After the painful ward incident, Tonya attended the rest of her classes as if nothing happened. She got through it, and now stood waiting for Priya in the stands overlooking the pool. At one time Tonya dreaded the prospect of exercise, but now it was a relief to smell chlorine and anticipate a nice, normal workout. Magic and madness could wait. Below her, the swim team were doing smooth laps. She watched them glide through the water, flip turning near the wall with barely a ripple. If only her life could be so smooth.

Her Aunt's wards hadn't just repelled her. They made Tonya feel like a stake was driving through her head. How could someone she loved hurt her so much?

This brutal means of keeping Tonya away made her all the more determined to find out what her Aunt was hiding. Someone else would have to do her snooping, but who? Priya scoffed when Tonya mentioned the supernatural. Ducky was sweet, but he was Priya's friend. Telling them about her Aunt's magic would make them think she was crazy, but she needed somebody to make a video inside the shop. All she had to do was convince Ducky to go through her Aunt's place thoroughly, with a camera running, but without mentioning magic.

Maybe she would think of a good excuse while she was in the pool. And if that sour puss, Martha, made one sideways remark in the change room, Tonya would put her in her place.

Idly, Tonya scanned the pool for her rival's distinctive orange and blue swim cap. Everybody looked small and indistinct from this high in the stands. What was the big deal about Marta anyway? Weight lifting and training might make her an Olympian, but Tonya could beat Marta's best times with a brisk walk along the pool deck. Mind you, speed walking versus swimming, she could beat even Michael Phelps. Tonya smiled to herself.

The coach blew a whistle and the swimmers finished their final laps. As the last one got out of the pool, Tonya was sure. Marta wasn't there. Could she be sick again? It was almost time to start. Tonya left the stands and went downstairs.

She was in the foyer when Shin came out of the men's change room, walked past her, and then doubled back.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi?"

"I want to apologise for Marta the other day. She's under a lot of pressure..."

"It's okay. I never should have tried out."

"Yeah. Anyway, a bunch of are hanging out at her dorm tonight if you want to come. No hard feelings?" He smiled broadly at her. Tonya couldn't believe it. Shin Chang was asking her to a party!

"Okay."

"Great. Ask your friend to come too," he said, gesturing at Priya who was just coming in.

Tonya managed to keep her voice calm until he left. Then she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, tripping over her words as she told Priya they were invited. "I love swimmers with their big shoulders and tiny waists." Tonya outlined an invisible hottie with upheld hands. "You have to come with me!"

"Stop bouncing," said Priya. "If I'm gonna be seen with you, you have to pretend this isn't the first time your parents let you out."

# # #

That evening, Tonya wished she had shampooed her hair three times. Did she still smell of chlorine? Probably. At least at a swimmers' party, the others would too.

Choosing clothes for the evening was excruciating. Tonya was nervous about meeting the swim team girls who had watched her flounder clumsily in the slow lane, but this wasn't high school. These were university kids who had better things to do than bully her for average swimming skills. At least, that's what she told herself, but just in case, she wanted to look great. She had lost weight in the summer and had to try on three pairs of jeans before she found some that weren't sloppy.

She hadn't bought tops in her new size yet either, so she took the stairs down to Priya's. Her friend was shorter and slim, but her clothes were so original. Maybe she could loan Tonya something stretchy but devastating.

"What would you like?" asked Priya.

"Oh not much. I want girls to envy me, and guys to notice me - but I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard."

"Just call me your fairy godmother," said Priya, "but there's nothing your size here. Let's try your closet."

Hours later, they got in the elevator. Priya had altered Tonya's red top so it hugged her waist and showed a lot of cleavage. Would people stare?

"Maybe going to Marta's party is a mistake," she said.

"Too late to back out now," said Priya. "I straightened my hair for this."

"It was Shin's idea, not hers," said Tonya. "What if Marta tells me to get lost?"

"You worry too much. She was embarrassed you caught her being sick. That doesn't mean she'll hate you forever."

"She hates a lot of people." Marta had a snobby reputation. "What if Marta set this up, so she can laugh at me in front of her friends?"

"You're too sensitive," said Priya. "She's probably forgotten who you are by now."

When they arrived on Marta's floor, Tonya could hear bass vibrating through the walls. "Good music!" She smiled at Priya. "Thanks for calming me down."

"Deep breath," said Priya as she opened the door.

Tonya wasn't sure what to expect. She didn't get invited to the 'cool kid' parties in high school. She had all kinds of fantasies about how exciting and exotic their lives must be, like the rich kids in American movies. So when she saw a bunch of students, sitting on the chairs, tables and the bed of a dorm room like hers, Tonya felt a bit let down.

She looked for Shin or Marta, but at first all she saw were strangers. They had doused the lights and hung strings of pumpkin lights. There were dollar store Halloween decorations stuck to the walls, and at the study desk, a scarecrow sat guarding the punch bowl. The kids who weren't on the floor or sitting on the window ledge, were crammed together on the bed with their backs to the door. As her eyes adjusted to the low light, Tonya saw they were grouped in a half circle around Marta. Tonya pulled Priya by the hand and went to say 'hi.' No reason not to have manners.

