Cassie Comes Through (12 page)

“Riiiight,” said Cassie, nodding. All these star sports were so similar to her she could never keep them straight.

After showing Cassie how to hold the starstick properly, Astra tossed her the ball. But Cassie's initial instinct was to duck. The ball hit the wall and bounced to the floor.

Astra shook her head. “You're supposed to
catch
it, silly,” she explained. “Hand me the ball.” Cassie did and Astra placed it in her net and tried again. That time Cassie bobbled the ball for a moment but held on to it.

“Great job!” said Astra encouragingly. “Now toss it back to me.”

Cassie did. Her throw was off target and Astra had to lunge sideways. Still, she caught it neatly.

Toss after toss, Cassie began to fall into the rhythm. Scoop and toss, scoop and toss. “Hey, this is kind of fun!” she said.

“It is,” Astra agreed. “Just wait till you try star ball,” she added.

Cassie could see the flowers out of the corner of her eye, mocking her with their mere existence, their presence intensified by the cloying smell of silverbellas. Suddenly, she had another crazy idea. She had no idea if it would work. But she kept moving closer and closer to the vase of flowers. The two girls tossed the ball back and forth, back and forth as she made her way across the room.

She was within arm's reach of the blooms. And suddenly, the front door slid open. Clover was standing there. Cassie saw her chance. She tossed the ball as far past Astra as she could, then scooped up the vase of flowers in the net of her starstick.

Astra jumped over her round red couch and made a flying leap, catching the ball.

“Duck!” Cassie cried to Clover. Looking puzzled, Clover did. And Cassie hurled the vase of flowers as hard as she could. Astra turned around, obviously pleased with her stellar catch. When she saw her beloved flowers hurtling through the air toward the open door, her mouth opened in shock. It seemed to Cassie as if everything was happening in slow motion: Astra's loud “Noooooo!” and her desperate lunge for the flowers. But she was too late, for miraculously, Cassie's aim was true. The flowers landed right inside the mouth of the waiting disappearing garbage can and then they were gone—instantly.

Cassie was panting hard as Clover straightened up. The roommates were both staring at Cassie in shocked silence. Astra scowled at her. “Cassie!” she shouted. “Why in the stars did you…” Then she noticed her roommate. “Clover!” she said pleasantly. “There you are! How did band practice go?”

“It was great,” said Clover. “Star salutations for asking. Did you have a fun time with Cassie?”

“I did,” said Astra. “Who knew Cassie was such a natural Star-Away player? Did you see that throw? I'm going to tell the coach we've got a brand-new hurler!”

And Cassie began to laugh. The last of the flowers were gone. Sure, she was still worried. There was still the question of who had sent them—and why. But she laughed anyway—with relief that the flowers were finally gone, with happiness that the roommates were back to normal, and also with pleasure that she had actually discovered a sport she enjoyed!

No answer. Again. This was getting weird. Something must be wrong with the Star-Zaps' holo-connections, Cassie decided. There were a lot of missed messages lately. Cassie's stomach rumbled. She had worked up quite an appetite playing starstickball—or whatever it was called. She checked her Star-Zap. It wasn't quite dinnertime, but she didn't feel like being in her room any longer. She decided to take a stroll in the ozziefruit orchard before dinner.

Cassie meandered through the trees, which were heavy with fruit. The smell of ripe ozziefruit was mouth-watering. Flutterfocuses wafted among the trees, and glimmerbees darted about, on a mission. She took a seat on a low stone wall and closed her eyes, enjoying the slight breeze and the gentle warmth of the late-afternoon sun on her upturned face.

“Cassie! What a nice starprise!” said someone with a familiar voice.

Cassie's eyes snapped open. A shadowy figure stood in front of her, blocking the sun. She squinted, but it wasn't until she shielded her eyes that she could see who it was. She gave an involuntary gasp.

“Lady Stella!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

Lady Stella laughed. “Just enjoying a pre-dinner stroll through the ozziefruit orchard, same as you,” she answered. She motioned her head toward the stone wall. “Mind if I join you?” she asked.

