Still, I tucked the wishing stones back into my backpack. Just in case.
In the morning, Cassa was waiting at the footbridge, but she didn’t say much on the way to school. I didn’t dare bring up the whole Marina situation. I couldn’t tell if she was mad at me after our sort-of fight on Saturday, and I was afraid to ask.
“What’s that?” I asked, noticing a big manila envelope tucked under her arm as we turned onto the school walkway.
“Nothing,” she said.
More silence. Ugh. What happened to us? We used to babble the whole way to school, even though we never had anything all that important to say to each other. Now that there was so much to talk about, we couldn’t say a word.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask you how the journalism club was the other day,” I finally said.
Cassa groaned. “Do you know how much writing they want you to do every week? No way. Not for me. But there’s a fencing club starting up, so I might try that.”
Fencing? Really? Cassa complained if she had to wear goggles at the pool. I couldn’t picture her putting on all that equipment. But I didn’t say anything since she’d probably bite my head off about it.
“Hey,” she went on. “Aren’t the dance auditions starting today?”
“Oh, right,” I said, as if I hadn’t been up half the night stressing about them. Before she could pester me about auditioning, I threw out, “Guess who I saw yesterday? Elijah Lewis-Green. Remember him? We’re working on a project together.”
Cassa stopped walking. “A project? But he’s not in school with us anymore, is he?”
“No. It’s not a school project. I kind of bumped into him at the hospital the other day and he asked me to help him with something.”
“So you guys are like friends now?” Cassa asked, and for some reason she sounded mad.
“I guess so. It’s not a big deal.”
Cassa let out a strange laugh. “Are you serious? You’re like the world’s worst person at making new friends, and suddenly you’ve been hanging out with Elijah and you didn’t even tell me?”
“Since when do I need to check with you before I make new friends?” Cassa certainly hadn’t done that when she’d brought Marina into our group.
“That—that’s not what I’m saying!” Cassa cried. “God, Lexi. Sometimes you can be so clueless!” Then she marched off ahead of me toward the school.
And maybe I was clueless, because I didn’t get it. The two of us had always been best friends. Why were things suddenly so hard?
Then I remembered what my mom had said about me being like my aunt. Aunt Glinda who avoided making new friends and trying new things and spent most of her time alone. No. That was stupid. I was never going to wind up like her.
When I got to school, I kept seeing flyers for the dance club audition everywhere. Today after school! First round of dance auditions! There was even one taped to my locker.
“Okay, universe,” I muttered to myself. “I get it. I’ll try out, okay?”
And part of me was actually excited about the idea. But by lunchtime, I was starting to freak out about all the things that could go wrong. So, instead of going to the cafeteria, I headed off to the bathroom with the bag of wishing stones clenched in my hand. I locked myself in a stall, took out the Success stone, and stared at it for a long time. I tried to think of the perfect wording for the wish, but my head was swimming with possibilities.
Eventually, I closed my eyes tight and whispered, “I wish that I could finally succeed at performing in public.”
After I’d made the wish, I didn’t feel any different. So, still safely locked in the bathroom stall, I tested out a few dance moves, humming the audition song under my breath as I went. I felt good. Actually, I felt great. The wish had to be working because I was suddenly sure that I was going to nail that audition!
Still, I spent the rest of lunch running through the steps in the bathroom, just in case. Even though Cassa and I hadn’t eaten together in days, I was in no rush to see her after she’d practically yelled at me that morning. Besides, I was so jittery with nerves that I wouldn’t be able to eat before the audition anyway.
For the rest of the day, I focused on doing everything perfectly, racking up enough good energy so that the universe would have to let my audition go well. As much as I wanted to trust that the wishing stones would take care of everything for me, we didn’t exactly have a perfect track record.
By the time the final bell rang, I was feeling pretty confident. I’d aced my science quiz and answered two questions right during English and even helped a girl in the hallway find a lost water bottle that had rolled behind a trash can. Everything was set for my audition.
When I got to the auditorium, there were already a bunch of kids there running through the steps. So many kids. How was I ever going to get through to the second round of auditions next week? But I made myself take a deep breath and go write my name on the sign-up sheet. Then I went to a corner of the auditorium and did some stretches just like I’d seen in a YouTube video: jogging in place first, then doing some arm circles, knee bends, and torso twists.
After a minute, the door opened again and Marina walked in. Ugh. What was she doing here? Wasn’t it bad enough that she’d tried to steal my best friend? Now she was going to try to steal my spot in the dance club?
No way was I going to let that happen.
“Okay, everybody!” Miss Flores called out. “Let’s get started. I’ll put you into groups and each group will get up onstage and audition together. Let’s begin!”
She called out several names that didn’t include mine. I went to sit in the audience to watch the first round, which included Marina. As the music started and she began doing the steps, I had to admit that she was pretty good. Her limbs were long and graceful, and the fact that she was taller than most of the other kids made your eye immediately go to her. No doubt she’d make it to the next round. She seemed to know it too, because when the routine ended, she came off the stage with a big smile on her face. Ugh.
