Barbara tried to think of someone that did care. But she couldn’t. Everyone hated her. Her parents, the neighbors, Laura, Macy, Grace, Mr. Marcantel, Mason and the fifth graders, everyone.
She sat down under a snow-covered tree and cried. Bella probably hated her too, now that she thought about it. Bella had yelled at her the other day for no reason.
Everyone hated her.
She finally cried herself to sleep under the tree.
Chapter 22:
“Ooh,” Maryrose groaned dramatically, “Why, oh why, did it have to snow today?”
Bella laughed to herself. “I’m glad it snowed today. Now the moving will be rescheduled.”
Maryrose’s eyes flashed red as she turned to Bella. “Are you talking smart to me, young lady?”
Bella flinched back. “No-No, Mom,” Maryrose rolled her eyes as she stuffed a few things into a box.
Note to self: Bella thought, Don’t make Mom mad today. She’s in a bad mood.
Bella was in a bad mood herself, too. She had to move away from the house she had always lived in, and where all her memories had been made.
She had to move, just when her life in this house got interesting! She had finally found a friend, Barbara, and now she had to move. She had planned to do so many things with Barbara, like go to the park, or have sleepovers, but she never would. After tomorrow, she’d never see her again.
Why life treated her like this, she didn’t know. Maybe it was her Mom’s power, the bad luck. Maybe it just rubbed off on her.
Maybe one day, if she could have gained Barbara’s trust, she might have told her about the Sparkles.
Even though Barbara’s dad had betrayed Maryrose, it didn’t mean for sure that Barbara would betray her. Besides, Barbara didn’t even know that Maryrose was in fact the woman that cursed her dad! Barbara barely knew a thing about the curse!
Poor Barbara, Bella thought. Cursed on every Thursday. That must stink. I’d hate to see her face when she finds out I’m moving.
Bella realized that she wasn’t going to be the only one upset about the move. Barbara was going to be even more upset! All of Barbara’s friends were jerks, and Bella was the only one nice to her! She couldn’t imagine what Barbara would do when she found out that she was moving!
How would she ever tell Barbara that she was moving? She hated to see Barbara upset! But she had to tell Barbara she was moving! She couldn’t just go without telling her.
She imagined Barbara waiting by the fence for her by the fence for hours, and Bella never showing up. She imagined Barbara’s face when she she realized that Bella had moved without telling her. It would be the exact same face she made when Bella had yelled at her, just worst.
Bella hated imagining it. It made her want to cry even more, as if she hadn’t cried enough over the past few days.
She had to tell Barbara. She walked over to Eric.
“Eric?” She sat down next to him. “I’m going somewhere. Cover for me,” Bella stood up before he could respond.
She dashed through the newly fallen snow over to Barbara’s house and knocked on the door. But as soon as she knocked, something dawned on her. It was Thursday. The day of the party.
OH NO! Bella thought. I’m going to ruin Barbara’s party by telling her I’m moving! It’ll make her upset for the rest of the party!
Bella thought about running back home. But too late, the door opened.
“Ugh, what do you want?!” At the door stood a man with black curly hair, grey-blue eyes, and a stubby beard. He was still in his night robe and he had a worried looked on his face.
“You-You’re not Barbara,” Bella stammered, since she was expecting Barbara to be waiting at the door.
“I’m Barbara’s dad, Thomas. Now why are you here?” He moaned and rubbed his head like he had a headache. Bella guessed he had had a bad morning.
“I’m here to see Barbara!” Bella replied. “For the party!”
Thomas groaned really loud. “The party’s cancelled. Now go home.” He groaned and shut the door in Bella’s face.
Bella couldn’t just leave! She needed an excuse to talk to Barbara! She knocked on the door again. Thomas opened the door again, and he didn’t look happy!
“WHAT DO YOU WANT, KID?!” He yelled and threw his arms up.
“I need to talk to Barbara! It’s very important!” Bella screamed.
The man sighed and the worried expression on his face returned. His eyes softened. Then, tears filled his eyes. “Kid, sorry. I can’t let you do that.”
“But why?” Bella asked.
