Red Magic

Chapter 3

The whole math class groaned when Mr. Guernchuk marched into the room and said, "Test today."

Kali asked, "On which topic, Mr. Guernchuk?" He was well known for giving pop quizzes on subjects that he hadn't covered yet.

"Integers. Only five questions." He started handing out test papers.

Looking around the room Red saw that everyone looked panicked. At least she wouldn't be the only one who failed. She sharpened her pencil and got started. The first question was simple and Red wrote the answer quickly. The second question took her a few moments to figure out. As she wrote the equation, the grey marks from her pencil turned red.

Red looked around the room. What was going on? Lukas caught her eye, smiled, then bent over his test paper. She scribbled in the margin, and it turned red too. Red looked at the third question. Hesitantly, she wrote out an equation she wasn't sure was right. As she wrote, the red numbers rearranged themselves on the paper into the right answer.

Panic rose in Red's throat. Something was very wrong. She was seeing things, red things, very weird red things. Gran's voice repeated in her mind, "She was born with it." Red's whole body tingled. She gripped the edge of the desk, and red flowed from her fingers, turning the surface red. Red wanted to lie her head down but was scared it would turn red too.

She felt a burst of heat, her vision blurred and her head swam. A loud crack came from the window beside her. The glass shattered and rained down, covering Red. Her eyes cleared for a moment and she was sure she saw the red from her fingers push onto her test and line into an equation to answer the fourth question.

Then, she collapsed against her chair.