Piper's Perfect Dream (14 page)

“Love it,” Olivia murmured.

“Okay, so you're standing on warm, smooth sand, looking out over the water. A light breeze ruffles your hair.”

Piper thought she saw Olivia's hair lift slightly from her pillow.

“It's perfect,” Piper went on, “except that you're holding a heavy backpack you can't put down, because you're afraid the tide will wash it away.”

Olivia's shoulders hunched.

“Now each time a wave rolls onto the sand, one item disappears from your backpack. After it leaves, you feel stronger, less worried. Here comes the first wave…in…and…out.”

Olivia's shoulders rose the slightest bit.

“And another wave…in…and…out, coming a little closer to your feet.”

Each wave seemed to make Olivia's load lighter. Each wave came a little closer. Finally, Piper told Olivia she was carrying nothing at all, and the water lapped at her feet, cleansing and purifying her mind.

Olivia sighed happily. “Thank you, Piper.”

“You're welcome, Olivia. But I'll tell you something else that can make you feel better.”

Olivia shifted to face her, still interested. “What?”

“Opening up to others.” Piper held up a hand before Olivia could protest. “Opening up to people you trust can be a powerful force.” She felt sure that was one reason Olivia had bad dreams: she was holding all her worries inside, not telling a soul. And they were finding their way into her dreams.

“There is strength in vulnerability,” Piper went on, “and communicating emotions. It gives me so much energy I glow….I mean, I feel like I'm glowing. It would make you feel energized and strong.”

Piper waited patiently. She knew Olivia was mulling this over. And maybe, just maybe, she'd confide in Piper. She'd talk about her concerns about the diner. Then they could come up with a solution together.

When Olivia stayed quiet, Piper decided to change direction a bit. Maybe Olivia wanted to talk about the nightmares first.

“And you know what else? Dreams are amazing windows into feelings,” she began. “They seem so real, because the emotions that drive them are real.”

“And the feelings are intense!” Olivia put in. “They're even stronger than when I'm awake, because—”

“Your dream is so much more intense!”

“That's it exactly!” Olivia said. “I mean, I can dream I'm in school, but the next moment I'm climbing Mount Everest. In real life, when I'm in school, I'm in school, and I can't blink and find myself anywhere else.”

Piper thought a moment. With enough wish energy manipulation practice, she could probably teleport from Halo Hall to the Crystal Mountains in the middle of Astral Accounting class. But it didn't seem right to mention it to Olivia. Besides, she understood exactly what Olivia meant.

“Dreams make the impossible possible,” she said. “So they can be amazing and crazy and scary and wonderful all at the same time. Believe me, I know how powerful dreams can be. But you're going to wake up. They can never really hurt you. In fact, they may be able to help you. They have meaning and can guide you.”

“Grandma Rosie used to say something like that, that dreams are the windows to the soul.”

“She did?” Piper said, delighted. “I really wish I knew her.”

A tear slid down Olivia's cheek. “I really miss her. My parents are great and everything, obviously. But they work crazy hours and in their downtime they have so many things to take care of, like taking me to the doctor, buying me shoes, helping me with my homework….”

This didn't seem to have much to do with diner business. Still, Piper thought it could lead to a revelation. So she nodded, interested.

“My grandma and I would just talk and talk, especially once Isabel left for college and I was on my own so much. I could tell her anything. Good, bad, it didn't matter. She always understood.” Olivia lowered her voice. “If she were here right now, I'd talk to her. I'd tell her—” She paused. Piper knew she was about to say something important, something revealing—something that would confirm Olivia's wish.

But for some reason, Piper had to finish Olivia's sentence: “That you're flailing around, worried about everything, trying to get through the nights when everything around you seems so dark and unforgiving.”

Piper felt Olivia stiffen. And even in the darkness, she could see her face draw closed.

“I'm going to sleep now, Piper. Good night.”

Piper groaned softly. She wished she hadn't been quite so gloomy and bleak. But sometimes she just couldn't help it.

By the time Piper woke up,
the sun was high in the sky. Olivia's bed was neatly made, the blanket stretched tight and tucked into the corners.

Piper wiggled her toes, then raised her arms over her head for an easy stretch. The clock on the nightstand read 11:19, late even by her standards. She heard some thumps and bumps and light steps coming down the hall.

That must be Olivia,
she thought.
Good, I'm not alone.

She hoped Olivia had been able to sleep late, too. It was Saturday. And as far as she knew, her Wisher hadn't needed to be anywhere early. Of course, there was the not-so-small matter of the Countdown Clock and starmins ticking away. The wish had to be granted by that evening. Still, Piper felt confident.

A nagging doubt tugged at the far corner of her mind….Those feelings Olivia was about to talk about when Piper interrupted…they could have been important. Maybe they wouldn't have confirmed the wish. Maybe they would have pointed in an entirely different direction. But Piper shook away those negative thoughts. She had nailed down Olivia's wish: improving business. And they had all day at the diner to make it happen.

Moving a little more quickly than usual, Piper dressed with the help of her Wishworld Outfit Selector. She settled on stretchy black leggings and a shimmery seafoam green blouse that fell to her hips. Not her usual look, but it was both pretty and comfortable.

“Oh, good. You're ready,” Olivia said, walking into the room just as Piper was letting the air out of the blow-up bed. “I told my parents we'd be at the diner around lunchtime to help.”

Olivia was quiet as they walked to work. But it was a companionable silence. Piper was pleased. Clearly, Olivia had gotten past the previous night's irritation.

As they neared Big Rosie's, the two girls gasped.

“Oh, my stars!” Piper said. A line of customers stretched out the door. “What's going on?”

