OMG… Is He Also a Witch Read online

  April fanned herself with her notebook. “I haven’t sweat this much since Field Day last year.”

  In spite of the heat, a chill suddenly went down April’s back. Is someone watching me? She looked around. Lots of kids were fanning themselves as they walked to class.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone standing in the entrance to the gym. She whipped her head around. There stood the new boy in her class, David. He had dark skin and carried a suede book bag embroidered with beads. His straight, black hair was pulled into a low ponytail. He looked at her inquisitively. She turned away and kept walking down the hall. A pit formed in her stomach. Ever since discovering she was a witch, she could tell when something bad was about to happen.

  Right now, she had that feeling.

  CHAPTER 6

  “OKAY, I have to get some water.” Grace stopped at the water fountain. “My mouth is as dry as it is when I eat the cafeteria’s bread.” Grace bent down to sip some water. She splashed some on her face. “Ah, that feels better.”

  “Taking a shower in the water fountain?” April smirked.

  “Ha ha,” Grace sneered, turning toward their classroom as water dripped from her face and hands.

  Boom! Grace fell to the floor on her bottom. “Ouch!”

  “Oh dear, you must have slipped on all that water you just splashed everywhere,” Eve said, walking over to Grace.

  “Or, I slipped on the sweat dripping from everyone else,” Grace said with her usual sense of humor as she looked at the other kids.

  “Let me help you up,” David said. He had appeared in front of Grace with his arm extended.

  A bit shocked, Grace looked up and her face went red. She smiled and stretched out her hand. He helped her up.

  “Thank you. Well, this is embarrassing,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Don’t worry about it. Are you okay?” David’s large, dark brown eyes focused on Grace with concern.

  “I think so.” She looked down at the ground, biting her lower lip. “But, it’s as hot as the Sahara in here, geesh.”

  “Totally!” David laughed good-naturedly along with Grace.

  “Umm, okay. Well, I better get to class. But, I’ll dry my face off first.” Grace chuckled and wiped her face on her shirt sleeve.

  “Good idea.” He winked, turned around and walked down the hall.

  “Let’s get to the classrooms, Mrs. Ramirez said it’s cooler in there.” April urged them down the hall after David.

  “Ugh, there is that totally evil math teacher. One time he told me he couldn’t read my writing so he marked all of my math problems as wrong. I mean, really! I offered to go to the computer and type it out for him. But, he said no.” Eve nodded her head at where Mr. Malus was standing.

  “Wow! That is evil. I heard that last week he gave a girl a zero on her homework because she used pen instead of pencil. I guess he doesn’t like pen.” Grace rolled her eyes.

  “Geesh, that is mean. You know, I heard his first name is Norn. That is one weird name. I am so happy I don’t have him,” April said.

  Grace and Eve stopped walking. They turned around to glare at April. “We do!”

  “Sorry.” April grinned.

  Mr. Malus stood at the entrance to his classroom; his tall, skinny body dressed all in black and an odd necklace around the collar of his shirt. He stared at David who walked down the hall to another classroom. The girls were a few steps behind him. As David approached Mr. Malus, the teacher rubbed the charm on his necklace and said something quietly. April watched his lips move. Then he clapped his hands twice.

  April looked at her friends but they didn’t seem to notice Mr. Malus clap. Then, she saw he and David look at each other and nod. David threw his hands up and exclaimed, “Birds!”

  April’s knees went weak. Something is wrong. This feels familiar. Really familiar. All the blood rushed out of her face. She stopped walking. Everyone else kept walking and talking. Grace and Eve shuffled ahead of her. Tight knots formed in her stomach. Is he the boy from last night? I know that voice. “It’s him!”

  Grace and Eve stopped walking. They turned to look at April. “Oh my, April. You are as white as a ghost. Are you okay, my dear?” Eve asked.

  Grace waved her hands in front of April’s face. “You’re not blinking. Not only are you as white as a ghost, but you look like you just saw one.”

