Wish (10 page)

      “You want one?” the cute boy said.

      “Not today.” For kicks I stuck out the new boobs a
little. They seemed to like the attention. So did the boys.

They boys stared for a moment and the cute one called out a
phone number and then with a fist pump they strolled off.

      I watched them go, and looked down at my new boobs
pretty sure the reasons they’d flirted wasn’t due to my sparkly personality.

      A phone rang and I looked around in annoyance. The
woman at the change room table raised her eyebrows and I realized it was coming
out of my pocket.

      I pulled out the pink phone. “Hello?” I said.

      “Sydney? It’s Cody.”

      I blushed hoping he couldn’t tell my chest had suddenly
grown wings and bloomed.  Over the phone. Hopefully brothers couldn’t pick up
on things like that.

      “How’d you get this number?” I asked and walked quickly
out of the clothing department and headed for the main mall area.

      “Cut it out okay. Nana programmed your new number into
my phone yesterday.”

      Man but this Magic stuff was weird. He didn’t seem in
the least bothered by my sudden ownership of a new phone.

I walked into the mall area towards the food court, whiffing
in the smell of freshly backed Cinabuns.  “What do you want?”

“I need to talk to Stevie. She’s not answering her phone.”

      “Stevie?” I said in a singsong voice. “Are you secretly
dating my friend?”

      “Funny.  As in not. I think she took my text book by
accident. When I dropped her off. Can you put her on?”

“She’s uh. Not here.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the mall
ambiance and I pressed the phone closer to my ear.

“Where are you?”

“Uh. We’re on our way to school. But she had to go to the
washroom. So we made a pit stop. I better go. I’ll ask her about your book.”

      “Tell her to call me when she’s done.” He hung up
without saying good-bye, which totally bugs me. I hate when people do that.
Like they’re in such hurry and their lives are too busy to use a little common
courtesy like saying two words before clicking a phone off.

      I sighed as I neared the mall waterfall. Keith was nowhere
in sight and neither was Stevie. Since I already had the cell phone in my hand,
I dialed Nana’s number at work.

“I see you conjured up a new phone,” Nana said instead of
hello. “What happened?”

      “What do you mean?” I said with indignation.

      “The only time you’re supposed to disturb me at work is
when you have a problem. And I’m not actually at the flower shop. So can you
make this quick. I won’t be in phone range long.”         

      “This wishing business isn’t everything it’s cracked
out to be.”

      “What happened?” she repeated.

      My face heated up.

      “Spit it out.”

      “Um.. It’s my boobs. Uh. They’re as big as Stevie’s
now. For real.”

      She didn’t say anything, but I heard a sound
suspiciously like laughter being smothered. 

      “You don’t need anything special to reverse it. Just
wish them back to normal.”

      I didn’t say anything.

      “Sydney?”

      “The thing is Nana. I kind of want to keep them. For a
while. You know, just to see what they’re like.”

      “You can’t do that.”

      “Why not?”

      “Well. I think people might notice for one.”

      “Yeah? I can say I got a boob jobs. People get them all
the time.”

      “So you’d like people to think you had plastic
surgery?”

      “At least it would make me more interesting.”

      “The last thing you need is to be more interesting.”

      Debatable.

      “Come on. Don’t you think it would be fun? Besides, they’re
only the same as Stevie’s.”

      “Her body can support them. You’d look like an
advertisement for plastic surgery gone wrong. And no, I don’t think it’s fun
for you to have big boobs. This is the last thing you need on top of everything
else. You have a lot more going for you than mammary glands. Wish them back to
normal. I have to go. I’ll see you at home.” 

I hung up the phone without saying good bye, knowing it would
make her livid, but frankly, that was kind of the point.

      A loud wolf whistle startled me out of my Eeeyore
worthy doom. I glanced up to see a group of boys pointing at me and smiling,
pushing each other towards me. I glanced around to see if maybe the water
fountain was spraying on my head or if pretty girls had gathered on the other
side, but there was no one around. I glanced down. Oh. That’s right. The new
friends. My boobs.

      I smirked at the boys and tucked my phone back in my
bag and turned to leave.

      “Hey,” one of the boys shouted while the others punched
him on the arm and made stupid faces. I crossed my arms across my big chest and
noticed I now had a little ledge to rest them on. A squishy ledge that was kind
of comfortable.

The attention made me feel a little thrilled while at the
same time a little nauseous, so I shot them my most disgusted look and walked
away. Lucky for them there was no more cat calls. They didn’t know they were
dealing with Sydney Grant. Super Witch. I could wish nasty zits on them.  Or
shrink their man parts.

      I wished for my boobs to be back to normal. Stevie and
Keith both walked into the food court then, their heads bent in conversation.

They headed towards me.

“Better,” Squid said, nodding at my chest.

Keith looked confused but I ignored him.

“Let’s get out of here. Go back to school.”

**

On the drive to school, I ignored Stevie’s chatter and stared
out the window actually looking forward to a dull class. If it wasn’t for
Keith, I’d be at home under the covers. Shaking. I wanted to talk to him alone,
but we had to ditch Stevie.

The worry in my stomach was growing like a tumor. Maybe being
a Witch caused cancer. Everything else seemed to.

Keith pulled into the school parking lot then and as soon as
he turned off the car, I opened the door to step out. The second my foot hit
the pavement I winced. A premonition of doom smacked me like I’d been belted in
the stomach with a fist. I bent over, the air squeezed right out of me.

Something was wrong. Every ounce of my body knew it.

      “Sydney,” a voice bellowed. “Stop right there.”

