Wish

Influencers who follow society's trends often regret the opportunity to do the right thing when their conscience evokes it. 

Lily entered the building with hands full of bags and a backpack about 10 lbs too heavy for her 100-pound body. Great dreams, get through high school, get to Princeton, be a doctor. She would often repeat this mantra when she was feeling anxious. She had planned; ever since her mother passed from cancer, she knew what she would do. She wanted to find a cure that stopped the vicious cells that destroyed her mother's bones and left her father in emotional pieces.  Lily sang little songs that gave her encouragement. She mostly kept them to herself; others sometimes could hear them. Lilyś's mom's favorite son was a woman who heard me roar. The song was often a tune she would use to encourage her. 

Shannon heard her. Shannon learned to be aware of every environmental stimulus as a self-preservation practice. Her fatherś best friend was Jim Beam, and after a Saturday afternoon with friends drinking, their absence made him dark. How dark was what led to her gift? Get out of the room dark or run with mom to a hotel dark.  Her drive to be liked and popular also stemmed from this influence. She wielded a tiara and a wand with a vast green jewel. It just matched her eyes.  She was in the running for the homecoming court and needed more jesters for todayś's vote. She saw her prey and went after it. Shannon pulled Lily towards her friends.

What are you singing? Who walks down the hallway singing out loud like that? You are auditioning for America's Got Talent next week because we are all impressed. With the word impressed, Shannon poked Lily in the chest forcibly with the wand. Lily pulled away. She always wished to disappear when others made fun of her. There was no recourse; she didn't know how to fight it off. There was just her ability to avoid getting noticed usually. Jimmy was different; he had known Lily since 5th grade. He knew her story, and before Lilyś's mother passed, his mom was friends with her. Jimmy remembered parties in 3rd grade when they would cycle around in Lilyś's backyard in and out of her pool, swing set, and kitchen, where her mom always had the best mac and cheese. He remembered her mom always singing that song. She would pretend she was a lion. It was fun. He would not speak out now; his life changed when he made the varsity football team in 9th grade as the only freshman. There was no room for the unpopular friends left aside, like Lily. Lily was now a peasant in their court. 

Lily ran into the bathroom to escape. She hid in the stall, tiptoeing on top of the toilet there. Bang, the sheet seat gave way, and she lost her balance. She heard the mocking crowd outside the room.  

She eventually came out of the bathroom and went into class. The teachers always appreciated Lilyś's ability to answer questions when called on. Maybe that was why he did not embarrass her for being late. The class had just started, and he was reviewing the word of the day, which meant she was just a little late. Funny because she felt like she was in the bathroom forever. 

As she bent over to get her Chromebook out of her bookbag, she had a pain in her head and felt dizzy. She shook it off and recited her mantra: Great dreams, get through high school, get to Princeton, be a doctor. The class went great. No one talked to her, the bell rang, and she went to lunch. Her one and only friend Molly was not there. Molly was going to be a dentist. She and Molly would always dress up like medical people every Halloween. They loved to pretend their lives were fast forward to 10 years from now when they would be happy and wealthy. 

Last night Molly said they would study for their AP Psych exam together at lunch; how strange she was not here. 

Jimmy approached her table and ensured he was turned away from the others. He said I wish she would have sung, then they would have left her alone. Me? Are you talking to me? Lily said. She has been so weird since her mom passed. It's not my responsibility to save the world, though. Iḿ just a kid. Jimmy Shannon called from across the cafeteria. Yea! Here I am, babe. Here I come, he said as he rolled his eyes, turned towards her, and walked away.

Lily remembered how they played together and how funny he was when they were kids before her mom passed. 

Loneliness fell upon her like a comfortable blanket after that experience. Her only friend and the lifeboat was Molly. Molle struggled with her mom using prescriptions, always seeming out of it. She and Lilyś's mom were close, and Lily's mom helped her deal with her anxiety. Still, when she died, Molly's mom became more distant and never supported Molly at all. They needed each other. Why was Molly not here? Lily went for her phone, and it was gone.

She was overwhelmed; she looked down and realized she had never got a lunch tray.

She glanced across the cafeteria to Jimmy. The cafeteria was empty, EveryoneJimmy was gone. Maybe she could remind him of all her mom did for him. She got up and started to make her way across the cafeteria. If perhaps he could just say, Iḿ sorry that happened to you. She would maybe feel better. Even at the funeral, he seemed supportive, but then when she needed him. Jimmy, she said I know you are a good guy. I don't know why you pretend to be mean like those others. Don't you remember those days in my backyard when we were friends, swimming and playing? Didn't that mean anything? He kept his head down with no response. Nothing at all, Nothing she screamed? He got up, grabbed his tray, and walked right through her.

What is happening? She was so confused. Maybe I wished it was too hard. I may have touched a lamp. A Jeannie's lamp. That's not possible. Wait! The wand.

She must find the wand to unwish her invisibility. Indeed there must have been a spell that Shannon knew nothing about. She walked down the hall, and she could see Jimmy in the distance; Shannon was telling him to pick her up for the announcement when she won at the assembly when she won. There was a moment of hesitation. Jimmy stood back from her. Today Was it, he said. I am tired of being part of your reign of terror. I know you are going through it with your dad, but Lily is a lovely person with her struggles. Iḿ done being the blind follower of your distrustful path. Be a homecoming queen on your own.

Just then, she heard a toilet flush. What was happening? There was something wet on Lilyś's head. She came out of the stall and looked in the mirror. There was a bump and a sliver of blood. It was OK. She must have just fallen and hit her head. Just then, she heard an announcement with someone calling her name. She went right to the nurse. In came Devyn, one of Jimmyś's friends. He told the whole story to the nurse and finished with all because she was mean to Jimmyś'sold friend Lily. Just then, Lily smiled and knew it was not the scepter that made her invisible. Still, whatever spell she was under was broken that day with the newfound confidence she found in her friendship with Jimmy.