Excerpt
Slowly, the contempt drained from his gaze, and his features softened. His teeth raked over his bottom lip. Everything around them seemed to dissolve into nothing until they were the only two people left in the gym. She stared at his mouth and wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Trying hard to figure out what she should do next, she searched for something intelligent to say.
A piercing whistle blew apart the romantic illusion.
A flash of hatred crossed Zach’s face half-a-second before he pulled her straight up and shoved her away from him as if he was afraid he’d get a disease from touching her. He started to walk away, but she grabbed him by the wrist. No one looked at her like she was scum and got away with it.
Maybe a little public humiliation would knock him off his invisible throne. Plus, she was starting to get a bad feeling about him, like maybe the spell hadn’t worked after all. Maybe the spell had been broken by his strong will and her outrageous demand for his leather jacket. “Pat your head and rub your stomach.”
“What?” He blinked at her.
“Pat your head and rub your stomach while hopping on one foot. Do it now.”
For a second she thought he might actually take a swing at her. His eyes glazed over with violent hostility. One of his feet left the ground by slow inches. He began to hop while rubbing his stomach with one hand and patting the top of his head with the other. There was no way that Zach Bevian would do something like that in public unless he was hopelessly enchanted. Her fears faded.
Students stared at Zach, eyebrows raised, but no one dared to laugh.
Changing the order to a nicer one, she said, “I want to see you play basketball.”
He put his foot and arms down. “You what?”
“You heard me.” Had the spell made him deaf? She leaned close and whispered the demands while twirling the end of her ponytail. Having Zach under her spell was kind of fun. Besides, she wanted Brittany to see how much power she had over Zach. She wanted Brittany to know she was going to lose this year—again. “I want you to go out there and play. Play hard. Get the ball and make basket after basket. Do it for me.”
Resentment filled Zach’s eyes again. His spine straightened, and he scowled at her until she thought she’d taken it too far. Maybe she should have quit while she was ahead. She had a whole year to build up her power through successfully completed tasks. There was no point in breaking the spell just to show-off in front of her sister.
Zach turned away. He went straight into the middle of the playing boys, stole the ball from the rival team, and made a basket with ease. The other students gaped at him but didn’t say a word. The coach encouraged him to do it again, beaming as if silently taking credit for Zach’s natural ability.
“Noah!” the girls’ coach shouted. “The boys aren’t here to entertain you. Move your butt!”
With a smile firmly in place, Kristen joined the other girls on their tenth lap. She weaved around a few girls until she reached Cyndi. The two of them ran together. Brittany had ducked out without anyone noticing, including Kristen. It was only the first day and she was already up to her old tricks.
Deep in thought, Kristen didn’t hear the shouts to, “Look out!”
The basketball blasted by her face, an inch from her nose. It almost took off her head. Stopping cold, she looked around to see who’d thrown the ball. It was impossible to tell because several boys were standing around, staring in her direction, including Zach. Hands on hips, he glared at her.
Could he have thrown the ball at her?
No way. Boys under the Crushed spell would rather die than hurt the witch who’d brewed the potion. On the other hand, he had that look of pure contempt in his eyes. She had the sinking feeling that Zach Bevian was going to be harder to control than she’d thought, and Brittany was right about one thing. If she pushed him too hard, she’d break the spell.