Sealed with a Wish (16 page)

From Sean.

We hadn’t talked all week, not even in class. I guessed it made sense, but it had still been strange, ignoring each other like that. A few times, I thought I sensed Sean’s eyes on my back, but I had always been too chicken to turn around and see for myself.

Now it looked like we would be talking again, but the leap of excitement I felt at seeing his name evaporated when I understood what this meant: he had his third wish, his
final
wish.

My phone beeped about a voicemail message, so I pressed the phone to my ear and waited for Sean’s recorded voice to come through the line. “Umm, hey, Layla. It’s Sean. You probably already knew that.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, I’ve got my third wish.”

There was a pause so long that I wondered if he had dropped the phone, but then he came back in a rush, “I wish Diana Bukowski and I were back together. Just do what we did for my parents. The kiss thing? I hope this works over the phone. If it doesn’t... I don’t know. See you later.”

Oh, hell no. I must have heard that wrong.

I replayed the message, letting Sean’s voice clang into my brain. I registered just enough words to confirm their meaning, and then snapped the phone shut. The
click
echoed through my mind, leaving an odd quiet in its wake.

I remembered wanting to go home a few minutes ago, but now, I didn’t want to do anything but stand here by this light pole, my mouth gaping open like a trapdoor. The trees could have burst through the gravel and sprouted a cage around me--I wouldn’t have cared.

I stared into space, feeling the minutes creep by. “He wants her back,” I breathed. Hearing it in my own voice sent a flash of angry heat through my veins, making my skin tingle.

So Sean wanted Diana. Well, you know what
I
wanted?

I wanted to speed all the way to Sean’s house and bust the windows out of his car. I wanted to wish him into a permanent state of nematodic pinkness, and then toss him into a sewer somewhere. I wanted to make him pay, and not just for me. This was for Natalie, because she had been unnoticed for too long.

This was for stealing my ring. And this was for kissing me five times and then turning around and asking for
more
kisses--but from somebody else.

Whatever doubts Sean had had about wishing over voicemail had been unnecessary. I could feel the un-granted wish weighing across my shoulders like a heavy backpack, or a really annoying parrot. I hugged myself tightly, shutting my eyes. Suddenly, I felt like my heart was going to burst.

“I wish it would go away,” I said, thinking of the tightness in my chest.

A second later, it was like someone had just cut me out of a corset. I took a long breath, relief swimming through me.

But the wish was still there... I could feel it pulsing inside me, waiting.

I could have stood there until every other person in the park went home, leaving me alone in the darkness, surrounded by night-sounds. I had to admit, it sounded tempting compared to what I knew I needed to do.

“No way,” I muttered. “I can’t do this.”

An abrupt wave of nausea welled up inside me, starting at my belly and squelching up to my throat. I managed to jerk forward in time
not
to spew up my breakfast all over my feet.

After I had turned the gravel nearby into a candy-colored mess that would put any chalk painting to shame, I groaned, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

What choice did I really have? I could sit here barfing for the rest of the afternoon, or I could get this over with. My teeth gritted, I unlocked my bicycle and climbed on.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

I went straight to the mall, hoping to catch Diana at work. My mouth still tasted of the upchucked remains of my fruity breakfast cereal, but I didn’t trust myself to stop for a drink. If I hesitated for even a second, my stomach was liable to use my mouth as a fire hose again.

When I got to the mall, the lot was full of weekend shoppers, all of whom seemed determined to mow me down as they pulled out of their spaces. Normally, this would have made my blood run cold, but today, it was fine by me. Getting run over sounded like a real drag, but if I could avoid seeing Diana for even a few more minutes, why not?

No such luck, though. Unscathed, I tied up my bike outside the main entrance and trudged inside. Really, I should have been
skipping
into the mall, not dragging my feet. Over the past few weeks, Hurricane Fabry had left a ton of damage. The sooner Sean blew out of my life, the sooner I could work on fixing what he had broken, starting with Natalie.

A few minutes later, the makeup department loomed ahead of me like a well-lit, airbrushed oasis. Giant photos preened among the half-dozen or so counters, all of them promising a different kind of perfection.

I usually didn’t stray too far from the drug store when it came to cosmetics, but I had seen Diana here enough times wearing a black smock and pulled-back hair, looking like an oddly clean painter.

I wandered through the makeup area, staring at the rainbow rows of lipsticks and blushes. One particularly bright display caught my eye, and I wondered if I should take a picture.

Oh, yeah. My camera was full. I couldn’t even take a crappy photo of ugly lipstick. Man, what a great day to be me.

