Wishful Thinking (13 page)

“I heard Mom talking to a man about it during the break. You were at Kara's, practicing a dance routine for the new Neanderthal Joe song.”

Sophie wrinkled her nose. She remembered going around to practice (before deciding that neither of them could dance to save themselves), but she definitely didn't recall her mom mentioning anything about a real estate agent visiting while she was away.

“Are you sure? I mean, remember that time you thought we were getting free ice cream, but it turned out that Mom was talking about ice cubes instead.”

“I'm sure.” Meg's small face started to quiver. “The man walked all around, and he said that he would send her an eva. . . evaul. . . that he would send her something in the mail.”

“So you figured that you would just hide all the mail to stop it from happening,” Sophie finished off before she widened her eyes. “Oh my God. Is that why you didn't want to go to school? Because you were afraid she would get the mail before you could?”

Meg nodded as her voice went wobbly. “I asked Trevor to not deliver until after school, but he said it was against the rules. Plus, it would make him late to watch his favorite soap opera.”

“Why didn't you tell me?” Sophie shook her head as she put her arms around her little sister while she tried to fight down her nausea.

“'Cause every time Mom tried to talk to you about it, you didn't look that bothered. I didn't think you cared.”

“I thought she wanted to get rid of broadband.” Sophie let go of her sister and buried her head in her hands for a moment. “I had no idea she would ever try to sell the house. She can't sell the house. This is awful.”

“So does that mean you'll help me with the mail?” Meg asked in a hopeful voice. “Because I think I need a better hiding place.”

“Meg, we can't keep hiding the mail forever. Eventually, these people will just come around or call.”

“Who will come around?” her mom's voice suddenly said, and Sophie looked up to see her walking into the room. “Hello, honey, I didn't realize you were home yet. Is everything okay? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

Actually, seeing a ghost was easy and almost completely painless (apart from when Malik went on and on about his rules of being a djinn). But this? This was just too much.

“Mom, you can't sell the house,” she blurted out as Meg nodded her head in agreement. “I mean, seriously, we love this house. It's our house. Please tell me that it's not true.”

“Oh.” Her mom let out a long sigh as she sat down on the floor next them and draped her arms around them both. “I've been trying to talk to you about for the last few days, but it never seems to be the right time.”

“Which means it's a sign that you shouldn't do it,” Sophie pointed out. “It's the Universe's way of letting you know it's a bad idea. You should always listen to the Universe, because it knows what it's talking about.”

“It's not that simple.” Her mom pushed back a strand of ruler-straight hair that was identical to Sophie's own. “I love this place as much as you do—”

“Then why sell it?” Sophie pounced.

“I'm sorry, honey, but financially, it's all just getting to be too much. The mortgage is going up, and Mr. Rivers isn't sure if he can give me as many hours as I need at the store. Plus, the house needs painting, and the garden is running wild, and, well. . . I just can't afford to get any of it taken care of. The good news is that someone is coming to look at it tomorrow.”

“This is all because I had to go to school.” Meg let out a loud wail.

“What?” Her mom, who had been fanning her eyes as if to stop herself from crying, turned Meg's face toward her. “I don't understand what you mean.”

“She's been hiding the mail from the real estate agents.” Sophie sighed. “That's why she didn't want to go to school. Because she heard you talking about selling the house, and she was trying to stop you.”

“Oh, Meggy. I'm sorry. If there was any other way I could manage, I promise you that I wouldn't be selling. Unfortunately, we don't have a choice.”

“No, that's not true. There's always a choice,” Sophie insisted as her cheeks start to flame with heat. “You could just ring them up and tell them that you've changed your mind. We don't need to paint the house, and I like the garden looking wild. Oh, and perhaps if we don't eat as much or buy as much stuff, then we'll have more money.”

“Sophie, Meg isn't the only one who has been hiding mail. I've got a drawer full of letters from the bank.”

Sophie's throat felt dry. “W-where would we go? Will we have to move to an apartment or something?”

For a moment their mom studied her hands before finally looking up, her voice sounding unnaturally bright. “Luckily, Grandma wants us to move to Montana. The house prices are a lot cheaper there, and she's already helped line up a job for me, which means that there won't be so much financial pressure. And I've got to admit that it will be nice to have some help looking after you girls.”

