MUCH ADO ABOUT MAGIC

by: Mette Ivie Harrison

Copyright 2012 Mette Ivie Harrison

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1: Bee

It wasn’t as if I had warts or a female mustache. I didn’t smell. I had clean clothes on, and they actually matched. I’d purchased them over the summer at one of the stores with the Hero clan logo on the front, approving them for the whole clan to buy from. My shirt had a nice bit of lace around the collar and my jeans were snug but not indecent.

Yeah, maybe I wasn’t a size 0, but what was wrong with that? I looked perfectly fine. I had checked myself in the mirror that morning. Long red hair in a single braid down my back, a few freckles on my nose and cheeks, green eyes and a pointed chin. A little too pointed, but it suited me.

But here was Leanata, staring at me like I was a witch from Macbeth. She stared for a long minute, her gaze lingering on the parts I guess she thought were the most objectionable. My nose, apparently. Also, my hips and my tennis shoes. I liked tennis shoes. They didn’t hurt my feet. So they weren’t beautiful. So what?

“I can give you some pointers with the beauty spell,” offered Leanata then, her voice smooth and sweet. I wasn’t fooled for a moment. There was nothing sweet about her or her suggestion. “A little one-on-one practice. If that’s what you need, Beatrice.”

I hated that name. It sounded ancient. My real friends called me Bee, but Leanata wasn’t one of my real friends.