sure,â I say. But it occurs to me that the best way to keep
not
looking at Kyle is to pretend Iâm doing the lab work. âSo, uh, what are we supposed to be doing here?â I ask.
âI wonder about that all the time,â Mandy says. âI mean, are we supposed to follow our own path or just let fate decide what happens?â
Omigod. She is so stunned. I look over at the next table to see what the science geeks are doing. I catch them looking atme and whispering. I give them the stare down, and they quickly turn away. Do they actually think I was trying to cheat yesterday? Is that why they would dare to stare at me, Lizzie Lane? And then, very clearly, I hear one of them say, âIt
is
Stellaâs.â
Oh, wow. The geeks must recognize the hat. I take a deep breath. Okay, it doesnât matter. Their opinion doesnât count, does it? I mean, they might know Stella and her hat, but who are they going to tell? No one that matters.
The zits start itching, and I canât do a thing about it. Iâm going to go crazy. âQuick,â I say to Mandy, âget out your textbook.â
âFor real?â she asks.
âYes. We must be past the mucus by now so itâll be fine. We can do it.â
Mandy hauls her textbook out of her backpack and starts flipping through the pages. I look at the blackboard, and there are actual instructions for doing a lab with a simple saltwater solution. I can handle that. So we do the experiment. It doesnâtturn out right, but the class is over way faster than normal.
Room 101 is like a dungeon. Itâs a stinky little room behind the gym. I swear the heat vents must blow air directly from the boysâ locker room. The teacher supervising is this withered old dude with a permanent mean mug. I think heâs been in the dungeon forever, and the fumes have poisoned him. He asks for my name, then points to a sign that says
SILENCE!
Then he points to a chair. I sit in the chair and look around. I donât know any of the kids in there. I go back up to the teacher and ask, âHow long
is
detention, anyway? Fifteen minutes?â
He smiles at me. Itâs really awful because his teeth are yellow and his lips go super thin and I can see his gums. âOne hour.â
I feel like Iâve been shot. Thereâs pain in my gut and my knees practically buckle. An entire hour in here? Iâll die. I go back to the table and put my head on my arms. How did this happen to me?
Rachel. She did this. One giant zit is nowhere near enough to get back at her. I need something bigger, something huge and life changing. As in, she gets kidnapped and dropped in the jungle. In a pool of crocodiles. Naked. No, wait. She wakes up to find herself standing naked in front of a school assembly. All one thousand students are there and they have rotten tomatoes to throw...
A sound from the door disturbs my lovely train of thought, and I look up. Thereâs Stella! Iâm actually happy to see her. I wave my fingers and she gives me a tiny smile. She finishes checking in with Mr. Mean and then she sits down beside me.
âWhy are you here?â I whisper.
Mean is on us in a flash. âSilence! If I hear one more sound, your detention will be extended by thirty minutes.â
He is an evil, evil man.
Stella slides me a note. It says:
I came to see you.
I look at her, and she seems serious. Who would go into the dungeon to visit a prisoner? I write back:
Why?
She shrugs, then writes:
I need to get the hat back
.
My look gives her an answer, and she hastily writes:
Not right now. After.
Whew.
Then she writes:
I can teach you some magick while weâre here
.
OK.
She nods and writes:
You have to be careful what you wish for
.
I write:
Duh.
Stella grins and jots:
Like attracts like
.
Whatâs that supposed to mean?
I write.
She scribbles:
It means that what you put out there is what will come back to you
.
The zits on my forehead