Read The Wish for Free Online

like nothing had happened. She was good at this. She didn’t need me to fix things up.
    Nina shook her head. “He says I should ask him. But then I think he’ll say no, just for a joke.”
    He had asked me , in one of the notes I’d gotten. And Carlos, BeeBee’s boyfriend, had asked me too. Ardis’s boyfriend, Russ, hadn’t—unless he’d written one of the anonymous notes.
    What would Nina and BeeBee do if they knew? Would they have to like me anyway?
    â€œWho are you going with, Wilma?” BeeBee asked.
    â€œI don’t know yet.”
    â€œThat means nobody asked,” Nina said.
    Boy, was she wrong. I could have said so, but I wanted the subject to dry up and go away.
    â€œThey will,” Ardis said loyally.
    â€œI heard they already did,” BeeBee said. “Suzanne Russo told me twenty-five boys asked her on Tuesday.”
    â€œReally?” Ardis asked. “Twenty-five?”
    â€œUh-huh.” Forty actually. “A lot of them were anonymous,” I added.
    â€œYou should go with him—Anonymous,” Nina said. “He probably dances better—”
    â€œTwenty-five!” Ardis said. “Congratulations!”
    BeeBee said, “If twenty-five boys asked me, I’d put it on a T-shirt. I wouldn’t let—”
    â€œWho were they?” Nina asked.
    â€œShe probably can’t remember all of them,” Ardis said.
    â€œTry,” Nina said.
    She was worried about Liam. I named some boys who didn’t have girlfriends.
    â€œWho else?” Nina said.
    â€œOvideo, Benjy . . .”
    â€œCan you imagine kissing Benjy?” BeeBee said. “Your whole face would be wet.”
    I thought he was kind of cute, actually, like a bulldog is cute in a slobbery way.
    â€œWho else?” Nina repeated.
    â€œUm, Will . . .”
    â€œWill and Wilma,” BeeBee said. “That works. He’s cute—”
    â€œShut up, BeeBee,” Nina said. “Who else?”
    â€œI’m running out of memory. Daniel . . . Ricky Greiner . . .”
    Nina prompted. “Liam? Carlos? Russ?”
    â€œNo,” I lied. “None of them.”
    â€œThey could be Anonymous,” Nina said.
    â€œCarlos wouldn’t do that,” BeeBee said. “He’s too faithful.”
    No, he wasn’t.
    BeeBee said, “You want to hang out with Benjy the Slobberer? Or maybe with Furry Eyebrow?”
    That was Jared. They’d think I was nuts for doing anything with him, but telling them would at least change the subject. “Actually, I’m going to the zoo with Jared on Sunday.”
    â€œOh,” BeeBee said.
    â€œDo you like him?” Ardis asked.
    No, but I didn’t dislike him either. “I don’t know. He doesn’t drool or anything.”
    â€œNot drooling is the perfect recipe for romance,” Nina said. “Points off for lousy taste.”
    Who was she to grade everybody? BeeBee was fun, and Ardis was so poised and nice. But I wasn’t sure about Nina. I wanted to like her, maybe just because she looked likable. She was almost as tall as Ardis, with a little puppy fat. Her cheeks were round, her forehead was broad, and her smile was wide. She looked friendly—till she said something.
    â€œDo you like people?” I asked her.
    â€œShe’s nastiest to her friends,” BeeBee said.
    â€œWhen Reggie wants you to like him,” I said, “he wags his tail and licks you.”
    â€œI prefer Nina’s way,” Ardis muttered.
    â€œHey, girls!” Mrs. Molzen’s voice erupted from the vestibule below. “Here comes the fuzz.” Her head rose out of the stairwell. “Lights out in fifteen minutes.”
    â€œMom . . .”
    â€œI know there’s no school tomorrow, and I know a sleepover is no fun if you can’t stay up late. But it is late. So I want those lights out.” She left.
    Ardis,