Wishful Thinking (4 page)

A
ND TO ALL THE NEW SIXTH GRADERS, WE AT ROBERT Robertson Middle School would like to welcome you and we hope that your time here is a happy one.”

“I wonder if she always lifts her eyebrow like that when she talks?” Harvey said in a low voice as they listened to Principal Gerrard talk. “Because I think that means she's telling the truth.”

Sophie grinned as she caught her breath. She thought so as well. They had only been in the building for an hour, but already things were looking up. Not only had they all managed to get in the same class but they'd also managed to get Mr. Collins as their homeroom teacher, and everyone knew that he liked to give out candy as spot prizes. The only downside was that they hadn't been so lucky with their lockers and were spread out in all directions, which was why she was trying to catch her breath, since she'd had to sprint to get there on time.

Finally Principal Gerrard stopped talking and said they could all go back to their homerooms. Everyone let out a good-humored boo, and Sophie, Kara, and Harvey started to follow the trail of students back out of the large gymnasium. As they went Sophie rubbed her ears to try to get rid of the buzzing noise that was in them. At first she had thought it was from the principal's microphone, but although the speech was over, the buzzing noise remained.

“Where were you before?” Kara demanded the minute they were free of the crowd and started to head in the direction of their homeroom—well, Sophie hoped it was the right direction, since Robert Robertson Middle School seemed to resemble a rabbit warren with corridors running off in all directions. “I almost thought you were going to be late for the assembly and get a tardy on your first day.”

“I know,” Sophie sighed. “I swear, my locker is in Siberia. But anyway, you'll never believe who stopped me on the way back to the gymnasium.”

“Not Jonathan Tait?” Kara widened her eyes, and for a moment Sophie frowned. If only.

“No, it wasn't that great. But it was a bunch of seventh graders who wanted to know where I got my jeans.”

“Why?” Harvey looked at her blankly as he slouched along beside them. Sophie longed to make him stand up straight. Honestly, height was wasted on the tall.

“Because they're awesome,” Kara scolded as she hit Harvey in the arm before turning her attention back to Sophie. “So who were they and what did they say?”

“Only Serena Towers and all her friends.” Sophie broke out into a grin. She had been dying to tell her friend about it from the moment it happened.

“No way,” Kara was suitably impressed.

“Yes, way,” Sophie assured her. “And not only did they want to know how much they cost, but when I told them the price, they demanded to know where I got them from because they were so cheap.”

“Cheap?” Kara lifted an eyebrow, and Sophie nodded in agreement.

“I know, I wouldn't call them cheap either, but I guess that's seventh graders for you. Anyway, can you believe that a pair of jeans made Serena Towers talk to me?”

“Not really,” Harvey looked at them both blankly, but the two girls ignored him.

“That's amazing.” Kara's green eyes were wide with excitement. “And I've got some even more amazing news.”

More amazing than having some seventh graders ask where you got your jeans?
Sophie didn't think so.

“It is pretty good,” Harvey confirmed, and Sophie looked at them both with interest as Kara discreetly pulled out her cell phone and held the screen up for Sophie to read the text message (while she tried to ignore the fact that she was probably the only sixth grader whose mom refused to buy her a cell phone. Honestly, it almost bordered on being criminal).

“
Nth Joe r releasing xtra txs 4 concert. location deets 2come,”
Sophie read out loud before turning to her friends in astonishment. “Are you serious?” But even as she said it, she suddenly realized that all around them was the soft buzz of text messages being sent and received. The news was obviously spreading like viral wildfire, and it was obviously very, very real. They might've missed out on the first round of Neanderthal Joe tickets, but there was no way they were going to miss out this time.

Sophie turned and grinned to her friends. See, she knew that sixth grade was going to rock.

*  *  *  *  *

By lunchtime Sophie was in heaven. Not only had she received a gazillion more compliments about her jeans, but when they'd gone to the library to get shown around, she had spotted Jonathan Tait just behind the nonfiction shelves. Sophie had instantly made herself busy in that same section, grabbing as many books as she could possibly hold as she listened to him talking to his friends about the Neanderthal Joe concert. Seemed Sophie, Kara, and Harvey hadn't been the only ones who had missed out on tickets first time around, and while no one knew where the tickets would go on sale, they would be getting a location text about it tomorrow. Bring on tomorrow.

