Lottie's POV

I've gotta fix this – somehow! Clearly they're not in their right minds, so I have to supervise them until I can fix this.

"Guys, please come with me."

"To the ends of the Earth, Lottie," says Corey. "There's no one as special as you."

The boys chorus in agreement. "You said it, coach."

I lead them into an empty classroom and put a simple shutting spell on the door.

"Now listen to me, guys. You're not well, but I'm going to make you better…"

"I love you, Lottie." That's one of the guys, Walter, interrupting. I stutter like an idiot. I can't help it, co Walter's such a sweet guy. I don't admire him just because he's handsome – though he definitely is. He's so athletic, and he has these blue-green eyes like opals, wavy brown hair I could run my green fingers through, a strong jaw with just a hint of shadow, a freckled nose and cheeks, like I did when I was beautiful… That kind of thing isn't that important to me. The thing about Walter is that I've admired him a lot ever since he defended one of the younger boys from bullies.

I cup his face in my green hands and speak softly. "Walter, you have a girlfriend." I remind him. "Tell me her name."

His blue-green eyes look glazed. "Can't remember. Don't care. I only care about you now."

I feel a squirming sense of guilt. I did this to him, even though I didn't mean to. I've made one of the bravest and kindest boys be mean about someone he used to love. What can break a witch's curse? I'm the witch and I don't know.

Another guy elbows Walter aside and they all begin to fight and yell. "Stop fawning over her, you desperate F***!"

"Look into my eyes instead, Lottie!"

"Stop!" I screech, holding up my green hands. They fall silent. "Don't fight!"

"Boys, stop mucking about and give me fifty," says Corey.

"No! Stop being mean, Corey," I say.

"I will only do that for you, you green-skinned angel," says Corey. "A coach has to be mean – unless you say so."

"Right…" I fold my arms. "Everyone please sit at a desk and write about the person you loved most before, like ten minutes ago." Hopefully that will be enough to snap them out of it, if they think about their real loved ones again. I flick through my spell book, trying to find the bit about love spells. I do find a page with something interesting – the kiss of a Princess should break a witch's curse and it's pretty vague about who can be a Princess. Like, a Princess by any standards would qualify.

Ralph interrupts me at this point. He slams a piece of paper down on the desk before me. "You're the only one I love. I've drawn a picture of you."

Er, yeahhhh… he has drawn a picture, but it's nothing like me. He's drawn what looks like a green alien with yellow hair and almond shaped blue eyes with no pupils.

"I do not look like that!" I snap. "And I told you to draw who you really love, not me."

"I love you," he says with a simper.

"Um well…" it is disarming to hear him say he loves me.

"I love you," says Walter. I start stammering like an idiot again.

The other boys say they love me too and show that they've all tried to draw me. Isn't this what so many girls dream about? All the boys loving them? It makes me feel warm inside to hear, but it's not real.

"I'll fire those harpies in the cheerleading squad," adds Corey.

"Oh, there's no need for that," I say hastily.

"Even after the way the harpies treated you?" asks Ralph. "Kicking you off their squad just because you have green skin?"

"It was pretty rude," I admit.

"Rude? It's downright deeeespicable!" says Pierre, the foreign exchange student. "We only need one harpy as a cheerleader, and that's Lottie!"

"Don't you even know what a harpy is, Frenchy?" says Ralph glaring at him. "It's not a compliment. Don't ever call Lottie a harpy."

"It's OK, it's OK," I assure them. "He only made a mistake cos you all kept saying the word 'harpy.'"

"Foreigners, eh Lottie?" says Corey the coach, being a mean old coach again. "They can't speak properly."

"I'm three quarters German," I say. "But I'll let that one go." I pat Pierre's arm. "Nothing wrong with how you talk. My Grandma always thought French accents are sexy."

The other boys snigger at this. "She'd introduce you to her granny!"

"Real mature, guys," I say, rolling my eyes.

At that moment, there's a hammering on the door. But the shutting spell is holding. There's a crowd of boys outside. "We've got to take our favourite green girl to maths class, she's going to miss it and it's not the same without her."

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Guess they're not talking about Astrid.

"We love you, Lottie!"

It's the guys from my maths class. Oh dear… my spell has spread further. Once it was out of the bottle, it didn't stop with the guys standing around me.

I sigh and open the door. "Guys, please…"

"We have to take you there in style, love," says Chris grinning broadly. "You're too good to have to walk." They've got a sedan chair! It's a drama prop, but it looks real posh.

"Lottie for queen!" They chant as they carry me in the sedan chair. The girls in the corridor stare at us as if this was the strangest sight they ever saw. I'm leafing through my spell book, but I haven't found an answer.

Walter's hurrying alongside my carriage. "Lottie, Lottie…"

"You need to get to your next class, Walter dear," I tell him.

"I just wanted to say… I can tell you are attracted to me, the way you wanted to touch my face. Couldn't I interest you in a Devil's threesome with another great looking guy. We'll both work to pleasure you. How does that sound?"

I'm not sure what a Devil's threesome is and it piques my curiosity, but no! Not when poor Walter's out of his mind. "I want you to find your girlfriend and tell her you love her," I say firmly.

"Only for you, Lottie." Oh my God… Walter's eyes are glazed again when he says this.

In the Maths room, the guys push to sit around me. Some of the other girls give odd looks.

"You'd think she still had a perfectly beautiful face," says Lucy, raising an eyebrow at the sight of all the guys jostling each other to sit near me.

"We don't look at the face, we look for other qualities, like boobs," says Laz, turning glazed, bewitched eyes to Lucy. "You're as flat as a board. No one would notice you next to Lottie."

Lucy flushed in indignation, but then Ms Finney the Maths teacher hands comes in and hands out our last assignment. "You're failing this class, Lottie," she tells me. "I may have to assign you a study partner."

