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

again.”
    Tall. Gorgeous. Popular. Everything I wasn’t. Smart too. Not that I wasn’t smart. It was just that somehow she often seemed to get just one little mark more than me in assignments, though I worked just as hard. Scientific studies had proven that beautiful people were better liked than us plain Janes. I couldn’t help feeling that science was on to something there.
    She stuck out her already full bottom lip. “Well, it’s not. I just happened to win the genetic lottery. Nothing to do with me.”
    “Fine. Whatever.”
    There was no point trying to persuade her that her charmed life really was extraordinary. She’d gotten the star treatment from everyone since the day we were born. To her, being the special one was just the normal state of existence.
    “You know, you’re not exactly ugly, Vi. Lots of girls would kill for hair your colour. If you tried to talk about things that normal people are interested in once in a while, you’d have lots of friends.”
    “I don’t need to be worshipped by the Ashleigh Redmonds of the world.” Who wanted a bunch of airheads following them around? “I have plenty of friends.”
    “Oh, yeah? Like who?”
    “Sona,” I said. “And there are heaps of nice guys in the robotics club.”
    One in particular. She didn’t need to know about Zac yet, though. Maybe I’d imagined that look in his eyes when he’d smiled at me. Too soon to be sharing secrets with my twin.
    “Right. Well, you have fun with the nerds in the robotics club.”
    Whatever else she’d been about to say was cut off by the phone ringing. While she flounced off to answer it, I put the plates in the dishwasher then settled myself on the lounge to watch TV. Friday night was a night for unwinding, not studying.
    CJ came back in and dropped into an armchair. “What are you watching?”
    “Nothing. Just some quiz show.”
    “That was Mum on the phone. She said they won’t be back until Sunday night.”
    Maybe I could spend the whole weekend not studying too. “Did you ask her about the party?”
    She threw me a pitying look. “Are you serious? Why would I ask her? They’re away , doofus. We can do what we like.”
    I turned back to the TV. I was sick of arguing with CJ, but that didn’t feel right. It was one thing to slack off and not study when your parents were away. Sneaking off to a party you knew they wouldn’t approve of was a whole ’nother ball game, and guess who’d get the blame when they found out. Not perfect little CJ.
    A newsbreak came on and CJ picked up a magazine with a bored sigh. They replayed the footage of the girl in the glass coffin.
    “They’re still calling it the Sleeping Beauty case,” I said. “Dad would be so cranky.”
    “Why?”
    “Because Sleeping Beauty fell asleep for a hundred years in her own bed in a castle, surrounded by all her sleeping family and servants. Remember? And the hedge of thorns grew up to hide the castle? It was Snow White who fell into a death-like sleep after she ate the poisoned apple. The seven dwarves thought she was dead but they couldn’t bear to bury her, so they left her in a glass coffin in the woods, then the prince came by and kissed her awake.”
    “And Dad knew the difference? I thought the only things that interested him were his gadgets.”
    “Apparently not.”
    The girl was still in her weird coma, and no one knew how or why she’d ended up in that coffin. Basically nothing new had happened, so they were just showing a couple of official-looking black cars arriving at the Three Sisters carpark and talking about the ongoing investigation.
    A face appeared at a car window. Only a brief flash.
    “Was that—?”
    “What?” CJ looked up but they’d cut to another story.
    “Nothing. Never mind.”
    It couldn’t have been Dad.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Ashleigh’s dad dropped five of us at the party. A lot of the Year 12s could drive, but most of us in Year 11 were still on our Ls, so we had to suffer the shame of being