“Of course I do,” Stella insisted. “But it would require a lot of research—and putting together a whole project for the Wish-Science Fair isn’t as easy as it might look.”
“Ha!” Cora laughed scornfully. “It does look pretty easy when you steal your best friend’s ideas and pass them off as your own!”
Stella gasped. How could Cora think something so awful? She would never try to pass off someone else’s ideas as her own—and her ideas were different enough from Cora’s. Weren’t they? Stella’s thoughts flashed back to everything they’d discussed in class, all the examples she’d given. Everything she’d presented had been her own, from her holo-notebook—not Cora’s! Yes, Stella did say that Cora had given her the idea when she raced out of the café. But she’d already acknowledged that much—and besides, everything she’d come up with after that was hers. Wasn’t it?
“You’re wrong, Cora,” Stella finally replied softly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. “You know I would never steal anything from you.”
“Really?” said Cora, getting up from her chair and staring at the holo-zine in her hands, sending it zooming back onto the silver table with a clatter so loud that it startled some of their nearby classmates. “Because it feels like maybe there’s a lot about you that I don’t know.”
Then, before Stella could respond, Cora was storming out of the Lightning Lounge without looking back. It was the second time she’d deserted Stella—and now that Stella understood why, it hurt twice as much.
As Cora reclined on the long velvety blue couch on her side of the dorm room, she adjusted the oversized cushions all around her and burrowed under the soft pale blue blanket she’d brought from her bed. After tossing and turning for most of the night, she had decided to try sleeping on the sofa. But even though she’d always found it to be even more comfortable and calming than her bed, she simply couldn’t relax, let alone get any sleep. She peered over the back of the couch, stealing a glance up the spiral staircase on the other side of the room, which led to the loft where Stella’s bed was located. There was no way Stella had been able to sleep that night, either—was there?
It was the first time the two best friends had ever gone to bed angry—and thinking about everything she’d said to Stella the previous afternoon made Cora’s heart hurt. She snuggled against the cushions and squeezed her eyes shut, but it was still no use. As she began to push off the blanket to get up, she heard Stella tiptoeing down the stairs—so she instantly curled up into a ball and pretended to be asleep. But even with her eyes closed, Cora could sense Stella coming closer.
“Hi,” she heard Stella whisper. “Are you awake?”
Cora waited a few moments and then slowly opened her eyes, rolling away from the back of the couch and glancing around the room wearily to give off the impression that she’d just awoken from the best night’s sleep ever. She allowed her eyes to settle on Stella, in her cushy pink robe and slippers, her rosy-gold hair messy from sleep. “Oh. Hi.”
Stella immediately sat down on the couch next to Cora and sunk into the cushions. “I’m so sorry about yesterday!” she blurted out, looking sadly into Cora’s eyes.
“Me too!” Cora instantly replied, unable to keep up the nonchalant act as she reached out to give her best friend a hug. “I couldn’t sleep at all, could you?”
“No.” Stella shook her head, which was still buried in Cora’s shoulder as they embraced. After they broke apart, Stella wiped away a few tears and frowned. “The more I thought about you saying that I’d stolen your ideas, the worse I felt.”
“And the more I thought about accusing you of stealing my ideas, the worse I felt!” Cora replied with a nervous laugh, staring down at the bright blue star-shaped rugs scattered around the gleaming silvery-blue tiled floor. “I know you would never do something like that.”
“But I can see why you would feel that way,” Stella acknowledged. “And honestly, if you want to enter the Wish-Science Fair with your idea, I can come up with something else.”
“No!” Cora knew how important the Wish-Science Fair—and getting to work in the Wish-Tank—was to Stella. Cora had just wanted to share in some of the glory Stella had received in class the previous day—but after thinking about it, she knew she was being silly and, well, a bit melodramatic.
“Yes,” Stella replied firmly. “I shouldn’t have taken your idea and run so far with it like that—and you should have been up there at the front of the class, presenting it all with me. I’ve just been so excited ever since we found out that the winner will get a job in the Wish-Tank!”
