The Fairytale Curse (Magic's Return Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

bit back a nasty comment about her taste in friends. She was trying to be nice. “Thanks.”
    “So how did it go today?”
    I shrugged. “My physics teacher doesn’t know his arse from his ankle, but otherwise it was all right. I joined the robotics club at lunch.”
    “Full of boys with no social skills?”
    “Actually there’s one girl. Sona. She sat next to me on the bus. She seems okay.”
    “The Indian girl with the beautiful hair?”
    Trust CJ to notice that. My sister wasn’t at all obsessed with personal appearance.
    “Yeah.”
    “Her plait is so long she was actually sitting on it!” Her eyes filled with a brief longing. “Ashleigh says she’s just a brainiac, though.”
    I bristled on my new friend’s behalf. “Oh, well, if Ashleigh says! Guess I’d better dump her then, if Little Miss Forked Tongue doesn’t approve.”
    “Oh, for God’s sake, don’t be so prickly. I didn’t say I believed her.” She pushed her empty plate away and leaned back with a satisfied sigh. “What are you going to wear to the party tomorrow night?”
    “The one the school captain’s throwing? John or James or whatever his name is?”
    “Josh. Josh Johnson.”
    Uh-oh. Her voice had that same sickly sweetness as Ashleigh’s had when she said his name.
    “Who said I’m going? The guy’s a jerk. Why would you want to go to his party?”
    “Because it’s a party ? You know, somewhere you go to have fun ? And you need to get out and meet people so you can stop being so bitter and twisted. I heard he’s going to have a keg.”
    “Yeah, right. As if his parents would let him have a keg when the party’s going to be full of under-eighteens.”
    She grinned. “That’s the best part. His parents are in Europe. Anyway, who says he’s a jerk?”
    I rolled my eyes. “Didn’t you see him this morning, capering round that statue like a caveman who’s just discovered fire?”
    There was a large, vaguely humanoid but very ugly statue in front of the admin block. It had been donated by a past Year 12 as a farewell present to the school. Obviously they’d all hated their time at school and the statue was their idea of revenge. This morning we arrived to discover the current Year 12 had wrapped the thing in toilet paper and sprayed it with whipped cream as part of their muck-up week celebrations. It looked like a giant misshapen mummy and smelled as rank as you’d expect from the combination of dairy and hot sun.
    Josh and a group of his mates had been posing in front of it taking selfies and carrying on like three-year-olds. They couldn’t have been prouder of themselves if they’d invented a cure for cancer—instead of which they’d left a giant mess for a bunch of unfortunate Year 7s to clean up.
    As we’d streamed in from the bus, the group had caught sight of CJ, in her extra short uniform. I swear she took the hems up when Mum wasn’t looking. They started whistling and shouting at her.
    “Where’ve you been all my life, babe?” Josh called.
    So original.
    CJ had ignored him, but I could tell from the way she tossed her hair over her shoulder that she liked the attention.
    “Don’t break my heart, gorgeous!” He clutched at his chest with great melodrama, while his friends whooped. “Come to my party on Saturday and I’ll show you a good time!”
    Yep. Those pick-up lines definitely needed work. I guess a good-looking guy like him didn’t usually need to try too hard. He was your classic blonde-haired, blue-eyed surfer dude. There wouldn’t be too many girls knocking him back.
    “Well,” CJ said now, “at least the caveman has good taste in women.”
    “You mean because he likes you? What does that prove? Everyone that’s got a pulse likes you. Hell, I bet there are even dead people who like you.”
    She snorted. “Gee, thanks. Just call me queen of the zombies. You make it sound like a crime to look good.”
    “Please. Not the ‘it’s not my fault I’m gorgeous’ speech