Free Witch Ball - BK 3 by Linda Joy Singleton Page A

find?" I asked eagerly.
    "Not as much as I expected." He handed me a
paper. "Check it out."
    I looked down at the typed sheet:
    K. C. Myers-11th grade, 162 Third Avenue
    Apt. 34C
    Emergency contact-Felicia Margo Swann,
    209-555-1925
    Jack Carney-12th grade - NFI
    "What does NFI mean?" I asked
    "No further information-which is odd. All
students are required to have contact numbers."
    "So what's the deal with Jack?"

    "Beats me. Why don't you ask your boyfriend."
    "Josh?" My heart jumped. "What's he have to
do with this?"
    "I got a printout of Jack's schedule and noticed
they have the same auto shop class. See if josh can
set up a meeting."
    "Uh . . . " I glanced down, the paper shaking in
my fingers. "I can't today."
    "How come?"
    "Josh isn't here."
    "So we'll save Jack for later. I'll talk to KC."
    "You have his class schedule, too?"
    "Yeah, but there's something odd." He bit his
lip. "Apparently he's in my fourth period classbut I've never heard of him."
    "He might have switched classes."
    "Could be." Manny fell into step with me as I
continued down the hall. "If we can't find him at
school, we could go visit him at home tonight. You
game?
    "Sure. It's a date ... I mean . . ." I blushed.
"Not a date ... a planned outing together."
    "Which describes a date." Manny chuckled.
"But we can call it a business appointment."
    I nodded, relieved. The last thing I needed was
for josh to hear I was going out with another guy even if it was only Manny. Thinking about josh
gave me a sinking sense of dread that stayed with me
through my next classes. I even tried calling him on
my cell, but no answer.

    At lunch, I sat alone in a crowd of my closest
friends. I noticed how everyone was paired off except me. Jill with a guy from the student council,
Penny-Love hugging onto her artsy beau Jacques,
and best friends Kaitlyn and Catelyn were flirting
with dark-haired twins named Dan and Derrick.
    Everyone asked the same question, "Where's
Josh?"
    "Absent. Out sick," I explained.
    But if he was sick at home, why didn't anyone
answer the phone? I tried again and again. If he was
too sick to answer the phone, one of his parents
would have stayed home with him. Since his brother
died from cancer, his parents tended to be overprotective. So someone should have been home.
    Not looking good Sabine, I told myself grimly.
    And according to Manny's prediction I had
only three days left to live. You'd think that would
be my biggest worry. But no, here I was stressing
over Josh. Was that logical?
    "Sabine!" Penny-Love's sharp voice snapped me
out of my thoughts.

    "Huh?"
    "Obviously you were zoned out and didn't
hear a thing I just said." She gave an irritated flip
of her red curls. "Tell Jacques how awful my brothers are. He wants to meet them, but I told him no
way. My brothers aren't fit for decent company."
    "Well ... they are kind of rough," I admitted.
    "And I have the bruises to show it," PennyLove said with a groan. "They're like overgrown
puppies and think it's funny to throw me around.
Total animals!"
    Jacques chuckled. "I still want to meet them."
    "Not in this lifetime. Last night they played
soccer with a pumpkin and smashed it through the
living room window. I wasn't even there, but I had
to help clean up the mess."
    "Tough," Jacques said, dipping a French fry in
mustard. "But sounds like you have an interesting
family. "
    "Insane, you mean."
    "I still want to meet them. I'm working late
tonight, but tomorrow I'll pick you up and you can
introduce me. Then we'll go someplace special."
    "I'd like that." She leaned against him and they
kissed.

    Embarrassed and envious, I focused on my plate
of some kind of mottled gravy over meat, fries, apple
slices, and apple juice. But I didn't much feel like eating. I stood up and grabbed my backpack.
    "You leaving already?" Penny-Love asked, turning back to me. "How come?"
    "Not very hungry."
    "Oh, I get it." She offered a sympathetic look.
"You're sad cause