Wishful Thinking (10 page)

“As if I would.” Sophie rolled her eyes. Besides, she had been thinking more along the lines of another pair of jeans in case she bumped into Jonathan Tait again today, but she had to admit that Harvey had a point and that something small would be better. “Okay, I'll wish for a Snickers bar, and then we can—”

However, before she could even finish the sentence a Snickers bar suddenly appeared in the middle of the table. For a moment the three of them were silent as Harvey opened it up and cautiously sniffed it. Then he took a small bite out of the corner and looked up at them both.

“Yup, that's a Snickers bar.” He took another bite, obviously to clarify the situation, before he wrinkled his brow. “So what should we do now?”

“I'll tell you what we should do.” Sophie felt her whole body start to tingle with energy and excitement as she silently wished for a new iPod. A second later a bright pink Nano (16 GB) appeared in front of her. She picked it up and turned it over in awe as she noted that it had all of Neanderthal Joe's albums already downloaded onto it.

“Well, don't keep us in suspense. What's the plan?” Kara demanded, and Sophie grinned as she held up some Skullcandy headphones so that her friends could have a listen.

“The plan is to have some fun.”

I
DON'T LIKE IT.” HARVEY LEANED OVER TO WHERE Sophie was busy conjugating some Spanish verbs in their final class of the day.

“Really?” Sophie put down her pencil and glanced down at the new Chucky Ts he was now wearing. “I thought the green was cute. They sort of match your eyes; plus, weren't they the ones you saw in the mall the other day? Not that it matters, because if you'd like another color, then that's okay.”

“No.” Harvey shook his straight hair and held up his hand to stop her. “It's not the color. It's the everything.” He waved his hand in the air, probably to indicate the new leather-bound sketch pad that Kara was reverently patting. Not to mention Sophie's new boyfriend-cut jeans that she had seen in this month's
Girl2day
magazine (okay, and the coordinating boots, because really it would be a shame to have one and not the other). “I don't like all the magic.”

“Why not?” Sophie pushed a strand of hair out of her face before realizing it would be easier just to get a new hair clip. A second later a tortoiseshell barrette was in her hand. She slipped it in.
Ah, that was better.

“Excuse me, but is there something we should know about?” their new Spanish teacher, Señor Rena, called out from the front of the class. Sophie quickly stopped fiddling with the hair clip and shook her head. She had known that Señor Rena would be a problem ever since she had discovered he was only five feet four and had a bald patch. Short, bald teachers were always cranky. Fact.

“Because,” Harvey continued in a low voice once their teacher had returned his attention to the whiteboard. “Remember all those articles I found that said that magic has a real cause and effect. I just think we need to know more about it first. Find out what it means.”

“Well, as far as I can tell, it means I can do magic,” Sophie explained to him before grinning again. “So seriously, do you want me to change the sneakers or not?”

“No I don't want you to change the sneakers. I want you to listen to me,” Harvey persisted in a whisper. He paused for a moment as Señor Rena stopped writing; however, when he didn't turn around, Harvey continued, “I just think you should be careful with this stuff until you know more about it.”

“Yes, but that's not my fault,” Sophie reminded him in an equally low voice as she held up her hands to prove how red they were from clapping. In fact, they had spent the rest of their lunch break crammed into the janitor's closet (which, for the record, always seemed to be completely empty of janitors). But despite all the clapping that she'd done, there had been no sign of Malik. Not that Sophie had really minded because she was far too eager to see what else she could do with her new power.

And to think that this time yesterday she had thought that being a djinn was the worst thing in the world. Just went to show you what a positive mind-set could achieve.

“Yes, well, you haven't exactly been trying hard now,” Harvey persisted.

“That's because we're in class, and trust me, no good could possibly come from Malik turning up now.”

“Excuse me.” Señor Rena spun around again, but before he could continue, the final bell rang and everyone started to pack their books away. For a moment Sophie thought the teacher was going to call her over, but instead he just shot her the universal “I'll be watching you from now on, Missy” look before he stalked out of the class as fast as his short legs would carry him.

