maybe the change in fortune Aunt Marina had talked about wasnât just a bunch of superstitious nonsense after all.
Later, after theyâd finally had their dinner and her dad had retired to his office to grade papers, Lauren slipped outside with a flashlight. She opened the lid to the trash can and shined the light inside. Luckily, the card was sitting right on top and she didnât have to do any digging through the trash.
She fished it out and put it into her pocket. Then she tiptoed back inside.
Upstairs in her room she studied the card under the light of her reading lamp. She turned it over, reading and rereading the message scrawled across the back. It looked as though it had been written so very long ago. The ink was faded and scratched in some places. She thought about the threatening text sheâd gotten. There was no way the texter was the same person that had written this message on the back of the card. That texter had to have been some kid hacking her phone, and Teddyâs accident was just bad luck. Because no one pushed Teddy off the couch.
And yet, Lauren couldnât deny it. Despite her logical and analytical mind she could not deny that this card really did seem to bring the bearer bad luck. It was too much of a coincidence that when sheâd gotten the card back from Charlotte at lunch, sheâd almost immediately choked on a bite of cookie. And then sheâd skipped a scene at play practice. And broken her necklace. And missed the bus. Andâpoor Teddy. She shivered. Then she sat, lost in thought, for quite some time.
By the time she was ready for bed, sheâd come to a decision. She was going to slip the card into Charlotteâs backpack the next day, without Charlotte knowing. After all, it was Charlotteâs card.
Chapter 10
The next day in science, Charlotteâs teacher, Mr. Madden, walked around the classroom, passing back tests. He placed Charlotteâs gently on the desk in front of her, face down. Charlotte didnât like the look he gave her. Somewhere between bewilderment and disappointment.
Slowly she turned it over. A seventy-six? On a science test? She quickly put it back down on the desk, her ears burning, her mouth dry. This was the worst grade sheâd gotten, possibly ever. She turned it back over and looked at it quickly. Oh. She had switched around the formulas for weight and acceleration. How could she have done something like that?
At lunch Charlotte was heading toward her table carrying her lunch tray, her heavy backpack on her back, when her right foot stepped on a slippery patch on the floor. Her foot slid forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall backward.
Crash!
Applause.
Humiliation, as a teacher and a girl she didnât know helped her to her feet and began picking up the spilled contents of her tray.
Lauren and Gwen and Cassie and several others from her lunch table helped get her another lunch and were really nice about it of course, but Charlotte noticed that Lauren had a weird look on her face. An anxious look.
There were no further mishaps that afternoon, until English class, which was the last period of the day. During the second half of class they watched part of the film of A Midsummer Nightâs Dream . Ms. Zarchin paused the film at the end of act 2, and turned on the lights.
âWe can watch more on Monday,â she said. âCharlotte, would you mind bringing the DVD back to the library? The bellâs going to ring in a few minutes, so you had better pack up your things so you can head directly out to your bus after that.â
Charlotte packed up and took the DVD from Ms. Zarchin.
The library was on the first floor, but her English class was at the end of a very long wing, so it was a good hike from her classroom. The bell hadnât yet rung, and the hallways were still empty.
Mrs. Barber, the school librarian, was just putting on her sweater when Charlotte came in. âOh, hello,
Later, after theyâd finally had their dinner and her dad had retired to his office to grade papers, Lauren slipped outside with a flashlight. She opened the lid to the trash can and shined the light inside. Luckily, the card was sitting right on top and she didnât have to do any digging through the trash.
She fished it out and put it into her pocket. Then she tiptoed back inside.
Upstairs in her room she studied the card under the light of her reading lamp. She turned it over, reading and rereading the message scrawled across the back. It looked as though it had been written so very long ago. The ink was faded and scratched in some places. She thought about the threatening text sheâd gotten. There was no way the texter was the same person that had written this message on the back of the card. That texter had to have been some kid hacking her phone, and Teddyâs accident was just bad luck. Because no one pushed Teddy off the couch.
And yet, Lauren couldnât deny it. Despite her logical and analytical mind she could not deny that this card really did seem to bring the bearer bad luck. It was too much of a coincidence that when sheâd gotten the card back from Charlotte at lunch, sheâd almost immediately choked on a bite of cookie. And then sheâd skipped a scene at play practice. And broken her necklace. And missed the bus. Andâpoor Teddy. She shivered. Then she sat, lost in thought, for quite some time.
By the time she was ready for bed, sheâd come to a decision. She was going to slip the card into Charlotteâs backpack the next day, without Charlotte knowing. After all, it was Charlotteâs card.
Chapter 10
The next day in science, Charlotteâs teacher, Mr. Madden, walked around the classroom, passing back tests. He placed Charlotteâs gently on the desk in front of her, face down. Charlotte didnât like the look he gave her. Somewhere between bewilderment and disappointment.
Slowly she turned it over. A seventy-six? On a science test? She quickly put it back down on the desk, her ears burning, her mouth dry. This was the worst grade sheâd gotten, possibly ever. She turned it back over and looked at it quickly. Oh. She had switched around the formulas for weight and acceleration. How could she have done something like that?
At lunch Charlotte was heading toward her table carrying her lunch tray, her heavy backpack on her back, when her right foot stepped on a slippery patch on the floor. Her foot slid forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall backward.
Crash!
Applause.
Humiliation, as a teacher and a girl she didnât know helped her to her feet and began picking up the spilled contents of her tray.
Lauren and Gwen and Cassie and several others from her lunch table helped get her another lunch and were really nice about it of course, but Charlotte noticed that Lauren had a weird look on her face. An anxious look.
There were no further mishaps that afternoon, until English class, which was the last period of the day. During the second half of class they watched part of the film of A Midsummer Nightâs Dream . Ms. Zarchin paused the film at the end of act 2, and turned on the lights.
âWe can watch more on Monday,â she said. âCharlotte, would you mind bringing the DVD back to the library? The bellâs going to ring in a few minutes, so you had better pack up your things so you can head directly out to your bus after that.â
Charlotte packed up and took the DVD from Ms. Zarchin.
The library was on the first floor, but her English class was at the end of a very long wing, so it was a good hike from her classroom. The bell hadnât yet rung, and the hallways were still empty.
Mrs. Barber, the school librarian, was just putting on her sweater when Charlotte came in. âOh, hello,
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