Wish (2 page)

Nana was shaking her head, still pale and almost sick looking
“Your mom is going to have a fit.” 

My stomach burned with certainty even as I rubbed the soft
furred little kitty on my cheek. I had to have his cat. I wasn’t going to let
him go. “Mom loves cats. Besides, it’s not like she’s going to know,” I said.

“Oh, she’ll know,” Nana shook her head. “She might already
know.”

I frowned at her and Stevie looked over and raised her
eyebrows. “He came with the supplies he needs,” she told Nana. “A litter box. Food
even. It was an amazing deal. My dad couldn’t believe it. And look how cute he
is. He makes Syd happy. You want her to be happy. Don’t you?”

Nana huffed. “Nothing is for free, Stevie. Trust me on that.”

I rubbed the kitten’s soft white fur against my chin. “Nana. Can
I keep him? Please? It would help…” I let my words linger in the air.

Nana threw her hands in the air as if to signal her
surrender.

Stevie and I both squeed at the top of our lungs. Cody even came
over to pet his teeny head.

Stevie smiled. “What’re you going to name your kitty?”

I didn’t even pause. “Magic.” He seemed kind of enchanting,
and it suited him. I liked it. “This is the best birthday of my life,” I said
and giggled.

Keith and Cody looked at each other and then at me. “Because
of a cat?” Cody asked.

“No. Because of everything. I mean it. Really.”

I didn’t need my Mommy to be happy.

Magic hissed then and dug his claws into my arm. He scratched
me so hard he drew blood. 

At the sudden pain, I dropped him but he landed gracefully on
his paws. “Ow. You don’t like that name you little traitor?”

I reached for the scratch but my necklace heated up under my
skin. I reached for it instead and the pendant was cool against my fingers. For
a moment I felt more at peace than I had in a long time.

When I let go I realized the burning sensation from Magic’s
scratch had vanished.  I glanced down at my arm. There was nothing on it. No mark.
Nothing. No blood.

On the floor, Magic rubbed around my leg, mewing for my forgiveness.
I picked him up, rubbing my cheek against his soft fur. “Do that again and
you’re cat chow,” I whispered in his ear.

Nana stared at the spot where Magic’s claws had cut into my
skin, her mouth and eyes wide open. She grabbed at my arm, her face contorted
with something like fear. “What did you wish for?” she demanded.

I pulled away from her and glanced at Cody. His eyes were
wider than Nana’s. I looked at her. Crazy peered back at me and made my heart
race.  

“Tell me what you wished for when you blew out the candles,”
she repeated.

“Nana,” I pleaded. “Stop it. You’re embarrassing me.”

“This isn’t a joke.” She sounded angrier than the time Stevie
and I ate an entire five-gallon pail of napoleon ice cream and threw up all
over the bushes outside.  She pulled out a chair and plunked down in it,
muttering.

Stevie and Keith glanced at me, and then at Nana, their
expression reflecting my confusion.

“Sydney,” Nana said after a moment. “What did really you wish
for?” She said it in a voice I didn’t dare ignore.

I glanced around the room. “Really?”

“Tell me.”

My face flamed. I lifted Magic to my cheek.

“I mean it, Sydney. Don’t lie.”

“Uh. I wished that Mike Cameron would fall madly in love with
me,” I said in a voice barely above a whisper.  Even in front of Stevie, Cody
and Keith, I couldn’t lie. She always knew when I lied. Always.

Stevie started to howl with laughter and I hid my face in
Magic’s fur.

“Who is Mike Cameron?” Nana demanded.

“Mike
is the biggest jock dork in our school,” Stevie told her.  

Not
the tightest of lips on my best friend.

“He’s
the boy Sydney’s been drooling over for the last six months.”

I walked over and punched her shoulder.

“Ow. That hurt. And you totally have, so there.”

Nana shot her a dirty look, watching both of us with all
seeing eyes. No sign of craziness when I needed it.

