Three Wishes by Deborah Kreiser Page A

many options.”
    â€œFine, but Golden Buddha, not Szechuan Happy. The Buddha is way nicer.”
    â€œWhatever you say.” He pulls up to my curb. My grandmother’s car is in the driveway, so he doesn’t invite himself in this time. Still, he gives me a long, lingering kiss before saying he’ll pick me up at six-thirty. I get out of the car and grab my bag.
    â€œSee you in exactly three hours, then,” I tease before closing the door.
    He lowers the passenger window. “Be ready for me!” he shouts as I walk away.
    I blow him a kiss before heading inside. Doesn’t he know I’ve been ready for him for years?
    That night, Pete, Leia, and I meet Joel at the restaurant. We are greeted by an eight-foot gold statue of the Buddha and a smiling Jenny Lee, who goes to our school and whose family owns the restaurant. She shows us to our booth, giving Joel a wink, which he misses.
    Joel seems a little out of sorts and keeps shifting on the shiny red seat. Pete and I are doing most of the talking. Leia only speaks up when deciding what to order. The three of them are carnivores and decide to share sweet-and-sour pork, beef with broccoli, and General Tso’s chicken.
    I’m debating what to get, and Pete suggests the steamed Buddhist Delight. “My sisters get it with garlic sauce on the side. They say it’s great.”
    I shrug. Might as well. I order it with tofu and have no worries anyone’s going to want to share. We also get an order of vegetable potstickers and scallion pancakes for appetizers, which arrive quickly. We’re spared having to make conversation for a while by eating.
    I have no idea why this is so awkward. True, Joel and Leia don’t know Pete well, but they do know each other. I decide they need to move closer to one another, so with a quick little wish under my breath I nudge them. Unfortunately, my little nudge makes Joel bump the dish of beef with broccoli in Leia’s hands, so she spills said beef with broccoli into her lap.
    At least it breaks some of the tension.
    Leia and I go to the bathroom to get her cleaned up, and I use a little wish power to make the soap work on the grease spots. “This sucks, huh?” I ask her, testing the waters to see how mad she is.
    To my surprise, she just shrugs. “No, it’s coming out.” Dabbing at the extensive wet areas, she laughs. “At least I’m not wearing a white T-shirt.”
    When we return to the table, we manage to resemble a group of friends having a nice evening out, but still it’s strained. Pete won’t stop teasing Joel about swimming, saying basketball is the sport for a real man. When stoic Joel seems to be getting annoyed, Pete backs off with a little smirk.
    We get to the theater early and take our time at the refreshment stand. So far, I’m seeing no signs of either Leia or Joel making a move on their own. Maybe they’ll need more encouragement during the movie.
    Leia narrows her eyes at me when I insist they’re seated together, right in front of Pete and me, but I ignore her. Genie knows best.
    During the movie, I’m almost too excited to concentrate on the plotline and focus most of my attention on Joel and Leia. Ever so slowly, I wish for the two of them to lean closer together. About halfway through the movie, I make Joel ease his arm around Leia’s shoulder. But just as he’s almost done it, she shifts so he ends up hitting her in the head. D’oh! She glares as he whispers an apology, though I won’t yet let him move his arm away. Leia leans forward so his arm rests on the back of the seat instead of over her shoulder. He’s able to pull it off the seat and studies it, puzzled. She sits back with a huff.
    I let out a big sigh as I witness this. So far, they’re zero for two, including the beef-with-broccoli incident. Pete interprets my sigh as a reaction to what’s happening in the movie, when the two leads