The next morning when I came downstairs, Claire and Mom were making pancakes again. I guess Claire never got sick of them. I liked pancakes too, but every day was too much for me. The wish jar was downstairs, still out in the open, and I needed to hide it. So before Claire or Mom saw me, I snuck past the kitchen and down to the basement.
It was supposed to be just for a minute, to hide the jar, but once I was holding it, I changed my mind. I sat in the chair, put my hand in the jar, and made my own wish. I wish I knew which wish was next. It was a wish trifecta—me making a wish, holding the wish jar, and touching wishes. I waited for an extra second to see if anything special would happen, but it didn’t. That was okay; the wishes were enough. I gave the balls a final swirl and pulled one out, hoping it was the wish after Anderson’s.
I Wish Spencer Was Around More
We were in Ashley’s room. I could tell instantly, because right over the bed was a banner with her name on it. I looked around, but Ashley wasn’t in the room; it was only me and Shue. Shue was looking through Ashley’s desk, opening and closing the drawers. She was in a rush, but every couple of seconds she stopped, listened, and looked back at the door. What was she worried about? Someone catching her? I didn’t want to believe what I was thinking, but I couldn’t help it. Was she stealing something?
“Green wolf.” I said my test words and walked toward her. I didn’t notice it at first, but she was holding something. I looked closer; it was the ugly yellow duck statue, the one with the removable head. After a few more seconds of watching, I knew what she was doing. She was looking for a place to hide it. It must be a game she and Ashley played—hiding the duck in each other’s rooms. How fun! Suddenly I felt uneasy, like someone was watching me—but that was impossible. I was invisible. I turned, and there in the doorway was one of Ashley’s brothers. I made a guess—Spencer. But he wasn’t watching me; he was watching Shue. I wanted to warn her, but I couldn’t. All I could do was watch. Shue walked over to Ashley’s closet, poked around for a minute or two, and then shoved the duck under a stack of clothes. Suddenly Spencer spoke.
“I could tell on you,” he said.
Shue gasped and spun around. As soon as she saw who it was, she smiled and relaxed.
She took a step forward. “Oh, it’s you.”
It was the first time I’d seen them standing together on even ground. I was surprised. I’d thought Spencer was taller than Shue, but he wasn’t, he was shorter.
Shue pulled a brown paper bag out of her pocket and waved it in front of Spencer. “If you don’t tell, you can have some.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about, but Spencer did.
He stepped forward and pointed to the bag. “Let me see. What kind did you get?”
Shue opened the bag so Spencer could see inside.
After about twenty seconds he straightened up, grinned, and said, “Five Pixy Stix, half the red licorice, and all the orange sours.”
Shue nodded. “Okay, but no orange sours.”
Spencer wasn’t giving up. “What if I tell you a better hiding spot? An amazing one. Is that worth the orange sours?”
Shue thought for a minute. “Maybe.” She hesitated. “But it has to be really good.”
Spencer walked over to where Shue had hidden the duck and pulled it out.
He turned to make sure she was watching and walked to the other side of the room. “This is where Ashley puts special things.”
He stopped in front of the mirror above Ashley’s desk and fiddled with it. Suddenly the entire mirror swung open, and behind it was a hidden small shallow cabinet. Shue put her hands up to her mouth. It was obvious she’d never seen it before. The first thing I noticed was a jar filled with small pieces of paper.
Shue pointed to it. “My duck notes!”
There were other things in there too—a few necklaces, a pile of papers, a bunch of Shue’s drawings taped to the back of the mirror, a little blue vase, a tiny metal box, and one large sparkly earring.
Spencer motioned to the cabinet. “See! I told you.”
Shue was quiet for a moment. She pulled out an orange sour to keep and handed the whole bag of candy over to Spencer.
“You’re right, it’s amazing. Here.”
Spencer looked surprised, but he didn’t say no; he took the candy. A second later his mouth was full. Shue put the duck on the shelf and closed the mirror.
She smiled. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Spencer nodded and rushed out of the room, probably scared that Shue would ask for the candy back. He wasn’t like me; he wasn’t curious. Why was she staying behind? What was she going to do?
The first thing Shue did after Spencer left was check the hallway. He was gone—no one was there. She rushed back to the desk, opened the mirror, and took out the duck. I thought she’d poke around, look at stuff, but she didn’t. She glanced at her drawings on the inside of the mirror, smiled, and closed it back up. A minute later the duck was back in its old hiding place, under the stack of clothes. Why had she done that? What did it mean? But I never found out, because seconds later I was back in my chair. This time I moved extra fast. I grabbed a wish, read it, and was gone again in seconds.
