Libby and the Class Election (8 page)

The teacher stepped down from the stage and settled herself on a bench, the Ranker set up beside her. Leona, Libby, and Sage sat on a nearby bench to watch.

“Vivica!” she called. A girl with pale blue bangs walked onstage.

Sage groaned. “Vivica is the meanest girl in school,” she whispered to Libby. Libby recognized the girl from her Astral Accounting class. Libby always thought that the permanently
sour expression on Vivica's face made her look as if she had just bitten into a bitterball fruit.

Libby watched her with interest. She had no instrument. Then Vivica opened her mouth and started to sing.

Leona immediately sprang to her feet. “Hold it right there,” she said, cutting her off.

The girl stopped singing, the look on her face more disagreeable than ever.

“Sorry,” said Leona, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. “We already have a lead singer. There won't be any singing tryouts today.”

The girl stared venomously at Leona. “Oh, yeah?” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “Then why does it say
vocalists
on the holo-flyer?” she insisted.

Leona laughed and shook her head. “I didn't send out that holo-flyer!” she answered, drawing out the words as if Vivica was a small child. “We don't need a lead
singer. End of story.”

This served to enrage the girl with the pale blue bangs further. “Well, I'm not leaving until I get a chance to try out!” she screeched.

“Next!” Leona shouted, her face red. The two girls stared angrily at each other, at an impasse.

Meanwhile, Professor Leticia Langtree was busily searching through the Student Manual. She flipped through pages in the air. Finally, she found what she was looking for and stood up.
“Leona, it says right here in the Student Manual,” she said, stabbing the air for emphasis, “that if the tryouts are held on school grounds, every student has the right to
audition for every position. That means that every position is up for grabs. The Ranker will decide who will be the lead singer of this band. You simply can't choose yourself.”

Leona looked stunned. “Wait a starsec. Are you telling me I have to try out for my own band?” she asked incredulously

The teacher shrugged. “I am,” she said. She smiled at Leona. “Good luck!”

Leona's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. It looked as though when she regained her power of speech, there was a very good chance she could say something she might regret.
Libby grabbed Leona's hand and pulled her down to sit on the bench. “Don't worry,” Libby told her. “You'll win this one fair and square.” She only hoped
she was right.

Vivica smirked at Leona, then began to sing. Libby was grudgingly impressed. The girl's voice was clear and strong. Leona tried to be nonchalant, but Libby noticed that she sat on her
hands, quite possibly so she wouldn't start biting her nails from sheer nervousness.

After two starmins, the Ranker let out a loud beep, signaling that her time was up. The tryouts began in earnest: another singer (not as good, and she forgot some words), and a guitar player and
a drummer, neither of which was particularly outstanding.

“Leona!” called the teacher.

Libby glanced at Leona, certain she would be too worked up to perform. But she had underestimated Leona's showmanship. The girl stood, smoothed her golden skirt, and made her way to the
stage. She really had a great voice, though Libby recognized that her range was limited. She more than made up for that with sheer enthusiasm. The crowd began to clap along, which Leona clearly
loved. She had such presence on the stage that it was almost impossible to look away. When she was done, a couple of girls in the audience gave loud whistles of approval. Libby noted with a chuckle
that Leona was the only performer who took a bow—a deep one—when she was finished.

Leona walked back to the bench, a grin on her face. “And that's how it's done,” she said cockily, still keyed up from her brief performance. She looked around.
“Well, I guess I'll just go,” she said. “Clearly I'm not needed at my own tryouts.”

“Arista!” Professor Leticia Langtree called out. A girl staggered onto the stage, carrying a huge tuba. She could barely stand upright.

“Oh,” said Leona, clearly intrigued. “Well, maybe just one more…” She plopped down next to Libby on the bench. And there she sat for the rest of the afternoon.

As their names were called, one by one, each girl got up on the band shell stage and played her instrument or sang. Some were full of confidence but not quite so full of talent. Some were shy
but good. And a couple were pretty bad, truth be told. Finally, it was Libby's turn. She slung her keytar over her shoulder and walked to the middle of the stage. She had been intending to
play a current popular song when she had a sudden flash of inspiration. She laughed out loud at her idea. Flipping the keytar switch to make her instrument sound like an old-timey organ, she began
to play a simple but snappy jingle that had played on holo-billboards everywhere when she was a kid.

If you like to smile

And really hate to frown,

Then get yourself a Sparklebrush.

It's the best toothlight in town!
she sang, then launched into the chorus.

Oh, Sparklebrush! Sparklebrush!

How I love you so.

You leave my teeth so clean and white

With that special sparkle glow!

Libby grinned as everyone instantly laughed with recognition and started singing along. The audience cheered as Libby left the stage.

Leona stood up and punched her in the arm excitedly. “Hey, that was pretty cool,” she said. “A blast from the past!”

“Scarlet!” called the teacher. Scarlet made her way to the band shell and pushed her drum kit to the middle of the stage. She sat down, twirled her drumsticks in the air, and started
playing. Even Leona had to admit—begrudgingly—that the Starling had talent. A lot of it, actually.

Then there were some novelty acts. A first-year held up a triangle and hit it—
Ding! Ding-ding-ding! Ding!
—over and over again until her two starmins was up. A third-year
stepped onto the band shell stage, supporting a huge silver instrument that snaked around her body and had three large horns sprouting from it. “Is that a…google-horn?” Leona
asked Libby incredulously.

“I do believe it is!” said Libby.

The girl began to play the instrument proudly. Its deep bass blare was actually pretty impressive, but Libby was doubtful that there was any way to incorporate that sound into a cohesive rock
band.

