put little bits of metal on the table and pick them up with a magnet. Mr. Sparks comes by and says, âIâm impressed. You girls are working two days in a row? So, what does this experiment tell you?â
âLike attracts like?â I say.
âNo,â he says, âthere are positive and negative forces. Only opposites attract.â
âOh,â I say.
âYou keep working on it,â he says. And off he goes.
I shake my head. âI think he missed the point.â
âWhat do you mean?â Mandy asks.
In reply, I pull a plastic tube of lip gloss out of my purse and place it next to the magnet. Nothing happens. âSee? Itâs only metal thatâs attracted to metal.â I donât tell her that I just figured out the main difference between science and magick. Itâs all in how you look at things.
Okay, not everything. No matter how I look at it, Mr. Snead in room 101 is still a grump. He wonât let me light the incense.
âSmelly stuff,â he says. âLikely to set off the smoke alarms. Be seated and remain silent.â
I slump into a seat. I feel deeply sorry for myself. I look around, and the drooling dude is watching me. Heâs not drooling anymore; instead heâs giving me the eye. I reward him with a tiny smile and when he smiles back, omigod! Heâs gorgeous.His whole face lights up.
This
must be the light Stella was talking about.
With great stealth, he rises to a crouching position and sort of duck-walks sideways. Toward me. His waddle would look really stupid if it didnât make perfect sense. Should Mr. Snead happen to glance up, the dude could freeze and it would appear that he was still seated.
He makes it to my table, and I notice that he looks quite mature. Maybe heâs in grade nine? Then he smiles again, and itâs breathtaking. His dark eyes crinkle at the corners, his teeth gleam white and thereâs this whole happy effect. Itâs as if heâs happy on the inside and it shows on his face.
He grabs a piece of paper and scribbles a note. It says:
Hi! Iâm Brendan.
I write:
Hi, Brendan. Iâm Lizzie.
He writes back:
Iâve never seen you before. Where did you come from?
Heâs never seen me? He must have slept through yesterdayâs zit disaster. Wow. He is such a
sweetie
! Iâm trying tothink of something cute and witty to write back when in walk Rachel and Mr. Sparks.
âLizzie Lane?â Mr. Sparks says. âPlease come with me.â He mutters something to Mr. Snead and thatâs it. I have to leave. I cast one last glance at Brendan, and he gives me a sad wave.
Mr. Sparks takes us as far as the hall and says, âRachel has confessed to me that she gave you the answer key. Both of us owe you an apology, Lizzie. Iâm very sorry I didnât believe you.â He looks at Rachel.
Rachel looks miserable. I hold up my hand. âShe already apologized. Please donât make her do it again. And please donât punish her. I think sheâs suffered enough already.â
Mr. Sparks shakes his head. âYou girls are well on your way to becoming young women.â Then he sighs and mutters, âWhich is probably why I donât understand what just happened here. You may go.â
âUm, do I have to?â I ask. âCanât I go back in room 101?â
Mr. Sparksâ brow creases with worry. âLizzie, the past couple of days must havebeen very hard on you. Iâm going to say no to that. I think it would be best if you went home to rest. And donât worry, weâll contact your parents again, and youâll get another chance to write the exam. Off you go now.â
It seems I have no choice. Rachel and I trudge away, and it turns out we donât have much to say to each other. I think we need some distance after the complete weirdness of everything. The only person I really want to see is Stella.
On the way to Stellaâs house, I
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