Things returned to normal the next day at school. The four friends were chatting amongst themselves in a group before class when two sixth grade boys, Tommy and Burt entered the room.
"Yo, Burt – come over here!" called Connie.
"What? Why don't you come over here?!" retorted Burt.
"Ah, forget you!" she yelled back.
Two pairs of eyes were on Tommy when he entered the classroom. "Morning, Tommy!" Maria and Simone said simultaneously. Tommy acknowledged them by pointing and winking in their direction before taking his seat.
"I can't wait for the spring dance," said Connie. "Burt's getting his uncle from the limo company to pick us up. Have you figured out who you're taking?"
"Oh, I have my sights set on someone…" said Simone coyly; she still hadn't taken her eyes off Tommy.
At that moment Mr. Smith entered the classroom and went to his desk. "Alright, alright, keep it down. The sooner I get through this lesson plan, the sooner I can leave. First things first – Connie, Maria, Cookie, Simone. You four were absent for last week's social studies exam.
"Oh, yeah…" remarked Connie. "Well, the thing about that is…we was sick on account of we all caught the same bug." (That bug was actually a teen movie marathon.)
Mr. Smith gave them a deadpan stare. "Well, regardless, you four will have to make up the test tomorrow, so I hope you've studied. Now then, everyone take out your books so I can get this over with…"
As Mr. Smith turned to the blackboard to start the lecture, the girls exchanged worried glances.
"Ain't no way I'm studyin' for no lame social studies test," whispered Connie vehemently.
"That goes double for me," added Simone.
Cookie whispered something into Maria's ear, who then nodded. "Cookie says that she heard Ruth got a B+ on the test," she whispered.
"Good idea, Maria," said Simone. "We just need someone to go over there and get the answers from her.
Cookie, Simone, and Maria turned to Connie and grinned.
"Connie rolled her eyes. "Why do I always gotta be the scapegoat…?" she muttered.
After school, Connie went over to Ruth P. McDougall's house. Ruth actually WAS sick (she had caught a case of the mumps) and had missed the last few days of school; however, she was in attendance for the social studies exam. So when Mr. Smith asked for a student to bring her today's notes, Connie was glad to volunteer.
Ruth sat in her bed, still in her nightgown, as Connie set the notes on Ruth's dresser and leaned against the desk across the room.
"Thanks for bringing my notes," said Ruth, hoarsely. "Maybe when I'm feeling better, you, me and the other girls could hang out sometime."
"Oh yeah," replied Connie, forcing herself to give her most shit-eating grin. "Of course."
Truth be told, Ruth wasn't well-liked by the other sixth-grade; either she was a masochist, or Ruth was sincerely oblivious to the countless times she had been rebuffed by Connie, Maria, Cookie, and Simone.
"Anyways, I better get going. Thanks for the cheat sheet," said Connie. As she made her way to the door, her eyes locked onto a peculiar white figure sitting on the bookshelf.
"Huh," Connie remarked absentmindedly. "What a weird-lookin' stuffed animal."
Ruth blanched. "What did you say?"
Connie looked at Ruth, confused. "I said, 'What a weird-lookin' stuffed animal'."
"So you see it, too?"
"Uh, yeah…?" Connie wasn't sure what Ruth was getting at.
Ruth shook her head. "I thought I was going crazy…that's why I didn't say anything at first. That's no stuffed toy. That thing is alive."
Connie looked at the white creature, then back at Ruth dubiously. "Say what?"
"It followed me home a few days ago," explained Ruth, carefully. "It doesn't really do anything, but its stare really freaks me out. It was in the same room with my mom, and she never even saw it. I just thought being sick was making me delirious."
"Right," said Connie, who was slowly edging her way to the door as Ruth spoke. Even though she could see the creature plain as day, nothing in its appearance indicated to her that it was anything more than a stuffed animal; after all, the thing didn't even BLINK.
And she wonders why we avoid her so often – what a freak! thought Connie. Yeah, uh…so I'll see youse later," she said out loud, but Ruth had her face buried in her hands and didn't respond.
Later that evening, Connie was in her room reading a fashion magazine when she heard muffled shouting from outside her door. Her parents were fighting again.
Unable to concentrate, Connie put the magazine down and listened relunctantly as the shouting intensified; at some point the sound of plates crashing could be heard, followed by more shouting.
Connie closed her eyes and covered her ears with her hands. "No…" she said. "Please…stop fighting…"
When Connie opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see the white creature from Ruth's place sitting on the floor before her, staring at her.
"How…how did you get in here?"
Connie ran as fast as her legs could carry her, creature in tow. She eventually caught up with her friends at the gang's usual hangout place: Maria's house. Four girls were already at the stoop - Cookie, Simone, and Maria were spinning their best lies to try to get poor Ruth to go away.
"Youse guys…hey, youse guys!" she yelled excitedly as she approached the group.
Simone regarded Connie with bemusement and smirked. "Someone light your bra on fire, Connie?"
Connie ignored the remark. "You ain't gonna believe this…I still can't believe it…I was minding my business at home when all of a sudden this thing appeared outta nowhere and…"
At that point, Ruth screamed bloody murder, pointing a shaking finger at Connie for emphasis. "You brought it back?!"
What happened next was very interesting. While Ruth proceeded to freak out, Maria finally noticed the creature in Connie's arms and jumped back. "What the heck?!"
"So you see it then, right?"
"See what?" Simone frowned. Cookie looked between the three girls as though they had all lost their minds.
"I just remembered, there's a…a thing that I forgot to do. I'll see you girls later…" and with that Ruth hightailed it down the sidewalk.