  The hair rose on the back of April’s neck. “It’s him,” she whispered.

  Grace tilted her head to the side. “What? April, you will have to stop the weird talk. Who is him?”

  “I heard him command ‘Birds’ like he commanded ‘Fall’ to make the branch fall on my dad’s car. OMG…David is the other witch.”

  CHAPTER 7

  GRACE’S eyes bulged out. “That’s crazy. He can’t be. He was just so nice to me.”

  April’s glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose and she pushed them back up. “He was, until Mr. Malus clapped his hands.”

  Eve wrinkled her nose. “Why would he say, ‘Birds?’”

  AAAAHHHH!

  Some kids near the front door started screaming. April, Grace, and Eve turned to look. Kids were running through the front doors into the building.

  Mrs. Ramirez followed after them, screaming, “Close the doors! Close the doors!”

  She was too late. As she came through the door, a flock of large, black crows swooped into the school. One bird swooped so low it almost hit her in the head. She ducked. Plop! One of the birds pooped on a kid next to her.

  The large crows flapped their long, black wings. Caw-Caw, CAW-CAW. The sound got louder as they flew down the hallway. Swooping and swooshing, bird after bird flew into the school.

  With their book bags jostling against their hips, the girls bounded down the hallway toward their classrooms. Things were flying out of kids’ bags—lunches, juice boxes, notebooks, pencils. It was chaos.

  Bang! April slid on someone’s pencil case on the floor and fell. “Ouch!”

  Eve ran back and extended her hand to April. “I never leave a girl behind.”

  April tried to smile.

  “Come on. Up, up,” Eve commanded.

  With the screaming of the kids and the cawing of the birds, April couldn’t hear Eve. “Huh?”

  “Come on! You’re slower than a Sunday afternoon.” Eve grabbed April’s arm and yanked her to her feet.

  “A what?” Grace asked as she reached for April’s other arm.

  “It means get moving! Get in the classroom. Go! GO!” Eve sounded like a drill sergeant.

  The girls bolted through the doorway, and slammed the door behind them. Looking around, they saw a few other kids who had also made it to safety.

  Outside the door, kids ran by, tripping and screaming in the hallway. As knocks sounded on the door, Grace and another boy were careful to let in kids without letting in any birds. One girl limped into the classroom with her hand on her knee. Another shuffled in, holding her head. April thought, Oh no! Everyone is getting hurt.

  In the classroom, kids chattered about the chaos, the mess and the bird poop everywhere. April sat, holding her head in her hands. Then a chill went up her back again and a strange feeling came over her. Something else is wrong. She stood up. Her eyes searched the classroom. What is this feeling? Why does it feel like someone is watching me?

  She crept toward the classroom door and peered out the window. Mr. Malus was there, staring back at her with his cold, dark eyes. He just stood there as kids ran by him, birds flew over his head, and teachers yelled. His eyes stayed fixed on April. His gaze made April’s face feel hotter. Why is he staring at me like that? Something isn’t right. I’ve got to find out what’s happening.

  April’s heart beat so fast and hard that she could feel it in her throat. She went to open the door. But he quickly turned around and walked to the side door that led out to some stairs.

  At that moment, David called out to her. “April!”

  She turned to look at him. He
laughed. His cackle reminded her of those spooky mechanical witches in store displays.

  The beads of sweat on April’s nose caused her glasses to slide down again. She pushed them back up with shaking hands. What is going on? His voice sounds so weird. What should I do? Think. Think!

  CHAPTER 8

  DAVID stopped laughing. The smile on his face disappeared. He threw up his arms again and said, “Freeze!”

  Everything and everyone stopped. April’s eyes scanned the room of frozen fifth graders. It was like a game of freeze-tag, everyone was as still as a statue. “It’s just you and me now,” he said in that same creepy voice.

