“Beyond exciting,” Stella finally agreed with a nod.
But Indirra had already shifted her attention to the holo-notebook on her desk. She wasn’t being rude, though. Stella knew that Indirra was simply incredibly driven when it came to school, and she didn’t spend a lot of time making conversation unless there was a clear purpose for it. So Stella returned her attention to her own holo-notes, becoming so absorbed with one idea in particular that she was completely startled when Cora arrived and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Um—hellooo?” Cora seemed a bit irritated as she settled into the seat to Stella’s left.
“Hi!” Stella beamed at her friend, eager to explain why she’d left the café so suddenly by showing her some of the ideas she’d already come up with for her Wish-Science Fair project. But before she had a chance to reveal a single holo-note, Professor Shannon got up from her desk and addressed the class.
“All right, everyone, please quiet down,” the instructor said as the last few students filed in and took their seats. “I had been planning a lecture on Wishling communication skills for today—but Stella had a wonderful idea for another topic that I think we should explore instead.”
Stella felt her cheeks begin to glow when the professor mentioned her name and smiled kindly in her direction. She glanced over at Cora with a grin and then looked down at her extensive holo-notes. Once again, she wondered if she should share anything that might put her at a disadvantage in the Wish-Science Fair. But there was no turning back now, as all eyes in the classroom were already on her—and the more she thought about it, the more she realized that if she didn’t share her ideas openly, she would be in violation of several of Starling Academy’s Five Points of a Star Student:
Think carefully, creatively, and courageously.
Act in the best interests of all Starlings.
Follow your own unique path.
Give more than you receive.
Be a shining light for others.
“Stella, would you like to tell the class what you wanted to discuss today?” Professor Shannon added.
“Sure.” Stella nodded and cleared her throat. “After the announcement earlier today about the theme for this year’s Wish-Science Fair, I thought it might be good for us to talk about the drought.”
Almost immediately, Stella could feel a strange energy coming from either side of her, as both Indirra and Cora raised their hands.
“Yes, Indirra?” Professor Shannon called on her first.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see how the drought has anything to do with Wishworld relations,” Indirra replied.
“That’s an interesting comment,” Professor Shannon acknowledged. “Stella, how would you connect the drought to Wishworld Relations?”
“Well,” Stella said, glancing down at her holo-notes for a moment before sitting up a bit taller in her chair, “when we talk about Wishworld Relations, we often think about how Starlings should be interacting with Wishlings—but we should also be thinking about how Wishlings interact with each other, and especially how all of these relationships affect what they believe about themselves.”
Stella looked up at the professor, who was narrowing her eyes and slowly nodding. “I think I see where you’re going—but please continue.”
“Right now on Wishworld, a lot of girls aren’t given as many opportunities as boys—they’re essentially given the message that they aren’t capable of the same things,” Stella noted, repeating what she’d mentioned earlier at the café. “This may explain why Wishling girls aren’t making as many wishes—because they don’t believe that anything is possible—and that may be why there’s less positive energy available on Starland.”
“Ahhh,” the instructor said with an enthusiastic nod, and several of Stella’s classmates—including Indirra—responded in a similarly enlightened way as they began to understand the connection she was making. “That is a most promising theory. Can you give us an example?”
“Yes…” Stella paused for a moment and searched through her holo-notes for one of the ideas she’d come up with after what Cora had said at the café. “Maybe there was a young Wishling girl who loved playing star ball when she was little, but as she got older, she discovered that there weren’t any professional star ball teams for girls—there were only teams for boys. So she stopped playing.”
Stella looked up at Professor Shannon, who nodded sadly. “Yes, our observations suggest that there are many star ball teams—or what Wishlings call basketball teams—for boys, but not as many for girls,” she confirmed. “The same is true for many other athletic endeavors on Wishworld. We don’t see nearly as many girls competing as boys, largely because they’re told they can’t or they shouldn’t. So how might this affect the number of wishes being made?”
“It’s like I was saying before, when girls aren’t given the same opportunities as boys, their idea of what’s possible is limited,” Stella replied, her eyes beginning to burn with tears at the mere thought of it. “When that happens, they might stop wishing for the things they really want. They might stop trying. They might not even think about trying.”
As Stella’s voice trailed off, Cora raised her hand and Professor Shannon called on her.
“The same sort of thing might be happening with Wishlings who have darker skin,” Cora pointed out, repeating what she had said at the Celestial Café earlier. “They’re not given as many opportunities as Wishlings with lighter skin, and they’re told they’re not good enough to go to the same schools or eat at the same places, so maybe they aren’t making as many big wishes as they should be, either.”
As Cora spoke, Stella heard someone giggling in the back of the room and turned to see who would laugh at something so awful.
“Gail! Dawn! What do you find so amusing back there?” Professor Shannon snapped, echoing Stella’s thoughts.