“Not at all,” said Cassie. She sat up straight and smoothed her skirt. She hadn't been alone with the headmistress since the day of her Starling Academy interview, many starmonths earlier. Truth be told, she found the headmistress, as lovely and kind as she was, a little intimidating.

Lady Stella smiled and sat down next to her. “I love the light this time of day,” she said. “It's not as stunning as lightfall, but it has its own stark beauty. Everything looks so sharp and focused, you know?”

Cassie nodded. She did know. She felt the same way.

“And it's the perfect time to come to the orchards. Most people are getting ready for dinner, so you have them all to yourself.”

Cassie nodded again. “Yes,” she managed to say in agreement. She felt tongue-tied around the headmistress. She yearned to say something intelligent and thoughtful, but couldn't think of anything at the moment. Her face became warm and she knew that her cheeks were turning that unflattering shade of silver she so disliked.

“May I be frank with you, Cassie?” Lady Stella asked.

Cassie nodded nervously.

“You've been on my mind recently.”

Cassie gulped. She had?

“I've been wanting to ask you a question. Why do you think you are here at Starling Academy? Why do you think you were chosen to be a Star Darling?”

Cassie took off her glasses and peered through them to grab a starmin to think. She had an idea, but she felt nervous about saying it aloud. She didn't want to seem like a braggart. So she shrugged.

“I only ask because you don't seem as confident as you should be. Take it from me, Cassie. You know that you and your fellow Star Darlings were chosen for your strengths, and what you bring to the group, each something different. You are one of the most intuitive students I have ever come across in my career. You scored off the charts on the entrance exams.” Lady Stella gave her a sympathetic look. “You must learn to recognize your strengths and trust yourself.”

“St-star salutations,” said Cassie. She was both happy to have her suspicions confirmed and disappointed that she hadn't spoken up for herself. It was an odd mix of emotions.

Lady Stella stood and turned to go, then turned back. “I know you are dreading your mission, Cassie,” she said. “I'd be a fool not to see it. But I am telling you that you have nothing to fear. You're going to be a natural.”

“Star salutations, Lady Stella,” Cassie repeated. She watched the headmistress's retreating back. Again she felt a rush of different feelings—embarrassment at being so transparent, relief that Lady Stella had faith in her, and hope that she would be successful when her mission actually happened. With a sigh, she headed to the Celestial Café for dinner. On her way, she thought she heard a rustling in the branches behind her. She turned around sharply, but no one was there.

When she walked into the bustling cafeteria and made her way to the Star Darlings' table, she was struck by the sinking sun, which lit up the sky with its warm rosy tones. She knew that as soon as the beams hit the Crystal Mountains, the view would be even more spectacular, as prisms of rainbow light would begin to appear. But what really caught her attention was the fact that Astra and Clover were sitting side by side, looking quite chummy. As Cassie pulled out a chair and sat down, she saw the Bot-Bot waiter from that starmorning zoom up with the roommates' drinks. He hesitated for a moment before placing them on the table.

Clover threw her arms up in front of Astra. “Don't worry SL-D9,” she cried. “I've got you covered!” The two girls cracked up.

“Star salutations,” said the Bot-Bot sincerely as he carefully placed the drinks out of Astra's reach.

Vega raised her eyebrows at Cassie, who nodded. Vega gave her a triple wink, the Starlandian way of silently telling someone “Good job!”

Scarlet came in and sat down next to Cassie. “All good?” she asked quietly.

Across the table, Clover laughed out loud. “Oh, Astra, you're so funny!” she said.

Cassie grinned. “All good,” she said.

Dinner, for the first time in more than a double starweek, was extremely pleasant—argument- and drama-free. The girls talked and laughed and joked and traded bites of their dishes. Even Leona and Scarlet seemed to be getting along, or at least not fighting with each other, which was good enough in Cassie's holo-book. Cassie had a huge smile on her face for the entire meal.