Wishful Thinking (8 page)

Then she realized that now wasn't such a great time to be thinking about her dad or her old, normal life, so she concentrated on making sure she didn't muddle the numbers up as she put them in. As she did so, Malik studied the screen with interest.

“So these digits that you're putting into this machine will let you buy stuff?” he wanted to know, and Sophie nodded.

“That's right. But only if you have enough money in your bank account.” Then she frowned for a moment. “Which delivery do I want? Phoenix or Pigeon?”

“Pigeon,” Malik instantly replied. “Unless of course you like to be kept waiting for months while the most arrogant, vain, thick-as-a-plank-of-wood bird in existence lies around in the sun, moaning about what a tough life it has just because it got caught in one measly fire, instead of delivering your mail in a timely fashion.”

Sophie blinked. “Er, okay, so pigeon it is. By the way, how long will it take?” she asked as she hit Enter and completed the order. However, before Malik could even reply there was rustling of feathers and a pink bird that didn't look like any sort of pigeon Sophie had ever seen suddenly appeared on the corner of her computer desk with a large parcel in its beak. It squawked twice, and dropped the parcel in her lap, and then studied her expectantly from its wide violet eyes.

“Are you kidding me with this?” Sophie stared at the package, then the bird, and finally at Malik.

“Kidding you? I don't understand what you mean. Isn't this what you wanted?” Malik looked confused.

“Yes, it's what I wanted, but I didn't realize it would be quite so fast. I mean, that's just crazy,” she explained before she realized that the pink bird was not only still staring at her, but she was fairly sure it hadn't even blinked either. Creepy, much? She suddenly remembered that Harvey had once told her about a horror movie involving killer birds, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

“Er, Malik, why is it looking at me like that?”

“I think it's waiting for a tip.”

“A tip?” Sophie winced as she thought of her empty money box (thanks, cute belt to match jeans) and her equally empty bank account (thanks, potion and creepy pink pigeon delivery service). “As in money?”

“I guess it could eat money at a push, but worms would probably be better.” Malik shrugged as he reached forward and ruffled the bird's feathers. The pigeon quickly pecked at his hand, while still not breaking eye contact with Sophie.

“Oh.” Sophie nodded while trying to ignore the fact that her life was getting more surreal by the moment. She carefully put the parcel on the table and glanced around before catching sight of Harvey's Cheetos. She paused and wrinkled her nose in confusion since Harvey never normally left any food behind. Then she dismissed it because the main thing was that she now had some food. She held up the bag to Malik. “Well, these aren't worms, but perhaps they would be okay?”

“I don't know? What are they?” he asked, and Sophie looked at him in surprise. It was one thing not to know about the Internet, but to not know about Cheetos?

“They're like a cheesy snack food,” she explained as she held out the packet to him. He took a couple, and she was just about to offer one to the bird when Malik whipped the bag out of her hand and turned to the pigeon and started to speak to it in some rapid-fire language that she'd never heard of before. And along with the talking, there was a lot of arm gesturing on Malik's behalf.

For a moment the bird spread its wings and started to flap them in Malik's face, but instead of looking scared, Malik continued the conversation in an animated (and very loud) fashion before the bird finally disappeared from sight in a flutter, leaving behind a single pink feather.

“What was that about?” Sophie blinked in alarm. “I hope I didn't offend it by offering it a Cheeto?”

“Offend it?” Malik snorted as he hugged the packet close to his chest. “Who cares if you offended it? It's just a stupid bird, and besides, there was no way I was going to let you waste these perfect little twisty sticks of delicious orange goodness on that dirty creature. And so I told it.”

“But what about the tip? You said I needed to give it one,” Sophie reminded him as she watched Malik shovel Cheetos into his mouth. She didn't even know ghosts could eat food, but right now that was the least of her worries.

“Don't worry, I gave it a good tip. I told it to never put a red shirt in with a white wash.” Malik gave a dismissive shrug. “Anyway, who cares about the bird? Tell me more about these divine morsels? Did humans really invent them? I think I've been underrating mankind.”

“Okay, so perhaps when things are less crazy we can have a long discussion on the history of Cheetos, but right now I need to use this potion.” Sophie caught sight of the box that was still sitting on the corner of the desk. It didn't take her long to open it up and lift out a small, bright red oval-shaped bottle that looked more like something Britney Spears would release as a perfume than something designed to change your skin color. On one side was a small picture of Rufus the Furious, and on the other side it simply said to take half a capful once a day. Well, that sounded simple enough, and she carefully poured out the liquid that ended up being as red as the bottle. Perhaps that meant it would taste like strawberries?