Simone watched as she disappeared into the distance. "That girl…" she sighed. She then turned her attention back to Connie and Maria. "Now, what are you going on about?"
"What, are you blind? I've got it right in my hands here!" Connie held the white creature away from her, directly in front of Simone's nose. "I don't know what it is, but I think its magic or somethin'. It's like…some sort of cat-genie! Cookie, you see it, right?"
Cookie and Simone exchanged glances. Finally, Simone ran her fingers through her hair and regarded the blonde coolly. "I don't know what kind of sick game you and Maria are playing, but I've just about had my share of pranks this week. When you're done having fun, come talk to me. Let's go, Cookie."
Simone brushed harshly past Connie and Maria while Cookie followed close behind. Connie looked down in her hand, dumbfounded. "I don't understand…I can see it. And Ruth can see it…you can see it, too, right, Maria?"
Maria nodded tightly. It was at this point that Connie noticed Maria fingering the tiny gold cross necklace that she wore underneath her dress.
"Maria…you okay?"
"Y-yeah, yeah. I'm fine. It's just that…my emabuela/em always talked about these kinda things. I never thought I'd see one up close."
"What? A cat-genie?"
"I think you should go home, Connie," said Maria, as she ascended the steps to her house. "And I'd get rid of that thing if I were you…"
And just like that, Connie was standing alone outside with the creature. "I don't get it," she said to herself. "What's so special about you, anyway?"
As Connie pondered the mystery, she was unaware that she was being spied on by another blonde nearby…
Cookie got a hall pass to go to the bathroom, but instead she made a detour to the cafeteria, where the vending machines were kept. She spied her favorite pack of gum in the shelf and put her money in the coin slot. The little ring began to unravel, but only partly, and instead of dropping, the candy stayed affixed to its spot. Angrily, Cookie shook the vending machine but the pack refused to fall. Cookie pressed her face against the glass and looked at the unattainable treat forlornly.
In that moment, she looked to her feet and saw a strange white creature sitting beside her, staring at her.
Cookie remembered what Connie had said about the imaginary animal that grants wishes – could this be it? She looked at the creature, then back at the vending machine, then back at the creature…and shrugged.
On a Saturday afternoon, the week before the spring dance, Maria and her friends were listening to the radio in her living room. Burt and Tommy were also there, and while Burt's attention was on his girl Connie, Tommy's attention was split between the fussing and fawning of Maria and Simone.
"This station sucks!" remarked Connie in her eloquent way. "Somebody change the channel!"
Cookie was the closest to the stereo on the table and began playing with one of the dials. As she searched for suitable listening material, Maria and Simone continued to lay it on thick with Tommy.
"So Tommy, have you given any thought to who you might be taking to the spring dance?" asked Maria.
"Yeah, you must your hands full, especially since all the girls would LOVE to have you as a date…" quipped Simone.
Tommy ran a hand through his brown hair and leaned back against the sofa, between the two girls. "Eh, I don't know, I haven't really decided yet. I suppose it could be anyone…"
Maria and Simone glanced at each other, simultaneously giving the other a smug, challenging look.
At last, Cookie had settled on a channel. "Welcome back, all you hip dudes and dudettes," crooned the announcer on the radio. "This is New Wave Ned, coming at you with four free tickets to Wrestlemania."
This piqued Tommy's interes. "Wrestlemania?"
Simone rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. What's the big deal about some stupid Wrestlemania?"
"Are you kidding?" Tommy shot back. "Wrestlemania's only the biggest event this city has to offer, even more than some dumb spring dance!"
Burt snorted. "Yeah. Too bad we'll never score those tickets."
"Yeah, I know….still, it would be cool. I'd go out with the ugliest girl in P.S. 118 to get to a chance to go to Wrestlemania…"
"You mean Ruth P. McDougall?" quipped Simone.
While Connie, Cookie and Burt laughed at the joke (Tommy stayed silent, his cheeks slightly burning), Maria's attention was on the front of the house. There, sitting complacently on her windowsill, was the mysterious creature.
Maria stood up. "Hey, Maria – where are you goin'?" asked Tommy.
"I'll be right back you guys, there's something I need to do upstairs," said Maria as she raced up the stairs to the second floor of her home.
Several minutes had passed and Maria still hadn't rejoined the group. After a while, New Wave Ned returned on the airwaves.
"It's that time, cool cats," proclaimed New Wave Ned. "It's time to give out the free tickets to Wrestlemania. I'm going to dial a random phone number, and whoever picks up will be the proud owner of four tickets to next Saturday's match. Alright, here I go…555…"
As New Wave Ned read out the random phone number, Burt and Tommy pushed Cookie from her spot and huddled around the radio. Moments later, a ring could be heard from upstairs. Everyone looked up and watched as Maria descended down the stairwell, cordless phone against her ear.
"Yeah, hello?" she asked.
Burt and Tommy were literally stumbling over themselves at this point.
"Hello this is New Wave Ned, calling to congratulate you for winning four free tickets to Wrestlemania."
"No way!" Connie exclaimed. Burt's jaw dropped in response.
"Maria, you gotta take me with you!" Tommy pleaded.
"Me too!" cried Burt.
Simone, on the other hand, was seething. "Well you can't go – next Saturday's the night of the dance, remember?"
"That's right," said Maria. "Only way I'm going is if you take me beforehand to the spring dance."
Tommy waved her off. "Sure, whatever! We can do both! I'll take Maria and Burt can take Connie, and afterwards we can go. It'll be like a double-date."
Maria glanced at Simone and smirked. "I like the sound of that."