I was hesitant to ask Chrissy for some huge amount of money in my bank account: I’d seen a crime show once that talked about money laundering. I vaguely remembered that banks had to report any large deposits to the government. It might be hard to explain a few billion dollars turning up. And I couldn’t very well hide that much money in my bedroom. I could ask for a purse that magically never ran out of money, but if I did, I would worry about it getting lost or stolen.

Asking for the Midas touch would be better because a magic touch was always with you. The story of King Midas, however, didn’t end well.

Everything

he

touched

turned

to

gold,

includ-

ing—accidentally—his own daughter.

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I needed something more controllable. I combed through the tangles in my hair and said, “Chrissy, I’m ready to make my third wish.” I thought it would take her a while to answer, but as soon as the words left my mouth, a flurry of twinkling lights erupted in the air.

They grew brighter until Chrissy stepped out of their middle. She wore the same tutu she’d had on earlier, and this time I noticed a name tag over her heart that read Chrysanthemum.

She flopped down on my bed and kicked her satin slippers off. “I swear, working for the tooth fairy is the worst job ever.” She held out her arm for me to see. A few inches up from her wrist, a broken red circle marked her skin. “Look at this. A boy bit me while I was trying to take his tooth.” She leaned her head back on the wall dramatically.

“And then my supervisor got all mad at me for turning him into a squid.”

“You turned him into a squid?”

“I put him in an aquarium first,” Chrissy said. “It’s not like there were any piranha in there. Guppies have never hurt anyone.”

“You turned someone into a squid?” I asked again.

“Don’t say it like that. I turned him back. At the end of my shift.

He probably had fun. What child doesn’t want to be a squid?” She flourished her hand in my direction. “I bet you wanted to be a squid when you were little.”

“Um … I wanted to be a mermaid.”

“Close enough.” She turned her arm over to examine the welt.

“This is going to leave a nasty bruise, and the other fairies will never let me live it down. Jade Blossom was all, ‘Maybe tomorrow night you can remember that teeth are supposed to go in your purse, not your arm.’ ” Chrissy rubbed a finger against the wound. “You’d think they’d encourage efficiency at Tooth Fairy, Inc., but no, I got a written rep-rimand for taking a tooth that wasn’t officially underneath a pillow.” 109/356

Her words didn’t make sense. “Where was it?” She tugged at the lace on her sleeve until it covered the red mark.

“The tooth was supposed to come out of that kid three days ago, but he refused to pull it. He was just being stubborn.” Chrissy brushed some glitter off her skirt and it drifted to the floor in a minty wave. “I got tired of showing up night after night to see if he’d gotten around to losing it yet. I mean, I have a busy route. He was wasting my time.” I tilted my head. “You didn’t pull it out of his mouth, did you?” She blinked at me innocently. “It was just dangling there.”

“Wow,” I said. “Somewhere out there is a little boy who will never sleep soundly again.”

She fluttered her hand dismissively. “He had fun being a squid. I could tell by the way he was waving his tentacles around.” She opened her purse, rummaged through something—I wondered if it was the night’s haul of teeth—then pulled out her wand. Her gaze traveled around my room. “I see my assistant decided not to come. Honestly, the things the UMA puts me through.” Still looking around, Chrissy huffed in exasperation. “Belladonna Spritzpetal can claim it’s my grades that are keeping me out of Fairy Godmother University, but it’s not. It’s because I dumped Master Sagewick Goldengill’s son. Why else would the UMA give me the same worthless leprechaun for three assignments in a row?” She tapped her wand angrily against her knee, as though if she flicked it enough times, Clover would appear.

“How come you and Clover don’t get along?” I asked.

She hesitated, and I thought she wouldn’t tell me, but then she said, “During our first assignment, our teenage charge was being threatened by some neighborhood gangsters. I rounded up the lot of them and told Clover to turn them in to the police.” She pursed her lips as if even the memory aggravated her.

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“He didn’t do it?” I guessed.

“Apparently I should have said I wanted them turned over to the police instead of into the police. He claimed he didn’t understand what I meant.” She let out a grunt. “That bit of magic messed up Chicago for years.”

“He turned the gangsters into police officers?”

“In my defense, who would have ever thought that using correct grammar would actually come in handy in real life? I mean, nobody pays attention to it during English classes.” My gaze shot to my window. I wasn’t sure what I expected to see outside, but I looked anyway. “And you put Clover in charge of sending the Merry Men back in time?”

“Oh, I doubt he messed that up. Even Clover has to get something right every once in a while.” She lifted her wand. “So you’re ready to make your final wish?”

I nodded, nervous. My carefully planned words jumbled together in my mouth, and I spoke slowly in order to straighten them out. “I want something like the Midas touch, but more controllable. I wish I could create gold, but only when I want to.” Chrissy raised an eyebrow in surprise. “You decided you could buy friends after all?”

“I decided that if I didn’t have any, well, at least I can be lonely in a new Porsche.”

Chrissy laughed, then stretched her shoulders. “Mortals are so de-lightfully predictable. It’s a wonder they make any of us go to godmother school in the first place. They could just issue us magical ATMs and be done with it. You wouldn’t believe the hours of new-invention homework they gave us. Totally worthless. No one ever asks for a better mousetrap.” She waved her wand in my direction, and tiny falling stars dropped from the ceiling and surrounded me like 111/356

wandering butterflies. “Get some sleep,” she told me. “You have a big day tomorrow.”

Then she and the lights both vanished.

I sat quietly on my bed for a few moments, trying to decide if I felt any different. My fingers felt exactly the same. Ditto for the rest of me.

I wished Chrissy had told me how to use my new power before she poofed away. I slipped off the bed, went to my dresser, and picked up a picture of Kendall and me as little girls. Concentrating, I tried to turn the frame to gold.

Nothing happened.

I tried a pencil, a paper clip, and a pair of socks. Still nothing. But then, Chrissy had said I would have a big day tomorrow, so maybe the gift didn’t kick in until then. It was aggravating beyond belief to have to turn off the light and go to bed.

• • •

I slept in. That’s the sort of thing that happens when you keep waking up in the middle of the night wondering when tomorrow starts. I knew it didn’t start at 12:01 because I got up and tried to change a Snickers bar into gold. It defied all my attempts, so I ate it.

Nick banged on my door in the morning to wake me up. When I didn’t answer, he opened the door. He was already dressed. “Your alarm didn’t go off because the electricity is out, but you need to hurry, or you’ll be late to school.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost seven thirty.”

He left, and I staggered out of bed, got ready for school, and went to the kitchen to grab something for breakfast.

Dad and Sandra were in their bathrobes, sitting at the table eating cereal. The library didn’t open until nine o’clock, so they always left for 112/356