Beginner's Luck Read Online Free PDF

opened
the car door. Most of the guests were already there.
Shelby could see Hayley Crook and two other girls
from the stables, Monica and Kim. Lindsey sat with
them. Lindsey looked different from the other girls.
Her clothes were daggy and she didn't have any makeup
on. Shelby glanced down at her own plain tee-shirt
and three-quarter pants, and wondered if she stood
out as much as Lindsey did.
    There were also a few of the kids from school. A
group of boys sat together in the corner trying to look
cool. Shelby thought they looked funny with their
gelled-up hair and their low-slung pants.
    She placed her present on top of the pile on a table
by the door and then kissed Erin on the cheek. 'Happy
birthday!'
    Erin hugged her, talking in a loud voice to be
heard over the music. 'Have you seen how many
presents I got? Have some food. I can't believe everybody
came! I was sure nobody would. I stayed up all
night freaking, so I'm a bit scattered.'
    'You're always a bit scattered,' replied Shelby,
smiling.
    'I know,' she moaned. 'Have you tried one of those
green things?' She pointed to a plate. 'Don't. They're
called dalmatoes or something. They're green and
slimy and gross. Mum bought all this normal food
and then those. It's just so random. Have a drink. Do
you want orange or passionfruit?'
    Shelby took a plastic cup and looked around, not
sure where to sit. The kids from school sat on one side
of the room, and the girls from the stables on the
other.
    'You know everyone here. Make them mingle!'
urged Erin.
    Shelby loitered around the food table for a bit
longer and then she was saved by the 'surprise'. It
wasn't a clown; it was a magician. He had set up a
table just outside the doorway and Erin's dad opened
the garage door as if it was a stage curtain.
    Erin groaned and covered her eyes. 'This is so
lame. How embarrassing!'
    Shelby didn't think it was lame at all. It might have
been if he wore a cape and a silly hat, but he was
wearing a blue checked shirt and dress shorts.
    All the guests pulled their chairs over so that they
could watch. Shelby sat in the middle between Lindsey
and a girl called Christie from her Maths class.
    The magician started off with a few tricks with
handkerchiefs, cards and coins, but he also told heaps
of jokes. The boys were sitting back with their arms
folded at first, but then the magician made one of
them – a surfer boy called Angus – come to the front
and put his arm in a small guillotine. Just when the
blade came down Angus started screaming, and the
magician looked really frightened for a second, but
then he realised that Angus was joking. Everybody
laughed. Soon all the boys were wanting to have a
turn up the front.
    Shelby thought it would be easy see through the
illusion but, trick after trick, she couldn't figure it out.
At the end of the show everyone was laughing and
having a good time, and Shelby was sad that it was
over. She offered to help him pack the car.
    'That was cool! How do you do it?'
    He grinned. 'Magic!'
    'No, really,' she pressed. 'You make it look so
easy.'
    'Practice,' he replied. 'No, not practice, experimentation.
People say that if you fail you should try again,
but I don't think that's true. You can do the same
wrong thing over and over, and you're going to fail
every time, but if you're smart, you learn from your
mistakes, so the next time you try you do something a
little bit different and then you might succeed. Comprenda? '
    Shelby nodded. 'Like when you ask a horse to do
something and it doesn't do it, then you might not be
asking it the right way.'
    The magician shrugged. 'I don't know about that.
Cards and handkerchiefs don't have free will.'
    'Doves and bunnies do,' replied Shelby with a grin.
    'That's why I don't use them!' he said, slamming
the back door. He climbed into his car and waved as
he drove away.
    While everyone had cake, Erin opened her presents.
Shelby was pleased to see that hers was just as good as
all the others and Erin was happy. After the