She dropped down onto the grass and picked at a dandelion. “Fine. It’s not like I have much choice. You’re going to do it, anyway.”
That was true. I sat across from her. “Just relax,” I said. “And think about the wishes while I focus on taking them away.” I put my hands on her head. “Undo the wishes. I wish they’d disappear. Make them disappear. Make them disappear.”
I tried to send out energy from my fingertips to Gabi, zapping the original wish—that all of her wishes would come true—away. I visualized her thinking about it in her mind. I pictured it vanishing. I want it gone. I want it gone. I want it gone.
I felt something like an energy bolt surge through me. It was the feeling of success.
“I think I did it,” I told Gabi, moving my hands from her head. “Wish for something.”
“I wish you weren’t a nutcase.”
“Ha-ha.” I stood up. “Your wishes don’t work on me. Wish for something real.”
“Fine. I wish the windows on the McBrin house weren’t boarded up.”
I almost fell backward as I watched the wood paneling remove itself. How was it possible? “I was so sure I made it disappear.”
Gabi’s phone rang, and she picked it up. Within seconds her whole face was drained of color. When she hung up she stared at me.
“That was my mom,” she said, her voice so low and hollow it gave me goose bumps. “I think you may have made something else disappear. My sister is gone.”
chapter 22
“It’s impossible,” I said. “I didn’t make your sister go anywhere.”
“Then where is she?” Gabi shrieked.
“She’s probably just acting up to get some attention.” I chewed on three of my nails at once. Please don’t let me be the cause.
“My mom said Rori disappeared right in front of her eyes. That one second she was there, the next she wasn’t. That had to be your doing.”
She was right. “I know, just wish for her back!”
“I wish Rori was here, standing right in front of me,” Gabi said.
Nothing happened. It looked like Gabi couldn’t undo my mistakes.
Gabi was clawing at her arms. She was panicked. “How did this happen?”
“I don’t know. Were you thinking about her when I was trying to undo the wish?”
“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t know. My mind might have flashed to how happy she’d be now that my wishes were gone. But what does that matter?”
Because it meant I messed up royally. Instead of taking away Gabi’s wishes, I took away something else she was thinking about.
I had never seen Gabi look like this. So . . . so . . . desperate. It was like I slapped all the joy out of her.
“Well,” I said. “It wasn’t like you liked your sister that much, anyway.”
Gabi looked at me like I was crazy. “She can be a pain, but she’s still my sister! I would never want her to disappear. Not for good!”
“She didn’t,” I told her. “This is nothing. I’ll get her back. I’ll use my powers. I just need to think for a minute.” I paced back and forth and took a few deep breaths. In and out. In and out. I was going to bring Rori back. Bring Rori back. Bring Rori back. I was going to bring Rori back right now.
A giant roar, followed by a scream, brought me out of my relaxation trance.
Standing face-to-face with Gabi was a lion.
She took a step backward, and the lion followed suit. “Get rid of it,” she whisper-shouted through clenched teeth.
Get rid of it? I didn’t even know how I got it there in the first place. The animal lunged right for my best friend. “No!” I screamed, and closed my eyes as hard as I could. I couldn’t watch. My best friend was about to be lion food. It was official. I was definitely evil. Gabi’s life was over because of me. How was I going to go on? When I opened my eyes, Gabi was gone. Had the lion pulverized her? Where was she?
“Gabi,” I yelled. “Gabi!” I squeezed my eyes shut again to keep the tears from streaming out. It didn’t work. They came, anyway. But this time when I opened them up again, Gabi was back.
What was going on?
She raced to my side and clutched onto me, and I held her just as tight. “Where did you go?” I asked her.
“I don’t know. One second I was there, then the next I just disappeared.”
It was me! My powers. They did something right! They took Gabi out of danger. But it wasn’t exactly time for a celebration. I had a hungry lion standing right in front of me roaring its head off.
