What the Spell Part 1 (10 page)

When The Elite asked me if I had any ideas on how I was going to pull it off, I just answered mysteriously that they’d have to wait and see. The truth was, I had no idea how I was going to do it, but I knew that magic would be involved. This was both good and bad in my mind.

After my big makeover, I’d planned on cooling it with the magic for a while, if just to appease my parents, but then The Elite noticed me. And, well, I felt like the only way I could do
what they wanted me to, and not get caught, was to get a little help from the universe. Besides, the magic I was planning to do wasn’t all that elaborate anyway. Just a flip of my hand here and a little spell there—I’d be in and out within ten minutes, tops.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this kind of situation really was the best use of my magic. I’d never done anything like this before, and given my propensity for falling all over myself, I knew if I had to do it on my own, I’d mess it up somehow. By using magic I could cut my chances of getting caught in half. And getting caught wasn’t an option. Nope, I definitely
had
to use magic.

After making a quick stop at the store on my way home, I headed up to my room to consult the witchboards. Once I found the spells I needed to pull it off, I got to work on all the other details.

Since the assignment called for serious stealth, I knew I had to find an appropriate outfit to match the occasion. Something black, of course, because I didn’t want to stand out. But it couldn’t be anything that would tip people off, either. I didn’t want anyone thinking I was coming to rob them and then call the cops before I’d even done anything.

I pulled on some black leggings, since those were practically a staple at school, and then paired them with a bright pink tank. Over that I threw on a loosely fitting, dark gray sweatshirt to hide my body shape in case I was spotted. Lastly, I stuffed my blond hair into an old baseball cap of my dad’s, giving plenty of coverage to my facial features.

Stepping in front of my full-length mirror, I surveyed my work. Unidentifiable yet still fashionable. Perfect couture for any girl looking to make a quick getaway.

I checked how I was doing on time.

Six thirty p.m.

Now all I had to do was wait.

My car was parked about a block away, and for the last half hour I’d been scoping out Principal Franklin’s house from behind the bushes across the street. Thank God, The Elite had let me go on my own, because creeping in the bushes wasn’t exactly chic.

It was only nine thirty, but the lights inside the house had been off for about forty minutes with no movement as far as I could tell. Since I couldn’t sneak around to the back without setting off any lights, I had to guess that the principal was already in bed, hopefully passed out to the world.

The traffic had died down a bit in the area, and cars seemed to be rushing by only every five minutes or so, which meant that I had a bigger window of opportunity to unleash the TP. There was always the chance that I would be seen, and in that case, I needed to be ready to run for it. Luckily, as a last-minute thought, I’d changed into sneakers to make things easier. Women were always running around in heels in action movies, and I never understood that. Sure, fashion was important, but if I had to run in heels, I was definitely going to end up on the ground.

Shifting my balance from one foot to the other, I knew it was time. I needed to get this done as quickly as possible so I could get back to the others at the Burger Barn and still be home at a reasonable hour.

It was now or never.

Focusing on the street lamp closest to me, I concentrated on slowing my breath until I was completely calm and clear. When I felt I was ready, I whispered, “Electro-reducto!” Immediately I felt the now familiar buzzing in my toes and
fingers and knew that the power I was creating was expanding out into the street. Within seconds the lights all around me dimmed until nearly the whole block was black.

Confident that I was now covered in a blanket of darkness, I emerged from my hiding spot and lugged my duffel bag full of toilet paper across the street until I was directly in front of the principal’s house. I stayed low to the ground and watched for any sign that someone was awake inside. But the night was silent. I peered through the dark to try and find the motion detectors set up on the grounds. Once I spotted them, I performed the same dimming spell as before and knew that if the sensors were set off, they wouldn’t cast a glow on me or anything else.

It was time.

I stepped up to the gate and placed the bag on the ground at my feet. Unzipping it carefully, I leaned down to grab a few rolls. I was still ten feet away from the closest tree, but no way was I going to go inside the gate and get caught. At least out here, I still had a chance of getting away if I needed to. Luckily, I had magic on my side and a plan that would allow me to cover the whole area right from where I stood.

And then there was the time factor. The longer I stayed there, the greater my chance of getting caught—and if that happened, everything would be over. This was the part that had taken me the longest to figure out: how to get twenty-four rolls of paper to cover a yard before anyone caught me. After visiting more than a few message boards, I’d figured it out. And it was quite genius if you asked me.

“Here we go,” I said to myself.

I hugged the rolls as tightly as I could and closed my eyes. Concentrating on the energy that I could already feel building inside me, I pictured what was about to happen and then said the magic words.

“Pyronicus mizzle!”

Once the words were out of my mouth, I knew I was holding on to ticking time bombs. Literally. Without hesitating, I took the first roll and tossed it as hard as I could toward the house. Seconds passed.

One.

Two.

Three—

There was a cracking sound as the roll exploded, and then I watched as strands of toilet paper fell down in streams, landing on everything below.

“Cool.”

After that, I grabbed roll after roll and tossed it into the darkness, no longer bothering to wait for it to detonate before throwing the next one. It was like watching fireworks on the Fourth of July, and I had to fight against stopping to watch the show I was creating. Within minutes, every inch of the property was covered in white, and I questioned whether I really needed to use the full twenty-four rolls. But that was the number The Elite had given me and I wasn’t about to fail on a technicality.