I didn’t need to look up to know the voice belonged to Jenny
Truman. She barged towards Keith’s car, her gait uncharacteristically stiff and
uncoordinated.

“Hi, Keith,” she added in a sweeter voice. “We really must
hook up again soon. You’re so much fun.” She giggled but it sounded off.

      Again? Hook up again?

Stevie gasped and I barely resisted an urge grab her by her
ponytail and demand an explanation. Instead I hurried off in the opposite
direction. I had too much on my mind to even contemplate Jenny with Keith.

      Stevie caught up to me. “Keith and that?” she
whispered. “Oh my God.”

      “Excuse me, Sydney. I need to talk to you,” Jenny
bellowed, the sugar melting from her voice. The girl could work innocence with
her highlighted hair and perfect face. All that was missing was a halo. But the
voice. It was creepy.

I stopped and turned a scowl on my face. It hit me that she
didn’t have her usual girlfriends surrounding her.

“Where are your groupies?” I had bigger worries than pissing
off someone with the power to make the rest of my high school career miserable.

Until I looked in her eyes.

I took an involuntary step back. Her usually frosty blue eyes
were almost black, her pupils so dilated they seemed to pulse with a life of
their own.

      She stepped closer to me. “You have something I want,”
she growled. Her voice sounded deeper. Meaner. 

      “Personality?” Stevie piped in. “Natural good looks?”

      Jenny ignored her. “You know what it is.” She narrowed
her oddly black eyes at me.

      A few friends walked by and glanced at us, but no one
interfered. They kept going. I glanced behind her at Keith. He lifted a
shoulder in bewilderment. I frowned, still wanting to punch him in the stomach
for hooking up with Jenny.

      “I swear to God, I will make you wish you were never
born if you don’t give up your powers,” Jenny hissed.

      Goosebumps trampled across my skin. Wish. My brain
grabbed at the word. Wish. Make a wish.

      “I wish… I wish you would go away,” I spit out.

      Jenny stared into my eyes. I thought it wouldn’t work.
For a moment she looked capable of resisting my wish. Her black eyes bore into
mine and I sensed something, something so not Jenny inside her. Then quickly
but awkwardly, she turned towards the school entrance, and walked away without
looking back.

      One of her clones hurried up beside her, but Jenny
flung an arm at her and must have growled something nasty, because the clone
scampered away, looking like her dog just died.

      “Now there is one girl who’s been skipping her protein
bars. She needs some serious nutrients,” Stevie said. “Give up your Powers?
What’s up with her?”

      Stevie poked a finger at me. “Maybe she thinks you’ve
got Mike. Hidden somewhere. Like your bedroom.” She giggled. ”Apparently he’s
missing you know.”

      “Mike’s missing?” I asked.

Stevie nodded. “Probably to get attention. His parents are
worried he might have taken off to his Uncle’s in Ohio. I heard they fought
about something before he disappeared. Silly jock.”

She grinned. “Anyhow, way to stand up to Jenny. I didn’t know
you had it in you.” She glanced back at Keith a few feet behind us, staring.
“And you! I can’t believe you fooled around with her,” she yelled. She grabbed
my arm and pulled me towards the school.

“What did he ever see in her? Jenny’s skinniness is not
natural, not like yours. You eat all the time and never gain weight. But Jenny
is starving to death. You can see it in her eyes. They’re freakish.”

      “I didn’t see hunger,” I mumbled. I glanced back at
Keith. He followed us at a distance, his head down as if he were deep in
thought.

I made a face. Mad as I wanted to be at Keith, I needed him.
He was the only one who knew what was happening to me. We all tramped through
the front doors of the school and glanced around for Jenny and her Clicker
friends, but they were nowhere in sight. A few kids wandered around us ignoring
us as they hurried off to classes.

Stevie glanced at the huge clock on the far wall off the
hallway. “Shoot. I have a Science quiz.”

I licked my lips trying to catch my breath.

Keith stared at me. “You okay?”

Stevie zoomed in front of us, out of hearing.

“Did you do something magic?” he whispered. “To Jenny?”

I thought about doing something else magic, but I glared at
him instead. “I wished she would go away. I might do the same to you.”

“What’re you two whispering about back there?” Stevie
hollered. “I swear to God, both of you are losing your minds.”

She stopped at the T-intersection in the hallway and we
caught up to her.

“I have to go this way for Science. I’ll see ya after class?
Meet me out front?”

I nodded. Stevie took off and Keith and I headed the other
direction. We rounded a corner and I turned to Keith. Two uniformed policemen
were standing outside the door to our algebra class. They were big, bulky guys
with guns in their pockets, and straight postures in crisp blue uniforms. They
were chatting with our Algebra teacher. “Um,” I said. “Um, maybe I don’t want
to go to class after all.”

Without talking about it we both agreed chatting to the
police was not something we wanted to be doing right then. Keith grabbed my
elbow and pulled me back behind the corner. We swiveled on our heels and began
walking faster back the way we’d come. A few jocks stared at us as if it were
incredibly odd to see non-Jocks moving so fast. Without speaking we picked up
our pace. I struggled to keep up with his long legs without breaking into a
run. Running in the hallways was not allowed and we didn’t need to draw even
more attention to ourselves. I tried to look innocent as the bell for class
rang as we reached the school entrance.

Keith glanced back over this shoulder. “They’re not following
us,” he said.

I nodded. Relieved.

“They’re probably just looking for Mike. But they might want
to talk to you about it. Since he was at your house. That guy is such an
idiot.” Keith put a hand on my back and I closed my eyes anticipating images
cramming my head, but nothing happened.