Chapter Four

It seemed like the day was dragging on forever for Vicky. All she wanted was for the horrid day to be over. Her third period class was a little better. She had Father Turner again, but at least Sara wasn’t in that class.

This time she had sat next to Rachael, and at least she was nice. Rachael was actually a beautiful brunette. She had large round blue eyes and a small petite frame. She also had a beautiful smile, when she was brave enough to show it. If she had been back in Fort Lauderdale with Vicky, Rachael would have been very popular. As it was, Sara had the poor girl cowering in a self-conscious shell. Vicky had always been a champion of the underdog, and she made the decision that she’d have to do something about that.

The bell ending the class had rung for lunch. Vicky glanced over at Rachael. She cleared her throat. “Rachael, tell me something. Why do you cower away from Sara?”

Rachael turned white. “She’s a witch,” she said in a barely audible whisper.

Vicky’s eyes got wide. “When you say that she’s a witch, do you mean actually or figuratively speaking?”

Rachael swallowed hard. “She’s really a witch.” She gave Vicky a pleading look. “You seem nice enough. Please don’t cross her.”

Vicky raised an eyebrow. “I’m not afraid of Sara,” she said dryly.

Rachael looked away. “You should be.”

Vicky smiled and placed her hand on Rachael’s. “Can you keep a secret?”

Rachael nodded. “Who am I gonna tell? Sara has no one talking to me.”

Vicky pressed her lips in a thin line grimly at what Rachael said. Vicky blew out a breath.

“I’m not afraid of Sara. I’m a witch, too.” Rachael’s eyes grew wide in fear. Vicky shook her head and smiled. “I wouldn’t hurt you. In fact, I like you. I’m going to take you under my wing and give you back some of the confidence that Sara has stolen from you.” Rachael shook her head frantically. Vicky’s smile grew bigger. “It will be okay. If Sara wants to butt heads with me, she can just bring it on. My day couldn’t get any worse that it already is.”

“Do you wanna bet?” Rachael said meekly.

Vicky rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’ll repeat myself. I’m not afraid of Sara.”

Rachael’s face paled again. “Well, when your hair starts falling out, you’ll be singing a different tune.”

Vicky’s face grew concerned. “Is that what she did to you?” Rachael nodded. “You seem like a nice girl. What did you do to her to make her want to curse you like that?”

Rachael shrugged. “Jason smiled at me.”

“Who’s Jason?”

“Jason is Sara’s boyfriend,” Rachael said and looked away. “Sara said she’d make it so that Jason or any other guy at this school wouldn’t want to smile at me ever again.”

Vicky’s blood started boiling. She and Sara were definitely going to butt heads. Vicky patted Rachael’s hand again in comfort. “Stick with me Rachael. In a few days, Sara won’t be a problem for you anymore.”

Rachael shook her head frantically again. “Please don’t provoke Sara.”

Vicky shrugged. “Sara’s already provoked me. We’re already going to have a go at each other. I might as well save you while I’m at it. Believe me, when I’m done with Sara, she won’t be able to hurt you anymore.” Vicky stood up from her desk. “I promised Luke that I would meet him in the cafeteria for lunch.” She gathered her notebook and bag. “I’ll see ya later. Try not to worry about Sara.”

Rachael swallowed hard and nodded. “It was nice knowing ya, Vicky.”

Vicky shook her head and laughed at Rachael and hurriedly left the classroom in the direction of the cafeteria to meet Luke.