Witch Test by Katie L. Carroll

Author:Katie L. Carroll
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Halloween, witch, witchcraft, bullying, depression, middle school, witch trials, grief, crow
Publisher: Shimmer Publications
Published: 2022-08-16T10:42:30+00:00

Chapter 23

The List

I’m groggy the next morning, though I crashed shortly after dinner. After somewhat recovering from reading my mom’s diary, I ordered pizza. My dad showed his usual level of interest in the meal, which meant he ate it without comment.

As I get ready for school, I wish my favorite sweatshirt, the one with Van Gogh’s Wheat Fields with Crows, was clean. His crows are tiny compared to mine, just a couple of strokes of black paint in the swirling blues and yellows of his night sky. I settle for a baggy beige sweater in an attempt to not draw attention to myself.

I yawn as the bus rumbles down the hill. I take my usual seat near the front, almost too distracted by my mom’s latest diary entry to care that Abby and Mia switch seats to be right behind me.

Their chatter is like a mosquito buzzing in my ear, annoying but harmless…until they decide to bite.

I’m trying to write the poem for Mr. Juno’s class, the one about what I would miss the most if I died, when Abby flicks the back of my head.

“Oh sorry,” she says. “I thought I saw a bug.”

I keep my gaze on the poem, the paper balanced on a book on my knees, and add another line. It’s just a list right now, but at least I’ll have something to turn in.

Mia squeezes in next to me. “Where were you at lunch yesterday?”

It was my first lunch in the art room. Daya spent much of the time showing me where all the different supplies are kept and talking about the piece she’s working on. We barely had time to eat before the period was over.

It was a nice break from the stress of everything at school, and it’s been a good distraction to think about what I’m working on.

Abby not-so-subtly looks over the back of the seat at my homework, so I cover the paper with my arm. “Are you writing a love poem? Or is it a spell?”

Mia squeals and edges away.

I try to remember back to kindergarten when Abby and I became best friends. Was she mean back then? I don’t think so. I can’t remember exactly when she turned this way. Or if it was so subtle that I didn’t notice until this summer.

I wonder how long I’ve been acting mean. It’s this fact, not Abby trying to sneak a look at my poem, that prickles my cheeks with heat.

I need to have something to hand in to Mr. Juno, so I shake my hair to try and create a blanket of protection between me and my ex-friends.

Before I can get back to work, Mia snatches the paper out of my hands.

I snap my head around and try to grab it back. She pulls it out of reach and hands it over to Abby. It’s as if a witch has put a freezing spell on everything but my eyes, which get wider the more she reads. I can tell when she reaches the end when she quietly gasps.

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