I Hope That Man Didn’t Really See Us
“White cat!” I said my test words as soon as I saw Shue. Part of me was wishing I’d never started with the test words, but now it was too late to change it. Maybe they were important; I couldn’t tell. So now I had to keep doing it, just in case. We were at Anderson’s again, only this time the girls weren’t happy. They were standing outside the Dumpster, both looking grumpy. Shue stood on her tiptoes and peered inside.
“There’s nothing good in there,” she complained. “Only food garbage.”
Ashley looked over the edge and screwed up her face. “Ewww.”
Shue slumped against the side of the Dumpster. “I wore my special sweatshirt for nothing.” She pulled it off and wrapped it around her waist. She was definitely grumpier than Ashley.
Ashley walked past Shue and circled the Dumpster. Was she looking for something? I couldn’t tell. When she came back around the other side, she was smiling.
Shue was curious. “What? What’s so funny?”
Ashley didn’t explain but grinned wider. “Come see.” She grabbed Shue’s arm and pulled her around the Dumpster to the back of Anderson’s. She pointed to a pair of men’s work boots sitting on the doormat in front of the door and giggled. “We could put stones in them, so when this person puts his boots on, he’ll be surprised.”
Shue shook her head. She wasn’t convinced. “Whose boots are they?”
“I don’t know.” Ashley shrugged. “Does it matter?”
Shue was still worried. “What if we get caught?”
Ashley frowned and put her hands on her hips. “It’s not like it’s against the law! It’s a joke. Plus it’s only a few stones.”
Shue thought for a moment and then slowly bent down. She picked up a pebble. Ashley was more enthusiastic—she grabbed a handful. Quickly a few stones turned into hundreds, and soon the boots were completely full to the top. The man wasn’t going to be surprised when he put his shoes on—he was going to be surprised the minute he saw them.
Shue stood back and admired the boots. “I bet—”
Both girls looked up, startled; the handle on the door next to the boots was moving.
“RUN!” yelled Ashley. They raced off down the street. I followed them, panting to keep up. Even in this fantasy world I was still a bad runner.
The girls turned right at the end of the block and ran toward Ashley’s house. I followed them through the front door and up to Ashley’s bedroom. Ashley ran straight to the window, dropped to the floor, and peeked out from behind the curtain.
“It’s a man,” she whispered. “He’s there!”
Shue crept forward to look. Funny, I hadn’t noticed it before, but from Ashley’s window there was a perfect view of the Dumpster and the back of Anderson’s. While the girls hid on the sides, I stood in the middle of the window and looked out. That was the benefit of being invisible.
A man was standing at the edge of the road, looking in the direction of where the girls had run. He was holding one boot and wearing socks.
Shue seemed nervous. “Do you think he saw us?”
Ashley looked up. “Probably just our backs. And you can’t recognize someone from their back.”
Shue looked down at her shirt and shook her head. “I probably shouldn’t wear these clothes again.”
Suddenly Ashley grabbed her arm. “Look!” She pointed.
The man was shaking the stones out of his boot.
“I think that one was mine,” said Shue.
How could she tell? Weren’t both boots the same? The man gave the boot a final shake and shoved it on his foot. Suddenly he was shouting and hopping around on one leg. He yelled, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. We burst out laughing. It was ridiculous. The man yanked off the boot and turned it upside down. I couldn’t be sure, but I think something fell out.
“My squished stone!” laughed Shue.
“Stop!” gasped Ashley. She waved at Shue. “I can’t breathe. I’ll pee my . . .”
Suddenly they were gone, and the next voice I heard was Mom’s.
“. . . BELIEVE IT! THAT’S IT! NO MORE BASEMENT! For a week! Do you hear me? We’ve been looking all over for you. And you’re hiding out again!”
Mom was halfway down the steps, and she was glaring at me. I couldn’t see her eyes, but sometimes you can tell about glaring from a voice, and her tone definitely said glaring. I jumped up and ran to the bottom of the stairs. I was busted. There was no way around it.
“Upstairs now!” barked Mom. I followed her up. She lectured me the whole way, and I let her. The only way to defend myself was to tell her about the wishes, and I couldn’t do that. What if telling someone ruined everything? What if it stopped the magic? I had to stay quiet. I couldn’t take that chance.