by Ahmet Zappa
While they ate, Vega pulled the list of questions out of her backpack. She gave the stuffed blue star keychain a squeeze for luck. “Do you mind if I go first?” she asked Ella.
“Shoot,” said Ella.
“What?” asked Vega, totally confused.
Ella laughed. “Go ahead.”
“What is your greatest joy?” Vega asked her.
Ella bit her lip and stared into space. “I guess it’s being creative,” she said slowly. “Like I’ll show up for school in paint-splattered shoes or two different-colored socks, and the day after, one girl is doing it, and then the next week it’s five girls, and soon it’s a trend in the entire school. Even the older girls are copying my style.”
Vega wrote that all down. It was fun to write in a paper notebook with a writing utensil—very old-fashioned and extremely satisfying.
“What is your biggest dream for the future?” was the next question.
Vega looked up. Ella’s cheeks were flushed and she looked excited. It was the first time Vega had seen her look relaxed and unguarded.
“I’m going to be a fashion designer,” she said. “I’m going to create new fashions that no one has ever seen before. I’m going to come up with something people will be talking about forever, like the jumpsuit or the maxi dress.”
“Just like your mom,” said Vega.
Ella looked away. “Yeah, just like my mom.”
“And last but not least, what is your biggest fear?”
Ella stared into the distance. She opened her mouth, then closed it. “Um, my biggest fear is that everyone…”
Vega leaned forward. “Yes?”
“That everyone…” she thought for a moment and frowned. “That everyone…um, won’t like my fashions,” she concluded.
“That’s it?” asked Vega.
“That’s it,” Ella said firmly. “Now your turn.”
Vega, with some creative thinking and some serious self-editing, was able to answer the questions. She spoke about her dream of being a top student and her love of puzzles of all kinds. And all of a sudden she found herself explaining that her biggest fear was not making her mother proud of her, after she had worked so hard to provide for Vega. She had never put those thoughts into words, and she grew teary as she said them. When she looked up, she saw that Ella looked a bit tearful, too.
The two girls smiled at each other. “That was great,” said Ella. “I really learned a lot about you today.”
“Me too,” said Vega. “You’re a really interesting person.”
Ella checked her watch. “All right, well, I guess I had better go,” she said reluctantly.
“Oh, is your driver waiting?” Vega asked.
Ella got a funny look on her face, then nodded. “Yes, my driver is waiting. That’s right.” She grabbed the key pendant that hung around her neck, as if she was checking that it was there.
It’s now or never, Vega thought. “I know what your lie is,” she blurted out.
Ella bit her lip. “You do?” She didn’t look angry anymore, just sad and embarrassed.
“Your mom isn’t really in Paris,” Vega said.
Ella nodded. She looked ashamed but almost relieved.
“You don’t want her to come in for Bring Your Parents to School Day because you don’t want the other girls to pester her into making them fashions. You want to keep her creations all to yourself!” Vega concluded.
Ella stared at Vega, who sat back in the booth, feeling triumphant.
Then Ella stood up. “You couldn’t have it any more wrong if you tried,” she said. She threw some money on the table and stormed out of the coffee shop, the bell over the door tinkling cheerfully and adding a merry note to a decidedly unpleasant parting.
Vega watched her go, her heart sinking. She suddenly felt tired and cranky. She decided she would head to the school roof, where she would pitch her invisible tent. She glanced at her Star-Zap and accessed the Countdown Clock. Nineteen starhours and counting. Starf! She was running out of time. If she didn’t have Ella’s wish granted by the next day at noon, Leona wasn’t going to be the only Star Darling who didn’t collect any wish energy!
“What are you doing here?” Vega asked.
When she had opened the flaps of her tent the next morning, she was shocked to see Clover standing at the edge of the roof, admiring the view.
Clover turned around, raised her eyebrow, and smirked at Vega. Her look said, You know why I’m here.
“I guess I already know,” said Vega with a sigh. “My mission is dangerously close to failing?”
“Your mission is dangerously close to failing,” confirmed Clover. She walked over to the tent, her arms folded tightly across her chest. “Spill it.”
So Vega did.
“There’s only one thing to do,” said Clover. “You’ve got to find her, figure out what she actually did lie about, and fix it, all in”—she checked Vega’s Countdown Clock—“four starhours.”
“I think I can do it,” said Vega. “I just need to get her alone. We started to have a connection yesterday….”
“Well, let’s find her right away,” said Clover. “You just have to keep thinking. Is there a detail that you missed…a small clue that will help us figure it all out?”
The two girls left the roof and headed downstairs. They walked down the hallway to Ms. McKenney’s classroom. When they got there, it was crowded with students and their parents, all of them buzzing with excitement. A doctor in a white lab coat was wheeling a human skeleton into the room. A book editor arrived with a stack of books to hand out. “Signed by the author!” bragged Luna.
“Hi, Vega,” said Katie’s dad. He took the stack of charts from under his arm and placed it on Katie’s desk.
“This is going to be deadly,” whispered Katie. “I can’t watch!”
Vega grabbed her arm. “Where’s Ella?” she asked.
