by Ahmet Zappa
But her friendship with Leona had practically ground to a halt after the Starling’s disastrous mission. While Cassie understood how disappointed Leona was when it was discovered that she had not collected any wish energy, she was surprised when Leona had completely shut down and frozen her out. Instead Leona had chosen to spend time with her new roommate, and Scarlet’s replacement as a Star Darling, Ophelia. And once Cassie had started asking questions about Ophelia—who, everyone agreed, didn’t seem to be Star Darlings material at all—Leona had taken great offense. They had pretty much avoided being alone together ever since.
Sure, Cassie felt a slight glimmer of resentment that Leona had dropped her friendship so abruptly, but her delight in seeing her friend looking so much better won out. Leona gave her a blinding megawatt smile and Cassie grinned right back. All right, maybe Leona’s smile wasn’t quite as intense as it had been before all her mission troubles, but it was still pretty dazzling.
Leona slipped her arm through Cassie’s. She leaned down as if to tell Cassie a secret. “So can you believe it?” she whispered, her breath tickling Cassie’s ear. “You know they moved Ophelia into the Little Dipper Dormitory. Not only did I lose the sweetest roommate ever, but I’m sharing a room with weird old Scarlet again.”
“Poor you,” said Cassie, feeling a stab of guilt. She was fond of Scarlet—or as fond as anyone could be of the secretive and somewhat strange girl. But her pleasure at being back in Leona’s good graces outweighed her loyalty to Scarlet.
“All that black!” Leona groaned. “And the constant skateboarding messing up my beauty sleep. And remember, she plays the drums and she always forgets to turn on the muting switch. And her weird stuff lying around. Globerbeem cases and old meepletile skins. Ugh.” She shuddered with distaste. “Imagine what new oddities she’s collected since I’ve seen her last.” She sighed and made a sad face. “And what’s going to happen to Ophelia? She may not be a Star Darling, but she’s such a sweet Starling.” She gave Cassie a sidelong glance and her eyes widened. “You know something? She’s an orphan, too! But she has no one at all, not like you with your famous uncle to take care of you. As a matter of fact, she grew up in an orphanage in Starland City. She hadn’t made any friends in Starling Academy until she met me. And now she’s all alone again.”
“Oh,” said Cassie. She hadn’t known that about Ophelia. She had been so focused on the wrongness of Ophelia’s being a Star Darling that it hadn’t occurred to her to think about the girl’s feelings. Now all Cassie felt was sympathy for her. No one but a fellow orphan could understand the unspeakable pain of losing both of your parents at a young age. Of feeling so achingly alone, like you belonged to no one, adrift in a world that was suddenly empty and terribly frightening. And the devastating realization that life would never, ever be the same. For a girl who was searching for a place to fit in, being offered the chance to be a part of a secret group and then having it suddenly taken away must have been devastating.
Cassie swallowed hard. “I…I…I’ll keep an eye out for her,” she heard herself say.
“And you’ll talk to her, see how she’s doing?” Leona pressed.
Cassie nodded. “I will. Cross my stars and hope to shine.”
“Star salutations,” said Leona. “I’m worried about her. I really am.”
Cassie nodded. “Well, here’s my classroom,” she said. She unlinked her arm from Leona’s and impulsively gave her a quick hug. She tried to step back, but Leona held on for a moment longer than Cassie was expecting.
Leona had missed her. And that was a pretty nice thing to realize.
When Cassie stepped inside, she saw that her classmates were clustered together in the front of the room. Professor Lucretia Delphinus is either teaching the class how to shoot holo-dice or the Starlandian creature’s already here, she thought with a grin. But she had no one to share her little joke with. Cassie had a well-deserved reputation as a quiet girl who liked her privacy and never spoke out of turn, and her classmates respected this and tended to leave her alone.
She was okay with that. Still, she thought as she stood uncertainly at the front of the class, it would be nice if someone would turn around and say hello or move over to make room for me in the circle. But she wasn’t surprised that no one did. What was disappointing to her was that she knew her fellow classmates (and sometimes professors, as well) often took her reserved nature for aloofness or, worse yet, thought she had nothing to contribute. She did have a lot to offer; it was just that she liked to get all her thoughts in order before she opened her mouth. She didn’t like idle chitchat, throwaway comments, or speaking for the sole purpose of hearing herself talk. She couldn’t fathom being like Gemma, who could make small talk with anyone—teachers, students, parents, staff, strangers. Gemma was quite well liked because of it. But Cassie found the girl’s constant chatter simply exhausting.
The one place Cassie truly felt at ease was among her fellow Star Darlings. They seemed to appreciate her thoughtful, deliberate responses and had learned never to rush her to speak her mind before she was ready. She felt as if she had found her place. That’s why all the strange things that were going on were making her feel extra nervous. How she hoped it wasn’t a fellow Star Darling who was responsible. That is, if anything is going on, she reminded herself, hearing Vega’s voice of reason in her head. There could be a logical explanation for everything, couldn’t there?
