The Witch Is Back (33 page)

This was true, but I worked hard on my looks. Most of my spare time was spent poring over high-end mags and fashionista blogs.

Right now was no different.

“Thanks?” I said, not sure if it was a compliment or a dig.

As I'd waited for everyone to get their wristbands hooked up, I'd snuck away to the bathroom to take a second to prepare my battle clothes. I performed a quick glamour spell, conjuring up an edgy little outfit I'd seen on one of my favorite kick-ass actresses in
Self
. The shorts were a cotton/spandex mix and fitted tightly over my muscular thighs, coming to a stop about three inches below my butt. The red shade of the shorts made sure I'd stand out when the judges were watching me kill it on the obstacle course.

The top was the same material, but covered the full length of my arms with thumb holes to keep the sleeves from riding up. It was black like the night, except for a stripe of red, which extended from my armpits to my wrists, giving off a flash of color if I lifted my arms. A hood gathered loosely behind my neck in case I needed the extra protection from the sun, which was a possibility considering I had no idea what to expect from the day.

My favorite part of the outfit was the back of the top, though. Directly below the hood was a hole in the material, leaving my back completely bare. The sports bra was built into the front, so all you could see was my perfectly porcelain skin where material would normally be. It was all business in the front, party in the back. And I was in
love
with it.

The whole outfit was completely unexpected, but I thought that fit me perfectly. The others had no idea what they were up against.

“Does everyone have a wristband?” Miss Peggy yelled out as she attached a band to the last girl in her line.

We all raised ours into the air in response. After letting my arm drop back down, I took a second to admire the piece of athletic jewelry. It was actually really cool, in a sporty kind of way. The band was made of a thick, hard rubber that connected side-by-side on one section of the bracelet, like a snake coming around to meet its own tail. It was bright white, so the jewels, which were placed equidistance apart along the length of the band, could stand out better when they were lit up. Despite its delicate appearance, the counselors had assured us they were pretty much indestructible.

I ran my finger across the length of the band, enjoying the rough-then-smooth-then-rough rhythm of the design. If it wasn't so much like wearing a lojack, I might've even added it to my weekly bling lineup.

“Okay, if everyone's geared up, please follow me,” Miss Peggy said, leading the way alongside the other two adults. For a moment, they looked so serious that it seemed more like they were leading us to our execution rather than a fun magical obstacle course.

The thought made me shiver.

Once we were at the edge of the woods, the counselors slowed to a stop and then told us to spread out. Colette took her place on one side of me and Jinx on the other. Beyond Jinx was Sascha, Jasmine, and Abby. By some sick twist of fate, Eve was right next to Colette and beside her stood Brooklyn.

Keep your enemies close I guess
.

I rubbed the soles of my feet into the ground, hoping to gain some traction in the dirt. I rotated my neck to the right and it cracked loudly, then I repeated the motion to my left, feeling satisfied as my body began to loosen up. Reaction time was all about keeping yourself open to everything that was happening around you. When it came to surprises, laserlike focus was not your friend.

I looked over in Colette's direction and saw that both Eve and Brooklyn were staring back at me. Not happily, I might add. I wondered if they knew I was onto them?

“Good luck, guys,” I said sweetly, trying to throw them off with kindness.

The tactic didn't work.

“We'd say that to you, too,” Eve said nastily, “but we hope you lose.”

Eve sneered at me, but Brooklyn didn't say anything at all. Instead, she just adjusted her bracelet before setting her eyes forward.

That was it. I was through with being the bigger witch in this situation. I didn't care if I owed them or not for cutting me loose in the woods. It was officially
on
.

“I'll put in a good word for you when I do my apprenticeship,” I said, confidently. “A powerful witch can always use a good janitor.”

As Eve's face fell into a scowl, I turned to face Miss Peggy, Mrs. B, and Mrs. Jeanette as they lined up in front of us, signaling that the competition was about to begin.

“Will everyone please line up on the X in front of you,” Mrs. Jeanette said, pointing at the place on the ground where the letter was etched clearly into the dirt. As I looked up, a large stoplight appeared out of nowhere and hovered a few feet in the air in front of me. A glance at the lanes next to me showed that the other competitors had them, too.

“When the light turns green, please proceed to the first challenge,” Mrs. Jeanette continued. “And don't forget, you
will
be timed, you
will
be monitored, and if you don't complete an obstacle, you
will
be disqualified.”

“Everybody stand ready!” Miss Peggy yelled, raising her hands in the air toward the floating stoplights. We all crouched down like we were about to start a race. Some of us looked more at home as we prepped than others. For instance, as clever as Colette was, she had decided to wear a frilly, lime-green skirt that had about a dozen layers to it with a loose-fitting tank top showcasing large, bright yellow bananas. The outfit itself was bananas, and I had no idea how she was going to manage running around in it, but I wouldn't have expected anything less.

“Off you fly,” the counselors said in unison, and the countdown began.

The stoplight in front of the first girl in line glowed from red to yellow and then green, and we all watched as she took off running into the woods. Once she'd disappeared, the next girl was signaled to go, and so forth. By the time it was Jinx's turn to go, my heart was hammering in my chest and I had the same feeling I'd always gotten before performing with my cheer squad.

I
so
have this
.