Unfortunately, before Sophie could dump the books one of the librarians found her and instantly dragged her over to demonstrate how the self-checkout machines worked, which explained why she now had eight heavy shark books in her bag. At least her sister would be happy.

“Okay,” Harvey announced as they walked down the corridor. “According to what I've heard, the cafeteria only seats three hundred people, and there are five hundred and fifty kids at the school. So if we're not quick, we'll have to sit outside or on the ground.”

“I don't think that means we need to jog there,” Sophie complained as he started to lope ahead of them in long strides, a serious expression plastered across his face. Not that she was really surprised, since the only thing Harvey liked more than watching horror movies and studying nonverbal body language was eating. In fact, he liked eating more than anything in the world, and sometimes, when he was super hungry, he had even been known to eat Sophie's mom's cooking without complaint.

“Yes, we do,” he insisted. “Because if we don't put a claim in on Day One, then we'll be stuck outside for the rest of the year. I mean, think about it: this isn't fifth grade anymore, which means all the rights that we had are now gone. We're the bottom of the barrel. So come on, Soph, stop dawdling—unless your precious new jeans can also get you a seat at the cafeteria?”

“I'm not dawdling,” Sophie protested as she felt her shoulder sag under the weight of her eight shark books.
And as it goes, her precious new jeans probably could get them a table.
“Look, you guys go on ahead and save me a seat. I'm going to dump these things off before I turn into the Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Kara checked, but Sophie shook her head.

“No, it's all good. I should manage to find my way there and back.”

“Well, we'll see you soon then,” Kara said as Harvey practically dragged her down the corridor and Sophie made her way to her new locker as fast as her stupid heavy bag would let her.

She finally reached it and quickly put her books away. Then she caught sight of her favorite affirmation that she had taped up in her locker earlier that morning.
Everything will work out just the way I want it to.
Sophie grinned. That was for sure. Then she started to fan her face. Boy, it was hot in here. She started to wonder if the boiler was broken, because—

Pssssst.

Huh. Sophie spun around, but apart from a group of boys down the other end, the corridor was empty. Okay, so that was odd. Perhaps it was because she was hot, and hungry, and—

Pssssst.

There the noise was again, and this time when she looked up she caught the briefest glimpse of what looked like purple harem pants before they disappeared behind the side of the lockers.

No.
Sophie only just stopped herself from wailing out loud.
Seriously, no.

She felt her heart start to pound as she forced herself to walk around the corner. There was no one there, but the door to the nearby janitor's closet was half open.

Despite all her instincts, she stepped in, and her worst fears were confirmed when she caught sight of the djinn lounging on an upside-down mop bucket, flicking through a magazine. For some unknown reason he was no longer orange, more a gray-white color. He also didn't appear to be miserable anymore.

More of the
no, no, no
.

“Oh, hey, there you are.” He beamed as he put down his magazine and gave her a cheery wave. Sophie ignored it as she stared at him in horror.

“I don't understand.”

“I was starting to wonder if you hadn't heard me,” he continued in a merry voice that was nothing like the way he had been last time they'd met.

“What are you doing here? I thought we had a deal. You would fix the mess; I would wear the ring; and then I'd never have to see you again,” she reminded him as she waved her hand in the air to show him that she was still wearing it. “You were pretty specific about it.”

“That's right.” The djinn nodded. “By the way, nice jeans. They really make you look taller.”

“You think so? Thanks,” Sophie said before realizing what he was doing. “Hey, stop trying to change the subject. What are you doing here?” As she spoke, she started to blow some cool air onto her face, since the janitor's closet was even hotter than the rest of the school.

“Okay.” The djinn licked his un-orange lips. “The thing is, while guilt isn't normally an emotion I can relate to—I mean, you live for a couple thousand years, you're bound to do some not-so-nice stuff, and really what's the point of letting it eat you up inside? But for some crazy reason I've been feeling bad about everything, so I thought that before we get started, I should apologize.”

“Apologize for what?” Sophie stared at him blankly before wrinkling her nose. “And why aren't you orange anymore?”

“Okay, so it looks like you haven't figured it out yet, which means I'm going to have to explain it to you.” The djinn seemed to be busy studying his fingernails before finally looking up at her. “You see, the reason I'm not orange anymore is because I'm no longer a djinn. When you took the ring off me, you killed me.”

