her about what I found online. Then, Eve whispered in my ear that her grandma was a witch doctor.”
“Really!” April looked at Grace, wide-eyed in amazement.
Grace nodded. “Yep.”
“OK?” April stopped walking around her room and shrugged. “So, how does that help us now? What should I do?”
eleven
“Nada.” Grace was taking Spanish this year. She tried to use it every day. “Let’s call Eve and ask her what to do. After gym, I got her number so we could hang out sometime, maybe to come over to paint nails and watch movies, like we always do.”
Grace dialed. She put the phone on speaker.
“Hello?” said a girl’s voice.
Grace turned the volume down on her phone. “Hello, may I speak to Eve?”
“This is she.”
“Hi, Eve. This is Grace . . . from school. Remember me?”
“Oh, yeah. How you doin’?”
“I’m good. I’m calling with my friend April. She also goes to school—”
“Arf.” Austin let out a quiet bark.
“Austin, be quiet,” April said, trying to muzzle him. He growled.
“Do you have a puppy?” Eve asked.
“Well, uh, that is why we are calling you.” Grace swallowed. “Remember how you told me about your grandmother? Well, April sort of turned her brother into a dog.”
“Oh my!” Eve gasped. “How did you do that? Was it your fairy godmother?” She chuckled.
April’s hands started to shake. A lump grew in her throat. “Well . . . I found this spell online that I, um, tried and poof! It worked.” She swallowed. “Since your grandma was a witch healer we thought maybe you could help us—”
“Wow.” Eve sounded amazed. “Maybe you have ‘the gift.’ And, I reckon you mean ‘witch doctor.’” She laughed. “Yeah, I’ll help ya’ll out.” She had a little accent.
“Thank you, Eve!” April said happily. “But what is ‘the gift’?”
“So, April, my grand-mère was a witch doctor,” Eve said.
“Your . . . who?” April asked, scratching her head.
“I should explain. Grand-mère is ‘grandma’ in French. Many people in my family speak French.”
“Remember, April? I told you a lot of French people live in New Orleans!” Grace said.
“I get that. I’m not that slow. Eve just seems so . . . uh . . . normal and . . . well the witch doctors I’ve seen in movies—”
Eve laughed. “Movies also have talking animals.” The girls laughed. Austin’s groan sounded like a laugh. The girls laughed harder.
“So, my grand-mère has a spell book,” Eve said. “I found it one day. My mom sent me down to the gross basement. It’s dark and . . . ewww! Anyway, April, my grand-mère said if you can do spells, then you have a gift.”
“WHAT?” April shrugged her shoulders.
“She said gifts can be fun and exciting, but they also bring a lot of responsibility,” Eve said. “And, if you are not careful, they can bring big problems. But, that the universe gives us all blessings. This may be a gift you have.”
“So, my gift may be that I am a witch?”
twelve
“Yep. You may be a witch. So you can do spells like this one,” Eve said.
“OH NO! OH NO!!! I will NEVER do anything like this again. I’ve learned my lesson,” April said, staring at Austin. “I like experiments. BUT, I kind of . . . uh . . . miss my brother. I won’t say those words EVER again. AND, I’m scared about what Mom and Dad might do to me if they find out.”
“Well, let’s meet here tomorrow morning. Eve, can you bring your spell book?” Grace asked.
“Yes ma’am,” Eve said with her polite Southern accent.
Grace looked at April. “Actually, let’s meet at April’s house, since my brother will be here.”
“Good idea, Genius Galapagos,” April chimed in.
“OK,” said Eve, “I’ll be over in the morning with the spell book.”
“Arf,” Austin quietly barked.
“Perfect. I guess Austin agrees, too,” April said, sitting back down on the bed. She tucked Austin under her arm.
The girls laughed.
“Oh NO!” She jumped off the bed again.
“April, what’s wrong?” Grace asked.
She pointed to the clock “Look! It’s already five o’clock.”
“Uh oh,” Grace said. “Oh my gosh! Austin is supposed to get out of practice soon . . . in less than an hour.”
“We don’t have much time,” April said as the blood rushed to her face.
“How are you going to get through tonight . . . with Austin . . . as a dog?”
“Oh! I have an idea,” Eve said.
“Please share. We need all the help we can get,” Grace said, looking at the clock.
“Your brothers are best friends, too, right?”
“Yes,” they replied together.
“Grace, ask your mother if April can sleepover. Then get your mother’s cell phone and text April’s mom, asking if both April and Austin can sleepover. That will get you time until tomorrow. You just have to hide Austin tonight.”
April and Grace exhaled. Grace’s smile grew bigger and bigger. “I know just how we can do it.”