“It makes no sense,” said Dawn, whose short, stubby red pigtails were practically perpendicular to either side of her head. She was the captain of the Glowin’ Glions, Starling Academy’s top-ranked star ball team. “Why wouldn’t there be just as many sports teams for Wishling girls as boys—and how could they possibly decide that one color is better than another?”
“Yeah—everyone knows that girls and boys are equal and so are all the colors,” Gail agreed, rolling her dark cobalt eyes before adding with a smirk, “although I guess blue girls might be better at sports!”
“Ah.” Professor Shannon’s face softened into a gentle smile again. “It does seem strange, doesn’t it? But as Stella and Cora have so wisely pointed out, the circumstances on Wishworld are different from those on Starland. Many Wishlings are still learning things that we already know.”
“That’s horrible,” Dawn fumed angrily, her rosy cheeks turning nearly as red as her hair.
“Isn’t it just?” Professor Shannon’s green lips turned down in an exaggerated frown. “But assuming that what Stella and Cora are saying is true, what could we do about it, in terms of Wishworld Relations—and how might that affect the flow of positive wish energy to Starland?”
Stella was about to reply—but before she could, Cora raised her hand and the professor called on her.
“If I were a Wish-Granter, I would try to lead by example,” Cora said, twirling a lock of pale blue hair around her finger. “So, for instance, if Wishling girls were told that they couldn’t take a particular class because it’s only for boys—like Starcar mechanics or wood shop—I would march right in, disguised as a Wishling girl, of course, and show them that I can take those classes and do every bit as well as any Wishling boy. Then Wishling girls would be filled with hope again and motivated to make more wishes.”
“Wonderful!” The professor’s eyes sparkled happily as she looked from Cora to Stella, who smiled over at her friend and raised her hand, eager to add a few more of her own thoughts to the conversation.
“Yes, Stella?” Professor Shannon nodded.
“May I demonstrate?” Stella asked.
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br /> “Certainly.” The professor smoothed down her green dress and motioned for Stella to come to the front of the classroom. “Please take over.”
“Okay!” Stella felt her stomach flutter with nervous excitement as she carefully stepped over Cora and the other students in her row and headed to the front of the classroom.
“So, we assume that girls on Wishworld have been told that they can’t do the same things as boys,” Stella began, punching a few keys on her holo-notepad so an image of a sad Wishling girl floated up into the air, with a group of happy and victorious boys behind her.
“But there are some girls who are making big wishes—which means they haven’t given up hope.” Again, Stella punched a few keys and another image of a Wishling girl appeared, this one smiling with hands stretched over her head victoriously. She tapped on the image and a Wish Orb floated up and away from the smiling girl. “So, I would propose that when Wish-Granters go on Wish Missions, they should not only focus on the primary Wisher—as important as that is—but also use any extra time they have available to interact with other Wishlings who may have stopped believing in themselves, so they can show them that they’re capable of a lot more than they might realize.”
“Very nice,” Professor Shannon noted, looking from Stella to Cora. “And this would be accomplished when the Wish-Granter leads by example—showing other Wishlings how to stand up for and believe in themselves?”
“That’s one possibility,” Stella agreed, scanning through her holo-notes, “but it’s not the only option.”
“Please explain,” the professor said.
“Well, let’s say that the primary mission has to do with helping a Wishling girl get what she wants—anything she wants, really, like a good grade on a test or an invitation to a special party,” Stella began, referring to the image of the happy, victorious girl who had made a big wish. “While there, the Wish-Granter could pay close attention to the things that the primary Wisher’s friends are good at, too—like the example of the girl who loved star ball, but discovered there wasn’t a team for girls.”
Stella punched a few more keys and an image of a girl floated up next to the one in the victory pose—but this girl was holding a star ball, and she was staring at it intently, as if contemplating whether or not she should continue to hold on to it. The girl was frowning, and appeared to have given up hope.
“In this situation, the Wish-Granter could start a star ball team and invite the girl to join—leading by example, as Cora said—or the Wish-Granter could simply remind the girl of how talented she is and encourage her to start a team herself,” Stella noted, touching another key on her holo-notepad so a group of girls in all sizes and colors gathered around the girl with the star ball. “At that point, the girl might finally wish for something that seemed out of reach before—and when her wish comes true, other girls might be motivated to make wishes, too. So it could have a ripple effect. Each Wish Mission could result in one wish granted, plus several more wishes made—so the problem of girls not making enough wishes is solved!”
Stella tapped another key and suddenly Wish Orbs began floating above all the other Wishling girls. It was quite magnificent—and when she looked up from her holo-notes, she realized that her classmates were completely spellbound as well, captivated by the images of so many new Wish Orbs. Then, as Professor Shannon nodded her approval, several of the students began to applaud—including Dawn, Gail, and even Indirra—and within a few moments, almost everyone was cheering!
Stella had presented good ideas before, but getting everyone to clap? That was a first, and it was completely thrilling! Now she finally understood what Cora meant when she talked about how fun it was to perform for live audiences. “The immediate positive feedback motivates me to do my best,” Cora had explained. It all made sense now. Stella looked at Cora, excited to share the moment with her. After all, the applause was really for both of them. But Cora was completely focused on the holo-notebook on her desk and seemed oblivious to the enthusiastic response from their classmates.