“That’s exactly why you need to be the one to do the research and turn it into the winning project for the Wish-Science Fair,” Cora said, grabbing Stella’s hand. “It’s your destiny, not mine. I want you to win, and I want you to get that job.”
“Really?” Stella asked.
“Really!” Cora assured her.
Stella took a few deep breaths as she let go of Cora’s hand. She got up off the couch and began pacing around the room in her usual methodical way, stepping from one little rug to the next until she’d touched all of them. Then she turned around and did the same thing in the opposite direction. Finally, she stopped in her tracks and locked eyes with Cora again.
“Thank you,” Stella said, her eyes shining with adoration for her friend. “But I still hope you might want to do some of the research together, and more than anything, I hope I can prove that my—I mean our—ideas will work.”
Cora rolled her eyes and laughed kindly. “You most definitely can!”
“But I’m—or we’re—going to have to test it out in a practice Wish Orb,” Stella said. “In fact, we’re probably going to have to test it out in tons of practice orbs before I figure out the best approach.”
“If it takes that many, so be it. I know you’ll find a way,” Cora insisted.
“I guess….” Stella nodded, lost in thought for a few moments before her entire face lit up. “You know what’s going to be incredible, though?”
“What?”
“Getting to test it out on the real Wishworld one day!” Stella replied.
Cora had to agree. She could almost picture her friend on her very first Wish Mission, encouraging Wishlings everywhere to start believing in themselves again. The more she thought about it, the more a wish of her own began to form—that she could somehow see Stella in action, not just in a practice Wish Orb but helping real Wishlings—and that was when the most wonderful idea dawned on her.
“Oh, my stars, Stella!” Cora gasped, jumping up from the couch. “I know exactly what we need to do!”
“What?” Stella smiled with anticipation.
“Test out our ideas on the real Wishworld right away!”
“Huh?” Stella wrinkled up her nose, like she’d just wandered into a patch of stinkberries. “How could we possibly do that?”
A giant mischievous grin spread across Cora’s face. “It might sound crazy, but…what if we snuck down there? Together!”
Stella’s eyes widened in shock. She spun around and walked over to sit down on the pink stool at her vanity table, as if she needed to get as far away from the idea as possible. “Cora. You can’t be serious.”
But Cora had never been more serious. As the idea of going to Wishworld with Stella grew bigger and brighter in her mind, it was impossible to contain her excitement. “Come on! You know you’ve thought about it!”
Stella held up her hands and shook her head. “Not really.”
“Not even a little bit?” Cora raised her pale blue eyebrows.
But instead of answering, Stella turned away and stared into her gold-framed vanity mirror. “Well, okay—yes,” she finally admitted, brushing her long hair and pulling it back into a ponytail before swiveling around to face Cora again. “I have thought about it. But going to Wishworld is strictly forbidden for anyone but Wish-Granters. We won’t officially be Wish-Granters until we graduate. We would get into serious trouble if anyone ever found ou
t.”
“Who would find out?” Cora asked, grabbing her blanket off the couch and wrapping it around her like a cape as she marched over to sit down on her bed. “Besides, we’re practically already Starling Academy graduates—and testing out those ideas on real Wishlings? It’s almost too perfect!”
Stella sighed and shook her head—but even as she did so, she stood up and walked over to Cora and plopped down next to her. Yes! Cora could tell that her friend was beginning to warm to the idea.
“The thing is…” Stella began slowly, and Cora could practically see her sorting out all the steps in her head as each one occurred to her, “if we did go down…and we tested out our theories…and even if we proved they would work…beyond any glimmer of a doubt…it’s not like I could use any of the evidence in my Wish-Science Fair project…not if I gathered it illegally!”
“But at least you’d know for sure if they worked,” Cora pointed out.
“That’s true…” Stella said.
“And think about how fun it will be!” Cora smiled, bouncing in place on her bed.