  As noisy as everything had been a few moments ago, it was quiet now. The only thing she heard was the whistling heaters and the caws of the crows. The screams of the kids were silenced. David took a step toward her. April looked over her shoulder at Grace and Eve. “Help!” she cried out to them. But they weren’t moving. Grace was frozen, drinking the water bottle she had pulled out of her book bag earlier. Eve was perfectly still, glaring suspiciously at David.

  “The Jokester and the Southern Belle aren’t witches. They can’t save you. I can freeze time on them.” He took another step closer to April and laughed again.

  OMG…what has he done to my friends—to everyone? A lump grew in her throat. Her hands shook. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I don’t want anyone else to be scared. What do I do? What do I do?

  April dropped her book bag and ran out of the classroom. She ran around kids frozen in place. Next door to her classroom was the girls’ bathroom. She pushed open the door, went in and leaned her back against it. She put her head back onto the door and closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

  She brushed the tears away angrily. I can’t cry now. I have to figure out how to fix this. Mom says there is no space in your heart for fear. But, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?

  April slid down the door in despair, staring at the floor. The stress of last night and this morning had finally gotten to her.

  “Help me, someone. Help me,” she whispered.

  “April, you have to listen up now.”

  The voice was from a woman with a Southern accent. It came from somewhere in front of her. April jumped to her feet. A blurry shadow appeared. Her glasses had smudges and tears covering them. She wiped the lenses with a dry corner of her shirt.

  When she put them back on, she saw an older woman standing there. She was wearing a beautiful, light blue dress with a white lace shawl draped over her shoulders. Her long, dark, curly hair was streaked with gray and hung down her back. Her smooth, caramel skin glowed.

  April blinked her eyes hard. OMG…who is she? Am I imagining this? She pinched herself. “Ouch!”

  “Pauve ti bête, bless your heart. You pinched yourself to see if this was real or a dream.”

  April nodded her head. The woman’s sweet, grandmotherly voice made April feel calmer.

  “Oh, honey pie. I’m Eve’s grand-mère. Call me Josephine.” Her Cajun accent was the same as Eve’s and it made April smile. That’s right! Eve’s grandmother had given Eve the Book of Magie before she passed away. Boy, if my friends thought I had seen a ghost before, wait till they hear about this!

  “Listen up now, we don’t have much time. I’ve got a lot to tell ya but we don’t have all day now.” She spoke quickly. “For hundreds of years, good witches passed their spell books to other good witches. I made sure that the Book of Magie made its way to you. Since you have my spell book you also have me.”

  April tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

  “Any time ya ask for help I’ll be there. Think of me as your Fairy Godmother, like Cinderella.” Josephine flashed her a sweet smile.

  “Good witches help other good witches. If you are really distressed and need help, jus’ call me. But, I am not your genie in a bottle. You don’t call me unless you really need me.” Josephine put her hands on her hips.

  “I—I think David’s a bad witch. He ruined my dad’s car, called those birds and froze time. Plus, he has this evil laugh that gives me chills,” April said.

  Josephine’s eyebrows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. “Honey child, think back to what happened. Was David evil all the time? Or, was there something or someone that might have triggered this behavior in David. Like a word or sound?” Josephine inquired.

  April thought about that for a moment. “When Grace slipped, David helped her up; he was so sweet and charming. Then when Mr. Malus clapped his hands, everything about David changed: his voice, his laugh, even the way his face looks.” April tapped her finger on her cheek and paced in the bathroom. “So, is Mr. Malus controlling David?”

  CHAPTER 9

  “SLOW down now, we’ll get to that,” Josephine looked at the heater in the bathroom. “Now, let’s start from where the evil spells began. First was the heat, then these birds, right?” Josephine gestured at the bathroom door, as the caws from the crows continued.

  “Yes,” said April. “And the freezing time thing. This is really freaking me out.”

  “Oh, I remember the first time a Logisilld tried to scare me.” Josephine looked off into the distance. “Those can be tense moments but nothing ya can’t handle.”

