There really is magic in my fingers. Who would have thought?

Today was Miss Frost’s second day with us. She has to be the nastiest person I know. She makes Canteen Carol look like a cuddly teddy bear, and that’s saying something, especially after Canteen Carol chased me out of the tuckshop for not saying ‘please’.

We had a computer lesson in the library today. Miss Frost made us sit in silence. ‘I’m reluctant to allow you to spend time here,’ she said. ‘However, it is a requirement by law that you learn computer skills. After this, I’ll see to it that we spend the rest of the afternoon improving your handwriting.’

We opened up a photo editing program called PhotoCrop. I sat next to Sammy Bamford. He frowned at his computer and whispered under his breath. ‘Huh? Government override system? Who sent me this?’

Miss Frost walked past and he quickly closed the window to avoid any trouble.

Our task was to find a photo on the internet and edit it in PhotoCrop. After some browsing, I found a photo of Blue Valley School. The photo showed the school on a bright sunny day. The buildings reflected the sunlight like mirrors. It was a happy photo.

But I wasn’t happy.

Miss Frost was making everyone feel gloomy. I wanted to show what she had done to Blue Valley School. The sunshine had left with Mr Bambuckle.

I copied and pasted black clouds over the school. Then I added rain pouring down over every building and took away the sunny reflections in the windows. The school looked as though it was the saddest place on earth.

And that’s when something strange happened.

Dark clouds suddenly filled the sky outside. It started teeming. Rain pelted against the windows.

‘An unusual anomaly,’ observed Albert Smithers, adjusting his glasses. ‘It isn’t supposed to rain until next week.’

‘Silence, Alfred,’ hissed Miss Frost. ‘It’s Albert,’ said Albert. ‘How dare you speak back to me? That’s two hundred lines at lunch.’

Albert sighed and nodded.

I stared at my computer screen and then out one of the lab windows. The dark clouds over Blue Valley School looked identical to those on my screen.

I deleted a few clouds in the photo and it got lighter outside. My heart pumped furiously and I took my fingers off the keyboard.

I, Scarlett Geeves, could control the weather.

Next, I erased the clouds and rain altogether. In an instant both the photo and the world outside went back to their original sunny state.

By now, even Miss Frost was peering outside. ‘What’s going on out there?’ she said, her breath misting up the window.

I was on a roll. I had to try something different.

I searched for images of fire and found a good one. It wasn’t too big, but it wasn’t too small either.

Here goes nothing, I thought to myself.

I dragged the fire across the computer screen and placed it near the bushes outside Mr Sternblast’s office.

And just like that, the fire alarm went off.

‘All of you, outside now,’ ordered Miss Frost. ‘We must adhere to evacuation protocol 74-C.’

Despite having just been in trouble, Albert’s eyes lit up at the use of such big words.

I must have been the only student who didn’t look surprised by the alarm. Miss Frost glared at me with suspicion, but I quickly turned off my computer before she could see what I had done.

Sometimes I wonder why Miss Frost went into teaching in the first place. All she does is work us like slaves and hand out punishments. She goes on and on about ‘improved grades’ and ‘discipline’.

‘This writing is completely unacceptable,’ she said to Victoria the next day.

Miss Frost picked up Victoria’s work and tore it into pieces. It was the second time she had done that to my friend.

At morning tea, Victoria was still sad.

‘Try to ignore her,’ I said.

‘It’s hard to ignore when you put so much effort into your work. My desk is turning into a mountain of shredded paper.’

I rested my head on her shoulder as we watched the boys play football. ‘Don’t take it personally, she did it to Myra too. I’ve never seen her so upset.’

‘Well, apart from that time she dropped two dollars down the drain.’ Victoria took a bite from her apple and smiled, mustering some positivity.

I decided to tell her about the computer lesson and Mr Bambuckle’s note.

‘You caused the rain?’ she said. ‘I wondered what all that was about.’

‘And the fire,’ I added.

‘But how?’

‘Mr Bambuckle,’ I said. ‘He wrote me a note to tell me there’s magic in my fingers.’

Victoria took another bite from her apple and listened.