“Eve, you are SUPER smart!” April said, grinning. “Tomorrow, we will turn Austin from white and fluffy to brown haired and scruffy. I hope.” She tried to keep the smile on her face. “Eve, we will see you tomorrow morning. Be here early, ok?”
“Yes ma’am,” Eve said. “See ya’ll in the morning.”
They hung up.
Grace quickly moved her eyes to meet April’s. “OK . . . here’s the plan . . . I’ll go downstairs and ask my mom if you can sleepover. You come downstairs and go into the dining room. She leaves her purse on the table, and she keeps her cell phone in the side pocket. Grab it. Then, we’ll come upstairs. Sound good?”
“But, what do we do with Austin?” April asked, looking at the little white dog.
He looks so sad and depressed, she thought. I don’t think he has lain still like this since . . . well . . . ever! I am such a horrible sister. What kind of sister turns their brother into a dog? I can’t believe I got myself into this mess.
“Let’s put him back in the closet,” Grace said.
April gently placed him on the closet floor, giving him a farewell pat on the head. “I’ll be right back.” She stood up. “Oh geez!” she said as she grabbed Grace’s trashcan. She started digging through it, taking out all the used paper and napkins.
Grace’s eyes bulged. “WHAT are you doing?”
April shooed the shoes out of the front corner of the closet. She feverishly flattened the papers on top of each other and placed them in the corner. “Just in case he has to go potty: a little wee-wee pad.”
As April closed the closet door, leaned her back against it, and stared off into the distance.
OMG! This REALLY could backfire on me. What if my parents find out? I would never—and I mean NEVER—see the light of day again. Forget sleepovers. Forget dances. Forget ever learning to drive. Forget life . . .
April blinked hard. She took the phone from Grace and started texting her mother.
thirteen
“I’m going to ask if I can stay over to eat pizza and sleep over,” April told Grace as she typed out the text message. “So, when we text from your mom’s phone, my mom will just say, ‘Yeah, sure.’”
“Oh. Good idea,” Grace said as they sat on the edge of her bed.
“Mom,” April said aloud as she was texting, “can I stay at Grace’s house for pizza? And, can I sleep over? Thx.” She hit send.
“Now we have to go downstairs and get my mother’s phone,” said Grace. “Do you remember what I told you?”
April was still looking at the phone’s screen. “’Bout what?”
“Hello? Earth to April . . . About where the phone is?”
Gosh. First, I lied to my mother. Now I’m planning to steal Mrs. Galapagos’s phone. April lifted her head and fixed her glasses. “Oh, yeah. On the dining room table . . . in her purse, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Who knew I’d be getting quizzed over here?” April said, rolling her eyes.
“Come on.” Grace grabbed April’s hand and pulled her to the door. April left the phone on Grace’s bed.
They tiptoed down the stairs. One stair, two stairs, three stairs . . . creak. Creak! CREAK!
“Shhh,” Grace said quietly, her finger over her mouth.
“I’m trying. You’re being loud, too.”
“Hello? Girls?” Grace’s mom called. They could hear Mrs. Galapagos’s steps getting closer to the stairs.
“Come on,” April said, walking faster.
She has to stay in the kitchen. If she stays in the kitchen, she can’t see me digging through her purse on the dining room table. She would have to walk really close to the doorway to see me digging through her bag. April’s stomach churned and did flips.
They reached the bottom of the stairs. April’s heart thumped so loudly she put her hand on it, hoping that would slow it down. Grace turned as her mom passed through the kitchen doorway, and quickly walked to meet her mother before she entered the dining room. April slowly strolled behind her.
“Mom, do weee . . .” Grace cleared her throat to stop her voice from cracking. “Do we have any juice?” She looked at the refrigerator.
“Oh, yes. Would you girls like some?” Her mother turned around and walked farther into the kitchen, with Grace behind her. As her mother turned her back, Grace whipped around to look at April. Wide-eyed, she dramatically pointed toward the purse on the dining room table.
April narrowed her eyes on the bag. Her heart thumped harder and harder with each step she took. She straightened out her glasses and closed her mouth. Her lips were chapped from breathing through her mouth. She swallowed hard. She licked her lips. April opened the purse.
Please, oh please let it be where Grace said it would be . . . Is it here? Side pocket, right?
April heard Grace and her mother talking in the kitchen.
“Yes, please,” Grace said, standing right behind her mother.
Her mother opened the refrigerator. “Would you like apple or white grape?”
“Ummm. I don’t know. Uh, oh yeah, and can April sleep over?”
“Did you ask your mom if you can sleep over, April?” April heard Mrs. Galapagos ask loudly.
