As the holographic image faded away, the voice of Lady Astrid came through the loudspeaker again. “Students, as President Glint said, some local officials—including school administrators—have received additional instructions regarding the drought,” the headmistress began. “Specifically, because you are some of the best and brightest students on all of Starland, the president herself has proposed that this year’s annual Starling Academy Wish-Science Fair projects should focus on ways to solve the positive energy drought—above and beyond the conservation and recycling efforts already in place.”
As president of the Wishology Club, Stella was stunned. The club had been discussing the Wish-Science Fair at their meeting the previous day—and normally they were the ones who proposed the theme to Lady Astrid each year. Why hadn’t she called them in to discuss all of this first?
“But that isn’t all,” Lady Astrid continued. “Upon graduation, the winner of this year’s fair will be offered a most coveted position working for Starland’s prestigious Wish-Tank!”
At that, the entire class erupted into excited chatter, and Stella was no longer annoyed that the Wishology Club hadn’t been consulted about the fair—nor was she sleepy anymore. Starlings who worked in the Wish-Tank were responsible for granting some of Wishworld’s most challenging and important wishes! Stella had always dreamed of going to work there after graduation, but even with her near-perfect grades and academic achievements, she couldn’t be certain that she would be granted a spot in the Wish-Tank. They only took two graduating students from all of Starland each year! And now one of those spots was guaranteed to a Starling Academy student! She was determined it would be her.
When Lady Astrid wrapped up her announcement, Professor Gibbous began pacing in front of the classroom, then stopped abruptly and turned to look at his students, raising his sparkly red eyebrows at them.
“Well, this all applies very nicely to today’s lesson, don’t you think?” he asked, clasping his hands together expectantly as some of the students nodded in response. “So, tell me…do any of you have any theories about the reasons for the current drought—and why we must all work so diligently to conserve and recycle Starland’s positive energy?”
Before Stella could raise her hand, Nicola—who was sitting front and center—beat her to the punch and the professor called on her.
“In my Wish Fulfillment class, we’ve been talking about the fact that Wishling girls have always made the purest and most powerful wishes of all—but they haven’t been making nearly enough of them lately,” Nicola said, tucking a lock of her short bronze-colored hair behind one of her ears. “I think maybe that’s why there’s been less positive wish energy available on Starland—and that’s why we need to be careful about how much we use.”
“Indeed.” Professor Gibbous nodded approvingly. “That is an excellent theory! Starland scientists do believe that Wishworld’s current decade has been particularly challenging for girls and women. But, as the president said, it’s up to all of us to work together to come up with creative solutions to this drought—and, as Lady Astrid said, this will be the basis of your Wish-Science Fair projects this year, should you choose to enter. With such a coveted and prestigious award being offered, I have no doubt you will put in an unprecedented amount of effort!”
Stella felt a bit lightheaded as she began to process all of this new information. She had already been working on a few different drought-related ideas with the Wishology Club—mostly finding ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle positive wish energy—but what Nicola had said about girls on Wishworld making fewer wishes was sparking some new ideas as well. Stella’s head was becoming positively flooded with thoughts about helping girls on Wishworld and winning the Wish-Science Fair.
Most of all, she was already picturing herself dressed in a shiny silver lab coat, walking toward the Starland Wish-Tank offices and placing her hand on the scanner that permitted only a select few access inside. Was it a real possibility for her, though? She could hardly wait to find out!
“Can you believe it?” Stella asked Cora as they exited their Astral Accounting class and headed to the Celestial Café for lunch. “A job in the Wish-Tank for winning the Wish-Science Fair!”
Cora couldn’t help smiling at her friend’s extreme enthusiasm. “So I guess you’re not sleepy anymore?”
“I don’t know that I’ll ever be sleepy again!” Stella said, her face growing brighter with each step she took. “There’s not going to be any time to sleep! I’m going to need to spend every available moment coming up with the best possible solution to the drought. I have to win the Wish-Science Fair, Cora. I just have to!”
