Worry Magic by Dawn McNiff

and half waved, but Bex whispered to her and pulled her away by her arm.
    I sat back down on the bench by myself, and watched them go into the loo block.
    Oh no, oh no. My heart was thumping really fast and my tears came properly then.
    I pulled my hood up and bent over, so no one could see my face. But my teardrops were making dark marks on my jeans.
    How stupid could I be  … 
    I’d just Frubed my best friend. And now she probably hated me  …  and would go off with Bex.
    And right then that funny feeling started creeping through me.
    The feeling I was starting to know well.
    Spinny.
    Floppy.
    Heavy  … 
    Oh, the worry magic!
    My face lolled forward on my chest  … 
    Asleep again.

Chapter Fourteen
    The dream was a wild tumble.
    Flashes of faces. Lois smiling at me, holding my hand. A Slush Puppie. Bex pouting with bright blue lips. And then the lovely calmness as the dream faded away.
    â€˜Courts?’ Lois was suddenly back, bending over me, panting from running.
    My eyes popped open.
    Er  …  what was going on? I shook myself  … 
    Then I remembered.
    Oh no, the Frube  …  !
    I eyed Lois up and down. She still looked pretty smeary.
    â€˜Er  …  so sorry again about  …  you know,’ I muttered, rubbing my eyes.
    â€˜Oh  …  never mind,’ said Lois, sitting down next to me on the bench, taking my hand and smiling a big smile. ‘Don’t worry. I don’t really care – let’s forget it.’
    And right then my dream whooshed back to me. Oh wow – the magic had worked on Lois too?
    â€˜Where’s Bex?’ I said, looking all around.
    â€˜Oh, she’s just getting a Slush Puppie from the cafe.’
    I nodded.
    Of course.
    And I knew what colour it would be  … 
    I turned and watched Bex jogging over to us, holding a cup of blue slushy ice with a straw in.
    â€˜I’d better keep this away from you, Courtney, in case you, like, THROW it at someone,’ she sneered, sitting down again. She wasn’t pretending to be even a little bit nice to me any more.
    But Lois nudged her. ‘Let’s leave it now, eh,’ Lois muttered, blushing.
    Bex’s mouth dropped open in surprise around her straw. Her lips and tongue had gone blue like a sea monster’s.
    I knew it wasn’t easy for Lois to stand up to Bex, but the magic was making her do it.
    â€˜Yeah, well  … ’ began Bex, pouting all blue.
    Lois shook her head at her.
    â€˜No, really, can we just drop it?’ she said, her face nearly the colour of her red hoodie.
    Wow. Lois hated arguments, but she was really sticking up for me!
    Bex looked gobsmacked.
    â€˜Whatevs,’ she said, flicking her hair and glaring at the floor. ‘I’m off now anyhow. Gotta take the shopping back to my mum.’
    She got up and grabbed the shopping bags, tossing her head and acting up all hurt.
    â€˜I’ll text you later, Bex,’ called Lois.
    But Bex didn’t reply. She kicked the gate open with her foot and never looked back.
    â€˜Uh-oh, whoops!’ winced Lois. ‘I expect she’ll come round.’
    I wanted to say that I really hoped NOT. But I just nodded.
    Bad luck, Bex. Three really is a crowd. And I’ve got lovely,
lovely
worry magic on my side.
    And the best thing was that the magic seemed to work on
everybody
, not just Mum and Dad!
    Which meant it would definitely work on Gran, wouldn’t it  … 
    I was sure now.

Chapter Fifteen
    Lois had to rush off to her cousin’s party, so I went home.
    Mum and Dad weren’t there when I got in.
    I was just taking off my shoes when  … 
    Ting-a-ling-a-ling  …  Ting-a-ling-a-ling  … 
    Uh? An ice-cream van in our street? Oh wow, we NEVER got them down our way normally! Especially not this time of year.
    Kyle swung down the banister like a chimp. He was still