by Ahmet Zappa
“We’re so excited to go to your competition on Friday, Emma,” her mother said.
“Yeah,” said Emma quietly.
“How about a little more enthusiasm, young lady!” her father said. “That floor routine isn’t going to perfect itself, you know.”
Astra listened to all this with great excitement. It made perfect sense to her now. Obviously, she had been chosen to go on this mission because of her love of sports. She wondered if Emma needed her help with the floor routine.
After dinner Elizabeth begged everyone to come outside to see her aerial. “And we can show you some of our moves,” said Ellie.
Emma rolled her eyes. “How thrilling for you,” she said.
But it was thrilling for Astra. It turned out that gymnastics was a variation of the advanced moves Astra did while playing a game of Poses—leaps and jumps and tumbles.
“Come join us!” said Eva.
Astra didn’t need to be asked twice. Before she knew it, she was showing everyone her famous up-and-over starflip.
Someone started clapping. “You’re good,” said Emma’s mom admiringly.
“Wow!” said Ellie. “You just did a perfect roundoff back-handspring back tuck. Emma!” she shouted. “You need to see this!”
But Emma was nowhere to be found.
“Oh, she’s probably up in her room,” said Elizabeth.
“She doesn’t like gymnastics?” Astra asked, confused. “But I thought she was on the school team.”
Eva lowered her voice. “Oh, she’s just freaking out because she totally choked at the last meet.”
Elizabeth did another perfect aerial and landed right in front of Astra. “Yeah, she blew it for her team. They lost because of her. She was really upset.”
Ellie looked at her parents, who were talking to each other quietly. “My dad took it really hard.”
“Well, he was the gymnastics champ in high school,” said Eva. “He almost made it to nationals. But he lost out by one point. He doesn’t want the same thing to happen to any of us.”
Astra headed upstairs. She found Emma lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
“Hi,” said Astra.
“My dad is so proud of my sisters,” Emma said sadly, “and I wish that…” Her voice trailed off.
“And you wish he was proud of you, too,” Astra finished.
She felt a tingle of electricity down her spine. She had figured out the Wisher and the wish on the very same day! Things could not be going any better.
Astra woke up, and for a brief moment she had no idea where she was. She looked around and saw that she was surrounded by paintings and drawings. Oh, that’s right. She was in Emma’s bedroom, wrapped up in something called a sleeping bag. Simply by saying “Hey, wouldn’t it be a great idea if I slept over for the next three nights?” to Emma’s mother, she had received an enthusiastic invitation. Emma’s sisters had been confused (“You never let my friends stay over for three nights in a row!” Elizabeth had wailed. “And on a school night, too!”), and Emma had been delighted. Astra was certain she would be taking off right after Friday afternoon’s meet and wouldn’t need that third night, but she had added it just to be safe.
She yawned and stretched, feeling well rested and content. Her first day had gone extremely well. She’d made some interesting Wishworld observations, met her Wisher, and confirmed the wish. She knew that Emma’s father would be incredibly proud of Emma when she helped her team to victory on Friday afternoon. Nobody knew more about competition, concentration, and training than Astra did. It was the perfect mission for her. They could just start creating that holo-statue in her likeness right now.
Emma was still asleep, so Astra considered her next steps. It seemed pretty simple: she’d just have to make sure that the girl went to all her practices, wasn’t distracted, ate well, got plenty of sleep, worked hard, showed up at the meet, and did her best. Her father was sure to be impressed—and, most important, proud of his daughter.
School that day was pretty uneventful. Astra was just going through the motions, waiting for gymnastics practice that afternoon, where her real work would begin. At last the final bell rang. Astra and Emma grabbed their backpacks and headed to the locker room to change for practice.
“So I can’t wait to see that floor routine of yours,” Astra was saying as they walked down the hallway. Just then, a classroom door opened and an adult Wishling stepped out. She was a tall, thin woman with long, curly brown hair. Emma stopped right in her tracks.
“Well, hello there!” the woman said pleasantly. “I’m so happy to see you, Emma.”
