Mirrored by Alex Flinn Read Free Book Online Page B

it with glasses of cold milk. The hot gingerbread warmed my mouth and soon my tears were forgotten.
    “What happened to the witch who taught you?” I asked.
    Kendra brushed some crumbs that had fallen onto the lace tablecloth. They vaporized instantly. “Alas, she was burned.” She looked down.
    I waited for her to elaborate, to explain, but she didn’t. There was only the sound of our forks on china. “I’m sorry,” I said.
    She shook her head and still didn’t speak.
    Finally, she said, “You should go home. Your mother will miss you.”
    I doubted that, but I said, “Can I come back tomorrow?”
    “Best to wait a little. Thursday, perhaps, so as not to excitesuspicion. I will see you then, my dear.”
    And suddenly, she wasn’t there. The air felt chilly as, one by one, the objects in the room disappeared too, and I was all alone in the old, abandoned house.
    I touched my cheek.
    I wondered what else I could do.

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    HarperCollins Publishers
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7
    I stepped outside. The door slammed shut. The sound echoed down the silent street. I trudged through the weedy yard. The sun had been shining when I’d entered Kendra’s yard. Now the clouds blocked any sign of it.
    Other than the brief, magical time when I’d had Greg, I had always been lonely. Yet the realization that Kendra was the only person voluntarily to speak to me in months chilled me. What was wrong with me? It couldn’t just be that I was ugly. Yet it had to be. What else could it be? It had to. If it wasn’t about my appearance, then changing it wouldn’t change anything. And I wanted to change everything.
    Everything.
    Down the block, I saw a lone, white cat playing by the roadside. I remembered hearing that most white cats were blind. Or was itdeaf? The cat was scrawny, maybe a stray, and, suddenly, I wanted to pick it up, take it home with me. I’d never asked for a pet. Could my mother really say no? I walked faster, suddenly wanting the cat, hoping it didn’t have a collar.
    Suddenly I heard a rumbling behind me. A car! I jumped, then ran under a tree, feeling the whoosh of air as the car sped by.
    My heart was pounding. I screwed my eyes closed. Then, I heard a dull thud. My eyelids flew open. The cat! The cat, crushed under the wheels of some Mustang.
    I waited for the car to stop, but it roared on as if the driver hadn’t noticed. Or just didn’t care.
    Then, I was screaming, “Stop! No!” But the words were lost in the motor’s roar, and the pounding of my footsteps on black pavement.
    There was surprisingly little blood, only a bit coming from the kitty’s mouth. Black tire marks marred its white coat. I held my hand to its chest, feeling for a heartbeat. There was one, but only faint. I knew it wouldn’t last long.
    I gathered the cat in my arms, hating the driver. How could people be so uncaring? He didn’t even stop.
    Something, a jagged, broken bone, penetrated the cat’s coat. The loneliness and sadness rose up in my throat like bile, then came spilling out of my mouth in words like vomit, words I didn’t understand. I just sat there in the road, rocking the cat back and forth, saying I didn’t know what, and suddenly, the pointy bone retreated inside its body. The cat’s heartbeat quickened, and then its whole being began to vibrate.
    It was purring! Purring and rubbing up against me! I knew I had fixed it, my magic and I had. If my magic only did one worthwhile thing, saving the cat was enough. More than enough.
    I picked up the cat and carried it home. To my mother’squestioning look, I said, “I found a cat. I’m going to keep it.”
    “Were you going to ask me?”
    “No. I’ll take care of it.”
    I stared at her, and maybe there was something in my eyes—or my new eyelashes—that made her say, “Okay. We’ll have to get cat food tomorrow, but I have some old tuna tonight.”
    I fed the cat—whom I named