“OH! I’ll take WHITE GRAPE and um . . . April is apple’s favorite. I mean, I mean, apple is April’s favorite.” Grace chuckled.
“Uh, ok.”
April heard the refrigerator door close. She heard footsteps coming back toward the dining room.
“April did you talk to your mo—”
“Oh, Mom! Can, um, can we, um . . .” Grace muttered.
The footsteps stopped. “Sweetie, are you okay?” April heard Mrs. Galapagos ask.
“Yes . . . yes . . . I’m fine,” Grace said nervously.
“YEP!” April jumped into the doorway so they both could see her, a smile plastered on her face. “I asked my mom. She said ‘yes’ as long as you say okay.”
Grace smiled back and took the juice boxes from her mom’s hands. “Thanks, Mom. So, can she? Please, please, please?”
“Sure,” her mother said, bending down to give Grace a kiss on her forehead.
“Thanks!” said Grace.
The girls ran up the stairs, into Grace’s room, and closed the door behind them.
fourteen
The girls were both breathing heavily from running up the stairs. “I . . . got it,” April panted. She bent over to pull up the leg of her jeans and slid down her pink sock. She grabbed the phone and stood up.
“Ta-da!” She tried to smile and catch her breath at the same time. “How awesome . . . am I?”
Grace took the phone. “OK . . . fingers crossed that this works.”
April crossed her pointer and middle finger, then her ring finger and pinky. “Yep.”
“Hi Abbey,” said Grace as she texted, “can April and Austin stay over for pizza and a sleepover?” Grace hit send.
Each time April blinked felt like an eternity. They stared at the phone. Silence.
Grace swallowed. “Ya know, Eve’s grandma may be right.”
“’Bout what? Having a gift?”
“Yep. I mean . . . remember the door? You may be able to do other stuff. Like last week when my dress was tucked into my tights by accident after I left the bathroom. ’Member that?”
April smirked. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. She was SO traumatized.
Grace continued, “Do you know how many kids screamed ‘fail’ and ‘loser’? I seriously wished I were invisible. But, as much as I wished for it—nada! But YOU wanted the door to close, and you did it. You wanted Austin to stop picking on you and . . . POOF!” Grace threw her arms in the air. “Now he is smaller than my grandmother’s mop. And, you turned on your fan in your bedroom just by thinking about it.” She ended her speech by putting her hands on her hips and nodding her head.
“Ok . . .” April wiped her sweaty hand on her pants. “But, I don’t want to get into a mess like this again.”
“I know. But, think about what WE could do,” Grace said, smiling.
“We?”
“Yeah! You, me, and Eve can fix stuff.” Her smile stretched from ear to ear.
“What kind of stuff?” April asked.
“I don’t know . . . uh . . . we could make sure all the puppies at the pound get a home. Uh . . . we . . . could . . . Oh! You could get
Ms. Meanie back for giving you that detention. You could make her come to school looking like a clown. Imagine it! Her makeup painted all over her face.”
They both laughed.
“But, what if something goes wrong again?” April asked.
“We’ll have Eve’s book,” said Grace. “What else could possibly go wrong?”
fifteen
Ding. Ding.
April looked down at the bed. She saw she had a text message and quickly picked up her phone.
She read aloud, “Sure honey. See you tomorrow. YES!” April threw back her head.
“Cool. Now text her and ask if Eve can come over tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, yes,” April said, feverishly texting and focused.
Thx Mom! Can a new friend Eve come over 4 a playdate in the morning? <3
Buzz. Buzz.
“Oh your mother texted back,” Grace said, opening the message on Mrs. Galapagos’s phone and showing it to April.
Sure Rita. If you want, I will take the next sleepover. J
“YES!” Grace and April screamed. They jumped up and down.
BAM! The front door slammed.
“Girls! Come on downstairs. Pizza’s here,” Grace’s mother yelled up the stairs.
Boom, Boom, BOOM, BOOM. Someone was running up the stairs. April and Grace looked at each other.
“Oh no, Michael’s home,” Grace said.
Michael swung the door open. WHACK! It slammed against the wall.
“Awesome. Two of you to bother tonight.” His evil grin grew.
“MOM! Michael is bothering us!” Grace screamed.
April stared at the closet door. Oh no. Austin, please don’t make a sound.
“Arrr. Arrr.”
Michael looked around the room. “What’s that?”
Grace walked over to the closet door and stood in front of it. “MOOOOOOMM! Michael is in MY room bothering us!” she screamed again.
“Michael, leave your sister alone!” Grace’s mom yelled. “Everyone come downstairs NOW and wash your hands.”
“What’s that?” Michael said, looking at the bed.
OMG... Am I a Witch?! Page 3
