Spell Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

hand sanitizer from a squeeze bottle in my purse. The gel burned into my cracked skin, and antiseptic smells sharpened the air.
    "My parents never said a word." Jazmin scowled. "Probably because I would have begged them to let you stay with us."
    "Don't be mad at them. My parents screwed up, not yours."
    Jazmin shook her head. "The Winter Showcase will be a disaster. I mean, I like Rayne, but he relies on you to do all the thinking."
    "She . Rayne's a girl now."
    "Sorry. I still slip up sometimes."
    "Rayne's a sweetie. Don't stomp on her feelings while I'm gone."
    "I won't as long as she doesn't mess up my cues or lose my stuff."
    "She won't." I hope.
    "Just to be sure—" she held her guitar case aloft, "—I'll take this to the bathroom with me if I have to. I will not be stranded on stage."
    "Word."
    We thudded across the wooden footbridge. "Want me at your side while you tell Tanaka?"
    "No thanks," I said. "Distance yourself so you don't get hit with guilt by association." Jazmin was the only sophomore in the show band. Technically, Mister Tanaka couldn't kick her off the band because the music director was her teacher. But why take a chance?
    Jazmin pulled open one of the heavy double doors and preceded me through the reception room. The inner door to the auditorium had been propped open. Mister Tanaka stood below the stage, his electronic tablet in hand.
    "Places, everyone!" Mister Tanaka called out as the first period bell blasted.
    "Good luck." Jazmin joined the musicians onstage and unpacked her guitar. The drama students gathered their props and met backstage, right. The dancers fled backstage, left.
    While everyone was in flux, I seized the moment to break the bad news. "I'm sorry, Mister Tanaka—"
    "What is it, Ainslie?"
    "I have to bow out of the Winter Showcase."
    His stricken expression did not bode well. "What do you mean, 'bow out'? You're the stage manager." His voice carried backstage. "The showcase is fifteen percent of your grade."
    The musicians lowered their instruments and stared. Jazmin glanced at the drummer, then fiddled with her guitar strings. Gravity and despair dragged my gaze down to my blue suede stilettos. "I want to be here, but there's been a family crisis. I'm so sorry. But Rayne knows the cues. She can fill in for me."
    We both glanced at Rayne. Today she wore a ribbed black top and purple skinny jeans.
    "This is terrible." Mister Tanaka pressed his lips together as if to hold back vomit.
    Students parted the curtains and gaped at us from backstage. Shock and panic were etched on each face.
    This is so going to wreck my final grade.
    "Go over the entire script with Rayne and your crew. Promote someone to assist her. Rayne can't manage the entire production by herself." His expression hardened before he glanced away, dismissing me.
    "Yes, sir." The knowledge I might fail my one easy class stung like a slap. I'm going to kill my parents.
    ****
    As the day progressed, my teachers dumped extra reading assignments on me. My Algebra II Honors instructor made a sly comment about my "upcoming extended vacation." I wanted to say, "Yeah, I can't wait to be dumped on relatives I haven't seen since I was three." But pride and embarrassment sealed my lips.
    I had totally forgotten our neighbor, Mrs. Abbot, had tried to reach me. At lunch, she left me a text: Can you babysit the twins Friday night?
    I texted back: Sorry, I'm leaving town on Friday.
    "Have you ever sat for her?" Jazmin asked, stealing one of my sweet potato fries.
    I reached for my bottle of designer water. "No. Little kids give me the hives."
    Jazmin rolled her eyes. "They do not."
    "I'm serious. Remember when we were at the bookstore, and your parents' friend got off the elevator?"
    "Mrs. Spinelli and her five children?"
    "Yes! She pushed the baby in the stroller and the other four kids hung on to it. They moved as a unit. It was spooky. I shuddered."
    Jazmin shook her head. "You're certifiable. What about all the fundraising you do