The man bit his lip. Bella had never seen a man cry before. “You see, kid, Barbara’s not here.”
“What?”
“She’s gone missing.”
Chapter 23
Thomas wasn’t mad at Barbara. He just wanted his daughter back. She must of heard him get mad and ran away. Now, he can’t find her anywhere.
He wanted to take it back. He had yelled some pretty mean things at Barbara when he couldn’t find her. But he had kept looking all over the neighborhood for hours. He wished he could take everything he said back.
Thomas had went home to call the police. But then this wacky-looking kid shows up. He kept telling this kid to go home, but she just kept waiting at his doorstep. The kid also wanted to talk to Barbara, so Thomas told her why she couldn’t talk to Barbara. Because she was gone.
He just wanted the kid to go. He didn’t feel like dealing with her and Barbara’s disappearance. But the kid apparently wanted to help find her.
“I can help!” The kid said.
Thomas started to close the door. “No. Bye, kid.” He slammed the door in her face and walked toward the phone to call 911. But the door creaked open.
“Let me help!” She yelled.
Tommy spun around in disbelief. This kid had just walked into his house! His HOUSE!
“What are you doing in here?!” He screamed. “This is MY house! You can’t just walk in here like you own the place!”
“I can help you find Barbara! I know a lot about her!” The kid yelled.
Thomas paused. Did she SERIOUSLY just say that?! “I’m Barbara’s DAD!” He yelled. “What do you know about her that I don’t?!”
The kid sneered. “A lot.” She scowled.
Thomas laughed to himself. This kid thought she was so smart. “Like what?” He asked.
The kid rolled her eyes. “Did you know Barbara was being bullied?”
This took Tommy by surprise. Barbara was being bullied? Barbara never told him that! “No-No. I didn’t know that. How do you know? Who’s bullying her?”
The kid continued. “Did you know that Barbara has no friends at school? Did you know that she was having a party? Did you know that Barbara had a new friend, me? Did you know that she was sneaking out to see me almost every day? Did you know that Barbara was getting bullied by her own best friends? Did you know that I was the one who paid for the party, not Barbara? Did you know all this?”
Thomas was stunned. Was this kid serious about all this? “How-how-how do you know this?”
“Because I’m Barbara's friend!”
“But I’m her father!” Thomas replied in disbelief.
“Well, she doesn’t trust you!”
Thomas took the blow hard. Barbara...didn’t trust him? “Why?” Thomas whispered, feeling hurt.
The kid hesitated a moment. She hung her head low and her hair hung over her face. “Because you lie and keep secrets from her!”
Secrets. The fence. No, this kid couldn’t be…. “What secrets? How do you know all this? Who are you?” Thomas demanded.
The kid brushed back her hair and looked up at him. “You know who I am,” She quietly replied. And it was true. Thomas did know who it was. Who else would know everything about him and Barbara?
“B-B-Barbara went over the fence,” He stuttered, “You-You’re-”
“I’m Bella,” She interrupted, “Daughter of Freddy and Maryrose.”
Any other day, Thomas would have slapped the girl in the face and kicked her out. He would have punished Barbara for the rest of her life for disobeying him. But Barbara wasn’t there, and today, he needed Bella. She knew things that he didn’t.
“Come with me,” He said and motioned her over to his room. Bella was going to help him find his daughter, even if the kid was a witch like her mom.
Chapter 24:
Bella had finally met the guy her mom had cursed. She’d never seen Barbara’s Dad before. She had one opinion of him. Rude and disrespectful.
Now she saw why her mom might have cursed him. Yet she still didn’t agree with her. Thomas always had a reason to be mean. A long time ago, it was because of him not believing. I mean, if Bella didn’t know about the Sparkles, and someone told her they were real, she would have thought that person was psycho and told someone else!
And Thomas also had a reason to be mad today. His daughter was missing.
And Bella had a reason to help. Barbara was her friend, her only friend. And if Bella was to move, she had to do one good thing for the Wilson family. Her mom had ruined their life, and Bella wished she could do something, but she couldn’t. She had to do one favor for them. She would find their daughter. If she couldn’t stop the curse, the least she could do is help them be happy.
