Read Online Cassie Comes Through by Ahmet Zappa - Free Book Online

her fingers and toes and slipped her hands and feet inside the pods. They were immediately enveloped in warm lotion that smelled just like glimmerdrop cookies. Cassie closed her eyes and a scene came flooding back: a day she had come home from school to find her mom, her cheeks flushed and her silvery hair escaping from her bun and framing her face. She had been baking all day and presented Cassie with a plate of warm cookies, which Cassie munched as she told her mom all about her day. It brought a sweet smile to her face and Cassie pressed the memory function on her Star-Zap to record it so she’d be able to watch it on-screen whenever she liked. A Bot-Bot masseuse zoomed up and began to knead her shoulders, which were slightly achy from the vigorous game of Star-Away she had played earlier. Ah, that was heavenly. Her chamber began to softly play “Brighter Than a Comet,” one of her favorite songs, and she hummed along. Once her hands and feet were sufficiently moisturized, they were massaged. Then the nails were trimmed and shaped, and finally the polish was applied.
    Vega, who had gone back to the floating dessert bar for seconds, was on her way to get her own mani/pedi. She scanned the room and leaned over Cassie’s chamber to talk to her privately. “If the whole school was invited, why are there only twelve chambers?” she asked. “That’s not even close to enough.”
    That’s a good question,
Cassie thought, but then the pods released her hands and feet and she saw her fingers and toes, polished to a silvery perfection. “Oh,” she breathed. “I picked the most perfect color ever.”
    Vega shrugged and headed to a shiny blue starbeautychamber.
    â€œCassie, let me see,” called Adora from a sky-blue starbeautychamber nearby.
    Cassie stood and walked to her. She considered putting her shoes back on but didn’t want to cover up her sparkling toes. Adora leaned over to take a look. “Pretty,” she said. A Bot-Bot masseuse was giving her a neck massage as she picked her polish color. “I can’t decide between Cerulean Circus for my fingers,” she said, clicking on it, “or Starbeam Dream.” She looked up to Cassie for help. “Oh…um,” said Cassie. They looked exactly the same to her. “Definitely Starbeam Dream,” she finally said.
    â€œYou’re right,” said Adora. “It’s much prettier.” She didn’t seem to need any help choosing Indigo Spell for her toes.
    When everyone’s nails were done, the girls reclined on overstuffed couches and admired each other’s fingers and toes as they sipped tall sparkling drinks brought to them by hovering Bot-Bot waiters. Then the lights dimmed. The starlight show began to flash faster and the music got louder. Cassie was pleased to note that Leona was the first to jump up and begin to dance—barefoot, of course. Her fingers and toes sparkled in the dim light; she had chosen a polish that made her nails look as if they had been dipped in liquid gold, which Cassie took as another sign that she was improving. Leona crooked her finger, beckoning to Cassie, who began to shake her head, her usual self-conscious response. But the idea of everyone’s eyes on her as she moved to the beat, which usually unnerved her, suddenly seemed like an appealing one. She jumped up and bopped over to Leona, who grinned and grabbed her hands. The two began to spin around and around, then broke apart and twirled in the empty space. Cassie closed her eyes and moved to the music, freely and joyously. She didn’t worry that she looked silly, and she didn’t care what anyone was thinking of her. All she knew was that she felt beautiful, and fluid, and natural—and like she never wanted to stop moving to the music. After a few minutes, the rest of the girls joined in. They were a jumping, twirling, grinning mass. They danced until they couldn’t