The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim (the mitten read aloud .TXT) 📗

“So,” Emmett concludes, “why don’t you do the same?”

“Wait, you want me to sit in a cave and eat mugwort and garlic?” I ask, genuinely perplexed.

He groans. “No, you dummy. I’m saying you should pray to Mago Halmi and see if she’ll grant you your wish to become a Gom. I may not approve of magic, but I don’t deny it exists. If Mago Halmi did it for the bear, maybe she’ll do it for you, too.”

“Even better than that,” Hattie says, with a spark in her eye, “we don’t just pray—we summon her.”

“Whoa!” Emmett stares at Hattie. “Trust you to always take it a step too far.”

I snort. “Em’s right. You can’t summon the mother of all creation. That’s impossible.”

“It is possible. There’s a specific summoning spell. Noah told me about it.” Hattie does this weird face twitch I’ve never seen before. “It’s prohibited magic, so, technically, we need council approval before casting it, but desperate times, right?” She shrugs. “Anyway, Noah said the Miru protect one of the things needed for the spell. They keep it at his dad’s Taegwondo dojang.”

“Just because Noah said it’s true doesn’t mean it’s true,” I point out.

Emmett coughs. “Also, you just said yourself, it’s illegal. Haven’t we all learned our lesson about breaking laws today?”

Hattie doesn’t say anything, so I continue. “Emmett has a point. Besides, people say things all the time without meaning them. Noah seems nice and all, but how do we know he’s trustworthy?”

“Noah wouldn’t lie to me, okay?” Hattie snaps.

I clamp my mouth shut. What was that about?

“Holy shirtballs!” Emmett bursts out. “Hattie Oh, do you have a crush on this guy?”

Her face turns as red as a monkey’s butt, and suddenly the weird vibe between Hattie, Cosette, and Noah at Saturday School makes sense. Emmett’s nunchi (basically, his ability to pick up what’s going on without being told) is seriously next-level.

“Wait, the same Noah Noh who wears hipster glasses and has hipster hair?” I ask. “Oh my Mago, you totally have a crush on him!”

“What? No, I don’t.” Her voice is so high-pitched it sounds like Alvin the Chipmunk.

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do!”

“No, I don’t!”

I crack up and slap my thigh so hard it stings. “You know what this means, right?”

Hattie frowns. “No, what?”

“If you guys get married and hyphenate your last names, you’ll be Hattie Oh-Noh.”

Hattie groans loudly, but Emmett cackles like a hyena, and even Mong seems to appreciate my comedic genius. He runs in circles a few times trying to chase his tail.

“Oh-Noh. Oh no! Get it?” I curl over myself and almost wet my pants. “It’s too good. Just too, too good.”

Hattie crosses her arms and harrumphs, but I see the ends of her lips curl upward eventually. “I realize it’s at my expense, but it’s nice to know you still have a few laughs in you. Especially when so much has gone wrong today.”

The reminder of today’s events sobers me up. My eyes glance down at the mess of clothes strewn across the floor. Summoning the mother of all creation and asking for a wish is a radical plan, if ever there was one. But it’s got to be better than running away from home. I’m not even thirteen, I don’t have any money, and I don’t have anywhere to go. At least this way I have a minuscule chance of saving my parents’ gifts and remaining a part of this family.

I turn to my sister. “Okay, let’s do it. I mean, at this point, what have we got to lose?”

“Uh…” Emmett raises his eyebrows and gives Mong an exasperated look. “Am I the only one with an amygdala in this room, boy?” Mong barks and wags his tail.

Hattie ignores Emmett’s nerdy comment and smiles at me. “Good, we’ve got this! I’ll text Noah and let him know we’re coming. Also, the adults are gonna be home any minute, so we need to get out of here fast. They’d never let us try this. We can leave them a note so they don’t worry.”

She grabs a pen and paper from my bedside cabinet. “Dear Eomma and Appa,” she says aloud as she writes. “We’re sorry about the gift-sharing spell today. We didn’t mean to get you in trouble with the council. But don’t worry, we have a plan, and we’re going to fix everything. We’ll be back as soon as we can. (And no, we haven’t run away or anything, so please don’t call the police.) Lots of love, Hattie and Riley. P.S. We borrowed the money from the swear jar, just in case. Sorry!” She picks up the paper and scans it. “There. That should do the trick.”

I take the note from her and add the words really, reaaally between We’re and sorry. Because I really am that sorry. Although I’m still a teensy bit mad at them for lying to me for all these years. Maybe they deserve to stew for a little while….

Emmett fiddles with his ring, and suddenly I remember the big elephant in the room.

“Em,” I start slowly, “you said yourself that magic got me into this mess in the first place. And I know your dad hates you getting involved with any clan stuff.” I glance down at his ring. “And understandably, too. So thank you for your genius idea about praying to Mago Halmi. But I think you should go home now. Leave this to us. Hattie and I will do the summoning.”

He jumps to his feet and puts his hands on his hips. “Are you serious? Look what happened when I let you two take charge at the ceremony.” He stares down at me with laser eyes so intense I shrink back. Even Hattie takes a step away. “No way. Not in a million years. I am not leaving you to ruin your life any more than you already have. If you’re gonna summon the mother of all creation, you’re gonna need me around to keep you alive. Let’s