Alyssa McCarthy's Magical Missions, Sunayna Prasad [e book reader pdf .txt] 📗

had run Hailey’s class as the class mom. Because Hailey’s classmates had appreciated her sweetness, they’d all given her candy gifts for Valentine’s Day.
The box Alyssa and Hailey had bought had no flavor charts on the outside. So when Aunt Laura had opened the box and looked at the labels, she had aimed for a milk chocolate truffle filled with caramel. But she accidentally touched a dark chocolate truffle filled with raspberry. She’d had a fatal allergy to berries. Her face had reddened, her throat had constricted, which had decreased her ability to breathe, and then she collapsed. Before the ambulance had arrived at the house, though, Aunt Laura had died.
Uncle Bruce’s depression had led him to blame Hailey and Alyssa for her death, since they’d never warned her not to touch the chocolate filled with raspberry. His depression had become so bad, that he could never move on and treat them they way he’d used to. He’d placed new rules on Alyssa and Hailey that they hadn’t agreed with and still dislike now.
He’d even lost trust in so many people whom he thought “spoiled” them with free fun. In fact, he’d pulled Alyssa and Hailey out of school last June, because he’d thought that recess, friends, and other enjoyable times had distracted them from doing well. Starting last spring the two girls couldn’t get past B’s, and Uncle Bruce expected straight A’s. That was when he decided that all those “distractions” ruined them. When Alyssa was in fifth grade, he had pulled her out of her tap, jazz, and ballet classes, because her teacher had rewarded her and her ballet classmates with lollipops. Despite her and Hailey’s skinny bodies, Uncle Bruce only allowed earned junk food a few times a year, and they couldn’t be sweet or exceed four hundred calories.
Of course, Uncle Bruce didn’t scare Alyssa and Hailey as if her were a monster. In fact, he allowed the girls to buy stylish clothes, even if they cost a lot of money. He also allowed them fun, but only if they had earned it. Although Uncle Bruce didn’t mind letting Alyssa and Hailey buy clothes they liked, he wouldn’t let the have any electronic devices. He believed that they would be too expensive, and that the girls would become too distracted by them. He let them use the computer in the study, but only to write and print papers from. They couldn’t use the Internet except to look up stuff related to their schoolwork. He’d also disconnected the TV since he’d found it too distracting, and was worried that it had affected the girls’ ability to learn.
Alyssa pulled out her old photo album from the bookshelf and brought it back to her bed. She turned the page to a picture of her at the age of eight, Hailey, at the age of seven, and Aunt Laura. They stood with her in front of an old-fashioned village called Piper’s Village, which was a village of old-fashioned shops.
Aunt Laura’s diamond white smile glistened like a midnight star. Freckles spotted her face. Chestnut curls spiraled to her shoulders. Wispy bangs hid her forehead. Everything about her made Alyssa miss her, including her cooking. Aunt Laura used to bake delicious double chocolate chip cookies, lasagna, and chicken Parmesan. Uncle Bruce, on the other hand, only cooked plain white meat, fish and vegetables, and sometimes prepared salads. He’d never grill burgers, boil pasta, or bake desserts after Aunt Laura had died; so Alyssa never looked forward to dinner.
When Uncle Bruce called her and Hailey down for dinner, Alyssa and Hailey raced each other down the stairs. Uncle Bruce had cooked grilled chicken over Swiss chard, arugula, leaf lettuce, avocado, onions, and chopped tomatoes. No dressing was allowed, except for those that were vinegar-based. But he’d run out two days ago.
“Okay, girls, time to eat,” said Uncle Bruce. “I want your plates cleaned before you go to bed.”
Alyssa sighed, sitting down. It wasn’t worth bringing up that incident again. All she could do was hope that more magic would come. While eating her salad, the phone rang. Uncle Bruce sprinted over to pick it up.
“Hello?”
Alyssa continued to eat, ignoring Uncle Bruce. He probably talked to someone she didn’t know.
“Hey, Mr. Steinberg, how are you?”
Alyssa still ignored Uncle Bruce.
“Great. So you’ll tutor Alyssa and Hailey from three-thirty to five tomorrow?”
Okay. Finding out that Mr. Steinberg was a tutor, Alyssa now paid attention to Uncle Bruce.
“Okay, text me the directions to your house,” said Uncle Bruce. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”
Uncle Bruce hung up.
“Dad, is that guy going to tutor us?” asked Hailey.
“By ‘that guy,’ you mean Mr. Steinberg,” Uncle Bruce corrected. “And yes, he will be tutoring you tomorrow. In fact every Friday from three-thirty to five.”
“Why?” asked Hailey.
“Because, even in homeschooling, your grades still aren’t that good,” Uncle Bruce replied. “All you get are B’s and C’s. I want straight A’s.”
“What’s wrong with B’s?” asked Hailey.
“They’re below my standards,” said Uncle Bruce. “We’re not the only family like that, though. Lots of other parents are like that with their kids.”
“I really don’t think B’s are that bad,” said Alyssa.
“Well, I do,” said Uncle Bruce. “Now finish your dinner. No more talking until everything on your plate is gone.”
Alyssa sighed, piercing a piece of grilled chicken with her fork. Uncle Bruce didn’t seem so tough at dinner, but that, of course, didn’t mean anything. Alyssa wouldn’t get to visit Madison on Saturday, she wouldn’t get to have anything her way, and tomorrow, she’d be overwhelmed with the heavy load of work from Uncle Bruce.