Still, Sophie was too happy to really care, and if he tried to get mad at her tomorrow, perhaps she would just conjure him up some extra hair. That should make him happy.

“Are you two crazy?” Kara hissed from Sophie's other side as the rest of the class started to pile out past them. “I almost thought you were both going to get a detention on the second day of school. What were you talking about. . . oh, is that a new hair clip? Pretty.”

“
That's
what I was talking about,” Harvey said in a dry voice as he finished scooping his books into his bag and got to his feet. “I just think that Sophie needs to hold off on all the abracadabra until we know more about it.”

“What's there to know?” Sophie demanded in surprise. “I mean, this is seriously the best thing ever. Ever, ever.”

“My point exactly.” Harvey slung his backpack over his shoulder, and they all made their way out of the school and toward the school bus. “There's got to be a catch. I mean, if it was so easy to do, then why did Malik tell you that it wasn't possible yet? What was the submarine analogy that he used?”

“Okay, so yes, I know he said I wouldn't be able to do magic yet, but he was obviously wrong. And actually, I would bet money that it wouldn't be the first time he was wrong. Not to mention crazy. Did I tell you that he thinks that the reason Cheetos are orange is because mankind wanted to show how much they respect and honor djinns?”

“I still think there's a catch.” A stubborn scowl tugged around Harvey's mouth.

“Like what?” Sophie wanted to know as she just avoided being flattened by Ben Griggs as he pushed his way past them and raced over to where Melissa Tait was standing underneath a huge sycamore tree (in her new Motion jeans), surrounded by her Tait-bots. “Because the catch can't be that I only get three wishes, since I used them up way back at the cafeteria when I conjured up that necklace for Kara.”

“Which I love.” Kara's hand immediately flew to the tiny silver paintbrush that was hanging from a chain around her neck.

“Yes, there could be another catch,” Harvey went on as the worry lines continued to march across his brow with military precision. “I watched this horror movie once, and every time this one person did magic, somewhere else in the world, someone suffered because of it.”

“Harvey.” Sophie rolled her eyes.

“What? It's true,” he insisted before conceding. “Well, okay so it was true in that movie.”

“Well, I don't think it's true for Sophie,” Kara pointed out.

“Fine, but I also saw this other movie where all the magic started to fade away like an illusion,” he continued, and this time Sophie did feel a stab of panic go darting through her.

“W-what do you mean?” She fanned her face. “Are you saying that the stuff I've made won't last?”

“I don't know,” he admitted with a shake of his nut brown hair. “I'm just saying that it's possible, and that until you speak to Malik that you should really hold off on using it.”

Sophie looked over to where Melissa Tait was talking to Ben Griggs while striking various poses in her new jeans. If those jeans disappeared, then it would be fair to say that Melissa Tait would do more than just give Sophie a charley horse.

“Okay. You've convinced me.” Sophie started to clap as they all piled onto the school bus. A few people looked at her oddly, but that would be nothing compared to what they would do if her new clothes (not to mention her new underwear) disappeared.
“Where is he?”

“Perhaps he just didn't hear you?” Kara suggested in her typical kindhearted way.

“Well, if he didn't, then he's the only one,” Harvey retorted as he rubbed his ears. “Do you really need to clap so loudly?”

“Hey, if you hadn't freaked me out, then I wouldn't be clapping at all,” Sophie reminded him as she clapped some more. “I would be sitting here enjoying my newfound powers, but no, you had to go and watch all of those weird horror movies and get me all concerned.”

Harvey flushed. “You're right. I'm sorry. But while we're waiting for Malik, we can always start going through all of the notes I printed out. We might be able to find something else in there.”

“Great idea. Count me in.” Kara immediately nodded. “I've already told my mom that I was probably going to your house anyway.”

“And my folks have been fighting about who has to take the budgie, so I'm in no hurry to go home. Will your mom mind?”

“Of course not. She was doing an early shift, so she should be home by now. But be warned, if she offers you a chocolate brownie, say no because she's been going onto a weird Web site for single parents, and someone there gave her a really bad brownie recipe. I'm talking rocklike.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.” Harvey wiped his brow as they stepped inside. Then he frowned. “Why are Meg's legs sticking out the end of the couch like that?”