“It is pretty incredible—the exact job you’ve always wanted,” Cora replied. “And there’s no way anyone but you is going to win.”
“You’ve taken first place every year!”
“True—but you heard what Professor Gibbous said, right? With a prize like that, everybody’s going to try extra hard to win.” Stella sighed and was about to open the door to the Celestial Café when a Bad Wish Orb suddenly zoomed overhead.
“Yikes!” Stella ducked as the dark sphere, crackling with negative energy and surrounded by a terrifying purple aura, zipped by her. “That almost hit us!”
“Yeah.” Cora shook her head as she watched the orb go flying off in the direction of the Negative Energy Facility, leaving a trail of gray fog in its wake. “I’ve never seen one that close before.”
Although Cora was only temporarily thrown off by the ball of negative energy, she could see Stella was still shivering in her glittery pink dress as they headed for their usual table on the far end of the café. It was right next to a window, where they could look out and see Luminous Lake.
“May I take your order?” asked a silver four-wheeled Bot-Bot waiter as it rolled up to Stella. It had a long cylindrical body with a domed head, and it held a silver tray in one of its pincerlike hands.
“Um.” Stella blinked at the waiter dizzily, her face paler than Cora had ever seen it.
“Hey—are you okay?” Cora asked her friend.
“I—I don’t know,” Stella replied. “I’m still thinking about that Bad Wish Orb. I wonder if it infected me with its negative energy! I’ve completely lost my appetite.”
“Oh, my stars, Stella—I’m sure it didn’t infect you.” Cora tried to offer her friend a reassuring smile.
“I think I’ll just have a cup of Zing,” Stella told the waiter.
As the Bot-Bot waited patiently for Cora’s order, Cora and Stella looked up to see their classmate Devorah stopping at their table—so abruptly that her two best friends, Delia and Diana, nearly crashed into her. All three girls had long platinum hair and matching glittery headbands—pale blue for Devorah, lavender for Delia, and pink for Diana. Because they had developed a reputation for being kind of mean and self-absorbed, a lot of their classmates referred to them as The Killer Ds. However, they’d always been nice to Cora, and she found them more entertaining than evil.
“Hey, Devorah,” Cora said with a smile. “Do you guys want to join us?”
“Sure!” Devorah immediately dropped into the chair next to Cora and motioned for Delia and Diana to sit by Stella before launching into a tirade about the energy drought. “Is it just me, or are these energy restrictions crazy? I mean, have you ever seen my hair look so dull? I feel like a complete Wishling! But how can I get it to shine when our sparkle showers turn off after three minutes? It’s maddening!”
“Oh, please.” Cora shook her head. “Your hair always looks shinier than anyone else’s. I’m super jealous.”
“You’re just saying that,” Devorah replied, all wide-eyed false modesty.
“I’m not!” Cora insisted. “It almost makes me want to find a way around that rule, too.”
But Devorah looked skeptical. After all, she knew what a good actress Cora was. Not only had they gotten to know each other pretty well in Practice Wish Orb Mastery class, where Cora had impressed everyone with
her ability to look and sound exactly like a real Wishling, but Devorah was also in the Drama Club with Cora. She wasn’t particularly good at acting, but she had convinced the rest of the club to let her join because her mother was a famous Starland actress. It was Cora’s dream to be as famous as Devorah’s mom one day.
“May I take your order?” repeated the Bot-Bot waiter, who had remained patiently by Stella’s side. He swiveled his silver head around and directed his blinking red eyes at Devorah.
“I’ll just have a garble green salad,” Devorah replied. “Otherwise I’m going to blow up like a cocomoon.”
“Me too,” echoed Delia and Diana in unison.
“I think I’ll have mushmoon and moonion casserole with a side of glimmerchips, please,” Cora said before turning to look at Stella. “You really need to eat something, too, you know,” she told her friend, in the exact same way her mother used to instruct her to eat at every meal, whether she was hungry or not.