Roaring! That was it. Instead of bringing Rori back, I brought back a roaring lion. It was like for every one thing that went right with my powers another zillion went wrong.
“Do something,” Gabi said.
“Go back where you came from,” I said. “Send the roaring lion back.” I said it, I thought it, I breathed in and out, I tried to will it away. And finally in a poof, the lion was gone.
“You could have killed us!” Gabi said, stepping back from me.
That would definitely have sent my soul straight to the underworld. Intentionally or not, it was like I was destined to do horrible things.
“Angel, are you even listening to me?” Gabi screamed. “We need to get Rori back.”
“Sorry,” I said, snapping back from my thoughts.
“You’re right. It will work this time. I’m sure of it. Bring back Gabi’s sister, Rori. Bring back Gabi’s sister. Bring back Gabi’s sister.”
I shouted it out as loud as I could, closed my eyes, and even made a rhyme. “Powers don’t fail me, it’s Gabi’s sister we want to see. It is her that we miss, please bring us Gabi’s sis.”
Nothing.
I closed my eyes and pictured seeing Gabi hugging her sister. “Please bring back Gabi’s sister,” I whispered into the air.
And then finally, from a twenty-foot distance, I saw the silhouette of a little girl materialize.
“Where am I?” she asked. Yes! I did it! I brought her back!
At least I thought I did.
But then I looked closer. It wasn’t Rori. It was some other little girl. A little girl who looked terrified. “Where’s my sister?” she asked.
“What?” I asked.
“Where’s Gabi?” Panic rose in her voice. “She was just here.”
Just perfect. I brought Gabi’s sister here all right. I just got the wrong Gabi.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. “You’re okay.”
She looked at me like I was a boogeyman who terrorized small defenseless children in their sleep and cut off their thumbs for souvenirs. She wasn’t that far off. I was the spawn of the devil.
“We’ll call your sister,” Gabi said. “What’s the number?”
The girl looked hesitant, but gave us the info. “Wait,” I said to Gabi. “Block your number. The last thing we need is her sister tracking us down.”
Gabi gave me a look before she dialed. I knew what it meant. It meant I was way too good at this whole deception business. That maybe I did take after my dad.
I tried not to think about that. I couldn’t. Not now. First I had to concentrate on sending the girl back to her sister. Then I could deal with my messed-up lineage.
“Hello,” Gabi said into the phone.
“Hello,” the other Gabi said so loud I could hear from where I was standing. “Susie, is that you?”
“She’s okay,” my Gabi said.
“Who is this? Where’s my sister? I’m calling the police.”
NO! She couldn’t do that. I needed to get her sister back now.
“There you are. Thank God. Susie, where were—” the phone line went dead. Gabi—one of them—disconnected the call.
“You did it,” Gabi said. “You sent her back.”
My powers tended to be more active when I was panicked out of my mind. And the idea of getting charged with kidnapping certainly ranked up there in the crisis zone.
“And I’ll get Rori back, too.”
“I knew I never s
hould have let you try to undo my wish. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“I’m so sorry. I want to put everything back to normal. I’m trying.” I coughed back a sniffle. My best friend was going to hate me forever if I didn’t fix this. Pleeeaaaasseeee!!! I begged my powers. Please work. Please bring back Gabi Gottlieb’s sister, Rori. Right now!
“Rori!” Gabi cried out.
Finally! There was Rori standing right in front of us! I guess my panic and prayers paid off. Thank goodness.
“What? Where . . . How did I get here?” Rori was clearly confused.
Gabi did a one-eighty. She went from down in the dumps to all smiles. She was practically bouncing. “I wish Rori was back with my mother and that neither of them remember that she ever went missing.”
And just like that Rori was gone.
Gabi dialed her Mom. “Is Rori there? She wasn’t missing at all? No reason. Okay. Bye.” She turned to me. “Everything’s fine. They don’t remember a thing about her disappearance. How about that? It looks like I’ve got this power thing down. Nothing to worry about.”
