Piper's Perfect Dream (8 page)

Sage didn't sound angry at her, and Piper sighed with relief.

“I was a little star-crazed myself last night, Sage. The sleepover helped us connect. Let's try to hold on to that feeling.”

Piper waved to a Bot-Bot waiter to take her order. She wasn't very hungry, and she still felt a little tired. Clearly, Libby did, too. At some point during breakfast, she had put her head on the table and dozed off.

“I'll just have a large cup of Zing,” Piper told the Bot-Bot.
That should help,
she thought as it zoomed off.

Vega's eyes widened in shock. “I can't believe you're only having Zing. You know it's not the healthiest thing.”

Piper nodded. “I know, I know. But I really need to wake up,” she explained. Her stomach grumbled. “Where is that Bot-Bot waiter?” she said. “Maybe I will order something.”

Astra handed her a plate of astromuffins. “Go ahead, Piper, take one,” she said. “Tessa will be back in a minute, but she won't mind.”

Piper bit into the soft muffin. “Hot! Hot!” she cried, waving a hand in front of her mouth.

“Oh, sorry,” said Tessa, who had just returned to the table. “I slathered them in starpepper jelly to cover up the moonberry taste.”

Luckily, a Bot-Bot waiter had just brought over Piper's Zing. Gratefully, she took a long, deep gulp. “What?” she sputtered, spraying the drink everywhere. “That's not Zing!”

Clover leaned over to take a tentative sip. She made a face. “It's hot-spring tonic. Nobody likes it except—”

“Astra!” Piper finished.

Astra burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, Piper. I switched our drinks.” She passed over the real cup of Zing. “I thought it would be funny.”

Sage giggled.

“See? Sage thinks so.”

“Sage thinks everything—and everyone—is funny,” Leona said.

Piper took a sip of Zing. Nothing had been making much sense lately. But Piper tuned everything out, took a few deep breaths, and felt her shoulders relax. It was still early. What better incentive was there to stay centered when her Wish Mission could begin at any moment?

For Piper,
the starday passed slowly and peacefully. She took a long quiet walk and an afternoon nap that stretched till dinnertime. Still, she had a slightly fidgety feeling, a sense that something was about to happen.

During Star Darlings class, Piper had trouble paying attention to their guest lecturer, Professor Eugenia Bright. Professor Eugenia Bright taught Wish Granting. She stressed the importance of understanding the emotions behind a wish. Normally, Piper hung on her every word. Now she forced herself to focus as Professor Bright said, “You need to be sensitive to your Wisher to pick up on feeling and—”

“Desire,” Piper interrupted automatically. The other girls seemed distracted, too. Sage kept giggling to herself. Cassie took a lot of holo-selfies. Once again, Libby had her head on her desk. The class seemed to go on and on.

But time did pass, and by lightfall, Piper was already in her nightgown, studying her holo-books.

Stars crossed, she'd get enough done that she wouldn't have to listen to lectures while she slept. She wanted to keep her mind open, ready to receive the next dream message. Still, interpreting dreams could be tricky.

One time, while Piper was living with her parents, her mom had dreamed their door scanner kept announcing, “Guest! Guest!” She thought they'd wind up having hydrongs of Starlings for dinner that night. So she'd asked Bot-Bots to deliver star sack after star sack of sparklecorn to serve. Unfortunately, the dream merely meant their scanner was broken. Piper had sparklecorn sandwiches, sparklecorn salads, and just plain sparklecorn for starweeks.

She still didn't like sparklecorn, after all those staryears! As Piper smiled to herself, her Star-Zap buzzed. Piper felt a tingle. Could this be it? Could this be her mission?

Of course, every time her Star-Zap had gone off lately, she had wondered the same thing. But this time it was different:
SD WISH ORB IDENTIFIED
, read the holo-text.
PROCEED TO LADY STELLA'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.

Piper moved as if she was in a dream, as if the Cosmic Transporter wasn't real, as if Halo Hall was just in her mind. When she reached Lady Stella's office, she had no real memory of getting there. But apparently, she had gotten there quickly. Piper was the first to arrive.

“Oh, Piper.” Lady Stella smiled, standing at the doorway and ushering her inside. “You could have taken a few starsecs to change.” She gestured at Piper's clothes.

Piper looked down. She was still wearing her nightgown.

One by one, the other girls came through the door. Some looked sleepy. Some looked wide-awake. Scarlet skipped in, as if she was in Physical Energy class, ready to go.

Everyone sat at Lady Stella's round silver table. Starlight streamed through the large windows, flashing on the Star Darlings' sparkly skin. Each girl twinkled with energy—except for Libby, who snored lightly.

Lady Stella walked around the table and leaned down to place her hands on Libby's shoulders. “Libby,” she said with a gentle tap, “you need to stay awake.” She squeezed her shoulders lightly.

“I know,” Libby said without opening her eyes. “I'm just so tired.”

“Let's assume Libby is listening and continue with our meeting,” Lady Stella continued, pacing around the table. Each girl twisted in her seat to follow the headmistress's graceful movements.

Lady Stella sounded as calm as ever, Piper thought. But why didn't she just stop and speak to them from her usual spot? She held herself a little stiffly, too, as if she was trying to contain some nervous energy.

“Soon we will head down to the Wish-Cavern to see who will be going on the next Wish Mission,” she said. “Please remember that we still haven't determined what happened to Leona's Wish Pendant. Although this will most likely not happen again, whoever is chosen for this mission should proceed with caution.”

