Careful What You Wish For (7 page)

“It did,” Gabi said, grabbing her lunch. “It had to.” She looked at the closed bag in her hands. “Please make it be something good today. I can't take anymore tofu burgers.” She held it out to me. “Want to trade?”

“No way.” I was going to stick with my grilled cheese sandwich and greasy potato chips.

“Whoa!” Gabi pulled out her food, but it wasn't what she—or I—expected at all. It was junk food deluxe. A cheeseburger, french fries, a Twix bar, and even a can of Coke. “I think my mom might be having a nervous breakdown.” She popped a few fries in her mouth. “But I'm okay with that if it means this is what I get for lunch,” she said, her mouth full. “These are sooo good.”

“I can't believe she gave you that. What happened to fast food stunting your growth, poisoning your body, muddying your mind, and doing whatever other damage she could think of?”

“Maybe my dad packed it. I could totally see him trying to surprise me.”

“I should have traded,” I said, letting go of my sandwich, which suddenly didn't look as appealing, onto my tray.

“Too late now,” she gloated, and took a bite of her cheeseburger.

“Hey,” Cole said, sitting down and grabbing a few of Gabi's fries and downing them. He gave her one of his huge lopsided smiles. “You don't mind, right?”

How could she mind? Not after getting one of those smiles. They were pretty irresistible. And she was human, after all.

“Nope,” she said, gesturing for him to take more.

“Sweet. Thanks.” Cole took more of her lunch. “When do you want me to help you with your Bat Mitzvah stuff?”

“Everyone ready for Mrs. Torin's test today?” I chimed in, totally changing the subject. I was feeling left out. And I wanted him to make plans with me. Not my best friend.

“Ughh,” Gabi said. “No. There was so much reading. I—” She didn't finish because she got distracted. We all did.

Max had marched right into the center of the lunchroom and now he was standing
on
Courtney's table. Gabi and I exchanged a look.

It was safe to assume that the reversal didn't work.

“Uh-oh,” Gabi whispered. “What's he doing here, anyway? I thought he had math tutoring during lunch.”

“And disappoint his minions?” I asked.

“Angel,” Cole reprimanded me. “You shouldn't talk about Max like that. He's my friend.”

I knew it was the spell talking and not Cole, but it made me want to give him a hard poke, anyway. Max had totally ripped on me in science class. Powers or no powers, Cole should hate him for the sheer fact that I'm his girlfriend and Max dissed me. But no. Cole didn't want to defend
me
. Just his idol.

He even left me stranded at the lunch table. He wanted to go sit near Max. So he just stood up, waved a quick good-bye, and ran back to his old table. Correction. Make that Max's table.

“I decided to join you all today,” Max said, perched on the tabletop. Applause sounded throughout the cafeteria. Even the lunch ladies joined in. “I don't feel like standing in line, so I need someone to go pick up my lunch.” About a dozen people jumped up. “You,” Max said, pointing to Dana. “And it better be decent.”

Instead of being annoyed that he was acting like some cruel drill sergeant, she practically skipped off to go get his food. She didn't even care that he didn't give her money for it. I half expected him to ask people to lick his shoes clean. He probably would have if someone gave him the idea. “And since I'm missing my math lesson, I'm going to need someone to finish my assignment for me.”

“I can do it,” Jaydin said. “I'm great with equations. And I can tutor you if you want.”

“I'll think about it,” Max said.

Think about it?
One of the prettiest, most popular, and smartest girls just offered to help him in a subject he stunk at, and he was going to
think about it
?

“Let's try again,” I told Gabi. “We need to reverse this.”

We grabbed hands. The good thing about sitting at the nerd table was that no one paid attention to you. Well, unless they wanted to make fun of you. But everyone was too wrapped up in Max to even notice we existed.

“I wish Max was back to his normal self,” Gabi said.

I repeated it, squeezing Gabi's hands so hard she actually yelped. “Please, please, please, let him be normal again,” I prayed. Never in my life had I concentrated on anything so hard. This needed to be reversed. I was not going to be responsible for causing more evil in the world.

“Please, let him be nice again.” This time I said it about three hundred times. No exaggeration.

“Max, come sit next to me,” Courtney said. “Move, D.L.” She swatted her boyfriend's arm. “Give him some room.”

Max jumped off the table and stood over D.L. “I don't like to be kept waiting.”

“I don't believe this,” D.L. said, getting up from his seat.

Neither did I.

The reversal didn't work.

“Look,” Gabi said, running over to her locker. There was a note taped to it. She definitely was not as concerned about this whole Max situation as I was, which was pretty frustrating.

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed. “I bet it's from my secret admirer.” She tore it down. “It is,” she said, and actually jumped a foot into the air.

GABI, G = GRACIOUS. A = AMAZING. B = BEAUTIFUL. I = I HOPE YOU'LL FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT ME.

“How are you supposed to feel the same way if you don't even know who it's from?” I muttered, leaning my back against the locker.

“Don't be such a downer,” she said, smacking my knuckles with the note. “This is the most exciting thing that has happened to me in . . . in . . . ever! The only thing that would make this day better would be if we didn't have to take that English test.”

“Uh . . . and how about Max? We have to figure out how to fix him.”

She clutched her note. “I know. We'll figure it out. Or, and I know you don't want to, but maybe we can just ask Lou for help?”

“How can you even suggest that?” My eyes darted around the hall. Just saying my father's name was enough to make him come pay me a visit, and I was in no mood. “He's not a part of my life anymore. Not after what he did.”

Her voice got extra quiet. “But he wasn't the one who set out to take anyone's soul. From what it sounds like, he was just trying to clean up that other guy's mess.”

“But he didn't
have
to step in. He could have just walked away from the whole situation.” How could she side with the devil? “I can't forgive him. Not this time.”

