Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,24

tell my mum I was working at the cafe to be able to go and hang out there all afternoon.’ He seemed to relax as I babbled.

‘No problem.’ He smiled. ‘My dad was annoyed at me for not getting home earlier, too – I was supposed to help him clean out the garage.’

‘Bummer you missed that,’ said Amelia and Alyssa, nodding.

We all laughed as Dean came running up.

‘What am I missing out on? My bus was late,’ he panted.

‘Nothing spectacular, just household chores.’ I looped my arm through his.

He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. I looked at the spidery tendrils of silver-grey foliage in my hand.

‘Desert sage.’ He smiled.

I had been dreading chemistry class all day. It was such a drag that the subject I had loved so much had become torturous because of Mr Barrow. It had occurred to me to speak to the principal about it, but what would I say? That Mr Barrow had it in for me for some unknowable reason? Besides, the only potential solution she could offer would be to transfer me to a lower class, which would look bad on my report card. And then my parents would come down on me . . .

I sighed as I took my seat. The only person who could solve this problem was me. I tried to focus on positive thinking, and magic being the art of changing things with will. I had no choice but to sit here in the same room as him for the next hour – so I decided I would make the best of it by trying to at least learn something.

Mr Barrow walked into the classroom. I fingered the desert sage in my pocket, hoping it would work and he would be even just a little nice to me – or simply leave me alone.

‘Open your books to page 40: “The Principles of Thermal Radiation”,’ he said. I began to read.

Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of charged particles in matter. All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation.

‘Thermal radiation can be measured by colour, as light is a form of visible thermal radiation – although the light we see with our eyes is really a very small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. That is, a rainbow shows the optical part of the electromagnetic spectrum,’ Mr Barrow said.

I thought about the feather changing colour in my hand. Maybe it hadn’t been magic at all – just science again, like the penny changing colour. Taking a deep breath, I stuck up my hand.

‘Mr Barrow, could the human body’s electromagnetic radiation cause an object to change colour?’ I asked.

‘Are you telling me you have witnessed an object change colour in your own hands, Vania Thorn?’

A chill went through me. Did he know about the feather? Who had told him?

‘No, sir, I’m not,’ I said quietly.

A couple of students laughed at my obvious discomfort.

I hid behind my study book for the rest of the class. No matter how much I tried to use positive-thinking magic, Mr Barrow’s overwhelming negativity was like a dark cloud that completely smothered it. I was obviously going to need more desert sage.

Matt Rock was hot. If there was one guy in school who distracted me from Bryce, it was Matt. He was in the year above me and hung out with a cool gang that surfed a lot. He had thick blond hair spiked up into a Mohawk and blue eyes that crinkled when he smiled.

I had started catching a different bus home from school – the same bus Matt took. It dropped me a kilometre from my house, but it was worth it so I could avoid Cassidy and have some space from Bryce.

Spending my bus rides watching Matt had given me an idea. I was still not entirely convinced that what I’d done with the feather was magic. Although Barrow had shut me down in class, the more I read about electromagnetic radiation, the more I felt I needed different proof that what I was experimenting with was magic. I wondered what else I could practise my so-called powers on – and that was when the crazy idea started to formulate in my mind: maybe I could make Matt pay attention to me. And if he liked me then maybe Bryce would get jealous, and see me as more than just a friend with stringy hair and fish lips.

After mulling this over