Perfect Revenge (7 page)

“Really,” I add, “we didn't mean to bother you. Are you going to be all right?”

They stare at me. Slowly, they nod and start backing away. As they escape out the door, I hear one say, “Man! That was so totally freaky!”

I guess it was. Either that or magickal.

Science class. Kyle. I walk in and look straight at him. He is so hot. But clearly, he's also shallow. I mean, he gets turned off of Rachel because he hears a rumor about her? And now he can't even look at me because I had zits?

Or is that because he thinks I'm a cheater? Rachel offered to tell everyone that she gave me the exam key, and I was tempted. But then I thought about how much that could hurt her, and I felt sick.
I told her to forget it. I couldn't handle it. I have to protect myself, right?

Only then she said, “But Lizzie, I'll feel better if I tell the truth.”

It's all very confusing. Things were much simpler when we only cared about ourselves. Like Kyle. I look at him again, and I even feel sorry for him. Poor guy, it must be hard trying to keep up that image.

He glances up and catches my eye. I can't resist. I whip off the purple hat. His eyes widen. His mouth opens. And it doesn't hurt a bit because it's not like he's hurt. He's just shocked. I can do shock.

And then I remember that he's going to look like an idiot for telling people about my zits and that might make him squirm. I feel queasy. I turn away and take a few deep breaths. I sit down in my seat, and Mandy plops down beside me.

“What do you think, Lizzie?” she asks.

She's wearing a pink straw hat, a sweet little number with a curled brim. “Oh, cute!” I say.

“Thanks!” she says. “I got it at the mall like you said.”

Note to self: Do not make the mistake of casting an honesty spell. Things are complicated enough already.

A love spell though...I gaze at Kyle and wonder. But if I did that, and he fell in love with me, I couldn't take revenge and ditch him. I must think about that. Whew. My brain sure is getting a work-out lately.

“Should we do the lab, Lizzie?” Mandy asks.

Man.
More
brain stuff. “I guess. What do we have to do?”

It turns out to be quite easy. We have to put little bits of metal on the table and pick them up with a magnet. Mr. Sparks comes by and says, “I'm impressed. You girls are working two days in a row? So, what does this experiment tell you?”

“Like attracts like?” I say.

“No,” he says, “there are positive and negative forces. Only opposites attract.”

“Oh,” I say.

“You keep working on it,” he says. And off he goes.

I shake my head. “I think he missed the point.”

“What do you mean?” Mandy asks.

In reply, I pull a plastic tube of lip gloss out of my purse and place it next to the magnet. Nothing happens. “See? It's only metal that's attracted to metal.” I don't tell her that I just figured out the main difference between science and magick. It's all in how you look at things.

Okay, not everything. No matter how I look at it, Mr. Snead in room 101 is still a grump. He won't let me light the incense.

“Smelly stuff,” he says. “Likely to set off the smoke alarms. Be seated and remain silent.”

I slump into a seat. I feel deeply sorry for myself. I look around, and the drooling dude is watching me. He's not drooling anymore; instead he's giving me the eye. I reward him with a tiny smile and when he smiles back, omigod! He's gorgeous.
His whole face lights up.
This
must be the light Stella was talking about.

With great stealth, he rises to a crouching position and sort of duck-walks sideways. Toward me. His waddle would look really stupid if it didn't make perfect sense. Should Mr. Snead happen to glance up, the dude could freeze and it would appear that he was still seated.

He makes it to my table, and I notice that he looks quite mature. Maybe he's in grade nine? Then he smiles again, and it's breathtaking. His dark eyes crinkle at the corners, his teeth gleam white and there's this whole happy effect. It's as if he's happy on the inside and it shows on his face.

He grabs a piece of paper and scribbles a note. It says:
Hi! I'm Brendan.

I write:
Hi, Brendan. I'm Lizzie.

He writes back:
I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?

He's never seen me? He must have slept through yesterday's zit disaster. Wow. He is such a
sweetie
! I'm trying to
think of something cute and witty to write back when in walk Rachel and Mr. Sparks.