  “A Logisilld? What’s that?”

  Josephine looked up and to the right. “Oh, that’s an evil witch that can make other people do things that they may not have the powers to do themselves. Maybe Monsieur Malus can’t freeze time on his own, or maybe he can. But, he found David and for some reason is using him to do it.”

  “What?” April’s hands shook.

  “Oh, honey, calm yourself. Just keep reading the Book of Magie. You’ll learn more about this as time goes on. We don’t have time for a full lesson right now. Just you focus on getting rid of this heat and sending the birds back to their nests. April, dear, it will all be okay. There is no space in your heart for fear.” Josephine beamed.

  “My mom says that same exact thing.”

  “She is a wise woman.” Josephine winked. “Now, to the heat. I want you to place the palms of your hands over the radiator—but don’t touch it, it’s hot—and say,

  Heat go back to normal,

  Take this request as formal.

  Turn down, turn down to cool.

  And, circulate the air around the school.

  “Okay,” April placed both palms a few inches over the radiator and repeated the spell.

  Heat go back to normal,

  Take this request as formal.

  Turn down, turn down to cool.

  And, circulate the air around the school.

  The heater stopped hissing. April walked over to the door and pressed her ear against it. The hissing also stopped in the hallway.

  April heard footsteps coming down the hall.

  Stomp, stomp, stomp. Boots approached the door. “That little goody-two-shoes witch is undoing my spell.”

  That’s not David. April swallowed the lump in her throat.

  Josephine said, “That’s not David, my dear. David is not evil. He’s being controlled.”

  April’s face grew hot and her heart pounded. “That is Mr. Malus. Mr. Malus is an evil witch that is controlling David!”

  CHAPTER 10

  APRIL’S heart pounded so hard her body shook. Mr. Malus is controlling David! Her head swirled and the room spun. Could he control me too? She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

  The footsteps approached the bathroom door. “April, dear, we have to work quickly. It is you who must say the spell. Repeat after me to get the crows out of the building.”

  Fly home ye crows,

  For you are not my foes.

  In the sky, ye shall roam,

  Swoop around and fly home.

  April pressed her back against the door and closed her eyes as she repeated again:

  Fly home ye crows,

  For you are not my foes.

  In the sky, ye shall roam,

  Swoop around and fly home.

&nb
sp; She pressed her ear to the door. Are the crows gone?

  “Noooo! David, come!” Mr. Malus called. “They are flying away!”

  April cracked open the bathroom door to peek into the hallway. Mr. Malus was running down the hall when SWOOSH! a crow swooped down. Mr. Malus ducked but tripped over someone’s textbook. BAM! He fell on his bottom. “Ouch!” he yelled.

  David helped him up while crows flew over their heads and out the front doors of the school. Then another one swooped down toward his head and PLOP! White bird poop dripped from Mr. Malus’s head. April tried to hold in a giggle but she didn’t catch it in time. A small guffaw came out.

  David and Mr. Malus’s eyes met April’s as she looked out the door. April slammed the door closed. Leaning against it, she said, “They know I’m here and they’re coming. What should I do?”

  She turned her head to the left and to the right. There was no one. “Josephine, where did you go?”

  A sweet, faint, Cajun-accented voice said, “You can handle this now. Remember, there is no space in your heart for fear.”

  April squeezed her eyes closed. I can do this. I WILL do this! She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. There it was. Her escape.

  The bathroom window.

  CHAPTER 11

  EXCITEMENT bubbled up inside her.

  The sink was bolted to the wall under the window. April put one foot on the sink and pushed herself up. Balancing carefully, she pressed up on the window and it opened.

  She could only get half of her body through the window while standing on the sink, so she used her arms to push herself through. Oomph! She fell a few feet and landed on the grass, knocking the wind out of herself.

  She lay on the ground under the window trying to catch her breath. BOOM! The bathroom door flew open and hit the wall.

  “Where did that little twerp go?” Mr. Malus asked.