Another girl was the proud owner of an ancient timpanpipe, which some of the girls had never even heard of before. The last person Libby had heard expressing admiration for the instrument was
her dear departed great-grandmother. Its scratchy-whistly sound made everyone realize why the instrument had fallen out of favor. It was haunting. And not in a good way.

Then a couple of Star Darlings tried out in a row. Sage played the guitar very well. Vega played the bass, and she was quite good, too. Gemma got up and shook her star shakers enthusiastically.
Libby caught Leona wincing, though she tried to pass it off as having something in her eye. Libby wasn't fooled.

“Well, that's it!” said Professor Leticia Langtree. She stood, turned off the Ranker, and slipped it into her voluminous pocket. “So I'll take this back and
determine the results. I'll post them on the holo-announcement board by Halo Hall as soon as I can.”

Leona slumped on the bench. “I'm exhausted,” she said. She pointed to the Celestial Café, where a large star above the door flashed, indicating that it was dinnertime.
“Let's go eat.”

“Okay,” said Libby. She and Leona walked over to the moving sidewalk. They stepped on and stood in silence for a moment.

“I'm still wondering who sent that holo-flyer out with my name on it,” mused Leona. “I'm not fully convinced it wasn't Scarlet.”

“It wasn't me, I told you,” someone behind them said wearily.

Leona jumped. “Why are you always lurking behind me?” she complained. “It's kind of creepy, you know.”

Gemma ran up to join them. “That was so much fun! I hope I make it,” she said, rattling her star shakers for emphasis. “It would be so awesome to be in a band.” She
spotted Tessa on the moving sidewalk ahead and waved wildly. “Tessa, wait up!” she called as she took off after her.

Leona leaned over and whispered in Libby's ear. “I obviously have no idea who's going to make it or not,” she said. “Or even if
I
will. But I think
it's pretty clear that Gemma is out of the running. There were so many better musicians.” She looked at Libby and shrugged. “Sorry for the bad news.”

“Good,” Libby heard herself say.

Leona's mouth fell open. “Good?” she repeated. “You're happy about that? I don't get it. I thought you guys were great friends.”

Libby bit her lip. “I—I don't get it, either,” she said. “I'll see you later.” She stepped off the sidewalk and headed toward her dormitory on foot. She
had lost her appetite. Why in the world was she pleased that her roommate most likely hadn't made the cut? What on Starland was wrong with her?

Once in her peaceful room,
Libby tried to distract herself, but she wasn't having an easy time of it. She refolded all of her already neatly
folded clothing, then pulled holo-book after holo-book off her shelves, but nothing kept her interest. She just couldn't stop thinking about her ungracious reaction to Leona's news. She
was about to call her best friend from home for a pep talk when her Star-Zap beeped. She rolled over and picked it up. The familiar message made her heartbeat quicken.

S.D. WISH BLOSSOM IDENTIFIED. PROCEED TO LADY STELLA
'
S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY
.

Libby jumped out of bed, shoved her feet into a pair of shoes, and headed out the door.

Once outside, she discovered it was lightfall, the magical time of day when the sun began to disappear and everyone's glow was at its brightest. Starlings got an extra burst of energy at
lightfall; whether it was from being surrounded by shimmering Starlings or was a direct result of their own personal glow, Libby wasn't quite sure. Perhaps a combination of both. She breezed
past groups of classmates chatting on the moving sidewalk as they returned from dinner.

“Where are you going, Libby?” someone called.

“Hey, where's the fire?” shouted another.

Libby just laughed and waved. She could never explain to them what was going on. Imagine if she told them the truth. “Oh, it's no big deal. I'm just on my way to Lady
Stella's office. There's a one-in-eleven chance that I'm going to be on my way to Wishworld before you're even dressed tomorrow morning!”

By dodging around oncoming students, she soon caught up with her fellow Star Darlings, who were making their way to Halo Hall, where Lady Stella's office was located. Tessa was still
eating a cocomoon. She took a big bite, the milky-white iridescent juice running down her arm.

“Where were you, roomie?” asked Gemma.

To Libby, her voice sounded accusatory. For a brief second, Libby was fearful that Gemma somehow knew she had been unkind. But as Libby's pulse began to slow down, she realized she was
overreacting. “Oh, I wasn't hungry,” she said.

“Well, that's just crazy talk,” said Tessa with a laugh, holding up the half-eaten cocomoon.

Libby fell into step with the group, grazing shoulders with Adora. Everyone was making small talk, not mentioning where they were headed, or for what purpose, in case anyone was within earshot.
But they couldn't keep still—eyes were darting, fingers were tapping, the nervous energy was palpable. They couldn't wait to find out who would be going to Wishworld next.

Sage turned around, and Libby was surprised to see that her eyes were flashing. Even she, who had been through this already and knew for certain that she would not be chosen, seemed to be filled
with nervous excitement.

The moving sidewalk took the girls straight to Halo Hall, and they headed up the stairs and inside, their feet echoing in the empty hallways as they walked past silent classrooms. They filed
into Lady Stella's office. The headmistress sat behind her desk, her arms folded. She looked remarkably calm. Libby sat down at the round table, placing her hands on its cool silver surface.
It calmed her down—a bit. A few Star Darlings stood, fidgeting nervously. Maybe they were too anxious to sit, or perhaps they wanted a head start when Lady Stella opened the door that led
down the stairs to the Wish Cavern.

Once everyone was settled, Lady Stella stood up. “Hello, my Star Darlings,” she said. “As you are aware, one of you is about to be chosen for the second Wish Mission. A good
Wish Orb is glowing, and it is especially suited to one particular student's strengths. Please don't be upset if you are not chosen today. You will each get your turn.”