by Ahmet Zappa
And then she couldn’t help adding:
5) Help Leona become happy again.
6) Find Scarlet (and convince her to rejoin band).
7) Check on flowers in botany lab (and hopefully collect on bet!).
8) Try to get along better with Piper.
9) Call Mom back.
As Vega thought of her mom, she pictured her curling up in bed with a good holo-book and some jellyjoobles, her mom’s favorite thing to do after a long shift at the hospital. Then Vega got a weird lump in her throat and she had to get up and drink a glass of water. But it didn’t help. So to feel better, she closed her eyes and repeated her mantra over and over again:
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
You are the missing piece of the puzzle.
Until she fell finally fell asleep, a peaceful smile on her face.
“Shouldn’t we wait for your parents?” asked Vega as she slathered jam on a delicious-smelling crossed-sant, or at least that’s what she thought it was called. Surely this gigantic spread was not for just her and Katie. She popped a fat red berry with little yellow seeds all over it into her mouth and poured herself a glass of freshly squeezed glorange juice.
Or-ange, she corrected herself.
“Oh, no, I’m sure they were up really late last night,” explained Katie.
Vega felt another lump rise in her throat as she recalled how her mother had greeted her with a tasty breakfast every morning before she went to school, regardless of how late her mom had worked the night before.
It was pleasant to ride to school in the luxurious car and have the door opened for them, like they were famous or something. The girls walked up the stone steps and Vega followed Katie into her classroom. She walked right up to the teacher and introduced herself as she had been instructed. “Hello, I am Vega, the new student in your class,” she told her teacher, Ms. McKenney, a woman with green eyes, auburn hair, and an easy grin.
It worked like a charm. And it made her happy when Ms. McKenney said that the room smelled like coconut layer cake.
Vega got settled at her new desk and waited patiently for her Wisher to appear. She was starting to get anxious when Ms. McKenney shut the door and started the morning’s attendance and Ella still hadn’t arrived. Finally, to Vega’s relief, there was a knock on the door. Ms. McKenney opened it. “Thanks for joining us!” she said to the red-faced girl. She said it kindly, but Ella looked miserable as she slunk to her seat behind Katie.
“Your driver got stuck in traffic?” Katie asked sympathetically.
Ella raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, something like that,” she muttered.
Vega was not a fashionista; she was the furthest thing from it, actually, as she preferred function over form at all times. But once again she had to admire Ella’s outfit choice: a black cape with a hood over a pair of jeans with artfully arranged multicolored patches and a pair of distressed ankle boots. She could see Scarlet (poor Scarlet) wearing that exact same cape. The arms, she decided as she watched, looked very much like bat wings. Yes, Scarlet would be all over that cape in an instant. Ella removed the cape and hung it over the back of her seat, revealing the sparkly maroon shrug she had completed in Knitting Club the day before.
As the morning progressed, Vega was disappointed to discover that there were no clues to be had about Ella’s wish. The girl seemed to have it all—smarts (she finished a math problem everyone else but Vega, of course, was struggling with), admirers (three girls told her they were going to join the Knitting Club, too, so they could learn how to knit a shrug just like hers), and style. What could Ella want that she didn’t have? Vega wondered. The only possible lead she had at the moment was Ella’s busy designer mom. She’d have to look into that, and soon.
The bell rang for lunch and the students stood at their desks, putting books and papers and writing utensils into their backpacks. “Class! Class!” shouted Ms. McKenney. “Don’t forget that Bring Your Parent to School Day is coming up on Friday. There are still some parents we haven’t heard from, so please have them fill out the slip and return it to me as soon as you are able. We would like all our parents to participate if possible!”
She indicated a list pinned to the bulletin board. Vega stole a glance at the list on her way out the door. Ella’s name was not on it. She got a shiver of excitement and wondered: Could this be my first clue?
She could be on to something. She watched with interest as Katie turned and spoke briefly with Ella.
Ella disappeared into the surge of students in the hallway, and Vega hurried to catch up with Katie. “What did you say to Ella?” she asked.
