nineteen

“You did that again, didn’t you?” Grace asked, looking at April.

April stared at the door. “Uh . . . yeah . . .”

“That is super cool, BUT super creepy at the same time.”

“So, I bet that keeps happening?” Eve said, smirking and looking at April’s walls.

“And, I . . . uh . . . sorta made Austin float when we were at the park.”

“What!” Grace’s jaw dropped.

“Well . . . I really did make him float up, uh, higher and higher. I thought about how he looks like a cloud. You know, because he’s white and fluffy. So he started to float up . . . toward the sky. But, I caught him before he drifted too high.”

Austin grumbled. Grace’s mouth was still open.

“I . . . I . . . I don’t know what’s happening.” April looked down at the rug. Her glasses slid down her nose. She pushed them back up.

Eve cleared her throat. “Your room is so pretty. Pink is my favorite color.”

April picked her head up to look at Eve. “I picked the brightest pink I could find in the store.”

“I love the glitter, and the beads remind me of New Orleans,” Eve said, looking at the block lettering on the wall that said A-P-R-I-L outlined with brightly colored glitter and different colored beads. Eve touched the beads. “I like bright colors, too.”

“Oh, you would love these jeans I have then.” April took a pair of rainbow-striped jeans out of her dresser.

“Oh, aren’t those the bee’s knees!” Eve said.

“Huh?” April tipped her head to the side.

“Oh, yeah, that’s just something my mom says. It means . . . uh . . . like . . . aren’t those great. You know what I mean?” Eve gave a shy smile.

April laughed. “I get it.”

“OK, girls. Let’s stop the fashion show and start working,” Grace said, giving a little attitude.

“Ok, Gracie.” April rolled her eyes. Grace glared at her. She hated being called Gracie.

“Oh, yeah,” Eve said, putting her book bag on the ground. She unzipped it and, with her teeth pressed together, grunted “Uh, uh,” as she tried to pull out the biggest book ever.

Grace sat on the floor next to Eve. “Let me help.” They both pulled . . . FLOP!

Achoo! Grace quietly sneezed.

“I know. It’s SO dusty,” Eve said, wiping the hard brown leather-bound book with her hand.

Grace opened the book. “The cover is so rough and heavy.”

“What does that say?” April asked, putting one knee down on the ground.

’Choo . . . Austin sneezed. He shook his head around as if the dust were bothering him, too. He trotted under April’s bed.

April looked under the bed. He had collapsed in the far corner. “Still have allergies as a dog, huh?” He was using his paw to rub and cover his nose. Then, she leaned in between Grace and Eve who were looking at the book. April closed the heavy front cover and ran her hand over the raised, braided trim. The edges were so bulky and hard. “It looks like a picture frame, but it feels sorta like leather and the snake skin from science class.”

She ran her pointer finger across the large black letters on the cover that spelled Magie. “What is that? What does ‘Maggie’ mean?” April asked.

“It’s ‘mah-gee’ not Maggie. And magie means ‘magic’ in French,” Eve said, opening the book.

“Girls.”

They froze as April’s bedroom door opened. They slowly turned to see April’s mom in the doorway with Eve’s mom standing behind her.

OMG! OMG! Please, oh please, I hope we’re creating a wall in front of this book. What if Eve’s mom asks why she brought it over? Oh crud—Austin! Oh Austin, please stay under the bed . . . please, please, please . . .