Read Online Spell Check by Ariella Moon - Free Book Online Page B

swelled in my ears, drowning her words.
    Outside, I pulled a tissue from the front pocket of my backpack and swiped at my lips while I walked the empty corridor between the two hundred and three hundred blocks of classrooms. The office was just beyond the bathrooms, across from Room 301 and a cluster of lockers. I swallowed hard and opened the door.
    I half hoped and half dreaded Mom would be there. She wasn’t. If she didn’t know about the lipstick, then something must have happened to her or Nana…
    “Evie?”
    I flinched, heart in turbo-panic. “Yes?”
    Mrs. Scroggins, the school secretary, stared down her bifocals. “Miss Gaya would like a word with you.”
    “Miss Gaya?”
    “The new counselor.” Mrs. Scroggins led me down the Employees Only hall to a back office. The door stood ajar. An air of counting-the-years-to-retirement clung to the middle-aged woman seated behind the metal desk. Seeing me, she rose from her chair.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Scroggins.” Miss Gaya’s layered, filmy green dress swayed as she leaned across the desk and shook my hand. “You must be Evie O’Reilly.”
    “Yes, I am. Is my mother all right?”
    “Please be seated. Your mother is fine. I just called her.”
    I sank into the blue plastic chair.
    Miss Gaya closed the door then returned to her seat. Her gaze jumped to my film can necklace then back up to my eyes.
    “I understand you weren’t well in Yearbook yesterday. How are you feeling today?”
    I forced a smile. “Well, thank you.”
    “Good.” Miss Gaya pushed up her sleeves and gave me a long look. I got the distinct feeling she didn’t believe me. I shifted in my seat and wished the old school counselor wasn’t on maternity leave.
    “Your friends are worried about you, Evie. So I wanted to introduce myself and see if I can help you in any way.”
    Yeah, like you’d know anything about solving my problems.
    Miss Gaya clasped her hands together and hunched forward. “Is there anything you’d like to talk about?”
    Several things flashed through my mind—the love spell, Jordan and Parvani, Dad, Mom, and Miss Ravenwood, getting out of Biology, and again, the love spell.
    “No,” I said.
    She nodded and leaned back in her chair. The small office grew quiet. My stomach growled. Out in the hall, the copy machine hummed to life. Miss Gaya picked up a pen and held it between her fingers like a cigarette. “It’s been almost two years since your father died?”
    A lump rose in my throat. “Yes.”
    “It must be difficult for you and your mother.”
    “We’re managing.” Sort of. “Mom joined a widows’ support group.”
    “Excellent. And are you still seeing a grief counselor?”
    “Nah.” Do you have any idea how much therapy costs? How much groceries and gas cost? “Mom wanted me to keep going, but I told her I was fine.”
    Miss Gaya tapped her pen against a folder on her desk. I got the feeling she believed me about as much as Mom had. “You have a strong circle of friends, Evie. They’ll help you if you let them. And I’m here, too, if you ever need me.”
    What circle of friends? I wondered. Who besides Parvani? I stumbled to my feet. “Thank you, Miss Gaya. I should get back to Yearbook. Our first deadline is in eight days.”
    “Of course. Remember, my door is always open.”
    I swiveled and faced the closed door. Right.
    When I returned to class, Miss Roberts was shoulder-deep in noisy layout artists. I tiptoed over to the computer and booted up the program for working with digital photos. Surely by now, Zhù had arrived and was off taking pictures. Unless he does have a dread disease.
    I glanced up at the wall clock. If I kept low for fifteen more minutes, then I could escape to Biology and sit behind Jordan and daydream.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Jordan’s hair kind of waved in the back. The ends curled, just skimming his shoulder. I wondered what he’d do if I reached out and wrapped one of the curls around my finger…
    “Miss