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Authors: Shani Petroff

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BOOK: Careful What You Wish For
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“Well,” she whispered, and tugged at her ponytail, “when they were insulting us it's possible a couple of thoughts may have crossed through my mind. And I may have wished that they'd be nice. Like really, majorly, super nice.”
Okay. It could have been worse. Like what went through my mind. That they'd turn into bugs that I could squash with one of Courtney's designer shoes. So I guess nice was nothing in comparison.
“Gabi,” Jaydin said, rushing toward her. “Can I help you with your bag? It looks really heavy, and I don't want you to hurt your back.”
“I'll take it,” Lana said. “I'm stronger, and I don't want you to get hurt either, Jaydin.”
“Girls,” Courtney said, flashing her teeth at me in a big, old smile. “Don't forget about Angel. Do you need any help with anything? Just let us know. Nothing makes us happier than doing things for others.”
This reminded me of one of those body snatcher movies. Courtney and Co. had been replaced by pods. They were totally all smiles and good deeds. It was eerie. I mean, they deserved a lesson—for someone to get back at them for all the hurt and cruelty they'd brought on—but this much niceness was pretty sickening.
They were way over the top, fawning all over us and anyone who walked by. It was a little repulsive. But Gabi actually looked pleased with herself.
“Please, let me take the bag,” Lana begged Gabi. “It makes me so sad when I can't help others.”
“Uh, okay,” Gabi said, and handed her bag to the pod people.
“I'll get this right to your homeroom,” Lana said, nodding furiously. She began running, but stopped herself. She turned around. “I better not run. Running can cause accidents. And accidents aren't nice.”
Gabi snorted. I smacked her arm. This was not funny. Okay, maybe a little. But it was also something that needed to be fixed immediately.
“Angel!” Courtney shook her finger at me. “We don't hit friends. That's not nice.”
Then she saw D.L., who was making his way up the stairs. “It's so good to see you,” she said, giving him a huge hug. “And don't you look
nice
!”
That word was starting to give me a nervous tic. D.L. pushed her away. “What is
with
you? One day you don't even want to be around me and the next day you're syrupy sweet.”
She grinned at him. “I'm sorry. Did I do something to upset you? I'll make it up to you. Would you like me to write you a letter and apologize? There's nothing like a note from the heart.”
He just stared back at her. “Okay. Who are you? What did you do with Courtney?”
She slapped her hand lightly on his chest. “You're so silly.”
“Max,” Jaydin called out, waving to the school's new king. “I did all of the math homework. Just come to me whenever you need help.”
He didn't even stop and acknowledge her. Instead, he just walked into school, a posse of people by his side.
Now not only did I have to deal with Mad Max, but I had Courteous Courtney and Company. And who knew what was in store next? There was one thing I did know—this was getting way out of hand. And I needed to do something about it.
“You know what we should do?” Jaydin said to Courtney. “Something nice for Max. I bet the home ec room is open. Let's go make him some cookies.”
Courtney clapped her hands together. “That's such a good idea, Jaydin. You are so smart. And pretty, too. See you later, D.L. We're going to go make some cookies. You can come. You too, Angel and Gabi. We would never want to exclude anyone from our group.”
Yeah, right.
D.L. gave me a look. Almost like I had something to do with what was going on with his girlfriend.
I just shrugged.
He couldn't pin any of this on me. But it was probably only a matter of time before he, or someone else, could.
These wishes needed to stop before Gabi got us in big trouble.
chapter 24
The lockers turned a light shade of lavender and the walls a deep purple as we headed to homeroom.
“Gabi!”
“Sorry! I was just thinking about how they'd be so much prettier if they weren't that drab green. And it just happened. Besides,” she said, “I don't know why you're getting so worked up. Big deal if the walls are purple. It makes the school look better. How is that a bad thing?”
Before I could respond, I noticed Cole heading toward us.
“There you are. I've been looking all over for you,” he said.
He looked so cute. His hair was getting longer and some of his curls flopped right over his eyes. When he tossed his head to move them away, I'm pretty sure my stomach did a back handspring.
“You guys are so lucky you got out of that test yesterday,” Cole said. “It was awful. Mrs. Torin expected us to remember every single little thing that happened in the play. Which was impossible. I read the thing twice, and I still barely understood any of it. I can't wait until we're done with Shakespeare.”
“It should be soon,” I told him. “I think she's going to have us write our own plays next. Maybe we can all work on one together.”
“You know, I was thinking,” he said, rocking back on his feet, “that maybe . . .”
Gabi started to wander off. “Gabi, wait up. Hold on, Cole.” I wanted to talk to Cole, but I
needed
to talk to Gabi. To warn her to watch what she said and thought. “I'm sorry,” I told Cole, “but can I catch up with you in class? There's something really important I need to tell Gabi.”
I hated sending him away, especially when he seemed so excited to see me, but this was mega important. I needed to shake some sense into Gabi before she made another wish.
Cole looked from Gabi to me and back again. Then he nodded and walked off. He looked so disappointed. And while this may sound awful, it actually made me feel happy. It meant he really, truly liked me. Which was good, because I really, truly liked him, too.
Once the coast was clear, I turned my attention back to Gabi, who was sipping from a can of soda. “Where'd you get that?”
“I was thirsty.”
“And you wished for it on purpose!”
She didn't answer.
“Gabi, you can't go around making wishes.”
“Why not?”
Why not? Was she losing her mind? Were the wishes interfering with her brain waves and causing her to lose all sense of reason? “Because one day the wrong wish is going to come true!”
“Me having a soda is not going to cause the school to collapse. I'm not going to wish for anything like that.”
