Careful What You Wish For (4 page)

“Thanks.” Gabi pushed her hair behind her ear. “I'll probably take you up on it.”

I know I should have been happy that my boyfriend was making an effort to be nice to my best friend, but I actually felt a little jealous.
I
wanted to be the one he helped.

But there wasn't time to worry about that because my table just kept getting busier. Courtney Lourde and one of her lackeys, Lana Perkins, stopped by. “Cole,” Courtney said, putting a phony smile on her face. “Aren't you going to sit with us today?”

“No,” Cole said, motioning toward Gabi and me. “There's not enough room for all of us.” Did I mention how awesome he was?!

“We can squeeze. I'll make sure everybody feels right at home,” Courtney said.

“That's okay,” I said.

“Then I guess you'll have to catch the show from over here.” She smirked at me and sauntered back to her table.

I didn't have to wait long to find out what she meant. Courtney began doing one of her infamous impersonations. “Please don't hit me, I'm a nice giant,” she said in her best Max voice. “I've only eaten three students, and they weren't even the cool ones.”

“Leave him alone,” she said, switching voices to one that I hate to admit, sounded remarkably like mine.

“Thank you, Double-A, defender of giants and flatchested girls everywhere,” Courtney said, back in her Max voice.

It made me sooo angry. Not just because it stung every time I heard that nickname, but because she was so awful. And no one did anything to stop it.

At least Max had tutoring during lunch and didn't have to see what was going on. But still . . . I was sick of how mean everyone was. Wasn't there enough evil in the world?

“Je parle, tu parle, ils parl
—I'm never going to get this French conjugation. I should have taken Spanish,” I said as Gabi and I were walking to class after lunch.

“You'd have the same problem there. You don't study enough,” she said.

“Thanks, Mom.” However true it was, I didn't need a lecture. Not from her. Besides, she did enough studying for the both of us. Gabi's mom was majorly into grades. If Gabi didn't come home with As, she had to give up things like TV. Which was a punishment for me, too. My mother hates television, and I'm barely ever allowed to watch it. I depend on Gabi when it comes to my viewing pleasure.

“I'm just saying that if you stud—” Gabi's channeling of Mrs. Gottlieb was cut short as Courtney powered by with Jaydin and Lana in tow. Courtney flipped her hair over her shoulder as she passed, hitting Gabi right in the eye with it. “Uck. How annoying. I don't know why people like her.”

“They don't. They're afraid of her.” I watched as Courtney forged her way into class. Right as she turned, Max stuck his head out the door. And, like always, he wasn't watching where he was going. Instead of looking ahead, his eyes were on the floor. The two collided—head-on. It was a major train wreck. The kind where you knew there'd be casualties. In this case, it was Max.

Courtney gave him a long, cold stare. Her eyes were slits. “What's your problem?”

“Sorry. It was an accident,” Max mumbled. He had one arm on the doorframe. It was like he needed it to steady himself.

“Well, you should be sorry,” Courtney said, elbowing him in the gut as she moved past him.

The look in Max's eyes . . . I couldn't take it. It was like Courtney had pulled all the lights out—straight through his pupils. So for the second time in one day, I jumped to Max's defense.

“Courtney,” I shouted.

She turned to face me, her hands on her hips. “What do you want?”

Be strong, you can do this
, I told myself. It wasn't the first time I went head-to-head with Courtney, but it was never fun. She could be vicious. But someone had to stick up for all the people she hurt. And that someone was going to be me. “Apologize for elbowing him.”

“No,” she said, keeping her hands on her hips.

“Do it.” I took a step toward her.

She took a step toward me. “Who's going to make me?”

Do not show fear, do not show fear.
“I am.”

My heart was on turbo speed. Did I just challenge Courtney Lourde to a fight? I didn't know how to fight. And I didn't want to. I bruise super easily. But I couldn't back down. People were watching, and I needed to be a hero—for myself as much as for them. I braced myself for the worst. For an elbow to the stomach, a punch to the mouth, a kick to the shin. But it didn't come. Instead, Courtney burst into laughter.

