Wil Mara - The Girl Who Grew Nasty Things

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Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Mara, Wil.

Title: The girl who grew nasty things / Wil Mara.

Description: New York : West 44, 2020. | Series: Twisted

Identifiers: ISBN 9781538383667 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781538383612 (library bound) |

ISBN 9781538383568 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Plants--Juvenile fiction. | Growth (Plants)--Juvenile fiction. | Supernatural--Juvenile fiction.

Classification: LCC PZ7.M373 Gi 2020 | DDC [F]--dc23

Published in 2020 by Enslow Publishing LLC 101 West 23rd Street, Suite #240 New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2020 Enslow Publishing LLC

Editor: Caitie McAneney Designer: Rachel Rising Interior Layout: Seth Hughes

Photo Credits: Cover (background) Georgios Kritsotakis/Shutterstock.com; Cover (insert) Jan Dempers/EyeEm/Getty Images; Back Cover (background) STILLFX/Shutterstock.com.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Printed in the United States of America

CPSIA compliance information: Batch #CS18W44: For further information contact Enslow Publishing LLC, New York, New York at 1-800-542-2595.

Maddie Dragonette sat by herself in a quiet corner of the school cafeteria. She sat at this same table every day. It was a small table with just one chair. It was used sometimes by the cafeterias workers. Someone might sit and wrap sets of silverware into fresh napkins. Or write out the menu that would go on the school bulletin board. But during lunch period, the table was left open for Maddie. This wasnt an official rule or anything. It was just kind of understood.

Maddie sat by herself because she wanted to. She couldnt stand her classmates. For that matter, she really couldnt stand anyone. Other people made her angry. In fact, whenever she thought about them, she didnt even use the word other. She just used the word people, like she wasnt a person herself. And thats because, deep down, she didnt think of herself as a person. She wasnt sure what she was exactly. But she was absolutely certain that she wasnt one of them. She was better.

People made her angry. She didnt like the way they walked. She didnt like the way they talked. She didnt like their clothes, their shoes, or their hair. She didnt like that some girls played on the schools softball team. She hated softball. And because she hated it, she thought everyone else should hate it, too. And anyone who didnt hate itwell, she hated them for not hating it.

She hated social studies, too. So she hated everyone who liked it. One of the boys in her social studies class was named Jordan.

H e was the smartest kid in the school. Maddie really hated that. She hated all the kids who were smart. And thats because, deep down, she knew she really wasnt too bright. She would never be as smart as Jordan. Or Billy Palmer. Or Allie Moskowitz. Or any of the smart kids. So she hated them, and that took care of that.

She had decided long ago that hating people was the answer to all of her problems.

Maddie unpacked her lunch from the brown paper bag. Then she unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. It was chicken with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. As she chewed, she looked at the sandwich carefully. Her mother had made it that morning. The chicken looked good. All white meat, shredded into little pieces. There was the right amount of mayo. And the lettuce was nice and crisp.

But the tomato...that was a problem.

There was a spot in the middle where it was orange instead of red. And it was hard, too. Maddie didnt like that one bit. She liked having the best of everything. She felt she deserved it. And this wasnt the best sandwich it could have been. So she made a note in her mind. She was going to talk to her mother about the tomato when she got home. She might even do more than talk. She might have to yell a little. That was okay, though. Yelling at people was one thing Maddie Dragonette did love. It made her feel great.

She took another bite and looked around the cafeteria. It was really crowded at the moment. Some of the other kids were classmates of hers. They paid no attention to her. They never did. It was like she wasnt even there. They all talked and laughed and had a good time. Something about this really bothered her. Seeing people happy...it just bothered her.

She made a point of looking at Olivia Robinson. Olivia was sitting with three other friends. They looked like they were having the greatest day ever. Maddie knew all about Olivia. She was a straight-A student. She played field hockey, basketball, andso grosssoftball. She was a cheerleader. She had beautiful golden hair. She never said a bad word about anyone. And she was always cheerful. Sometimes Olivia sat and talked to people who werent feeling cheerful. She was the type of person who really cared about others. Everyone loved her, and Maddie really hated that. She hated people who everyone else loved.

But none of that was important to Maddie right now. The important thing was what Olivia was holding. It was a beautiful necklace. It had a gold chain and a flowershaped pendant. Maddie did like flowers. Thats because she liked to grow things. Back home, she grew lots of things. Some were pretty. Some were not. A few were downright nasty. But that was okay. Nasty things could be useful sometimes.

Olivia held up the necklace so her friends could see it. Maddie had heard her talking about it in gym class. It was a gift from her aunt. Olivia had helped her clean out her basement last weekend. She also had the necklaces box, which had a little bow on top.

Maddie pretended she wasnt watching Olivia. But she was, very carefully. She was waiting, and she was getting tired of it. Olivia had her own sandwich out. She had put it on the table and unwrapped it. But she hadnt taken a bite yet. All she was doing was yapping about her precious necklace.

Olivia set it back in its box. Then she picked up the sandwich. She was about to take a bite. But she started laughing instead. One of her friends had said something funny. Maddie couldnt hear what it was, and she really didnt care.

Come on ...she thought. Come ON...

Finally, Olivia took a bite. It was a big one. She chewed it around for a moment. It made her cheeks bulge, first on one side and then the other. Then she swallowed it. Maddie got a warm feeling in her own stomach. She had to fight back a smile.

Olivia started laughing again. Then everything changed. Her eyes grew wide, and her face began turning red. She started coughing. First only a little, then a lot. Her hands went to her throat. She tried to say something, but Maddie couldnt hear it. Now she looked really scared. All her friends did, too.