Leona''s Unlucky Mission (14 page)

“Hello, to you, little Wishworld…”
Hmm…
Leona tried to remember what the species was called. A “squid”? A “squirt”? A squ-something…And that was when she noticed the silvery burst.

If it had been that wonderful Wishling holiday when they lit up the sky with colorful, sparkling explosions, Leona would have thought it was one of those. But since it was not a holiday, Leona guessed the source at once.

Lily poked her head out the door of the arts building. “Are you coming?”

“Yes!” Leona waved. “I mean, I am…in just a second. I think…” What did she think? “I think I left something…somewhere….You go on and start rehearsing, and I'll be there as soon as I can.”

Lily shrugged and withdrew into the building while Leona leapt over the friendly, wide-eyed Wishworld creature and dashed around the arts building, to the edge of the school grounds.

“Well, I'll be starstruck!” she said. She was right. She was not alone!

“Vega!” She ran up to give her fellow Star Darling a hug. “What on Wishworld are you doing here?”

“Leona! Star greetings!” Her eyes widened as she took in Leona's sparkly self. “Wow are you sure no one else but us sees us sparkly?”

Leona shrugged. “That's what Sage and Libby said. Plus, no one's mentioned it!”

Vega grimaced. “And that outfit! Is that
plaid
? Oh, no! Did your Wishworld Outfit Selector break?”

“Oh, this.” Leona looked down. She'd almost gotten used to the whole jacket-tie-kilt thing. “It's a ‘uniform.' Everyone wears them at this school, I'm afraid.”

“Oh, dear…Star apologies,” said Vega. She took Leona's hands in hers. “At least it's just for a little while. Is that the wish you're here to grant? To get rid of them?”

“No. I wondered that, too, at first.” Leona shook her head and shrugged. “But why are
you
here?” she asked Vega. “My mission's almost done!”

Vega's nose scrunched and her mouth twisted. “Yes, about that…” she began. “Actually, the thing is…your wish…it actually appears to be a bit off track….Not that it's your fault or anything!” she added quickly. “We all know this is one of the hardest jobs in the universe! What can you expect? We're all new to wish granting, after all, and it's happened every time.”

“Not this time!” declared Leona. “Sorry to disappoint you, Vega, but my wish couldn't be more sure of being granted. Everything's going startacularly well! I've identified my Wisher and her wish, and in”—she checked her Star-Zap—“approximately nine starhours, her wish will be officially granted. I don't know what kind of signals Lady Stella was receiving, but feel free to take your star home and tell her they were wrong. Or stay! That would be stellar!” She gave Vega's hands a squeeze. “Then you can be here to see me not only rock this wish, but”—she shimmied excitedly—“sing!”

Vega tilted her head. “This wish…are you sure about it?”

“What do you mean? Of course I'm sure!”

“I mean…are you sure the wish is truly your
Wisher's
wish?”

“Like I said, of course I'm sure. Who else's would it be?”

“I don't know…” said Vega. “All I know is that the energy levels were indicating that something was amiss. That's why I'm here. Maybe if I stay, I can help you figure it out.”

Gently, Leona let Vega's hands go. “Suit yourself. But you'll have to change.” She nodded at Vega's silk-smooth blue shift.

“Right…” Vega looked down at her pretty new dress and made a face. “But how? I don't think I have anything like your uniform in my Wishworld Outfit Selector.” She checked. “Not even close.”

“I know,” said Leona. “We'll just say you're visiting. That you're just thinking of going to this school. But let's hurry!” She cheerfully linked her arm with Vega's. “My Wisher's waiting for me to rehearse!”

Vega followed Leona to the music building. “Nice place, this school,” she remarked. “You know, it reminds me a little of Old Prism.”

“Really?” Leona glanced around. “They have buildings there like this?” She had never been to Old Prism, one of the oldest settlements on Starland, although it was a popular place for tourists to go. She couldn't imagine any architecture on Starland being so rectangular, though. It simply wasn't the kind of shape Starlings naturally thought of.

“I said ‘a little,'” Vega clarified. “I meant in the way Old Prism is historic. This place is old for Wishworld, too, isn't it?”

“Is it?” Leona shrugged.

Vega pointed at a plaque to the side of the door.

“‘Winterbottom Hall,'” Leona read. “‘Built 1792.' I don't know….That's only a few hydrong staryears. That's not so very old.”

“I know, but on Wishworld that's lifetimes,” said Vega. “It's like a star era to us.”

Inside, they found Lily already rehearsing in one of the soundproof rooms. Leona and Vega caught half a chorus before Lily noticed them and stopped.

“Oh, please go on!” said Vega, applauding. “That sounded beautiful!”

“It really did!” Leona said. “Now just wait till you hear our duet! Oh, by the way, Lily, this is Vega…a friend of mine from home.”

“Hi,” said Lily shyly. “So, are you thinking of going to school here, too?”

“Er…maybe…” Vega's slender shoulders rose slightly. “We'll see how it goes. So, you two are singing a duet…?”

“Yes.” Lily nodded. “For the talent show tonight.”

Leona grinned and laid her arm across Lily's shoulder. “It was my idea!” she proudly explained. “It was the only way I could convince her to do the show. Crazy thing is she'd been wishing to do it but came this close to backing out!”

“Really.” Vega raised a thin blue eyebrow. “How…generous of you.”

“Oh, it was nothing!” Leona squeezed Lily's shoulder. “We should probably get started,” she said then. She pointed with her other hand to a stool in the corner. “You might want to sit over there.”

Vega perched on the seat and listened until a bell rang to signal the end of the period. Lily had a P.E. class to go to then. Technically, Leona did, too. But Vega begged her to give her a tour of the campus, and Leona happily said she would.