“He’s plays football and wears polo shirts and hangs all over
Jenny Truman. It’s sickening,” Stevie squealed. “I have no idea what Sydney
sees in him.”

“I think he’s cute, that’s all. It’s not like I really like
him or anything.” My cheeks were blazing and I avoided looking at Keith.  “I
couldn’t think of a wish and I panicked. I didn’t want to wish for nothing. That’s
lame.”

“Not as lame as wishing for Mike Cameron to fall in love with
you,” Sydney said and snorted.

“God. Who cares what I wished for?” I shouted.

“I am not listening to stupid girl talk anymore,” Cody said,
but no one bothered to look his way. “I’m outta here.” He turned around and plodded
out of the kitchen.

Keith ran his hand through his hair. “I should go, too,” he
mumbled. “Gotta help out my Mom and then work at the art gallery. See you at
school tomorrow. Happy birthday, Syd.”  He patted my shoulder on the way out
and practically ran out of the kitchen, leaving Stevie and me alone with the
crazy lady.

“Thanks for totally embarrassing me, Nana,” I said when the
boys were gone and the kitchen seemed suddenly bigger and more ominous.

“Um. You’re the one who embarrassed you,” Stevie added, none
too helpfully.

I glared at her. “I can’t lie to Nana,” I reminded her. She
knew. She couldn’t lie to her either. No one could.

“And what do you care if I make stupid wishes about boys? I’m
supposed to. I’m a teenager. It’s my job,” I said to Nana.

“You have no idea what has happened.” Nana shook her head and
then rested it on her hands. “I knew this wouldn’t work. I told her but no, no
one listens to an old woman,” she said to the kitchen table.

I stared down at her. “Nana?” I said softly. “Maybe you
should like, see a doctor, or something?”

Stevie lifted her finger to the side of her head and made a
circular motion. Nana jumped up from her chair and it banged to the floor.

 “Stevie. You have to go home. Now.”

I shook my head. “That’s rude.” I frowned at Nana and then
turned to Stevie. “Stevie. You don’t have to go.”

“Yes she does.” Nana pointed to the kitchen exit. “Stevie. I
need to have some words with my Granddaughter. In private. Please go home.
Now.”

Stevie’s eyes widened. “Um. Okay.” Her face crumbled a little
as she hurried out.

“What’s wrong with you? That was mean.” I clung to Magic for
support. I didn’t even like to think about my fate in the woo hoo area with
Nana going there too.

Nana grabbed my arm and pulled. I gasped, a little surprised
by the strength in her grip. “Come with me, Sydney. No one is crazy.”

She pulled me out of the kitchen and marched me up the stairs
to the outside of Mom’s bedroom. When she boldly grabbed the doorknob and
turned it, Magic stirred in my arms.

Nana muttered and pushed me inside the bedroom. It smelled
faintly like Mom’s favorite perfume but mustier. Magic jumped out of my arms
and scurried to the floor and then ran to my mom’s bed and climbed on top of
the black comforter.

Nana closed the door behind her, locking it.

“Sit.” She pointed to mom’s bed.

I didn’t move. I hadn’t been inside since Mom left. Nana
pointed again with an expression that told me there was no use arguing. I pressed
my lips tight and stomped to the bed and plunked down on the satin black comforter.

“I wanted to warn you what might happen on your sixteenth
birthday, but your mom was so sure nothing would happen that she didn’t want me
to say a thing to you. So I promised her I wouldn’t. Now. I’m afraid it’s too
late. It’s already happened.”

“What? Nana. You’re scaring me. What are you talking about?”

I watched wide-eyed as she dug hurried to mom’s dresser and
stared digging through the drawers. She ignored me, muttering to herself as she
rifled through mom’s things. When she started sifting through mom’s jewelry box
on top of the dresser, I sucked in a breath of air. In spite of how stupid I
thought she was, I kind of admired her moxy. No one touched Mom’s jewelry box. Cody
and I learned from a very young age, never, ever to touch it. Not her jewelry
box.