After Miss Flores had marked a few things on her clipboard, another group of kids went up onstage. And another. Finally, there were only five kids left.
“If I haven’t called your name yet, come on up!” Miss Flores said.
I could barely feel my legs as I went up the steps. How could I dance when my legs were numb? I took a spot toward the back of the stage, hoping to hide a little bit, and tried to remember how to breathe. Was it in through the nose and out through the mouth? Or vice versa? Or maybe you were only supposed to do mouth and not nose. Or was it only nose? Why couldn’t I remember?
Just when I was really starting to panic, the music came on. “Five, six, seven, eight!” Miss Flores called.
My feet started moving to the music. My arms followed along. I shuffled and shimmied and turned. I hummed the song under my breath, which somehow helped me focus. I was doing it. I was really doing it!
The more into it I got, the louder my humming became. Until the kids around me started giving me weird looks, and I realized I wasn’t just humming, I was singing. Belting, really. And I couldn’t stop.
Even when the dance was over and everyone else had stopped moving, I was standing in the middle of the stage, singing at the top of my lungs. The craziest thing of all was that it wasn’t the audition song anymore. It was a song I didn’t even know, one about a girl named Sally. Who on earth was Sally?
“Thank you!” Miss Flores called out to me. But I still kept going. I tried clapping my hand over my mouth, but the song leaked through my fingers like it was determined to get out.
Miss Flores was searching through her clipboard. “Alexandra,” she called out. “That’s enough! You can stop now!”
Finally, I did stop. Not because she’d told me to, but because the song I’d been singing was mercifully over.
The entire auditorium was silent for a second. Then someone snickered, and I could have sworn it was Marina. I hurried off the stage, not daring t
o look at anyone. As I went to get my bag, I could feel everyone’s laughing eyes on me.
“All right,” Miss Flores called out. “I’ll post the list for the final audition by Wednesday. If you don’t make it to the next round, don’t get discouraged and please try out again next year.”
But of course, there was no way I was making it to the next round or even thinking about trying out next fall. Not after I’d totally embarrassed myself in front of everyone. I’d had my chance, and I’d blown it.
When Aunt Glinda picked me up, she must have sensed that the audition had been a disaster because she didn’t say much. She only gave me a little pat on the leg when we pulled into my driveway and said, “Win or lose, I’m glad you played the game.” I guess that was supposed to make me feel better, but of course it didn’t.
When I went inside, my mom was nowhere to be found. Neither was Austin. After a minute, I heard a squeaking sound coming from upstairs. Was there a mouse running loose somewhere? Maybe that’s why no one was around. Mom was terrified of mice. She’d probably run out of the house screaming at the first sign of it.
Then I heard her voice upstairs. “Honey, what is all this?”
“Mom?” I called, but she didn’t answer. I cautiously went up the stairs, as the squeaking got louder and louder. What was that?
When I got to Austin’s room and pushed open the door, I gasped. The entire room was covered in shredded paper of every color imaginable—heaps of it on his bed, all over the carpet, and even spilling out of his dresser drawers. And in the corner behind his desk, curled up in what looked like a paper nest, was Austin.
“Honey,” Mom said again, standing in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips. I could tell she was trying not to sound mad. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, but did you have to make such a mess?”
“Squeak,” said Austin. “Squeak, squeak.”
Mom glanced at me. “Oh, Lex. There you are. Any idea what game this is?”
I couldn’t answer. All I could do was stare at Austin, who was now drinking out of his old sippy cup, which he’d taped to the side of his desk upside down, licking it with his tongue like he was some kind of rodent at the pet store.
Austin had always had a big imagination, but this was different. Scary, almost.
Mom sighed. “All right, I need to go make some calls. Can you try to get him to clean this up, Lex?” Then she gave me a hard look. “Are you okay?”
“What? I’m fine.” Maybe for a second I’d thought about telling her about my disastrous audition, but that was nothing compared to whatever was going on with Austin.
When she was gone, I slowly went over to my brother. “Austin?” I said softly. “Are you okay?”
“Squeak,” he said, giving me a big smile.
“Are you … is this a game or …”
He started licking his hands as if they were paws and rubbing them over his face like a cat cleaning itself.
I swallowed and put my hand on his shoulder. He burrowed into me, nestling against my leg as if wanting me to scratch the top of his head.
As I petted his hair, reassuring him that everything would be all right, my brain was spinning. Was this another side effect from my wish? Austin’s body might have been healed, but maybe he wasn’t healthy after all.
That night, Austin insisted on eating his dinner from a bowl on the floor. I expected my parents to be as worried about him as I was, but they still thought it was one of Austin’s games. Besides, they were too busy talking about money again—or lack of it—to pay much attention.
“If I could find a better job,” Dad was saying, not for the first time, “we’d be all right.”
“Maybe I can try to up my hours at the store,” Mom said, “you know, once everything calms down.” She glanced at Austin, and I knew she meant once they were sure he was okay.