“I did
what
?” Sophie stared at him in horror since, as a rule, she didn't even like squashing bugs, and no matter how annoying Orange Soda Pop Guy was, she certainly didn't want to kill him (well, okay, perhaps just a little bit, but only in her mind, not like for real or anything).

“You killed me,” he repeated before shooting her a reassuring smile. “Oh, but don't get me wrong. The killing part is great. I wanted you to kill me, since you have no idea how hard it is to off yourself when you're immortal. The only problem is that the stupid Djinn Council is all worried about our reducing numbers, which means they get really cranky if we don't pass on our inheritance. You know, an eye for an eye, a djinn for a djinn, and all of that malarkey. Though, between you, me, and the wall, they're a bunch of old women. So anyway, that's where you come in.”

“Still not following. Are you trying to tell me that you're giving me this ring as an inheritance? I thought you'd already given it to me.” Sophie furrowed her eyebrows and tried to keep up, but honestly, this was getting more complicated than Mr. Harris's fifth-grade math class.

“It's not exactly the ring that I've given you. It's my powers. Well, not all of them, because while I don't like to boast, I was pretty strong. But you've got a lot of them. In fact, you should think of it like a gift set. Ring and power all tied up in one nice, nifty little package.” The djinn shot her a hopeful smile. “Of course, the downside is that not everyone takes to it and the power can kill them, but the good news is that you survived. Yay, you!”

“Okay, so there is entirely too much talk about death and killing in this conversation. First I killed you, and now you tried to kill me?”

“Yes, but again, the important thing to remember is that the ring didn't kill you. Which is a very good thing.”

“But
why
is it a good thing?” Sophie wrinkled her nose as she heard a group of kids walk by outside, arguing about who had the best Guitar Hero score. “I still don't understand what you're trying to say.”

“In a nutshell, I'm trying to welcome you to your new and very long life.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “As a djinn.”

M
Y NEW LIFE AS A
WHAT
?” SOPHIE NEARLY YELLED, remembering just in time that she was in a janitor's closest of Robert Robertson Middle School.
But what?

“A djinn,” the djinn replied helpfully. “And you don't need to look so concerned, because I can assure it's not that bad. It's fun even.”

“Well, if it's so much fun, then why did you want me to take off your ring and kill you?” Sophie pointed out as she waved her arm in the air.

“Ah, nice deflection.” The djinn nodded his head in approval. “And yes, you're right. I was a bit. . . 
tired
. . . of it all, but I can assure you that you won't feel like that for a very long time. Anyway, we can talk about that later, because now that you know how sorry I am, we need to get started. You see, as the djinn who created you, it's my duty to teach you how to use your newfound powers. In fact, the Djinn Council members are sort of sticklers for it. I need to show you the ropes, and once they're satisfied with the job I've done, then they will consider rewarding me. With big shiny things. So first we need to concentrate on—”

“No,” Sophie suddenly put her hands over her ears.

“What are you doing?”

“It's called not listening. You should ask my teacher from last year because apparently it's something I'm very good at.”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, that's not going to make me go away.”

“Yes, it will. I'm a very positive person, and when I wish for something to happen, it does. So I'll just keep not listening and wishing until it happens.”

“Don't say that.” The djinn suddenly looked concerned.

“Say what? That I wish you would go away? Why? Will it work?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Good, well then, I wish you would go away.”

The djinn seemed to mutter something under his breath as he started to fade from sight. “Look, when you need me to come back, just clap your hands. Like this.” Then after giving three claps he disappeared all together.

For a moment Sophie just stared at the empty space before it sank in that he had really gone.

And not soon enough. After all, what was the point of promising someone you would never bother her again if you kept turning up and bothering her?

The important thing was that she had gotten rid of him, and so, without a backward glance, she hurried out of the closet and back down the corridor toward the cafeteria.

“Where have you been?” Kara demanded the moment Sophie sat down. “It's been a nightmare holding this chair for you. These kids are piranhas. And why do you look like that?”

“Okay, so don't freak out, but you know that thing we weren't going to talk about anymore?”

“What thing?” Harvey looked up from the piece of pizza before he suddenly started to choke. “Oh, no, you don't mean the dj—”

“Shhhhh.” Sophie held her finger up to her lip to silence him as she cautiously glanced around. Thankfully, everyone seemed to have better things to do than listen in on their conversation, and so she reluctantly nodded her head. “But yes, that thing.”

