Libby and the Class Election (11 page)

Libby made her way down the aisle, looking at the students curiously. The kids all had different skin colors, just like at home. And when she pictured them with brightly colored hair—reds,
oranges, yellows, greens, blues, and purples—and a layer of glitter on their skin, they looked an awful lot like Starlings. Wishlings and Starlings weren't that different at all.

She settled herself into her seat, noting how uncomfortable Wishling school furniture was.

“My name is Ms. Blackstone,” the teacher said. “And you are Libby…”

Oh, great. This again.
“Liverwurst,” Libby said miserably.

As she had feared, the class burst into laughter.

“Class!” said the teacher. “I am very disappointed in you. We don't laugh at people's names! That is completely unacceptable. Please apologize to Libby Liv—to
Libby,” she said.

“We're sorry, Libby Liverwurst,” the class said in unison.

Libby wasn't quite certain, but she had a sneaking suspicion that her new teacher was trying hard not to laugh.

“That's okay,” said Libby. “It
is
a pretty funny name.”

Ms. Blackstone had a sympathetic look on her face. “I'm sorry, Libby, but we're about to head out for a class trip. And since you don't have a signed permission slip, you
won't be able to come along with us. I'll see if I can get you a seat in Mr. Dilling—”

Libby thought fast. She couldn't be separated from her Wisher! “I already gave you the permission slip,” she said, looking into the teacher's eyes. “So I
can
come.”

Ms. Blackstone thought for a moment. “Oh, that's right,” she said, nodding. “You already gave me the permission slip. So you can come.”

The young male Wishling in the seat ahead of Libby's turned around. “Wait a minute, how did you do that?” he asked.

“Do what?” asked Libby innocently.

At the front of the bus, a small girl, her hair cut close to her head in a very cute shaggy style, stood and kneeled on her seat so she faced the rest of the bus. She began to
sing:

“Inappropriate!” Ms. Blackstone called out from her seat in the front of the school bus.

There was a short silence, then the girl grinned and started singing again.

The class laughed and sang along.

“That's better!” called Ms. Blackstone.

Libby took a furtive look at her Wish Pendant. She had taken a seat next to a young female Wishling with curly red hair and freckles who was staring out the window, a pensive look on her face.
Libby was hoping that the young female Wishling's preoccupied look was due to deep thoughts about an unfulfilled wish. But when Libby sat down and introduced herself, she realized that her
Wish Pendant was still dark. Not wanting to be rude, she tried to strike up a conversation.

“So what's your name?” Libby asked brightly.

“Susie,” she said.

“And where are we going on our class trip?” Libby asked.

“Aquarium,” Susie answered.

Libby had no idea what that was, but obviously she couldn't ask. Maybe her next question would clear things up. “Um…what's your favorite thing at the
aquarium?”

“Fish,” Susie said.

No such luck. Libby nodded, smiling to herself as she realized that she had traded the world's most talkative roommate for the world's least talkative seatmate.

The bus came to a stop at a red light.
Red for stop,
thought Libby. She was really getting familiar with the way things worked on Wishworld. A young female Wishling appeared at
Libby's side. “Switch seats?” she asked.

“Sure!” said Libby gratefully. She crossed the aisle and sat in the empty seat next to a young female Wishling with long blond hair and bright blue nail polish. The Wishling grinned
at Libby.

“Hi, Libby Liverspots,” she said. “I'm Gabby.”

Libby didn't correct her, although if there was one name that was less pleasant-sounding than Libby Liverwurst, that had to be it. “Hey, Gabby,” she said. She looked down
expectantly. Her Wish Pendant was still dark.
Sigh.

Libby shifted in her seat. It was pretty uncomfortable. She realized that vehicle seats, like those in the classroom, didn't automatically adjust on Wishworld. But surely there was a
button or something to push to get a little more comfortable. This was ridiculous. She started to examine her side of the seat.

The young male Wishling across the aisle from her was giving her an odd look.

“What are you looking for, new girl?” he asked. “You lose something?”

“No, I'm just looking for the seat adjuster,” Libby said.

He looked blank.

“To fix the seat for my height and weight,” Libby explained. “You know, so I'll be more comfortable.”

He laughed. “Comfortable? On a school bus? What kind of buses have you been riding?” He elbowed his seatmate and pointed to Libby. “Hey, Aidan, the new girl is used to
adjustable school bus seats!”

Aidan nodded. “I've heard about those,” he said knowingly. “Private school, right?”

“Um, sure,” said Libby, completely confused. She turned back to her seatmate. At least she seemed a little more talkative than the last one. Libby figured she could probably get some
helpful information out of her. “So tell me about our class,” she said. “Anything interesting I should know about?”

Gabby thought for a moment. “Well, we're all working on our term papers. So you're going to have to come up with a subject to write about.”

Libby thought about that for a moment. Didn't seem promising. “Anything else?”

“We're learning how to square-dance in gym,” she offered.