"I'll do it!" The guys all yell simultaneously. Then they begin to bicker. "No, me." "I'm smarter than you!"

Ms Finney sighs. At that moment, there's a knock on the door and a post lady thrusts a bouquet of flowers into her arms. Ms Finney grins and then scowls when she actually reads the message with them. "Here you go," she says, dumping them on my desk.

"Who can afford that kind of bouquet?" Demands Ted who's sitting right next to me. He reads the label. "I love you with all my heart – Hugs and kisses from Albert." He slams his fist on the desk. "Albert thinks he's good enough for Lottie?"

Princess from Drama Class is sitting on her own in the corner cos all the guys have crowded around me. She gives a little start when she hears this. "Albert? He's my boyfriend. What's going on?" She glares at me.

Oh no! I gotta think fast. I can't wreck their relationship because of my stupid spell. "We're all playing a prank on you. The flowers are not really from him," I blurt out. "Um… I wanted to make you jump, that's all."

Princess narrows her eyes at me. "Oh? It's not a very funny joke. I never thought you would do anything mean."

"Neither did I," I say glumly. Before I was a witch, I never hurt anyone. But now I've been so stupid and selfish. "And I wish I hadn't played the prank, cos Albert is … ill." Hey, I was only giving her a heads up that Albert is not in his right mind.

Her green eyes widen. "What!"

"Stop bickering and mucking about in my class," snaps Ms Finney.

"Don't talk to Lottie that way!" Says Ted, standing up and frowning at Ms Finney. "You're not perfect or green or beautiful. In fact, you're not woman enough to serve her tea."

The other girls are staring at him with their mouths open. Ms Finney's eyes flash. "How dare you…!"

I groan. "Siddown and shut up, Ted. Listen Ms Finney… I put him up to it." That's as near the truth as Ms Finney could get her head around.

Ms Finney folds her arms. "Fine. Go to the Principal. The rest of you, take an extra-hard Tensor Calculus test."

"Thanks to you, Lottie," says Lucy, sticking out her pink tongue at me. I resist the temptation to stick my green tongue out at her. I've got real problems on my mind. I've gotta think how to break my spell and free all the guys. The spell book says a Princess can break a witch's spell, but who can count as a Princess. It's so vague.

At that moment, Princess comes out of the class room and pursues me down the corridor.

"What d'you mean, Albert's ill? You better explain yourself."

I have a sudden thought. I point at Princess. "You're a Princess."

"What? Are you harping on about the play? It's not my fault Ms Duchess is so shallow that she only lets the cutest girl be princess. I don't care what you look like or how big your boobs are either."

"It doesn't matter about the stupid play… Listen, do you want to help Albert?"

"Of course."

"Then come with me."

"Alright, but if it's another dopey prank, I'll slap you."

I lead her to Miri's sub-basement. Cool name Astrid chose for the Mirror Girl, isn't it? I bet she got it from Star Trek.

"Now this may be a bit scary," I say softly.

Princess takes a step back at the sight of Miri's ghostly green face in the mirror and goes a bit pale. I take her hand. "It's alright. I'm here."

Miri curls her dark green lip. "A Princess? Here? You would bring an enemy into our sanctum, witch? This air-headed interloper."

Princess murmurs her disbelief. Her eyes are really wide.

I glare at her. "Don't say mean things about her. I'm the witch so you have to do what I say. Um… I order you to ask how to break the spell that's on all the guys at school."

"A princess can always break a witch's spell," says Miri.

"So she can break the spell?"

"She can, but if she does, she will eventually fulfil her destiny and become a princess." Miri sneers. "Princesses are so contemptible. They wait for the men around them to make things happen."

"Oh shut up!" I tell her. "Who do you think you are? The Gene Siskel of fairy tales?" I turn to Princess. "So you wanna be a real princess?"

Princess bites her lip and swallows. "Magic is real? Then… you're a witch, Lottie? That's why you're green."

"Yes, and there's a bad spell on all the boys at school. Don't you want to help break it? And I can help you be a real princess. I've got the power."

Miri interrupts. "A witch can always show a princess her destiny, but once she has done, she has created her own foil."

"Weird mirror…" says Princess. "She's like the mirror in Snow White, only bitchy." She touches my cheek. "Yes, Lottie. I will help break the spell. I suppose the mirror cast it, did she? Huh." She turns to Miri. "You should follow Lottie's example. A green witch can be good like she is, instead of stupidly casting dangerous spells."

The mirror gives a high, sardonic laugh and I don't think I should correct Princess just yet. I pull her out of the sub-basement and lead her towards the school's old bell tower. The spell book says that a princess can break a spell from a tower. On the way though, we're accosted by a group of guys who press flowers and chocolates on me.

"Thanks guys… please let us pass now."

They call over us. "We're dumping our girlfriends for you, Lottie. They're skanks, flat as ironing boards and they don't even have green skin."

I groan. Just as well I can't turn red anymore.

"That mirror's sick, chucking spells like that around," says Princess crossly.

The tower door's locked, but I know a simple unlocking spell. We go up the tower. It's really grimy and dusty. We blink as we come out into the sunshine, by the bell. "You've got cobwebs in your hair, dear," says Princess, and she reaches up and picks the cobweb out of my hair. Then we clasp hands and stare into each other's eyes and I say the words of the counter-spell. I feel her hands getting warm. I read the last line. "May my apologies find you this day… and may my sorrows in kind. Now, Princess!"

She punches the bell and it gives a weird, pealing sound that seems too tinkling for such a big bell. Plus Princess isn't strong enough to make it ring by hitting it. It must be magic. But has it worked? Have we freed all the guys from my enchantment?