Under a Spell (20 page)

“Um, excuse me, what's going on?” Sophie demanded as she finally caught up with her friend and they all sat down in an empty row of seats.

“Nothing. Nothing's going on,” Kara said in a rush, and shot Sophie a concerned look.

“So why were you acting so—” Sophie started to say before widening her eyes. “Kara, do you have a crush on Patrick?”

“What?” Kara blinked as she studied her fingers, refusing to look up at either of her friends. “No, of course not. W-why would you think I had a crush on him? That's crazy talk.”

“Er, because you did
this
and
this
when he was talking to you,” Sophie said as she nervously tugged at her hair to demonstrate Kara's behavior. “Not to mention the whole
mwhooahwwh
thing. Is that even a word?”

“Oh no.” Kara let out a long groan as her cheeks turned the color of ketchup. “So do you think that he noticed?”

“Only if he had ears and eyes,” Harvey assured her. Sophie hit him in the arm.

“Of course he didn't, and the only reason we noticed was because we know you so well,” Sophie quickly backtracked as she realized that Kara
did
have a crush on Patrick. Why hadn't Kara told her? But she already knew the answer. She had been so caught up with finding her dad and the whole djinn thing that she hadn't realized Kara
even knew Patrick, let alone liked him. She was a bad friend. “So why didn't you tell us you liked him?”

“Well, at first I didn't know I liked him. He's one of the stagehands, and he's been coming to the art room to check on Colin's progress,” Kara explained as she nervously started to fiddle with her necklace. “And that's when I noticed the color of his eyes. I mean, did you see them? They were like the ocean on a summer's day with just a hint of lapis in there.” She let out a dreamy sigh and her shoulders started to droop. “But of course it's hopeless. You saw me. I can't even string two words together when I'm around him. Why would he ever like me?”

“Um, because you are gorgeous, not to mention sweet, kind, and funny. Oh, and you're also very nice to papier-mâché flying monkeys,” Sophie said. “And if you like him, then you should do something about it.”

“W-ell, he did tell me that the whole drama club is going to see
The Wizard of Oz
at the movies on Saturday for inspiration. It's a sing-along. Anyway, he kind of asked me to go with them,” Kara reluctantly admitted.

“He did not.” Sophie widened her eyes as she gripped her friend's arm in excitement. “That's so majorly exciting!”

“Yeah, the thing is that I'm not so sure it would be a good idea.” Kara shook her head. “What if I get all tongue-tied again and I'm stuck there on my own? I wish I could be more like you when you're around Jonathan. How do
you manage to speak to him without feeling like you're going to melt into a puddle?”

“I don't know,” Sophie said truthfully as she considered it. “I guess I'm always so excited to see him and then we're normally so busy talking about Neanderthal Joe that there's no time to be nervous. Perhaps you just need to make sure you talk about things you're interested in?”

“I guess.” Kara still didn't look convinced, and Sophie felt another pang of guilt that she hadn't been more helpful to her friend. Then she had an idea.

“Hey, what if Harvey and I went with you? I mean I know that we're technically not part of the drama club, but it's a public movie theater so there's nothing to stop us from going too,” Sophie said, and Kara immediately brightened.

“Really? You guys would do that?”

“Actually.” Harvey coughed. “I can't. My mom's making me go along to some lame single-parent camp next weekend so we can bond with other single-parent families.”

“Oh, Harvey, that's terrible.” Sophie shot him a sympathetic look. His parents had recently split up and he was now caught right in the middle of all the warring.

“Tell me about it. I swear that my mom's only doing it to bug my dad because he wanted me to go to the lake with him. Honestly, parents are so complicated.”

“So are they talking to each other yet?” Kara looked worried, and Harvey shook his long bangs.

“Not exactly, though they are talking
about
each other a lot. Mainly to me, so now I just put my earbuds in and nod from time to time. Something that I plan on doing the whole weekend while I'm away at Camp Touchy-Feely,” he said as he blew his hair out of his eyes.

“Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't go to the movie?” Kara said immediately, her pale green eyes full of worry. Sophie shook her head.

“You have to go. And even though Harvey can't make it, you've still got me. Oh, and we should get you a new outfit. You could ask your mom to take us to the mall. You know how excited she gets when you want to exchange your paint-splattered wardrobe for something new,” Sophie said. Of course she would've been happy to conjure something up, but Kara's mom had a bad habit of noticing new clothes and wondering where they had come from.

“What? Oh please, not more crushes. I mean, first we had all the business with Sophie and Jonathan Tait, and now Kara likes someone? Honestly, I don't know where you kids ever get the time to just do your homework,” a voice suddenly said. They all looked up to where Malik— Sophie's djinn guide—was now floating in front of them, a frown on his face.

Today he was wearing a bright yellow Hawaiian shirt and some skinny jeans, and his Zac Efron hair was slicked back off his head. He also had a bulky man bag slung over his shoulder, which he refused to stop using despite
Sophie's assuring him that it was the ugliest thing in the entire world. Thankfully, due to the fact that he was a ghost, Sophie and her friends were the only ones who could see him.

It was a small comfort.