We’d spent a lot of time discussing what might be in it when
we were kids. We’d imagined things until we just had to try to break in. She’d
caught us the moment we’d laid a hand on it. We’d both been grounded for weeks.
She told us she’d always know if we looked at her jewelry box. And to never,
ever do it again. We believed her. At least I did. As many times as I wanted
to, I was too scared to do it again.  Cody and I stopped talking about it when
we got older.

Now, as Nana sifted through, I waited for something horrible
to happen. Nana grunted and my breath caught in my throat but then he pulled
her hand out of the box, waving a long silver key at me.

“A false drawer? A secret hiding space? Ha! Your mother
thinks she’s sneaky but I knew it would be in there.”

She held the key up high and hurried across the room and went
inside mom’s walk-in closet.  Then she dropped to her knees, pulled aside a rug
that covered the hardwood floor and giggled. She held up the key and then dug
into the floor. Unable to resist, I got up from the bed and crept towards the
closet. Nana fussed around with the key and then finally she pulled up a thin
wooden door that had a lock built into it. My mom had a secret hiding spot in the
floor of her bedroom closet?

“Help me Sydney, I’m not a young woman, you know. I can’t
lift this myself.
          I rushed closer and helped her push up the door. The wood was solid.
Heavier than it looked.

“You got it?” Nana asked. “Can you hold it up while I go
inside?”

I nodded and she leaned forward, reaching deep inside. Her
hand didn’t go in very far before she grunted and then with her other hand, pulled
out a big book.

She put the book down on the floor, got up from her knees and
brushed herself off and then picked up the book and held it to her chest.
“Close the door behind me and come over to the bed.”

I did as I was told and approached slowly; staring down at
the book she’d placed on the bed. The cover had emblem etched into it. I
frowned and looked down at my neck. It was a Celtic knot, exactly the same
symbol as the one around my neck. My fingers crawled to it and held it.

Nana opened the first page of the book. The page had an
etching of a white cat with startling blue eyes on it.

“That looks exactly like Magic,” I whispered, and held onto
my necklace with one hand.

Nana nodded. She pushed the book towards me. I took a deep
breath and sat on the edge of the bed and turned a page over.

The pages were thick leather and I squinted at an etching and
my hand flew to my throat. “Oh, my God. That’s a picture of my necklace.”

Nana nodded. I closed my eyes and tried not to scream out
with fear.

“What’s going on?” I asked in a whisper and opened my eyes.

She picked up Magic and stroked his fur. “I’m afraid it’s
destiny, Sydney.”

I didn’t blink, waiting for her to go on. 

She pointed to my neck. “That necklace has been in our family
for generations. Your mother pawned it, before she left to keep it from you.
But it found you anyways.”

My hand went to my throat. “Keith bought it for me.”

Nana lifted her shoulder. “More likely,
it chose Keith to bring it to you. Just as Magic chose Stevie.” She gestured to
the book. “Magic is our family cat.”

I shook my head. Nonsense. She was talking nonsense. None of
this made any sense.

“Your mom tried to stop it. She tried to stop any of this
from finding you. She wanted to keep you out of danger. She got rid of
everything and went to the Institute to keep you safe. But in the end, I guess there
really was no way to stop destiny.”

 “To stop what destiny?” I whisper, watching her old dried
hand as it stroked Magic’s fur.

“To stop you from becoming exactly like her.”

I stared at her, horrified. “You mean I’m going to end up in
the Looney bin?”

Nana’s
fierce expression softened. “Oh, Sweetie. You’re not going to end up in the
Looney bin. She’s at the Institute. And now we have to figure out what to do.”

Nana
called it the Institute. Cody and I knew it was the Looney Bin. The Insane
Asylum. The land of woo hoo-itis.

Nana grabbed my hand and squeezed it with more force than I
would have guessed she could muster up.

“You’re a witch now. A Grant Witch. The Hundredth. You’ll be
the most powerful yet. I hope that’s going to be enough to help.”