Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,2

two other people and zero privacy. I couldn’t remember when this rule had started or why, but I was never allowed to shut my bedroom door. Not back in Australia, and not here. If I did shut my door for more than a few minutes, my mother would jerk it open as if she expected to catch me doing something heinous. I had already become very good at changing in the small space formed by the wall and my wardrobe door. At least in our old home in Australia I’d had a walk-in wardrobe, which gave me more room to change.

I knew this rule was peculiar, and I’d once asked my mother why she didn’t trust me. She’d said, ‘Honey, it’s not that we don’t trust you – we just don’t trust other people.’ Which just made me paranoid that some crazy guy was going to be waiting for me in my wardrobe one night. But then I would reassure myself that for all his strict, intolerant behaviour my dad was an excellent cop and nothing would happen to me on his night watch.

Eventually I heard my parents turn off the television and make their way up to their room. They shuffled around preparing for bed before turning off the light, their door open, too. I waited another five minutes before reaching under my mattress and retrieving my torch and a book: The Sixth Sense and Us.

I’d found the book under the floorboards in my new bedroom a few days ago. The house was old and I had noticed a loose board under the new rug my mother had bought to cheer up the room. When I prised it up I was expecting to find a whole lot of dust underneath, not a strange book with a mysterious blonde woman on the cover holding a candle up to a mirror. I found the image mesmerising. Flipping through the book’s pages, I discovered it was all about witchcraft and felt a tingle of excitement – I knew my parents would never approve. I hadn’t hesitated to start reading it – in secret.

I pulled my thick blanket over my head before switching on the torch and turning to Chapter Three, ‘Witchcraft and Magic’.

Two

The desk in front of me was covered in a scrawl of graffiti that had been painted over by maintenance staff probably a hundred times. I was listening to the social studies teacher emphasise the importance of doing ‘good’ in modern society. I didn’t understand why that had to be taught. Wasn’t it obvious that you get what you give?

‘Hello.’

I jumped. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I was still sitting at the desk like an idiot, even though class had ended and everyone was heading out. Bryce was standing in front of my desk, staring at me. He looked even hotter than yesterday on the bus, and he was smiling at me in such a friendly way that I could almost have sworn he thought I was interesting. But guys like Bryce didn’t hang out with loners like me; this was a universal school rule – regardless of the continent. Wondering what he wanted, I managed to tear my eyes away from his smile and noticed he was wearing a leather band around his wrist. It had a metal disc embedded in it and seemed kind of out of place with the rest of his preppy gear.

‘What’s that?’ I was nothing if not direct.

He laughed and pushed his long fringe to the side of his face. ‘It’s a charm band; my great-grandmother gave it to me. She said it would protect me from negative energy. She was a Spiritualist.’

I hadn’t expected someone like Bryce to be into alternative things. ‘What’s a Spiritualist?’ I couldn’t help asking.

He looked kind of embarrassed. ‘Well, the people who founded Summerland back in the late eighteen hundreds were Spiritualists. My great-grandmother was one of them. They, umm . . .’

At that moment the second bell sounded.

‘What’s your next class?’ Bryce said abruptly, changing the subject.

I realised I was still just sitting there; and it was time to go.

‘Chemistry with Mr Barrow,’ I said, gathering up my books. As I stood up I couldn’t help but notice that I fit neatly under Bryce’s chin. He was just tall enough that when I tilted my head to look up at him my hair fell back off my face and out of my eyes. He had the most beautiful green eyes. They went perfectly with