I blinked my eyes open, feeling all kinds of discombobulated. I was…in school?

The hallway was dark, and everything was kind of fuzzy around the edges, like the walls and floor and ceiling weren’t quite sure they wanted to commit to being real. How hard did I hit my head?

Light was flickering from one of the classrooms—Mrs. Houston’s class, I realized as I got closer. It was the only place that seemed to have anything going on, so I headed in. Maybe Mrs. Houston would know how I ended up in school at night. Maybe it was a class thing?

But when I walked in the room, I was still alone. The projector was on, a movie playing on the overhead. A really familiar movie, I realized as I recognized the people on the screen. This wasn’t just a movie…it was my life.

I cringed as I remembered the moment playing out before me: “Demitri, look, look how big my splash is!” I was yelling, hoping to get him to notice my shimmery new white bathing suit. I made a splash all right—so all eyes were on me as I climbed out and revealed the growing red stain across my butt. Hello puberty. I’d wanted to dive back in the pool and drown.

The movie flickered to the next most embarrassing moment of my life: throwing up during the spelling bee, right in Naomi’s hair—

Oh, that must be why she hated me. I’d managed to block that memory out.

Then the time I was left on the field trip bus because I was too scared to tell the driver I had fallen asleep. I’d figured the bus would go back to the school and I could just walk home. What I didn’t know was that it was chartered from the next county over. My parents had not been happy, and Kamari still never let me live it down.

And they just kept going. The worst moments of my life, all spliced together for me to enjoy. Times I made a complete idiot of myself, times I’d been completely ignored or overlooked. Times I hadn’t been enough, or too much, or just wrong. And it all culminated in today, with me babbling at Demitri like an idiot.

Like I needed the reminder on how awkward my life is.

Just as I buried my face in my hands, I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around, heart pounding, but it was just Mrs. Houston…in an absolutely stunning white and gold gown that shimmered as she moved. She actually glowed in the dimness, surrounded by a nebulous halo of light.

No way. This had to be a dream. I tried rubbing my eyes, but that just made the light morph into ghostly wings at her back. What the hell was going on?

“What are you doing here?” I asked dumbly, like my teacher being at school was the weirdest part of this, but she should know what I meant.

Beaming, Mrs. Houston reached out and took my hands in hers. “I heard your wish, Luna. I’m here to ask, are you sure it’s what you want?”

“My…what?” I asked, bewildered. “What is going on here? How did I end up at school?” I snatched my hands out of hers, starting to get annoyed. “And why are you dressed like that?”

Mrs. Houston gave me a patient smile. “You made a wish,” she said slowly. “I heard you, and I’m here to help. As for why we’re at school, I think this is just what’s easiest for your mind, but the dress…” She posed with a little flourish. “The dress is all me.”

She laughed like it was the best day ever, but I was still confused. “Yeah, I don’t get it.”

“Luna,” she said slowly, “I’m your fairy godmother.”

I blinked once. Twice. A third time. My mind refused to accept her words. A fairy godmother? No freaking way. This had to be some kind of bizarre dream brought on by the worst day ever and a concussion. In that case…no harm in going with it.

“So you’re my fairy godmother, and you’re here to grant my wish?” I clarified.

She nodded once. “If that’s what you want.”

I snorted. “If I could just magically have everyone like me, pay attention to me, actually care what I have to say, you better believe I’d do it.” I sighed. “But you’ve seen me in real life—that’s impossible.”

Mrs. Houston gave me a secretive smile. “Impossible things happen every day, Luna. If this is really what you want, then it’s yours. But just remember…”

She tipped my chin up to meet her eyes, and they glowed golden. The world around us grew so bright, that golden light was all I could see.

“The things we wish for aren’t always what we truly want. Be careful.”

I woke up with the strange phrase echoing in my head. I was in my bed, sunlight streaming through my curtains. What…what just happened?