chapteR SIX
She Says Yes
The next morning, Nic didn’t brush her hair.
She didn’t tie her shoes.
She didn’t even make her bed
(which was kind of a big deal, because she loved a neat bed).
Instead?
She stood in front of the mirror.
Wand in one hand.
Clifford at her feet.
And she looked herself straight in the eye.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“I say yes.”
Not a scared yes.
Not a “maybe-I’ll-try” yes.
A real yes.
The kind of yes that makes the wind shift.
The kind of yes that God hears… and leans in for.
The kind of yes that means:
“I’m not pretending to be small anymore.”
And in that moment?
Something shifted.
Her freckles shimmered like stardust.
Her reflection winked at her.
And her wand pulsed three times like a drumbeat saying:
“Boom. Boom. Boom.”
Everything felt different that day.
People looked at her a little longer in the hallway.
Birds flew in spirals above her head at recess.
Even her teacher paused and said:
“Nic… something about you feels… louder today.”
Nic just smiled and shrugged.
Because how could she explain it?
That she’d remembered too much to pretend anymore.
That she was done waiting for permission.
That the boy from the dream was now waking up too.
And that the whole sky was holding its breath
waiting to see what she’d do next.
She didn’t need to explain it.
She didn’t need to prove it.
She just needed to say yes.
And she had.
So now?
Everything was coming.
The music.
The meeting.
The miracle.