Parties & Potions #4 by Sarah Mlynowski Read Free Book Online Page A

did I, but I still went. I mean, I knew I was going to be a witch. Didn’t you?”
    “No! I had no idea! I didn’t know about Hexaton! I didn’t know about Brixta! I didn’t know about moguls! Or mogis. Whatever. That’s what I’m trying to explain! My mom never told us anything about magic. I was clueless! The same as everyone here. If you tell them you’re a witch, they’re going to think you’re a freak. Do you understand? A freak.”
    She looks around the room, then sighs. “Well, maybe I don’t care what they think. I’m not going to hide who I am.”
    Something is seriously wrong with her. “Don’t you want to have friends?”
    “Of course.”
    “Well, you’re not going to if people here know you’re a witch.”
    “But why?” she asks, clearly exasperated.
    “Because they’d either think you’re insane and lock you in the nuthouse, or if they actually believed you, they would lock you up so they could study you! Dissect you, even! Or they’d lock you up because they were terrified of you!”
    “That’s silly. Why would they be afraid of me? I would never use my magic to hurt anyone. I’m a white witch.”
    Gray? White? Why is she so obsessed with color? “What does that even mean?”
    “I use my magic for good. Or try to, anyway.”
    “Look, you can do what you want. It’s your life.” Or funeral. “But don’t tell anyone the truth about me. No one here knows, and I like it that way.” I glance back at my table and notice that they’re all watching us, trying to figure out what’s going on. “And I’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t tell my friends you’re a witch either. Because if—and it’s a big if—they believe you, then they might get suspicious about me. Got it?”
    “Whatever you say. You’re the expert. But I have to tell you, it’s a little weird.”
    It’s a little weird?
    Talk about the pot calling the cauldron black.

     
    After an exhausting first day, all I want to do is fall onto my bed. Unfortunately, Miri is lying on said bed, my bed, her legs against the wall in a perpendicular position. This is how she thinks.
    I approach her, hands on hips. “What?”
    “What what?”
    “What do you want from me?”
    “Can’t I just want to hang out with you?”
    “Speak truthfully or leave. I’m tired.”
    “Well…” She hesitates. “I want to do the Samsorta. I want us both to do it!”
    I groan. “Really? Why?”
    “It’ll be fun! We’ll get dressed up and get our hair and makeup done! We’ll be debutantes! We’ll be the center of attention! You love being the center of attention!”
    I do love being the center of attention. But what has this stranger done with my sister? “But you don’t. So why do you want to do it?”
    “Hmm?”
    “You hate looking like a princess. You hate being über-girly You take Tae Kwon Do. Explain.”
    “Having a Samsorta puts you on the map.”
    I climb under my covers and wedge Miri closer to the wall. “What map? No map that I’ve ever heard of.”
    “The witch map. And I want to be on that map. I want the people in the witchcraft world to know who I am.”
    “Your map sounds a lot like my A-list.”
    “It’s not about being popular, Rachel. It’s about mattering. I want to belong to this witch world. And for the first time in my life—”
    “All thirteen years of it.”
    “For the first time ever, I think I could really fit in.”
    I want that for my sister. Of course I do. “So do it. You don’t need me.”
    She pales. “Of course I do! I’m not doing it by myself! Are you crazy?”
    “Why not? It’ll be good for you.”
    She shakes her head. “I want us to do it together. Right now it’s like we’re members of a club, but no one in the club even knows we’re members.”
    “And no one outside the club knows the club exists.” “Exactly!” She smiles at me. “You get it! So will you do it?” Cemetery … new language … more time with weird Wendaline … getting all prettied up