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14
    It’s been a few
days since anything serious happened. While Dina’s yellow glow
remains, the aura hasn’t sprouted any new tentacles, and as far as
I know, she hasn’t had any “accidents” since the electric shock. I
haven’t tried to talk to her again, since she was downright mean
last time, but we’re still keeping our eyes on Mason and Wayne to
see if either of them have any black candles or feathers around. So
far, it’s been an uneventful week.
    School’s out,
and I’m just pulling books from my locker, making sure I take home
everything I need for tonight’s homework. I’m going pretty slowly,
since Tam’s not at her locker yet, and Ryan’s not around either.
Usually, they’re waiting for me to be ready to walk home, but not
today. I finish packing and close my locker. Still no sign of my
friends. It’s at times like this I wish I actually had minutes for
my phone. After another five minutes go by, I decide I’m just going
to have to walk home by myself.
    As I walk past
the cafeteria doors, I hear someone call my name.
    “Vefreet!”
shouts a male voice. I turn and enter the cafeteria slowly, not
sure what I’m walking into. There are about ten students in the
cafeteria, with a lot of banners and posters laid out on tables.
Two of the students are Ryan and Tam. “Hey,” calls the guy who
first shouted at me. It’s Wayne, standing at a table near a long
banner of brown paper.
    “What’s all
this?” I ask.
    “The council
debates are tomorrow. We’re getting ready. Tamara volunteered you.”
He smiles and I can’t stop myself from smiling back a little,
before I turn to Tam. She just winks and says “We’re helping the
democratic process.” Nobody else hears the sarcasm in her voice,
but I know her well enough to know that she must hate this.
    “OK,” I say.
“In the name of democracy, what do you need?”
    Wayne waves me
over. “We’re painting every candidate for president’s name on this
banner. It’s going to be hung above the stage in the gym. You any
good with art?”
    “Not really,” I
say. “More of a math person.”
    “We’ve got two
colours. Just write each name in alphabetical order, alternating
colours.”
    “What will you
be doing?” I ask.
    “I’m gonna run
to the gym and get up on a ladder. A lot of things have to be up on
the walls, and since I’m still the Prez I have to make sure it gets
done.” He smiles again. “So can you handle this?”
    “Yeah,” I say,
stirring a pot of blue paint with a brush. “Alphabetical by first
or last name?”
    “Last. Just
paint what I typed out on this sheet,” he says, pointing. “If you
spell anything wrong just blame it on me!”
    “Got it.”
    Wayne jogs
around the table toward the exit, and as he goes he calls over his
shoulder, “Any questions, Dina’s in charge!” That’s a surprise
since I haven’t noticed any glowy yellow girls in the cafeteria.
For a moment I think maybe Dina’s hex has been lifted, and that’s
why I didn’t notice her. But after Wayne leaves, Dina enters
through the back doors. She’s just as glow-in-the-dark as ever,
with three arms of light floating aimlessly around her. She sees
me, and marches right over.
    “Oh, you’re
here?” she says with unconcealed spite.
    “Yeah,” I
mutter. “I’m helping.”
    “Well don’t
spell any names wrong,” she admonishes. “And make sure every name
fills the whole width. For example, my name is short, so it should
be in bigger letters than the others.”
    “Isn’t ‘Al’
shorter than ‘Dina?’” I ask. “Shouldn’t that make his name twice as
big?”
    “Nevermind,”
she says. “Just do whatever but don’t screw it up. That’s the last
big roll of paper they had.”
    For a while I
busy myself writing the four candidates’ names on the page,
alternating between blue and black (our school colours). Tamara and
Ryan come over to inspect my work.
    “Not the worst
penmanship I’ve ever seen,” says Tam. “Second