ended up granting all of the guyâs wishes.
âSo? Itâs not like you couldnât reverse it in a millisecond.â
âItâs not that simple. Once a wish is made itâs done. No going back, no altering it. Unless the person who made the wish wants to give it up.â
Again Lou was making a big deal out of nothing.
âOkay, if the guy wished for something bad, why wouldnât he want to reverse it?â
âBecause,â Lou said, âitâs all or nothing. The wish was that all his wishes would come true. To undo it means giving everything back. Not just the bad stuff. Gremoryâs subject wanted to be a baseball player way too much to give it up. Sure, there were some things even he would have wanted to reverse. Like when he accidentally wished his coach would shut up, and the guy could no longer speak at all. But nothing was worth giving up his dream.â
Then he was a jerk. I wouldnât have that problem with Gabi. She wasnât that baseball player. She wouldnât let someone suffer because of her. She was the nicest, best person in the world. She would definitely give it all up. She wouldnât leave someone silent for the rest of their life or Max all self-absorbedânot even for all the ice-cream sundaes and straight As.
Lou went on with his story, pretending not to notice that I was back to ignoring him. âGremory, of course, couldnât leave things as they were. And with a little help from me we made the man realize he was better off without wishes. But do you see how dangerous playing around with this power can be? What if the person wished everyone would shut up? There would be worldwide ramifications.â
âOkay,â I said. âYou made your point. You can go now. I wonât try to grant a wish.â
Too bad I already did.
chapter 20
I got to the McBrin house extra early the next morning to meet Gabi. Which, if you know me, is super impressive. I am not a morning person at all. But I couldnât sleep. I kept having nightmares that a zombie was after me, wanting me to grant him a wish. Between that and thoughts of Gabi transforming the town into Wonka World, I got my butt in gear extra early. I was there a whole twenty minutes before Gabi showed up.
âThank God,â I said when she finally arrived. âYou didnât make any more wishes, did you?â
She said she didnât. But Gabi was the worst liar ever. She looked like she just swallowed a baseball bat, she was that uncomfortable.
âGabi . . .â
âOkay,â she said, and dropped down to the grass. âI may have made a few itty-bitty ones. But not on purpose. They just happened. And honestly, theyâre so small, itâs like they donât exist at all. I mean, itâs nothing to worry about.â
âWhat did you wish for?â I said before she went into a fifty-eight minute oral presentation on why I shouldnât freak out. The girl could talk when she wanted to.
Gabi pulled at her ponytail and twisted the strands around her fingers. âWell, my mom totally doesnât care what I eat anymore or how I do in school.â Her voice got higher and faster. âMy room has its own dessert bar, a hundred-inch flat screen TV, a whole wall of new books, a water bed, aââ She saw the look on my face and stopped. My jaw was skimming my sneakers.
âCome on,â she said, standing back up. âYou have to admit itâs pretty cool. It didnât hurt anyone. And Rori is sooo jealous. Itâs awesome.â Rori was Gabiâs little sister, who was more than a little spoiledâand used to getting whatever she wanted.
âYeah. Cool until something bad happens. We have to reverse it.â
âToo bad we donât know how,â she said. The sincerity in her voice was totally fake.
âGood news,â I said. âWe do.â I filled her in on what Lou had told me about how Gabi had
John B. Garvey, Mary Lou Widmer