Chapter 6
The next day at school, I had a headache and felt groggy. The rest of the class was buzzing with excitement. Miss Callisto announced that she was handing out our roles for The Wizard of Oz.
I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach that lingered from my dream. Just to be extra careful, I wore my crystal necklace and charm bracelets. Crystals are supposed to have magical properties, and the charm bracelet was for good luck. I needed all the luck I could get!
“Okay, everybody!” Miss Callisto said, clapping her hands.
The class fell silent. She walked to the center of the room holding a stack of scripts.
“Let’s start with the title role of the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz himself!” she announced. “Billy Katsikis!”
Billy bowed dramatically. “I am Billy, the great and powerful!” he bellowed. Everyone laughed.
“And now,” Miss Callisto continued, “onto our witches. First up is Glinda, the Good Witch. Let’s hear it for…Claire Voyance!”
Our classmates applauded as Claire walked up to the teacher. My body started to tingle. Something was about to happen. I knew it. I clutched the crystal at my chest. Whatever it was, it was coming soon.
Miss Callisto spoke again. “The other witch in our play,” she said, “is the Wicked Witch of the West. She will be played by…Krystal Ball!”
Oh no! I wanted to crawl under the desk and disappear.
I looked at Claire. She tried to smile, but I’m sure she knew how I felt. No one wants to be the Wicked Witch of the West, right?
I looked over at Billy. He was smiling from ear to ear. He gave me a thumbs up. “You’re so lucky,” he said. “The bad guys are the best!”
Miss Callisto called me to the front of the room. Dragging my feet, I walked over and picked up my script. Then she continued giving out roles, but I didn’t hear a word she said. I stared at the sheets of paper in front of me. There it was in big, bold letters: WICKED WITCH OF THE WEST:—KRYSTAL BALL.
“My favorite part is when the witch melts,” Billy said. He snatched the script off my desk. “Do you want to practice together? I can show you how to make the death scene look real.”
Billy clutched his throat. “I’m dying,” he gasped and made gurgling, gagging sounds.
“I’m dying,” he said again and rolled his eyes back into his head. Kicking his legs out in front of him, he slid down off his chair onto the floor.
He stuck his tongue out and said, “I’m dead!”
The kids laughed until the teacher told him to stop.
“And last but not least,” Miss Callisto continued, “we have the role of Dorothy Gale.”
My ears perked up, and I closed my eyes. “Oh no,” I whispered. “Outlook not so good…”
“Emily Heart!” Miss Callisto declared.
The students clapped, except for me and Billy.
“Oh thank you, thank you!” Emily said. She fake-smiled and waved at us like a beauty pageant queen. “I always knew I was born to be a star!”
As she walked past me to get her script, something caught my attention. I looked down and saw what it was.
Suddenly, my skin started to prickle like hundreds of tiny little bugs were crawling on it.
Emily was wearing long black stockings and a pair of shiny, silver slippers. Just like the ones in my dream sticking out from under my house!
Holding her head high, Emily walked back to her desk. Her shiny hair bounced behind her.
She looked down her nose at me and said, “I need to get into character. That’s what real actors do. So I’m going to treat you like my enemy!”
Susan and Kate leaned out of their seats to congratulate Emily. They were so happy for her. Susan got the part of Aunt Em and Kate was playing a Munchkin.
I was so jealous. I would’ve traded parts with either of them. I just didn’t want to be the Wicked Witch and an even bigger target for Emily’s meanness.
And that was just it! Emily was the mean one. SHE should be the wicked witch. Not me!
Billy saw my troubled face and asked, “Hey Krystal, what’s the matter?”
“A little less noise, please,” Miss Callisto called from her desk.
I tore a piece of paper out of my notebook and quickly scribbled the message: “Emily wearing same outfit as my dream. Must be a vision of what is going to happen in the future.”
Folding the piece of paper into a little triangle, I passed it to Billy when the teacher wasn’t looking.
He opened it, read it, and wrote something underneath my message. Then he passed it me.
I opened it and read: “Is it bad?”
Closing my eyes and tilting my head, I tried to focus on the vision from my dream. A new sensation passed through my body, and I was certain.
Writing my answer down, I passed the paper back to Billy. He opened it up:
