What the Spell Part 1 by Brittany Geragotelis Read Free Book Online

her desk to sit down next to me. “I didn’t mean it that way. You look great, Brooklyn, it’s just—I thought you looked pretty great the other way too. What’s with the extreme makeover? Is everything okay?”
    “Everything’s pretty freaking awesome,” I said, still ridinghigh after my encounter with the upper crust. “I was just tired of being the me that nobody knew. I wanted to look back on my high school experience and actually be able to say that I experienced it. Right now I’m just . . . existing. And I’m over it.”
    “Brooklyn . . .”
    “Look, Ms. Zia, I know what you’re going to say. High school isn’t everything. And yeah, okay, maybe it’s not. Maybe I won’t even care about any of this a few years from now. But for once I want proof that I was here. I don’t want people to look at my picture in the yearbook and wonder, who is that girl?”
    “But do you really want to do that as somebody else?”
    Now I was starting to get annoyed. This was possibly one of the most significant experiences in my life so far, and she was taking all the fun out of it. Not that I thought she was doing it on purpose, but still, the line of questioning felt a bit harsh.
    “How is this any different from you working out to stay in shape or getting your hair dyed? Why is it okay for everyone else to take steps to improve themselves, but I get the third degree when I do it?”
    “Calm down, Brooklyn. I’m not trying to upset you, I just want to make sure you’ve thought about this. If any other student walked in here having changed their entire appearance, I’d be asking them these questions too. Just because we’re closer than I might be with other students doesn’t mean I’m going to sugarcoat things for you. In fact, I’ve always been honest with you.”
    “Yeah, sometimes a little too honest,” I muttered.
    “It’s just, you know about my past. . . . I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes instead of making your own.”
    “I know, Ms. Z., but you think you’re trying to shield mefrom the potential downside of high school? Um, sorry. Been there, experienced that,” I retorted. Seeing her face grow serious, I tried to calm down. “Look, I just want to be happy, and I wasn’t before. I wish I was. I wish the old me was enough. I wish there were more people in this school who were like you, but there’s not.”
    We’d had this conversation so many times before that I was beginning to feel like a broken record. And because Ms. Z. was the only person in my life who I could confide in like this, she also ended up being the one who was always pushing back and challenging me.
    Ms. Zia looked at me and bit her lip as she took in what I was saying. “And you think this will make you happy?”
    “It already has,” I said, thinking about my run-in with The Elite.
    After another long look and an even longer sigh, she patted me on the arm. “Then I’m here to support you,” she said. She forced a smile on her pretty face.
    “Well, I guess I should head to my locker before lunch is over, then,” I said, getting up and gathering my things. “See you tomorrow?”
    “Sure, Brooklyn,” Ms. Zia answered, watching me move toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    I’d barely gotten my foot out the door when I immediately collided with another body.
    “Oh!” I said, looking up. When I saw that it was Asher, I couldn’t seem to untangle my feet.
    “Whoops,” he said, placing his hands on both my arms to steady me. “Sorry about that.”
    I gave him a half smile, wondering whether he recognized me. Then he blinked in surprise and flashed me a smile of his own. “Wow. You look . . .”
    Good? Amazing? Beautiful? Like the kind of girl you’d like to have as a girlfriend?
    “Different,” he finished after a long pause.
    My smile disappeared again.
    “Seriously?!” I took one last look at my biggest crush and then stormed off in the opposite direction.

 
    “Sweetie! Can