Piper.
âOh,
starf
,â Piper muttered to herself. Now she had really freaked out her Wisher. And she really needed to gain Oliviaâs trust. It was so important in pinpointing the correct wish.
âDonât mind me,â she said airily, as if didnât matter that much. âThat whole âevil presenceâ stuff? It was just part of a bad dream I had the other night.â
Olivia smiled sadly. âIâve been having bad dreams, too,â she confided. But then she seemed to pull back once more and shrugged. âItâs really no big deal. Everyone has bad dreams. Iâm sure theyâll just go away.â
She didnât sound like she believed it. And Piper didnât believe it, either. Bad dreams had a way of sticking around until you figured out what they meant.
âGirls!â Alice called from behind the counter. âCome and get your dinner.â
Reluctantly, Piper stood when Olivia did. They made their way to the front of the diner, where two heaping plates of food were waiting. Piper stared at her dish. She didnât recognize a thing. So she grabbed a nearby menu and leafed through the pages. There were tons of choices. How could she figure out what she was eating?
Her eyes stopped at the entry HOT DOG . She gasped. Wasnât that a Wishling pet? But right next to the words was a picture of a cylinder-shaped food in a bun. It looked nothing at all like those cute four-legged creatures. Luckily, there were other pictures, too. Piper identified her food as a veggie burger, sweet potato fries, one of those long green and bumpy things called a pickle, and coleslaw. She couldnât guess what that was, even squinting at the photo.
Partial to greens, she started with the pickle. It reminded her of cukumbrella, a crunchy vegetable that didnât need much light to grow. There were always lots to be found in the Flats.
Piper picked up her knife and fork to cut the pickle. But Olivia was just holding hers in one hand, so Piper did the same.
When on Wishworld, do as Wishlings do,
she thought. That was one of the sayings professors were always spouting. She took a big bite. Sour! Everything else was delicious, though. Piper decided sheâd have this for every meal on Wishworld if she could.
In record time, Piper finished her dinner. Traveling to Wishworld used up so much energy! She had definitely needed to replenish. Meanwhile, Olivia just pushed her food around the plate. Piper was sure she was still thinking about her bad dream. If only she could get Olivia to open up again. She had to try. And this time, sheâd take it slow.
âMaybe youâd like something else to eat?â she asked gently. âSome kind of comfort food?â Eating garble greens always made Piper feel better. âI can get it for you.â
âGood idea, Piper. Comfort food! But Iâll take care of it myself.â Olivia jumped off her stool, went around the counter, and started working by the fountain area.
Piper grinned.
Olivia smiled back as she grabbed two tall glasses. In each, she put a spoonful of chocolate syrup and some milk. Then she filled the glasses with cold seltzer from the fountain tap. Olivia named everything as she went, so it was easy to follow.
Piper could barely contain her excitement when she heard
chocolate
. Even though sheâd eaten a big dinner, she still had to try the tasty treat sheâd heard about from other Star Darlings. But she did have to ask about the seltzer.
âOh, itâs just bubbly water,â Olivia explained, adding a bit more.
The drinks foamed to the brim, without one drop spilling over. Olivia mixed the glasses with a long spoon and plopped in straws. Then she pushed one across to Piper.
âTry it!â she said.
Piper sipped. âStartastâI mean fantastic!â The drink was starmazingly refreshing, with a yummy chocolate sweetness to it. But it had a fizz and pop, too, and might just have