“Are you sure?” Stella asked, examining her friend more closely. “Because there’s something different about you.”
“There is?” Cora blinked her eyes innocently and stood a bit taller.
“I don’t know—maybe not.” Stella ran a hand over Cora’s hair, trying to smooth it out, and breathed a sigh of relief as it started to shimmer again.
“I’m telling you, Stella, everything’s fine,” Cora insisted. “I got here right when the Wish Gatherers were bringing in a new crate of Bad Wish Orbs—and I heard one that I’m certain was crying in the exact way Amy did when we met her on Wishworld! So I grabbed it and broke it. It’s gone!”
“Hmmm.” Stella had to admit she was impressed that Cora had been so brave—and that she’d managed to do what Stella had truly believed would be impossible. But she still couldn’t shake the terrifying image of that cloud of negative energy escaping from the facility. “Well, I guess I should be grateful to you for all that—but destroying a Bad Wish Orb created a negative energy leak. And you know we have to report the leak now…right?”
“No!” Cora shook her head forcefully. “That would be a huge mistake!”
Stella sucked in her breath, cringing at the thought of what all those toxins might do—might already be doing—to Starland. “Cora, we don’t have a choice.”
“Yes, we do,” Cora insisted. “It’s one small leak. We can keep it a secret—just like our trip to Wishworld!”
Stella took one of Cora’s hands in hers. “I know you’re scared,” she said softly. “I’m scared, too. But we can’t possibly keep something like this a secret.”
“I’m not scared!” Cora fired back. “I took care of the problem—and if we tell anyone about the negative energy escaping, we’ll only be creating a new one. They’ll want to know what we were doing here in the first place, and if they press us hard enough, we might even have to confess to sneaking down to Wishworld. Both of us sneaking down to Wishworld. You don’t want that…do you? If anyone found out, our lives would be ruined!”
Stella dropped Cora’s hand and frowned at the thought of the trouble they would be in—but she couldn’t let Starland remain in danger just to protect herself. “All I know is that we need to make sure somebody contains the negative energy before it does too much damage.”
Cora shook her head and glanced back at the Negative Energy Facility. “How much damage could that one cloud really do?” she asked before spinning around, challenging Stella with her eyes. “As much damage as confessing will do to us?”
Stella was torn. Starland was already in a positive energy drought, so any amount of negative energy would only make the situation worse. She felt her stomach drop with dread as she pondered how they could possibly safeguard Starland without endangering themselves—but then she had a moment of clarity. “Hey! Maybe we could report it anonymously!”
“No,” Cora insisted, shaking her head more fervently than ever. “Please. We can’t.”
But the more Stella thought about it, the more it seemed like the best option. They could say there had been a negative energy leak without revealing anything about how it had happened. That way they could make sure it would be contained but nobody would have to find out about Cora’s involvement, let alone their unlawful trip to Wishworld—especially now that Cora had destroyed the Bad Wish Orb. It was the perfect solution, albeit one that Stella might have to ease Cora into accepting.
“Well, we don’t have to decide right this starsec,” Stella told her friend, glancing around and taking a few steps along the path. “But we do need to get out of this place. It’s giving me the creeps.”
“Yeah,” Cora agreed, “and if you think it’s creepy out here, you should have seen what it was like inside.”
“Ugh.” Stella shook her head at her friend, amazed once again by how brave she’d been. “I’m not sure I even want to know.”
The longer they walked and the more Cora talked about everything she’d done to destroy the Bad Wish Orb, the more optimistic Stella became. She even began to accept that perhaps the negative energy that had escaped wasn’t significant enough to do any damage. She could feel the positive energy starting to reinvigorate her as she breathed in the fresh, clean air and the sky grew light enough to blend with the stars. Before long, the majestic peaks of the Crystal Mountains came into view in the distance, and by the time they reached Constellation Lane and the tall, swirly iron gates at the front of Starling Academy, Stella was all but convinced that the worst was behind them—literally.
