Page 35 of Wish For Me

“Nope.”

“Football player.”

“Sadly, no.”

“Boring office guy!”

“I don’t think so.”

“What else is there?” He looks so truly confounded that I see the moment Noelle gives in. She leans over and whispers in his ear.

The boy’s eyes grow wide. “He’s a ASTRONAUT!?!”

All the chatter quiets as the kids turn to gawk at me. A ball of cookie dough drops on the floor with a soft thud.

“Arealastronaut?” Brandon asks.

For a moment, my heart pounds. This is exactly what I was dreading. What if I get their hopes up that everyone can be an astronaut? What if I don’t? But then I see it—what Larry told me about. The wide-eyed wonder.

And I don’t know what I was ever worried about.

“Yup.”

The classroom explodes into a cacophony of shouting children.

“Do you have a rocket ship?”

“What do Martians really look like?”

“How many times did you go to the moon?”

“Okay, children,” Mrs. Galloway holds her hands up. “Let’s give Mr. Kelly some room.”

They back up, but only for a moment.

“What does space smell like?” Brandon asks, and I can’t help laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Noelle whispers. “I might have oversold you. Hard to explain what an intern does.”

I shake my head and smile at her. “You didn’t oversell me.”

“I’m happy to answer all your questions,” I say to the kids. “But you should know that Noelle here does something really cool too. She’s an actor.”

I’m surprised to hear most of them don’t know what that is. At their confusion, Noelle explains what an actor does.

A little girl brightens. “Are you in the movies?”

“Do you know Dimple the Duck?” another one asks.

“Dimple!” Several of them shout, hopping around excitedly.

“A favorite cartoon,” Mrs. Galloway explains.

“This is way harder than explaining space stuff,” I say out the side of my mouth.

Noelle elbows me. “Fortunately, I don’t know any ducks.” She shudders. “But I did do a play with a horse in it once! I’m not in the movies,” she explains at their puzzled looks. “I’m a stage actor.” She starts to explain what that means, but already half of them are turning back to me.

“Sorry,” Mrs. Galloway tells her as they begin to pelt me with questions again. “Astronaut is probably the major career goal for over half the students, so…”

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