“It’s harder than it looks,” I warned her. “Did you see the kind of bad that can happen? Disappearing sisters!”
“That was you. Not me.”
“This time.” I shook my head. “You’re going to have to try harder to give back the wishes.”
I didn’t want to think what would happen if she didn’t.
chapter 23
“Well, if it isn’t the loser brigade,” Courtney called out from the school steps as Gabi and I approached.
Her groupies, Jaydin and Lana, of course broke into a fit of laughter. “The only problem,” Jaydin said through her giggles, “is that I can’t tell which one takes the prize. The freak show or the blabbermouth.”
“That’s a tough one,” Lana chimed in. “You can’t even go on looks. They’re both pretty horrendous. Double-A’s fire-red hair is practically blinding me. And Gabi’s is so mousy that it gives me the shivers.”
“Yeah,” Courtney said. “Where do you cut your hair? The . . .”—The smirk on her face was replaced by a sweet smile. In fact, Courtney’s whole stance changed. She dropped her hands from her hips and crossed them in front of her. Her voice even got softer—“. . . the beauty shop on Goode Street? They do the best blowouts. My mom always goes there.”
Okay? What was going on? Was this a trap? “No,” I said.
“Well,” Courtney said. “If you ever want to check it out, just let me know. We can make it a day of beauty!”
“And we can all give one another manicures after,” Jaydin chirped in. “It’ll be so much fun, and I have the perfect color for you, Gabi. It will go amazing with your skin tone.”
Since when did they want me or Gabi around? This was weird. Then I had my duh moment. It wasn’t weird. It was the “work” of my best friend.
I turned to Gabi. “What did you do?”
“Well,” she whispered, and tugged at her ponytail, “when they were insulting us it’s possible a couple of thoughts may have crossed through my mind. And I may have wished that they’d be nice. Like really, majorly, super nice.”
Okay. It could have been worse. Like what went through my mind. That they’d turn into bugs that I could squash with one of Courtney’s designer shoes. So I guess nice was nothing in comparison.
“Gabi,” Jaydin said, rushing toward her. “Can I help you with your bag? It looks really heavy, and I don’t want you to hurt your back.”
“I’ll take it,” Lana said. “I’m stronger, and I don’t want you to get hurt either, Jaydin.”
“Girls,” Courtney said, flashing her teeth at me in a big, old smile. “Don’t forget about Angel. Do you need any help with anything? Just let us know. Nothing makes us happier than doing things for others.”
This reminded me of one of those body snatcher movies. Courtney and Co. had been replaced by pods. They were totally all smiles and good deeds. It was eerie. I mean, they deserved a lesson—for someone to get back at them for all the hurt and cruelty they’d brought on—but this much niceness was pretty sickening.
They were way over the top, fawning all over us and anyone who walked by. It was a little repulsive. But Gabi actually looked pleased with herself.
“Please, let me take the bag,” Lana begged Gabi. “It makes me so sad when I can’t help others.”
“Uh, okay,” Gabi said, and handed her bag to the pod people.
“I’ll get this right to your homeroom,” Lana said, nodding furiously. She began running, but stopped herself. She turned around. “I better not run. Running can cause accidents. And accidents aren’t nice.”
Gabi snorted. I smacked her arm. This was not funny. Okay, maybe a little. But it was also something that needed to be fixed immediately.
“Angel!” Courtney shook her finger at me. “We don’t hit friends. That’s not nice.”
Then she saw D.L., who was making his way up the stairs. “It’s so good to see you,” she said, giving him a huge hug. “And don’t you look nice!”
That word was starting to give me a nervous tic. D.L. pushed her away. “What is with you? One day you don’t even want to be around me and the next day you’re syrupy sweet.”
She grinned at him. “I’m sorry. Did I do something to upset you? I’ll make it up to you. Would you like me to write you a letter and apologize? There’s nothing like a note from the heart.”