“Hi, Ms. Gonzales,” Emma said—somewhat nervously, Astra noted. She looked both happy and a little apprehensive at the same time.
“Are you coming to art club this afternoon?” Ms. Gonzales asked. “There’s still time to—”
“Sorry,” Astra interrupted. She had this covered. Emma didn’t need any distractions. “Emma has gymnastics practice today. There’s a big meet coming up on Friday. Maybe she can come to your club after it’s over.”
Ms. Gonzales frowned. “But the…”
Astra grabbed Emma’s arm and began to steer her down the hall. Who was that woman, and why was she trying to interfere with Emma’s wish? “We’re late for practice,” Astra called over her shoulder. “See you later!”
There were other girls milling about in the locker room, already dressed in various uniforms, when they arrived. Astra wanted to use the Wishworld Outfit Selector, but she had no idea what to wear. Rather than make Emma suspicious, she pretended she needed to use the bathroom and wandered around the locker room trying to figure out what gymnasts wore.
“Is that a gymnastics uniform?” she asked a girl in a brimmed hat, striped pants, and a short-sleeved jersey. A large brown glove was tucked under her arm.
The girl gave Astra a funny look. “Softball,” she said. “That’s a joke, right?”
Astra moved on. “Do you play gymnastics?” she asked a girl in a tight-fitting outfit that covered only her torso, her hair tucked under a tight rubber hat. The girl gawked at her.
“No, I play swimming,” the girl finally answered. “Are you for real?”
Another girl took pity on Astra. “I’m on the gymnastics team,” she said. “Can I help you?”
Astra took in her one-piece outfit with long sleeves and bare legs. “You already have,” she told her.
Astra ducked into a bathroom stall and flipped through the outfits on her Wishworld Outfit Selector until she found what she was looking for. She picked a red one with a pretty multicolored star on the front. She stepped up to the mirror and took a look. Perfect.
She found Emma, who was similarly dressed, shoving her school clothes and books into a locker. “Cute leotard,” Emma told her.
“It is a cute leotard,” Astra said.
They walked into the gym and Astra was instantly in heaven. The room was filled with all sorts of equipment. There were girls flipping and spinning and vaulting and jumping. Astra introduced herself to the coach (“I am Astra. I am the new girl on your team.”) and found out that her favorite childhood dessert was something called brownies. Before the coach could blink, Astra was on the mat, showing off her up-and-over starflip. Make that her roundoff back-handspring back tuck. This was amazing. Not only was she making a wish come true; she was learning a new sport, which just happened to be one she had a natural talent for. She kept an eye on Emma, who was working on her floor routine. Astra learned how to do an aerial. It was going to come in very handy during her next game of Poses; that was for sure.
She especially enjoyed when she was able to take a break and shout encouragement at Emma, who looked like she could use some. When practice ended for the day, they pulled sweatpants on over their leotards (Emma loaned her a pair), laced up their sneakers, grabbed their backpacks, and headed out the exit door.
“Surprise!” said someone from the curb. The girls spun around.
Emma’s face lit u
p. “Daddy!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I would take you girls out to dinner,” he said.
“Can we go to Chewsy Cheese?” Emma asked excitedly.
“Of course,” he said. “Grilled cheese and a root beer float, am I right?”
“You know it,” Emma said. She slipped her hand into his. “Come on, Astra, my dad is taking us out to dinner!”
They drove to a nearby restaurant, which was lit up with multicolored blinking lights. Inside it was crowded and loud. Astra loved it immediately.
Astra stared at the menu. There were cheeseburgers, cheese sticks, cheese omelets, cheese fries, cheesecake, and twenty different kinds of grilled cheese.
The waitress came over. “May I take your order?” she asked. Astra stared at her hat, which looked like a large block of cheese.
“Is that made of real cheese?” Astra asked, her eyes wide. This warranted an observation.
Everyone laughed. “Oh, Astra,” said Emma’s dad, shaking his head. “You’re too funny.” He ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and coffee.
