Wish Read Online Free PDF

loudly. I stared at him. He looked back with his
shrewd cat eyes.
    “Leave me alone,” I ordered.
          Magic dismissed me and began to lick his fur. The ringing under the
pillow stopped. I tried to remember what I’d learned about mental illness in
health class. Paranoia. Bonkers was arriving way before schedule. I jumped out
of the warm bed onto the cold tile floor. 
          “I’m not crazy,” I said out loud. Magic leapt off the
bed and disappeared out of Mom’s room.
    My head throbbed and a strange cramp pierced my stomach.
          The phone squawked to life again. I glanced around,
panicking, and caught a reflection of myself in the mirror across the room. The
ringing faded into the background. I crept closer. It was me in there, all
right, me only better. My black hair shined, wavier. I leaned in closer. My
skin looked flawless. Not one pimple on my usually spotty face. Instead of
pale, as if I’d been in the hospital for months, my skin actually looked creamy
as if I’d been airbrushed for a photo.
          My stomach cramped up again and I hurried out of Mom’s
bedroom into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I pulled down my pants
to sit on the toilet. A big red spot stained the middle of my cotton underwear.
White ones, of course. Perfect timing. My first period.
    I closed my eyes and breathed deeply so I wouldn’t pass out
from the combination of pain and weirding out.
    A rat-tat tat sounded on the door. Startled, I stood up and
plopped down on the beige, squishy bath mat, my underwear still bunched at the
bottom of my feet.
    “What?” I cried, worried who would answer as I tried to get
myself upright.
    “Your boyfriend is here,” Cody called.
    “Boyfriend?” my voice squeaked.
    “Mike. He’s downstairs. You okay in there, Sydney?” Cody’s
voice cracked.
    “Fine, fine.” I stood and pulled up my pants mortified he
even had an inkling of what was happening to me.
    “I
wish Mike would go away,” I whispered under my breath.
    “Tell him I’m dead,” I called as I scanned the bathroom for a
solution to my problem. I wondered if we had any girl stuff in the house.
    “Yeah. Like that’s going to work with the super freak.”
    “Well, tell him something. Tell him to go away.”
    I checked the cupboards. Nothing.
          He clomped down the stairs. I grabbed toilet paper and
wrapped it around my hand until I had a thick sausage roll. I shoved it into my
underwear. I’d have to deal with this too, on top of everything else.
          I scrubbed my hands and face and opened the drawer
beside the sink and pulled out an elastic and brush, pulling my hair up into a
ponytail.
          I stumbled down the hallway, to my room. Had I really
wished I’d finally get my period? The way my head and stomach ached, I
definitely could have waited another sixteen years.
          “I’m leaving the house in ten minutes, and I’m not
waiting for you if you’re late.” Cody shouted up the stairs.
          I glanced at the clock. Shoot. Why wasn’t I born a
morning person like Stevie, who would have had time to shower after the arrival
of her period?
          The clump of paper between my legs rubbed like diapers.
I pulled out a clean pair of panties and transferred the stuffing and went to
the closet to stare at my clothes. My jeans all fit tight; a big bulge of
toilet paper would show. I thought about my new miniskirt and shuddered. What
if my makeshift pad fell out of my panties? I reached to the top shelf and
pulled down a pile of clothes. I inspected them as they plopped to the floor.
    I picked up a plain white shirt and an old pair of jean
overalls and pulled them on. I rubbed my necklace for luck as I slid into a
pair of clunky sandals. I rushed back to the bathroom and threw some toothpaste
on my toothbrush and circled my eyes with black eyeliner.
    I glanced closer in the mirror. I resembled a farm girl in my
overalls with my hair pulled back. The