“We’re going to be all right,” Stella whispered to Cora when they finally made it safely back inside their dorm room and the door slid closed. “Everything’s going to be all right.”
“I think so, too,” Cora said with a big yawn, stretching out her arms and collapsing onto her bed.
But Stella didn’t think so; she knew so—and she also knew that it was mostly thanks to Cora.
A faint buzzing sound roused Cora from sleep. Barely pushing back the covers, she swatted at her bedside table until her fingers landed on her Star-Zap. Finally, her eyes beginning to open, she sat up, raised the antenna, and peered at the screen. It was a holo-text from Lady Astrid, headmistress of Starling Academy: PLEASE REPORT TO MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.
That woke her up. But—wait, what? Lady Astrid’s office? What time was it? What day was it?
Cora looked at the little clock on the Star-Zap screen. It was nearly lightfall. Had she really slept all day—and missed all her classes? Slowly, bits and pieces of the previous night and early morning filtered through her mind: the trip with Stella to Wishworld…Amy’s bad wish…going to the Negative Energy Facility…successfully destroying the Bad Wish Orb!
Cora jumped out of bed and rushed up the steps to get Stella. But she wasn’t there. Where could she be? Cora punched the Friend Finder button on her Star-Zap. There she was—already in Lady Astrid’s office! What was going on?
Still dressed in the navy-blue leggings and long sweater she had been wearing when she fell asleep, Cora pulled on her boots and quickly used her toothlight. With no time for a sparkle shower, she hastily splashed some sparkler on her face and was about to rush out the door when she felt something jabbing into her side.
Cora shoved a hand into the right pocket of her sweater and discovered the black rock she’d picked up from the Negative Energy Facility—the one she’d used to prop the door open. Her fingers wrapped around its rough surface and she held it up, examining the sparkly threads of amethyst. It had a mesmerizing sort of dark beauty to it, and as she continued to turn it over in her hands, she began to feel the same surge of power she had felt before, when she was leaving the Negative Energy Facility.
Not knowing what to do with the rock, Cora placed it back in her pocket and headed for the Cosmic Transporter that would take her to Lady Astrid’s office. She was about to knock on the headmistress’s door, but before she got a chance, the gleaming silver panel slid open. She squared her shoulders and stepped inside. There was Lady Astrid sitting behind her large gold desk—and there was Stella sitting in a comfy purple chair off to one side, although she looked anything but comfortable.
“Hello, Cora.” The headmistress looked especially regal in a long, sparkling purple gown with a high gold collar. Her lavender hair was piled high atop her head and adorned with spirals of gold thread from which tiny stars dangled in a rainbow of bright colors.
“Hello, Lady Astrid,” Cora replied, her voice slightly raspy from sleep. She glanced at Stella, hoping that her best friend might be able to give her some sort of silent clue as to what they were both doing there. But Stella was staring down at the glittery gold rug with the giant purple star in the center, clearly not wanting to meet Cora’s gaze. So be it, Cora thought. She felt confident enough for them both.
“Please, have a seat.” The headmistress gestured toward the other purple chair, pulled up at the opposite end of her desk from Stella’s.
“Thank you,” Cora replied with a
bright smile as she sat in the chair, which immediately adjusted to her size and weight.
“How are you feeling?” the headmistress asked, leaning over her desk and narrowing her eyes as she scanned Cora from the top of her head to the toes of her boots.
“I’m feeling quite well, thank you.” Cora cleared her throat and wondered if she was in trouble for missing classes that day. Maybe Stella had missed hers, too. On second thought, if she had, she would have still been in the dorm room when Cora was summoned.
“I see.” Lady Astrid nodded. “Well, Stella is quite worried about you.”
“She is?” Cora glanced at her friend again, but Stella continued to stare at the rug, her forehead wrinkled with worry.
“Yes.” The headmistress drew in her breath and slowly blinked her eyes before looking more intently at Cora. “I’m quite worried, as well.”
“I’m sorry—I don’t understand,” Cora replied, hoping Lady Astrid would cut to the chase.