Aidan groaned. “She wants to know what's interesting, not what's the most hideous thing about school,” he said. “Square dancing is the worst. We all have to hold
hands and do-si-do. It is so painful.”

Libby nodded sympathetically. She was getting good at pretending she wasn't completely confused by what everyone was saying to her. “So what's going on at school that
is
interesting?” she asked him.

He thought for a moment. “I guess I'd have to say it's the election,” he said finally. “Two best friends are running against each other. It's pretty
weird.”

A wave of electricity ran up Libby's spine. She sat up straight in her seat. Could that be the energy surge that Lady Stella had mentioned? She wasn't sure, but it was a definite
possibility. Maybe she was on to something here!

“That seems tough,” Libby said, her voice higher than usual in her excitement. She thought back to the posters in the hallway. “So is either Ava or…or…um, Kristie
in our class?”

“Ava is,” said Gabby.

“So which one is A—” Libby started. But then the bus shuddered to a stop with a loud squealing sound. The kids all immediately jumped to their feet and began pushing in a mad
rush to get off the bus.

Libby struggled to keep her balance as she was swept down the aisle. “No pushing each other! No shoving!” said Ms. Blackstone, to no avail. “Do you want me to turn this bus
around and go back right now?”

Once everyone was off the bus and had listened to a lecture about bus-exiting safety, Ms. Blackstone led them down a path to a low concrete building surrounded by a high wall. The air felt
different there to Libby—salty, heavy, and damp. It smelled different, too—she couldn't quite put her finger on it—kind of pleasant and unpleasant at the same time. She
couldn't decide.

Ms. Blackstone took a deep breath and smiled. “Ah, I love the smell of the sea,” she said. “So briny and refreshing.” She turned to the class. “Okay, class,”
she said. “I need you to stay right here while I sort out our tickets.” She headed to the ticket booth while the students milled about on the walkway in front of the building.

Now's my chance to find Ava,
thought Libby. Students were standing in groups, chatting. Some young male Wishlings were horsing around, pushing each other and laughing loudly.
Libby scanned the crowd. Then she smiled as she spotted a short young female Wishling with a pin-straight brown bob that curved around her chin. Libby was smiling because the young female Wishling
was wearing an
AVA FOR PRESIDENT
T-shirt.

“Hey,” said Libby, stepping up to her. “I'm Libby. You must be Ava.” She looked down at her Star Pendant, anticipating its golden glow.

But there was nothing.

The young female
Wishling laughed. “I'm not Ava. I'm her campaign manager, Waverly.” She reached into her pocket. “Nice
to meet you, Libby. How would you like a button?” Without waiting for an answer, she pressed a round flat object into Libby's hand. Libby looked down. It said
VOTE FOR
AVA
on it.

“Hi, Waverly,” Libby said. “And thanks for the button.” She had no idea what to do with it, so she shoved it into her skirt pocket, to Waverly's obvious
disappointment. “So what's a campaign manager?”

Waverly smiled. “I help her write speeches, make posters, make sure she's following the school's election rules, and convince people to vote for her. I keep things running and
make sure she's focused.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “And trust me, sometimes she needs it! Basically anything that needs to be done to help get her elected. It's
a really important job.”

“Interesting,” said Libby. She wondered who she would ask to be her campaign manager—if she ever ran for office, that is. Maybe Leona. She would be able to get lots of
attention; she loved being in the spotlight….Scratch that. Leona would probably want to run for Light Leader herself!

“So where's the candidate?” Libby asked Waverly.

“She's in the bathroom,” said Waverly. “She should be out in a minute.” She leaned forward again. “So can we count on your vote?”

Libby laughed. “Shouldn't I meet Ava first?” she asked.

Waverly peered at Libby, a scowl on her face. “Trust me, when you meet her, you'll see she is the perfect person for the job.”

Mrs. Blackstone walked back to the group. “We're all squared away,” she told them, brandishing a stack of tickets. “Now everyone walk single file through the turnstile.
We'll have a couple of minutes to explore a bit before we head to the sea lion show.”

Libby immediately perked up. Sea glions? She didn't know glions could swim! She thought the big cats hated the water. This would be very interesting indeed.

The students were eager to get inside and began pushing again. “One at a time!” Ms. Blackstone warned. “Everyone take your turn!” She waggled a finger at them. “If
there is any more pushing, I promise that this will be the very last field trip we take!”

Libby approached the turnstile with trepidation. It looked like that metal bar was going to hurt when she banged into it. But it moved down and out of her way easily and the next bar popped up
behind her. She stood to the side to watch the other students go through. What a fun machine! She had never seen anything like it before.

When the allure of the turnstile had worn off, Libby realized she was in a room with glass walls. Behind those walls was a lot of water, and in the water were multicolored creatures in all
shapes and sizes, swimming, floating, diving, bobbing. Libby pressed her forehead to the cool glass and stared, completely absorbed and forgetting about best friends and school elections. She had
known that there would be some strange creatures on Wishworld, but this was incredible!