She took a tentative sip and pulled a face. Okay, so cancel the strawberry thing. It tasted more like old shoes and stinky socks. However, she forced herself to finish it off and then looked down at her arm.

It was no longer orange.

Like seriously.

“It worked.” She raced over to the mirror and stared at her face. Yes, the scattering of freckles was still there, not to mention the small bump on her nose, but the main thing was that she no longer looked like a special-edition orange M&M. “It really, really worked.”

“Well, duh.” Malik rolled his eyes as he sat down on her bed and started to flick through an old copy of
Seventeen
that Kara had left behind. “Didn't I say that being a djinn wasn't so bad, but you were all
‘No, I'm eleven'
and
‘Argh, my life is over'
when really you were making a big deal about nothing.”

“Well, I must admit that I'm feeling a bit more positive now that the orange is gone,” Sophie confessed as she continued to inspect her face.

“There you go.” Malik nodded supportively as he held the magazine closer to his face to get a better look at something. “And even better, you didn't get any spots or horns, which, if you ask me, is a real bonus.”

“What?” Sophie yelped as she immediately started to check her head for horns. “There are side effects? No one said anything about side effects.”

“I wouldn't call it them side effects, more like little tricks that Rufus sometimes likes to play. Before he was Rufus the Furious, he was actually Rufus the Crazy.” Malik gave a dismissive wave as he put the magazine away. “Anyway, the important thing is that it didn't affect you that way.”

“And he thinks that's funny?” Sophie, who was finally convinced there were no horns, stopped patting her head. However, before she could say anything else, she heard the familiar rattle of a ten-year-old Toyota pulling into the driveway. She turned to Malik in panic. “My mom's home. What should I do?”

“Er, I would assume that you should do what you always do. Complain about homework, refuse to eat your Brussels sprouts, and moan about how early you have to go to bed. Why? What did you have in mind?”

“I mean about the djinn thing?” Sophie gritted her teeth as she fanned her face to try to cool down. “Is there anything special I should do to hide it from her? I mean, it's one thing to trick my teachers, but my mom never misses anything.”

“Oh, I see what you're saying. You're worried that you might suddenly start to levitate up in the air or turn your younger sister into a tow truck. Is that it?”

“Well, I wasn't before, but I am now.” Sophie gulped. “So could that happen?”

“Of course not. You're a djinn, not a psychopathic nutcase.” Malik rolled his eyes. “See, this is what I'm talking about. You really need to stop thinking that your life is going to be so different. Honestly, being a djinn is the most normal thing in the world, and most of the time you won't even notice it. So why don't you go downstairs and just act like you always do. And actually, while you're down there, I don't suppose you could rustle up any more of those Cheetos? Oh, and some chocolate-covered ants if you've got any. I love those things. . . ”

For a moment Sophie paused before she realized that what he was saying made total sense. Okay, not the part about the chocolate-covered ants because, ewh. But everything else was right. How had she not realized sooner that she was overreacting? Besides, she was a positive person, and positive people didn't dwell on the negative (or the orange) stuff, they focused on the good things. And with that thought in mind, she took a deep breath and walked downstairs.

S
TOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT,” SOPHIE COMMANDED the following morning as she and her two friends sat on top of one of the decorative boulders that dotted the entrance to Robert Robertson Middle School.

“Sorry.” Kara flushed as she let go of Sophie's arm, which she had been inspecting. “But I just can't get over the fact that you really are a djinn.”

“And that you're not orange anymore,” Harvey added as he let go of Sophie's other arm. “What are the chances of it coming back?”

“Apparently none, as long as I take the potion stuff each day. Though when Malik teaches me how to do a double helix spell, then I won't even need to do that,” Sophie said patiently, since her friends weren't the only ones who were struggling to come to terms with it all. Though perhaps the weirdest thing was how normal everything still seemed.

In fact, despite all of Malik's assurances (and continued pleas for food) when Sophie had gone downstairs yesterday afternoon, she had fully expected some sort of Armageddon to happen. Instead, it had ended up being just like every other night in their house. Her mom had burned the dinner, complained about what a rotten day she'd had at work, and then said she was going to do some pottery before really falling asleep while watching
Friends
reruns. Then at breakfast, Meg had indulged in another Oscar-winning “I don't want to go to school” tantrum.

Though, actually, Sophie hadn't minded that so much, since it kept their mom from attempting to have an “important talk” with them. Especially since her “important talks” normally involved new and normally painful ways of saving money, and this time she had the funny feeling that it might include getting rid of broadband. And while Sophie could (vaguely) live with the fact she didn't have a cell phone, there was no way she could cope if she was disconnected.

