The Wish (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-five

I
stared at
the glass. I didn't want to leave the kitchen.

Nina yelled, “Hurry, Wilma, you jerk.”

Jerk! She wouldn't have called me that ten minutes ago.

Ardis rushed in. “Give me that.” She glared at me, took the glass, and left.

I followed her. She handed the glass to BeeBee. They were crowded around her. BeeBee sipped the water and gradually stopped coughing. She stared at me over the rim of the glass.

They were all looking at me. I saw the realization go through them that something was different. Nina frowned, shook her head, and frowned again. BeeBee's mouth hung open. She held the glass tilted. She was going to spill water on her jeans. Daphne half smiled at me, looking confused.

Ardis's face was dark red. She looked furious, so mad she was fighting back tears.

They didn't think I was wonderful anymore. They weren't my friends anymore. I fought back tears too.

I took the glass from BeeBee.

“Tha—” She trailed off.

“What just happened?” Ardis asked. “What did you do, Wilma?”

If I tried to talk, I was going to cry. It wouldn't be good to cry in front of people who didn't like me. I started crying anyway. Tears oozed out and then a flood came. Reggie rushed to me, wagging his tail. I petted him and went on crying. “Sorry,” I got out.

Daphne came over and patted my shoulder. Nobody else moved.

I wanted to go on crying now that I'd started. When I stopped, I was going to have to tell them something, and I didn't know what to say. I never should have invited them. I should have just let it happen and faced them in the fall. They hadn't liked me before the wish. It hadn't killed me.

But I finally stopped crying. I looked up.

“What happened?” BeeBee said. “Something happened.”

“Wilma did something,” Ardis said. “I don't know what.”

“And then she cried,” Nina added, “so we'd feel sorry for her.”

“I didn't do anything.” I couldn't tell them. They didn't like me anymore, and telling a crazy story, even though it was true, wouldn't make any difference.

Ardis said, “If you're not going to tell us, I have to go. I have to pack for camp.”

BeeBee stood up. Ardis and Nina turned toward the door. Daphne stayed where she was, standing uncertainly in the middle of the room.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” BeeBee reached into a pocket and pulled out a small packet wrapped in tissue paper. She handed it to me. “It's your locket.”

Ardis started to leave.

I couldn't let them go. “Wait!”

They turned.

“I still have Ardis's comb.” I went to my bureau. I was just stalling. What was I going to do?

“Talk,” Daphne urged. “Tell them something. Anything.”

I handed the comb to Ardis. “Thanks.” Then I took a deep breath. “Remember May twenty-sixth? A Tuesday? That was the day I became popular. . . .”

BeeBee came back and sat on my bed. Ardis and Nina stood by the door. Daphne sat next to BeeBee. I stood between my desk and Maud's. And I told them.

Daphne listened the way you'd listen to a friend, nodding, smiling, frowning in all the right places. BeeBee said “far out” once, and “oh, wow” once, but mostly she fiddled with her hair, winding a strand around her finger and unwinding it. Nina crossed her arms and stared at me without saying anything. Ardis made clicking noises with her tongue every so often, like everything I said was garbage. She never looked at me, just stared up at the ceiling.

When I finished, Daphne said, “Something happened. I agree. Right here.” She gestured at the room. “But magic? The end of a wish?”

I could see she wanted to believe me, and if she didn't, even though she wanted to, I had no chance with the rest of them.

“It's what happened,” I said. “I wasn't popular before, and after Ms. Hannah read my essay, I was
un
popular. What could make me suddenly popular? So popular that everybody liked me?”

BeeBee said, “How should we know?”

“Points for imagination, Wilma.”

Daphne said, “What if the food in the cafeteria was drugged?”

“Yeah,” BeeBee said. “I like that.”

“What drug would make everybody like me? Only me?”

“I don't know,” Nina said. “But—”

“Listen. Here's proof. Remember when we went skating with Stephanie? She didn't like me.”

“And you made her upset,” BeeBee said.

“We should have realized then that you were a creep,” Nina said.

“I got mad when she didn't like me. But I told her I was sorry.”