‘But he said it won’t last long,’ I remembered. ‘So I have to use it wisely.’

‘Why don’t you go to the computer lab at lunchtime today?’ suggested Victoria. ‘You could test out PhotoCrop and see if it’s still doing funny things.’

‘That’s exactly what I had in mind,’ I said.

Aside from Albert Smithers and Sammy Bamford, the computer lab was empty.

Albert had finished his lunch early and was researching something about metaphysics online. He was often looking into stuff that even our teachers didn’t know anything about.

Sammy was watching sports videos but he kept glancing around suspiciously, mumbling something about a government override system.

The librarian, Mrs Paige, was busy putting away books. Her curly hair bobbed up and down as she reached for different shelves. It would be a while before she came to check on the students in the lab.

I sat down with Victoria at a computer and opened PhotoCrop.

‘What comes next?’ she whispered.

‘We find photos.’

‘Of what?’

I had already thought of that. ‘Check it out,’ I said.

I found the same photo of Blue Valley School and dropped it into PhotoCrop. Then I found a picture of a small tornado and dragged it over the school oval.

‘As soon as I let go of the computer mouse,’ I said, ‘the tornado will come to life.’

And that’s exactly what happened. Victoria and I ran to the nearest window to look outside.

A dusty spiral of grass clippings and children’s hats filled the centre of the oval. A tornado was skidding across the grass. Kids ran screaming in all directions.

‘That’s nuts!’ Victoria laughed.

The magic in my fingers was well and truly alive. All I had to do was test out a few more ideas.

‘Watch this,’ I said, dashing back to the computer.

I deleted the tornado and replaced it with a photo of a cat.

‘The tornado’s gone,’ said Victoria.

‘What’s gone?’ said Albert, who was now distracted from his metaphysics and had joined Victoria at the window. ‘All I see is a bunch of hats falling from the sky … and a cat on the oval.’

‘How did a cat get –’ began Victoria, but she cut herself short when she realised what I had done.

I clicked ‘Delete’ and the cat disappeared.

‘Where did it go?’ said Albert. He took off his glasses and blinked, rubbing his eyes. ‘Talk about abstract metaphysics … Maybe it’s time I got some stronger lenses.’

Victoria smothered her giggles.

Sammy high-fived his computer screen. ‘Yes! Take that, government override system!’

Mrs Paige tapped on the door to the lab. ‘Is everything okay in here?’

‘Just fine, thank you,’ said Victoria.

‘I hope so,’ said the librarian, not entirely convinced. ‘I’ll be putting more books away if anyone needs me.’

Albert walked back to his seat, muttering something about vanishing cats and wishing that his kindergarten buddy would disappear instead.

Sammy kept tapping away at his keyboard, deep in concentration.

‘Told you,’ I said, as Victoria joined me at the computer. ‘There really is magic in my fingers.’

‘It’s amazing,’ she replied. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’

I hadn’t seen anything like it either, and I thought about the note from Mr Bambuckle. ‘But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it.’

Victoria stared thoughtfully at the computer screen. ‘We know you can change the weather,’ she said.

‘Yep.’

‘We know you can make fire.’

‘Yep.’

‘And we know you can make cats appear and disappear.’

‘What’s your point?’

‘Well,’ she said, her lips curling into a grin, ‘have you tried using it on people?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Mrs Paige. Try doing something to her.’

While I could try explaining what happened next, I think I’d be better at drawing it.

Victoria and I barely managed to stifle our giggles until the bell sounded. It was the most we’d laughed since Mr Bambuckle left.

‘Do you realise what this means?’ said Victoria. ‘If PhotoCrop works on Mrs Paige, it must work on Miss Frost too!’

The next day, before the morning bell had done its thing, I went to the library.

Mrs Paige was busy covering some new books. She was happy to let me use the computers. ‘Sounds like you’re working on something pretty serious,’ she said.

‘It is a big project,’ I replied.

‘I admire your hard work, Scarlett.’

I paused at the door to the computer lab. ‘Mrs Paige,’ I said, ‘what’s Miss Frost’s first name?’