Still, the main thing was that the only one who had acted like there was something strange going on was Mr. Jaws, but since he tended to get weirded out by the sight of a paper bag, no one really paid much attention to him.

“So what about magic?” Kara demanded, an excited gleam in her eye. “When do you start doing some?”

Sophie shook her head. “He didn't mention any of that. He just went on and on about how important it was for me to cleanse my djinn ring every day for a week before I could even begin to access my powers. In fact, I do believe his exact words were: ‘It would be like me trying to teach you how to drive a submarine using only a rubber band and a bird's feather,'” she said, mimicking Malik's voice.

“That's the weirdest analogy that I've ever heard in my life.” Harvey scratched his head as he started to flick through the reams of paper that were sitting on his lap. He hadn't been joking when he had promised to do some more research last night—Sophie was sure he'd used half a tree just to print everything out. He finally retrieved a particular page and held it up. “But I think I know what he means. According to everything I've read about magic, there is a real cause-and-effect thing going on, which means that magic shouldn't be used lightly.”

“Are you sure?” Kara sounded disappointed.

“I'm sure,” he said as he waved the paper at her. “It also says here that djinns are neither good nor bad, which is a relief since we now know that Sophie won't be going all Dark Side on us. Oh, and by the way, I couldn't find any reference to that story you were telling me about the foolish djinn. Are you sure you remembered it right?”

“Definitely.” Sophie nodded her head. “I swear I heard it a zillion times.” But before she could say anything else Harvey's cell phone started to beep. A second later Kara's did as well, and as they both dug them out of their pockets to study the screens, Sophie noticed that all around them, the other students were doing the same thing.

“What is it?” she demanded, but instead of answering her, her two friends exchanged a concerned look with each other, and Sophie felt her heart start to sink. Even though Robert Robertson Middle School didn't have their own
Gossip Girl
ninja who could spread bad news at the touch of a Send button, she suddenly had an awful feeling that the text messages somehow involved her.

“Nothing,” Kara and Harvey both said a little bit too quickly, which only confirmed Sophie's suspicions.

“Come on, guys, you can tell me the worst.” She gulped. “Did someone see what happened yesterday and they've spread it around the school? Because of course it will ruin my life, but I can take it. Honestly, I—”

“Soph, it's not that at all.” Kara reached out and squeezed her hand.

“So why are you both looking like that? The last time you did that, it was when you didn't want to tell me that I didn't get the lead part in the school musical.”

“Yeah, well, it's never nice to tell someone that she can't sing,” Harvey said before Kara glared at him. “Er, not that this is anything to do with that. The thing is, we just received the location text for where the Neanderthal Joe tickets are going to go on sale, but we didn't want to tell you because we know you had to spend all your money on your anti-orange potion.”

“Where is it?” Sophie tried to hide her jealousy. To think that yesterday she was orange and today she was about to turn green.

“In town, right next to my mom's work,” Kara admitted.

“Oh.” Sophie gulped. “Well, that's good. It means you won't miss out.”

“But the thing is, Soph, we're not going to go to the concert either,” Kara said, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush.

“What?” Sophie stared at them both as they hurried in through the main entrance to their homeroom. “You guys have to go. You've been dying to go for, like, ever, and now that we know where the tickets are going to be sold. . . ”

“We're not changing our minds,” Harvey said in an unusually firm voice as they reached the room just seconds before their teacher. “We both discussed it, and it just wouldn't be the same without you.”

“I can't believe you guys would do that for me.” Sophie sniffed.

“Well, you'd better believe it. Besides, there is this body-language book that I've been after, and now I'll totally be able to afford it,” Harvey said with a grin.

“And I can buy a new easel,” Kara added just as Mr. Collins came in and shot everyone a stern look as if to let them know that chitchat might be okay in fifth grade, but now that they were in sixth grade, things were going to be different.

By lunchtime Sophie realized just how right Mr. Collins was, since for a start in fifth grade there was no such thing as a double math period, but now? Her whole schedule seemed to be littered with the horrible things, and while it was all right for Harvey, who loved math, for Sophie it just made her head hurt. And now she had to double that.

Still, at least that class was over for the day, and she quickly shoved her math books into her locker and was just about to head to the cafeteria when she heard a coughing noise from behind her.

Sophie's heart froze.

The last time someone had coughed behind her, it was Malik, to inform her that she was a djinn. And despite the fact that she had specifically told him that he couldn't come to her school unless she summoned him, she didn't exactly trust him to obey her. She bit into her bottom lip and slowly turned around.

