The next morning I crunch behind the school. By the sound of things Mr. Benson will have to start raking leaves soon.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
I reach into my pocket and touch the friendship bracelet. It feels warm and bumpy against my fingers. It feels good. Better than it looks. And I feel good, too. Better than I have felt in a long time.
Crunch,crunch,crunch...
I walk past the hedgehogs and past the hedge-asaurus. I hurry past the giraffe. It's the last hedge before Bessie. Before the secret stone. Before Stacey's answer.
Crunch, crunch ... crunch.
I stop and stare.
I can see the secret stone through Bessie's branches. I can see that it's empty.
My note is gone. Stacey didn't even leave a no. She didn't leave anything at all.
I feel the friendship bracelet slip back into my pocket.
I feel my heart slip into my socks.
I feel a sadness simmer somewhere in between.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
Something is crunching, but it isn't me.
I look up.
Jenna Drews steps around the corner of the school.
"Hey, I-duh," she says with a smirk. "Looking for this?" She pulls a piece of paper from her pocket. It's my note to Stacey!
I wheeze.
Jenna lifts her chin. "I told you to leave her alone, but you just wouldn't listen."
She takes a few steps toward me, holding the note out on the palm of her hand. "I read it," she tells me. "Stacey says she wouldn't be your best friend if you were the last doofus on earth!" Then she crumples the note up in her tight fist.
I dive for the note. I dive so hard that I knock Jenna right off her feet. I land on top of her and the note flies into Bessie's branches. Jenna shoves me away and we both scramble for it.
But Jenna is quicker than me. She grabs the note out of the branches and shoves it into her pocket. Then she rolls onto her back, sneering. "Bye-bye, best friend," she says.
I jump up. I punch my fists into my hips and yell, "Jenna Drews, if you weren't so mean, you might actually have some real friends! The only reason Brooke, Meeka, and Jolene hang around is because they're afraid of you! Everyone knows it's true. Even your little sister has figured it out."
Jenna just glares at me. But I don't stick around long enough to glare back. I turn and run.
I run and I run, but I'm not running away.
I'm running to.
To school.
To Mr. Crow's classroom. To Stacey Merriweather.
When I get to our classroom, Stacey is sitting at her desk.
I take a deep breath and walk over to her.
"This is for you," I say. I wipe tears off my cheeks and hold the friendship bracelet in her direction.
Stacey stares at me. "Ida ... what happened?"
"I'm okay," I say. "I just wanted to ... give this to you ... before you leave. It's just ... take it ... Stacey. Please ... take it?"
I hold the bracelet out again, and this time Stacey takes it from my hand.
"Thanks," she says softly, and slips the bracelet on her wrist. She turns it around and around. "I've never had a friendship bracelet like this before," she says, hesitantly.
Then she smells it.
And smiles.
"But I've never had a friend like you before either ... Cordelia."
I'm quiet for a moment. Then I say, "So you did read my note."
Stacey nods. Then she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a grayish rock, knobby on one side and flat on the other. "This is for you," she says, swimming the rock through the air to my hand.
I look at that rock. It has a tail, fin, and smiling face painted on it. Then I turn it over and read Cordelia on the back.
Stacey gives me half a smile. "I hope you don't mind I kept it. I didn't think you wanted it, so I took it home with me. I guess it really is magical because it found you again."
I look at Stacey. "You knew it was me writing those notes all along?"
Stacey nods. "I saw Cordelia written on the back of the rock when I got home from the sleep-over. When I got your first note, I figured that you were her."
"Why didn't you tell me you knew?"
Stacey is quiet for a moment. Then she says, "Because I knew I'd be moving away soon. And I was afraid you wouldn't want to be my friend if I told you the truth about everything."
I think about this for a moment. Then I hold the whale rock out to Stacey.
"Here," I say. "You keep the whale. Maybe it will help you find friends at your new school."
"Thanks," Stacey says. "But I won't be needing new friends."
I give Stacey a puzzled look. "Why not?" I ask.
"When my mom called last night, I told her how much I like it here. Then she and my grandma talked for a long time. They decided I could keep living here until my mom finds a place close by. In the meantime, she'll come see me on the weekends."
I can hardly believe it's true. "This isn't one of your emergency lies, is it?" I ask.
"Of course not," Stacey says, crossing her heart. "Secret friends never lie."
Then I take a deep breath, squeeze my whale rock for luck, and say, "Stacey? I wish we could be more than just secret friends. I wish we could be real friends ... maybe even best friends?"
I bite my lip and think about my little magic cup. I hope it's jumping around like crazy.
Stacey raises one eyebrow. "Didn't you get my answer to your last note?" she asks.
"Not... exactly...," I say, thinking about what Jenna told me it said.
"Oh," Stacey says. "Well, my answer is yes! In fact, I thought we already were best friends."
And that's when I know, in fourth grade, wishes do come true. Maybe not all of them, but the really important ones do.