The next day, in the hall after third period, Jimmy Wilson comes up to me. I feel my face turning red, and the blood in my head is pounding so hard I can barely hear him when he asks if I’m going to the Homecoming Dance. I shake my head, very cool. He smiles. He got his braces off last month and his teeth are perfect.
“So, would you like to go with me?” he asks.
I nod. Words are impossible. I just stand there, my head bobbing up and down, grinning like an idiot. He winks and walks away, and a knot of girls at the end of the hall explode into giggles and whispers.
Texting is not allowed during school hours, so I run into the cafeteria during Shel’s lunch period and tell her the news. She does not jump up and do the Happy Dance, which is good, because I already feel like EVERYONE is looking at me. She just raises an eyebrow, like she was expecting it all along.
Mom understands how important this is to me, so she gives me her debit card and Shel and I go to the mall and I buy an amazing dress and spiky heels. We’ve been talking about the next wish, but decide to wait until after the dance.
The Friday before the dance, I track down Jimmy and ask him if I should meet him at the school, or will he pick me up. He frowns, and says he’s not sure. He’ll let me know. He has not talked to me since he asked me, and I’m really worried about that. But, obviously, he has a plan.
Saturday night, Shel does my hair. Mom takes pictures. I look so different – more grown up, even pretty. I stare at my cell phone, waiting for his text. At eight thirty, my chest is so full I think I’m going to explode, so I finally text him.
Jimmy, where r u?
At the dance
Shd I meet u there?
Im with Caitlin
I can’t look at my mother, sitting across from me on the couch, reading her book. I can’t even look at Shel, who’s been pretending to play Temple Run for the past half hour.
What about me?
What do you mean?
U asked me
I hit Send. I can’t breathe.
But I never meant to really TAKE u
I clear my throat. “I’m not going,” I say, and get up and walk to my room.
Shel follows me. I tear off my dress and run my fingers through my hair, undoing the curls. I pull on a sweatshirt and jammy pants, get Etok’s bottle out of the closet, and Shel and I leave the apartment and make our way to the roof.
I tell her what Jimmy said. We stare at the bottle.
“Etok warned us,” she says at last.
“Yes, he did. We have to be really careful this time.” So Shel and I go over my next wish very carefully. We can find nothing that can hurt us.
I unstop the bottle, and Etok appears. It’s cold on the roof, and dark. His smoke looks white, and catches the light from the street below.
“Ali?” he asks. “How are you enjoying the Homecoming Dance?”
That’s mean. Seriously. I’d throw something at Etok, but it would just go right through him, and might sail off the roof and hit someone walking by on the street, killing them, and sending me to prison for the rest of my life. Which is the only way I could feel more miserable than I feel right now.
He notices my expression and looks serious. “Have you another wish?”
“Yes. I’m going to buy a New Jersey State lottery ticket tomorrow. And this is what I wish to happen. First, it’s going to be the winning ticket. The jackpot is over eleven million dollars right now, and nothing can happen between now and then to make the value go down. It will be the only winning ticket. It will be a cash-out ticket, so I get the money all at once. And when I tell my mom that it belongs to both Shel and me, she will say that’s fine. And Shel’s mom will say it’s fine too. We’ll split the money in half, and everyone will be happy with that. The state will not run out of money before we collect. There will not be any other legal issues holding the money back.” I look at Shel. “What else?”
“My dad,” Shel says.
“Oh, yeah. Shel’s father will not come forward and try to claim any of the money.” I take a deep breath. “That’s my wish.”
“That is about ten wishes,” Etok points out, sounding annoyed.
“No, it’s just one wish. With conditions.”
He narrows his already squinty eyes at me. “Conditions, eh? Very clever, little girl.” He closes his eyes and shimmers. “It is done. Anything else?”
I shake my head. He smiles slyly and returns to smoke. I put the stopper in place.