“I have no idea,” Olivia answered. “Let's find out.”

She led Piper to the entrance, skirting people she knew. “Excuse us, Mr. Raymond. Hi, Thomas. Could you let us past?”

Inside, they saw some people waiting for tables, but many more were by the takeout counter.

“Two chocolate egg creams to go, and throw in a blueberry muffin,” one woman said to Donna, the waitress who had called in sick the other day.

“Egg creams!” Olivia repeated. “How does she know about egg creams?”

Just then a customer sitting at a table flagged down Diane. “We'd like egg creams, too,” he said.

“This is beyond weird,” Olivia said as the next customer in line ordered an egg cream with a bagel.

Alice hurried to the girls. “Everyone wants egg creams!” she said excitedly. “Some are just ordering them at the counter. But lots are staying for full meals.”

She put her hand on Piper's shoulder. “We're doing incredible business. Just look at all these people. Apparently one of our customers tweeted about our amazing egg creams with a photo.”

“It must have been Sammy's dad,” said Piper.

“It's all thanks to you,” Alice told her.

“No, it wasn't me. It was really Olivia. She made it for me the other day, remember? Then I just suggested it to a customer.” Piper gazed around the diner. Practically everybody had an egg cream. “It's really caught on.”

“You know, I think we'll add it to the menu,” Alice said. “In fact, we should come up with other new drinks. And maybe desserts.” She smiled. “First on the list is that rhubarb pie I keep thinking about!”

“Yeah, but we don't have to stop there,” Olivia said. “We can add dinner entrees and appetizers and—”

“The sky's the limit!” Piper broke in.

“Now hurry up and grab some aprons,” Alice said. “Things will move more quickly with you two here.”

“This is so amazing!” Olivia told Piper as they rushed to the back room. “All this business is really going to help my parents out.”

Piper looked at Olivia. Her shoulders were relaxed and the furrow between her eyebrows was gone. This was it. She'd helped Olivia get her wish. She stood still, waiting for the wish energy to flow.

“What?” said Olivia. “Come on! Get moving! We have work to do!”

Still, Piper just stood there, staring at Olivia. Any starsec now a colorful wave would stream from her Wisher straight to her bracelet pendants.

Where were the sparks she had heard about? The rainbow of lights and flashes shooting out from Olivia to Piper? Piper was confused. But maybe the wish wasn't entirely granted yet. Maybe the energy would come later, when they waited on their fiftieth customer or reached a certain dollar amount.

“Okay, let's get cracking!” said Piper. This would be her very last shift. She wanted to make it a good—no, great!—one.

Hours passed in a blur. Customers kept coming and Piper kept working. But still no wish energy. Her shoulders sagged. What was the problem?

“Something wrong?” asked Olivia, stepping around her with a tray full of chocolate egg creams.

“Olivia,” Piper said slowly. “Do you think business is booming? That you guys have enough customers now?”

“Of course!” Olivia said happily. “We've never been so busy!”

“So you're not thinking to yourself, ‘Oh, it would be great if we reached nine hundred ninety-nine customers. Or if we made a million dollars'?” Piper wasn't actually sure if a million was a lot of dollars, but it sounded good.

“Uh, no. I think this is perfect!”

Olivia was thrilled with the business now. So, clearly, that hadn't been her wish at all.

Piper stared at Olivia despairingly. What could her wish be? She had wasted all that time on the wrong wish! Now she was running out of time. Wish identification was much more difficult than Piper had ever dreamed.

The crowd was thinning out. Piper began wiping down tables. Then the bell above the door jangled. She looked up to see Olivia's friends walking into the diner. When Piper stepped behind the counter, she could see straight to the door. Olivia's friends were just walking through.

Olivia walked in carrying a tray of ketchup dispensers she had just filled. When she spotted her friends, a shadow passed over Olivia's face. Oh, no, another blunder. Piper must have hurt Olivia's feelings, saying the girls were there for the food, not their friend. “No! I bet they're here just for you!”

Olivia watched as the girls took a table at the far end, her mouth tugging down at the corners. “I'll wait on them,” she said, grabbing some menus. Seconds later, she stood at their table, whispering. Then she actually sat down next to the short girl, the one named Morgan. Piper had never seen her do that before!

“Olivia!” her dad called loudly. “Your sixteen with SPF and MG is ready.”

Part of Piper couldn't help identifying what that meant—cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and mixed greens—even while she was concentrating on Olivia.

Reluctantly, Olivia got up, then walked slowly away from her friends.

Friends!
The word hit Piper like a bolt of white-hot lightning.

Friendship must be as important to Olivia as the diner, maybe even more. Piper remembered her first wish identification guess, that Olivia was spending too much time at the diner. Maybe she'd been half right. Olivia loved working at the diner. But it still got in the way of her being with her friends.

Okay, Piper was sure she had it right this time: Olivia wished she could spend more time with her friends.

Without waiting another starmin, Piper grabbed a bag of candy, then refilled the
FREE MINTS
bowl by the cash register. “You know,” she said to Alice, looking deep into her eyes, “Olivia should have the night off, and have those friends”—she pointed to the table—“plus me, over for a sleepover.”

“You know,” Alice said thoughtfully, “I think Olivia should have the night off, and have those friends—plus you—over for a sleepover. Diane can stay late.”

“I'll tell Olivia!” Piper said. She grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her back to the table. “Hey!” she said to the girls. Morgan, the short one who Piper thought might be bossy, looked up. The girl sitting next to her was Ruby. She nodded hello, her shoulder-length hair bouncing. The third girl was Chase and she had bright green braces that showed when she smiled at Piper. “Alice said we can all have a slumber party at Olivia's tonight.”