Summer's Out! Read online

  “Sí! How do you say, What would you like?”

  “Um, uh, Vous désirez?”

  “That’s French, you idiot!” Elsie screeched. “It’s Qué le gustaría?”

  “Correct!” Mrs. Lilly responded.

  As Charlotte and Bloom were riding the bus home from school, Bloom sighed, “Charlotte? I can’t come tonight.”

  Charlotte was upset. “Why? You said you’d come.”

  “I can’t. I’m going to Elsie’s.”

  Charlotte got upset. “What?! That’s not fair. I was your friend first and they can’t take you from me!”

  “But it’s only one night! Charlotte, come on! Elsie and Wilma are my friends, too!” The bus door opened up and they both got off.

  “But they’re not meant to be your friends! I am! Quit being so STUPID!” Charlotte cried as they walked down Bloom’s driveway.

  “I am not stupid! But you know what? YOU ARE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE?! ELSIE WAS RIGHT! YOU’RE JUST A BIG BULLY!” Bloom shrieked and opened the door.

  Charlotte stopped. Did Bloom just call her that? No. This couldn’t be real. None of this was her fault. But it was true. Bloom just switched over to Elsie’s side. Bloom hated her now. No, this couldn’t be happening. It just couldn’t. After they’d been friends for so long, now this. No. It couldn’t. It just…..

  “ARRRGHHH!!!!” Charlotte stopped Bloom, raised her fist, and let all of her anger out at Bloom. The anger at Bloom, Elsie, Wilma, and at herself.

  “Ow! Charlotte! I HATE YOU AND I ALWAYS WILL!” Bloom slammed the door in Charlotte’s face.

  Did I just punch Bloom in the face? What is wrong with me? Charlotte thought. Although mad at herself, she turned around and froze Bloom’s doorknob. That’ll show her.

  Later that night, at the sleepover, Elsie asked Bloom, “Hey, Bloom? Truth or dare?”

  “Truth!” Bloom smiled as she painted her nails a shimmering blue.

  “Ok,” Elsie slyly smiled and winked at Wilma, “How did YOU become a MAGIC GIRL?”

  Bloom gasped in shock. How did Elsie find out?

  Chapter 17: Evil Elsie

  What now? Could she trust Elsie with the secret? Of course she could! Franny found out! Why not Elsie?! But first she asked, “How do you KNOW I’m a Magic Girl?”

  Elsie smiled. Perfect! “Charlotte told us. She also told us she hates you!”

  Bloom scoffed in anger. “Well, she’s right. I am.”

  Elsie smiled. Wilma frowned. She didn’t realize how mean they were really being until that moment. What was she doing? She had taken two best friends and made them hate each other, and now were they trying to take Bloom’s magic!

  “Well, you didn’t answer my question! How?!” Elsie groaned.

  Wilma couldn’t take the guilt. “Elsie, no. Don’t do it.” She placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.

  “Wilma, are you serious?! After all the work we did, you’re turning back NOW?!” Elsie laughed.

  “Yes, Elsie. This is cruel and mean. I didn’t realize how unfair this was until now, but we can’t do this!”

  “Well I am.”

  “What’s going on?” Bloom interrupted. “I became a magic girl by touching the Pink Sparkle Stone on-”

  “Bloom, NO!!” Wilma interrupted. “Don’t tell her!”

  “Why not? On Bloom Island 5 miles south of shore.”

  “HAHAHAHA!” Elsie screamed and rushed out the room.

  “What’s up with her?” Bloom asked.

  “I have a lot of explaining to do…” Wilma sighed.

  “Shouldn’t we follow her?” Bloom urged to get Wilma out of the door.

  “Um, yes we should. Call Charlotte and tell her to come with us. I’ll explain on the way to your island.”

  “Why are we going to Bloom Island? And do we have to invite CHARLOTTE?!” Bloom groaned.

  “You know what? I’ll call her.” Wilma picked up her phone and dialed Charlotte’s number. “Hey, Charlotte? I need you over to my house. Now.”

  “Why would I come to YOUR house? I hate you and you hate me! You’ve been against me all year!” Charlotte scoffed.

  “Look,” Wilma cried. “I have to talk to you. And its very important.”

  “Whatever.” Charlotte groaned. “Be there in a minute.”

  Chapter 18: Wilma explains

  “Aw, she’s here?!” Charlotte groaned when she saw Bloom standing by Wilma.

  “Yes, she is.” Wilma sighed. “I need to talk to both of you.”

  “But I don’t wanna talk to HER!” Bloom groaned.

  “Get a canoe. Now.” Wilma snapped.

  Charlotte grabbed a canoe off the docks. She threw it in the water and the three girls hopped in. Wilma could see Elsie’s raft out in the distance. She knew where Elsie was going. To get the Pink Sparkle Stone! Wilma nervously thought.

  “So, what do you want to talk about?” Charlotte asked as she grabbed a paddle.