Mrs Paige was gentle but firm. ‘That’s Miss Frost’s personal information.’

‘It’s for my project,’ I pleaded. ‘It’s very important.’

Mrs Paige blinked a few times, then lowered her voice. ‘Well, in that case, it’s Bella donna … Belladonna Frost.’

‘Thank you,’ I said.

I slipped into the lab and turned on a computer. My heart hammered against my ribs. I hadn’t been very nervous when I used PhotoCrop before, but what I was about to do made me shiver with fear.

I opened an internet browser and took a deep breath, typing ‘Belladonna Frost’ into the search engine.

One photo.

There was only one photo of our cold-blooded teacher on the entire internet.

I clicked on the link and enlarged the photo to get a better look.

It was a close-up headshot of Miss Frost. Her grey-blue eyes pierced the camera lens.

Poor photographer.

But I wasn’t worried about that now. I was more concerned about what I would do with the photo. A million ideas bounced around in my mind like mini table tennis balls.

My palm felt sweaty against the computer mouse. I shuddered at the thought of Miss Frost finding out what I was doing. I quickly copied the image over to PhotoCrop and placed it in the middle of the screen.

I hovered the mouse over her nose and double clicked. Then I moved the curser to a tab named ‘Sizing’ and clicked ‘Enlarge’.

Miss Frost’s nose stretched until it was three times its original size. It was hideous. It was as long as Pinocchio’s, but as wide as a bulldog’s.

Then I did something I hadn’t done in PhotoCrop before.

I clicked ‘Save’.

When Miss Frost walked into class a few minutes late with an enormous bandaid covering her nose, I knew what had happened.

Her whisper was laced with venom. ‘If any of you so much as breathes too loudly, it will be five hundred lines at lunch.’ We locked eyes and she stared straight through me. I shivered.

‘I don’t know what your game is,’ she said, surveying the room, ‘but when I find out who did this I’m going to make them pay … dearly.’

Vex smirked, trying hard not to make it obvious he was staring at the bulge beneath Miss Frost’s bandaid.

Evie Nightingale shrunk back in her chair, nibbling one of her fingernails the way a frightened rabbit chews on a stick of carrot.

Miss Frost advanced towards Evie’s desk and towered over her. ‘You there … Eden, isn’t it? Who did this to me?’

Evie could only quiver in reply.

‘I asked you a question!’ roared the teacher, losing her cool. ‘Respect means answering, you cowardly child!’

Poor Evie’s shoulders shook as she sobbed into her hands.

Miss Frost paced the room. ‘Who knows who did this?’ Her cold blue eyes caught mine again. ‘Charlotte, isn’t it?’

‘Scarlett,’ I said, as calmly as I could.

‘Yes, Scarlett … Do you know anything about this?’

Victoria shot me a worried glance. She knew it was me.

I shook my head. ‘No, Miss Frost, I don’t know anything about it.’

Miss Frost’s lips tightened and she continued to prowl the room. ‘Mr Sternblast warned me about this class. You’ve barely made any progress lately. Your last teacher … Mr Slamtackle, or whatever his name was, didn’t teach you a thing.’

Evie blinked away some of her tears.

‘Things are going to change around here,’ continued Miss Frost, tapping the bandaid over her nose. ‘From now on, you’re going to learn my way. Discipline is the new order.’

I gulped.

‘If you haven’t memorised your thirteen and fourteen times tables by morning tea, you’ll be staying in to learn them every morning tea break until you do.’

Albert put his hand in the air.

‘What is it, Alfonso?’

‘I already know every times table up to two hundred and forty-seven.’

‘Then you’ll memorise two hundred and forty-eight and two hundred and forty-nine!’ With that, she tore the bandaid from her face, exposing her enlarged nose for all to see.

Everyone gasped.

Slugger Choppers passed out.

‘I’ve got nothing to hide,’ said Miss Frost. ‘But I will find the individual who does.’

Miss Frost’s warning was branded into my memory like an unwanted tattoo. I didn’t feel like eating any of my morning tea.

‘Lucky you’re good at maths,’ said Victoria. ‘At least you can escape the classroom for the time being.’