"Hey Marta. How are you?" Tonya asked.

"Mmmmm," said Marta. Her acolytes were playing some kind of strange Halloween game. There was a huge aluminum bowl between them, filled with some kind of porridgy goop. Tonya watched, unable to look away as, one after the other, they scooped out handfuls of oatmeal and ladled it into their mouths. When they had gone around the ring once, Marta started them off again.

Tonya nudged Priya, who was looking elsewhere. "What the?"

Priya shrugged. "They're your friends."

Tonya recognized some of them from the swim team.

"So what is this?" Priya stepped closer to the circle, "some kind of a dare?"

"Join us," said one of the guys, spraying oatmeal as he spoke.

"No thanks," said Priya. "I'd rather eat chips."

"Those are long gone," said one of the girls. "We had to make porridge because we ran out of everything."

"What about ordering in?" Tonya said, suddenly wishing she brought something.

Just then Shin threw open the door. "Pizza's here!"

He carried stacks of pizza boxes in front of him, his broad shoulders filling the door frame as he came through. Looking at him and his buddies with their perfect faces and beautifully molded arms, Tonya didn't care about Marta anymore. These guys were so symmetrical, they were godlike.

So she wouldn't stare, Tonya got herself some punch labelled 'witch's brew." It looked disgusting but tasted like a coke float. There were bottles of rum and other liquor bottles on the side. Priya added a shot of vodka to each of their glasses.

"To the cool kids," she toasted, softly enough to keep it between them.

"Cheers," said Tonya. She was finally here, at one of those university parties she had always heard about. It was weirder than she expected, but hey, it was almost Halloween. In Loon Lake odd was normal, especially around All Hallow's Eve.

Priya, meanwhile, was going around the room, talking about her art installation and handing out flyers. When she got to Shin, she slowed down and waited for him finish handing out pizza.

"This is for you," she said. "I'd really like you to come to the cemetery on Halloween, and see my big art display."

"Okay..."

Tonya watched him look all the way down at Priya and tilt his head slightly. He smiled widely.

"It's an art installation called Man versus Nature," said Priya. "There's also going to be a bonfire and it's BYOB."

"Does the university know?"

"No, but it's off campus. Bring your friends, but don't tell everybody. We don't want to attract the attention of campus police."

"Okay." He took the flyer, which looked small in his big hands, and shoved it into his pocket. "Pizza?"

"Thanks, I'm starving," said Priya. She took a slice and somehow, using techniques Tonya had never mastered, ate it in a graceful and ladylike manner.

Tonya stepped up to get her own slice, but Shin walked off with Priya. He seemed awfully excited about talking to her, right in front of his girlfriend.

A guy tossed away the scarecrow and got on top of Marta's swivel chair. "Alright everybody!" A couple of his buddies grabbed the chair, rolling it around in time with the music.

"It's showdown time! Clear the floor."

A group of spectators formed around a cleared spot in the centre of the room.

"The athletes have been preparing themselves all night," said one of the chair rollers. When he pointed to the bowl of porridge, everybody erupted into shouts of 'ew!'

"Bring it on," said Marta. She stepped up and motioned for someone to challenge. At last another girl was pushed into the 'ring,' facing Marta.

The guy on the chair said: "Each athlete will be given a pizza. The first to finish is the winner."

Eager hands pushed four pizza boxes onto the floor as a couple of guys stepped up as well.

"Let the eating begin!"

The contestants dropped to their knees and started eating.

"And you wanted to come to this party," said Priya.

They were shovelling pizza into their mouths so fast, Tonya knew they weren't chewing. It was disgusting!

"Marta's in the lead!" shouted the chair guy. "No wait, it's Paul. Paul's ahead by a pepperoni... Wait, now Tyrell is coming up from behind. It's Paul and Tyrell, nose to nose with four slices left..."

"I don't think I can stand the suspense," said Priya.

Tonya could hardly stand to look, until suddenly Marta stopped eating. Her distress was subtle, until her face contorted and she struggled to her feet and stumbled out of the circle. Her milk-white face was turning bluish. Tonya had already rushed over to help by the time Marta put her hands to her neck in the universal 'choking victim' sign.

Marta was starting to wobble but Tonya supported her, despite being a head shorter. Tonya leaned her over and delivered five back blows, then joined her arms around Martha's chest, placed a fist below her xiphoid process, and gave five quick upward thrusts.

"Call 911," she told Priya.

She repeated the five and five procedure, but no matter how hard Tonya tried, she couldn't get Marta to breathe.

Marta collapsed, almost taking Tonya with her. It was the first time Tonya had done the Heimlich manoeuvre on a real choking person, and it wasn't working. It didn't seem to do anything. Please, please, please, let the ambulance come fast.

But Marta lay on the floor, lips blue. When her eyes rolled back in her head, Tonya knew. No ambulance could get there fast enough.