“What about it?” Kara said in alarm as she stopped working on the sketch of Harvey that she'd been doing. “It hasn't done something, has it?”

“Yes, it's done something,” Sophie yelped in annoyance. “Can you believe it turned up here? At school.”

“What?” Harvey automatically put his hands into a Kung Fu pose and looked around. “Where is it?”

“It's not here now,” Sophie informed him as she reached out and lowered his hands back to the table. “I got rid of it.”

“You did?” Harvey widened his eyes from underneath his long bangs. “How?”

“With the power of my mind. Seriously, you should never underestimate the value of positive thinking. I just said I wished it would go away, and it did.”

“But what was it doing here in the first place?” Harvey looked confused. “I thought you made some sort of weird deal with it.”

“Exactly.” Sophie nodded her head. “We
did
make a deal, and I kept my end of the bargain but he didn't keep his. And I tell you what, he'd better not turn up again, or else he really will feel the full force of my mental powers.”

“Yes, but I still don't understand
why
he came back.” Kara frowned as she unthinkingly drew a tiny portrait of the djinn on the sketchbook in front of her. Then, once she realized what she'd done, she immediately scribbled over it.

“Oh, well would you believe he was trying to tell me that by wearing his ring, I am now a djinn.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Oh, and get this. He even said that I was lucky because sometimes the power of the ring kills people. I mean, seriously.”

“What?” Harvey and Kara both yelled as one, causing several heads to turn and look at them with interest.

“Guys, shhhhh.” Sophie glared at them. “This is our first day of sixth grade; we don't want to stand out too much. Anyway, he was lying, of course. Perhaps it's some weird djinn joke they do? Like
America's Funniest Home Videos
but for orange people? By the way, can you guys hear that weird buzzing noise?” Sophie paused and rubbed her ear to get rid of the strange static noise that had been bugging her all morning.

“I can't hear anything.” Harvey chewed his lip and looked concerned.

“Me either.” Kara shook her long hair. “And how do you know the djinn was lying?”

“Actually, that would be quite easy to tell,” Harvey cut in. “Since his nonverbal signs would clearly give him away. Did he flare his nostrils at all or avoid eye contact? Those are always good indicators.”

“Strangely enough, I was too busy freaking out to notice what his nostrils were doing or where he was looking,” Sophie retorted, while deciding to ignore the weird buzzing noise in her ear. Meanwhile, her friends were both looking worried.

“So how do you know he wasn't telling the truth then?” Kara persisted.

“Well, Exhibit A is the fact that I'm not a djinn,” Sophie pointed out, her voice not much more than a whisper. “I mean, I thought that was obvious. Anyway, the thing is, I've decided that from now on we're probably best not to mention it ever again. Let's just pretend it never happened. Especially the—”

“Hey, you. Are you Sophie Campbell?” a voice suddenly said, and Sophie turned around in her seat to see Melissa Tait standing behind her with her hands on her hips.

Could this day get any weirder?

Melissa was Jonathan Tait's twin sister, but while everyone loved Jonathan, who was nice and easygoing (and super easy to look at) his sister was a completely different kettle of fish.

In fact, when she had graduated from Miller Road Elementary the year before, even the teachers had looked relieved that she was going. Sophie just tried to avoid Melissa in order to stay under her Queen of Mean radar.

“Well? Is that your name?” Melissa repeated (in a way that suggested she didn't like to repeat herself) before she flicked a perfect, glossy strand of blonde hair back from her shoulder. “Because I want to talk to you. About your jeans.”

“Oh, right,” Sophie finally replied after Kara had given her a gentle nudge in the ribs and she awkwardly got to her feet. It was one thing to attract the attentions of Serena Towers and her friends, but for her jeans to attract Melissa's attention was something else entirely. Since even though nearly everyone was afraid of her, there was no denying that she had the best taste ever. People even said she would probably get a job at Teen Vogue when she was older.

“So kids have been talking about them all morning,” Melissa said as Sophie obligingly stepped closer to her and wrinkled her nose. She knew that the Universe had wanted her to buy the jeans to help her get closer to Jonathan Tait, though she hadn't quite imagined it would be by way of his scary sister. Still, who was she to question the Universe?