“Lizzie Lane?” Mr. Sparks says. “Please come with me.” He mutters something to Mr. Snead and that's it. I have to leave. I cast one last glance at Brendan, and he gives me a sad wave.

Mr. Sparks takes us as far as the hall and says, “Rachel has confessed to me that she gave you the answer key. Both of us owe you an apology, Lizzie. I'm very sorry I didn't believe you.” He looks at Rachel.

Rachel looks miserable. I hold up my hand. “She already apologized. Please don't make her do it again. And please don't punish her. I think she's suffered enough already.”

Mr. Sparks shakes his head. “You girls are well on your way to becoming young women.” Then he sighs and mutters, “Which is probably why I don't understand what just happened here. You may go.”

“Um, do I have to?” I ask. “Can't I go back in room 101?”

Mr. Sparks' brow creases with worry. “Lizzie, the past couple of days must have
been very hard on you. I'm going to say no to that. I think it would be best if you went home to rest. And don't worry, we'll contact your parents again, and you'll get another chance to write the exam. Off you go now.”

It seems I have no choice. Rachel and I trudge away, and it turns out we don't have much to say to each other. I think we need some distance after the complete weirdness of everything. The only person I really want to see is Stella.

On the way to Stella's house, I try to decide if it's possible to forget that Brendan drooled. I mean, he's really cute, but now that we're apart, I find myself picturing that detail. Not pretty. No, it could never work between us. Mr. Sparks was right. The past couple of days have been hard on me. All of my standards are messed up.

I get to Stella's and knock on the door. The baba answers. “Ah, Lizzie. Come in. Stella is in the kitchen with Angela.”

Sure enough, they're having tea and cake at the table and ask me to join them.
It's fine, right up until Angela says, “I see through your clothes.”

“Why,” I ask, “does she say that?”

Stella says, “It's her mantra. Baba taught her to say it. Only she's supposed to say cloak, not clothes.”

“Oh,” I say. Talk about lame.

“Do you know why I taught her?” the baba asks. “I'll tell you. It's a reminder to me that no matter what is seen on the surface, I must also be aware of the unseen.”

“You mean, like, ghosts?” I ask.

She shrugs. “More like spirits. The higher self. The true self.”

“Right,” I say. “I've been thinking about that. Sort of. I'm thinking I'd like you to undo my revenge spell.”

The baba looks at Stella, then back at me. “Do you really wish for this?”

“I don't like feeling the pain of others,” I say. “It upsets me.”

“None of us like it,” Stella says.

“It is almost impossible to undo a revenge spell,” says the baba. “I may make things worse for you. The question you
must consider is, does it serve the higher purpose?”

“I'll get back to you on that.” I fiddle with my tea cup and say, “But that's enough about
me
. What I want to know is how did Stella know about
me
? That I had this hidden talent?”

Stella smiles. “Like I said, my gift is finding the gift in others. Even though you'd only used the talent to predict trends, I sensed the power in you.” She looks sideways at her baba then asks, “So, Lizzie, do you know anyone who suffers from being self-centered?”

I roll my eyes. “Practically everyone I know has that problem.”

“Really?” She shakes her head. “Do you think that might
hurt
them?”

I consider this. “Yes. Yes, I think it would hurt them. I mean, it might make it hard for them to have friends. And I'll bet it's super hard for them to get a boyfriend.”

“So,” Stella says, “when you think about how these people have such a hard time, does it hurt
you
?”

I stare at her. I think about it. A little tear forms in my eye and I sniffle. “It must be awful for them.”

Stella and her baba nod.

“I know what we could do,” I say. “I mean, before this whole empathy thing
kills
me. We could cast a spell to, you know, fix them. Then they wouldn't bother me anymore.”

Stella grins and leans forward. “Great idea, Lizzie. I know the perfect spell.”

“Cool,” I say. “Let's do it.”

My gratitude also to Kendra Anderson for reading an early draft and to Melanie Jeffs, Orca Editor, for working her fine magick.

K.L. Denman has written numerous books for kids, including
Mirror Image
,
Rebel's Tag
and
The Shade
in the Orca Currents series. She lives in Powell River, British Columbia.

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