Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,28

A man.’

‘Argh!’ I squealed. ‘You’re freaking me out. Did he say anything?’

‘Not at first— Oh, I’m sorry . . .’ Bryce’s voice trailed away, and I felt a tap on my shoulder.

‘Vania!’

Matt Rock was standing there, all spiky hair, blue eyes, brown skin and . . . red roses!

I looked back to Bryce, but he wasn’t saying anything. It was his turn to look shocked.

‘I hope you like these,’ Matt said.

‘Umm, thanks,’ I replied, taking the roses.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t see you on the bus this morning,’ he said. ‘I got up early to find these for you. See you on the bus this afternoon?’ He was smiling, but his eyes looked a little glazed, like he wasn’t quite all there. I figured I could stop wondering whether the spell had worked.

I glanced back at Bryce nervously, but he’d turned away.

‘Sure,’ I said to Matt. ‘See you later.’

Matt smiled and practically skipped away towards the senior hall.

Cassidy Walters was standing on our school steps staring at me. She obviously couldn’t believe what she’d just witnessed. I felt a tingle of pleasure. Her horror alone would make the whole thing worthwhile.

I shrugged and clasped the flowers to my chest, smiling in a way that I hoped was a mixture of innocence and surprise. No doubt the entire school would be talking about this for the rest of the day: Matt Rock giving Fish Lips a bunch of red roses!

I felt victorious until I saw the angry look on Bryce’s face. This wasn’t supposed to happen! I wanted Bryce to be jealous, not angry. He shook his head and walked away.

Well, it had definitely worked, but it looked like this love spell had got off to a rocky start.

And Bryce was nowhere to be found at lunchtime.

‘Vania!’ Amelia squealed as soon as she got to our table in the cafeteria. ‘Everyone’s talking about Matt giving you roses. Do you like him, too?’ She was tripping over herself with excitement.

I looked at her carefully. Surely their psychic ability would tell the twins I’d cast a spell to make this happen? But no, she and Alyssa seemed completely clueless. Maybe when it came to enchanted situations their psychic powers didn’t apply? I glanced at Dean, but he was burrowing into a meatball sandwich and wasn’t saying a word, just as we’d agreed. I had to keep up the charade, too.

‘Well, you know I catch the same bus as Matt now, and we’ve gotten to know each other recently,’ I said casually.

‘He is so hot,’ Alyssa gushed, ‘almost hotter than Bryce. It’s so exciting that a senior likes you! Are you going to introduce him to your parents?’

‘Hey, slow down.’ I laughed. Was everyone coming under the power of this spell and getting carried away with it? ‘It’s very early days.’

‘Wow, you’re so strong to be able to resist Bryce and now Matt,’ Amelia said admiringly.

‘I don’t know about resisting Bryce.’ I shrugged. ‘He doesn’t like me in that way.’

‘Well, we thought he did,’ the twins said.

‘But now that you have Matt you don’t need him,’ Dean spoke up between mouthfuls.

I glared at him. It was time to change the subject.

‘Speaking of Bryce, he was telling me he saw a ghost last night,’ I said brightly.

‘Yeah, he told us, too,’ Amelia said. ‘Talk about horrifying.’

‘Why? What happened?’ I immediately felt bad – Bryce had been in the middle of telling me his story when Matt had turned up with the flowers.

‘Well, it started out okay,’ Alyssa explained. ‘He said the man was just standing there, and Bryce wasn’t scared – he had been hoping to connect with a ghost, after all.’ Alyssa paused, looking to her sister.

‘I’ll finish the story,’ Amelia said. ‘The next bit freaks Alyssa out too much.’

I felt a little sick. If I was honest, I didn’t think I’d have the courage to communicate with ghosts. I thought Bryce was really brave for trying it. Dean was sitting, up straighter, too, his attention now off the meatball sandwich and totally focused on Amelia.

‘Bryce said the guy was moving his mouth like he was talking to him, but he couldn’t hear any words. And then the guy grabbed his foot.’ I gasped. ‘And he kept tugging on it. Bryce was trying to shake him off, and all of a sudden he could hear what the man was saying . . .’

She paused dramatically.

‘C’mon, Amelia, spit it out,’ Dean urged her.

Amelia’s hands gripped the table. ‘He was saying, “COME WITH ME.”’

‘Urgh.’ Alyssa shuddered. ‘That’s