“I got them at that store at the back of the mall, Jean-I-us,” Sophie said in a helpful voice as she gave her ear another rub to try to dislodge the buzzing noise that was still racing around.

“Really?” Melissa arched an eyebrow that looked suspiciously like it had been shaped. “Because I don't believe you.”

“What?” Sophie blinked. “B-but I did. You can ask my mom because she was with me. N-not that I always go shopping with my mom, of course, but it was on a Sunday and there weren't many buses, and then she had to drop me off to babysit, so we went together. Just this one time—”

“Enough. I know the place, and I can assure you that they don't sell two-hundred-dollar Motion jeans there. In fact, the only place that sells these jeans is Bella's Boutique, and unless you've been on the waiting list for them, you still wouldn't get a pair.
Were you on Bella's Boutique's waiting list for them?
”

Sophie shook her head while next to her she could vaguely see Kara clutching nervously at Harvey's arm.

“No, but—”

“However,” Melissa continued. “I will tell you where you
were
. You were next to my house yesterday babysitting that brat of a kid, and you paid him to come and take my jeans from the clothesline and leave me with a cheap knock-off pair.”

“What? No—”

“No, you weren't next to my house yesterday?” Melissa raised her eyebrow again. Definitely shaped. How else could she make them go like that?

“I mean, yes, I was babysitting yesterday, but no, I didn't take your jeans off the line,” Sophie said in a bewildered voice as she dragged her gaze away from Melissa's perfect eyebrows. “Why would I?”

“You tell me.” Melissa gave an impatient snort.

“Well, I didn't,” Sophie insisted before pausing for a second. “I mean, Ryan, the kid I was babysitting, did run off with my jeans, but I certainly never told him to go and swap them with yours. And if he did—”

“Okay, so I'm going to stop you there because this is getting boring. The point is, you've got my jeans on and I want them back.”

“But—” Sophie started to say, but this time it was Kara who cut her off with a nervous cough.

“Actually, the label on the back does say Motion.”

“What?” Sophie immediately twisted around and then let out a long groan as she saw an unfamiliar label staring back at her. How on earth could she not have noticed? But even as she thought about it, she knew the answer. It was because she had been so distracted with the whole orange djinn thing that she hadn't really looked closely at what she now realized were a pair of designer jeans. She swung back around to where Melissa was still glaring at her.

“I-I didn't realize.” She felt her face start to get warm. “Look, Melissa, I'm sorry. Really, really sorry. Ryan must've swapped them.”

“You think?” Melissa tapped her shoe impatiently on the floor. “But what I want to know is, What are you going to do about it?”

“Oh, right.” Sophie's face got even warmer. “Well, I guess I'd better give them back to you,” she started to say, before realizing that she couldn't very well give them back since she didn't have anything else to wear, and naked wasn't really the way she had planned to start sixth grade. “Perhaps tomorrow?”

“You think I want them back after you've squeezed your thighs into them?” Melissa let out a delicate shudder. “Not likely, but since you owe me, tomorrow you'd better bring me two hundred dollars so I can buy a new pair. Got it? Oh, and before I forget, if you don't give me the money, you can kiss your reputation good-bye, because I will make sure that every single person in the school hears about this little episode. Are we clear?”

Then, without waiting for an answer she turned around and stalked away from where Sophie was still standing.

“Two hundred dollars?
Two hundred dollars?
” Sophie groaned as she finally sank back down into her chair. “That's all my Neanderthal Joe ticket money (not to mention a program and a tour T-shirt). Talk about a catch 22, because if I don't give her the money, then she'll ruin me. Like really, really ruin me. But if I do give her the money, then I'll have to miss out on what is sure to be the greatest concert in the world, which will also ruin me. This is the worst thing ever.”

Then she realized that neither Harvey nor Kara was saying anything, so she lifted an eyebrow at them.

“You know, this is the part where you both tell me it's not that bad. Perhaps remind me of hungry kids in Africa so that I can put it all in perspective,” Sophie prompted them as they continued to stare at her. “What? Why are you both looking at me like that?”

“Okay, there's something you should know, but I don't think you're going to like it,” Harvey said.

“I've just been humiliated in front of the entire cafeteria by Melissa Tait; I'm pretty sure I can take it.”

Harvey licked his lips and pushed away his pizza crust. “So you might want to take a look at your fingers. And your arm.”