When Elsy, a Filipino-American book nerd, tries to save Littleton's Public Library from closing down, the cutest boy in school helps her while a red leather-bound book keeps magically appearing in the hands of the townsfolk as if the library is tryi...
I jumped at Finn's voice. I turned from my locker to find him behind me, his thumbs slung under the straps on his backpack.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
"I wasn't scared. Just surprised."
His eyes twinkled like he was looking at a child pretending to be brave. "I wanted to thank you for helping me with my research."
"It was nothing. Don't worry about it," I said.
"But I couldn't have done it without you. It's less than two weeks before it's due. I would have been cramming again if not for you."
He sounded grateful, but I was sure he could have done it with the Internet or Chat GPT. But why didn't he? Why did he ask me for help? I didn't want to get my hopes up again. It was bad enough that I had confessed to myself about my feelings for him. I didn't need to add gas to burning flesh.
"I want to return the favor," he said.
"How?" I asked, blinking at him. What did he have in mind?
He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to... uhm." A red tint appeared on his cheeks.
Then I saw Lotty walking up from behind him. She looked tired. There were dark circles under her eyes that makeup couldn't hide. "Lotty?"
Finn turned. As much as I wanted to hear what Finn wanted to say, I wanted to know what was wrong with Lotty.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
She put a smile on her face, but I knew it was fake. "I'm fine." Then she turned to Finn. "Hey, can I talk to you?"
I felt a little hurt that Lotty would talk to Finn first about what was wrong. But I guessed it was normal. Were they dating already? Boyfriend and girlfriend hid nothing from each other. But so did best friends, right? I only wished Lotty would also tell me soon. Whatever was wrong, I wanted to be there for her.
"Sure," Finn said. He turned to me. "Before I go, do you have any more of those infographics? I ran out."
"Really?" I was surprised, but I was glad. "Yeah." I grabbed a bundle from my locker and handed it to him.
"I'll see you in first class?" Lotty said to me.
I nodded and watched them walk down the hall, wondering where their intimate conversation would occur. This mix of emotions was stressing me out. Worried about Lotty. Annoyed by my feelings for Finn. But happy with the help my friends were giving me for the library.
"Hey, Elsy," someone called me from the other side of the hallway. Cathy walked up to me at my locker. Her red hair swung behind her from a high ponytail.
"What's up?" I said.
"I need your help with something." She pulled up her phone and showed me an Etsy shop that created hand-crafted bracelets. "I'm looking for a gift for Lotty."
"A gift?" I asked. Lotty's birthday wasn't until next month. Was Cathy a better friend than I was? Already thinking of a gift for Lotty. And wasn't I supposed to be planning my best friend's birthday party already?
"So, I was thinking of getting this one with flower charms." She scrolled on the screen to show me a silver bracelet with beautiful dangling floral ornaments made with different gems.
"That's pretty," I said. "But Lotty might like something better. She's not the flower type."
"Really? Well, what do you think she'll like?"
I thought about the friendship bracelet I gave her back in middle school and wondered if she still had it. It was hand-crafted, too--by me. It wasn't the prettiest, but it meant a lot to me, and I kept the pair hidden in a treasure box inside my closet. "Well, you might want to go with the stars."
Cathy scrolled again. "I saw one like that in this shop. How about this?" She showed me a bracelet with sparkly moon and star charms.
"That one's pretty, too. Lotty likes horoscopes."
Cathy chuckled. "Really? I didn't know that."
I was glad I still knew something about Lotty that Cathy didn't. I was no longer unhappy about them being friends, but a part of me was still insecure. "Yeah. She reads her future every month."
"Huh." She looked down at her phone thoughtfully. "I wonder if her horoscope foretold of my coming." She grinned.
I shrugged. I didn't believe in horoscopes, but I wasn't against it either. They were some sort of entertainment if you ask me. Whenever Lotty read me my future, I'd listen and be intrigued. But I knew it would only be a coincidence if any of it happened.
"Do you believe in horoscope?" Cathy asked me as if she had read my mind.
"Well..." I lifted my shoulders.
"Oh, come on. They're fun. Here. Let's check out yours. When's your birthday?" She closed the Etsy app and opened a Google Chrome search engine.
"January 15," I answered.
"Cool. You're a Capricorn, too."
"Wait. You're a Capricorn?" I asked her, surprised.
"Yep." She typed on her phone.
"But we don't have much in common," I said. Except for Lotty, nothing in our circle of interests overlapped. Well, maybe, except that she was now in love with reading books too, all because of the red leather-bound book.
"Give it time. We might like each other," she said. "Here we go."
You're making more friends than you know. Don't let strangers push you down. What matters are the people who care about you. The Moon will give you your heart's desire. All you have to do is make a wish. Magic will help you find the solution.
Cathy giggled. "Sometimes it's a lot of crap, isn't it?"
I would have agreed on that last month, but it felt like the universe sent me a message.
You're making more friends than you know. Yep, Finn and Cathy.
Don't let strangers push you down. What matters are the people who care about you. That racist incident last weekend, and my parents showing me how much they loved me, plus Finn hugging me to make me feel better.
The Moon will give you your heart's desire. All you have to do is make a wish. Magic will help you find a solution. I already made my wish with an eyelash. But I guessed only my first wish came true. More people were finally visiting the library. And I couldn't explain it, but that red leather-bound book was surely magic. Ms. Clark had said the library takes care of itself.
"I guess it's okay," I told Cathy, looking up from her phone.
"Meh." She shrugged. "Most don't apply to me. Or maybe it didn't happen yet."
"Maybe." But all of those had already happened to me. I said it would be a coincidence, but I'm starting to get convinced it's not.
"Well, I got to get to class," Cathy said, jerking her head to the other end of the hallway. "Thanks for the advice on the bracelet. I owe you one." She patted me on the shoulder before walking away.
I smiled at Cathy. I liked the girl. She was a good friend. Only then did it sink in... I had a new friend.
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