Free The Chocolate Meltdown by Lexi Connor

know by looking, but the greasy apron, the angry-looking red face, and the mean glint in her eye seemed about as unmagical as you could get.
    Just as Mrs. Pluto passed by, B caught sight of a glimmer of George, right next to her. They were fading into view already!
    Mrs. Pluto paused, and turned to look back at where they stood. Faster than she’d ever spelled anything, B whispered, “I-N-V-I-S-I-B-L-E.” George vanished once more.
    Mrs. Pluto blinked, and rubbed her eyes. She stared at the spot where George had been. B held her breath, but Mrs. Pluto carried on walking.
    As soon as she was out of sight, B turned toward where her friends were and gasped, “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
    “We haven’t learned anything yet,” George said. “I want to check out this room.”
    “No. Come on, now!”
    B repeated her invisibility spell, and they ran back to the front lobby. Only the sound of their footsteps assured B that her friends were really following her. While the security guard watched his television screen, she took a chance, opened the door, and slipped out. Then she retreated back to the bushes where they’d started.
    “We made it,” she said to Trina, who was now fully visible. “Whew!” Then she froze. “Wait! Where’s George?”
    “He must still be inside,” Trina said. “What do we do?”
    “I’ll go back for him,” B said. “Maybe I can create a distraction to help him get out.”
    B marched to the front door. There, just behind the glass, sat the security guard, and behind him, making goofy faces, was a fully visible George. Oh, no.
    B opened the door. The guard looked up. “Yeah? What do you want?”
    She took a deep breath. “I’m doing a project for school on how my favorite candies are made,” she said, “and I was wondering if I could have a tour of the factory.” She tried to make eye contact with George, but he was too busy acting like an ape.
    “No tours,” the huge guard growled. He looked like he spent most of his extra time bodybuilding. George held up a pair of rabbit-ear fingers behind his head.
    B caught George’s eye and gave a tiny shake of her head.
    He stopped. His face went pale as he looked down at himself and realized he was visible.

Chapter 14
    The guard was still glowering at B.
    “What’s your problem, kid? Cat got your tongue? I said, no tours!”
    B’s heart thumped as George tried to edge around the guard’s office. He bumped into a stack of film canisters marked S ECURITY T APE and sent them rolling across the floor.
    The guard spun around in his chair. “Hey, how’d you get back there?” He leaped up and grabbed George by the collar. “Outta here!”
    He shoved George and B out the door. “Nosy kids! Stay out. If you want to bother someone, go to Enchanted Chocolates. We’re busy.”
    On the way back home, B told Trina and George about the Dismantle Squad capturing Mr. Bishop. They stopped in their tracks.
    “Our English teacher’s been
arrested
?” George said.
    “I’m not sure,” B said. “But it was pretty serious and official, all the same.” She kicked at an acorn on the sidewalk. “I wish we’d figured out something at Pluto Candies, but we don’t know any more now than we did before. I was so sure Jason Jameson was the poisoner! But what if he’s nothing but a sneak?”
    “You should never give Jason Jameson too much credit,” George said. “He’s not smart enough to find a way to poison witches. Even by accident.”
    Trina snapped her fingers. “Didn’t you guys say that Jason was there with his dad at the dipping debut?” she said. “What if his dad’s the poisoner?”
    George and B exchanged glances. “Jason does seem like a chip off the old block,” George said.
    B nodded. “Good hunch, Trina. I’ll mention it to my dad.”
    B found her parents both curled up under blankets on the couch. B’s mom had a cup of eel broth and a box of tissues on her end table. Everyone had told her the sickness wasn’t