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

dance anymore, then flopped onto the couches in happy exhaustion.
    Cassie closed her eyes, breathing hard. She opened her eyes to see Sage leaning over her. She was still laughing.
    â€œCassie, get up, it’s time for bed,” she said.
    â€œAll right, all right.” Cassie swung her feet to the floor and reluctantly slipped on her shoes. With a sigh, she stood up. She admired her fingernails again under the flashing lights. “Wow,” Cassie said. “I really picked the best color.”
    Adora grabbed her arm. “I thought you liked Starbeam Dream,” she said almost inaudibly.
    â€œThe music’s too loud,” said Cassie. “What did you say?”
    â€œI said, I thought you liked Starbeam Dream.”
    Cassie shrugged. “Glad you like it, too,” she said. She looked at Vega. “Are you coming with us?” she asked.
    â€œYou should go, you shouldn’t wait,” Vega said, pointing to Piper, who was sipping a sea-green beverage through a straw. “I will wait for my roommate.”
    Cassie was sleepy. “Okay, I’ll see you all in the…”
    â€œMorning,” finished Piper.
    Clover stood and threw her arms around Cassie.
    â€œSee you at breakfast, Clover,” Cassie said.
    â€œWait for me,” said Leona. But then she never got up, so Cassie and Sage shrugged and headed back to their room. They chatted and giggled all the way back to the dorm. Cassie tumbled into bed, fully intending to get up in a starsec to use her toothlight and sparkle her face, but she found she was so tired she couldn’t move. She couldn’t even muster the energy to ask Sage to please quiet down. The girl was still giggling.
    Weird,
she thought.
Ophelia never showed up at the party. Something better must have come up. Maybe she’s not as lonely as Leona thinks she is.
    Sage rolled over, trying, and failing, to muffle a laugh.
    I am so much better at falling asleep than Sage,
Cassie thought. And she was right. She drifted off to sleep.

When Cassie awoke the next morning, she felt starmendous—so much so that she said it out loud. “I feel starmendous,” she said. No, that wasn’t quite right. “I
am
starmendous,” she tried. Yes, that was much better.
    She stepped out of bed and stubbed her toe. “Moons and stars!” she cried. “That hurt!”
    She looked to her roommate, whose head was resting on her lavender pillowcase, for sympathy. Sage looked back at her and giggled.
    â€œSage!” said Cassie with a scowl. “I hurt myself!”
    â€œI know,” said Sage, trying to make a sad face and failing miserably. “But something about it is pretty funny.”
    â€œNo,” said Cassie earnestly. “It’s actually not.”
    But apparently that was very amusing to Sage, too.
    With as much dignity as she could muster, Cassie hobbled her way to the sparkle shower room. Even though her toe was throbbing, she couldn’t help admiring herself in the mirror, her gossamer silvery-pink hair looking so, well, gossamery and lovely around her pale face.

    Cassie stood on the Cosmic Transporter, on her way to breakfast, staring into space. Suddenly, she was startled by someone skipping by, almost knocking her over. She peered after her.
Was that Scarlet?
she wondered.
    When Cassie arrived in the cafeteria, she found Scarlet and Piper already sitting at the table. Piper’s amazingly long seafoam green hair was pulled back into a rippling ponytail. Cassie chose the seat next to her. “Good…” she started.
    â€œMorning,” Piper said pleasantly.
    Leona and Adora arrived next. “I’m not hungry,” Leona said. “I ran into Ophelia this morning and she gave me this delicious zoomberry turnover from the huge care package she just got. So I’m just going to get a cup of hot…”
    â€œZing,” said Piper.
    Leona gave her a funny look. “Ozziefruit