Page 45 of Witch You Would
The judges all said more or less the same thing in their own ways: “Nice idea; too bad it didn’t work.” And that was it forthe round.
I thought we might get shoved back into our greenrooms, but instead we waited at our stations for the judges to finish scoring.They didn’t leave, just moved to a corner of the room. Each of them seemed to be working separately, then they got togetherto figure out who would be the winner of the round, who would be bottom two, and who was leaving.
Nobody talked. Quentin looked like he was trying not to cry.Tanner seemed resigned. Everyone else was somewhere between bored and relieved.
I twirled a pencil in my fingers and thought about trying to distract everyone with a trick. I read the room and closed thatbook fast.
Finally the judges finished and presented the results to Syd, who took them with a more serious face than usual. Tori startedyelling orders. The camera people grabbed their gear, the main lights turned on overhead, and the rest of us came out of ourcollective dream-space and back to reality.
“Now it’s time to reveal the results of round one ofCast Judgment,” Syd intoned. They made eye contact with all of us, one by one. Very dramatic.
“First, it’s my pleasure to announce the winners of this round,” Syd continued. “Their spell was not only a novel lightingmethod, it was also, dare we say, light on the tongue? Dylan and Zeke, congratulations!”
Dylan and Zeke smiled and fist-bumped as we all clapped. I couldn’t argue with the judges’ choice; those disco balls weregreat.
“Now, unfortunately,” Syd said, “I must announce our bottom two teams. One of them will be leaving us today, while the otherwill have a chance to redeem themselves in round two.”
Penelope tensed next to me. She expected the same thing I did. And it still sucked when it happened.
“Penelope and Leandro, your lighting method was functional but relatively mundane compared to the others,” Syd said.
I shrugged and grinned while Penelope nodded.
“Quentin and Tanner, your lighting method was interesting, but ultimately didn’t function at all.”
The pair wore nearly identical expressions, like they’d chewed on aspirin.
“The team that will not be moving forward to the next round is . . .” Syd paused for dramatic effect. “Quentin and Tanner. I’m sorry.”
I wished I could be glad about it, but instead I just felt sad. Quentin accepted hugs from the other contestants, while Tannershook hands. Syd finished their outro-slash-lead-in to the next episode, and that was it.
Tori clapped. “Okay, time for confessionals!”
Right. This wasn’t over yet. In more ways than one. Penelope sighed, and I gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. It didn’t seemto help. Grandpa Fred’s rule number three came to me: commit to the bit. It was worth a try.
“Meow you doing, kitten?” I asked.
“Oh my god, do not,” she said. “No more cat puns.”
“I’m just kitten around.”
Her lips struggled not to smile. “Stop!”
“With the right cattitude, anything is pawsible.”
That one got a snort-laugh she covered with her hands. Mission accomplished.
For now, anyway. One round down, but how many more would we get?
Chapter 10
Penelope
I’d visited the Tropical Oasis Botanic Gardens all the time growing up, either on field trips with school or because my abuelawas super into horticulture. Two years ago, a hurricane tore through and damaged a lot of the trees and plants. Fortunatelyenough rich people on charity boards jumped in to get things fixed by some botany mages, and the place felt just as magicalas it had when I was younger.
Tall royal palm trees stood in rows on either side of the stone walkway leading to the entrance. Past the gift shop and offices,it was like the place existed somewhere outside Miami, far from where people lived. Thick ficus roots sprawled across theleaf-covered ground like the cables back in the studio. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of different kinds of palm trees were arrangedin clusters, mixed with flowers in more colors than a paint store. Oaks, mangroves, gumbo-limbo, pines, mangos, avocados,mangosteen, tamarinds... cascading walls of purple orchids and bursts of bromeliads... plumbago and bougainvillea andgardenia and jasmine... The variety was incredible, some native plants and some transplants.
Hah, Leandro would probably like that pun.
