The Fairytale Curse (Magic's Return Book 1) (17 page)

She shrugged. “She’s just a history nut. She likes bringing it alive for her students.” She glanced at Simon, leaning against the railing with his arms folded across his broad chest. “Who’s your friend?”

“Ahh … security. Because of the … you know. CJ’s got one too.”

Simon moved closer in a meaningful way. Obviously he thought we’d spent long enough chatting.

Sona took the hint, though her dark eyes were alive with curiosity. “I’ll see you later, then. You can tell me
everything
.”

Miss Moore came out carrying her books. Simon frowned and dropped the casual pose. Oh, no.
Here we go.

“I want a word with you.”

“Yes?” She tossed her long black hair and smiled. Sex kitten was back.

“You nearly caused an accident outside the school.”

“Oh, that was you?” She laid a hand on his arm and leaned closer. “I’m so sorry! I had the sun in my eyes and I just didn’t see you. Are you all right?”

“Yes, we’re fine …” She’d sucked the wind right out of his sails. Even grumpy Simon had trouble staying mad with someone who was smiling at him like that. “No harm done, I guess,” he finished lamely.

“Wonderful! I must run, I have another class.”

Her high heels tapped their way down the walkway while we stared after her, the sun catching blue highlights in her raven hair. The sway of her hips was mesmerising. A crow swooped down and picked a half sandwich off the walkway mere feet away, hopping under the railing to snatch it up. Not until Miss Moore rounded the corner and disappeared from sight did Simon stir, disturbing the crow. It flapped lazily into the branches of a tree in the courtyard below and watched us leave. The piece of ham dangling from its mouth made me think of ravens feasting on the battlefield and I shuddered.

Sona was loitering by her locker, not far from mine. Other students swirled all around us in the passageway, the air full of the metallic slamming of locker doors and the hubbub of voices. When she saw me she gave up all pretence of fiddling with her key and came over.

“Where’d you get the bodyguard?” she asked in a low voice.

“Mum and Dad insisted,” I said, opening my locker and shoving Herodotus and the other two big heavy history texts I’d been lugging back into it with relief. I looked around for Zac, but there was no sign of him. Damn. “There’s been some crazy talk on the internet. People saying we’re witches. Death threats and stuff. They have to stay with us all day.”

“But who
are
they?” Sona was a woman on a mission. “Where do you get a bodyguard from? Bodyguards ‘R’ Us?”

“Oh, they work with Mum and Dad,” I said, trying to keep it vague. I should have known that wouldn’t work with Sona.

“Come
on
, Vi, spill! What’s going on with you? I haven’t seen you since Monday. I didn’t even get to see the big frog-spitting scene. Well, I saw it on YouTube … but that’s not the same!”

“Yeah, you and fifty billion other people.”

I sighed. She hadn’t seen me since Monday? It was only Wednesday, but so much had changed. If only I could tell her.

It was kind of strange that I wanted to. Usually I was a pretty private sort of person. When you have a twin, you have a built-in confidante. They’re always there to vent to and share secrets with. Sure, I’d had
friends
apart from CJ; I wasn’t some weird loner. But no one as close. When I thought about it, I’d only really known Sona since Monday, but already I felt comfortable enough with her that it felt much longer than that. Some people were just like that.

She was still waiting, her big brown eyes hopeful. I wondered if she’d believe me if I did tell her. Maybe.

“You sure you couldn’t make a frog appear?” She leaned against the bank of lockers and eyed me expectantly, as if frogs might come spewing out of my mouth if only she asked nicely.

“Sona.”

“Just checking. It looked pretty realistic in that video. How’d you do that?”

I slammed my locker shut, maybe a little more forcefully than necessary.

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

She twirled one long strand of hair around her finger, considering my surly bodyguard. “And is Mr Happy here to protect you or to make sure no more frogs appear?”

Hmmm. Keeping secrets from her could be trickier than I’d thought.

“Everyone’s seen the frogs,” she continued. “You can deny it until you’re blue in the face, but half the world is now convinced magic is real and happening right here at Fernleigh High.”

“And the other half?”

“Thinks it’s all a scam and you and CJ are devious little bitches.”