“No.” Sophie's voice was a little above a whisper as she felt her heart pound against her chest. “Mom, please, we can't. You know what Granny thinks of Dad. She thinks that he just left us. That he is never coming back.
You even had a fight with her about it.
We can't do it. We need to stay here and wait for him. How can you give up hope on him?”

For a moment her mom didn't answer as she tightened her jaw and took a deep breath. “Sophie, I know how much you miss him. . . how much we all miss him, and no one wants him to come back more than I do. But wishful thinking isn't going to pay the bills. Besides, rather than getting all sad about it, perhaps we can think of it as a fresh start,” she added in an overly bright voice.

“But I don't want a fresh start. I like my start just the way it is,” Meg wailed, but Sophie just looked at their mom in horror as she realized that the situation had just gone from bad to worse. However, before she could say anything else, her mom got to her feet and smoothed down her jeans.

“I'm sorry, girls, but the people are coming tomorrow to look, and I'm afraid that's the end of the story. Now I want both of you to go and tidy up your rooms before dinner,” she said, and then without another word she headed for the kitchen.

“We've got to stop this,” Sophie announced the minute their mom had left.

“I know.” Meg sniffed. “There's no way I can go to another school. One school is bad enough.”

“Don't worry, Meggy.” Sophie shook her head as she realized her mistake. She had been so busy freaking out that she had forgotten the most obvious thing of all. She was now a djinn, with magical powers. And combined with that, she was a positive person, and it was a well-known fact that positive djinns with magical powers didn't go to live in Montana. “It's not going to happen because I've got a plan.”

“You do?” Meg perked up. “I had one as well, but then I couldn't figure out how to get the sharks into the bathtub.”

“Well, my plan doesn't require any sharks at all,” Sophie assured her. “And even better, I can guarantee that it will work.”

It
had
to work. Besides, if you asked her, leaving the house was like admitting that her dad wasn't coming back.
It was like her mom was admitting that he wasn't coming back.
For a moment Sophie felt like crying, but she forced the tears away. She didn't care what her mom thought, she knew that they had to stay here, which was why she would do whatever it took to make it happen. Fast.

M
ALIK, I REALLY NEED YOU TO—” SOPHIE STARTED to say as she raced into her bedroom and looked over to where the ghostly djinn was still sitting at her computer. However, the rest of the words died on her lips as she came to a halt and stared around her. Nearly every piece of clothing she owned had been pulled out of the closet; all of her board games and books were upended in one big gigantic mess; and all of it was covered in a layer of what looked like Cheetos dust. “What on earth happened here?”

“Oh.” Malik blinked as he glanced around at the sea of mess that had once been her room before he finally just shrugged his shoulders. “I thought I saw a cockroach, and I kind of freaked out. I mean, those things can live without their heads attached for up to nine days. There can't be anything good about that. But don't worry, turns out it was just a piece of fluff. Talk about a close call.”

“Rrr-ight.” Sophie glared at him for a moment before remembering what had just happened downstairs. “Anyway, we can talk about the mess later, but right now I need your help. What's the best sort of magic for me to use in order to stop my mom from selling the house and also to conjure up lots of money so that we're filthy rich?”

“How about the kind that you do once your djinn ring is cleansed and you've learned how to control your powers?” Malik said. “And now that we've finished talking about you, let's get back to me. Because I've had the best day ever. I've discovered this most amazing phenomenon. It's called
American Idol
. It's this place where people go and sing, and sometimes they are bad. Really, really bad, but thankfully these other people tell them to stop.”

Sophie paused for a minute and stared at Malik before leaning into the computer and realizing that he was indeed watching an old
American Idol
clip on YouTube (Carrie Underwood, by the looks of it). Then she blinked and refocused.

“Okay,” she finally said. “I'm going to pretend that we didn't just have that conversation, because right now I have something a bit more important to worry about. So are you going to tell me how to do it or not?”

“Not,” Malik instantly answered. “I thought we'd been through this. Honestly, if I knew how often I was going to have to repeat myself, I would've bought a parrot from Rufus the Furious.”

“Unless it's an emergency,” Sophie reminded him as she began to cross the bedroom floor, carefully weaving her way around a Monopoly board that was lying at a crooked angle on her Twister mat. “Trust me this is an emergency of the most epic proportions. I mean, no one moves to Montana. It's just wrong. Not to mention the fact that we have to stay here for when my dad comes home.”

“Do you really think he will?” Malik asked in a casual voice. “I heard your grandmother speaking to your mom the other day, and she was of the opinion that—”

“He's definitely coming back,” Sophie snapped. “And we're going to be here when he does. Anyway, didn't you tell me that I was better at this magic stuff than loads of other new djinns?”