She turned to Lana and Jaydin. “Oh. My. God. How hysterical is that? Double-A thinks she can take
me
.” Courtney shook her head. “You know, I thought today was going to be a bust. An English test, boatloads of homework, having to go to school with people like that”—she pointed in my direction—“and D.L. isn't even here.” D.L. Helper was her boyfriend and almost as big a jerk as she was. “But Angel has totally made my day. Watching Double-A defend her true love? Priceless.” She walked into class, laughing and mimicking me the whole way. Not once acknowledging me to my face—like I wasn't worthy of being taken seriously.

I was glad Cole didn't take French. I wouldn't have wanted him to hear Courtney squashing me down. Max, on the other hand, witnessed everything.

“Don't listen to a word she says,” I told him.

“Yeah,” Gabi chimed in. “She's awful. She's said all the same things about me. You just have to ignore her.”

Max didn't say anything. He just turned away and went into class, looking defeated.

Just great. I totally embarrassed him. Again. Why hadn't I learned my lesson? He didn't want me jumping to his defense in front of everybody.

A light tapping coming from the debate team's award case made me turn around. Propped up right on the biggest trophy was a miniature Lou, throwing tiny lightning bolts at the glass.

“Not again.” When Lou first came into my life, he popped up in school whenever he felt like it. He promised me he wouldn't do that anymore. But promises, apparently, didn't mean anything to the devil. “I'll meet you in class,” I told Gabi.

There were still a few people in the hallway as I made my way to the display case. I tried to use my body to shield Lou and his lightning from any passersby. “You said you'd stay away,” I whispered, trying really hard not to move my lips. Explaining to people why I was chatting it up with the trophies was not on my to-do list.

“That was when you agreed to be a part of my life. Agree again, and I'll go.”

Lou didn't even try to keep his voice down.

“Shh, I don't need people hearing you.” I did a quick glance around. No one seemed to be paying any attention to me. Most were just hurrying to get to class before the late bell or finishing up their own conversations.

“We can always talk later. Just agree to meet with me,” Lou insisted.

“No. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“Angel?” It was Reid Winters, Cole's best friend. “Who are you talking to?”

Just what I was trying to avoid. I smashed my whole body against the glass and turned my head to Reid. “Uh, me?” I stalled. “Nobody. I was just, um, see, it's this thing I do.” I was sure Lou was getting a kick out of watching me squirm. “Before French class, I like to look at the debate trophies and give myself a pep talk. It helps give me confidence.”

“Cool,” he said. But he didn't mean it. The look on his face read “Freak.”

I waited for him to leave, but he wouldn't go. He probably wanted to see the full extent of my craziness, so he could run and tell Cole everything. “I just need a few minutes,” I said. “I'll be right in.”

He shrugged his shoulder and left. I peeled myself off the glass and stared at Lou. “Thanks a lot.”

“Don't you mean
merci beaucoup
?”

So not funny. “This is not the way to get on my good side. Get out of here.”

Lou winked at me. “I'll win you over, you'll see.” He was wrong. But at least he left. Temporarily, anyway. I knew he'd be back. Showing up in school, making my life miserable just for the fun of it. Kind of like what Rick did to Max. Only worse. Lou had powers. He'd make it his new job to bug me. He'd probably even try to get a few of my classmates' souls in the process. Grant them a wi—

That was it! How did I not think of it before? I knew how to help Max.

Wishes.

I had the same capabilities as Lou. Okay, maybe not the same, but close—better even.
I
actually cared about people. And if Lou could grant wishes, I could, too.

Max didn't have to worry about getting bullied anymore. I was going to make his dream come true. He was going to be popular. No soul payment necessary.

It was the perfect plan. Not only was Max going to be on top of the world, I was going to be doing a major good deed in the process.

