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.
âCassie, get up, itâs time for bed,â she said.
âAll right, all right.â 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. âWow,â Cassie said. âI really picked the best color.â
Adora grabbed her arm. âI thought you liked Starbeam Dream,â she said almost inaudibly.
âThe musicâs too loud,â said Cassie. âWhat did you say?â
âI said, I thought you liked Starbeam Dream.â
Cassie shrugged. âGlad you like it, too,â she said. She looked at Vega. âAre you coming with us?â she asked.
âYou should go, you shouldnât wait,â Vega said, pointing to Piper, who was sipping a sea-green beverage through a straw. âI will wait for my roommate.â
Cassie was sleepy. âOkay, Iâll see you all in theâ¦â
âMorning,â finished Piper.
Clover stood and threw her arms around Cassie.
âSee you at breakfast, Clover,â Cassie said.
âWait for me,â 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 couldnât move. She couldnât 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 sheâs 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 starmendousâso much so that she said it out loud. âI feel starmendous,â she said. No, that wasnât quite right. âI
am
starmendous,â she tried. Yes, that was much better.
She stepped out of bed and stubbed her toe. âMoons and stars!â she cried. âThat hurt!â
She looked to her roommate, whose head was resting on her lavender pillowcase, for sympathy. Sage looked back at her and giggled.
âSage!â said Cassie with a scowl. âI hurt myself!â
âI know,â said Sage, trying to make a sad face and failing miserably. âBut something about it is pretty funny.â
âNo,â said Cassie earnestly. âItâs actually not.â
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 couldnât 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. Piperâs amazingly long seafoam green hair was pulled back into a rippling ponytail. Cassie chose the seat next to her. âGoodâ¦â she started.
âMorning,â Piper said pleasantly.
Leona and Adora arrived next. âIâm not hungry,â Leona said. âI ran into Ophelia this morning and she gave me this delicious zoomberry turnover from the huge care package she just got. So Iâm just going to get a cup of hotâ¦â
âZing,â said Piper.
Leona gave her a funny look. âOzziefruit
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