Missing Magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

determined to ignore the panic rising up in her stomach. Her hands were beginning to sweat. “Scratchy. S-C-R-A …”
    Jason coughed loudly. He stared straight at her, mouthing “Loser,” but of course Mr. Bishop couldn’t see. Darn him! She looked away. George’s blond head stood tall above the others, nodding encouragingly at her. Jenny Springbranch smirked like she expected she’d win herself. B felt her heart thumping and had to stop herself from running back to her seat.
    Where had she been? “C-H-Y. Scratchy,” she said in a rush, and hurried toward her seat.
    “I’m sorry, B, but that’s incorrect,” Mr. Bishop said.
    What?
    “Since this is practice only,” her teacher went on, “does anyone here think they can spell that word correctly?”
    “I can, Mr. Bishop!” Jason Jameson was hovering over his chair, waving his hand high in the air.
    “All right, Mr. Jameson, come up here and show us what you can do.”
    Jason reached the chalkboard and turned around. He bent at the knees like a baboon and scratched his hair with one hand, his ribs with another, all the while leering at B. “Scratchy,” he said. “S-C-R-A-
T
-C-H-Y. Scratchy.”
    “That’s right,” Mr. Bishop said. “And thank you for the demonstration as well.”
    Jason scratched a few more times on his way back to his seat and whispered, “Loser,” as he passed.
    B caught George’s eye, and whispered, “Isn’t that what I said?”
    George shook his head sadly. “You dropped the ‘T.’”
    B slumped down low in her seat. Such an easy word, and she flubbed it. She felt queasy. Jason was totally cheating by distracting her, but if she wasn’t so scared of standing up in class, he wouldn’t be able to get to her. It was so frustrating!
    They went around the room, taking turns spelling words. B spelled every word correctly in herhead, even the ones that others tripped on, like “believe” and “recommend” and “exaggerate.” She knew all the rules about “i before e,” and nearly all the exceptions, too. By the time her turn came around again, B was so angry at her mistake, and at Jason’s teasing her, she was ready, even if it meant braving the staring faces.
    “Disguise,” Mr. Bishop said, watching her closely.
    She closed her eyes and thought about the Black Cats tickets. Then she pictured the word “disguise,” just as it would appear on a printed page.
    “Disguise. D-I-S-G-U-I-S-E,” she said, a smile tugging at her lips. B knew she had nailed it. “Disguise.”
    “That’s right,” Mr. Bishop said. But B already knew that. She made sure to give Jason a triumphant look before sitting down.
    The rest of the kids took their second turns, but B didn’t bother spelling their words in her head anymore. She’d proven her point. She could spell with the best of them.
    “One more round, then we’ll wrap it up,” Mr.Bishop said. “I’ll turn on some Black Cats tunes while you complete this week’s section in your vocab workbook. Deal?” Everyone cheered. “B, you’re up.”
    B walked to the front of the room. It was getting a little easier every time.
    “Chaos,” Mr. Bishop said.
    At least it’s short,
B thought. Jason did more of his ridiculous scratching at her from his seat, but she was determined not to let him get to her. She looked up and focused on the ceiling tiles.
    “Chaos,” she said, picturing the word in bold, black letters in her mind’s eye. “C-H-A-O-S. Chaos.”
    “That’s right,” Mr. Bishop said.
    Just then, two big drips of moisture landed on B’s head. She touched her hair and looked up in time to see the overhead sprinklers kick into high gear and blast the classroom with water.
    Sploosh!
    Everyone gasped and squealed and held their arms over their heads. The showering water sounded like an indoor rainstorm.
    Meeep — meeep — meeep …
The fire alarm began blaring, its warning strobe lights flashing in the classroom ceiling and down the corridors. Warning bells chimed