  “I have a confession!” Wilma cried as she grabbed the other paddle. “It’s my fault that you two are fighting!”

  “What? What did you do?” Charlotte asked.

  “You know Elsie’s always hated you, right? Well, on the first day of school, she got jealous that you had a best friend and she didn’t.”

  “But this is Elsie! Not you!” Bloom cried.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t know who you were, and the special secret that you shared, so I was the one who came up with the plan to split you two apart.”

  “Wait. You’ve been trying to split us up all along?!” Charlotte shouted. “And what do you mean by Special Secret?” Did Bloom tell ELSIE AND WILMA?! WHY DID SHE DO THAT?!

  “Let me continue. I was going to act like the new girl and bug Charlotte enough until she did something bad. It was going to look like she was a bully, and Bloom wouldn’t like her anymore. A little while later, that wasn’t working, so we decided to find out Bloom’s biggest secret, tell everybody, and blame Charlotte for telling.”

  Charlotte’s eyes almost popped out of her head. “But you didn’t, right? Please tell me you didn’t.”

  “Well, that’s when we decided to invite Bloom over for the sleepover to find out the secret. But Friday afternoon, Elsie saw Bloom as a fairy in the locker room, and decided to make the sleepover a day early.”

  “So, what you’re telling me is that you lied to me and said that you and Elsie were my friends, tried to ruin my only good friendship, and tried to tell the world about my powers?” Bloom cried as a tear ran down her eye.

  “Yes.” Wilma sighed of guilt. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Now that that’s all cleared up, Wilma, why are we floating out in the middle of the ocean?” Charlotte groaned.

  “Oh, um, yeah.” Wilma nervously laughed. “Elsie is after the Pink Sparkle Stone because she wants to become a Magic Girl and steal Bloom’s powers.”

  “WHAT?!” Bloom shouted as she transformed into a fairy.

  “That’s not possible, is it?” Charlotte cried.

  “I think it might be.” Wilma sighed.

  “THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING CANOEING?! LET’S FLY!” Bloom shouted.

  “But Charlotte and I can’t fly! We’re not Magic Girls like you!” Wilma cried.

  Charlotte smiled. “Actually, you can’t fly. You’re the only one NOT a Magic Girl.”

  “What?” Wilma asked. Charlotte transformed into her fairy self right in front of Wilma. “Wow. Did not see that one coming.” Wilma laughed at herself. Bloom and Charlotte fluttered over to Wilma and lifted her up. “This is so cool!” She smiled.

  Chapter 19: The Big Battle

 

  “That was AWESOME!!” Wilma shouted as they landed on shore of Bloom Island.

  “Don’t get used to it.” Charlotte snorted.

  “Now, let’s go find Elsie before she finds the stone!” Bloom said as she and Charlotte transformed back to human and they ran inland. Wilma followed. They ran into the woods.

  “WHERE IS IT?!” They heard
a shrieking voice out in the distance.

  “It’s Elsie!” Charlotte whispered as they hid behind a bush.

  “What are we going to do?” Bloom cried. “She’s right near the cave with the stone!”

  “I know!” Wilma smiled. “We kick some twin-sister butt!”

  “How? What if she does get to the stone?” Charlotte cried. “We’d be almost no match for her!”

  “But she hasn’t gotten to it yet!” Wilma smiled.

  “Who’s there?!” Elsie called.

  “We are!” Wilma got up out of the bushes.

  “Oh, no. No way. You three kids are not going to stop me.” Elsie evilly laughed.

  “Yes we are!” Bloom screeched as her and Charlotte got out of the bushes, too. Charlotte picked up a TREE BRANCH and threw it at Elsie. It hit her right in the nose.

  “Ugh!” Elsie screamed. She picked up a big gray rock the size of a baseball and launched it at Bloom’s face. Bloom ducked out of the way just in time. Then, Elsie picked up an even bigger rock and threw it at Charlotte.

  “EEK!” Charlotte screamed as Elsie picked up the biggest rock in the area and flung it. This rock was so big, it could easily hurt someone. And it was about to hurt someone.

  “No!” Wilma shrieked as she jumped in the way of the rock. The rock hit her in the stomach and she passed out.

  “Wilma!” Bloom cried. Bloom turned around to see Elsie smiling, and sliding down a hole. Then she realized WHAT rock Elsie had thrown. The one guarding the cave that held the Pink Sparkle Stone.

  “Charlotte?” Bloom stammered and pointed to the hole. “We’ve got a BIG problem.”

  The two girls (Without poor Wilma) took off into the hole and found Elsie sitting by the Pink Sparkle Stone. “DON’T TOUCH IT!” Charlotte and Bloom screamed.

  “I can’t!” Elsie cried. “It keeps shocking me everytime I touch it.” Elsie touched the stone and they noticed a little streak of electricity passing from the stone to Elsie’s finger. Her finger was red and Elsie began to suck on her burnt finger.