“Yes but—”
“Yes but what?” Cora leapt to her feet on the bed, tossing the blanket aside as she really started to bounce. “What could be more adventurous than sneaking down to Wishworld? With your best friend! It would be the greatest pre-graduation bonding moment known to Starling Academy—and really, all of Starland itself! It’s something we’ll be able to talk about for the rest of our lives! To tell our children! Or maybe something not to tell our children—the most treasured secret that only the two of us know! Plus, you’ll get the chance to test out those Wishworld Relations theories even if you don’t use the findings in your project! Come on, say yes!”
Stella laughed as Cora pulled her up and got her to start bouncing, too. “You’re crazy! We can’t possibly do it!”
“We can’t possibly not!” Cora insisted—and the higher they bounced, the clearer it became to both of them.
“Okay…let’s go!” Stella finally agreed, collapsing onto the bed. “But we’d better not get caught.”
“We won’t,” Cora assured her best friend as they lay there side by side, completely out of breath.
Now all they needed to do was figure out how to get down to Wishworld and back to Starland again without anybody finding out. But Cora was certain that between the two of them, they could make it happen.
The dark sky was glowing with countless tiny stars as Stella and Cora stood on the rooftop deck of the Big Dipper Dormitory. All the other students at Starling Academy had long since gone to bed, making it the perfect time for the girls to catch a shooting star without being seen. Star Wrangling had always been one of Stella’s favorite elective classes. At first, it had seemed almost impossible to gather enough wish energy to get the dynamic and unpredictable practice stars under control, but in a short time she’d mastered the skill. That said, as much as the idea of sneaking down to Wishworld with her best friend excited Stella, she was still sorting out some of the other logistics.
“I seriously can’t believe we’re doing this!” Stella widened her eyes, crossing and hugging her arms against her chest as she shivered, both from the cool night air and the nervous energy she’d been feeling ever since Cora had proposed the expedition.
“I know,” Cora replied with a shrewd smile as she slowly walked toward the edge of the deck, her head tilted back so she could search the sky for shooting stars. “But if you weren’t a bit worried, it wouldn’t be worth it! It wouldn’t be as exciting! It wouldn’t be an adventure!”
Stella shook her head and laughed in spite of herself. Cora had a way of making everything sound perfectly logical and entirely appealing—even something no Starling without a wish-granting degree was ever supposed to attempt.
“But how do we know that these pendants are going to work on the real Wishworld?” Stella asked, lightly touching the glowing pink sphere that hung from a delicate gold chain around her neck. It was the one she used in Practice Wish Orb Mastery class, and Cora was wearing the sparkly gold star ring that she used in her class.
“We don’t,” Cora said, glancing at Stella with a shrug, as if the pendants weren’t an essential part of every journey to Wishworld. “But we decided we’re not going down there to try to find a specific Wisher or test out any theories—we’re just going to check the place out.”
“True.” Stella nodded.
“Although”—Cora added mischievously—“if all goes well, would it be so bad to encourage a couple of girls who’ve lost hope to wish for something really big? Like I said before, we don’t have to test out the theories, but you never know what might happen. That’s part of what makes this so incredible: we’re venturing into the great unknown!”
Stella felt a warm glow rise to her cheeks at the mention of testing out their Wishworld Relations ideas—and then, once again, an inkling of doubt crept in. “But we need to be able to disguise ourselves,” she pointed out. “If we can’t use our pendants as cloaking devices, we won’t be able to blend in with the Wishlings.”
“Then I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best,” Cora insisted, her blue eyes sparkling in the starlight.
Stella sighed and forced herself to smile. Cora was right: a little bit of worrying was fine, but she needed to focus on all the positives of what they were about to do. It was pretty exciting—not only because she was going on a super-secret adventure with her best friend, and not just because she was finally going to see what the real Wishworld was like, but because she and Cora would finally, hopefully, get to see each other disguised as Wishlings and maybe, just maybe, get some sense of whether she was on the right track with her Wish-Science Fair project.