The crowd of students hadn’t shifted an inch. Cassie stood on her toes to try to peer over them, but as she expected, it was useless. She overheard snippets of conversation: “How startastic!” and “I can’t wait to guess what the wish is!” She bit her lip in anticipation.
“Okay, class, time to get started,” Professor Lucretia Delphinus called out. “Everyone to your seats.”
The girls reluctantly scattered and Cassie headed to her desk. She plopped down into the chair, which immediately adjusted to her height, build, and preferred seating position, the ultimate in classroom comfort. Vega had told her that the seats in Wishworld classrooms were hard and rigid. That didn’t make sense to Cassie at all. She couldn’t imagine how you could pay attention to your lessons when you were uncomfortable.
Now that the students were all seated, Cassie was frustrated when she realized that she still couldn’t see the creature. Her professor, a tiny woman in a voluminous swirly purple-and-blue skirt that looked like a moonstorm, was somehow positioned in a way that precisely blocked her view. She craned her neck, but she was unable to see behind the woman.
“Star greetings, students,” said Professor Lucretia Delphinus. “Welcome to your first wish identification workshop. Today we will be granting the wishes of our special guest, Mica.” She stepped to the side and Cassie finally caught a glimpse. The creature was sitting in the middle of the teacher’s desk, staring into space. Cassie felt her spirits drop. It wasn’t a majestic glion who could be wishing to climb to the top of the Crystal Mountains and graze on the rainbow lichen that grew there or a galliope who might want to take a lucky student for a ride on his broad back, her fingers laced through his glittering mane. She would not be hearing the bellowing call of the many-antlered twinkelope anytime soon. No, that day they would be guessing the wishes of a much smaller and decidedly less glamorous creature—a creature Cassie knew almost as well as she knew herself: a glowfur.
Cassie shook her head and laughed to herself. This wasn’t going to be challenging at all. She sighed and waited for the class to begin.
The professor continued. “We’ll be honing our wish identification skills as we try to determine exactly what Mica is wishing for this morning.” She clasped her hands together and smiled at the students. “I’ll start with an easy question. Who can tell me what type of creature Mica is?”
Hands shot into the air. Cassie kept hers down. Too easy.
“Gloryah?” said the professor, pointing to a student with a pinkish-orange glow. Cassie liked her; she had a sweet disposition and was exceedingly polite, a
trait Cassie admired greatly.
“A moonbug!” said Gloryah. But her brow wrinkled as the words came out of her mouth. “No, that’s not right. I mean a—”
“It’s a glowfur,” interjected a student named Aerabelle disdainfully. She snorted. “Even my baby sister knows the difference between a glowfur and a moonbug!”
“I knew that!” Gloryah said. She looked around the room, appealing to her classmates. “I really did!”
Cassie gave Gloryah an understanding smile (though, really, who could mix those two up?) and turned to bestow a frown on Aerabelle, who had dusky purple curls and a deceptively sweet round face. You were not supposed to react negatively to your classmates; that was one of Starling Academy’s basic rules. Being kind and supportive—no matter how silly you thought a comment or question was—helped create an atmosphere of civility and support, which encouraged sharing and open dialogue, per the Student Manual. Aerabelle had apparently skipped that chapter.
“Be kind, Aerabelle,” the professor said in a warning voice. She might have been tiny, but her toughness was legendary. Her eyes flashed with annoyance. “That’s what we are here for. To learn, of course, but to do so in a supportive way. There are no incorrect answers. We learn from everything that is shared in this classroom, accurate or inaccurate. There is no room for negativity here.”
Aerabelle pouted, clearly not comprehending her teacher’s words, just her scolding tone. Cassie wasn’t surprised. The purple-haired girl was part of a group of first years whose ringleader was a student named Vivica, who had been particularly rude to the Star Darlings from day one at Starling Academy. Aerabelle was just as kind and understanding as her pale blue friend, Vivica—which is to say not at all.
Cassie watched as Gloryah’s face burned brightly with embarrassment. Cassie felt sorry for the girl but was quick to notice that she flushed a very pretty shade. Whenever Cassie blushed, her cheeks turned a silvery shade that she thought was very unflattering.
Professor Lucretia Delphinus pointed to the glowfur, who gazed at the class serenely. “Class, please say hello to Mica,” the professor instructed.
“Star greetings, Mica,” said the class, and Mica rewarded them with a few notes from the “Song of Meeting New People.” His singing was very pretty, though slightly muffled thanks to his bulging cheeks, stuffed with Green Globules. Cassie smiled. Glowfurs were notoriously greedy. The golden star on Mica’s belly glowed in greeting.