“Oh, I just told her how excited I am to meet her mom,” she said.
“And what did Ella say?” Vega asked.
“She said she doesn’t think it’s going to happen. Her mom is in Paris and she doesn’t think she’ll be back in time,” Katie said, frowning. She crossed her fingers. “Fingers crossed she can make it!”
Vega headed to the cafeteria in search of Ella. She couldn’t find her anywhere, and finally her hunger got the better of her and she got into the lunch line behind some other students. The line was long, and she used the opportunity to try to discover her special talent. She ran down a mental list. It wasn’t levitation or making time stand still (or speed up). She turned to the girl behind her and tried out mind reading (nothing). She stared at a cookie, willing it to disappear. Nothing. Finally, it was her turn to order her lunch. She glanced up at all the unfamiliar menu items. Pizza. Hamburgers. Chicken tenders. Tomato soup. Grilled cheese. Suddenly, she had an idea. She surreptitiously tapped her elbows together three times for luck. “I’ll have a slice of pizza please,” she told the woman pleasantly. Then she thought, Give me a grilled cheese. Give me a grilled cheese. Give me a grilled cheese.
The woman reached for the pizza, then stopped, a puzzled look on her face. Before Vega’s delighted eyes, she shook her head, picked up a toasted sandwich, and handed it to Vega uncertainly.
“Thank you so much!” Vega said effusively. Now she was certain! Her star talent was mind control! This was a tough one because she knew that she couldn’t use this talent directly on her Wisher. So she wasn’t sure exactly how she was going to use it, but she was certainly glad to have the knowledge in her back pocket.
She grabbed some napkins (paper, which was odd to her) and then stood uncertainly, balancing her tray as she scanned the room, looking for a familiar face. She smiled when she spotted Katie. Even better, there was an empty seat at her table. Vega headed over.
“Vega!” said Katie. “Sit down. You remember Luna, Callie, and Lila from class?”
The girls smiled at her and Vega nodded back, although she had been so focused on Ella, she hadn’t noticed any of the other students.
Vega sat and took a bite of her grilled cheese sandwich. She was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. She chewed and swallowed. “So what happens on Bring Your Parents to School Day?” she asked.
“Oh, parents come in and talk to the students about their jobs,” Katie explained.
“Are your parents coming in?” Vega asked.
“My dad is supposed to come in and talk about derivatives,” she said. “I love my dad to death but…” She gave a dramatic jaw-cracking yawn. “Will either of your parents be able to come?”
Vega’s eyes widened. “Oh, I don’t think so,” she said. “They’re, um, away.” That certainly wasn’t a lie. They were both away from her at the moment; that was for sure. Vega’s dad even more so, ever since she was three staryears old. He visited her sporadically and sent her a Bright Day gift every staryear, but he had a new family now in Light City, and every Bright Day she got a staryear older, but his gifts did not. It was like she was five staryears old permanently, in his mind.
Vega couldn’t throw the gifts away, as inappropriate as they were, and she kept them in the bottom drawer of her dresser. She rarely opened the drawer; it made her very sad to look at them.
The rest of the girls at the table started talking excitedly about who would be the most interesting parent. One girl’s mother was a famous actress. Another girl’s father had written a best-selling book. Another girl’s mother was something called a plastic surgeon, which seemed like it could be quite interesting, as some Wishlings apparently liked to alter their looks. That thought was quite foreign to Vega, because every Starling was innately proud of his or her unique appearance.
Katie grinned. “I hope Ella’s mom comes in. I want to ask her where she gets her inspiration from.”
“That’s right,” said another girl. “I mean, her designs are to die for. Ella always looks so good!”