“I’ll have a grilled cheese with tomato on rye and a root beer float,” said Emma.
Hmmm. Sounded good. “Me too,” said Astra.
The waitress returned with a steaming mug of coffee. Emma’s father ripped open a paper package and poured some grainy stuff into it, stirring it with a spoon. Meanwhile, Emma pulled some colored pencils out of her schoolbag, flipped over her menu, and began drawing on it.
Her dad took a sip of his coffee, pronounced it quite tasty, and began peppering his daughter with questions.
Had she tried her best that day? Yes, she had.
Was she perfecting her floor routine? She was working on it.
What did the coach have to say? Nothing much.
Did she think she was ready for Friday’s meet? Sure.
Emma’s dad sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Emma’s answers were apparently not satisfactory. Astra noticed that she seemed pretty distracted. Emma’s dad turned to Astra, clearly frustrated.
“What do you think, Astra? Is she working hard?” he asked.
“She is,” said Astra. “I think she is going to do great on Friday, actually. You’re coming, right?” she asked worriedly.
“Of course,” said Emma’s dad. “The whole family is going to be there. I just want to make sure that Emma is ready.”
Emma continued sketching, as if she hadn’t heard herself being discussed.
There was an uncomfortable silence. Luckily, the food came very quickly. “Here you go,” said the waitress, setting the tray down on the edge of the table. “Grilled cheese with tomato on rye,” she said, setting it before Astra.
Astra picked up one of the melty sandwich halves and took a tentative bite. Then another. It was positively delicious. She next took a sip of the root beer float, and it was sweet creamy goodness. Almost as delicious as an egg cream, she thought.
They ate their food in silence. When the plates were cleared, Emma went back to drawing.
“I had an idea, sweetheart,” Emma’s dad said.
Emma looked up expectantly. “Yes?” she said.
“Astra is really good at roundoff back-handspring back tucks. Maybe she could teach it to you. You could add it to your floor routine,” he suggested. “That might really put you over the edge.”
“Maybe,” said Emma quietly. She went back to her paper.
Emma’s dad sighed again. “Can you stop doodling for a minute and talk to me?” he asked. “I don’t think that you are taking this meet as seriously as you should. Your sisters seem to understand how important it is. Heck, Elizabeth is already doing—”
“Dad, I need to ask you…” Emma interrupted.
Just then, the waitress came over with the check. Emma’s dad stood up.
“In a minute, sweetheart. I’m going to go pay the bill.”
Emma scowled and crumpled the menu. Astra put a hand on her friend’s arm. Emma shook her off.
“He just doesn’t get it,” she complained. “I want to win the meet, of course, but there’s something else that’s more important….”
“Yes, I understand,” said Astra. “You want to make him proud of you.”
“Yes, but…”
“But nothing,” said Astra. “You have to believe in yourself, Emma. You have to focus on what is most important to you and not be distracted by the things that are not. Everything is going to work out great if you can just do that.”
Emma sighed. “Fine,” she said. She slid out of the booth and walked over to her dad. They spoke for a moment and he gave her a quick hug.
Astra gathered her backpack and, before she got up, leaned over and smoothed out the menu. She gasped. Emma had drawn Astra. She had gotten her hair, her upturned nose, the shape of her face, and the mischievous gleam in her eyes just right. It was a perfect likeness.
Astra woke up, her eyes gleaming. It was Friday! How was she going to survive a full day of classes before the big meet? She was so excited about making Emma’s wish come true and collecting the wish energy, and she was thrilled that she was going to be the first Star Darling who didn’t need help on her mission. She wondered if that meant she would collect double the wish energy or something.
Emma’s parents each gave her a big hug as she headed out the door. “Good luck!” they called. “We’ll see you in the gym!”
Emma turned to wave from the sidewalk. “See you in the gym!” she called. She waited until they got to the end of the block, then turned to Astra. “Tell me again it’s all going to be okay,” she said.
Oh, no! Why was Emma so nervous? That wasn’t helpful at all!
