VILLAIN

Chapter 13

 "So where does this Oscar fellow live?" I asked as we followed Tinkerbell down the gravel trail.

She scoffed. "Where does he live? Did you seriously just ask where Oscar Seacrest lives?"

I bit my lip, tempted to deny it. Thankfully, I was saved from having to answer by Max, who loudly – and bossily – told us that we needed to get a move on.

Tinkerbell shared a look with me, grumbling about long-legged boys. Still, she did pick up the pace a bit, and we arrived several minutes later at...

A giant flower.

And by giant, I meant giant. As in, easily the size of a small child – and that was for a normal-sized human. For a tiny one, it was positively gargantuan. As we approached it, I recognized it as the flower I'd noticed before we'd been shrunk, the one with all of the glowing pixie dust in it.

It had looked like a lot of pixie dust then, but now it was like a lake-full. My mouth fell open, and for a few moments I simply stared at the massive golden flower in awe.

Then Tinkerbell said, "I'm fresh out of Wishes after I wasted all my pixie dust trying to send you to the moon."
This jerked me out of my reverie, and I cringed at her statement. Clearly she did remember me.

"And why do you need wishes, exactly?" I asked, preparing myself for the condescending reply I was about to get.

Tinkerbell rolled her eyes, huffing for good measure. "To buy pixie dust, obviously," she said.

"Wishes are fairy currency. Fairies have to do good deeds in order to acquire them," Max elaborated, for once giving me a helpful answer.

"So...we just ask her for things, and she'll get money?" I questioned.

Max nodded. "Essentially," he answered.

I was just about to be impressed at how non-arrogant he was being when he said, "Tinkerbell, I wish you would make Moira's dress wither."

I put my hands on my hips indignantly, all my previous gratitude towards him flying out the window. "Very funny, Max," I said, as my beautiful lavender flower-dress turned brown and wrinkly.

He laughed, and my irritation grew – especially as I saw a tiny bead appear in Tinkerbell's palm.

"Stop laughing, Max," I demanded, groaning when he of course did not.

I grew more and more irritated, annoyance bubbling in my stomach. I narrowed my eyes to glare at him as he continued to laugh.

"You know what?" I told him. "Fine. Tinkerbell, I wish for you to make a flower grow out of Max's hair!"

Tinkerbell seemed all-too-eager to comply, a hideous green flower sprouting from Max's brown waves at the snap of her fingers. Another bead dropped into her hand, and laughter bubbled up in my stomach. I doubled over, snickering so hard I could barely stand up. Max looked utterly ridiculous, true, but what was even better was the positively murderous look on his face.

"How do you like that?" I said gleefully.

His gaze turned even more venomous – if that was possible. "You want to play like that? Then fine. Tinkerbell, I wish for you to make a large rain cloud appear over Moira and follow her wherever she goes."

I marched up to him, my annoyance heightening. "Yeah? Well, I wish for you to make Max cluck like a chicken every time he says something arrogant!"

Max grinned at me evilly. "Then I wish for you to turn Moira into a squirrel!"