A Farewell to Charms Read Online Free Page B

once you get going, your magic will take care of the rest. Mastery of this BEST list would be impossible, so do what you are able. Further information on this particular princess will be available once we feel you’re prepared for the task. Which should be soon. You’ve had your time to play, now it’s time for work.
    Ta-ta,
    Meredith
    Betterment of Elite Sub Training
Gymnastics
Coding and advanced computer technology
Lock-picking
Fencing
Karate
Sculpture
Build up a tolerance to pain
Stealth
    I shook my manual a couple times. Somehow, I’d been sent a list for a ninja movie action hero, not a princess. But the words didn’t budge. This was legit.
    At least I knew how to use my magic when I was subbing. I literally put myself in my client’s shoes and intuitively knew what they wanted or needed. And I was going to need all the help I could get because…Building up a tolerance to pain? That has to be breaking some employment laws right there. And it’s not like they had stuntwoman training in Idaho. Not to mention gymnastics. Given my inability to do a somersault, the outlook was not good.
    As always, I had no clue when Meredith would be back. The BEST list was created to prepare me for my next job, and in the past I’d had weeks, even months, of research before beginning the gig. Quality over quantity, Meredith said. But that obviously wasn’t the case anymore. They wanted me, and they wanted me soon.
    What they wanted me to do, I still couldn’t say. But
    I had a feeling this job was not going to involve a ball gown.
    I spent the rest of my weekend preparing for my BEST by watching old ninja movies and fiddling with a homemade lock-picking kit I had read about. As far as building up a tolerance to pain, I’d once heard that my favorite actress, screen legend Audrey Hepburn, used to pluck her nose hairs when she needed to cry in a movie. And yeah, the exercise brought tears to my eyes. I just hoped my biggest casualty was losing nose hairs, not major body parts.
    I didn’t do any more research beyond that. I could have done a search on karate/fencing/gymnastic princesses in the sub chat room and figured out my client’s name. Really, how many princesses fit that BEST description? But I needed more time to talk to Reed before I went back to work. I wasn’t ready for Façade just yet.
    Then again, I wasn’t really prepared for school on Monday either.
    It started in homeroom when Celeste’s boyfriend, Hayden Garrison, leaned over and whispered, “So how long have you been going out with that guy from New Zealand?”
    Why was Hayden Garrison talking to me? He never talked to me—the kid still thought my name was Daisy. Six months ago, when I still had a stupid crush on the guy, I would have danced with glee. Now I just stared at him blankly.
    “Huh?”
    “Celeste told me you were going out with…What’s his name?”
    “You mean, Reed?”
    “Yeah. I heard he’s sixteen.”
    I jerked back. “He’s not sixteen. And no! I’m not going out with him.”
    “Oh.” Hayden shrugged. “’Kay. Just asking.”
    And for the next three periods, the popular people noticed me, asked me the same thing or even crazier versions— So, I heard you’re skipping a grade next year so you two can have all the same classes together. Which meant that Kylee had heard these same rumors. One look at her in the lunch line confirmed this.
    Even a magical love potion couldn’t help the rift in our friendship now. If she thought I was keeping things from her before, rumors of my supposed “relationship” with Reed had sent Kylee over the edge.
    She didn’t even make eye contact with me, just ran right out of the cafeteria. I followed after her, tripping on a stray backpack. She wasn’t there when I got to the main hallway. My skin tingled with empathy, and I closed my eyes hoping that some magical solution would come. How could I fix this?
    A little voice in the back of my head whispered: Go tell her about your magic.
    Oh,