The students all oohed and aahed, as you would do if you didn’t have a pet glowfur who lived in your room and glowed its starbelly at you every morning. The creature blinked its large eyes at the students. A sigh went up.
“She’s so cute!” Aerabelle cried.
“Actually, she’s a he,” corrected Cassie gently. But really, how could the girl not see that his belly star was half the size of a female’s, the surest indicator?
“Whatever,” said Aerabelle with a shrug.
Cassie shook her head. Some Starlings!
“So what is this glowfur wishing for?” the professor asked the class. “Concentrate and pay attention to the signals. This will be the most challenging part of your Wish Missions. Wishlings make many wishes, sometimes several a day. The key is to deduce their special wish.”
The students all stared at the glowfur, who looked right back at them, his large eyes serious, his little paws buried in the fur on top of his head. So that’s it! thought Cassie. His wish was suddenly so apparent to her it was like it was stamped on the middle of his furry little forehead. She felt a rush of positive energy flow through her. Piece of pie, she thought, using a Wishworld expression her roommate had taught her. She looked around, waiting for someone to pick up on the obvious clue.
“He’s hungry!” called out a girl named Tansy.
“Yes, that’s it. Mica wants his breakfast!” a blue-tinged classmate chimed in.
“That’s not it,” said the professor. “Try again. When you figure it out, you may feel a burst of energy. But unfortunately, that doesn’t happen for everyone.”
Cassie yawned. With a quick glance to make sure that her professor’s attention was focused elsewhere, she slipped her Star-Zap into her lap and flipped it open. She began composing a holo-text message to Vega and Scarlet.
Do either of you have early lunch? We could meet up.
Second lunch.
No, last lunch. And I’m already hungry!
Then meet after SD class? What a mess in the caf this morning, huh?
That was crazy! Sounds good.
Okay with me.
We have to figure out how to get our hands on those flowers! Any ideas?
Vega?
Scarlet?
You two there?
Hello?
Still no response. Cassie tried to keep an eye on her screen as well as on her teacher. She stole a glance at Mica, whose pink fur was now standing up on his head in his obvious irritation. She was about to raise her hand to reveal the wish and help put the glowfur out of his misery when her Star-Zap began to vibrate and beep loudly. She scrambled to silence it and dropped her Star-Zap on the floor. It landed with a loud clatter and slid to the middle of the classroom, out of her reach.
Starf! She thought she had put it in silent mode.
Her classmates stared at her, openmouthed. The room was so still you could have heard a glowfur gasp. With as much dignity as she could muster, she walked over to pick up her Star-Zap. The tiny professor glided over and held out her hand. Shamefaced, Cassie placed the Star-Zap in her palm.
“Star apologies,” muttered Cassie. For a girl who hated to call attention to herself, this was an extraordinarily mortifying moment. She stood in front of her teacher, unsure what to do next.
“Outside,” the professor said sternly, turning and heading toward the classroom door, which opened smoothly. As Cassie followed the teacher out of the room, she was well aware that all eyes, including Mica’s, were on her.
To Cassie’s dismay, the professor began to lecture her in front of the open doorway, in view of the entire class, which seemed to be hanging on every word. “Now, Cassie, I am very disappointed in you,” the professor said sternly. “You know that there is no holo-texting allowed in the classroom. Your behavior was disrespectful and inexcusable.”
Cassie shut her eyes. This was her worst nightmare. More than once she had dreamed of being humiliated in front of her class. And it was even more distressing and embarrassing than she had imagined it would be. What is going to happen to me? she wondered. Will she keep my Star-Zap to teach me a lesson? Give me an extra holo-report assignment on wish identification? Or could it be something worse? She had heard rumors of a double secret detention room for badly misbehaving students that featured uncomfortable chairs and a special light that masked everyone’s glow, leaving them looking like dull Wishlings. She was sure it was a star legend that upperclassmen told to scare unsuspecting first years, but she certainly didn’t want to find out.
She braced herself for the punishment that was no doubt to come. The classroom door slid shut behind her silently and ominously.
Cassie gulped.
“How was that?” said the professor.
Cassie was confused. “Star-starscuse me?” she stammered. She looked up to see her that her teacher was grinning down at her.
“I was just putting on a show for the rest of the students,” Professor Lucretia Delphinus explained, handing Cassie her Star-Zap. “You know, make them think I was really annoyed with you. I didn’t want to blow your cover.” She put a hand on Cassie’s shoulder. “Pretty convincing, huh?”
Cassie nodded. She was still so tense she was unable to speak. Professor Lucretia Delphinus had been convincing, all right!
“Look, I realize how boring these introductory classes can be for you when your studies have already taken you so much further,” the professor continued.
Cassie nodded again. Relief flowed over her and she was finally able to give the teacher a shaky smile.
�
�For the rest of these girls,” Professor Lucretia Delphinus explained, “wish identification is something that will happen staryears from now. For you, it could happen any starmin.”