I cringed as she spoke, half expecting the walls to come caving in. “But if you word something wrong, who knows what will happen? Try and reverse the wish making. Now.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“Gabi, you said you would.” I crossed my arms over my chest. I needed to hold in the gloom and dread before it oozed out of my pores and contaminated the whole school.
“No. You did.”
“Fine. Do you want me to try and reverse it again?”
“Are you kidding? I'm not risking that. What if the same thing happens as before? And you make Rori disappear and next time you can't get her back. Besides”—she shrugged her shoulders—“the wishes are kind of fun.”
“But they're dangerous.”
“I can handle powers. You're the one who should come with a warning label. Not me.”
She did
not
just say that!
“Gabi!”
“What? It's true.”
I was afraid if I spoke, flames would come flying out of my mouth. How
dare
she! Okay, yes. My powers weren't perfect, and I've been known to have technical difficulties surrounding them. But I was getting so much better. My powers had barely gone off on their own at all since the dance. Well, unless you counted when I saved Gabi from getting eaten by a lion. But that was a good thing.
“Think about it,” she went on. “This is the best scenario ever. Now we're both special. We can do amazing things.” She headed off to class with me on her tail.
I had to make her understand. “You don't need powers to do amazing things.”
Gabi stopped right in front of a corkboard with pictures from the school musical
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
pinned to it. “No. You don't need them. But they sure can help.”
She eyed a picture of Courtney as Lucy. The part she was up for but didn't get. Her finger traced the border of the photo. “I really did like being the assistant director. But it would have been fun to be the star.”
“Gabi, let's go,” I said. “Whatever you're thinking—don't.”
I managed to peel her away from the photos.
“Don't hate me,” she said. “I didn't mean to do it. Honest.”
“Do what?”
“You're about to see.”
chapter 25
“There she is,” a woman at the end of the hall said, and pointed at Gabi. Then she raced over to us, followed by a big guy holding a video camera. And there were even more people with cameras following him.
The commotion got everyone's attention. I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole school was jammed into that hallway trying to figure out what was going on. Which I was pretty curious about myself.
“Who is she?” I asked Gabi.
The woman answered for her. “I'm Elena, the producer of a new reality show where we turn regular middle school kids into stars. And our first episode will feature Goode's very own Gabi Gottlieb.”
That's what Gabi wished for? To be a star! And of a reality show no less! Yuck.
“Tell us what you think, Gabi,” Elena said, shoving a microphone in her face.
“I think it's pretty awesome!”
Personally, I thought it stunk. A reality show meant cameras would be following Gabi everywhere. How was I supposed to talk any sense into her when everything I said would be recorded for all of America to hear?
“Great, and how about the rest of you?” The main cameraman turned and panned the hallway to get everyone's expressions, which pretty much consisted of awe, excitement, surprise, and wonder. Well, all except D.L. He covered his face with his arm and said, “I'm out of here. This school is messed up. I'm not going to be on some stupid reality show.” Then he bolted. We were actually on the same page for a change. I didn't want be a part of it, either.
Max had the opposite reaction. He bullied his way toward Elena. “You have the wrong person,” he said. “The only one with star quality at this school is me.”
“Actually,” Elena said, “Gabi's our girl. I've never seen someone with so much star power.”
“What about me?” he asked.
“Sorry,” she said. “If you're not a part of Gabi's life, you're not a part of the show.”
Mighty Max looked stunned that someone didn't gush all over him. But Elena wasn't under the Max spell like everyone else. So she didn't care what one snot nose eighth-grader thought.
“Speaking of which”—Elena turned to Gabi—“we're going to want to interview the people closest to you. Keep our eye on them as well.”
“First there's Angel.” Gabi pointed to me. “She's my very best friend. And Cole sits with us at lunch. Oh, and I have a secret admirer, too. I'm not positive who it is yet, but I do have a guess.”
She scanned the room, probably searching for Marc to see if he'd let on that he was the guy crushing on her.
“Great,” Elena said, motioning to one of the cameramen. “Let's start with the best friend.” Next she addressed me. “Since you seem to know Gabi the best, we're going to devote one cameraman specifically to you. That way we catch anything you say about her even when she's not around. So just be natural. After an hour you'll forget you're even being filmed.”
No way was I letting a camera follow me around. It was bad enough Gabi didn't seem to mind having one on her.
“I'm going to start by asking you a few questions,” Elena said.
I stepped away. I've seen enough reality shows to know the truth. She got paid to torture teens—to make their lives miserable and air it on national television. It wouldn't surprise me if reality TV was invented by Lou.
Lou!
What if he popped in to spy on me when the cameras were rolling? How would I explain a man appearing out of nowhere?! Elena would totally try to uncover my secret. Or worse. Lou would realize she was onto us and banish her to the underworld. I couldn't let that happen. I was not going to be responsible for anything bad happening to anyone.
“Thanks,” I told her. “But I'm not going to be on the show.”
“We need you,” she pressed. “You're Gabi's best friend.”
“Sorry.” I walked away, but they followed me. “I said I'm not doing the show.”
“I heard you,” Elena said. “But like it or not, you are a part of this.”
What was
with
this woman? “If you don't leave me alone, I'll call the police. I'm underage, and you can't film me without permission.” Ha. So there, I showed her. You couldn't go around filming minors. In school!
“Actually,” Elena said, “I can.” She pulled out a stack of papers. “I have permission slips signed by the guardian of every student here. Including yours.”
What?! No way my mom would sign something like that. She thinks TV in general is sinful. But reality TV? She thinks that is more disgusting than the sludge forming near the sewer. She says it brings out the worst in people—entertainment at the expense of people's feelings. “Prove it,” I said.
BOOK: Careful What You Wish For
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