“Well, from what I understand,” Lady Astrid began, “you had quite an adventure last night.”
What? Cora shot yet another look at Stella. Had the headmistress found out about their trip to Wishworld—or even about what had happened at the Negative Energy Facility? How would Lady Astrid have gotten the information? There was no way Stella would have told her, especially after she and Cora had agreed that it wasn’t a big deal and they didn’t need to report it. Or would she…?
“I’m sorry?” Cora blinked a few times and then widened her eyes, channeling all her acting skills in an attempt to appear as oblivious as possible.
“Cora,” Lady Astrid said sternly, leaning back in her throne-like chair and crossing her arms, “I’m going to offer you a chance to tell me what happened.”
“But—” Cora’s heartbeat quickened and she shoved her hands into her pockets, only to discover the black rock once again. As her fingers touched the jagged surface, she instantly sat up taller, more self-assured than ever. “I don’t know what you mean.”
Cora focused all her energy on Stella, willing Stella to look at her. Finally, her friend’s eyes drifted up, and Cora could see the pain, the fear, and especially the guilt in them.
Oh, my stars—did you tell her? Cora silently demanded—but Stella simply sighed and shifted her gaze back to the rug.
“Please,” the headmistress said. “This is your opportunity to come clean—and I strongly suggest that you take it.”
Cora frowned. She couldn’t see any reason to admit to anything until Lady Astrid revealed what she knew. So she simply shrugged and stared blankly ahead.
“Well, that is too bad.” The headmistress wrapped her long, elegant fingers around the golden scepter on her desk and stood up. As she rose, she seemed to grow to three times her usual size, while her eyes narrowed so much that they nearly disappeared. “Then I suppose I will have to be the one to tell you what happened.”
Cora nodded and steeled herself as Lady Astrid revealed what she knew—which turned out to be every last detail, from Cora and Stella’s sneaking down to Wishworld to their influencing Amy’s bad wish, from Cora’s going to the Negative Energy Facility to her breaking the Bad Wish Orb and releasing the cloud of negative energy. Each time she recounted a bit of evidence, she waved her scepter, and the gleaming light in her office dimmed ever so slightly while the ground shuddered.
“Am I missing anything?” the headmistress inquired, sinking back into her chair and setting down her scepter, when she’d reached the end of Cora and Stella’s adventures.
In spite of all the charges she appeared to be facing, Cora felt certain she could help Lady Astrid understand that there was no reason to worry. She knew that just as she had convinced Stella that everything would be all right, she could convince the headmistress. After all, it seemed that Stella had made things out to be a bit less noble than they in fact were.
“When we went to Wishworld, it was with the best possible intentions,” Cora began. “Stella and I had similar ideas for solving the drought on Starland, and Professor Shannon thought they were so good that she encouraged us to explore them—but we thought instead of doing the research in a practice Wish Orb, it might be a good idea to try an experiment with real Wishlings.” Of course, it wasn’t the exact reason they had made the journey—but the details were close enough and seemed reasonable and important enough to include.
“Indeed.” Lady Astrid’s face softened slightly. “Please tell me more about these ideas of yours.”
“Of course,” Cora agreed with a nod. “We wanted to help encourage Wishlings who have given up hope to start making good wishes again. The plan was to explore Wishworld a bit and figure out the best way to get them to believe in themselves, to realize their inner power and potential. If we could get them to do that, we thought it might help to restore the positive energy levels on Starland.”
“Hmmm.” The headmistress rose to her feet again and began pacing back and forth along the far wall of her office, which was lined with shelves of old holo-books. Finally, she returned to her chair and looked into Cora’s eyes. “I do agree with Professor Shannon. Your ideas do have incredible merit and they show tremendous promise.”
Cora brightened and she looked at Stella, who offered a weak smile in return. But Stella had nothing to worry about. Thanks to Cora’s explanation, they were both going to be all right. Cora was certain of it.