“Yes, your power is quite extraordinary, but it's still not possible to do what you want to do. I really wish you would start listening to me,” he said, but Sophie hardly heard as a stabbing pain erupted in her stomach.

She doubled over and clutched at her belly as a wave of nausea overtook her while Malik's words repeated in her ear over and over again. Finally, the pain subsided, and she looked up to where Malik was watching her with interest.

“What was that all about?” he wanted to know.

“I've got no idea, but I hope it doesn't happen again.” She shuddered as she rubbed her ears to get rid of Malik's voice in her head. “It's one thing to get a sore stomach, but quite another to have your every word echoing in my head.”

“Hmmmm. Interesting.” Malik picked up a large leather-bound book from next to the computer, and he started to flick through it. “Describe the pain.”

“Painful,” she retorted. “And what's that book?”

“Oh, this big, enormous thing?” He held it up and shrugged. “I ordered it from Rufus the Furious. He's an expert on djinn training. He's forgotten more stuff than most of us know. Anyway, I thought it would help with your development. Now, would you describe the pain as shooting or continuous? Oh, and did it make you feel like throwing up?”

“Stabbing,” Sophie confirmed. “And a big yes on the throwing up.”

Malik was silent for a moment as he studied the book. Then he looked up in surprise. “Huh. Well, I did not see that one coming.”

“See what coming?” Sophie looked at him in alarm. “What's going on?”

“Hang on a moment because I just need to check something out. I wish I had some Cheetos. Oh, and some Diet Coke as well.”

“Malik, this is hardly the time to—” But the rest of Sophie's words were cut off as she once again doubled over in pain. At least there were no voices echoing in her head this time, but when she finally straightened, she saw that Malik had put the book aside and was busy eating Cheetos and gulping down some Diet Coke. And did she mention that a moment earlier there hadn't been any Cheetos or Diet Coke in the room?

“W-what's going on?” Sophie wrinkled her brow in confusion. “I thought you said you couldn't do magic anymore?”

“I didn't do it,” he assured her. “You did. I just had to test to see if it worked. Plus, I was getting a little bit peckish.”

“Er, no, I didn't. I mean, I think I would remember if I wished for something,” she retorted while deciding that Malik had definitely been living in a bottle for too long and it had made him crazy. Unless, of course, he had been crazy before he got stuck in the bottle. That was a definite possibility.

He shook his brown hair. “Let me explain. I wished for it, and you granted it. Remember I talked about how there can be side effects to using too much magic before you can control it?”

“Side effects? You said my elbows might get itchy. This is hardly an itchy elbow.” Sophie gasped before a nasty feeling came over her. “S-so what are you saying?”

“I'm saying that you have RWD. It stands for—”

“Random Wish Disorder,” Sophie interrupted, and then blinked in surprise.

“Yes,” Malik agreed, equally surprised. “How did you know that?”

“Um, I've got no idea,” she admitted as she rubbed her chin. “It just popped into my head. Maybe I saw it in some of Harvey's research notes? He's got enough of them. What is it, anyway?”

“Basically, RWD means that if anyone wishes for something within your hearing, then you will grant it. Whether you want to or not.”

“What?” Sophie looked at him in horror, but Malik didn't seem to notice.

“You know it really is quite extraordinary. According to Rufus's book, there have only been ten other cases of it over the years. Though, ironically enough it's actually those ten isolated cases of RWD that most humans seem to base their knowledge of djinns on. I mean, seriously, why on earth would djinns go around granting wishes to complete strangers if they weren't bound to them? Just shows you how dumb humans are to believe that sort of thing.”

“Malik, stop rambling,” Sophie yelped in alarm. “Are you trying to tell me that from now on every time someone says ‘I wish' that I will grant it and get an incredibly sore stomach all at the same time? Because that's completely. . . oh, Coco Pops and Twix bars.”

“Excuse me?” Malik blinked. “Is that some new sort of fancy swear the kids are saying these days, because boy oh boy, things have changed since I went into that bottle.”

“No.” Sophie shook her head with a sigh. “It just explains why my mom's lumpy oatmeal tasted like Coco Pops. It was because Meg wished for it, and I must've done it without even realizing. And Harvey with the Twix bar. Oh, man. How long will it last?”

