Free The Hex Breaker's Eyes by Shaun Tennant

me, while I’ve
got the other end of the banner so I’m looking back at him.
    “How come you
memorize everyone’s name?” I ask.
    “It’s not just
everyone’s name. I memorize the yearbook. I know all the clubs, the
teams, what championships we won last year, which teams are never
any good. It makes it easy to talk to people about school
issues.”
    “Watch the
turn,” I say as we get close to the gym. He looks confused but
smiles bashfully when he realizes I mean for him to look behind
himself, and then we manage to turn the long banner into the gym
without it touching the ground or smudging the paint. When she sees
us approaching, Wayne’s girlfriend Sydney climbs up a ladder next
to the stage. Janelle, the studious girl from my chem class, is
already atop a ladder on the other side of the stage.
    “Just lay the
banner on the stage and we’ll get it hung up,” Wayne says.
    “OK.” I do what
I’m told and get the banner safely to the stage. I tell them all
that I’m going home and to have a good debate tomorrow. I’m about
to leave when, for some reason, I decide to take a risk.
    “What are the
feathers for?” I ask Wayne.
    “The what?”
    “The black
feathers. They were in the bag with the glitter. It’s not like the
wildcat has feathers.”
    “I don’t know,”
he says, a funny half-smile on his face. “Maybe someone grabbed
them at the craft store and figured we could use ‘em. If they’re
black they’re Cats colours.”
    “Guess so,” I
say. “Have a good night.”
    Wayne says
goodbye and the girls on the ladders do likewise, and then I go to
the caf’ to get my backpack and my friends. We walk home wondering
where Wayne’s hiding his magic talisman.
    “Just think,”
Ryan says as we walk through a cold wind. “If Dina has a good
showing at the debates, and it seems like she might win…”
    “Wayne’ll be
pissed right off,” says Tam, completing his sentence. “And that
psychic lady did say the hex was fueled by anger.” I don’t add
anything to the conversation. I’m too distracted worrying that
Wayne can be so charming and earnest while also holding enough
anger to power the hex. (What did Tam call him? A cult leader?)
    “Think on the
bright side, says Tam, “If Dina’s as much of a bitch on stage as
she is in real life, she’ll be out of the running. Then Wayne won’t
need the hex.”
    Ryan laughs a
bit, and eventually we branch off to our own roads home, but I
think deep down they’re both feeling what I am. Terrified.
    I arrive home
to find Marlene waiting on my front step.
    “What are you
doing here?” I ask.
    “I tried to
call but I guess your phone is still down,” she says. “I think I
know who’s behind the hex.”
    “So do I, his
name is Wayne,” I say. I pull the door open and usher Marlie
inside. We head to my room and close the door, so my brother Devon
doesn’t hear us talking about magic and hexes.
    “Wayne?” she
says finally, as I pull my bedroom door shut. “Why Wayne?”
    “Who did you
think it was?” I ask.
    “I was thinking
we never really ruled out Mason Charles, so I wanted to know more
about him. I creeped him on Facebook but I didn’t find anything,
but I had the idea to check out his brother Matty’s page.”
    “And you found
something?” I ask. I sit down in the chair, so Marlene sits on the
floor, her back against the side of my bed.
    “Black candles.
In the background of pictures. And you can’t make the talisman
without dripping wax from a black candle.”
    “So Mason’s got
the candles and Wayne’s got the feathers,” I say, weighing the
options.
    “No!” She
blurts. “Not Mason. Matty. That kid’s whole room is full of occult
stuff.”
    “Are you sure
you were creeping his Facebook for my sake?” I tease her, since a
boy who’s as into this stuff as Marlene sounds like a perfect match
for her.
    “What? Oh, shut
up!” She blushes a little, and I wonder if I was right. “I looked
at some of his posts and he