Read Something Wicked for Free Online Page A

muttered something
completely unintelligible.
    "Still not so good, huh?" Amanda wrinkled her nose
in faux concern. "Sorry, hon, but you're going to need to move your car
soon. I have to get to campus and you're blocking me."
    Tara responded by laying her head on the kitchen table.
    Amanda grinned. She was enjoying this way too much.
    "You're in a good mood this morning," I said.
    "I'm a morning person," she responded with a wink.
    "I think I know you better than that," I snorted,
grabbing three mugs out of the cabinet while the coffee perked out its final
remains.
    I poured the coffee into the mugs, leaving one on the
counter for Amanda and placing another an arms length away from Tara.
    "Want some granola?" Amanda called out, giving the
box a good shake before pouring it out into a bowl.
    Tara responded with a groan. Amanda smirked.
    "Tara," I said gently, pushing the mug towards her
slightly. "Coffee's ready. And drink more of that tonic, it'll make you
feel better."
    She looked up at me, her face twisted with pain. This time
she lifted the glass and drank down the milk thistle concoction. "That was
disgusting."
    I shrugged. "Maybe, but you'll feel better soon."
    "This in no way makes up for what you did," she
hissed, pushing the empty glass at me.
    "Whoa!" Amanda's mood changed as quickly as the
weather in New England. "You throw a brick in our window, stink up our
bathroom with your vodka barfs, and pass out on our couch. You should be writing
us a goddamn check."
    "My daddy will pay for the window," Tara's voice
was icy even though her face was still kind of green. "But Izzy, this was
all your fault. You need to fix that spell."
    I took a big gulp of coffee. Dehydration showed on her cracked
lips. Between that and her greenish pallor, she looked an awful lot like a
blond version of Regan from The Exorcist .
    "Tara," I squeaked out, wanting to blame the hot
coffee burning a path down my throat. Really, I'm a wuss. I hate confrontation.
    But she held up her hand to stop me, swaying a little in her
chair. Her eyes refocused. "I want this boy, Izzy. And that love potion
has to do it."
    "Free will," I started weakly, but she interrupted
me again.
    "There is no free will for this one," she said.
"Understand me? None. Or else I will use my free will to find another
witch for Pledge Week and for our annual Halloween party. And you can forget
any referrals to the other girls for shopping excursions. We'll travel to
Hartford instead."
    Then she groaned and put her head back on the table.
    My hands shook in anger and I put down my coffee before it
spilled all over the place. Amanda glared at the back of Tara's head. She
opened her mouth to tell her off, but I shook my head.
    "It's cool, Amanda," I said, my voice surprisingly
calm. "Tara, I can't do a spell like that. I am not that kind of
witch."
    "Then you better turn into that kind of witch,"
she snarled, lifting her head from the table. My mouth gaped open. What a
spoiled brat. I took a deep breath, letting my anger override my fear.
"Tara, I can't compromise someone's freewill."
    "What about my free will?" she whined.
    I tried to slow my breathing. "Tara, you don't
understand. Your free will is not being compromised."
    "I understand perfectly fine," she snarled. "You
sold me a faulty potion and now you're trying to blame me."
    "It's not like that!" I protested. "What you
are asking me to do is...not right."
    "It won't feel right when you lose the support of the Greeks,"
she scowled.
    I started to protest but snapped my mouth closed. If I lost
the support of the sororities, I'd lose everything.
    "Are you ready for the consequences of taking someone's
free will? Because I won't shoulder it for you," I responded.
    "What are you talking about?"
    "This is a road of magic you do not want to go
down," I told her. "It can be a dark, dangerous path."
    "Izzy," Amanda warned. She looked a little
unnerved. I must be in full on witch mode. Amanda once told me that I looked
scary when it