A Witch's Curse Read Online Free PDF Page B

Emma proclaimed. “What are you trying to do, bring the nineties back? Get real. You look like a groupie for Motley Crue.”
    “ Emma,” Rose said, “your hair looks like you streaked it with clumps of mud. Are you naturally brunette, or are you just a red head who hasn’t washed?”
    “ We hate you,” Gina said, as Emma stood back, looking more confused than insulted, which disappointed Rose. “We’re going to make your year a living hell.”
    “ How’s your Dad, freak?” Jessica chimed in. “I’d ask you how your Mom’s doing, but then I figured out that, oh yeah, you don’t have one!”
    Rose wanted to jump forward and rip an eyebrow off, but refrained. She decided to get them back at a less noticeable time. Involving oneself in a fight on the first day would not be conducive to being liked.
    “ I’ll see you later,” Rose said, trying to repress the anger from coming out in her voice. Before she opened one of the doors, she turned around.
    “ Oh, and Gina?”
    The three girls looked at her now, obnoxiously satisfied.
    “ You’re a camel spider.” She said this before turning around and going to class, happy to have remembered the name of the ugly bug after all.
     
    4
    Home economics was her first scheduled class. The room was a spacious white chamber, with tons of kitchen supplies hanging in every corner, despite how clutter was not an issue. The class was lit up by the streams of sunlight pouring in through the wide windows overlooking most of the grounds.
    Her first two minutes in this class came with both good and bad news. The good news was that two of her friends, James Klepasky and Melinda Lowenstein, were there as well. Melinda had known Rose a long time. James, on the other hand, had possessed a friendship with her for a short year, and he always struck her as surprising. His claim to avoiding beatings on a constant basis was the fact that he wrote for the school newspaper, and did so often with popularity. Rose did not always appreciate his articles, but they did seem to gain him some respect in a few circles.
    When choosing groups, an activity that was supposed to be done in a random raffle, they had manipulated the cards so as to sit next to each other at the same table, so as to be a team for the next quarter.
    “ How did you do that?” Rose asked Melinda, leaning in and murmuring this in her ear when they had found their seats.
    “ Easy,” Melinda said with a mischievous smile. “We pocketed the actual cards, and instead of reading the true names, we chose who we wanted.”
    “ You can thank me for that genius maneuver,” James said.
    “ That means there are two people who will just sort of be standing up there,” Rose said, shifting her gaze across the room.
    At first, the three felt bad about having done this for a split second, until noticing that the two left out were Jessica Faulkner and Emma Banks. The bad news was how the three blue and gold wearing, upbeat torturers were also in the same period. Rose looked at it positively, because at least she had friends who provided a sort of shield from her rivals.
    There were two other kids standing at the forefront, waiting for their names to be called and not having that wish come true. Rose would later decide that the evil cheerleaders had decided to do the same thing as they had, which in turn explained the other couple left out.
    Grady Bell, Lake Pine High’s quarterback, was staring directly at Rose with a smile. She caught a glimpse of him and then looked away.
    The assignment for that day, a semi-grueling undertaking given by Ms. Locke to everyone first thing in the morning, was to make banana bread and chocolate cookies. They would shape them after mixing their own dough.
    At one point while immersed in the project, Rose caught James winking at the cheerleaders.
    “ Ew. You don’t find them attractive, right?”
    “ No,” he said. “I just know it disgusts all three of those chicks when a gothic like me tries to