White Witch by Trish Milburn Read Free Book Online Page A

one close at hand.
    The door opens and I stiffen, determined not to lose my cool no matter what Stacy does or says. I will succeed at a good, normal life. I will.
    “You okay?” Gone is the usual teasing, fun lilt to Toni’s voice. Now, she’s all genuine concern.
    “Fine. Just embarrassed.”
    “Well, you’re not the only one,” Paige says.
    I glance up, and a trickle of water drips off the end of my nose. “What?”
    “Keller just told Stacy that he’s met kindergartners with more maturity, loud enough for everyone outside to hear. She looked like she was about to cry. Ran to her car and peeled out like rubber was going out of style.”
    I glance down into the bowl of the sink. “I didn’t expect to end my first day here as public enemy number one.”
    “You’re not.” Toni pulls some of my dripping hair away from my face. “There are a lot of people who don’t like Stacy or her groupies.”
    “Applause actually broke out when Keller told her off,” Paige says, satisfaction ringing in her voice.
    “Why does she hate me so much? She doesn’t even know me.”
    “Stacy’s used to getting whatever Stacy wants.” Toni leans back against the countertop. “Except Keller. He’s the only guy she deems worthy who refuses to go out with her. And the fact he was attracted to you from the first moment he saw you is burning a stupendous hole in her oversized ego.”
    I shake my head. “I just wanted life to be normal here.” I don’t realize how revealing that statement is until I look up and see the other two girls giving me questioning looks.
    “Hate to break it to you, but you’re not normal,” Toni says.
    I swallow hard, past the grapefruit-sized lump in my throat. “What  . . . what do you mean?”
    Toni points toward the mirror. “Look in there. You’re beautiful. Movie star beautiful. Until people get used to it, the guys are going to trip over themselves staring at you and the girls are going to be jealous that you’re stealing all the attention.”
    I glance in the mirror at Paige, who blushes.
    “Sorry, guilty as charged.” Paige shrugs. “Can’t help it. I saw Eric looking at you the way I wish he’d look at me, and that little green monster in me took over.”
    “I don’t like Eric. I mean, I like him, but not romantic like.”
    “I know. One look at your face when you saw Keller told me that.”
    “I’m that obvious, huh?” That’s so not good news.
    Toni laughs. “You should get ‘obvious’ tattooed across your forehead.”
    “Yeah, that would be attractive. Hey, maybe it’d get me sympathy instead of angry looks from every girl in school.”
    “Not every girl,” Paige says. “Personally, I think you’re pretty cool.”
    I snort a laugh. “Thanks, but I think you’re in the minority.”
    “You might be surprised.” Toni pushes herself away from the sinks. “We’ll wait for you outside.”
    I nod, wait until the bathroom is mine alone before I shove my head under a stream of water to wash out as much of the ice cream as possible. I squeeze the water from my hair with paper towels and wish I had a hair dryer. Actually, I can wave my hands and dry it in two seconds flat, but I don’t dare indulge in even that bit of magic after what just happened outside. That seething darkness inside me, the other side of myself, scared me more than anything I’ve experienced since my mother’s death.
    I stare at myself in the mirror. All that stares back is a blond, teenage girl, almost normal. But she isn’t normal. Toni has no idea how right she is.
    I hide in the bathroom for ten more minutes, hoping that the outside world will go away while I’m tucked out of sight. Pretty convinced it won’t, and suddenly mad at myself for acting the victim, I straighten, give myself a little mental pep talk then head out of the restroom and through the restaurant. I’m sure I’m quite the radiant beauty now with my wet hair, splotchy makeup and milkshake-splattered shirt.
    When I