‘Thanks to Mr Bambuckle,’ I said. ‘I think Miss Frost was surprised we all knew our thirteen and fourteen times tables.’

‘It made her angry,’ said Damon, who was sitting next to Victoria. ‘She was expecting us to fail. I think she wanted to keep interrogating us at morning tea.’

Vex walked over to where we were sitting. This was strange for him. He usually preferred to play handball or muck around on the oval.

‘Can I speak to you?’ he asked, looking at Victoria.

‘Me?’ she replied.

‘Yeah, you.’

Damon’s broad smile vanished. He didn’t like it when other boys talked to Victoria.

‘Of course,’ said Victoria.

Vex took Victoria far enough away so that we couldn’t hear him talking. He waved his arms around as he spoke and frowned a lot.

Victoria nodded as she listened.

Vex reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He gave it to Victoria.

‘I wonder what they’re doing?’ I said.

‘I hope he’s not proposing,’ said Damon. ‘I’m the one who’s supposed to marry her.’

Vex dashed away, and Victoria walked back to where we were sitting.

‘What did he want?’ I asked. ‘I can’t say,’ said Victoria. ‘He made me promise not to tell anyone.’

This upset Damon. ‘There should be no secrets between a man and a woman.’ He stood up and pounded his chest, a bit like Harold does in his kilt dances. ‘Noooo seeecreeeets!’

Victoria was patient with Damon and blinked her bright blue eyes. ‘As much as I’d like to, I really can’t talk about it.’

Damon, realising half the playground was watching, stopped his performance and broke into a grin. ‘She blinked at me!’

The bell rang and Victoria turned to me. ‘Be careful in class, won’t you?’ she said. ‘Miss Frost is getting suspicious.’

‘I know.’

‘What are you going to do to her next?’

‘I do have one more idea,’ I said. ‘But the trouble is, I’ll only be able to try it once.’

‘Oh,’ said Victoria.

‘I just need two things to make it work.’

‘What two things?’

‘Peter Strayer, to start with.’

‘But he’s always absent,’ said Victoria.

‘Exactly,’ I said, tapping the side of my nose slyly. ‘That’s why he’s perfect – he won’t get in trouble.’

‘What’s the second thing you need?’

‘A full-body photo of Miss Frost. The only picture I can find of her on the internet is a headshot.’

‘Why do you need a full-body photo?’

It was my turn to keep a secret. ‘You’ll see,’ I said. ‘Just wish me luck because I’ll only get one chance.’

The next morning Miss Frost’s warning was still fresh in my memory. I knew I had to make my move. There was a feeling deep in the pit of my tummy that time was running out to use my powers. I thought about the note from Mr Bambuckle.

It won’t last long, so use it wisely …

Miss Frost gave us one of her stares as we took our seats. She adjusted the diamond bobby pin in her hair and scratched her triple-sized nose, which probably should have been under a bandaid.

Slugger Choppers passed out again.

‘This morning you will memorise the meaning and spelling of every word in the ‘A’ section of the dictionary. You need to catch up on all the learning you missed under your last teacher.’

Albert put his hand in the air.

‘Not you again,’ said Miss Frost.

‘I already know the A sec–’

‘Then memorise the B section.’

‘Already done.’

Miss Frost raised her eyebrows. ‘How about you memorise the periodic table?’

Albert shrugged his shoulders. ‘I know that too. Mr Bambuckle used to let me –’

‘Do not mention that man’s name again!’ seethed Miss Frost.

Albert jerked so suddenly that his glasses fell off his face. ‘It’s just that he –’

‘Silence!’

Albert was saved by a knock at the door. Mrs Paige had arrived to deliver some library books.

‘I’ll deal with you in a moment,’ said Miss Frost.

Sensing the tension, Mrs Paige tiptoed inside and placed the books on the desk at the front of the room. But before she could leave, Miss Frost whispered in her ear. Mrs Paige nodded and pointed towards me, looking guilty as she did. Then she slinked back through the door, shaking her head at me as if to apologise.

‘Scarlett Geeves,’ said the teacher slowly. ‘I believe you’ve been spending a lot of time in the computer labs recently.’

