Chapter Nine
She’d spoken too soon. Things went to hell in third period, which was, ironically, the last time Lily spoke at all for several hours.
Their English teacher had split the class into five groups, with each group assigned to discuss how one Bennet sister moved the plot of Pride and Prejudice forward with her particular personality. Lily’s group was supposed to discuss Kitty, which, frankly, sucked. Kitty was ignored by her parents for good reason. She didn’t even try to stand out or prove her worth; she just followed her younger sister around like a whining, coughing appendage. Lily despised her.
She was about to point this out, but something odd happened when she opened her mouth. Instead of saying, The only thing Kitty does for the plot is tattle on Lydia, Lily laughed.
She clamped a hand over her lips in surprise. No one in her group had said anything remotely funny, and Lily certainly wasn’t amused by the task at hand, so it was no wonder the others looked at her in confusion.
Lily shook herself, playing it off like she’d been laughing at her own witty thoughts, and tried again.
Again, no words formed on her tongue when she attempted to speak. Just more laughter.
Lily’s heart missed a beat or two as a chill slipped across her skin. These weren’t dainty giggles, but hearty, body-shaking laughs pouring out of her when the situation was anything but hilarious. Every time she tried to speak, it felt like some external force was taking control of her body.
“Um, Lily, are you okay?”
One of the girls in their group bit her lip in concern.
I don’t know what’s wrong. At least, that was what Lily attempted to say. What came out was a different story.
Oh, hell. How could this be happening? What was happening? The room swayed as Lily’s breaths became shallow. She tried to speak again and again, but all that did was direct more attention her way as she laughed inappropriately.
“Lily, what’s the problem?”
her teacher asked.
How was she supposed to explain that when she couldn’t talk? Gasping for breath, Lily darted out of the classroom.
The hallway was blissfully empty, and she sank to the floor, struggling to think through the panic. She hadn’t felt any different this morning, and everything had been fine until a few minutes ago. But none of this was natural, and that could only mean one thing—she’d been hexed.
Lily’s jaw clenched.
Obviously, Chrysanthemum was behind this.
She knew she’d made a mistake by goading her yesterday, but she hadn’t expected Chrysanthemum would escalate with a full-on hex! To think she had felt guilty about the seagull, too. Oh, she was going to get Chrysanthemum in so much trouble.
Just, kinda, as soon as she could speak again.
The classroom door opened, and Sonia walked out, carrying Lily’s belongings.
“Are you okay?”
Lily shook her head, then nodded, then shrugged in defeat.
“Everyone but me and Stina forgot what happened already,”
Sonia said, referring to another witch in their class.
“so I figured it was magic. I told Mr. Baker you were feeling sick this morning and must have run to the nurse.”
Lily pulled out her phone and texted: Smart. SHE HEXED ME!!
“Who?”
Rather than type it out, Lily gave Sonia a really? sort of look.
“You think Chrys did this?”
Who else? Lily typed.
Sonia rubbed her hands together nervously.
“What do we do?”
It was a good question. Lily had never tried removing a hex before, because witches her age were forbidden from messing with hexes, and this didn’t seem like the sort of situation she wanted to test out her skills on. Even more experienced witches were advised to avoid attempting to remove hexes on themselves.
If something went sideways and you lost your ability to complete the spell, you could end up worse off than you started.
But that didn’t leave Lily with a lot of options while she was stuck at school.
She would have to hope Ms. LaPlant was free this period. It was bad enough she was missing class because of this; getting in trouble for cutting would be a permanent mark on her school record, and who knew how that might impact her future class standing? If this was how she lost valedictorian to Chrysanthemum, Lily wouldn’t be able to stand it.
She gestured toward the math hallway. Ms. LaPlant could both help her and keep her out of trouble for cutting class.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
Sonia asked, apparently guessing Lily’s plan.
Lily shook her head. She trusted Sonia, but some things were best faced alone or, barring that, with an adult who cared and wouldn’t gossip.