Thomas had pulled her into a closet. She didn’t resist. She wondered in her mind what Thomas was thinking. Probably something like, I’m about to kill this kid for what her mom did. Or, This kid is about to reverse this curse. Just by the look on that man’s face when she told him who she was, she could tell Thomas wouldn’t be giving her any candy for being a good girl.
He pulled her shirt and looked straight in her eyes. Bella was scared he was going to beat her up. But he didn’t. “How much do you know?” He whispered through his teeth.
“Everything,” Bella squeaked in fear that this man was going to pulverise her. But then he let her shirt go. Bella sighed in relief.
Thomas then started to look nervous. His eyes wandered across the closet, although it wasn’t that big, only big enough for the two of them to stand in. “You’re not going to make my curse worse, are you?” He asked. “Because it’s already bad enough.” Bella could hear faint laughter in his voice.
Bella sighed. “No,” She was going to tell him how she’d never had a Sparkle in the first place, and how she was really upset about it but she decided to just keep her reply as no.
There was a long silence. Finally, Thomas broke it. “Do you know where Barbara is?” He asked.
“Not for sure,” Bella replied. “But I do have some ideas.”
Thomas looked straight into her eyes again. “Like what?”
Bella laughed in awkwardness. “Well,” She nervously smiled, “First I’d have to tell you the whole story.”
Thomas sighed. Bella felt like they had finally broken the ice. Things weren’t as tense as they were earlier. “Talk away,” He snickered. “But hurry, because we need to find Barbara!”
“Well, she might be at school, because she didn’t know about the snowstorm today.” Bella said.
“But why wouldn’t she know? They should have passed notes out at school!” Thomas asked.
“I don’t know,” Bella replied. “Let’s go check at the school.”
“But Barbara catches the bus!” Thomas replied. “Let’s look at the bus stop.”
“Okay,” said Bella. The two walked out of the closet and out of the house. They walked through the cold, wet snow. The wind blew hard, making things almost impossible to see.
Finally, they reached the bus stop. They looked all around but they couldn’t find Barbara. Bella and Thomas sat down on the bench. “I have another question for you, Miss Know-It-All,” Thomas asked and smirked.
“What?” Bella snorted, not appreciating the new nickname.
“What was all that talk about a party this morning? Why was the teacher calling about Barbara? Why did I keep finding weird things at my house?” Thomas asked and wiped snow off his shoulder.
Bella answered him by telling him about Macy, Grace, Laura, and Natalie’s tricks. She told them how they got her in trouble almost everyday, She told him about the party, and how they tricked her into that.
“They’re horrible!” Thomas gasped in disbelief. “And I thought that Laura was her friend! Why didn’t she tell me all this? Why didn’t she tell me about the party?”
Bella sighed. “Like I said, she doesn’t trust you,” Bella saw Thomas grimace and groan. “If I help you find Barbara,” Bella added, “Will you still let her have the party?”
Thomas made the Are you kidding me? face. Bella could tell he didn’t want to. “Fine,” He answered. “But those girls aren’t coming. Let’s go look some more for Barbara.”
They got up and started looking again. A few seconds later, Bella heard Thomas gasp in horror.
“What is it?” She asked.
“No...No...NO!” Thomas gasped. He sounded like he had just seen someone pointing a gun at him.
Bella ran over. No. That can’t be….No!
It was a shoe.
Barbara’s shoe.
Buried under the snow.
Chapter 25:
A warm hand touched her. “Barbara?”
A tingling sensation passed through Barbara, starting at her feet. As it went through her body, she felt warm, unlike she had earlier. Half unconscious, not many thoughts went through her mind. But she knew something for sure. She wasn’t in the same place as she was earlier.
As she began to regain consciousness, she began to become more aware of her surroundings. She was lying in her side, on a cold, wet, floor. She could hear a familiar voice talking on the phone. She smelt the dust, the dust that usually came from their heater when they hadn’t used in in a while. She felt warm, cozy blankets on top of her.
Soon she was able to sense more things. Someone sobbing, someone nearby. She heard someone yelling “Call 911! Call 911!” Then, someone responding, “Okay, okay!” It sounded like her parents.