I had to admit, the whole thing was actually sort of fun, and I began to wonder if I could use the same spell to accomplish more productive things. Like decorating the Christmas tree or watering the lawn with exploding water balloons. I was so caught up in what I was doing, in fact, that I didn’t even notice I’d gone through my whole supply until I reached in and my hand hit canvas. Slightly disappointed that the fun was over so soon, I looked at my watch.

Nine forty-five p.m.

I’d only been at it for a little over five minutes and I was already finished. I took a step back and looked at the scene in
front of me. It was a wonderland of white. The house looked like a monstrous igloo and the trees like little ghosts swaying in the night. It was better than I could have imagined.

“Whoa,” I said, admiring my work. I took out my phone and snapped a few quick pics before slipping it back into my pocket. “Now, for the final spell.”

Even though I’d tried to tell myself that pulling the prank on Principal Franklin wouldn’t really do much damage since the toilet paper would eventually disintegrate anyway, I still sort of felt guilty over the whole situation. So, to balance things out, I decided to do a spell to speed the clean-up process. My hope was that Principal Franklin would wake up the next day with a yard full of white, but that by that weekend, it would all have magically disappeared. That way, The Elite got their revenge and Franklin wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the year picking chunks of TP out of his bushes.

I was just about to say the words to the spell when I heard a sound nearby that made my head jerk away from what I was doing. I’d been so focused on the task at hand that I’d forgotten I was also supposed to be concentrating on not getting caught.

I strained my eyes through the dark and looked for anything that might seem out of place. But nothing stood out. Everything was as it had been before. No one was there.

Taking a few more deep breaths to calm my nerves before continuing, I reminded myself that I only had one more thing to do before I could leave and meet the others. I centered myself and prepared to do the last of the spells.

“Velocimous alacrity periomo.”

The toilet paper took on the slightest hint of a glow before returning to its natural color. And just like that, everything was done. It was time to flee the scene.

Rushing back across the street, I swung by the bushes I’d
been hiding in before, to pick up my purse and stakeout snacks. After making sure I wasn’t leaving behind any evidence that could be tied back to me, I began to walk down the street in the direction of my waiting car.

As I neared the corner, I looked back at the street behind me.

“Electro-lumino!” I let the power flow through me to illuminate the lamps that I’d dimmed before. With the street-lights back on in the neighborhood, I could easily see Principal Franklin’s house and all the damage I’d done. I couldn’t help but be filled with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Not because I’d TP’d the principal’s house but because of how much my life had changed. Less than a week ago, my only knowledge of magic was what I’d read on message boards, and now I was pulling off multiple spells in one night. I was so happy, I couldn’t stop grinning. I had a feeling that the principal’s reaction would be of an entirely different variety.

By the time I got back to my car and made it over to the Burger Barn, the adrenaline from earlier had worn off and all I could think about was passing out. I wondered if my sudden exhaustion wasn’t also a side effect of using so much magic. My parents had warned me that first night that coming into my powers would drain me, but they hadn’t said whether magical energy also depleted physical energy. It was a question I filed away for later.

Right now, I just wanted to give The Elite the proof they’d asked for, scarf down a burger and fries, and then crash.

I pulled into the parking lot and took a space that was far away from the entrance, so people would be less likely to see me from the windows when I arrived. I pulled off my sweatshirt and tossed it into the backseat, took off my cap to let my hair flow free, and dabbed on a bit of lip gloss to touch up my look. I had a few smudges of dirt on my hands and face but
managed to get rid of them with a swipe of a leftover piece of toilet paper that had been ripped off one of the rolls.

When I was ready, I skipped over to the entrance and slipped inside without anyone seeing me, and then headed over to the booth where the others were sitting.

“Hey!” I said, sneaking up behind them.

“Brooklyn!” Camden said, unable to hide his surprise. I smiled and sat down as they scooted over to make room for me.

“Shouldn’t you be over there now?” Gigi asked, confused.

“I’m done.”

Rhodes looked at his cell. “But it’s just after ten.”

“Yep.”

“Did something happen?” Gigi asked, frowning.

“Nope. Everything went fine,” I said cheerily.

“Wait, you’re finished?” Eliza asked, shocked.

“No way you covered that place by yourself in less than an hour,” Wheatley said, shoving fries into his mouth.

“Um, I have pictures. Want to see?” I asked, taking out my phone. When I’d pulled the pictures up, I handed it over to Gigi, who looked at them, her jaw dropping a bit, before passing it around the table.

“Did you have help?” Camden asked.

“I assumed you guys wanted me to do this on my own,” I said.

“This place is trashed!” Rhodes exclaimed when it got around to him. “Dude, Frankie’s going to be supremely pissed off when he wakes up tomorrow morning.”

“I can’t wait to see the look on his face!” Eliza bounced up and down in her seat. “This is awesome, Brookie!”

“How did you do it?” Gigi asked, regaining her composure.

“I told you,” I said, shrugging. “I have a way of making things happen.”