“It’s all going to be okay,” Astra said soothingly. But when Emma was looking the other way, she tapped her elbows together three times for good luck. With an attitude like that, she was pretty sure they needed it.
“Astra, are you paying attention?” Ms. Lopez asked during English class. “Can you please tell me which word in this sentence is the adjective?”
Astra blinked at her slowly, then stared at the board. “Um, roundoff?” she said. She had been running Emma’s routine through her head step-by-step instead of paying attention.
The class laughed. Everyone, that is, but Emma. The very word seemed to make her ill.
“Do you mean rounded?” Ms. Lopez asked. She looked at Astra sympathetically. “I know you are excited about the gymnastics competition,” she said, “but please try to pay attention for the rest of the day. It’s not that much longer, I promise.”
Astra nodded. She was a little disappointed that she wasn’t going to be competing. How exciting would that have been! But there simply hadn’t been enough time to teach her all of the events. So instead she had memorized Emma’s floor exercise. She would show everyone when she got back home, which hopefully would be very soon.
Astra waved excitedly when Emma’s family entered the gym. She wanted to sit with them so she could make sure that Emma’s dad didn’t miss a thing. She was counting on wrapping up the wish that day.
Astra sat between Emma’s dad and Eva. She looked around the gymnasium. There were a couple of kids from her and Emma’s class there. She gave them a wave. She was pleased to note that Ms. Lopez was there, too. The teacher looked at Astra and raised her thumb. Astra gasped. Back on Starland that was an extremely rude gesture, one that would certainly get you a detention, if not a suspension, especially if you did it to a teacher. But Ms. Lopez was looking back at her expectantly. So Astra gulped and returned the gesture. She burst into laughter. Wait till she told the rest of the Star Darlings that she had given a teacher a thumbs-up!
Eva explained how the meet worked. The teams each competed in four events—uneven bars, floor exercise, vault, and balance beam. The team with the highest overall score would be the winner. “I’m worried about Emma’s floor exercise,” Eva said. “She didn’t get enough height in her tumbling pass last time.”
Emma did well on the
vault, balance beam, and uneven bars. Astra watched her with admiration as she soared through the air, effortlessly catching the bar in both hands, extending, releasing, and pirouetting. How she wished they had that kind of equipment on Starland! It was like flying!
Astra stole a glance at the scoreboard. Emma’s team was doing well—but so was another team. Their scores were uncomfortably close. The floor exercises would settle that. There were two girls left to go from the top two teams…and Emma was one of them.
Eva buried her head in her hands. “Poor Emma,” she said. “The pressure is going to get to her!”
The other team went first. The music began to play and the girl began with a tumbling pass that included a series of cartwheels. Her routine was nearly flawless.
Astra had been keeping a running score in her head. If Emma didn’t get at least a nine point six two five, her team would lose. Eva turned to Astra. “I know this is confusing at first,” she said, “but if Emma doesn’t get at least a nine point six two five, her team will lose. Just like last time.”
“Thanks,” said Astra, hiding her smile. “It’s so confusing!”
Eva clutched Astra’s arm as Emma went through her routine. Leaping, tumbling, turning, twisting—she did it all perfectly. “This is it,” said Eva. “She just needs to do her final tumbling pass and stick her landing.”
Astra watched as Emma took a deep breath and began. But instead of doing a series of cartwheels as usual, she did a dive cartwheel into a roundoff back-handspring ending with a double back tuck! It was Astra’s move! She felt so proud. But with such momentum, would Emma be able to stay within bounds and stick her landing? The crowd gasped as Emma bobbled for a moment, then quickly regained her balance, feet firmly planted beneath her, toes barely inside the line. The crowd erupted. As Emma’s family stood and cheered, Astra stared at the scoreboard, holding her breath.
Then the score: 9.9!
“She did it!” Eva shouted. “She did it!”
Emma’s parents hugged each other. Her sisters clapped and cheered some more. Emma’s coach and her teammates jumped up and down. Emma had a small smile on her face. Why isn’t she happier? Astra wondered. Her wish is coming true.