“That's not good enough,” Nina said. “Saying you're sorry isn't good enough.”

“Why does that prove there was a spell?” Daphne asked.

“Because she's the only one who was immune to me. Because she didn't go to Claverford. She wasn't under the spell.”

“But,” Daphne said, “I like you now. Am I bewitched now?”

“No. The spell ended. You're not bewitched. You really like me.”

“I believe it,” Ardis said.

“You do?” BeeBee asked. “You think?”

“Yeah, I do. It felt like the end of a spell would feel, like I had been sitting on cushions a mile high, and they disappeared, and I landed on a pile of sharp rocks.”

Nina nodded. “Maybe. It was too sudden to be normal.”

“A spell?” BeeBee said. “For real?”

“Tell us, Wilma,” Ardis's voice was extra soft, extra polite, “why did you wait for it to end to let us know? It would have been nice to know I
had
to like you.”

“You wouldn't have believed me, and anyway, I wasn't sure it was going to end.”

“So if it didn't end, you would have gone on fooling us. You don't know how it felt when you walked into the room before. It was . . .” Ardis stopped. “Forget it.”

“What was it like?” BeeBee asked. “Maybe it was different for me because I was coughing.”

“It was like I had this stuffed animal . . .” Ardis looked at Reggie and almost smiled. “No. It was like I had this pet. It loved me no matter what, and I loved it no matter what. And then it came into the room, and it wasn't my pet anymore. It had turned into something else, an animal that didn't like me—”

“I still like you.”

She ignored me. “—a horse maybe. Not a horse. I don't know what. A fish maybe. It doesn't matter what. It wasn't my pet, and it didn't like me and I didn't like it.”

“I still like you,” I repeated.

“That's not the way it was for me,” BeeBee said. “I mean, I was coughing, so it happened slower, not as dramatic. I drank the water and looked at her and I thought, ‘Oh, it's Wilma. Why did I think she was so special?'” She looked at me. “Sorry. It's just what I thought.”

How was I going to break through that?

“What was it like for you?” Daphne asked Nina.

“First I was stunned. After BeeBee stopped choking to death, I mean. Then I thought, ‘Points off, Nina. Many points off for letting Wilma Sturtz make a fool of you.'”

Ardis said, “Remember when I came to see your caricature and Suzanne barged in? Then, when she left, I said I was surprised she liked the drawing, and you said she couldn't harm you. That was because of the spell, wasn't it?”

I didn't answer. What could I say? She knew the answer. But I never once thought I was hurting anyone.

Ardis turned to Nina and BeeBee and Daphne. “She said Suzanne couldn't harm her because
I
was her protection. And I felt great about that. But she was lying.”

Nina nodded. “She's been lying all along.” She faced me. “Is that what you brought us over for? To tell us about the spell after it ended? Well, you told us. Can we go now?”

“She invited us because she wants to keep us as friends,” Daphne said.

“No,” Nina said. “She invited us because she wants to stay popular.”

“I didn't. I—”

“Then why did she invite me?” Daphne interrupted. “I can't keep her popular.”

“I invited you because I
like
you. All of you. Listen. Believe me.” They had to believe me. “I wasn't any different when I was under the spell than I am now. I didn't
have
to be different. I could be the same old Wilma and everyone would like me anyway.”

“Maybe,” Ardis said, “but you don't seem the same. Maybe I can't remember what happened during the spell accurately.”

“Maybe you've been bewitched not to like her now,” Daphne said. “Maybe you were bewitched a long time ago not to like me.” She giggled. “Maybe it's
all
a spell. It doesn't matter what kind of a person you are. An old lady just decides whether you're popular or not, and Wilma's the only one to catch her at it.”

“Far out,” BeeBee said.

They all stared at Daphne, me included.

She went on. “Anyway, Wilma seems different now to me too. The popularity glow is gone, I guess. But she
is
the same person. And if you don't see that, you're going to miss out.”

Daphne made me feel like crying all over again.

“Maybe you're right,” Ardis said. “Maybe she
is
the same person. But she seems different. I don't know her anymore.”