“Okay,” Gabi said. “Sorry I said anything. I promise, we'll come up with a different solution.”

I nodded. “Maybe we just need to go somewhere really quiet to reverse everything.”

“Maybe,” she said, “but first, we have to get through English. I need an A on this test, so my mom doesn't kill me. What I wouldn't give for us to get out of class today.”

She didn't need to tell me. Gabi was a much better student than I was. “There you are,” Mrs. Torin said when Gabi walked into class. “I've been waiting for you.”

Gabi's eyes froze with fear. It was like watching a hunter pick up a gun and point it at Bambi's mother. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“More than okay,” Mrs. Torin said. “As a reward for being such an exemplary student, you don't need to take today's test. You have an automatic A. In fact, you can leave early. I'll write you a pass. And that's not all. . . .”

Mrs. Torin looked at me. “This is your lucky day, too, Angel. Gabi should have someone to celebrate with, so you can go home as well.”

She was letting us both leave? Normally I would have been ecstatic. But not this time.

This wasn't good news. Not good news at all.

“Oh my God. Oh MY God. OH. MY. GOD.”

What had I done?

“That was so awesome,” Gabi screamed as we left school, skipping out on last period. But she couldn't have been more wrong. That wasn't awesome, that was completely horrendous.

“I cannot believe she just let us leave,” Gabi chirped away, oblivious to the disaster unfolding around us. “What's going on today?”

“You. You're what's going on.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Yes, what are you talking about?” Lou was standing right in front of us! I put my arm out to block Gabi from him. He was dangerous. There was no way I was letting him near my best friend.

“None of your business!” I shouted.

“Isn't it a little early for you to be done with classes?” he pressed on. “Cutting school are we?” He looked amused.

“No!” I couldn't blame him for thinking I was a juvenile delinquent, following in dear old dad's footsteps. “Gabi isn't feeling well,” I lied. “So the nurse gave me permission to take her home. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Well, you said you didn't want me visiting you in school. So I waited for you outside.”

“I don't want you visiting me
anywhere
!” I needed him gone. And not just because I hated being around him. But because I needed to warn Gabi about what I did. To her! Without Lou finding out.

“Now, now,” he said. “Don't be so quick. I can be useful. I can help your friend get better. Gabi, what would you like? Chicken soup? Or I can whip you up some cold medicine that tastes like chocolate-dipped strawberries. Or maybe you just need some relaxation. How about a spa day?”

“Gabi, don't even think about accepting any of that,” I warned.

“Fine,” she said to me. “But some of it does sound good. I wish—”

I covered her mouth with my hand. “Think about Max. How he acted in science class. Seriously. Just think about Max.”

Lou raised an eyebrow at me, and Gabi was completely confused. I could tell by her expression she thought I was nuts.

“What?” I moved my hands to my hips. “I just don't want Lou to go after your soul. You say you want something and he'll try to bargain you for it.”

But that wasn't why I was so frantic. Not this time. I didn't want Gabi to wish for something because if she did—it would come true. And not because of Lou. But because I ACCIDENTALLY MADE ALL OF HER WISHES COME TRUE. That's right.
All
of them. It was the only way to explain everything. Why Max was acting all superior, the junk food in her lunch, the automatic A, getting to leave early. Gabi wished for all of those things to happen—and they did.

I couldn't risk her wishing something else—something that could be way, way worse. Especially not with Lou watching.

“I wouldn't take her soul,” Lou said.

“No, you'd send Gremory for that,” I shot back at him.

“Gremory won't be trying that again. Not after what happened last time.”

“What happened?”

“Ahh, that demon,” Lou laughed, and shook his head. “Instead of only granting one of his subject's wishes, he accidentally granted them all. What a mess. But that's what happens when you don't have the right training.”

Gabi let out a gasp.

Why did she have to pick now to catch on? I glared at her and shook my head ever so slightly. Lou wasn't supposed to see.

But of course he did.

“Angel?” he said.

“What?”

“Have you tried to grant a wish?”

“Of course not.” I kept eye contact with him. Looking away would have made me seem guilty.

But Lou wasn't buying it. He was the devil. A pro at spotting deception. “Angel?” he said again.

“Fine,” I answered, giving him a half truth. I read in some article that the best way to get away with a lie was to keep it as close to reality as possible. Without too many details. “I haven't granted any wishes, but I'm thinking about it. It'll let me do some good in this world. Unlike you.”

“It's too dangerous,” he warned me.

“Like having the devil roaming the streets isn't?”

“Let's talk about this.” He took a step closer to me.

“No. Now go. I have to get Gabi home. She's sick, remember?”

Without another word, I grabbed Gabi's arm and stormed off, dragging her behind me. She might not have been sick, but something was terribly wrong.

I took Gabi to the McBrin house. It was old and abandoned and we met there every morning so we could walk to school together. No one else ever hung around there. Probably because they were afraid it was haunted.

Gabi was bursting.

“I have powers? This is the absolute coolest thing ever.” She looked like a firecracker about to explode. “I wish for—”

“Stop.” I was afraid she'd wish for something crazy. Like a pet elephant. “Let's be careful,” I instructed. “Why don't you wish for something simple? Like a piece of gum.” I had to see if my suspicions were right. If I really messed up the same way as Lou's demon friend.

Gabi closed her eyes and put out her hand. I held my breath and hoped that I was wrong and that Gabi couldn't make all her secret desires come true.

She opened her eyes and glanced down at her palm. “Nothing there,” she moaned. “It didn't work.”

I grabbed her hand to see for myself. It was empty. Thank goodness. It was all a mistake. She wasn't responsible for everything that happened in school. “Trust me. This is the best thing that could have happened.”