Vega had a free period after lunch, so she headed to the library to wander through the stacks of those paper books Sage and Libby had told her about. She smiled when she stepped inside. The room had floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony, and everywhere she looked were books, books, and more books, in all colors of the rainbow and all shapes and sizes. Some had hard covers and some had soft covers. Some had the sharp smell of a just-printed page and others had crumbly pages and the odor of history and decay. She wandered through the stacks, pulling out titles and leafing through them. She reached for an extra-large book, called Guinness World Records, and was staring with fascination at the picture on the cover—a photo of a man with hundreds of smoking sticks shoved into his mouth—when she looked up and realized that the empty space allowed her to see through the stack to the other side. And there stood Ella!
The girl was stock-still, her fingers crossed and her eyes screwed tightly shut. Could she be…could she be wishing? Vega’s heart began to race. She whipped out her Star-Zap and pressed the holo-vid button. An actual Wisher in the act of wishing! Everyone would want to see this! “I’m going to try again,” she heard Ella whisper. She screwed her eyes shut and crossed her fingers. “I wish this lie of mine would just go away!”
A sudden electric jolt ran through Vega and she dropped her Star-Zap with a clatter. “Starf!” she cried.
When Vega straightened up, her Star-Zap in hand, Ella was standing right next to her, glowering. “Were you spying on me?” she demanded.
Vega held out her hands to Ella. “Don’t be mad at me,” she implored. “I can help you! Just tell me—what do you wish you hadn’t lied about?”
Ella stared at Vega, furious. “You want to know what I really wish?” she whispered harshly. “I wish that you would leave me alone. Do you think you can help me with that?”
The entire rest of the day, Vega got the silent treatment from Ella. And everybody noticed.
Katie went up to Vega as they made their way to gym class. “What did you say to Ella?” she asked. “Whoa, you are totally getting frozen out.”
That was a good way to describe it, Vega thought. There was a definite chill in the air anytime Ella was around. Vega didn’t know what to do. Her Countdown Clock told her she had twenty-one starhours to grant the wish. She felt like a failure. She was definitely the first Star Darling whose Wisher wouldn’t acknowledge her existence.
In the locker room, Vega was handed a uniform that was tight in the places it should have been baggy and baggy in the places it should have been tight.
“Oh, boy,” Katie said when Vega walked into the gym. “That’s unfortunate.”
Vega shrugged. She had way bigger problems than an ill-fitting gym uniform. “Do you think we’ll play lodgeball?” she asked Katie, remembering the game that Sage had told her about witnessing her Wisher play during her mission. “Maybe Ella and I will be on the same team.”
Katie chortled. “Oh, Vega, you’re so funny,” she said. “And it’s not just that ridiculous uniform. Lodgeball!” The gym teacher stood in front of the room, a whistle around her neck. “Today we start our lessons in square dancing,” she announced.
Up went a chorus of groans, which the gym teacher ignored. “Square dancing is a type of folk dance,” she went on. “Please break up into groups of eight and form a square, two partners on each side.”
Katie grabbed Vega’s hand and together they formed one side of a square. Vega noticed with disappointment that Ella positioned herself as far away from Vega as she could while still remaining in the gymnasium. She shook her head. How was she going to fix this?
Vega turned to Katie. “What’s so bad about square dancing?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” replied Katie grimly.
But Vega didn’t see. It turned out she absolutely loved square dancing. It might have been the orderly way everyone moved. It might have been the sheer novelty of it. Or it might have been the opportunity she had to promenade, do-si-do, and swing with seven different people. Because every time she promenaded, do-si-doed, swung her partner, or allemanded, she got to chat with someone else.
“So tell me about Ella,” she said under her breath as she promenaded with a curly-headed girl named Grace.
“Oh, she’s nice,” Grace said. “She’s got great style.”
When Vega bowed to her side, she asked a blond girl, “Have you ever been to Ella’s house?”
“Never,” was the answer. “She never invites anyone over.” She lowered her voice. “I think it must be because her mom has some secret designs lying around the house or something. The fashion industry can be cutthroat!”