BeeBee and Nina nodded.

“But you do know me. You've known me all along.” I wanted to scream, to wail,
I like you. Like me back. Please like me
. “Ardis, didn't I help you stop being so afraid of dogs? Didn't I help you with history?”

“Thank you very much,” she snapped.

I didn't mean she had to be grateful. But what did I mean? After all, why should they like me? I had had fun with them, but they'd had fun with a person they'd
had
to like.

“Can we go now?” Nina said.

Chapter Twenty-six

B
eeBee stood up.

“No. Wait,” I said. “Remember what I said before BeeBee started choking—that I'd pick you for friends out of everybody in the world. Being popular was wonderful, but having you as friends was the best part.”

Nina rolled her eyes, but BeeBee nodded. “We had fun at my sleepover. I couldn't believe you brought your dog with you.”

“The thing is, if I met the old lady tomorrow, I wouldn't ask to be popular again, I'd ask for us to go on being friends.” I'd finally said it. I'd finally told them what mattered to me now: not being popular, but being friends with them. Now they'd understand. It was true.

“You'd do it again,” Ardis said. “You don't get it.”

“What? Do what again?”

“You'd still wish for us to be
forced
to like you.”

Oh.

She was right. That
is
what I was saying. But they should have a choice about liking me or not. After all, I had a choice about them.

“You don't need magic for me,” Daphne said.

“Before today,” Ardis said, “if somebody had asked me my name, I'd have said, ‘Ardis Lundy and I like Wilma Sturtz.'” She sat down on my bed. “Now I don't know. I mean, I think we had fun together, but I'm not sure anymore. Yesterday, you felt like one of my lungs, but now, the friendship seems like an illusion.”

“It's not an illusion on my side. I wasn't pretending.”

“She didn't have to pretend,” Daphne said. “You had to like her anyway, even if she was mean.”

Ardis smoothed out a wrinkle in my comforter and didn't say anything.

“And why would she pretend to be
my
friend?” Daphne added.

“I keep thinking about you,” Ardis said, nodding. “And about the caricature, and bringing Reggie to a sleepover, which nobody would do if they were faking to get in with us. And I get mixed up.”

“I was being myself, spell or no spell,” I said. “Look, Ardis, I liked you before the spell. You were nice to me after Ms. Hannah—”

Reggie started barking, and then the doorbell rang. I went to get it, closing the bedroom door behind me. Stay till we finish talking. Please stay.

I opened the door. Suzanne stood in the hall.

Chapter Twenty-seven

A
s soon as
she saw me, Suzanne started laughing. “I was right!” she gasped between howls. “I felt something. . . . We were at my aunt's. . . . I said I wasn't feeling . . . I had to see . . . You're not . . . anymore . . . You're back . . .”

I heard my bedroom door open. Reggie bounded to Suzanne, wagging his tail.

She gave a final peal of laughter. “You are going to be so sorry you said I wet my bed. The anus story will be . . .”

Thank heavens I was me and not Suzanne. Even if I had no friends at all. But I didn't have no friends, I had Reggie and Daphne—and maybe Jared.

There were footsteps behind me.

“And the bed-wetting story will be too!” It was Daphne's voice.

I turned. Ardis and Daphne were there.

“Hi, Suzanne,” Ardis said.

Suzanne looked at Ardis, looked at me. I could read her thoughts. Is Wilma still popular? No, she couldn't be. Then why is Ardis here?

“Hi, Ardis.” She ignored Daphne. “Did you come because . . . because Wilma, um, reverted?”

“What do you mean?” Ardis said. “Nothing happened to Wilma.”

What?

“We were just hanging out.”

“Oh.” Suzanne thought about it. “Well, I'm not busy right now. I could hang out too.”

Daphne said, “Who invited you?”

“You came at a bad time,” Ardis said. “Sorry. Shouldn't she go, Wilma? I mean, it's your house.”

I nodded, grinning. “Another time, Suzanne. Maybe in fifty years.”

