“Whatever I think about, it pulls me toward the door,” I said.
“Are you thinking about things in this room?”
“No.”
“Good, then it’s working. You have to go out the door first before you can go anywhere else.”
That made sense. “Would it have led me to Anjali when we didn’t know where she was? What if I think about world peace? Not the school, I mean—the ideal. Will it lead me to where I can make it happen?”
“No. It’s magic, but it’s not a miracle maker. It just shows you a starting place, based on your own understanding of what you want. You have to do the real work. As the Akan proverb says, ‘Your beauty may take you there, but it’s your character that brings you back.’ ”
“Oh. Too bad. Well, still—thank you.”
“I thought it was the least we could do.”
“What about everybody else who borrowed the fake objects, the ones Mr. Stone made with the dereifier?” I asked. “Will they ever get their deposits back?”
Doc nodded. “They got them back already. You’re the only person who still had one of the replacements checked out after it went dead. I guess that’s because we gave you an extra day on your loan. The replacements were set to last through three patrons and run out on the fourth day after the third patron took them out.”
“Good,” I said. “And what about the real objects, the ones he copied? Did you find them?”
“Some of them. There were some at Wallace Stone’s apartment, waiting to be sold. We’ve been contacting his clients. Most of them were appalled to learn they’d bought stolen goods. They’re returning them. A few people are fighting, but we have some very good lawyers among our alumni. I’m confident we’ll get them back eventually.”
“Oh, I almost forgot,” I said. “Jaya Rao wants to know what to do with the princesses, the ones Gloria Badwin collected.”
“Ah, yes, the princesses. That’s quite a problem.” Doc sighed. “Tell her to bring them in and I’ll put them under a sleeping spell for now—I can use the Sleeping Beauty spindle. We’ll keep them here while we figure out what to do. Most of them would be pretty confused to find themselves in twenty-first-century America, even assuming we could disenchant them.”
“Won’t the Kiss of True Love work?”
“In theory, yes. But Gloria Badwin liked antiques. It may be hard to find someone who truly loves a princess who last walked the earth over a hundred years ago. On the other hand, they tell me true love lasts beyond the grave, so perhaps there’s hope.”
I wondered whether a ghost could administer the Kiss of True Love.
“Speaking of love,” Doc continued, “here’s the Golden Key if you want to visit that bird of yours. Bring it back before you leave the library.”
Anjali called me on Thursday to ask if I would take her to the basketball game on Friday. “You could come over here and hang out, maybe get caught up on homework, and have dinner with my family,” she said.
Jaya insisted on coming to the game with us. “If I hadn’t saved you, you would still be a puppet, and Merritt would be three inches tall. He wouldn’t be playing a lot of basketball then, would he? I want to see him play!”
“Oh, let her come,” I said.
Anjali sighed and shrugged yes.
Just before the game started, Aaron showed up. This time he was wearing a purple-and-white scarf, and he cheered whenever Marc scored. The game was satisfying but not that exciting—we were up by six points by the end of the first quarter and never lost the lead after that. When Aaron left to go to the bathroom after the third quarter, Katie from my French class leaned over to me and said, “Is that your boyfriend? Because he’s really cute.”
“Who, Aaron? No, he’s just a friend.”
“He is not! He’s
“No, he’s not. We work together after school.”
“Don’t listen to her. He likes her. They argue all the time, and he’s always putting flowers behind her ear.”
“Jaya! He does not!”
Katie smiled. “I get it. Cute but taken. Aren’t they always.” Back from the bathroom, Aaron sat down behind me. He put his hand on my shoulder and said in my ear, “You can lean on me; I don’t mind.”
I leaned back, my face aflame. Seemingly absently, he played with my hair. I wished I had a working mermaid’s comb; still, he seemed to like my hair okay as it was. Jaya smirked. I tried to watch the players and ignore her, but it was hard to concentrate.
A roaring all around me made me aware that the game was over and we had won. “You hungry?” said Aaron. “Want to go get something to eat?”
“I think a few of us are going to Jake’s Joint,” I said.
“You can come too,” said Jaya.
“You’re not coming, Jaya,” said Anjali.
“I am so!”
“No, you’re not. It’s late, and you don’t want Mom and Dad to get mad and say you can never come to a basketball game again.”
“Please? Just one soda?”
“I’ll take her home afterward,” I offered.
“Oh, all right, you can come, but only for one drink.”
Aaron walked next to me to the diner. He pulled out a chair for me.
“What a gentleman,” I said. “Is it safe for me to sit down? Or is an invisible elf going to pull my chair away at the last minute?”
“You never know until you try,” he said.
He didn’t pull the chair away, but he did eat my pickle a little later. “Hey!” I objected.
“Sorry—were you planning to eat that? It didn’t look like you were.”
“You could have asked.”
“You could have stopped me.”
“Lovebirds,” said Jaya, slurping the end of her soda.
“Okay, Jaya. That’s your one soda. Time to go,” said Anjali.
“But I’m not done yet!” protested Jaya, making loud bubbles with her straw to show there was still liquid in the glass. “See?”
“Stop making those disgusting noises, or I won’t take you to the game next time.”
“I liked you better as a puppet,” she said, but she got up and put on her coat.
I got up too. “Ready?” I said.
“You sure you want to take her, Elizabeth? I can do it myself,” said Anjali.
“No, that’s fine,” I said. “You stay here with Marc.”
“Come back afterward, then?”
I shook my head. “I have to get home. My stepmother will kill me if I leave the dishes till morning.”
Anjali made a sympathetic face.
“Thanks, Libbet,” said Marc. “See you Monday.”
Much as I usually hate having my name shortened, I didn’t object. If Marc Merritt wanted to give me an affectionate nickname in front of everybody who was anybody at Fisher, that was fine with me. Besides, it reminded me of the adorable Andre. “Give your brother a hug from me,” I said.
Aaron stood up and put on his coat too. “I’ll walk you,” he said.
“Yes, come on, Aaron!” said Jaya, winking at me.
“Thanks—but I can find my way okay now,” I said, dying of embarrassment.
“No, she can’t,” said Jaya. “You have to come with us.”
I didn’t argue, but I showed them both the desire ring once we were outside. Jaya wanted to try it on. “Hey, that’s neat!” she said. “Is Madison Square Garden really that way?”
“The subway is—you would have to take it downtown. Can I have my ring back now?”
We reached the Raos’ building. “Bye, Jaya,” said Aaron.