My parents talked about money the way they talked about Austin. All “what-ifs” and “maybes.” The words sounded heavy coming out of their mouths.
After my brother went to bed, squeaking good night to everyone, I went up to my room to finish my homework. But all I could do was think about the wishes and how wrong they’d all gone.
A few minutes later, Mom knocked on the door. “There’s a phone call for you,” she said. “Elijah. Don’t stay up too late, okay?”
When I picked up the phone, I was suddenly nervous, realizing that I’d pretty much only talked to Cassa on the phone before. But Elijah sounded so glad to talk to me that my nerves melted away.
“Hey, I wanted to tell you that the cards are all done thanks to you. Mama Dee’s going to bring them to all the kids at the hospital tomorrow. A couple of the patients were already sent home, so I guess we did some of the cards for nothing, but I figure they’re not in the hospital anymore, so it all works out, you know?”
“Um, yeah,” I said. “That’s good.” Austin was home from the hospital, but that didn’t mean he was okay. I wondered what the doctors would say if we told them what was happening. Would they have us bring him back in?
“Hey, are you all right?” Elijah asked.
“Um, I …” Because suddenly I wasn’t, not really. Even though I wasn’t sure what the rules of the wishes were, I was desperate to tell someone what was going on. Because what if there was something really wrong with Austin and it was my fault?
Before I knew it, I was spilling everything, about Cassa and Marina, about Austin, and about what had happened at my audition. And all about the wishes. When I was done, there was a long silence on the other end of the line and I wondered if Elijah had realized that he was talking to a crazy person and hung up the phone.
Then I heard him let out a long breath and say, “Wow. That’s nuts. So what are we going to do?”
“We?” I repeated.
“Yeah, I mean, if you want my help, that is.”
The surprising thing was, I did want his help, even though I’d always kind of done stuff on my own. Because this felt too big to handle by myself.
“Okay,” I said. “Then I guess we need a plan.”
I saw the flyers the minute I got to school in the morning. Missing! they screamed in giant letters above a black-and-white picture of Marina. They were taped above water fountains, next to lockers, and on doorways. Have you seen this girl? Call or text with any information. At the bottom was Cassa’s name and phone number.
Oh. My. God.
I started to tear them down, even though there was no way I could get them all. These must have been in the envelope Cassa had brought to school yesterday. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening!
Kids were giving the flyers confused looks at they passed or smirking as if they thought they were a joke. I kept ripping them down until I heard Cassa’s voice behind me. “Lexi, stop! What are you doing?”
She ran up to me and yanked the flyers out of my hands. “Are you insane?” she said. “Do you know how long it took me to hang those?”
“You can’t leave these up, Cassa. People will think Marina’s really missing.”
“She is!” Cassa cried. “Why won’t anyone believe me?” She took out her phone. “I’ve already gotten a few leads. A couple of them were obviously hoaxes, though. Like someone sent a mean message saying, ‘Duh. She’s standing in front of you.’ Can you believe that?”
I could, of course. But that was about the only thing I could believe. How had this all gotten so out of control?
“Lexi!” I heard someone yell from down the hall. I turned to find a furious-looking Marina charging toward me. “Where is she? Where’s Cassa?”
I had no idea what to say. For a second, I thought about blurting out, “She’s right next to you,” and making a run for it.
“Why would Cassa do this?” Marina asked, motioning to the flyers all around us. “What kind of psycho thinks of something like that?”
“Lexi? What’s wrong?” Cassa said. “Why do you look so freaked out?”
“I—I’m sorry,” I stammered, looking b
ack and forth between Cassa and Marina.
“For what?” they both said in unison.
“I just am,” I said. “I’ll fix this, somehow. I promise.” Then I really did turn and run.
Elijah was already waiting for me outside the school after the final bell.
“Ready to head to the Antique Barn?” he asked.
We’d decided last night that the first step in fixing Austin and getting the Cassa mess under control was figuring out where the wishing stones had come from, which meant that Elijah would come to work with me. Since Cassa had the fencing club meeting today, she wouldn’t be at the shop anyway. Which was probably a good thing, considering how weird she’d acted when she’d found out that Elijah and I had been hanging out.
As we started to walk through town, I filled Elijah in on what had happened with the flyers. Then I told him how I’d spent the whole lunch period at the school library researching wishing stones. It was funny that after years of eating lunch together, Cassa and I hadn’t even been in the cafeteria at the same time for the past week. But if I could figure out where the stones had come from and how to fix my wishes, maybe things with Cassa would finally go back to some sort of normal.
“I didn’t find much,” I told him. “One thing I read said that wishing stones come from the seashore and have to have an unbroken ring of quartz in them, but mine are definitely not made out of quartz. I also found info about wishing stones in Ireland, but we can’t exactly go search there. A lot of the other stuff I read talked about wishing wells, but that doesn’t help us either.”
Elijah thoughtfully pushed his glasses up his nose. “Tell me again about when you found the stones.”
“They came in with a bunch of old stuff on the same day someone was selling a couple of armoires.”
“So they were used,” Elijah said.
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