Free How to Ditch Your Fairy by Justine Larbalestier Page B

know.
    When I hit the middle stump and it goes cartwheeling, the batter’s out. And the same rules apply to everyone. Like sports, the school is a rule-governed system that makes sense. If I folow the rules al’s wel, if I don’t al’s not.”
    “Wel, sure, except for when someone cheats. Or when the referees make a bad cal. Or when the rules don’t apply to some people because they’re so special. Like that Danders Anders guy.”
    “Danders gets demerits too, you know. He gets more than you do.”
    Steffi laughed. “You sound like my sister.”
    “What?” We were both jogging much slower now.
    “She thinks I have a getting- out- of- trouble or nevergetting-caught fairy—she cals it different things—but she’s my big sister and is convinced that I get away with murder and always have. You know how big sisters are.”
    I stopped mid-stride. Steffi puled up. “You okay?”
    “Did you say a getting-out- of-trouble fairy?” That made so much sense.
    “That’s what she reckons.”
    “Hah!” I started jogging again. “Steffi, how many demerits have you gotten so far? How many times have teachers and coaches cited you for an infraction?”
    “An infraction? Like what Sandra was explaining about? Would I know if a teacher or coach had given me one?”
    “Oh, yes, you’d know.” I started to run through the Steffi infractions I’d seen: kissing, holding hands, passing notes to Stupid-Name, being sloppily and incorrectly dressed, arriving late, fighting in class (when he told us that everyone hated New Avaloners). I was sure there were more.
    “Then none, I guess,” he said.
    “Hah!” I exclaimed. I knew it.
    “What?”
    “Your sister is spot on. At least two coaches saw you hand in hand with Stup—I mean, Fiorenze—that’s an infraction; your tie was messed up al day yesterday— that’s an infraction; you were later than me to Fencing and I got a demerit—you didn’t.”
    “So?”
    “So!? It means your sister’s right! You definitely have a getting-out-of-trouble fairy. You can do whatever you like! And wholy get away with it! Oh, if I had your fairy …”
    Steffi waved my words away. “Al of that doesn’t mean anything.

    I’m the new kid in school, they’re just going easy on me.”
    “Ah, no, Mr. West Coast. They don’t ever go easy . Not on anyone ever . Especialy not on new kids. At the start of the year we were a class of 540. Now there’s 403. You should have demerits up the wazoo.”
    Steffi shook his head and did his West Coast hand wave.
    “Doesn’t add up—”
    “Doesn’t add up! I just thought of another one: you talked out of turn in PR when you were saying how everyone hates us. But you weren’t given a demerit. Half the class was, but not you!” Why was he denying it when it was so obviously true?
    “Whatever. Listen, Charlie, wil you do me a favor? Don’t mention this to anyone? Even though it’s not true I don’t want other people to be thinking it is.”
    I slowed my jog to a walk and spat on my pinkie, holding it out.
    “Fairy honor.”
    He did the same. “Ah, okay. Fairy honor.” We pressed our pinkies together, then let go. I suppressed the shiver that contact with Steffi gave me.
    “You can wholy trust me. I haven’t even told anyone— except Ro and she’s the queen of secret keeping—that you like to be caled Steffi.”
    Steffi laughed. “I don’t care about that. You do know it’s mostly a girl’s name on the West Coast too? I know how to handle the jerks who hassle me about it.”

    Jerks ? “I’m sure you do. I’m glad you moved here. I never would’ve met you if you’d stayed back on the West Coast.”
    Steffi didn’t say anything.
    “Aren’t you glad you moved?”
    “Sometimes. A lot of the time I miss home. Ravenna seems so far away from here.”
    “What’s Ravenna?” I asked
    “That’s my city. That’s where I’m from. You never heard of Ravenna?” Steffi asked, sounding shocked.
    “Wel, I guess, um,” I said,