One of the wishing coins was found by Starla Stanfield, a member of the school drama club and also the school's resident critic. When she wasn't writing reviews of local community theatre productions for her blog or the school newspaper (or reviews of movies or TV episodes), she was often the toughest critic of her fellow drama students.
Starla woke up the following morning and noticed a strange looking coin on her night stand. She knew it hadn't been there before. She thought she would have remembered if some strange coin marked 'Good for one wish' had been anywhere in her room.
And she kept the door locked so people wouldn't come in without knocking, so no one could have sneaked into her room and placed it there. She didn't remember ever seeing this coin before, so where had it come from?
Starla got dressed and prepared for school. But she decided to take the coin with her. Maybe one of the geekier students or one of the teachers had seen a coin like this before, and would be able to tell her more about it.
Starla Stanfield soon met outside the school with two people she knew from the drama club. These were Jennifer Taylor, the president of the drama club, and her twin sister Sarah Taylor. Sarah Taylor was a bit more studious and serious than her sister, but otherwise shared the same passion for theatre and music as Jennifer did.
There were quite a number of groups outside the school. The school's only other Sarah (and the more popular one), Sarah McMillan was meeting with cheerleaders Tiffany Sanders and Melissa Smith and discussing cheerleading practice. Jay Duncan, Kyla Leeson, Leonard Drullers, and Walter Smukmeyer were talking about recent astronomical discoveries that probably would be discussed later in science and current events classes. And average students Jon Gibson and Karyn Black were just arriving.
"So, is everyone ready for rehearsal?" Starla asked Jennifer.
"I think so." Jennifer said. "Aside from Carl James. He had a family emergency."
"He didn't really say anything about it." Sarah Taylor added. "It sounded like something really unexpected happened. Anyway, since he's in the orchestra for the show, we'll need someone to fill in."
Starla paused. There was a lot of overlap between the theatre and the band crowd. The Taylor twins were a part of both. It got her thinking.
"It's a shame the city hasn't even started work on the Performing Arts Center they promised." Starla said. "I wish we had a Performing Arts Center right here next to the school, with a big stage, seating for well over three hundred, and plenty of space to store props, costumes, and musical instruments."
Starla didn't know how loud she was, as she was using her 'stage voice' at the time she said this, the voice she needed to use so that people in the back rows would have no trouble hearing her saying her lines on stage. She also didn't realize she was holding the wish coin at the time.
At once, a large two-story building suddenly appeared next to the high school. It was about the size of the Lake Point Community Center, with a larger three-story section indicating the auditorium itself. A sign on the front read 'Lake Point Center for the Performing Arts'.
Starla and the Taylor Twins gasped, stunned. They looked at each other, trying to make sense of the situation.
The geek crowd had also heard the wish, and then turned to see the Performing Arts Center now taking up space in what had previously been a grassy area to the left of the school. "Where did THAT come from?" Walter asked. Jay, Kyla, and Leonard had no answers for him.
Jon and Karyn had passed by close enough to hear the entire wish. Jon was amused, at first, by the strange coincidence of someone else making a wish, but when he turned and saw the Performing Arts Center, he and Karyn gasped.
"Jon?" Karyn asked. "Did you lose the stone?"
"I didn't." Jon said. "I left it at home."
"Then how did her wish come true?" Karyn asked.
"I don't know. I"d better ask her." Jon said.
Jon walked up to Starla Stanfield, who was standing with the Taylor twins. All three of them looked confused and stunned by the sudden appearance of the new building.
"Starla, how did you DO that?" Jennifer Taylor asked.
"I... I don't know!" Starla pleaded.
Jon approached. "Excuse me, but have you picked up any strange stones recently?"
"Stones?" Starla asked. "No. Only this weird coin. It's right in my pocket."
Starla reached into her pocket, only to find it empty. "That's weird. I had it a minute ago."
"Coin?" Jon asked.
"Yes. It didn't look like any coin I'd ever seen before. It was marked 'Good for one wish'." Starla said. "I thought it was a joke."
Jon was now more confused than ever. There were now other means of granting wishes around here?
Of course, none of them at the moment knew that there were still other Wishing Coins in the area. Plenty of them. And other people would soon run across them.
