Free The Fairytale Curse (Magic's Return Book 1) by Marina Finlayson Page A

there?”
    How should I know? I was too busy bashing elbows and knees on the furniture at the time to do a headcount. I returned his stare in silence.
    “You boys!” He picked the two nearest. “Collect those poor creatures and take them outside before all this screaming bursts their eardrums. And you two—” CJ and I got the death stare. “You come with me.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    I caught Dad watching us in the rear vision mirror as we drove home. The car was deathly quiet: this was a new low for us. In all the schools we’d attended over the years, our parents had never been called to the school to discuss our behaviour before. That they’d both come surprised me: I knew how busy they’d been at work lately. Obviously Mr Ormond’s garbled story of frogs and mayhem had been sufficiently impressive to make them drop what they were doing and drive straight over.
    In Mr Ormond’s office they’d seemed inclined to brush it off as some kind of acting out. As if I always threw frogs around when I was angry at having to start over at a new school.
    “The girls were very reluctant to leave Townsville,” Mum had said, leaning forward with an earnest look on her face, as if to take Mr Ormond into her confidence. “They were both so happy there, it was a bit of a wrench for them. I think Violet in particular was hoping to finish her schooling there.”
    I’d stared at the floor, angry that they were discussing us as if we weren’t even in the room.
    Mr Ormond’s gaze rested thoughtfully on me for a moment. “I can certainly understand the difficulties the girls have faced, and continue to face, due to the peripatetic nature of your work. You say this is their fourth high school?”
    Mum nodded.
    “Nevertheless, much as I might sympathise with their feelings, Violet’s way of showing them is quite unacceptable. Bringing frogs to school and causing such disruption in the classroom will not be tolerated.”
    I could tell he hadn’t believed Mrs Harcourt’s story that the frogs had actually come out of my mouth. He was probably a very good teacher, but he had no imagination. Sadly, that didn’t stop him from laying the whole story before our parents anyway.
    Mum’s face paled at the mention of frogs bursting from my mouth. She and Dad exchanged a worried glance, which Mr Ormond caught.
    “But as you can see,” he said, smiling to reassure them that he didn’t believe any such nonsense, “she’s not spitting frogs out any more. I suppose she had them in her pocket all along, and some of the eyewitnesses have become a little excitable. Isn’t that right, Violet?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The four of us were crammed into his small office, arrayed in a tight semi-circle in front of his desk. My knee pressed up against CJ’s.
    “Maybe you should suspend us, sir,” I suggested.
    He frowned. “This is not a joke, Violet. I’m sure, once your parents take you home and you have time to think about your behaviour, such extreme measures won’t be necessary.”
    Well, it was worth a try.
    Then he’d shaken hands with Mum and Dad and sent us on our way. The last bell rang as the interview finished, and we got swept along in the usual tide of kids rushing to leave school.
    Only today the tide seemed to swirl around us full of whispers and pointing fingers. Word had spread already.
    “Give us a diamond, CJ!” yelled one boy.
    Funnily enough, no one seemed to want a frog. I heard the word enough, though, along with disgusting and gross and freak . Never had so many people looked at me with such revulsion. I stuck close to Dad and tried to ignore them all, but by the time we got to the car I was almost in tears.
    I’d expected the lecture to start as soon as the engine did, but neither of them said a word all the way home. Guess they were saving it up.
    We trooped in from the garage and Dad pointed at the couch in the family room. “Sit.”
    We did, though I made sure to sit close. CJ’s leg was warm against mine. Mum sat