I didn’t dare answer.

‘I believe you’ve been asking about my first name.’

I couldn’t have said anything even if I’d tried. My throat was too dry.

Miss Frost picked up one of the library books on the front desk. ‘See me at lunchtime, Scarlett. We’ll discuss your punishment then …’ Her voice was frostier than the coldest night, and I knew it meant big trouble.

Victoria’s face drained of all blood.

‘Where is Peter Strayer today?’ said Miss Frost, reading the tag on the library book. ‘Absent as usual …’

At the mention of Peter’s name, I snapped into action. He was part of my plan. I pulled out my phone and took a photo of Miss Frost. It was a perfect full-body shot.

‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she said angrily. ‘Give me that phone at once!’

I tried to put the phone back into my pocket but Miss Frost was too fast. She grabbed my wrist and tried to prise the phone free.

‘Let me go!’ I yelled. This wasn’t part of my plan.

‘Not until you give me that phone!’

My wrist was hurting. Miss Frost may have been thin, but she was very strong. She forced my hand open and the phone slid loose.

It landed on the floor.

Sammy Bamford picked it up. ‘Looking for this?’ he said to the teacher.

‘Give that to me or you’ll regret it!’ demanded Miss Frost. She was becoming flustered and lunged at Sammy.

Sammy tossed the phone to Slugger.

My classmates were bravely trying to help me, but I had to get the phone back. My plan wouldn’t work without it.

Miss Frost launched herself at Slugger. ‘You’d better delete that photo or else!’ she shrieked.

Slugger lobbed the phone to Albert, who did something brilliant. He pulled out his own mobile phone and held it next to mine. In their black cases, the two phones looked almost identical.

‘I suppose you’ll have to work out which phone is Scarlett’s,’ he said, throwing one to his right and one to his left.

The rest of the class caught on, Albert’s pluckiness spurring them to action. Everyone reached for their phones and started tossing them around. It was like a giant game of hot potato or, more accurately, hot device-o.

Miss Frost jumped up and down in the centre of the room. She raged and roared, and flapped her arms around in an attempt to catch a phone. She was completely losing her cool.

Suddenly, I found myself holding my own phone.

I dashed outside, sprinting towards the library and praying Peter had done what I’d asked him to do.

‘You’re not supposed to be in here,’ squeaked Mrs Paige.

I ignored her and raced past. My stomach churned. What if Peter had forgotten? There wouldn’t be enough time to carry out my plan.

I charged through the doors of the computer lab.

Peter had done his job! For someone who was usually absent, he had risen to the occasion. One of the computers was turned on. He had opened up PhotoCrop and my email server. He had opened up a map of the world. He had opened up hope for the class.

I sat down and unlocked my phone. I selected the photo of Miss Frost.

I heard footsteps running into the library.

‘Where is she?’ boomed a voice. It was Miss Frost, and she wasn’t whispering anymore.

I used my phone to send the photo to myself in an email and then logged into my inbox on the computer. Come on, come on. My heart was beating faster than the footsteps in the library.

Miss Frost appeared in the doorway. ‘I’ll have you expelled for this, you horrible girl!’

Ping!

The photo arrived in my inbox.

Miss Frost stared at the computer. Her eyes widened at the photo of herself on the screen. ‘What are you doing?!’

I dragged the photo of Miss Frost onto the map of the world.

‘Explain yourself!’

I positioned her over a country far, far away that I didn’t recognise.

She took a few more steps towards me. ‘EXPLAIN YOURSELF!’

I moved the mouse over the ‘Save’ icon.

Click.

Silence.

Miss Frost was gone. She had vanished into thin air. I had PhotoCropped her out of Blue Valley.

Mr Sternblast burst into the computer lab. ‘What’s all this commotion? What’s going on?’

I quickly switched off the computer and looked innocently at the principal.

Mr Sternblast glanced around the empty lab. ‘Where’s your teacher? Where’s Miss Frost? Tell me immediately!’

I took a deep breath and told him the honest truth. ‘I don’t know, sir … I don’t know where she is.’