Wishful Thinking by Amanda Ashby Page B

the kid I was babysitting, did run off with my jeans, but I certainly never told him to go and swap them with yours. And if he did—”
    â€œOkay, so I’m going to stop you there because this is getting boring. The point is, you’ve got my jeans on and I want them back.”
    â€œBut—” Sophie started to say, but this time it was Kara who cut her off with a nervous cough.
    â€œActually, the label on the back does say Motion.”
    â€œWhat?” Sophie immediately twisted around and then let out a long groan as she saw an unfamiliar label staring back at her. How on earth could she not have noticed? But even as she thought about it, she knew the answer. It was because she had been so distracted with the whole orange djinn thing that she hadn’t really looked closely at what she now realized were a pair of designer jeans. She swung back around to where Melissa was still glaring at her.
    â€œI-I didn’t realize.” She felt her face start to get warm. “Look, Melissa, I’m sorry. Really, really sorry. Ryan must’ve swapped them.”
    â€œYou think?” Melissa tapped her shoe impatiently on the floor. “But what I want to know is, What are you going to do about it?”
    â€œOh, right.” Sophie’s face got even warmer. “Well, I guess I’d better give them back to you,” she started to say, before realizing that she couldn’t very well give them back since she didn’t have anything else to wear, and naked wasn’t really the way she had planned to start sixth grade. “Perhaps tomorrow?”
    â€œYou think I want them back after you’ve squeezed your thighs into them?” Melissa let out a delicate shudder. “Not likely, but since you owe me, tomorrow you’d better bring me two hundred dollars so I can buy a new pair. Got it? Oh, and before I forget, if you don’t give me the money, you can kiss your reputation good-bye, because I will make sure that every single person in the school hears about this little episode. Are we clear?”
    Then, without waiting for an answer she turned around and stalked away from where Sophie was still standing.
    â€œTwo hundred dollars?
Two hundred dollars?
” Sophie groaned as she finally sank back down into her chair. “That’s all my Neanderthal Joe ticket money (not to mention a program and a tour T-shirt). Talk about a catch 22, because if I don’t give her the money, then she’ll ruin me. Like really, really ruin me. But if I do give her the money, then I’ll have to miss out on what is sure to be the greatest concert in the world, which will also ruin me. This is the worst thing ever.”
    Then she realized that neither Harvey nor Kara was saying anything, so she lifted an eyebrow at them.
    â€œYou know, this is the part where you both tell me it’s not that bad. Perhaps remind me of hungry kids in Africa so that I can put it all in perspective,” Sophie prompted them as they continued to stare at her. “What? Why are you both looking at me like that?”
    â€œOkay, there’s something you should know, but I don’t think you’re going to like it,” Harvey said.
    â€œI’ve just been humiliated in front of the entire cafeteria by Melissa Tait; I’m pretty sure I can take it.”
    Harvey licked his lips and pushed away his pizza crust. “So you might want to take a look at your fingers. And your arm.”
    â€œWhat?” Sophie loved Harvey, of course she did, but sometimes she feared for his sanity. “Is this another one of your nonverbal communication things? Because it’s not funny.”
    â€œSoph,” Kara said in a soft voice as she continued to stare. “He’s not joking. You really need to look at your arm.”
    Sophie shot them both a look before she cautiously peered down at her arm (which, thanks to this boiling weather and her short-sleeved T-shirt, was