“My goodness,” Professor Shannon said after the applause had died down. “I think you’ve got some very promising theories here—and what a wonderfully creative use of Wishworld Relations to potentially solve the drought!”
“Thank you,” Stella replied with a grateful smile, practically floating on a cloud of positive energy as she headed back to her seat. When she got there, she reached out to grab Cora’s hand, but Cora immediately moved it away and focused on her holo-notebook. What was going on? Stella desperately wanted to talk to her, but the professor was addressing both of them now.
“In fact, Stella, I think you should really explore these ideas in depth—perhaps test them out inside a few practice Wish Orbs,” Professor Shannon proposed. “If you can find a way to prove that your theories will work on Wishworld, especially among young Wishling girls, you might just have a winning project for this year’s Wish-Science Fair!”
Stella lit up as she considered the professor’s words. It was precisely the sort of feedback she’d been hoping for, and her head was already filling with all the possibilities: What if Wish-Granters really could help Wishlings believe in themselves again? What if young Wishling girls really did start to make more wishes, and those wishes not only came true but produced enough positive wish energy to put an end to Starland’s drought? It would definitely require extensive research inside practice Wish Orbs. Maybe she and Cora could do the experiments together? They had always wanted to see each other disguised as Wishlings but had never had the chance, because they were in different Practice Wish Orb Mastery classes. Of course! It would be so much fun—and Professor Shannon even thought it might result in a winning project!
Stella thanked the instructor again. She was so glad she had decided to present her ideas, and that Cora had shared hers as well. She couldn’t wait to talk with her best friend; maybe they would even do research together. But when the bell signaling the end of class rang and Stella turned to finally start chatting with Cora, she discovered that her friend’s seat had already been vacated. In fact, Cora was already racing out of the classroom. She hadn’t even waited for Stella!
Since Stella and Cora had a free period in their schedules after Wishworld Relations class, they usually went to the Lightning Lounge to get a cup of Zing together. But on that particular afternoon, it appeared that Cora would rather go by herself.
“Cora! Wait!” Stella called after her best friend, who was almost out of earshot and speeding away on the Cosmic Transporter. But instead of looking back or acknowledging Stella, Cora picked up her pace. Determined to find out what was going on, Stella mustered all the positive energy she could and finally caught up to Cora right before she got to the door of the Lightning Lounge.
“Hey!” Stella gasped, grabbing Cora by the arm.
“Ouch!” Cora winced and glared at Stella.
“Oh—sorry!” Stella frowned with genuine remorse. “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Cora replied tersely.
“Why were you running away from me?” Stella demanded without skipping a beat. “Why wouldn’t you talk to me in class? What is going on?”
“You think you’re the only one who can run off without an explanation?” Cora retorted, and, once again, turned away from Stella and headed through the sliding glass doors into the lounge.
So that was it? Cora was trying to show Stella how it had felt when she’d rushed off earlier?
“I only ran out of the café because I wanted to work on my ideas for solving the drought,” Stella insisted as she followed Cora through the lounge past small groups of students—some sipping Zing, others reading holo-books or playing games of cosmic cards.
But Cora still wouldn’t stop, and within a few moments she had arrived at their favorite spot in the corner, directly beneath a large rooftop window that allowed the maximum amount of light to stream in.
“Your ideas?” Cora scoffed, dropping into
her usual bright blue chair while Stella sat down in the plush pink one opposite it. Continuing to avoiding Stella’s gaze, Cora waved her index finger at a holo-zine that was lying on a small silver table between them, prompting it to float into her hands.
“Well, yes.” Stella nodded, wrinkling up her nose. “The ideas that I presented in class—the ones I came up with after what you said in the café.”
“Right.” Cora finally looked up from her holo-zine, her blue eyes clouding over with an anger Stella had never seen before. “So not exactly your ideas.”
A knot began forming in Stella’s stomach as she considered Cora’s words. “Oh—it was definitely thanks to what you had said in the café,” Stella acknowledged. “I mean, of course I owe you some of the credit! That’s why I said you’d given me the best idea before I left—and I was thinking we should work together. Because we both had such good ideas!”
“So I should just help you, so you can win the Wish-Science Fair and take all the credit?” Cora’s blue lips began to tremble.
“Well, it’s not like you are going to enter the contest,” Stella replied. She was confused. Cora had never even tried to enter the Wish-Science Fair before. She was busy being the lead in almost every one of the school’s theater productions; Cora’s dream was to be an actor.
Cora looked up from her holo-zine again, her eyes darker than ever. “Well, what if I did want to enter the Wish-Science Fair? Is it so hard to believe that I might be able to? That I might even win?”
“Oh.” Stella clutched the arms of her chair tightly as she realized Cora might actually be serious.
“Don’t you think I could do it?” Cora asked. “Prove that my idea would work, I mean.”
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