Up till then, Piper had just assumed it wouldn't happen again. Leona had had a scary trip home. Her star had stalled and Vega had had to pick her up along the way. But now Piper didn't feel so sure. Quickly, she pushed away the negative thoughts. She wanted to relish this part of being a Star Darling. The starhours before a mission were filled with anticipation and optimism, a time before anything went wrong.

And if Piper concentrated on this mission…really concentrated…if she kept thinking positive thoughts and stayed alert…the stars were the limit.

Lady Stella pressed a secret button in her desk drawer. A hidden door slid open to reveal the passage to the Star Darlings' own Wish-Cavern.

Piper took a deep breath and pushed back her chair. Sage pulled Libby to her feet. “It's time to get serious,” she said with a giggle. Gemma moved slowly, too. And when her sister told her to “hop to it,” Gemma jumped on one foot all the way to the door.

Piper barely noticed. She paused to breathe deeply. Then she followed everyone down the winding stairs to the underground cavern.

Piper loved going around and around, down and down along the stairway, catching sight of bitbat creatures hanging by their feet. Maybe one day she'd try that pose for meditation. Being upside down would bring a new angle, a different way of looking at the world.

But those thoughts were fleeting, too. Piper's focus narrowed to one vision: riding a shooting star to Wishworld.

In the Star Darlings' Wish-Cavern, a deeply magical place underground, the glass ceiling looked out on the dazzling night sky. Piper could make out the planet Trilight, its three circling moons casting yellow, blue, and red light.

Everyone was silent as they gathered around the grassy platform. Each time, the ceremony happened a little differently.
How will it be for me?
Piper wondered.

Trilight's moons beamed three different-colored rays directly into the cavern. They joined together just above the platform to create one startlingly white light. The platform opened silently and a Wish Orb floated into the spotlight.

To Piper, it seemed the orb glowed brighter than any she'd seen before. It reflected all the colors of the rainbow as it spun around the Star Darlings, swooping in front of each one. Piper closed her eyes, its image burned in her mind. She knew when her eyes opened, the orb would be directly in front of her, waiting.

And it was.

“The Wish Orb has chosen,” Lady Stella announced. “Congratulations, Piper.”

Piper slept a deep
dreamless sleep that night. She woke up late, feeling refreshed. She had special permission to skip classes. So she took her time choosing Wishling clothes from her Wishworld Outfit Selector. Then she went for a long, leisurely hover-canoe ride around the Serenity Islands. While she leaned back in her seat and let the boat drift, her Star-Zap buzzed. A picture flashed on-screen: her mother. She always knew when something big was happening in Piper's life.

Piper wished she could confide in her mother, tell her everything about the Star Darlings and their missions. For now, though, she had to keep it all inside.

“Hello, Mom,” Piper said as a hologram of her mother appeared. She wore loose, flowing clothes and sat with her legs crossed on a colorful starmat.

“Hello, Pippy,” her mom replied. “I had a starmazing dream about you last night….” Her mother spoke about travel and journeys, and Piper nodded at every sentence. By the time she finished the holo-call, lights were flashing in Halo Hall, indicating regular classes were over. Star Darlings class wasn't being held. Instead, everyone was meeting on the Wishworld Surveillance Deck—the takeoff spot for Wishworld—to wish her well.

“Hi, Piper,” Astra said in a low voice as she and Piper arrived at the Flash Vertical Mover at the same time. “It's a big—”

“Starday for me, isn't it? Yes!” Piper nodded quickly as more Star Darlings joined them.

Lady Stella, along with Lady Cordial, was already waiting on the deck. She beckoned Piper closer. “The Star Wranglers are still monitoring the skies,” she explained. She smiled warmly at Piper. “You'll be on the first star they—”

“Catch,” finished Piper.

Lady Stella gave her a funny look. “Is everything okay, Piper? It seems—”

“I've been interrupting a lot lately.” Piper nodded. “Everything's fine,” said Piper. She smiled at the headmistress. “Any last-minute advice?”

Piper managed to hold her tongue while Lady Stella ticked off some items: “Keep checking energy levels on your Wish Pendant. While you should be aware of time passing, don't rush through wish identification. Use your emotions. And be careful not to lose anything.”

With that, Lady Cordial passed Piper her special backpack and dangling keychain. “Y-y-y-y-yes,” she added. “Keep these items close by at all t-t-t-times.”

That reminded Piper: she wanted to place some special things of her own in the backpack: two sleep masks and her serenity stone. Who knew what would happen to them when her outfit changed in space?

She reached into one dress pocket and removed the sleep masks. But the other pocket was empty. She'd forgotten the stone. In her mind, she could see it, still resting on a pillow in her room.
Starf!

By then a wrangler had caught a star and was holding it steady, waiting. Vega hurried over to take both of Piper's hands and say, “You'll be good, you'll be great. You'll tell me about it later; can't wait.”

Clover hugged her tightly, then hugged Lady Cordial, standing next to her. “Well,” said Lady Cordial, backing away slightly, “that was s-s-s-sweet.”

Everyone else said good-bye quickly, and before Piper knew it, she was rushing through space, starlight flashing, colors flying.

The ride was not smooth. In fact, it was much rougher than Piper had expected. She tried not to worry. But it was frightening to think she was out there in the universe, traveling alone.