“Unfortunately, Rufus really isn't very clear on that.” Malik flicked through the book before picking it up and giving it a shake. Then he studied it again and finally nodded. “Here we go. Okay, so there's a very good chance that it will disappear once your djinn ring is cleansed. Though in one of the cases, it was permanent.” He frowned for a moment before giving a dismissive wave of his hands. “Oh, but he was from the Shaitan tribe, so really you can't take that as gospel since not only are they a bunch of liars, but they're notoriously slow learners as well. I once tried to teach a Shaitan a Rexton curse, and I swear that I saw a palm tree grow in the amount of time it took for the silly idiot to learn it.”

“But I don't finish cleansing my djinn ring until Monday night. That's four whole days away. And what about me? Does this mean that I can't do any wishing of my own?”

“That's correct.” He nodded, and Sophie shot him a horrified look as she quickly closed her eyes and wished for a new Neanderthal Joe CD. She opened her eyes to discover that nothing had happened. Oh, this was not good.

“But what about my mom? I need to stop her from selling the house and also to make loads of money so that we don't go broke.”

“I've already told you that even if you didn't have RWD, you still wouldn't have had the ability to manage that. I mean, I probably could've done it in my day, but you have to remember that I was a highly talented senior djinn with exceptional abilities and a real flair for creative magical interpretation, but for someone at your level, it wouldn't have worked.”

“And that's meant to make me feel better?” Sophie started to fan her face. “How am I meant to stop my mom without magic?”

“Well, I don't mean to alarm you, but right now your biggest worry is how to avoid randomly granting other people their wishes,” Malik informed her as he patted the book. “Because trust me, reading about some of the things that happened to these poor devils really makes me think that you're going to have an uncomfortable few days in front of you. And don't go pulling faces at me, because it's not like I didn't warn you to be careful.”

“Well, you should've warned me more.” Sophie stuck out her lower lip in a mulish frown. “Because I'm sure that if I knew this would happen, I would've taken it a bit more seriously.”

“Did I not just mention that RWD is a very rare phenomenon?” Malik looked offended. “So how in all things shiny do you think I could've warned you? In fact, if anything, you should feel quite special—oh and look, is that the time? I really need to dash.”

“Oh, no, you don't.” Sophie shook her head. “You need to stay here and help me figure this out.”

“Yes, but the RWD isn't fixable, and your second problem sounds like a human thing to me, and that's really not my specialty. I once tried to help this guy who had a fight with his girlfriend, and I accidently ended up turning the pair of them into cougars. Let's just say that I learned my lesson. In fact, you should write that down. Rule number one about being a djinn. If you screw up, always look for the life lesson.”

Sophie glared at him for a moment, but before she could say anything, her door suddenly pushed open.

“Meg, privacy—” she started to say before looking over to see her mom standing in the doorway. Oh. She glanced over at Malik and felt the sweat bead up on her forehead. She knew that her mom couldn't see him, but it didn't make her feel any less nervous. Especially since he was now peering at her mom with interest. And was he waving at her? Sophie licked her lips. “M-mom, is something the matter?”

“I was just coming to tell you that—” her mom started to say before she suddenly paused and glanced around the room. “Sophie Charlotte-Marie Campbell, I cannot believe what I'm seeing. Look at this mess.”

“Oh.” Sophie gulped as she realized her mom was looking at the mess and not the ghost who was currently lifting his eyebrows in appreciation at her. “I was, er, um—”

“You were what?” her mom demanded as she folded her arms in front of her chest. “Trying to scare off the viewers when they come around tomorrow?”

“What? No.” Well, yes, she did want to put the viewers off, but that wasn't why the room was messy. However, her mom didn't even seem to notice Sophie's confusion.

“Look, I know you're upset about the news, but I honestly expected more of you. Stop talking to whoever you were talking to on Skype and get this room cleaned up. Now.”

Then without another word she turned and walked out of the room. Sophie wiped her brow and was pleased her mom hadn't noticed that the Skype headset wasn't even plugged into her computer and that the only person she had been talking to was Malik. And speaking of which, she turned to him and narrowed her eyes.

“Okay, so you do realize that was your fault, don't you? And what's all of the waving and eyebrow lifting about?”

“She was just looking stressed.” Malik shrugged. “I thought she could use some cheering up.”

“Except she couldn't even see you,” Sophie reminded him. “And now you can clean up while I try to figure out a way to stop her from selling the house and stop myself from doing anymore RWD.”