“Oh, all right.” Stella sighed, looking up at the waiter. “May I have a small serving of mushmoon and moonion casserole, too, please?”
“Right away,” the Bot-Bot waiter replied, and then rolled away.
“That’s the spirit!” Cora grinned at Stella and then shifted her focus back to Devorah. “So—back to the drought. I honestly don’t think we’re going to need to worry about it much longer.”
“Really?” Devorah’s blue eyes sparkled hopefully. “Why not?”
“Because Stella’s going to put an end to it as soon as she figures out her Wish-Science Fair project.”
“Oh!” Devorah clapped her hands and leaned across the table, gazing at Stella gratefully. “That would be brilliant. Daddy gave me a brand-new Starcar for my Bright Day last month and I haven’t been able to use it because we all have to take the swift train now.” Devorah rolled her eyes. “It’s so dim, don’t you think?”
Delia and Diana nodded their dutiful support while Cora and Stella discreetly exchanged amused smiles.
“So how are you going to end it?” Devorah asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Stella replied, frowning. “But I keep thinking about what Nicola said in our Astral Accounting class—that the drought might be due to Wishling girls not making enough wishes.”
“We’ve been talking about that in my Advanced Wish Fulfillment class, too.” Devorah shook her head in frustration. “But it seems strange that girls wouldn’t be making tons of wishes. I mean, how could anyone run out of things to want?”
“I’m beginning to think it has something to do with what Professor Gibbous said—that it’s difficult for girls and women on Wishworld right now,” Stella replied.
“Really?” Devorah asked. “What’s so difficult about it?”
“Well, for one thing, we know girls aren’t given as many opportunities as boys,” Stella noted. “A lot of Wishling girls are told that they shouldn’t even bother going to college—and some colleges don’t even accept girls.”
“It’s true,” Cora said, thinking back to some of the simulated trips she’d taken to Wishworld in Practice Wish Orb Mastery class. “A lot of the Wishling girls I’ve seen are told that they should focus on getting married instead of going to college or getting jobs—and then they’re expected to do all the cooking and cleaning, and their husbands give them an allowance and tell them how to dress, where they can go, what they can do.”
“Wow!” Devorah gasped. “They’re practically treated like pet glowfurs!”
“It’s awful.” Stella frowned. “Some places even have policies against hiring Wishling women—and if they do go to work, they’re paid less than Wishling men doing the same exact thing.”
“And we know that hardly any women hold positions of power, like in the government,” Cora added. “Plus, Wishlings with darker skin have to go to different schools than the ones with lighter skin—and in some places, they’re not allowed to drink from the same sparkler fountains or go to the same places to eat.”
“I just don’t get it,” Devorah commented with a look of horror in her pale blue eyes. “We wouldn’t even be eating at the same lunch table right now! The reds and the pinks, the yellows and the greens, the purples and the blues—everyone would have to be kept apart. How silly!”
“And how sad,” Cora added with a frown as she imagined what it would be like to be forced to go to a different school from Stella, simply because of their colors—and how dull Starling Academy would look if everyone were the same color.
“No wonder they’re not making enough wishes,” Stella said glumly. “They’ve probably given up hope. They’re discouraged.”
Seeing how sad her friend was becoming, Cora felt compelled to steer the conversation in a more positive direction. “At least we get to live on Starland, where girls and boys all have the same opportunities and we don’t have to live by some arbitrary color-coded set of rules,” she pointed out. Then, thinking more about how easy it would be to solve the problem, she added, “If I went down to Wishworld, I would show girls and Wishlings of all colors that they can do anything they set their stars on—that they just have to believe in themselves.”
“Oh, Cora—you’ve just given me the best idea!” Stella gasped, jumping up from the table so quickly that she nearly knocked over the Bot-Bot waiter, who was returning with the girls’ orders. “Oh, my stars. Oh, my stars!”
Then, before Cora or anyone else could stop her, Stella had raced right out of the Celestial Café.
