I shoved some more mint into my bag. "Because I . . . Look, this sounds stupid, but I really like him, and I don't want him to like me back if it's just, like, some spell."
I thought Alice might argue with me, but she just shrugged and said, "Attraction has its own magic, I suppose."
"Yeah, well, there's probably no chance of him ever being attracted to me. I thought maybe at the ball . . . but I can't even make a decent dress."
I turned to Alice. "Why is it that when I'm out here with you, I can do completely kick-ass spells, but when I'm in the school, everything I do blows up in my face?"
"Confidence?" she suggested. "You feel unsure of yourself in that school, and it's reflected in your magic."
"Maybe."
We continued picking plants for a while until Alice said, "You say this girl's dress is beautiful?"
I sighed. "It's perfect."
Alice smiled, and in the light from the orb, I could swear her teeth actually gleamed.
"Would you like to change that?"
Classes were canceled the day of the ball, and since it was another one of those beautiful, clear October days, nearly everybody spent it outside.
Everybody but me. Well, me and Jenna. Even with her bloodstone, she wasn't the biggest fan of the outdoors. She was curled up in her usual spot, on her bed, covered with her throw, and a manga in her hand.
I sat on my bed staring at my stupid dress dummy, which was still wearing the pillowcase. I'd spent most of the morning trying to turn it into something at least halfway presentable, and had had absolutely no luck. I couldn't figure it out; I knew I wasn't the world's best witch, but a transformation spell just should not have been this hard. True, I'd never attempted anything as elaborate before, but I should have at least been able to make a little black dress. But even that had turned out shapeless, with a crooked hem to boot.
I sighed, and Jenna exclaimed, "Damn, Sophie, I'm supposed to be the moper. What is your problem?"
"This freaking dress." I pointed at the offending object. "Nothing I do works."
Jenna shrugged. "So don't go."
I glared at her. Jenna wasn't going to the ball, so she didn't understand why I so badly wanted to go. I didn't really understand why I wanted to go either, although it probably had a lot to do with Archer in a tux.
I didn't want to tell Jenna that, though. "It's not the ball; it's the principle of the thing. I should be able to do this spell. It's just not that hard."
"Maybe somebody cursed your dummy," she joked, turning back to her manga.
My hand sneaked into my pocket and closed around the small object that seemed to be burning a hole there.
When Alice suggested doing a spell on Elodie's dress, I had initially said no way. "I could get kicked out for doing magic on another student," I'd told her.
"But it wouldn't be you," Alice argued. "It would be me. You would just be the carrier, as it were."
That had made sense, and I have to admit I'd felt a little giddy when
Alice had reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny bone, probably from a bird. Alice having bones in her pocket probably should've freaked me out, but by that point I was used to Alice's weirdness. Like the necklace that first night, the bone glowed softly in her hands. She'd smiled as she gave it to me.
"Just slip this into the hem of her dress."
"Do I need to say any special words or anything?"
"No. The bone will know what to do."
I remembered those words now as I fingered the small, smooth bone.
I'd had it for a week, and I still hadn't used it. Alice had promised that the bone would only turn Elodie's dress some horrible color when Elodie put it on, and that didn't sound too bad. Still, I was worried. Every spell I'd ever tried to do on another person had gone badly, and even though I didn't like
Elodie, I didn't want to accidentally hurt her. So the bone had stayed in my pocket.
But if I wasn't going to use it, why hadn't I thrown it out?
With another sigh, I got off my bed and went to the dummy. Even though it didn't have a head, its very posture seemed to be mocking me.
"What up, loser?" I imagined it saying. "I'd rather wear this pillowcase than any of your ugly designs."
"Shut up," I murmured as I put my hands on it and, yet again, concentrated as hard as I could. "Blue, pretty, please . . ." I muttered.
The fabric rippled and promptly became a sequined, bright blue hot pants outfit that looked like a majorette's uniform.
"Crap, crap, crap!" I cried, hitting the dummy so that it spun on its stand.
Jenna looked up from her book. "Now that's fetching."
"Not helpful," I growled. God, what was wrong with me? I'd done spells way harder than this, and they'd never, ever come out this badly.
"I'm telling you," Jenna said, "you got a bum dummy. Nobody else seems to be having this hard a time with theirs."
"I know," I said, leaning my head on the dummy. "Even Sarah
Williams, who is, like, the worst witch ever, made this really pretty red dress. It's not as fancy as Elodie's but--"
I stopped, a sinking feeling in my stomach.
It didn't make sense for me to be having so much trouble making a dress. Maybe Jenna was right: maybe my dummy was cursed.
I pressed my hands to the pillowcase again, but this time I didn't think of a dress. I just said, "'Fess up."
For a moment nothing happened. I wasn't sure whether I should feel relieved or disappointed.
Then, very slowly, two glowing handprints the faint burgundy color of watered-down wine appeared on the front of the dress.
Relief surged through me, but that was quickly swallowed up by a white-hot wave of anger.
"How did you do that?" Jenna asked from behind me. She was on her knees staring at the handprints.
"It's a revelation spell," I said through clenched teeth. "Lets you know if an object has been messed with magically."