“So they take Physical Energy here on Wishworld, too?” asked Vega after Lily had gone off to her class.

“No, no. The ‘E' is for ‘education,' not ‘energy,'” explained Leona. “It's not the same at all. Even though yesterday we did play a game a bit like star ball. They call it basketball, I think. You
have
to use your hands, though, which I kept forgetting. It was so hard! Not that I was ever that good at star ball, either.” She winked. “So, what would you like to see first? Oh, I know! Let me show you the dining hall. It's rather dreary compared to Starling Academy's, but there's all the lemonade you can drink!”

“Is that the drink Professor Elara Ursa told us about?” asked Vega.

“Yes! You have to try it! It's the most delicious drink! It's sour
and
sweet, all at the same time!”

“Kind of like puckerup juice?”

“A little. But without the spice…and the sparkle, too. Here, I'll show you!” Leona veered to the right and dragged Vega along with her.

Vega hung back, though. “Maybe later. I didn't
really
want a tour. Your Countdown Clock is ticking, and I think we need to talk.”

“About what?” Leona frowned.

Vega pointed back to the music building. “About that,” she said. “This duet…are you sure about it?”

“Sure, I'm sure!” Leona said. “Like I said, it's the only way I could get Lily to do the show.”

She explained how hard even getting Lily to sing a duet with her had been after the mean things some Wishlings had said. “And it wasn't just these jealous girls—it was her own sister, too. Do you think all Wishling starkin are like this?” Leona asked.

“Moon and stars!” said Vega. “I hope not!”

Leona couldn't help thinking of her own starkin: her two brothers, who were older and already out of school, and her two younger sisters, who were students back in Flairfield, still living at home. Leona had hoped they would follow her to Starling Academy, but neither one had even applied. Just like the rest of her family, they were perfectly content with small-town life. Still, Leona holo-called them often on her Star-Zap, and she loved hearing about life at home. In fact, since she'd been on Wishworld, it was the thing she had missed the most.

She suddenly wondered what her family thought now that stardays had passed since their last holo-call. If only Leona could have told them about her mission…but Lady Stella's plan was too top secret to be shared with anyone. She hoped when their mission was over, she'd be able to tell them everything. And she hoped, thanks to her, that starday was coming very soon.

“Please, Vega. Trust me. I know what I'm doing here. Now, do you want to try some lemonade or don't you? It's up to you.”

At seven o'clock sharp,
the curtain went up in the auditorium and Ms. Frasier took the stage.

“Welcome to Havisham Academy's sixty-fifth annual talent show!” she announced. “I think you're all in for quite a treat! We have talent this year we've never had before!

“First, of course, I'd like to thank our distinguished panel of judges. Judges, will you please stand up?”

A line of adult Wishlings stood up in the first row and turned, waving and grinning. Leona recognized several teachers as well as the headmistress who had welcomed her to school.

“As you know, the judges will be awarding a first prize,” Ms. Frasier went on, “but really, everyone who performs is a winner tonight. I hope, therefore, that you'll show them all the respect they so deserve. Now, without any further ado, ladies, may I please present our first performers, who were last year's winners…and the year before that, too: Talia, Kasey, and Adeline—otherwise known as Make-a-Move.”

The students in the audience applauded politely as Talia and her friends ran onstage. Leona did not miss the icy glare Talia shot at Lily. On Starland, it was known as giving someone a solar flare.

“Ignore her,” Leona told Lily.

“I'm trying,” she said. “I really am.” Lily looked down at her glittering gold outfit: lamé leggings and a sequined tank, plus shiny gold patent-leather lace-up ankle boots. Next she smiled at Leona's ensemble, a mirror image of her own. “I still don't know where you got these awesome costumes,” she said.

“Oh, you know.” Leona shrugged. Naturally, she had used her Wishworld Outfit Selector, but she had to keep that to herself. “They are pretty stellar, aren't they! But hey! We're stars! What else would we wear?”

Onstage, Make-a-Move was making moves, each member at a slightly different speed. Their smiles, however, were huge, and their ponytails swung impressively.

“So they've really won the past two years?” said Leona.

Lily nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

Just then, Hannah, the girl with the lifelike doll, walked up beside them. She held her partner, Dolly, in her arms. “Wow! You two look like real rock stars!” she told Leona and Lily while Dolly checked them out.

“We try,” Leona told her. Lily blushed. At the same time, the music ended and the crowd broke into cheers.

“Oh, I hope they don't win again,” muttered Hannah as the dancers bowed and high-fived off the stage.

No one else congratulated them. A few girls rolled their eyes. Dolly whispered something into Hannah's ear that made her eyes grow wide.

“Really, Dolly! I can't believe you would say that! That's so rude!” Hannah laughed.

If Make-a-Move cared, though, they didn't show it.

“Who wants to quit right now?” Talia said.

Fortunately for everyone, Ms. Frasier soon appeared and herded the act out the stage door. “Girls,” she announced, “after you've performed, please go out and join the audience so it's not so crowded back here. Next up, Hannah and Dolly!”

“Ee're ready!” Dolly declared.

Leona surveyed the other performers backstage, all waiting their turns to go on. There were a few other dancers, including one with shiny black shoes that clicked whenever the soles tapped the floor.

Several girls with instruments had made the show, as well. Along with the girl with the flugelhorn, there were a pianist and a tall copper-haired girl who blew into a thin silver tube.

Ms. Frasier had been firm about not having nonperformers backstage, so Vega sat in the audience along with the rest of the school. Leona could see her from the edge of the wings, but Vega could not see Leona. Vega looked anxious, wringing her hands in her lap. Leona wished she could run down and tell her to stop. Her mission was bound for success! But no, she was going on soon and had to save her voice. She needed to focus on her performance! Wait…that sounded wrong.