The Wish by Gail Carson Levine

to.”
    â€œCan he do tricks?”
    The show ended while I told Jared about Reggie. We sat on a bench facing the sea lions’ pool. I explained all the things Reggie could do, and Jared listened, really seeming interested. Unless the spell made his eyes stay on mine, made him laugh in the right places, made him keep saying, “Go on. What else?”
    When I finished telling Reggie stories, he said, “Reggie loves you. He must think you’re great.”
    â€œI love him too, and he’s great.”
    â€œRight. It’s like the seals. Their trainers are kind, so they think humans are terrific. But a baby elephant whose mother was killed by a hunter would think we were terrible.”
    I had never thought about it that way.
    He added, “Maybe they’d both be right.” He stood and put out his hand to pull me up. I took it, thinking he would let go when I was standing, but he didn’t.
    There was nothing wrong with his hand. It wasn’t clammy or anything, but I imagined what Suzanne would say if she saw us—“Sweater Girl and Eyebrow Boy Hold Hands.” That’s what she’d say. I felt more on display than the animals.

Chapter Twelve
    â€œI hate this sweater,” I said. “I’m taking it off.” Jared would have to let go of my hand. I could put up with being a little chilly.
    â€œWhat’s wrong with the sweater?” he asked.
    â€œIt’s too green.”
    â€œGive it to me.”
    I handed it over, and he tied it around his shoulders. It looked like he was wearing a cape. It looked dumb.
    â€œIt looks as bad on you as it did on me.” I wished he’d take it off. It was embarrassing. “Give it back.”
    â€œNo. It matches my toenail polish.”
    Automatically I looked at his feet. Which were in sneakers.
    â€œGotcha.” He was grinning again.
    I grinned too. I couldn’t help it. He was funny, even if he was crazy.
    â€œLet’s watch the penguins eat,” he said, “unless you want to study Hamlet .”
    â€œPenguins. I had time to study last night.”
    The penguins were behind glass. When they ate, they lifted their heads and opened their mouths wide like baby birds.
    I said, “I guess if they don’t catch their own food, they never have a chance to grow up.”
    â€œAncient hunters might feel the same way about us,” Jared said. “We don’t hunt for our food, so to them we’d be like children.”
    He said the most amazing things.
    â€œWhat do you want to be someday?” I asked as we left the building. I wondered because of the ideas he came up with.
    He blushed. “A writer. What do you want to be?”
    Why was he blushing? It wasn’t like he wanted to be a terrorist.
    â€œA vet,” I said.
    â€œAre you going to Elliot next year?”
    â€œYeah. Are you?”
    â€œYup. We’ll be together again.”
    Well, that’s okay, I thought, surprising myself. He was nicer than I expected.
    Now we were by the polar bears. My favorite place. Everybody’s favorite place.
    Their pool is built into a hill with a glass wall on one side. At ground level, you see the bears plunging through the water, and when you walk up a flight of stairs, you see them coming up for air or lumbering around on the rocks.
    â€œThey’re so adorable,” I said.
    â€œThey have big heads,” Jared said. “I once read that the animals we think are the cutest have the biggest heads. They remind us of human babies.”
    How did he know this stuff? “Like pandas?”
    â€œThey’re the ultimate,” Jared said. He took my hand again.
    This time, I let him keep it. It wasn’t a lifetime commitment.
    â€œIt’s funny,” he said. “I don’t usually like popular girls. But I guess it makes sense in your case, because I liked you before you became so popular.”
    â€œYou did?”
    â€œYou know I did. Right