Scarlet Discovers True Strength Read Free Page B

was far too sociable and eager to hang out and chat. One couldn’t even lie back and gaze at the stars from underneath the retractable roof without some shiny Starling leaning over and saying, “Ooh! Aren’t they pretty?” or “Do you think they look the same from Wishworld?” Scarlet’s jaw ached from holding back rude responses, like “
No
, they look like globerbeems from Wishworld. What a startacularly silly question! Of course they look the same!”
    Scarlet didn’t care much for the hedge maze, either—for a different reason. The hedge maze drove her crazy, the way its pattern constantly changed. No sooner would she think she’d found a way out than a path would turn, a wall would shift, or a leafy new hedge would suddenly appear. Where the fun in
that
was, Scarlet had no idea. She thanked her stars for the single red blossom in every hedge wall that would open a door when plucked. She plucked one every time. Vega, on the other hand, would never have dreamed of doing such a thing. She loved the maze and spent more time there than all the other Star Darlings combined, so it was the best place Scarlet could think of to get a few words with her—alone.
    Even before she spotted Vega, Scarlet saw her sapphire aura. The constantly changing maze, however, made actually reaching her hard.
    â€œVega!” Scarlet finally shouted through the glittery hedge wall. “I’m over here! Come! Hurry up!”
    Vega was beside her in a starsec, only slightly out of breath.
    â€œHow did you get here so fast?” asked Scarlet as a new wall of hedge popped up behind Vega.
    â€œEasy,” Vega said. “I waited for the hedge to shift left, then ran south ten degrees, then doubled back through the—”
    Scarlet held up her hands. “That’s all right. Never mind. I don’t care.” At the same time, though, it was exactly this love of puzzle solving that gave Scarlet hope that Vega could help.
    â€œSo what did you want to talk about—
finally
? It’s good to see you, by the way. Where in the universe have you
been
? We’ve been worried about you for stardays. So…did you want to hear about my mission?” Vega smiled proudly, ignoring Scarlet’s immediate sneer. “You’ll be happy to know that—unlike Leona’s…” Vega sighed. “Poor thing. Anyway, unlike Leona’s mission, mine was a
great
success. Another Power Crystal collected! Not that I didn’t have a little issue—but everyone does, it seems. I found my Wisher fairly easily. It’s the wish
identifying
that’s so tricky. I know they always tell us that, but you don’t really know until you try. Luckily, Clover came down and helped me figure it out in plenty of time. It was actually quite an interesting wish….” She paused, finally noticing Scarlet’s pained expression.
    â€œReally, Vega? Do you truly think I wanted to meet to hear all about a Star Darlings mission when I can’t go on one anymore?” Scarlet shook her head and her black hair swung back and forth across her eyes. “I thought you were smarter than that. That’s about the
last
thing I want to talk about.”
    â€œOf course!” said Vega. “What was I thinking? Star apologies.” She reached out to pat Scarlet’s shoulder, but Scarlet shrank away. “So then…what is it? Oh!” Vega nodded. “It’s the
band
! You want to come back. That’s startastic!” She clapped. “We need you! We really do! Clover was filling in, but she couldn’t take Leona anymore. Not that
you
should worry about her. Yes, she’s mad that you dropped out, but she also knows what a starmendous drummer you are.”
    â€œFreakin’ fireballs,” Scarlet groaned. “The band is the
second
-to-last thing on my mind!” Sure, she missed the band—well, she missed playing the drums—but