“Hey. Did you want to try a shade?” asked Diana. While I had been awed by the Technicolor craziness, she must have sidled up like a ninja. At least she only was armed with makeup brushes instead of throwing stars, although those tiny brushes
could
make good darts...

She tilted her head. “How’s it going?”

“Oh. Hi. I was just here to...”

...cast a love spell on you!

With a sigh, I gestured to a particularly frighteningly shade of fuchsia. “This one looks pretty.”

“Good eye.” She grabbed the tube of lipstick from its display, then some Q-tips from a drawer. She swiped some color on one end and leaned toward me. “Pucker up, Layla.”

“You know my name?” I asked. Or
would have
asked. With my lips all puckered, I sounded more like a dog with a wad of peanut butter in its mouth.

“Hold on. Almost finished,” Diana said, swabbing the cotton against my lips. Then, with the clean end, she traced the outline of my mouth, like a little neatness was going to stop me from looking like a color-blind clown.

After a second, Diana stepped back and smiled. “Looks pretty.”

Yeah, sure it did. They must have worked on commission around here.

She brought over one of those big vanity mirrors, the kind that make your pores look gigantic. Luckily, Diana switched it to the less frightening, non-magnified side before she angled it toward me.

My smirk gave way to a look of surprise. Apparently I did have a good eye--the ugly fuchsia looked kind of nice. “Cool,” I said.

“It’s called Electric Punch.” She looked down at the tube for a moment. “I wish I could wear some of these. I’m way too pale for anything bold.”

This was the part where the other girl (me) was supposed to say something nice. But the only thing I could manage was, “Maybe you could get a spray tan or something.”

Diana only shrugged “Sure. Maybe. So, do you want to try something else?”

“Oh, no way. I mean, I was just here to...”

...make you fall back in love with Sean Fabry!
I said inwardly.

I knew I should just get it over with, work my magic and then walk away. But then what? I would still have to go to Sean’s house and nuke him back into a state of moronic bliss. The idea made my stomach clench all over again.

“I was just going to pick up some lipstick, but I guess I could try some other stuff,” I said, trying not to sound like I was on the way to a funeral.

Regardless of my tone, Diana grinned. “Great. I have so many ideas for you, Layla. Like, seriously.”

If Natalie were here, I would have mumbled, “Like, oh my gawd,” as Diana bustled off to grab her supplies, but without anyone else to chuckle with, the remark just seemed rude. Instead, I took a seat at one of the high, plushy chairs and forced myself to smile as Diana came toward me with an armful of cosmetics.

“Do you ever wear eye makeup? Like, liner and shadow, stuff like that?” she said.

“Pencils and eyes don’t mix. I learned that the hard way in kindergarten.”

I expected her to roll her eyes and scoff, but she actually laughed. “Funny how that changes,” she said. “Eyes closed, please.”

Lacking anything else to do, I shut my eyes.

“Not so tight,” she said. “I’m not going to punch you or anything.”

With an effort, I bent my face into a more relaxed expression and tried not to flinch at the pointy thing sweeping across my eyelids.

“Okay. Go ahead and open up,” said Diana.

I blinked into the suddenly harsh fluorescents, the colors around me buzzing. “Wow, that was great. I guess I’ll see you later.” I gave a slight wave goodbye, ready to run off. When I had done my magic act on Sean’s parents, I hadn’t needed to be face-to-face with them. I figured I could get the same lovesick results with Diana while hiding behind a rack of clothes or something.

“Hold on, I’m not done with you yet.” She took out a mascara wand and wielded it like a shivv, her face grave.

Without thinking, I sank back into the chair. “I wouldn’t last five minutes in jail,” I mumbled.

The mascara wand looked like a hairy caterpillar crawling into my eyes, and it was all I could do not to cower as Diana brushed my lashes. She finished with some powder blush in a frightening purple shade, almost the color of a fresh bruise.

Maybe I could convince Sean that Diana had beat me up.
Occupational hazard,
I would tell him, savoring the regret that would puncture his face. It would serve him right for making me do this.

I mean, not that I really cared if he and Diana were back together. Like, obviously.

Diana raised an eyebrow. “You okay? You look a little queasy.”

“I, umm... Bad burrito?”

It was clear from the look on her face that I had given up a little too much information. Changing the subject, she angled the mirror to my face again and said, “Ta-da. I was going for a Sophia Loren-type look.”

“Sophia wha--Holy crap, I look awesome!” I didn’t know who the hell Sophia Loren was, but she must have been someone with really, really nice makeup.