Now I knew what those Cottingley girls had felt like.

“Nice. And which half do you belong to?”

“I’m not deciding until I get the inside goss. Although, you know, either way I’m cool.”

CJ appeared out of the rush of students heading for the next class. The lockers were on the ground floor of E block, outside the science labs, and a little too close to the main entrance into the block, which was the largest in the school. Apart from all the people actually using the lockers, we were competing for space with students lining up for science classes and others streaming in or pushing their way out of E block. The noise of slamming locker doors competing with the tramp of feet and loud chatter meant Sona and I had to stand close just to hear each other.

CJ’s locker was on the other side of the passage from mine. She didn’t appear to notice me among all the bodies, though Kyle nodded to Simon. He looked rather harried, as if trailing CJ around school was proving more of a challenge than he’d expected.

“You can’t blame me for being interested,” Sona said. “This is the most exciting thing that’s ever happened. Everyone wants to know!”

As if the universe wanted to prove her right, a younger kid stepped out of the flow of bodies and stood looking expectantly at me.

“Hi, Violet.” He looked like he might be in Year 7 or 8. “I was wondering if I could interview you for the school newspaper.”

I stared at him, horrified. “No!”

“I like frogs,” he offered.

“Good for you. The answer’s still no.”

He shrugged and cut through the crowd toward CJ, obviously hoping for a better reception there.

“See?” Sona’s expression was all
I told you so
. “You guys are big news.”

I leaned against my locker and stared across the crowd at CJ. I couldn’t hear what she said, but the little newspaper guy looked disappointed as he left. A group of Year 7s hurried past. When they saw me they all started giggling and whispering to each other behind their hands. I looked away, then realised others were doing it too. One guy was actually pointing at me, and another had his phone out. Simon headed purposefully toward that one.

Looking around, I realised everyone that walked past was looking at me. Everyone, even the teachers who passed, were staring as if I was the prize exhibit at the zoo. Or maybe the best freak in sideshow alley. It was like I wasn’t even a person to them, just something weird to look at.

I started to breathe faster. “Everyone’s staring at me.”

“Of course they are,” said Sona. “Don’t let it get to you. Hey, is that Josh Johnson?”

I followed her gaze and my heart sank. Yep, that was Josh Johnson all right, standing so close to my sister he was practically inhaling her. The crowd was starting to thin out now, but I still couldn’t hear what he said to her. She laughed and looked up at him, and the expression in those blue eyes made me groan.

I’d seen that look before, several times, in fact. It never ended well. CJ expected a lot from a boyfriend, but the ones she picked never seemed able to deliver. Shame she had such crappy taste in guys. Josh was another one in the same disappointing pattern. Maybe she ought to consider using some other criteria apart from looks. The good-looking guys she went for always seemed to love themselves more than they loved her.

They were standing so close together, utterly absorbed in each other. Josh’s perfect blonde head bent close to her dark one.

“Oh, my God, he’s going to kiss her,” Sona breathed, frogs forgotten.

Of course he was going to kiss her. He was the best-looking guy in the school. This kiss had been inevitable from the moment CJ enrolled. His lips touched hers and I sighed.
Here we go again
.

A cheer went up from Josh’s mates and they broke apart. CJ’s lovely face was more beautiful than ever, aglow with happiness. Josh looked insufferably pleased with himself.

“Wow,” said Sona. “They look so good together. They’re going to be, like, the hottest couple at the formal.”

That cheered me a little. Josh was leaving, so I wouldn’t have to watch the inevitable rise and fall of the relationship played out every day at school. If I were really lucky, he’d lose interest once he left and the big wide world beckoned. Having a schoolgirl for a girlfriend wasn’t so cool when you were a man of the world.

“What are you wearing?” Sona asked.

It took me a minute to realise she was still talking about the Year 12 formal on Friday night. At least it beat discussing frogs and magic.

“Oh, we’re not going,” I said.

“Not going?” she shrieked.

Josh glanced over, but as soon as he realised the noise was coming from his new love’s ugly sister and her geeky friend he looked away, supremely uninterested.

“What do you mean, you’re not going?”

“Mum grounded us. Well, she grounded CJ actually, but I don’t want to go without her.”

