Read The Wish for Free Online Page B

glad I wasn’t Suzanne. I’d never act like her. I’d be myself, as I had been tonight, and they’d have to love it. I could stop trying to figure out what made other kids popular. I was popular even if I never acted the part. And I’d be popular forever. After all, why would the old lady give me my wish just to take it away?
    â€œWilma,” BeeBee whispered, “are you awake?”
    â€œShe is now,” Nina said.
    â€œI’m awake.”
    â€œI’m glad you came. It’s been the best sleepover I ever had.”
    â€œIt’s been perfect,” Ardis said.
    Nina added, “Fifty points for great company.”
    In the dark, I smiled.

Chapter Nine
    W e didn’t spend much time together in the morning because BeeBee had to rush to a class at the Art Students League. Then, in the afternoon, I got to the Chelsea Piers rink early. I stood at the edge and watched, wondering if I’d spend the evening at the hospital having my broken neck put in a cast. A few kids from school were there. It was only half a block from Claverford, so we all knew the place.
    Timothy skated by, pretending to fall. He looked like he was about to land and break his back, but he never did. Evadney was skating too, and so was Daphne. Daphne skated well, though weirdly. She didn’t seem to have bones—she just oozed around the rink.
    They all came over to say hi. I was sitting on a bench, surrounded, when BeeBee and Nina arrived wearing their skates. I looked up from lacing my rented Rollerblades.
    â€œMake them tight.” Nina pointed at my boots. “It gives you an illusion of security.”
    â€œSteph!” BeeBee yelled.
    â€œBeeb!” Stephanie glided to us from across the street. She hugged BeeBee. “Neen!” She hugged Nina. I smiled at her, but she ignored me.
    â€œRemember Wilma?” BeeBee said. “I told you about her on the phone. Isn’t she great?”
    I smiled again. “Hi.”
    She looked at me blankly. “Hi. Where’s Ardis?” Stephanie spoke very fast: Hi-where’s-Ardis. It sounded like one word.
    â€œShe had to go to the dentist,” Nina said. “She forgot, and her mother wouldn’t let her out of it.”
    â€œI’ll-yell-at-her-for-having-cavities-why aren’t-you-blading?” Stephanie said in one breath.
    â€œWilma’s been living on Pluto,” Nina said. “It’s a pain, but we have to show her how to skate.”
    â€œShe makes up for it,” BeeBee said. “You’ll see.”
    Stephanie gave me the blank look again, the way you’d look at a mushroom. Wasn’t the spell working?
    â€œUp, monster,” Nina said, holding her hands out to me.
    I took Nina’s hands and got up. The wheels rolled out from under me, and I sat down again—on the ground, with Nina on top of me.
    â€œSorry,” I said.
    â€œThat’s all right. I love having a zipper in my eye.”
    â€œI kind of wanted to skate like we used to,” Stephanie said. “I missed you guys.”
    â€œGo ahead. I’ll watch.” I could sit on the bench and pretend to be exhausted from so much fabulous blading.
    â€œYou don’t mind?” BeeBee said.
    â€œNope.”
    â€œTen points for unselfishness,” Nina said. “See, Steph, that’s what she’s like.”
    Stephanie gave me a half smile and skated away. Nina and BeeBee followed her.
    Was I imagining that Stephanie didn’t like me?
    They talked while they skated. When they passed my bench, Stephanie turned her head to look at me. They were talking about me.
    They went around for a while and then came for me.
    â€œThe moment has come,” Nina said. “You’re blading.”
    BeeBee sat on my left. “Put your arm over my shoulder.”
    Nina got on my other side. They supported me to the edge. When I stepped down into the rink, I almost toppled Nina and BeeBee, but Stephanie