Seven Stories Up Read Online Free Page B

last. “Okay, but you have to promise to believe me.”
    “Oh, I will,” she said. She leaned forward, waiting. “My eldest sister says I’ll believe
anything
!”
    “And you can’t laugh!”
    “Of
course
not,” she said.
    I took a deep breath. “See, the truth is—well, I think I just time-traveled.”
    I sat back and waited for her to register shock, but Molly only looked confused. “I don’t understand,” she said. “What does that mean?
Time-traveled
?”
    “I mean, I think I came here by magic. I don’t know how or why, but I’m here from—
the future
.”
    Molly stared for a minute. She mouthed the words
the future
silently. Then suddenly she clapped her hands loudly and shouted, “I did it!”
    “You did?”
    Molly nodded. “
I
did this. Or I think I did. I wished you here!”
    “You
what
?”
    “I’ve been wishing, you see. On stars. Each night, before bed.”
    “For
me
?”
    “For
someone
. Anyone. Now here you are, and you’re someone! So it must have worked, my wishing. How else did you get here?”
    “I—I don’t know,” I admitted. It hadn’t occurred to me that my adventure might be the result of some random stranger’s wish. “I only know that I belong somewhere else. Or some
when
.”
    “Some
when
? Is that a future word?”
    “Oh,” I said. “No. In fact, I think maybe I just made it up this minute.”
    Molly beamed. “Well, in any case, this is marvelous! Until you go back to
somewhen else
, you can stay with me. We’ll play and talk. You’ll be my secret.”
    “
Stay
with you?”
    Molly nodded vigorously. “You will, won’t you? Please? Say yes!”
    I shrugged. “Sure. Until the magic sends me home.”
    “Oh, thank you,” Molly said very seriously. “I’m so grateful. You can’t begin to imagine.” She tilted her head slightly, in a funny practiced way, and when she did, a memory shook loose in my mind. Her dark eyes and the angle of her jaw gave me a flash of déjà vu, a faint memory of a head turned just so.
    “You know,” said Molly, “you haven’t told me
your
name yet.”
    “Oh!” I said. “I’m Annie. Annie Jaffin.”
    “Annie. That’s pretty,” said Molly. “Nice to meet you, Annie Jaffin. I’m Mary Moran, but please call me Molly.”
    “M-Mary?” I stuttered. I stared at the girl, who smiled and held out her hand to shake. She was waiting for me.
    “Are you all right?” she asked. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
    I stared back at my grandmother. “Oh, no,” I said. “No. I think I’m just—hungry. You said something about … muffins?”

“Now,” Molly said, climbing down from the bed, “if you’re going to stay, we should find you something to wear, don’t you think?”
    I nodded, stunned into silence. This girl was my grandmother? This laughing, pretty girl was going to grow up to be—
that
? It didn’t make any sense.
    “What color do you like best?” she called out from the closet. “Blue? Green?”
    “Pink,” I said. “I like pink.”
    Molly stuck her head back out at me, smiling. “That’s my favorite too!” She reached for a pink dress, thenwalked back over to the bed and laid it out, along with socks and shoes,and some weird baggy underwear.
    In the time it took me to undo my buttons, Molly had stepped out of her own nightgown and pulled a bright red dress over her head. Her curls popped up through the collar as she quickly zipped the side of the dress closed. “Ta-da!” she said, spinning around. “I win.”
    “No fair,” I said. “I didn’t even know we were racing. Plus, it’s not what I’m used to, all these buttons.”
    “Oh, here, let me help you,” said Molly. As I managed to get my arms into the sleeves, she began to button me up the back. “Tell me, what do future clothes look like? Are they silver? Do they help you fly?”
    I laughed. “Nope, no flying. I wish.” I looked down at my pink dress, which was crisply ironed and smelled like soap. It was something I