“What is your
problem
? You can’t miss the formal.”

“Why not? I’ve never heard of Year 11 going to the Year 12 formal anyway.” And I’d been to a lot of schools.

“It’s a small school,” she said. “They need to make up numbers to get a good venue. And it’ll be awesome. There’s all this crying and hugging and kissing and then everyone goes to the after party and promises to be best friends forever and there’s so much
goss
. You have to come!”

“Sounds boring.”

“How can it be boring?
I’m
going to be there—and I’m counting on you.”

“I haven’t even got a dress.”

It was nearly time for the next bell. I should really have been in class by now. The crowds round the lockers had thinned out—only the lovebirds and a few stragglers remained. Simon and Kyle stood to one side, looking bored, but then Josh pulled out his phone and snapped a selfie of him and CJ, smiling faces smooshed together. Simon sprang to life and marched over.

“You don’t have time to go shopping now,” Sona said. “You must have something you could wear? Why don’t I come over and we’ll go through your wardrobe? I’ve got a couple of things I could lend you.”

“Look, I’ve got to run,” I said as the bell boomed over the speakers. “I’m late for Chemistry.”

Simon was ordering Josh to delete the photo he’d just taken. I lingered, not sure if I should wait for him or not.

“I’ll call you,” Sona said. “We can get together tonight.”

“Whatever.” I waved as she walked off, but my mind was on other things. Josh was facing off against Simon, a mulish look on his face.

“I’m just taking a photo of my girlfriend, mate,” said Josh, a challenge in his tone. Prince Josh was used to getting his own way. “There’s no law against that.”

“There’s been enough publicity already,” Simon said. “Crystal’s parents want me to ensure there’s no more. Please delete that photo.”

“It’s just a photo. I’m not going to publish it. And who are you, anyway?”

“A friend.” Simon looked anything but friendly, but what could he do? The caveman was right, there was no law against taking photos. Simon really didn’t have a leg to stand on. He obviously knew that, and the knowledge did nothing to improve his temper. Poor Simon wasn’t having a very good day.

“Well, I’m her friend too, and she doesn’t mind, do you, Ceej? So I don’t see what business it is of yours.”

And with that he swaggered off, CJ’s hand clasped in his paw. After a moment Kyle gave a helpless little shrug and followed them. Simon turned to me, frustration written large on his face.

“What time does school finish?”

“Another hour,” I said.

“Thank
God.
”

He was waiting when I came out of my last class—my own personal thundercloud. Not that I cared. I had no plans to become his best buddy. Was he always like this, or did he just not like babysitting duty? Or maybe he didn’t like me.

We headed for the car, meeting up with CJ and Kyle on the way. Kids poured past to the waiting buses, shouting and talking and laughing, like every other day—but there were no photographers lying in wait at the gates for us. Even when we got into the car and pulled out from the kerb, no one else pulled out in pursuit. Kyle and Simon looked at each other, but said nothing.

“No press,” I said at last. “That’s good. They must have bought our story this morning.”

CJ hadn’t even noticed, too busy texting the caveman. It had only been an hour since she saw him. What did they find to talk about?

“No,” said Kyle. “There’s been … a development.”

The odd phrase caught CJ’s attention. “What do you mean?”

“Google Sydney Airport,” he said.

She did, and I leaned over to read the results with her.

Sydney Airport magic attack, Sydney Morning Herald, 2 hours ago

Ogre at Sydney International Airport, abc.net.au, 1 hour ago

Latest on the ogre at Sydney Airport, updated 1 hour ago

… and on and on down the page.

“Bloody
hell
,” said CJ, clicking on the first link that promised video footage. Like our moment of YouTube fame, it looked like it had been taken by someone with a phone camera, probably someone waiting to greet a visitor at the airport. The scene showed a gate lounge at Sydney airport. A few people stood around, watching the trickle of passengers coming through the gate. Others sat in the rows of uncomfortable chairs reading or eating junk food. A mother with a little bald baby stepped forward eagerly as a man with a briefcase came through the gate, but most people headed off on their own, with no one to meet them. There were a lot of guys in suits, so they were probably mainly business travellers.