“You’re right,” Stella said, skipping over to Cora and gazing up into the dark sky. Almost as soon as she reached the edge of the deck, a shimmering stream of light zipped overhead. It was a shooting star, and it was headed directly for the girls.
“It’s time!” Cora squealed, and reached out to grab Stella’s hand as she slid on the blue-framed star safety glasses she used during Star Wrangling class. “Are you ready to make the lasso?”
“Yes—I think so.” Stella shivered again as she quickly put on her own pink star safety glasses and began to focus every bit of her attention on sweeping up a sparkling cloud of wish energy from the surface of the rooftop deck. It took all the strength she and Cora could muster to swirl the energy into a giant silver lasso.
“That’s it,” Cora whispered excitedly. “Now throw it!”
Stella swiftly dropped her head back and narrowed her eyes behind her safety glasses, using as much energy manipulation as possible to toss the lasso. As she did so, it encircled and tightened around the shooting star just as it whooshed above her. “Oh, my stars, Cora!” Stella screamed, nearly thrown off balance by the powerful star. “This one is really powerful! I’m not sure I can hang on to it!”
“Don’t worry,” Cora replied—and as Stella kept her eyes trained on the lasso, she almost immediately noticed that it became steady thanks to Cora’s assisting with her own energy manipulation skills. Finally, the lasso stopped shaking and both girls slowly but surely pulled the shooting star down toward the deck.
“Got it?” Stella asked, still completely focused on the glowing yellow star.
“Just about,” Cora replied through gritted teeth. “Okay, let’s get on!”
Stella sucked in her breath as she and Cora both reached out and grabbed hold of the star. Once they were in place and securely attached with the lasso of wish energy, the star took off at lightning speed.
“Whoa!” they screamed as they went flying through the sky and down, down, down toward Wishworld.
“It’s just like the Star Mountain ride at Glitzyland!” Cora shouted.
“Only way better!” Stella yelled back, closing her eyes happily as the wind whipped through her long golden-pink hair and she thought about the first time she and Cora had gone to the famous glowmusement park together to ce
lebrate Cora’s Bright Day with her family. They had been too scared to go on Star Mountain or the Glitterhorn—the two fastest star coaster rides there—but ultimately, Cora’s brother Cosmo convinced them that they would regret it if they didn’t at least try. And he had been right: as soon as they exited that first ride, they couldn’t wait to go again…and again. Sometimes, when coming up against challenges in the time since, Stella would think about that day and how exhilarating it felt to face and conquer her fears—and now she and Cora were doing it again. They were going on the scariest but most exciting ride of their lives!
Before Stella knew it, she and Cora were approaching Wishworld—and as the ground came into view, she felt her Star-Zap buzzing. She pulled up the antenna and saw the words COMMENCE APPEARANCE CHANGE, exactly like it happened in Practice Wish Orb Mastery class.
“Cora! Are you getting an appearance change message on your Star-Zap?” Stella asked.
“Yes!” Cora replied. “It must be programmed to do that any time it gets close to Wishworld’s atmosphere.”
“Of course,” Stella mused, slightly disappointed in herself for not realizing that was what might happen.
Then she saw that the Wishworld Outfit Selector on her Star-Zap was also working like it did in Practice Wish Orb Mastery class, and she quickly changed from her sparkly pink dress, leggings, and boots into a plain pink dress with a white collar and a pair of simple white sneakers. She looked at Cora and saw that she, too, had changed, from her bright blue dress into a pleated skirt in pale blue with a matching short-sleeved sweater and shoes.
“Okay, let’s give this a try,” Cora called to Stella as they both clutched their Wish Pendants tightly and closed their eyes.
Then, in unison, they both said, “Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight: I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.”
As Stella imagined her shiny golden-pink ponytail changing to light brown, she looked down at her hands and arms and saw that all the glitter and sparkle was disappearing from her skin, just as she had pictured.
Good Wish Gone Bad Page 5