Jinx started off at a slower jog than I knew she was capable of, but I was happy to see that she appeared confident. At one point I'd wondered whether I'd ever see her this way again. And here she was, going off into the unknown and up for the challenge.

I was alerted back to my own stoplight, which had finally lit up red as Jinx sprinted for the trees.

Red.

Yellow.

Breathe.

And just when I thought it would never come, the bottom orb lit up in a vibrant green color and I began to run as quickly as my legs would take me.

I had no idea where I was going or when I would encounter the first obstacle, so I started by focusing on moving as fast as I could. Trying to stick to a straight path, I listened to the pounding of my sneakers against the ground, while straining to hear for the other competitors.

But all I heard was me.

We were all only about twenty feet away from each other in both directions, so the fact that I wasn't able to make out the others as their breathing labored and they lumbered through the trails was a little disconcerting. But then again, the counselors had said they'd enchanted the forest for the duration of the competition. It was entirely possible that they'd isolated us from one another, so we couldn't cheat or become distracted while moving through the course.

So, I pushed forward and tried to focus a hundred percent on what I was doing.

I'd been running for about seven minutes and was just beginning to feel the familiar burn in my legs and lungs that always came with an intense workout when I saw a monstrous thing start to grow right in front of me.

Here we go!

As I got closer, I could see that the wooden structure was flat and smooth and stood about twenty-five feet straight up in the air. It quickly became clear that I'd reached my first obstacle, since I'd hit a wall. Literally.

Knowing it was a long shot, I slowed my gait before going to the far right side of the wall and trying to move around it. But as I'd expected, as soon as I started to step into the open space on the side, my body was pushed lightly backward. Like an invisible rubber band pulling my body away from the easy way around.

No matter. It wouldn't have been a challenge if it were that simple.

So, I rushed back to the middle of the wall to study the surface again, this time for clues on how I was supposed to get up and over it. The counselors had said to use a combination of our human skills and our magical talents to pass the obstacles, so I tried to quickly figure out what I was supposed to do in this case.

I looked around for something big to prop up against the wall, which would put me closer to the top of the structure. But there was nothing. There were plenty of trees to climb, but none were near enough to the wall for me to get up and over. Knowing I was already wasting time, I took a step back.

Magic it is.

“Revosio immersa!” I shouted, aiming the spell at the construction in front of me.

As the words to the revealing spell left my mouth, there was a little shudder in the surface of the wall. I blinked my eyes, not sure what I was seeing at first, and was momentarily mesmerized by the swirling patterns of the wood. But after a few seconds, the exterior, which had been smooth before, suddenly became riddled with holes. Holes that didn't go all the way through to the other side, and were only about five inches in diameter. Without hesitating, I stepped forward and stuck one of my hands inside.

My fingers immediately closed around a groove in the gap of the wood and then my free hand found another hole and grabbed on. Taking a deep breath, I pulled up with my arms until my body was off the ground.

It was like rock-climbing—something I'd never done before, but had always wanted to try. And honestly, it wasn't all that hard. After you've lifted another girl into the air and held her there as she balanced on one foot, lifting your own body weight is easy.

Once again, cheerleading saves the day!

I started to move steadily along, finding one crevasse after another and slowly making progress. Until suddenly, there were no more holes above me. I searched around, but the surface remained smooth from that point on. I was about eighteen feet in the air by now and no matter how I worked it out, there was no possible way to reach the top from where I was.

Clinging to the wall, I could feel my muscles begin to twitch with fatigue. It had seemed easy when I'd been moving. But now that I was stuck, it was like my body weight had doubled.

I looked down at the ground. No way was I going back the way I'd come. Besides the fact that I didn't want to have to start over again, I knew that the holes in the wood had gotten me this far for a reason. There had to be another way over. Something that I wasn't seeing.

Tipping my head back, I squinted in the sun and tried to find a solution. I could blow holes in the wood and continue to climb my way up. But then I'd have to let go of one hand in order to cast accurately. And given how quickly I was starting to tire, I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it another four or five times before I collapsed. There was also the possibility that I would blow the whole damn thing up. Would Mrs. Jeanette have made it that easy to get through, though? Just remove the object by blowing it up? It was hard for me to see them going that route.

No, I was sure they wanted us to go
over
the wall. So, how was I going to do that? And before my arms fell off?

I studied what I had at my disposal: This flat wall? No help there. A tree? As I'd noted earlier, the branches weren't long enough and it's not like they could stretch . . .

My gaze slowed as it ran over a group of vines that drooped down from a nearby sapling. Would they be strong enough to withstand my weight? I shook my head and laughed, as I wondered why I hadn't noticed them before.

Taking a few deep breaths, I transferred all my weight to my left hand and pointed over to the creeper that was on the tree just over the other side of the wall.

“Elingua astonia!”

The vine began to move, farther and farther until it had snaked its way over the wall and down toward me. When it was close enough for me to grab, I carefully tested its strength, first pulling on it while holding onto the wall, and then finally by gripping it with both hands.

Mustering up what was left of my strength, I planted my feet against the flat side of the wall and began to climb the rest of the way up. Every step was agonizing and my arms burned like they were on fire, but I forced myself to keep going. When I finally reached the top, I dragged my butt up and over until I was lying on it. As one of my legs hit the other side of the wall and dangled there, twenty-five feet above the ground, my wristband glowed a brilliant shade of purple, signaling that I'd passed the first challenge.