“Your friend is a little crazy, huh?” Devorah smirked at Cora as she placed her sparkly silver napkin on her lap.
“Yeah, but that’s just part of her charm,” Cora replied with a laugh. “She’s kind of like a mad scientist—which is why I’m sure she’s going to put an end to this drought and win the Wish-Science Fair.”
“I hope you’re right.” Devorah sighed and took a bite of lighttuce.
“I know I am,” Cora replied, digging into her casserole.
In fact, she had never been more certain of anything in her life.
Stella hurried along the Cosmic Transporter, nearly bumping into a few of her fellow students as she raced from the Celestial Café toward Halo Hall. In her haste, she was thrown almost completely off balance when her Star-Zap began buzzing and she looked down to see a holo-text from Cora:
WHAT’S GOING ON? WHY DID YOU LEAVE WITHOUT EATING LUNCH?
Stella was so eager to get to class, she didn’t want to take time to pause for a reply—but she knew she owed Cora some sort of explanation. So she quickly replied:
SORRY! I’LL TELL YOU WHEN YOU GET TO CLASS!
Almost instantly, another text came through:
BUT YOU DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO EAT!
Stella rolled her eyes impatiently, but she also had to smile at her friend’s concern. In all the years they had spent together at Starling Academy, Cora had become like a sister to her—and when she was being particularly protective, like now, a second mother. So she sent another quick reply:
I KNOW. I’LL EAT LATER. PLEASE DON’T WORRY. :) BUT ALSO, THANK YOU FOR WORRYING. ;) SEE YOU SOON!
As Stella lowered the antenna on her Star-Zap and entered the classroom, Professor Shannon looked up from her desk. Her emerald hair framed her round face in short waves and was clipped over her ear on one side with a beautiful star-shaped pin made from dazzling white gemstones. It was the perfect complement to her shiny green dress, with its sparkly little star-shaped buttons down the front.
“You’re here early,” the professor said, giving Stella a warm smile. “And without Cora? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two of you apart!”
“I know—it doesn’t happen too often,” Stella replied with a grin, “but I couldn’t wait to get here.”
“Well, I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm.” Professor Shannon’s green eyes twinkled as she nodded approvingly at Stella. “But is there a special reason for today’s eagerness?”
“Yes—I was talking with Cora and some other friends about
possible reasons for the drought and all sorts of ways to solve it,” Stella told the instructor as she took a seat in the front row. “So I wanted to start recording some holo-notes right away, and I was wondering if we might even be able to discuss the drought in class today.”
“Hmmm.” The professor drummed her fingers on her desk and tilted her head, contemplating the suggestion while Stella powered up her holo-notebook. “That’s an interesting suggestion.”
The Wishworld Relations instructor regularly encouraged her students to come in with ideas for timely topics that the class could discuss—and when she felt the idea was strong enough, she would even let the student who had proposed it take over as the lecturer for the day. Stella was almost certain—or at least hopeful—that she was about to be placed in that esteemed position. Her stomach fluttered with nervous excitement as she began recording some holo-notes and more students began filing in, their voices energizing the room as they chatted with each other and made their way toward their seats.
“Hi,” said Stella’s classmate Indirra as she sat down to Stella’s right. She had big lavender eyes and her purple hair was tied back in a single braid that hung halfway down her back. “Exciting announcement about the Wish-Science Fair earlier, don’t you think?”
Stella wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Indirra was in the Wishology Club with Stella, and she also happened to be one of the fiercest competitors in the Wish-Science Fair, having come in second place—right behind Stella—every staryear. There were never any hard feelings as far as Stella could tell, but it did make her wonder if she should really present any of her preliminary ideas about the drought during class after all. Even though the ultimate goal was to help Starland, she didn’t want to give away anything that might ruin her chances of taking first place—and of going to work in the Starland Wish-Tank! As soon as the thought of that incredible prize entered her head, Stella felt like a swarm of flutterfocuses were dancing in her stomach again.
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