Chapter 3

Last night Alyssa had set her alarm to seven o’clock this morning, so that she could talk to Alex. Uncle Bruce had sent her and Hailey to bed right after dinner, and every time she’d tried to go into the kitchen, he still worked in there. At some point she’d struggled to stay awake and fell asleep. As soon as she felt that way, she’d set her alarm.
After shutting her alarm off, Alyssa hopped out of bed, sweaty in her long-sleeved purple shirt and flannel pajama pants. She could get dressed after talking to Alex.
Creaking the door open, Alyssa peeked out and looked around. No sounds occurred in the hallway. Perfect. She stepped outside and dawdled towards the staircase. Despite the silence, tingles still prickled her skin. She could get caught aiming for the phone in the kitchen.
She stepped on the top step, and put the other foot in front of this one. She repeated the same thing until she dallied down the stairs. Hasty breaths exited her mouth as she approached the middle of the staircase. But she made her way to the first floor with no problem.
She looked back, checking to see if either Hailey or Uncle Bruce had woken up. Nope. Okay—now she could grab the phonebook and look up Alex’s phone number.
Picking it up, Alyssa flipped the pages to the “K” tab. She found names like Kennan, Khan, and Kriesberg, but no sign of the name Alexander Kress. That had to be a joke. How could his contact information not be available? She would check her email, except that Uncle Bruce had locked the study last night.
Putting the phonebook back, Alyssa sighed. Was there anything else that could contain Alex’s phone number?
Looking around, Alyssa saw old letters from earlier this year, vendor brochures, and some envelopes. No luck—until she thought she saw a double “S” on the last envelope. Pulling it out, she saw the name, Alex Kress, on it. Awesome.
She looked inside and saw a folded piece of paper. She pulled it out and saw that it’d been written a week after her parents had died.

January 22nd, 2005

Dear Laura,

My heart really broke into tiny pieces after hearing about the death of your brother, Ashton and his wife, Clara. I can imagine how much mourning you are experiencing a week after their deaths, especially as his older sister. That night some drunk driver crashed into the McCarthys’ car will never leave my mind. Poor Alyssa has been left orphaned thanks to that drunk driver. I can’t believe how much nerve it took her babysitter, Emily, to convince the police to let her drive her to your house just to stay there, especially because she’s only nineteen.
Please accept my sincere sympathy and take good care of Alyssa. If something happens again, let me know since I am her godfather.

Wishing you peace and healing,
Alex Kress

P.S. If you need to reach me, my house address is 50 Gemini Road, Brock Hills, Ohio, and my phone number is 740-555-7722.

Alyssa couldn’t believe it—she found Alex’s phone number. Finally! Now she could call him. She picked up the phone and dialed his number. Then she walked into the living room with the phone up to her ear.
“Hello?” Alex answered.
“Hey, Alex, it’s Alyssa.”
“Oh hey, Alyssa. I haven’t heard from you in three years. How’ve you been?”
“I wish I had a better life.”
“What do you mean?”
Alyssa explained how Uncle Bruce had changed and treated her and Hailey for about two or three minutes.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Alex.
“My uncle even grounded my cousin and I for something we didn’t even do.”
“What was it?” asked Alex.
“Um… it may sound kind of weird.”
“Still—it would help if you told me anyway.”
“All right. Just be prepared for me to sound crazy.” Alyssa told him the reason.
“Oh my God,” gasped Alex. “I… I don’t believe it.”
“I know,” said Alyssa. “But can you keep it a secret to anyone else you know?”
“Why?” asked Alex.
“Because they probably won’t believe you. No one believed me.”
“All right, sweetie, I won’t.”
“Thanks. So when can you talk to your lawyer about having me move in with you?”
“I can do it now, but it’ll take at least a month before I can be your legal guardian.”
“A month?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry. If I could make it earlier, I would.”
“Okay,” said Alyssa. She said goodbye to Alex and hung up.
“Alyssa!” Hailey called from upstairs.
“Yeah?” she answered.
“Who were you talking to?” she asked, dallying down the stairs.
“If I tell you, do you promise not to tell your dad?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Hailey.
“My godfather.”
“If you get to live with him, will I be able to go?” asked Hailey.
“Sorry, no.”
“Why not?”
“The way my parents had organized it was for him to only be my guardian.”
Hailey groaned.
“It’s okay, Hailey, you can talk to your grandparents. They only live a half hour away.”
“Yeah, I guess I could,” said Hailey.
“Girls, get dressed!” shouted Uncle Bruce from upstairs.
“I’ll call them later,” said Hailey.
The two girls headed back up the stairs. Alyssa walked into her room, where she dressed herself in jeggings, a tank top, and a plaid shirt. After getting dressed she