Read Witch Ball - BK 3 for Free Online Page B

upstairs. I was standing in front of my mirror, brushing out my hair, when it hit me
that josh hadn't called. I was afraid to think what
this could mean.

    "Why are you frowning?" Amy asked, pulling
on the baggy T-shirt I'd loaned her.
    "Just tired." There were probably a dozen logical reasons why josh hadn't called; it probably had
nothing to do with Evan.
    "I've had so much fun today." Amy hugged the
stuffed unicorn. "I'm glad Mom let me come here."
    "Me, too." I set down my brush and summoned a smile. "Would you like to choose tonight's
night-light?"
    Her eyes widened. "Really? But you never let
me touch your collection."
    "That was when you were a baby-now you're
ten. Go ahead and pick one."
    She crossed the room and held her breath almost reverently as she opened the glass cabinet.
"The black cat is wicked looking, but the green
frog is funny. Oh, I like the musical note, too. Remember who gave you that?"
    "Yeah-you." I chuckled. "It was my birthday
and you made me follow rhyming clues all over the
house until I found the night-light plugged into an
attic outlet and tied with a big red bow."

    "Wait till you see what I have planned for your
next birthday."
    I groaned. "I'm scared."
    "You should be," she teased, turning back to
the cabinet.
    A few minutes later, Amy had decided on a
stained glass night-light like a Victorian house. "It
has a little attic window like the spooky house in one
of my favorite books, The Haunted Attic Mystery."
    "Everything reminds you of a book," I teased.
    "I've already read twenty-one this month."
    "Wow. I'm impressed."
    "Too bad you're the only one." Amy sighed.
"Mom says I should be more active and that reading too much will give me squinty eye wrinkles."
    "Don't let her get to you. She used to tell me
not to wrinkle my forehead and I turned out just
fine," I said, lifting my brows in exaggeration so my
forehead squished into deep creases.
    "You're too funny." Amy giggled. "I wish you
never moved out."
    "It was tough at first. But it's worked out okay,
and it's great being with Nona."
    "Not so great for me. Mom's always on my
case and Dad works so much it's like he moved
out. And Ashley ... well our house isn't a home anymore." Kneeling down, she plugged in the Victorian house night-light. Soft amber, green, and
blue lights shone across my walls. But Amy had
turned away and stood before my window, staring
into the dark night.

    Coming up beside her, I slipped my arm around
her slim shoulders. "What's going on with you and
Ashley?"
    "She's driving me crazy."
    "How?"
    "She's all, `we're gonna be a famous singing
duo.' But I don't want to sing in front of lots of
people."
    "You're in front of people at your music
recitals."
    "That's different. I'm not the focus, it's the
music. Modeling is okay, too, cause I don't talk
much and daydream a lot. It's Ashley who wants to
be a diva, not me."
    I nodded with understanding. "Then don't
do it."
    "Ashley already signed us up for voice and more
dance classes. She says she needs me because being
twins is a good gimmick and will get us noticed."
    "Tell her how you feel."

    "I've tried only it's like she doesn't hear me.
When we were little, I didn't mind letting her decide stuff. But now she tells me what to wear, who
to hang out with, and how to fix my hair. I can't
stand her."
    "You don't mean that you love Ashley."
    "Maybe. But I hate her, too."
    The anger in her tone startled me, although I
could understand her resentment. It sounded like
Ashley was getting out of control-becoming more
like Mom. I shuddered at this thought. Two of my
mother?
    Now that was scary.
    A short while later, Amy had calmed down
and was curled under a blanket with her face halfhidden in a thick, green book.
    I was too wound up to relax. So much had happened today, and I hadn't had time to sort through
my emotions. I usually chilled out by working on
crafts; the repetition of weaving thread was like meditating. But just as I