However, instead of seeing a ghostly djinn with Cheetos smeared all over his face, she discovered that the person standing behind her was actually Jonathan Tait.

Oh God. It was Jonathan Tait!

Sophie felt her jaw go slack, and for a moment she just stared at him before discreetly checking if there was someone else behind her. However, that section of the corridor was empty as kids continued to move in a steady stream toward the cafeteria, and so she turned back around to face him while trying not to lament the fact that she had spent practically her whole vacation choosing yesterday's outfit and about half a nanosecond choosing the one she had on today.

“Hey, you don't have a pen I can borrow, do you?” he asked (in actual words—directed at her!).

“What?” she asked in a blank voice as she tried and failed not to marvel at how gorgeous he was. He should always wear blue T-shirts because they totally brought out the blue in his eyes. In fact, if she was the president of the Universe, she would make that a new law.

“Pen? I just need to write something down,” he elaborated, and Sophie willed herself to stop acting like a stupid idiot.

“Right, pen. Yes. I have one of those. Definitely.” She reached into her bag and frantically felt around for her pencil case while trying to ignore that her cheeks felt even hotter than normal. Finally, her fingers curled around the case and she pulled it out in triumph. “Ta-da.”

“Er, thanks.” Jonathan seemed to be biting back a smile as he grabbed a pen from her and quickly wrote something down on the back of his hand. It looked like “must buy spider,” but since Sophie was looking at it upside down, she could be wrong about that (she certainly hoped so because there was nothing good about spiders).

“No problem at all.” Sophie tried to push the image of spiders from her mind. “Whenever you need a pen, I'm your girl. Oh, yes, I am.”

“O-kay,” he said in a casual voice as he handed the pen back. Then he suddenly peered carefully at her face. “Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?”

“I-I was a year behind you at Miller Road Elementary,” Sophie admitted, and he nodded his head.

“Oh, yeah. That's it. Sophie Campbell. I remember you now,” he continued as he threaded his thumbs through the loops of his jeans and grinned at her. What did that mean? Did that mean he liked her? Sophie made a mental note to ask Harvey if his book made any reference to thumbs in jeans loops. “By the way, I like your T-shirt. They rock it so hard.”

“What?” Sophie said, before nervously looking down to see what T-shirt she was wearing. Please don't let it be her ancient Mickey Mouse one that she used to think was retro but was probably just juvenile. Thankfully, instead of mouse ears, she realized she was wearing her favorite Neanderthal Joe T-shirt.
Oh, Universe, I owe you. Big time.
The Joes hadn't come to San Diego on their last tour, but her mom's friend in Los Angeles had gone to the concert and bought Sophie a tour T-shirt, which was pretty much the coolest thing in the whole wide world.
Apart, obviously, from this very moment.

“I know, right. I love them. Especially ‘Zombie Vegas.' That song blows my mind.” She grinned at him, while secretly pleased that she had rediscovered the power of speech.

“A bonus-track girl. I'm impressed.” Jonathan grinned back at her, and Sophie felt a stab of perfect happiness go racing through her. She and Jonathan Tait were talking. In a real conversation. About Neanderthal Joe. It seriously didn't get any better than that. Actually, it did, and for the next five minutes they stood there debating the merits of downloading singles as opposed to buying the complete album (they were both in favor of the complete album, because nothing could beat owning the original artwork).

“So are you going to see them in concert?” Jonathan suddenly asked.

“Oh.” Some of Sophie's happiness seeped away as her shoulders slumped. “It's sort of complicated. I mean, I was going to, but then this other thing came up, and now, well, I'm not quite so sure, though I'm really hoping,” she rambled, before realizing that she was making no sense at all. “H-how about you?”

“I'm so there.” He held up his hand, and she realized that he hadn't been writing about spiders, he had actually been writing down the location details of where to buy the tickets tomorrow. “My older brother, Finn, said he'd take me so that I could see the Joes without any olds around. Hey, if you do end up going, perhaps you and your friends could come with us? My parents would totally talk to your folks about it and vouch for Finn. Then we could hang out together.”

What?

However, before she could reply, a bunch of seventh-grade boys came racing toward Jonathan and started doing some complicated handshakes with him before dragging him off in the other direction. Jonathan did a goofy little shrug of his shoulders and shot her an apologetic look before heading off down the corridor with his friends, leaving Sophie to try to pick her jaw up off the ground. It looked like Malik was wrong, because her life didn't seem like it was going to be the same as normal, it seemed like it was going to be better. And that was something she could definitely live with.