He just stared back at her. “Okay. Who are you? What did you do with Courtney?”
She slapped her hand lightly on his chest. “You’re so silly.”
“Max,” Jaydin called out, waving to the school’s new king. “I did all of the math homework. Just come to me whenever you need help.”
He didn’t even stop and acknowledge her. Instead, he just walked into school, a posse of people by his side.
Now not only did I have to deal with Mad Max, but I had Courteous Courtney and Company. And who knew what was in store next? There was one thing I did know—this was getting way out of hand. And I needed to do something about it.
“You know what we should do?” Jaydin said to Courtney. “Something nice for Max. I bet the home ec room is open. Let’s go make him some cookies.”
Courtney clapped her hands together. “That’s such a good idea, Jaydin. You are so smart. And pretty, too. See you later, D.L. We’re going to go make some cookies. You can come. You too, Angel and Gabi. We would never want to exclude anyone from our group.”
Yeah, right.
D.L. gave me a look. Almost like I had something to do with what was going on with his girlfriend.
I just shrugged.
He couldn’t pin any of this on me. But it was probably only a matter of time before he, or someone else, could.
These wishes needed to stop before Gabi got us in big trouble.
chapter 24
The lockers turned a light shade of lavender and the walls a deep purple as we headed to homeroom.
“Gabi!”
“Sorry! I was just thinking about how they’d be so much prettier if they weren’t that drab green. And it just happened. Besides,” she said, “I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up. Big deal if the walls are purple. It makes the school look better. How is that a bad thing?”
Before I could respond, I noticed Cole heading toward us.
“There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said.
He looked so cute. His hair was getting longer and some of his curls flopped right over his eyes. When he tossed his head to move them away, I’m pretty sure my stomach did a back handspring.
“You guys are so lucky you got out of that test yesterday,” Cole said. “It was awful. Mrs. Torin expected us to remember every single little thing that happened in the play. Which was impossible. I read the thing twice, and I still barely understood any of it. I can’t wait until we’re done with Shakespeare.”
“It should be soon,” I told him. “I think she’s going to have us wri
te our own plays next. Maybe we can all work on one together.”
“You know, I was thinking,” he said, rocking back on his feet, “that maybe . . .”
Gabi started to wander off. “Gabi, wait up. Hold on, Cole.” I wanted to talk to Cole, but I needed to talk to Gabi. To warn her to watch what she said and thought. “I’m sorry,” I told Cole, “but can I catch up with you in class? There’s something really important I need to tell Gabi.”
I hated sending him away, especially when he seemed so excited to see me, but this was mega important. I needed to shake some sense into Gabi before she made another wish.
Cole looked from Gabi to me and back again. Then he nodded and walked off. He looked so disappointed. And while this may sound awful, it actually made me feel happy. It meant he really, truly liked me. Which was good, because I really, truly liked him, too.
Once the coast was clear, I turned my attention back to Gabi, who was sipping from a can of soda. “Where’d you get that?”
“I was thirsty.”
“And you wished for it on purpose!”
She didn’t answer.
“Gabi, you can’t go around making wishes.”
“Why not?”
Why not? Was she losing her mind? Were the wishes interfering with her brain waves and causing her to lose all sense of reason? “Because one day the wrong wish is going to come true!”
“Me having a soda is not going to cause the school to collapse. I’m not going to wish for anything like that.”
I cringed as she spoke, half expecting the walls to come caving in. “But if you word something wrong, who knows what will happen? Try and reverse the wish making. Now.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Gabi, you said you would.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I needed to hold in the gloom and dread before it oozed out of my pores and contaminated the whole school.
“No. You did.”
“Fine. Do you want me to try and reverse it again?”
“Are you kidding? I’m not risking that. What if the same thing happens as before? And you make Rori disappear and next time you can’t get her back. Besides”—she shrugged her shoulders—“the wishes are kind of fun.”
Careful What You Wish For Page 7