Do No Harm

Do No Harm

Do No Harm
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	3.72

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		filing, witchy, peppy, spells, acquaintance, flagpole, knowing, response, lifestyle, boiling, naturally, religion, truth, polish, smirk, rally
	content words:		Wiccan Code

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Do No Harm
By Brenda B. Covert

¹     Audra sat at the end of the bleachers, four rows up, picking at her chipped, black nail polish. The pep rally was about to start. All the perky, peppy cheerleaders were bouncing around with their pompons, ready to run out onto the court and lead some cheers. Audra yawned. Then someone tossed a small folded up paper in her lap.

²     Audra looked up. Students were filing past to find seats with their friends on the bleachers. None of them looked like they even knew she was there. With a shrug, she pushed her black hair out of her face and unfolded the lined notebook paper.

³     "Audra," she read, "I think what you do is cool. Can you teach me how to do it? I really, really need your help. I'm counting on you! Meet me at the flagpole after school so we can talk, okay? Your friend, Galaxy."

⁴     After re-folding the note and slipping it into her purse, Audra looked around for a girl with curly brown hair, green eyes, and a freckled nose. Oh, there she was, sitting on the far end of the fifth row of bleachers. Galaxy sat with her friends, Nikki and Talya, and wiggled her fingers at Audra with a smile on her face. Audra returned the wave with a half-smile, almost a smirk, and turned back to face the court again.

⁵     Galaxy was not her friend. She was an acquaintance at the most. A classmate. Not someone that Audra would eat lunch with or share history notes with.

⁶     What did Galaxy want? Probably something dumb, like a love potion. Audra rolled her eyes. It would be a waste of time to go. There was no reason to show up. What if Galaxy was setting her up as a joke? Audra frowned. Some of the other kids who knew about her lifestyle made pests of themselves. She had learned to ignore them.

⁷     As the cheerleaders began urging the students to stand up and cheer, Audra shrugged her shoulders. She might as well give Galaxy a chance. What would it hurt?

⁸     Galaxy was doing her best to look cool when Audra strolled up and dropped her red and black backpack at her feet.

⁹     "You came!" Galaxy exclaimed. "Thanks for meeting me. Cool shoes!"

¹⁰     Audra looked down. She was wearing camo high-tops. Galaxy was right. The shoes were definitely cool. "Thanks," she said. "So let's talk."

¹¹     "Sure," Galaxy said. "Well, I heard about that witchy stuff you do--"

¹²     "Wiccan," Audra said. "I'm a Wiccan."

¹³     "Same diff," Galaxy said. Audra's gaze narrowed, but she didn't respond. "I'm having this problem with this ex-friend, and I thought -- I mean, I had an idea -- I just ..."

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