  “Why can’t you touch it?” Bloom asked as she placed her finger on it. “I can touch it just fine!”

  “I know why!” A voice called out from the back of the cave.

  “FRANNY?!” Charlotte screamed. “WHAT are you DOING out HERE?!”

  “Spying on you.” Franny smiled. “And she can’t touch the stone because, according to The Big Fat Book of Magic Girls 2, you must have a PURE HEART to become a Magic Girl.”

  “Thanks, Franny.” Bloom smiled.

  “One question.” Charlotte interrupted. “How many of those Magic Girl books do you have?”

  “Seven,” Franny blushed.

  “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Elsie interrupted. She picked up the Pink Sparkle Stone and threw it at Bloom.

  “Elsie, NO!” Charlotte froze Elsie and caught the stone before it hit her.

  “Thanks, Charlotte!” Bloom smiled as the two best friends hugged each other.

  Chapter 20: Happily Ever After…..Or not!

  “Wilma?” Bloom shook Wilma to wake her up. “Wake up!”

  “What happened?” She asked as she slowly came to.

  “Elsie couldn’t touch the stone because she is evil and now she is frozen in the cave.” Charlotte smiled.

  “What?” Wilma laughed. “Well, I better take her home!” Wilma sat up. “Do you mind if I take the canoe?”

  “Sure! We can fly home!” Bloom smiled. “Or swim….whichever is more convenient.”

  Wilma slid into the cave and pulled her frozen sister out. She loaded her onto the canoe and paddled off. “BYE!!!” Wilma waved.

  “Bye!” Bloom yelled back. “Now where’s that crazy cousin of yours?” She asked Charlotte.

  “I’M NOT CRAZY!” Franny screeched from behind a tree.

  “EEK!” Charlotte screamed in surprise. “Franny, you HAVE to stop sneaking up on us like that!”

  “I didn’t sneak up on you. I was here the whole time!” Franny smiled. “Now, you know what I think you girls need? Some new powers!”

  “What would we get?” Bloom asked as the three girls sat down under an oak tree.

  “Well, the powers are divided into levels, and you have to gain all the powers in each level to get to the next level.” Franny said as she opened the book that she pulled out of her bag. “Level one’s powers, let’s see, um, I think you guys would like THIS one!”

  “What is it?” Charlotte asked.

  “Invisibility!” Franny giggled. “You guys REALLY need it! You can’t just go off showing your fairy wings or your mermaid tail in public, so this could help!”

  “That would be perfect!” Bloom squealed. “I could wear my fairy dress to dance without showing the wings!”

  “But how do we get it?” Charlotte asked.

  “Um, there’s one task and one power you must lose. You have to lose your power of breathing underwater.”

  “Oh. Well, that stinks. That was my favorite!” Charlotte groaned.

  “And what’s the task?” Bloom asked.

  “Oh boy…” Franny nervously laughed. “You have to FIND another Magic Girl.”

  “Oh, dang. This will be pretty hard.” Bloom laughed.

  “Wow.” Charlotte exclaimed. “Well, I’m going home. Who’s coming?”

  The two girls followed Charlotte onto the shore. Charlotte and Bloom turned into mermaids. Franny grabbed onto Charlotte’s tail and swam back to the mainland.

  Epilogue

  That Monday morning, Thomas screamed at the break of dawn, “I DON’T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL!!!” That woke up everyone in the house.

  At least he’s only in Kindergarten! I have to go through Middle School! Charlotte laughed in her mind. She checked off her calendar. Monday, September 1.

  “Arg. Only SEPTEMBER?!” Charlotte groaned. “Something tells me this is going to be a LONG year!”

  Credits

  I’d like to dedicate this book to all the poor kids that have to survive middle school for THREE CONSECUTIVE YEARS!!!! I’m only in 6th grade, but I’ve suffered enough already, just like Charlotte, Bloom, Wilma and Elsie. (Franny’s been through some hardships, too, but she’s only in Kindergarten. Imagine her 6th grade year! :(

  Did you know?

  In the original version of this book, Elsie’s name was Emma, and Wilma didn’t exist.

  In the original, Mrs. Cramer took the place of Mrs. Rally.

  In Charlotte and Bloom #1, baby James is slightly mentioned as Franny and Jenny’s “New Baby Brother”

  This whole series is based of off a simple game I played in my friend’s pool, in which the game was a cross between our two favorite shows, H2o for me, and WinX Club for the other girl, which is why Charlotte and Bloom are both fairy and mermaid.

  Each power has a different color, water is blue, fire is orange, wind is green, and ice is pink, which is why on different circumstances, their magic is different colors. Example: (Then, green magic came out of her hand, and it quickly turned into wind./Charlotte stretched out her hand and blue magic blew from her hand. A stalk of water rose from the ocean./Charlotte’s fists slightly glowing pink.)

  Don’t Miss the Next Book!

  The Adventures of Charlotte and Bloom and Rosie