“But not only did you violate Starland’s laws of Wishworld visitation, you chose to put yourself and all of Starland in danger,” the headmistress added gravely.
Cora leaned back, startled by such accusations. “But we were trying to find a way to solve the drought,” she pointed out. “We were trying to help.”
“Understood,” Lady Astrid replied. “But instead, you may have done the precise opposite—breaking yet another law by tampering with a Bad Wish Orb and releasing negative energy that we may never be able to contain!”
Cora shook her head and tried not to smirk. She almost felt sorry for the headmistress. Why was she making such a big deal out of something so small? “Truly, Lady Astrid, the amount of negative energy that escaped was hardly significant,” she insisted. “I’d be surprised if it could even be detected in the Starland atmosphere at this point.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Lady Astrid fired back, no longer the picture of composure. “Perhaps you failed to see the starveillance glameras outside of the Negative Energy Facility?”
Cora widened her eyes and sucked in her breath, searching her mind as she thought back to what the facility had looked like. That was indeed news to her. Was Lady Astrid bluffing? “No,” Cora said. “I didn’t see any glameras.”
“Interesting.” Lady Astrid shot a stern look at Cora. “They’re all around the entrance—so even if Stella hadn’t come to me with the information that she did, the authorities most certainly would have.”
“I see.” Cora pressed her lips together but remained unruffled. “But were there glameras inside? Didn’t the authorities see that I successfully destroyed the Bad Wish Orb?”
Lady Astrid shook her head. “Because everything on Starland must be powered by positive energy, there is no way to monitor activities inside the Negative Energy Facility,” she explained, much to Cora’s delight. “However, I can assure you that we did see an incredible amount of negative energy escape—a far from insignificant amount, as you claim—and it’s going to take quite a lot of effort for the authorities to contain it before it does serious damage to Starland.”
“Hmmm.” As bad as the situation seemed, Cora remained certain that the headmistress was blowing things a bit out of proportion.
“‘Hmmm’?” Lady Astrid retorted, slamming her hands on her desk as she spun more wildly out of control. “That’s all you have to say for yourself? The Negative Energy Facility was specifically designed to ensure that all Bad Wish Orbs would be contained—their toxic power never to be accessed or released—and you are responsible for violating that!”
Cora sighed. “Well, all I can tell you—again—is that my intentions were pure and good. I never intended for anything bad to happen.”
Lady Astrid began to swirl her fingertips along the surface of her desk, as if she was looking into some sort of crystal ball. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Then, at last, she spoke: “That may be. But regardless of intent, actions do have consequences—and the consequences of yours will be quite dire.”
Cora blinked at the headmistress. She was really losing it.
“Because of your many violations,” Lady Astrid continued, “and especially because of your decision to keep quiet when I offered you the opportunity to confess, I’m afraid that I’m going to be forced to expel you.”
The only sound louder than Cora’s gasp was Stella’s shouting “No!”
“Both of us?” Cora demanded, shooting a look at her friend. “I mean—is Stella expelled, too?”
“Absolutely not,” Lady Astrid replied firmly. “Stella put Starland’s best interests above her own and reported the situation, so I’ve decided to grant her a reprieve.”
“What?” Cora’s eyes widened with rage and her heart beat in double time at the injustice of the situation. Anger surged through her like an electric shock.
How could Lady Astrid expel her? And how could Stella go free? Suddenly, it became clear to Cora: Stella must have known what would happen if she went to Lady Astrid like she did. Perhaps that was why she had done it—so she could clear her own name while destroying Cora’s. She had thrown Cora under the starbus so that Cora would be the one to pay for everything, while Stella went free!
“I am truly sorry, Cora,” the headmistress concluded. “However, you really left me no choice. Please return to your room and pack up your belongings. In the meantime, I will call your parents and make arrangements for your removal from Starling Academy.”
So that was it? The final verdict? Cora was to be kicked out of school, and just a short time before she was supposed to graduate? As she narrowed her eyes at the headmistress, she could see that Lady Astrid’s mind was made up. There was nothing she could do.
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