“Okay. I'm going. But when you're through here, Ardis, come up to me. I want to tell you something fantastic.” She turned to me. “Or you could come up when they leave, Wilma.” She backed out. Reggie wagged his tail at her. I locked the door.

I turned to Ardis and Daphne. “Thanks.”

We stood there in the foyer.

“I couldn't let Suzanne be nasty to you,” Ardis said. Then she led us back into my room.

BeeBee was sprawled across my bed. Nina was in Maud's chair.

“Suzanne's too much,” BeeBee said, grinning. “She's a riot.”

Suzanne just wants to be popular too, I thought, surprising myself.

“Look,” I said, going back to our discussion, “it's not fair. If there hadn't been a spell, you wouldn't have gotten to know me, because you wouldn't have bothered, but—”

“Points off,” Nina said. “Lots of people never get to know lots of people.”

“It's not that simple,” Daphne said, “and you know it.”

“Right.” I nodded. They had to know. Especially Ardis, once known as The Mountain, had to know. “Nobody has anything to do with somebody who isn't popular, and you can't be popular if nobody has anything to do with you.”

“Catch twenty-two,” Nina said.

I frowned at her. “You say, ‘Catch twenty-two,' and then you don't think about it anymore because you said something smart. But it
is
that way.”

BeeBee laughed. “She got you that time, Neen.”

I wasn't finished. “Nobody has anything to do with anybody who isn't popular, even if they're really okay.” I swallowed. “Even if they're me.”

“You were nice to me when we studied for the debate,” BeeBee said, staring up at the ceiling. “And I wasn't nice back.”

“I'm nice to kids who aren't popular,” Ardis said.

“You wave,” Daphne said. “You say hi. Big deal.”

“Sometimes you do a little more,” I said. “You talked to me after Ms. Hannah read my essay. But then you went back to waving.”

Ardis shook her head. “This is so strange, Wilma. You're different, but the same. I can't get used to it.”

“Are you going to try?” Daphne said. “Or are you going to walk away?”

Nobody said anything for a few seconds. I felt like a dress in a store window that the three of them were deciding whether or not to buy.

I waited. A car alarm went off outside. I was through pleading. It was up to them now.

“Promise not to trick us again,” Ardis said.

“I can't trick you again. It's over.”

“Points off for not answering. You can't be trusted,” Nina said.

“I promise not to trick you again even if I could.”

“I'll try,” Ardis said. “I don't know. I guess I'll try.” A grin started. “But don't give Reggie away.”

It was the first time she'd joked since the spell ended. I felt such relief, I could hardly talk. “I won't,” I got out.

“I'll try too,” BeeBee said. “It was out of sight, being bewitched. It was subtle. I didn't feel anything or anything.”

“Are you two a package deal?” Nina asked, nodding at Daphne.

“No,” Daphne said.

“No,” I added, “but we're friends. If I had a sleepover or a party, I'd invite her too.”

“You're a great dancer,” BeeBee told Daphne.

“Thank you.”

Nobody said anything. I wanted to be sure of them, but I couldn't be. Without a spell, I couldn't be. The friendship would have to be their wish as well as mine. It would have to keep on being what each of us wanted, or it would end. Which was right, I supposed. Which was right, even if I wanted more certainty than that.

“I really have to go or my mom will put a spell on me,” Ardis said. “I'm leaving for camp tomorrow.”

“We're going to Europe,” BeeBee said. “Dad's taking me to see Florence . . .”

Whoever that was.

“. . . and Rome.”

Oh, Italy.

“What train was the old lady on?” Nina asked. “What did she look like?”

“I could make Carlos my slave,” BeeBee said.

“I could— Never mind,” Daphne said.

“Well, I have to go,” Ardis repeated. “I'll call you from camp. Can you put Reggie on the phone? Would he bark?”

“I'll train him,” I said, smiling.

When everyone left, I stared at the door for a minute. It was over. But I wasn't the same as before it started. I knew four girls and one boy better than I had three weeks ago, and maybe I had four friends. And maybe one boyfriend.

I ran to call Jared. The answering machine picked up. While I left a message, I pictured him listening and not picking up because he didn't want to talk to me.