Cassie Comes Through (11 page)

“I'm sorry,” said Vega.
“I never got your holo-text. Scarlet and I have band practice right now, anyway. We can't go with you.”

Cassie smiled at Scarlet. Despite her disappointment, she was glad to hear that the girl was back in the band.

Most of the Star Darlings were standing in the Star Quad, the area in the middle of campus. Their secret S.D. lessons, the last class of the day, had just let out. The girls usually chatted outside a bit before they headed off to their respective clubs, sports, lessons, studies, and other leisure activities before dinnertime.

“What time will it be over?” Cassie asked. “Maybe we could do it afterwards?” She really didn't feel confident confronting the two roommates by herself.

“No, then I'm meeting Professor Elara Ursa to talk about an extra-credit assignment,” Vega explained.

Cassie wanted to ask if that couldn't wait until the next starday, but she saw the determined look in Vega's eyes. She knew that Vega's dream was to be the top student at Starling Academy and that she would do whatever it took to get there. She turned to Scarlet.

“And I have an Intuition study group,” offered Scarlet. “I've really got to go since I missed all those classes. Star apologies.”

“So I have to go get the flowers alone?” Cassie asked.

“Can't it wait till tomorrow?” asked Vega.

Cassie glanced at Astra and Clover, who were arguing again. She gasped as Astra snatched the hat off Clover's head and tossed it into the air, levitating it with wish energy in a cruel game of keep-away.

“I guess you're right,” said Vega. “The sooner, the better.”

“And this is the only afternoon Astra has off from practice this week,” Cassie explained. “I overheard her saying she was going back to her room to watch old holo-vids of the team they are playing on Bopday.”

Vega considered this. “You'll have to convince only her,” she said. “Clover will be at band practice with us.”

“That's a plus,” said Cassie, her mood lightening a bit.

“So what's your plan?” Scarlet asked.

“Oh, look!” shouted someone. Cassie turned around and gasped. The nimble Clover had scrambled up the trunk of a nearby ballum-blossom tree and now stood on a sturdy branch, her arms held out to the sides. She didn't hesitate for even a moment before walking its length like a tightrope. Clover paused for a starsec, then leapt off, plucking the hat out of the air. She landed neatly, not a hair out of place. With a smirk at Astra, who looked like she was fuming, Clover jauntily placed the hat on her head and gave a deep bow. The rest of the Star Darlings applauded.

Vega shook her head. “I keep forgetting that she's one of the Flying Molensas,” she said, referring to the most well-known circus family on Starland. “That girl is a born acrobat!”

“Impressive,” Cassie said, turning back to Vega and Scarlet.

“So, your plan?” Vega prompted her.

“Right,” said Cassie. “My plan is…” She sighed. “Actually, my plan is to come up with a plan on my way to their room.”

Scarlet snorted.

Vega sucked in her cheeks. “Not much of a plan,” she said.

“You're telling me,” Cassie replied.

“Well, good luck with that!” Vega said, grimacing. “If it doesn't happen, we can always try again tomorrow.”

Scarlet nodded. “I'm free.”

“Star salutations,” replied Cassie. She was determined to put an end to the nonsense that day.

She watched as the two girls headed to the Lightning Lounge with Sage, Leona, and Libby. That was good. Sure, Scarlet was straggling behind, keeping apart from everyone, but she was getting back into the swing of things and that was what mattered.

Cassie turned around, looking for Astra, but she had already left. Cassie hopped on the Cosmic Transporter, hoping that the girl had gone straight back to her room. The flower business needed to end that day. She had a bigger dish to dry. She grinned as she recalled another Wishling expression one of the Star Darlings had shared with her.
I'm going to knock their clocks off when it's my turn to go down to Wishworld,
she thought. Her words were brave but her stomach flipped at the very thought.

Cassie took a deep breath and knocked on Astra and Clover's door. Her mind was a complete blank and she noticed that her hands were trembling a bit out of sheer nervousness. She pulled a piece of boingtree gum out of her pocket. She found its mellow taste soothed her nerves. Then she unwrapped another for good measure and shoved it into her mouth. A vanishing garbage can stood nearby and Cassie tossed her wrappers into it. She wondered how she was going to connect with Astra. The Starling was a total sports fanatic and Cassie didn't know a star ball from a star…a star something.

She was chomping away, still hoping for some stellar inspiration, when the door slid open. Cassie's head snapped up. Astra stood there, a star ball tucked under her arm.

“Cassie!” said Astra. “I have the star ball game on. But I thought I heard something.”

“Um, do you mind if I come in?”

“Of course not,” said Astra, stepping aside. She slid the door closed behind them.

Cassie was so keyed up she was practically vibrating with nervous energy. She was certain that Astra would notice and get suspicious. But the girl turned back to her star ball game without another glance. Cassie looked around the room, which was both sporty and sleek, reflecting the personalities of the two roommates. It was her first visit to their room, and her eyes took in Astra's side, with its star ball court and shelves lined with sporting equipment and startrophies of all shapes and sizes. The star ball game Astra was watching was playing on a screen that took up an entire wall. Clover's side had an extra-high ceiling and was filled with musical instruments and some technical-looking machines. Cassie noted with interest a terrarium, lush and green, built right into the floor.

“That's Stellar School playing Comet Prep a couple of weeks ago,” said Astra, her eyes never leaving the screen. “We're playing Stellar on Bopday. They're really good, so I'm watching a holo-vid of their last couple of games to get some pointers on how to approach the game.”

