CHAPTER 10 Egyptian Curses When I finally went back to school, I discovered that Byron had really missed me. He pulled my hair, stole my pencils and sharpened them down to stubs, and turned to chat with me over and over and over. When Mrs. Von Hirschberg was organizing us with partners for a project, she looked at Byron and then at me, and tipped her head. Me? I thought. With Byron? I sat frozen in horror. This had to be another torture from the Spirit Man. I took a deep breath and shook my head desperately. No. Mrs. Von Hirschberg nodded and paired Byron with Drew. Byron kept at me anyway. Finally I decided to do more than endure. The next time he walked to the back of the room to sharpen his pencil, I dangled one braid over my shoulder. I listened for him walking up the aisle, and knew exactly when his hand reached out for my braid. I closed my hand over his wrist and said, in the voice Dad uses with Bear and BB, “Don’t!” He froze and slowly opened his hand. The back of his neck was red when he sat down.