“No idea.” Sophie shook her head as she looked over to where Meg was once again half hidden from sight. “But if it will stop her bugging us, then I'm okay with it. Anyway, if you guys want to head upstairs to my room, I'll just let my mom know we're home.”

There was no sign of her mom anywhere, so Sophie hurried out to the small shed at the back of the overgrown garden that her mom used as a pottery studio—well, had used as a pottery studio. These days she didn't tend to go in there much, and when she did, it was more to mope around than to do any work. Sophie was just about to step inside before she remembered that this morning when she left for school, she hadn't been wearing new jeans or boots (or have a double-stitched pink-and-white polka-dot Quiksilver backpack hanging off her shoulder), and so she paused for a moment and wished that she had her old clothes on.

A second later Mr. Jaws, who had been busy sunning himself by the shed door, jumped onto all four paws and hissed at her. Sophie closed her eyes for a moment, and the next thing a bowl of Pretty Kitty Snacks appeared on the ground. Mr. Jaws shot her one final glare before he turned his attention to the food. It was good to see that even cranky, bad-tempered black and white cats had their price.

Sophie took a second to check that her old clothes were all in order and then stepped inside. The shed had once been a place where the whole family had gravitated, but now the secondhand chairs that Mr. Jaws had almost clawed to death were sitting in the corner, unused, while the large pottery wheel in the center of the room was covered with a dusty throw cloth.

Sophie's mom was over in the far corner, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling shelves where she used to put all of her pottery when it came out of the kiln. The shelves were half empty now, and her mom was holding an old wonky vase in her hand, lovingly tracing the awkward shape with one fingertip.

For a moment Sophie felt her mouth go dry as she recognized the blue-glazed creation.

It was one that her dad had made, and at the time her mom had jokingly told him that he should stick to the cooking and she would stick to pottery. Despite being able to see her mom only from behind, Sophie had a terrible feeling that she had been crying, and she was just about to slip back out when her mom suddenly turned around.

“Oh, honey, I didn't realize you were home already.” Her mom discreetly dabbed at her eyes. “How was school?”

Great. The boy of my dreams sorta, kinda asked me out, and then I discovered that all I need to do is wish for something and then it happens. Of course, the downside is that I'm not quite sure how well the magic will hold up, which is why I need to talk to my djinn guide ASAP.

“Oh, it was okay,” she said instead, with what she hoped was a casual shrug.

“Did you find out about where the Neanderthal Joe tickets are going to be sold?” her mom asked. Sophie hadn't planned to tell her mom about them last night, not just because she was distracted by the whole orange/djinn thing but because she no longer could afford to go to the concert. Unfortunately, someone who had gone into the antiques store yesterday had mentioned it, and so Sophie had been forced to confirm it. “Because I'm starting work at ten tomorrow, so I could always go early and pick some up for you. I know how long you've been saving up for it.”

“Actually, Kara's mom is going to get them for us. She works right next door,” Sophie quickly interposed as she suddenly realized that perhaps it hadn't been such a great idea to talk nonstop all summer about how she was saving up, on the off chance that the Joes put out some extra tickets for the concert. Still, all she had to say was that they couldn't get tickets and then act all upset about it for a couple of days (which wouldn't be too much of a stretch, since the fact she couldn't go would probably end up killing her).
Oh, and it was probably a good idea to change the subject as well.
“Anyway, Harvey and Kara are going to hang out here for a while. Is that okay? Harvey's folks are still fighting.”

“Poor Harvey. Such a nice boy. Perhaps some of my brownies will cheer him up?”

“Actually, we had a massive lunch today, so we're not really that hungry.”

“Since when is Harvey not hungry?” Her mom lifted a surprised eyebrow.

Since I warned him that they were like rocks,
Sophie silently added before giving a vague wave of her hand. “I guess there's a first time for everything. Anyway, I'd better go up.”

“Okay then.” Her mom nodded before suddenly narrowing her eyes. “Are you all right? You look a bit. . . different?”