Cassie nodded. Sounded good.

“Just let me watch this last play and I'm all yours,” said Astra.

“VALENCIA DODGES THE ONCOMING CENTER AND PIVOTS. SHE JUMPS! SHE SHOOTS! SHE SCORES!” the announcer shouted. The crowd went wild. Astra turned back to Cassie. “This game is over,” she said, even though Comet Prep now had the ball. “It's all over but the sparkling.”

“Oh,” said Cassie, not understanding.

“There's not enough time left for them to tie,” Astra explained. “So how can I help you?” she asked, cradling the star ball in the crook of her arm as if it was a baby.

Cassie wandered to the vase of glittery flowers, which never faded or lost their bloom, sitting on a table right between the two girls' sides of the room. She thought she'd try the direct approach one more time. “You know we all got these flowers, right?” she began.

Astra nodded distractedly.

“Well, Vega and I took one of the bouquets to the botany lab and found out that they are full of negative energy. Like off the charts. They were grown on the Isle of Misera. Everyone has gotten rid of their flowers but you. We think they are causing you and Clover to fight all the time.” She paused to gauge Astra's reaction.

“That's ridiculous,” Astra laughed. “They're so beautiful. And they smell so amazing. Like florafierces.” She laughed again. “Though that crazy roommate of mine thinks they smell just like purple piphanies.”

Cassie sighed. The flowers had worked their intoxicating magic on Astra. She had to come up with another plan. She had come to realize that these strange flowers smelled different to everyone. For example, she could only smell the strong odor of silverbellas. She figured that the blooms, perhaps to entice you into not discarding them, gave off the smell of your own favorite flower. And she also knew from experience that it was impossible to convey that to someone who hadn't figured it out on her own. The silverbella odor was actually so strong to Cassie that it was overwhelming and very distracting. She found herself wanting to lean over and bury her nose in the blossoms. She countered this by taking a step back and concentrating on breathing only through her mouth.

Suddenly, she had a startacular idea. Okay, maybe it was a startacularly crazy idea. She'd find out soon enough.

“I just read this amazing holo-article about keeping flowers in your room,” she fibbed. “It involves sports, so I thought you'd want to be the first to know.”

“Really?” said Astra, leaning forward. She knew that Cassie read more than all the other Star Darlings put together, so it was perfectly reasonable that she would have seen a holo-article Astra had missed.

“Three…two…one,” the announcer counted down, and a buzzer went off. “STELLAR SCHOOL WINS AGAIN! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!”

Astra lowered the volume with a wave of her hand and turned toward Cassie with interest. Behind her, Cassie could see the players jumping up and down, huge grins on their faces, but she tried not to let it distract her from her mission.

“Well, the holo-article said that athletes should avoid having fresh flowers in their room before a big event,” Cassie said. “Apparently, it weakens their powers of concentration.”

Astra stared at her. “Really?” she said. She gave the flowers a quizzical look. “That's terrible! And here I have that big game coming up.”

Cassie nodded sympathetically, biting her lip.

Astra tossed the star ball onto a chair and picked up the vase of flowers. With a confused expression on her face, she held them out to Cassie, whose heart skipped a beat.
Is my crazy idea actually going to work?
she thought.

Suddenly, Astra closed her eyes and brought the flowers to her nose. She took a deep sniff and her face grew serious. “I don't know,” she said, hugging the flowers to her chest. “They just smell so good….”

Cassie stole a glance at the wall and spotted a holo-poster of a sporty-looking woman with her name emblazoned underneath. She winked at Cassie, as if in encouragement. Cassie hated to lie; in fact, it pained her to do so.
But this is for Astra and Clover's own good,
she thought.
They'll be grateful when the flowers are gone and things can go back to normal.

She took a deep breath and spoke. “Um, as a matter of fact, they interviewed a top athlete named Saturnia, who said as soon as she threw out a bouquet of flowers she had in her house, she felt so much better.”

“Really?” said Astra, her eyes narrowing. “And they interviewed her recently?”

Cassie nodded. “Just this morning,” she said. “This news is hot off the holo-presses.”

“Aha!” Astra said with a laugh as she put down the flowers (but not before taking another long, deep sniff). “Good joke, Cassie!” she said. “You had me going until you brought up Saturnia. She's in training for the Starlympics and she's in a remote mountain location. She won't be giving any interviews for starmonths.”

Oh, starf!
thought Cassie. “Ha-ha, I almost got you!” she said weakly. “Good joke, huh?” Her heart sank. What was she going to do now? She had to come up with something—and quick. She scanned the room, looking for something—anything—that would give her some inspiration. Her eyes fell on a stick with a star-shaped net on its end propped up in the corner, and she picked it up. “The real reason I came over was to ask you for help. Believe it or not, I'm not doing very well in P.E.”

“Physical Energy?” asked Astra, a shocked look on her face.

“Yes, Physical Energy,” said Cassie. “I was wondering if you could teach me how to handle this star…” Her mind raced. What was that thing called, anyway?

“Starstick,” said Astra. “It's called a starstick. You know, for playing Star-Away. It's an important skill to master. You've come to the right place.” She raced to a closet, threw open the door, and started tossing sports equipment behind her. “There it is,” she said, pulling out another starstick and a medium-sized ball. She tossed the ball into the net at the end of her stick and began to bounce it up and down. “You know, where you have to get the ball into your opponent's basket to score a point? It's a lot of fun.”