onceâno, maybe twiceâpassing by the music room where Lily rehearsed. The dance studio the group used was in the same building, so it made sense, she supposed.
âYou know sheâs singing that song, right?â said Leona. âIn the talent show tonight?â
âOh, we know. Weâve heard her singing it,â said Talia.
Her friends nodded.
No one smiled.
âGood song, right?â Leona said brightly.
Talia made a sour face, which she shared with Kasey. Adeline still seemed like she didnât agree with them. âYeah. Great song.â Talia snickered. âIf youâre, like, in kindergarten, I guess.â
Leona looked at Lily, whose face had turned a painful red.
Leona bristled. âSo then why are you humming it?â she said to Talia, who shrugged.
âItâs just one of those songsâlike all those baby songsâthat gets stuck in your head, I guess. I
wish
I could stop,â Talia groaned. Then she started to sing it herselfâ
horribly
, on purposeâand soon the whole breakfast line was laughing.
âOh, just ignore her,â Leona said, turning back to Lily. âOh, no, please donât cry!â she said. Lilyâs chin was quivering dangerously. âIâm really not good around tears!â
Leona was relieved, therefore, to see Lilyâs older sister striding up from the end of the line. Leona sighed and stepped back, making room for the older girl to swoop in and comfort Lily.
Lily looked up, too, hopefully. She sniffed and even smiled. Her sister, though, maintained a straight, stern mouth and hard, disappointed eyes.
âReally, Lily? Youâre going to
cry
now? Youâre in high school. Act like it.â She shook her head and turned away, grumbling, âWhen are you going to grow up?â
Lily stood there, biting her lip to hold back a fresh reservoir of tears. But it only worked for a starmin. Then the dam broke and they started to spill. Lily was out of the line and through the door before Leona could say âbless my stars.â
Leona cast a longing look at the warm platter of French toast waiting to be served. It might be the last chance she had to get some on Wishworldâ¦but that was how wish granting worked.
Leona found Lily in the quad sitting huddled on a bench.
âSo, as I was saying, donât listen to those girls.â Leona slid in next to Lily and gently nudged her, hoping to get her to look up. âTheyâre just jealous and trying to psych you out because they know how good you are.â
âWell, it worked, âcause Iâm out,â Lily said softly. She kept her head down as she spoke.
âJust wait till tonight, when they watch you win first place. Iâve got to take a holo-pâI mean pictureâof that Taliaâs face! Wait.
What?
â Leonaâs head whipped around. âYouâre quitting? But you canât! Itâs your wish!â She didnât say,
I canât fail on my first Wish Mission.
But in her head, she was screaming it.
âI canât get up there. You heard my sister. Iâm a baby,â Lily said.
âShe didnât say thatâ¦.â
âShe didnât have to. Thatâs what she meant. Just once, I wish sheâd take my side, like you do. But she never will.â
âSo show her sheâs wrong!â said Leona. âShow those Fake-a-Moves, too!â
âI want to,â said Lily, âbut I canât. Not all by myself. I thought I could do itâ¦.I mean, youâve helped me so muchâ¦.And itâs funny, Iâve never had a problem singing in a group, in the chorus. But itâs just tooâ¦too scary to think of singing up onstage, in front of people, all alone.â
Leona threw her head back. She didnât know how to reply. How could she change Lilyâs mind when what she was saying made no sense? Leona had always loved singingâ
alone
. She was drawn to
Amy Cross
Marla Therron
Graham Masterton
Marjorie Eccles
Gwyneth Bolton
Rebecca Chalker
Brad Taylor
Morgan Howell
Norvell Page
SF Mazhar