“Now everybody swing,” called the teacher, and Vega found out about every trend Ella had started as she linked arms and swung around with each dancer. Arm warmers. Cat-eye glasses. Two different-colored socks. Mismatched earrings. Paint-speckled shoes. “This,” said a girl, holding up a necklace with a brightly painted key on it. “We all wear them now, just like Ella,” she explained.
Just then a shiver went down Vega’s spine and her skin began to tingle. It was subtle, but it had to be a sign, didn’t it? She turned to grin at Ella, across the gym, who glowered back at her. Did she know Vega was talking about her? Vega was pretty sure she had figured out what Ella’s lie was. Now she just had to talk to Ella and convince the other girl to let her help fix it. This was going to be a piece of pie. She smiled smugly, mentally congratulating herself for remembering the Wishling phrase that Sage had shared with everyone.
Back in the classroom, Vega received an unexpected opportunity from Ms. McKenney. “Class,” the teacher announced, “I want you to pair up to do your writing homework tonight. Your assignment is to interview a classmate with these questions.” She held up a sheaf of papers and began handing them out.
“Katie, you’re paired with Ivy,” she said. “Jill and Maya, please take turns interviewing each other.”
Vega saw her chance. She closed her eyes and concentrated. This was going to take an awful lot of her wish energy reserve, so she hoped it would work.
“Ella, you are paired with…Lu…Lu…Lu…” She clearly wanted to say a particular name, but it wouldn’t come out. “Vega,” she finally said.
It had worked! The grin on Vega’s face was as intense as Ella’s grimace. Maybe even more so.
Vega leaned her back against the locker next to Ella’s. Ella was aggressively shoving books into her backpack and trying to ignore Vega. But the Starling was fully determined to use this opportunity to her advantage.
“So shall we head to your house?” Vega suggested hopefully.
Ella looked up suddenly, and Vega saw a flash of something in her eyes—anger, or could it be panic? But the girl smoothly said, “Oh, they’re polishing our marble entryway today. Let’s go to your house instead.”
Vega actually did panic. “I…um…my…can’t,” was all she managed to say.
Ella had the good grace not to laugh at Vega’s awkwardness. “Okay then, let’s go to the Munch Box,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Vega. “Let’s get this over with.”
The two girls left the school in silence and
headed down the steps together. Ella led Vega down the block to a friendly little coffee shop with cozy booths and a counter with funny round seats that appeared to be bolted to the floor. The two girls settled into a booth. Ella started rummaging through her bag. She pulled out a mirror, a wallet, and a small paperback book before she found what she was looking for—a notebook and a purple pen.
Vega stared at the book. “Is that a book of crosswords?” she asked excitedly.
“It is,” said Ella. “I do them on the subway.” Then she got a horrified look on her face and barked out a laugh. “That was a joke! As if I ever take the subway! I do it in the car when my driver takes me to school.”
“What’s the subway?” asked Vega. Starf! she thought. Maybe she’ll realize I’m not a Wishling!
But Ella grinned and reached over to give her a friendly punch in the arm. “Right? Nobody who goes to George Robert Prep actually takes the subway!”
Ella picked up a menu and began flipping through it. “I’m getting a hot fudge sundae with chocolate ice cream,” she said decidedly.
The menu was so thick and jam-packed with unfamiliar food choices that Vega didn’t know where to begin. Chops! Specials! Breakfast served all day! What in the world was a jelly omelet? Or a gyro? Vega was totally overwhelmed, so she simply said, “Me too.” She hoped she would like it.
Shortly afterward she discovered that she most certainly did. The sundae, a tantalizing mountain of round scoops of brown, slathered with a thick dark brown sauce, was placed in front of her. A fluffy crown of white and a bright red fruit with a stem sat on top. It looked amazing. Vega licked her lips in anticipation.
“Let’s dig in,” said Ella, brandishing a long spoon.
The sundae was simply perfection in a chilly metal cup—a lip-smackingly delicious combination of creamy, sweet coldness and warm goodness in every bite. The white fluffy cream was sweet and as light as air. Vega was in heaven. She made a mental note: Bring a hot fudge sundae home for Tessa.