Her parents.
Barbara’s eyes fluttered open in sudden realization. She was at home. To her surprise, she saw Bella, next to her, sobbing uncontrollably.
Barbara was too weak to do anything or say anything. She had barely enough strength to keep her eyes open. But she felt her strength growing as the tingling went up and down through her.
Finally, when she felt like she had regained enough strength, she looked at Bella. “Whaaaaat Happened?” She croaked.
Bella, whose eyes were swollen shut and red, spun around in alarm. “Barbara!” She gasped. “How do you feel?”
As Bella was talking, Barbara realized something else. “I-I-I’m very cold,” She shivered through chattering teeth. “W-w-what happened?”
Bella sighed. “Well, Barbara, why don’t you tell me? We found you under a pile of snow by the bus stop.”
Barbara’s heart sunk as she remembered what happened. Sadness crept into her and tears stung her eyes. These people hated her. Once she was better, they would ground her. They would probably punish her even worse for running away and almost dying of hypothermia in the snow, so she had to run away before they did that. She had to run, even if it was snowing outside.
Once she felt like she had enough strength to get up and run, which was about ten seconds later, (The strength came unnaturally quick), she lifted up her head and started to stand up. Bella noticed her immediately.
“No, Barbara!” Bella gasped. “You have to stay down! Your Daddy said so!” Bella pushed Barbara down back onto the floor.
“No!” Barbara cried and fought back against Bella with all of the strength she had in her, but she didn’t have much strength in her, so it didn’t work all that well.
“Barbara, you have to lay down so you’ll get better!” Bella stomped her foot and covered Barbara with a blanket.
Barbara kicked the blanket off. She had to get away from Bella. Bella was already being mean to
her. “But I feel fine!” She shouted and rolled over. She stood up and started walking away.
Bella frowned and stood up. “No you’re not fine! Your Daddy said so! He said you have hypo-termee-somethin’!”
“I DON’T CARE ABOUT HYPNO-THORNIA!” Barbara screamed as loud as her lungs would let her. “I FEEL GREAT!”
“You don’t look great!” Bella cried. “You’re cold, wet, weak, and sick! You’re crying, too, so it proves you’re not great!”
“That’s not why I’m crying!” Barbara yelled and sniffed a tear. “I’m crying because you hate me!” She screamed. So there, Barbara thought, Now leave me alone you big meanie.
Bella’s facial expression was so different. Barbara had never seen Bella make that face before. It was a mix between pain, disbelief, confusion, sympathy, and sadness. All the color in her face had been drained away.
“Barbara, I-I-I don’t...What? What are you talking about?” Bella choked. A small tear dribbled down her cheek. Bella took a deep breath. The color in her face began to return. She wiped up the stray tear on her face and smiled unconfidently at Barbara.
“Look, you’re sick, Barbara! You’re saying things that don’t make sense! You have to lay down until the ambulance gets here!” Bella coaxed her to lay down and motioned her to the sofa.
Barbara didn’t follow her. “No. I don’t need an ambulance. I’m not sick! I’m just sick of you!” She fussed and spun around. She made a dash for the door. She was almost there, but Bella pulled her back. She staggered backwards. Bella caught her hand before she fell.
But then, Bella gasped and let her hand go. Barbara landed with a bam on her behind. Bella’s mouth hung open in wonder. “What?” Barbara asked, annoyed. Now she had a bruise on her butt. Was Bella trying to keep her from running, or let her go?
“Your-Your- hand,” She stammered in complete and utter surprise, “It’s-It’s warm!”
Really? That’s what’s so unbelievable? “So?” Barbara snapped.
“Just a second ago, you were freezing. Now you’re warm! You can’t get better that fast!” Bella replied, still in wonder.
“Well, I did.” Barbara sneered in reply and stood up to walk out the door.
“But-But- That’s-That’s impossible! MR. WILSON!!!” Bella yelled.
Great.
Now Bella was getting her dad involved. Barbara growled in her throat. At this point, she couldn’t tell if Bella hated her, but she was certain that now, she absolutely hated Bella.