“Why are you so happy?” Gabi asked as I took my seat next to her.

I was bursting to tell her, but didn't get the chance until twenty minutes later when Mr. Novan let us break into groups to practice speaking French.

“You'll be able to make Max's wishes come true?” Gabi asked.

I looked around the class to make sure no one was listening to us. “I should be able to. When Lou was bragging about his wish-granting abilities, he said all it took was concentration. He and ‘his subject' just needed to think about the wish, and it came true. Doesn't sound hard.”

Gabi shook her head. “I don't know. Do you really think you can do it?”

I grinded on two of my nails. “I have to try. Why aren't you more excited about this? Weren't you the one who suggested using my powers to help Max?”

“Yeah, but I still don't get how it's going to work.”

What was so hard to understand? “I told you,” I said, talking super slow this time, hoping it would seep into her brain. “Max just needs to focus on being popular, and I just have to focus on making the wish come true. Simple.”

Gabi's lips pursed together.

“What?” I asked.

“How are you going to get him to concentrate on being popular without telling him why? Are you going to fill him in on your family secret?”

She had a point. A really good one.

“Well, no. But I think I know what I can do.”

“That doesn't sound like French to me,” Mr. Novan said. I hadn't even noticed him creeping up to my desk.

Why did I always get busted? “Sorry.”

“
En Français
,” he said.

Where was Google Translate when you needed it? “Umm,
désolé
?”

Gabi came to the rescue. She said some stuff that sounded like gibberish until Mr. Novan moved on to torture some other students. It was one of those rare times when I appreciated her mom for being such a homework tyrant—Gabi certainly knew her stuff.

“So, what's your plan?” she asked.

“I can talk to Max about how cool being popular would be. Kind of trick him into thinking about it.”

“Way too risky,” Gabi said. “You won't know what he's thinking for sure. What if when you bring up the idea of popularity, he starts wishing he were the main character in a popular video game? Then there'd be space monsters with lasers running around the school making people's intestines pop out.”

Gabi was right. My plan was flawed. I had to figure out something better.

All through class, I couldn't stop watching Max. It was a good thing Cole didn't have French with me. He would have thought I was crushing on Max. But I couldn't turn away. Mr. Novan had shoved him in a group with Dana Ellers and Tracy Fine. None of them looked happy about it. The girls were squished on one side of the desk, trying hard not to make eye contact with him or even acknowledge he was there. And Max, well, he looked like a golden retriever that someone just swatted with a newspaper. But even sadder. So much so that I wanted to give him a hug. And I've never wanted to give Max a hug.

When the bell rang he got up and shuffled out of class. His head was drooped so low he looked a foot shorter than usual.

“Come with me,” Gabi said, her voice sounding chipper. I don't know how. Watching Max made me want to listen to depressing music and cry.

I followed Gabi into the bathroom. She looked under each of the stalls to make sure no one was there.

“What's going on?” I asked. “We have to get to English. I want a seat next to Cole.” There were no assigned seats in class. It was first come, first serve.

“Yeah, I know. You have a boyfriend now. Lucky.”

“You will, too.”

“Yeah, right.” Her voice sounded sad, but it quickly perked right up. “But that doesn't matter now.” She paused for effect. “You're going to love this. You looked all mopey and down in the dumps over your Max problem. So”—she clapped her hands together and squealed—“I, your incredibly smart best friend, came up with a solution. I know how we can help Max.”

Gabi was on her tippy toes, she was so excited.

“How?”

“I can wish for everyone in school to like him.”

“And how's that going to help anything?”

Gabi pretended to slam her head on the bathroom counter. She had a slight tendency for the overdramatic. “How can you not see?” she asked, straightening back up. “It's your plan, only substituting me instead of Max.
I
can wish that he becomes popular and you can make it come true. That way we know nothing crazy will happen because we'll both be focused on putting him on the A-list.”