“I overheard Ms. McKenney saying she wasn’t coming in today,” answered Katie. “I guess her mom didn’t come back from Paris after all. What a disappointment.”
Vega just stared at her. That was way more than a disappointment. That was a disaster!
Just then Callie and her mother rushed into the classroom. Callie’s mom, who ran a modeling agency, was carrying a big shiny box filled with head shots. Callie looked repulsed. “You’ll never believe it,” she said. “We couldn’t get a cab, so we had to take the subway.”
“Ewwwww,” said Lila. “My mother never lets me take the subway.”
The subway…the subway…Why did that seem so familiar? All of a sudden Vega remembered her and Ella’s words. “Is that a book of crosswords?” Vega had asked. And Ella had said, “It is. I do them on the subway.”
And Ella’s mom had not gone to Paris….And the key she wore around her neck…It wasn’t the latest trend in necklaces—it was her house key! Her distressed boots? Well, it was quite possible they were just old.
“Oh, my stars,” said Vega. “I had it all wrong. It’s so simple. I’m such an idiot.”
Clover grinned and opened her mouth as if she was about to say something.
“Don’t you dare agree with me!” said Vega.
Clover just smiled.
“I’ll explain it all on the way to Ella’s house,” said Vega. “But first I’ve got to find out where she lives!”
All she had to say was “You forgot to tell me what Ella’s address is,” to the school secretary, who handed it right over, no questions asked. Oh…there was one. It was “Are they serving German chocolate cake in the cafeteria today?”
Clover laughed. “So it’s true! We do smell like dessert!”
Vega looked down. Her wish energy was depleted. She stared at the address in her hand. There was no way around it. They were going to have to take the dreaded subway to get there.
“I don’t know what everyone is freaking out about,” said Clover as they sat in the subway car. The train rocked and shimmied as it sped through the underground tunnels.
“Thank you,” she said, removing one Wishling dollar. That was certainly generous of him!
He had a funny look on his face, but then he laughed. “Um, you’re welcome,” he said.
“So spill the stars,” said Clover, crossing her arms.
“I put it all together,” said Vega. “She takes the subway. She lives outside the city. She said her mother was not in Paris. Katie told me that some students at George Robert aren’t as wealthy as the others. Some kids get financial aid because the school costs so much. I’m pretty sure Ella’s lie was that she told everyone that her mother is a successful fashion designer. I think maybe business isn’t going very well and she doesn’t want everyone to find out about it, because it would embarrass her mom.”
The train emerged from the tunnel onto an elevated track.
Clover frowned. “You really think that’s it? So what’s her wish then?”
Vega thought hard for a moment. “She wishes that…she never said that about her mom?” Her brow furrowed. “But that’s an impossible wish.” She sighed. “This is all very confusing. I’m not sure how to fix this and time is running out.” She looked down at her Star-Zap. “And this is our stop.”
They exited the train car and found themselves on an open-air platform with a pretty mosaic sign. They headed downstairs, crossed a large boulevard, and headed straight down the block. There were fewer trees in that neighborhood and not as many flowers. Not as many people, either. Little Wishlings ran down the street and rode their tricycles while their caretakers watched, smiling.
Finally, they reached Ella’s building—a solid brick fortress at the end of the block. Vega could see the tall skyscrapers of the city in the distance. Against the bright blue sky and soft fluffy clouds drifting by, it looked magical, like a fairy-tale city.
Vega used the last grains of her wish energy to push open the locked door. She and Clover rode the elevator in silence. They rang the buzzer for 6F.
No answer.
“I can’t believe it!” said Vega. “Where is she? What are we going to do?”
The door swung open. Ella stood there, looking furious. “What are you doing here?” She looked at Clover. “And who is this?” she asked.
“This is my friend Clover,” said Vega.
“Pleased to meet you,” said Ella. “Nice boots.”
“Thanks,” said Clover, glancing down at her soft-brown fringed footwear.
Ella turned back to Vega, her mouth set in a thin, hard line. “Now get out of here,” she said. “My mother is home. I don’t want her to know what happened. She might think I’m embarrassed of her and that would kill me.”
“I think I can help you,” said Vega.
“No one can help me,” retorted Ella. “I’ve gotten myself into this stupid mess and I don’t know how to get out.”
“You have to trust me,” Vega said. “I’m here to help you.” She smiled at Ella. “Sometimes when I’m feeling lost I say a special phrase to myself. I call it my mantra. And it helps me, it gives me strength. Do you want to say it with me?”
Ella rolled her eyes. But she gave a small smile and shrugged. “Sure,” she said. “I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Vega grasped Ella’s hands in hers and recited her mantra: “You are the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Ella gasped and stepped back. “How did you know?”
“I…um….” Vega stammered. How did she know what?
Ella grabbed Vega’s hand and pulled her inside the apartment. Clover was right behind her. The apartment was spotless, very cozy, and welcoming.
The small foyer had a tiny hand-painted table and a mosaic-framed mirror. In the living room was a massive red-and-gold-striped couch, a festive rug, and an antique chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The hallway that led to the kitchen and bedrooms had a dining room table and a china cabinet filled with vintage china in many different patterns. The sunny kitchen had fun antique signs advertising SARSAPARILLA: 5 CENTS A GLASS and FRESH EGGS. Ella took the girls into her neat bedroom, which had a stunning view of the city skyline.
