Willa Bean gulped when she saw everyone standing there. Especially Mr. Rightflight. And Miss Twizzle. She tried to smile. But her lips did not move the right way. Her smile came out all wibbly-wobbly. So she did a little wave instead.
“Hi, everyone!” Willa Bean said. “I’m very glad you’re here. Because if you weren’t, I would still be stuck!”
“Willa Bean Skylight,” Miss Twizzle said. “Come with me this instant.”
Willa Bean took a step forward.
“Miss Twizzle!” Vivi called. “Miss Twizzle! Willa Bean has something in her pocket! And I don’t think it’s supposed to be there!”
Willa Bean clapped her hand over her pocket.
Now Mr. Rightflight came forward. “Please take your hand off your pocket, Willa Bean,” he said.
Willa Bean took her hand away from her pocket.
One.
Finger.
At.
A.
Time.
“Now,” Mr. Rightflight said, “put your hand inside your pocket, take out what’s in there, and give it to me.”
Willa Bean slid her hand inside her pocket. She felt around. Then she pulled out a small, flat moonstone. It was orange. She had found it yesterday, on her way home from school. She held the moonstone out to Mr. Rightflight.
Mr. Rightflight’s eye twitched. “Not the moonstone, Willa Bean,” he said.
Willa Bean put the moonstone back inside her pocket. She felt around once more. This time, she pulled out a piece of purple felt ribbon. She had found the ribbon on Moonday. It was going to go into the treasure chest she and Harper shared, along with the moonstone.
“Willa Bean.” Miss Twizzle was tapping her fingertips together. “Do not make Mr. Rightflight ask you again. Give him the round thing that is in your pocket.”
Willa Bean looked at Vivi. “You are the biggest, meanest, tattletale-est cupid in Nimbus!” she yelled. “That’s why no one wants to be your friend! Or even sit with you on the cloudbus when we have cloudtrips!”
“That is enough, Willa Bean!” Mr. Rightflight’s voice was very stern. His hand was still outstretched, waiting.
Willa Bean reached into her pocket. She pulled out the red rubber star-bubble ball and handed it to Mr. Rightflight.
“Thank you,” Mr. Rightflight said. He gave the red rubber star-bubble ball to Miss Twizzle, who put it back in the white bucket.
“Come with me, Willa Bean,” Miss Twizzle said. “Since you did not follow the rules, you are going to have to spend the rest of the cloudtrip on the bus.”
“You mean I can’t go to Waterworld?” Willa Bean cried.
Miss Twizzle shook her head. “I’m sorry, Willa Bean.”
Willa Bean took Miss Twizzle’s hand. It was warm and soft, but she hardly even noticed. Mostly because her inside crying feeling was starting up. She bit her tongue. She did not want to cry in front of all the other cupids. Especially that mean old tattletale Vivi.
Miss Twizzle led her toward the cloudbus.
Behind her, Willa Bean could hear Mr. Rightflight yelling. “All right, cupids! Let’s get back to bow-and-arrow practice!”
Willa Bean sniffed.
And then she sniffed again.
There was a big, round pain in the back of her throat. She tried to swallow over it. But it just got bigger. And by the time she got to the bus, it hurt so much that she opened her mouth.
A long, sad cry came out.
Miss Twizzle sat down in the seat next to her. She let Willa Bean cry for a few minutes. Then she gave her a green tissue. Willa Bean pressed it to her nose. She blew into it until her nose felt better. Her eyes were dry again, too. But she did not feel good inside. Not even a little bit.
“May I ask you a question, Willa Bean?” Miss Twizzle asked finally.
“Why did you go inside that gift shop?” Miss Twizzle asked.
Willa Bean picked at the edge of her seat. She did not answer.
“I believe what Mr. Rightflight told you to do,” Miss Twizzle went on, “was to sneak around them. Or fly over them. He did not say to go inside. Not once.”
“I know,” Willa Bean whispered.
“And then you took something that did not belong to you,” Miss Twizzle said. “That is not allowed, no matter where we go. Ever.”
“I know,” Willa Bean whispered again.
Miss Twizzle sighed. “Besides, if you really want a rubber star-bubble ball that much, I’m sure your parents would get you one.”
“But it wasn’t for me!” Willa Bean burst out. “I don’t even like rubber star-bubble balls! I think they’re boring! It was for Baby Louie! He loves them even more than Babyflakes! His red star-bubble ball is his most favorite thing in the whole entire uvinerse. He even sleeps with it. And yesterday he lost it. And he’s been crying ever since. He cried so hard last night that he lost his voice, Miss Twizzle! His own little baby voice! It’s gone!”
“Ah,” Miss Twizzle said slowly. “I see.”
Willa Bean stared out the window. It was hard to see since her eyes were wet with tears again. Everything looked blurry and smeared. She took a deep, shuddery breath.
“Let me ask you something else,” Miss Twizzle said gently. “How do you think Vivi felt after you said those things to her? About not having any friends? And sitting alone on the bus during our cloudtrip?”
Willa Bean twirled a piece of her hair around her finger. She knew the things she said were mean. But Vivi just made her so mad. She drove Willa Bean into a crazy-daisy with all the tattling she did!
“I know Vivi can be difficult sometimes,” Miss Twizzle said.
“She tells on me!” Willa Bean said. “No matter what I do! She just tattles and tattles!”
Miss Twizzle nodded. “I’ve noticed that,” she said. “I’ve also noticed that Vivi seems to think very highly of you.”
“You mean …” Willa Bean paused. “You think she likes me?”
“I think she likes you a great deal,” Miss Twizzle said. “And I don’t think she knows how to tell you that.”
Willa Bean thought about this for a moment. It sounded nice, but she wasn’t sure it made very much sense. Why would someone who liked her tattle on her all the time?
“Think about Baby Louie for just a moment,” Miss Twizzle said. “Does he ever get on your nerves?”
Willa Bean nodded. “All the time.”
“Is he ever a pest?” Miss Twizzle asked.
Willa Bean almost laughed. “Every day.”
“I would bet my wings that what he really wants is to spend time with you. He probably thinks you’re the greatest thing in the world, Willa Bean. But he doesn’t know how to tell you that. So he acts like a pest instead, to try to get your attention. Maybe the same is true for Vivi.”
Willa Bean looked out the window again. She wondered how Miss Twizzle knew so much about everything.
“I want you to listen carefully to me, Willa Bean.” Miss Twizzle’s voice was very soft. “It’s very, very lovely of you to be so kind to your baby brother. But you broke several very important rules. You didn’t listen to Mr. Rightflight. You took something that didn’t belong to you. And you broke the Cupid Rule when you were mean to Vivi. So you are going to have to stay on the bus with me for one hour. After that, I will take you to Waterworld.”
“A whole hour?” Willa Bean said.
“It’s that or nothing,” Miss Twizzle said.
Willa Bean sat back in her seat. She thought about the Cupid Rule:
The very best way
To spend your day
Is to try to be kind—
All the time.
Why were some rules so hard to follow?
And why did there have to be so many of them in the first place?