Somehow, Diana had managed to make me look like me, just way better. Instead of my eyes being so bright that they seemed unnatural against my tan skin, the green shade looked nice underneath a little dark eye shadow. After this, I might actually believe my mother when she said the color was striking.

“You’re really good at this,” I said, still checking out my reflection. “Did they train you or something?”

“Not really. Like, they kind of did. We have this book to look at, but mostly I taught myself.”

“That’s crazy. You should do this for a job,” I said. “I mean, not that you don’t already do this for a job, I just meant like, something else.”

“Like a makeup artist?”

“Yeah, that. You could work on movies or something.”

Diana only shrugged, but I could see that she was proud. “I guess so. That’s what I want to do. You know, after college.”

“Wow. You mean, you want to move to Hollywood and stuff?”

“Or New York, maybe. Both sound pretty great.”

“Yeah. No kidding.” I had always assumed that Diana would morph into some soccer mom after graduation, spending her days on park benches threatening photographers with whistles and rolled up
Us Weekly
’s. With a tingle of regret, I told her, “I’ll take everything you used, Diana. And throw in some bath gel, okay?”

Diana thanked me and started ringing up everything, her back to me while she fussed with the cash register.

As I watched her, I refused to let myself think. If I did, I might just upchuck all over the lipstick display, and I didn’t think I had enough in my bank account to pay for all twelve shades of pink. I hummed
Mary Had a Little Lamb
and shut my eyes tight, letting the wish roll through me.

For an agonizing second, a sickly sweet giddiness pulsed through my temples, and the scent of baby powder assaulted my nose. When I opened my eyes, Diana stood in front of me.

She held out a small shopping bag that erupted with glittery tissue paper. Her eyes were bright and her smile was earnest. She looked beautiful, and I wanted to wish myself to Antarctica.

“Hey, you have an amazing day, all right?” she said.

“Sure thing,” I grumbled.

With an
amazing
amount of willpower, I managed to get to my bike without screaming curse words all the way there.

#

I didn’t bother to restrain myself during the ride to Sean’s house, though. By the time I pedalled into his driveway a half-hour later, I could have filled a dozen cursing jars.

I squealed to a stop and strode up to his front porch, knocking a little louder than necessary. (I pretended the door was Sean’s nose.)

Sean’s mother, Jennifer, appeared wearing an annoyed expression. When she saw me, her face smoothed. “Layla, hi. Sean didn’t tell me you were coming.”

“Yeah, he forgets stuff.”

She paused at my sour tone, but shrugged. “Come on in. His father’s on the way here for some lunch. You’re welcome to join us.”

As I stepped into the house, the spicy kick of bacon made my nose twitch and my stomach rumble. I might have accepted her invitation, but then I remembered how awkward it would be seeing Sean caught in his Diana-love daze. I might waste a perfectly good plate of food by throwing it in his face, and I couldn’t condone that kind of behavior.

“Is he in his room?” I glanced at the stairs. “I can just come up for a second.”

“Actually, why don’t you just wait here in the living room, hon? I’ll go up and get him.”

I nodded and sat on the sofa. It made sense that Sean’s mother wouldn’t want me up in his bedroom (my parents would have done the same thing), but after the times I had already been up there, it seemed kind of silly to wait for him out here. At least I was wearing more than a bathrobe right now. That had to count for something.

Soon, the sounds of Sean’s lumbering footsteps filled the room. As he approached, he made a move to sit beside me, but changed his mind at the last minute and stood beside the couch, instead. “Umm, hey.”

“Hi,” I said, because that seemed more appropriate than launching a decorative pillow at his head.

Sean straightened when he noticed my makeup. “Whoa. You look really pretty today.”

Something unpleasantly pleasant fizzled through me, and I squirmed. “Thanks. I had a makeover. At the mall.”

Sean’s face fell. “So I guess you...”

“...got your message?” I smirked. “Loud and clear, champ.”

“Layla--”

I jerked my eyes closed, and then my world was all spearmint kisses and fluttery tummies. After an awful second, I opened my eyes. I wanted to look away, but like a bug to a zapper, my gaze was drawn to Sean.

His eyes were cloudy as he stared back at me, a slow smile spreading over his face.

I could have puked, but not because of the magic. As I made for the door, I was determined not to look at him again. “Just wait until Friday night to kiss her, okay? I’ll make sure I’m in my room when it happens.”

As I stepped outside, I didn’t bother to say goodbye, though I doubted he even noticed.