"Nebula, phone!" Stardust heard her sister run downstairs and pick up the receiver.

  "Hello? Oh, hi Amber!" Nebula said. Stardust gazed out her window, daydreaming. Suddenly an evil grin spread across her face. She leaned over towards her nightstand and pulled her sparkly blue phone off its stand. She clicked it on and began listening to her 14 year old sister and her best friend chatting.

  An hour later, Amber and Nebula were still on the phone, and Stardust was still listening. Good thing I don't have anything better to do, she thought. They weren't even saying anything important; just junk about boys and clothes and stuff. Stardust, being a 13 year old girl, was certainly interested in these things, just not obsessed like her sister. But Stardust continued to listen due to her boredom. A few minutes later, Stardust heard her mom yell, "Girls, time for lunch! Off the phone, Neb."

  "In a second, Mom!" Nebula yelled back.

  "Amber, I have to go in a second, but I need to tell you something first...don't tell anyone this!" Stardust sat up straight, listening closely.

  "Nebula, off the phone!" Ella Pangs sounded impatient.

  "Hang on, hang on!" Nebula cried.Stardust wanted to tell her sister to hurry up, but she didn't want to get caught. Suddenly she heard a small click.

  "GET OFF THE PHONE!!!" Ella screamed into the phone she had in her bedroom. Both girls shrieked and hung up at the same time. Stardust ran downstairs for lunch, but Nebula was mad. She marched into the kitchen.

  "Mother, how could you?! I'll never be able to face Amber again!" she shrieked.

  "Well, I had to get you off the phone somehow," Ella said nonchalantly.

  "Not like that!" all of a sudden a huge gust of wind shook the house. Everyone was quiet for a moment. Stardust stood up and looked out the window at the now peaceful day.

  "Freaky," she said, then sat back down to finish her beef stew. Nebula sighed and sat down to start hers.

  Later that day, Stardust rode her bike to her best friend Aurora's house. She rang the doorbell.

  "Hello, Mrs. Post!" Stardust said cheerfully. "Is Aurora home?"

  "Hello Stardust! Aurora's up in her room."

  "Thanks!" Stardust climbed the stairs and knocked on the shiny wooden door.

  "Aurora? It's Stardust!" she called.

  "Come in!" Stardust opened the door and stepped into her best friend's "Mystic Palace." The black wallpaper with silver stars, deep blue carpet, incense, candles, and crystals gave the Palace its name. Aurora is all for the mystic stuff; she's constantly preforming rituals and ceremonies and looking up moon and astrology charts. She was currently trying to draw strength from an amythest crystal. She set the crystal down when Stardust came in.

  "What's up?" she said.

  "Nothing. Just came to chat," Stardust replied, sitting down on Aurora's moon and star bed.

  "Look what I bought from that new shop by the bookstore," Aurora said, holding up a gleaming stone.It was as smooth as could be, with pearly rainbows dancing all around. In the center Stardust could see a tiny star shape, and in it the colors seemed to move all by themselves.

  "Whoa," Stardust breathed. "It's beautiful!"

  "It's a cosmic stone," Aurora explained. "It holds all the powers of the cosmos." Stardust reached out to touch the smooth surface, and it seemed to be vibrating. But when Aurora layed it in her palm, it stopped. That's weird, Stardust thought. I must have imagined it.

  "Where'd you say you got this?" Stardust asked, rolling the stone around her hand.

  "The new shop by Ellie's Books and Gifts...I think it's called Mystic Star. Wanna go check it out? It's awesome!"

  "Yeah! Let me run home and get my money real quick." A few minutes later the girls were on their way to Mystic Star. They rode their bikes since it was only a few blocks away.

  "Here we are!" Aurora said, propping her bike against the brick building, near the door. Stardust did the same, gazing up at the large sign above the entrance way. Mystic Star, it read in curly purple letters. The words were surrounded by a black cat, a crystal, and a few other mystical objects. The paint was still shiny.

  "Come on!" Aurora said, already halfway inside. As soon as Stardust stepped inside, she was reminded of Aurora's room. It was full of different sizes of different colored crystals,glass balls, bottles filled with various liquids, beautiful wind chimes and jewelry weighted down by more crystals, figurines, and much more. This is awesome! Stardust thought, grinning.

  The girls began walking around, pointing things out to each other and chatting. Suddenly  they heard a jingling sound. They saw a pretty young woman standing in front of the doorway to the back, the beaded curtain still swinging.

  "Welcome girls!" she said, throwing her arms up in the air. She had a heavy accent that reminded Stardust of a gypsy. Her clothes did, too.

  "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

  "No thanks," Aurora replied. "We're just looking." The woman nodded, smiling. She went back behind the counter and sat on a tall stool. Aurora and Stardust continued to look around.

  "This is pretty," Stardust said, pointing to a necklace with a glass butterfly on the end. She picked it up and put it on the counter, pulling out some of her money. The woman rang it up and gave Stardust her change, but then she started looking at her closely.

  "Is something wrong?" Stardust asked, giving the woman a funny look.

  "Stay right here," the woman said, jumping up and running into the back. Stardust looked at Aurora, who shrugged. Suddenly the woman came back out, holding something in her hand.

  "Here," she said, handing it to Stardust. She took it and looked at it. It was another necklace. It had a silver-white chain with a clear crystal on the end. Stardust looked closer, and it appeared to be filled with water.

  "Wow," she said, still looking at it. "How much?" When she looked up the woman had a mysterious smile on her face.

  "It's yours." Stardust opened her mouth to protest, but the woman held up her hand and she closed it.

  "Here." She handed one to Aurora. Hers was identical, only it looked like it was filled with glitter.

  "And give this to your sister." The woman handed Stardust another one, but the crystal didn't seem to hold anything. But when Stardust looked closer, it looked like there was something moving inside. Something that she couldn't really see, but she could tell it was moving.

  "Thank you," the girls said in unison. The woman just nodded, and watched as the two friends left.