Read Parties & Potions #4 for Free Online

seven and a half of us being in the same room for more than four and a half seconds. Never mind a week on a boat.
    Raf looks up at me and smiles.
    Swoon.
    I could definitely imagine spending a week on a cruise ship with Raf. I could imagine spending a week in a canoe with Raf.
    Yay! He’s wearing the brown shirt! The one we bought together! He must want me to think he looks hot. And he does. That smile! Those eyes! Those lips!
    Seriously, he has great lips. Soft and sweet and perfect. He’s the best kisser in the entire universe. Not that I’ve kissed that many other guys. Only one. Raf’s brother. During the whole magic-love-spell-fiasco thingy But anyway. Raf is an amazing kisser, even though he’s younger than Will and has had less experience.
    The only other person he’s ever kissed is Melissa Davis.
    I grimace. Speak of the devil. I spot her flaming-red hair only a few rows away from Raf. I should totally put a border spell on her so she can’t get within twenty feet of him.
    She is sitting with my Ex-Bee-Bee (Ex Best Bud), Jewel. Jewel, who dumped me last year and replaced me with Melissa.
    Melissa’s giving me dirty looks. Rolled-in-mud-and-sautéed-in-garbage dirty looks.
    She turns around and says something to the group of girls sitting in front of her. A group of seniors. I recognize Cassandra Morganstein from last year’s fashion show— really a dance show with a catwalk and designer outfits. Last year I used Miri’s magic to give myself mad dancing skills and get a part. Unfortunately, I kind of ruined the show when I tripped and decapitated the Eiffel Tower. It’s a long story. On the plus side, that’s where Raf and I got to know each other. Anyway, two seniors run it every year, and this year Cassandra is one of them. Cassandra has this insanely curly blond hair. It’s gorgeous from afar, but terrifying up close: she sculpts it with so much product each curl looks like a spiral weapon. I try to avoid her in the hallway so I won’t lose an eye. Today she’s wearing all red—red top, red jeans, red boots—apparently adopting the trademarked mono-color look of London Zeal, the awful head of last year’s ruined fashion show. Thank God she graduated in June.
    Tammy notices too. “Look at Cassandra,” she says. “Guess she’s declaring herself top dog.”
    Top dog, female dog, top …
    Well, you know.
    I keep my head down. This year I am going to stay out of the fashion show people’s way. They are all very attractive, extremely intimidating meanies. All except Raf. He’s just very attractive. Maybe he won’t want to be in the show this year.
    As we make our way through the auditorium, I feel like I’m being watched. Or maybe that’s my big head talking. I wonder if having an actual big head correlates in any way to having a big ego. Worth a scientific study, maybe. I’ll suggest it in chemistry, which I have right after lunch. Is it weird that I’m excited about taking chemistry? It sounds kind of exciting. You know, bubbling potions and exploding test tubes and all that.
    I breathe deeply and take a moment to pump myself up. You are fabulous! You look fabulous! Your new shirt is amazing! You have Raf! You have Tammy! Life is good.
    Twenty feet until I reach Raf. Fifteen feet. Ten feet! Now what am I supposed to do? Should I kiss him hello? On the lips? On the cheek? Things to be covered in chapter three!
    In preparation, I reach into my bag and oh-so-subtly dab on my cherry lip gloss. Yum.
    Five feet.
    But what if I try to kiss him hello and he isn’t expecting it and then I end up kissing the air and everyone laughs? Or what if he doesn’t want to kiss me in front of his friends? What if I kiss him and he’s horrified and then he hates me and then breaks up with me tonight on the phone? Or right now? Oh God, what if he breaks up with me right here in the auditorium? And Melissa laughs and laughs and then I have to run out of the room because large tears are rolling down my face and