“What a lovely place,” said Vega.
“Thanks,” said Ella. “On weekends my mom and I go to flea markets and thrift stores. We love to decorate.”
Then her face hardened. “I got myself into a real mess,” she said. “When I first got the scholarship to the school I was excited, but a little nervous that I wouldn’t fit in. But I decided I was going to just tell the truth. Then I met Katie and I really liked her. She asked what my parents did and I told her that my mother was a housekeeper for a famous fashion designer, and I guess Katie only heard the ‘famous fashion designer’ part. She told everyone, and I don’t know, I guess I liked the way it sounded. People were suddenly really nice to me. And then instead of correcting them, I let it go.”
Vega was confused. “Wait, so then who makes all your great clothes?”
Ella smiled and shrugged. And there in the corner was the answer—a sewing machine and a dress form with a half-made skirt on it.
“You really are the missing piece of the puzzle!” said Vega.
“Now you know,” said Ella. “I take old castaway clothes that my mother’s employer gives her and stuff I find at vintage stores and I redesign them into clothes for me.” She shook her head. “The girls at school are going to be angry when they realize that the clothes they were gushing over aren’t couture—just stuff I sewed together in my bedroom.” She looked at the ground. “Now I’ll be the laughingstock of the school.”
“You’ve got it all wrong, Ella,” said Vega. “The girls in school are going to be lining up to take lessons from you. It’s going to make your lie go away.”
“Really?” said Ella.
“Really,” said Vega. “You just have to trust me.”
Vega had to convince the principal that George Robert Prep needed a forty-eighth club—Sewing and Fashion. She didn’t want to do it the forceful way; she really wanted to convince the woman that it was a good idea, for Ella’s sake. She told the principal the whole story, trying hard not to check her watch as she did it. There were mere starmins left.
“So all we need to do is borrow the PA system,” said Vega. “Make a quick announcement. Two starm—I mean minutes, tops.”
“This is highly irregular,” said the principal. She sighed. “But I’ll allow it.” She headed back to her office. And as the door closed, Vega heard the principal ask her secretary, “Just who is that girl again?”
Ella cleared her throat. Her hand shook as she read the announcement that the three girls had cobbled together on the ride back to the city. “Hello, everyone. Ella Silverstone here. I have an exciting announcement to make. I know you all thought that my mother was the designer behind all my fashions, but it really was me!” She made a face like she was going to be sick, then soldiered on. “And guess what? I’m starting a new after-school club called Designing with Ella. We’ll learn how to take old articles of clothing and transform them into fashions that are completely unique and one of a kind. I have room for twenty students and it is first come, first served. See you this afternoon in room 228.”
She shut off the intercom. “First come, first served,” she said with a shudder. “Why did I say that?”
The end-of-the-day bell rang and the three girls could hear the students running down the hallways, anxious to get outside. “Do you think anyone is going to show up?” Ella asked.
“I do,” said Vega. I hope, she thought.
They stood, and Vega and Clover each picked up a box filled with old clothing and fabric scraps Ella had brought. Ella hoisted her sewing machine and they headed up the stairs.
The woman with the clipboard sat behind the table. S
he looked at them expectantly.
“We’re going to Designing with Ella,” said Vega.
“Never heard of it,” said the woman.
“It’s in room 228,” said Ella. “It’s a new club.”
The woman waved them through.
Standing in front of the door, Ella took a deep breath. Then she opened the door.
“Oh,” she said softly.
Vega peeked over her shoulder. The room was full of girls all eager to join Ella’s club.
“Pick me, pick me!” a girl said. “I love fashion.”
“Ella!” said another. “I loaned you my history notes last week, you owe me one!”
Ella looked around the room, a grin spreading across her face.
“Ella!” Luna shouted. “Is your mom coming today?”
Ella took a deep breath. “No,” she said. “She isn’t coming. I have to tell you the truth. My mom actually isn’t a fashion designer. I made all the clothes myself.”
Katie pushed to the front of the room. “Who cares?” she said. “That doesn’t matter. All we want is to make clothes just like you.”
“That’s right!” said Luna. “So, am I in?”
Vega gasped as an incredible shower of multicolored sparkles rose from Ella and bounced around the room. She turned and caught Clover’s shocked expression. “It’s so beautiful!” she breathed. Ella’s wish—for her lie to go away—had come true.
Ella turned to Vega and Clover. She looked stunned, tearful, and very happy, all at the same time. “Thank you,” she said. “I can’t believe it. My wish has come true.”
“Believe it,” said Vega.
Vega stood in front of Lady Stella’s office door, collecting herself. She tried to make her face look serious, but she was so proud and so excited that it was impossible to stop smiling. Mindful of Leona’s feelings, she managed to dim the wattage of her grin, at least a little bit. Nope, there it was again.
Her mission had not been easy. She had misinterpreted it and had a difficult time figuring it out. She had almost completely alienated her Wisher. She was especially grateful to Clover. She knew she wouldn’t have collected the wish energy without her help.