Chapter 3

Shawn lay on Belle's bed tossing a basketball up into the air. They had met to discuss Kevin and Mimi's wishes and how to best make them all come true. Belle tapped a pencil to her forehead as she reread Kevin's list. "You know Shawn, I think we only have to work on the one wish for Kevin. I'm pretty sure he is going to be valedictorian. The only person that comes close is Chloe, and I know that even her GPA isn't as high. And with the Harvard thing, I know my dad is friends with a couple of influential alumni. He wanted Brady to go to Harvard but he refused. I could ask my dad to make some phone calls." Belle paused. "My dad could also be helpful with Mimi's wish for more money for her family. He's starting up a new company called 'Basic Black'. Maybe he could hire Mimi's dad and pay him a better salary?"

"Sounds good to me, Belle." Belle looked over at Shawn and sighed. He was here, in her room, on her bed, and he was more interested in playing with a basketball than playing with her. Why couldn't Shawn see how much she liked him? How could anyone be so totally oblivious?

"So, Kevin wants a girlfriend," Belle said thoughtfully as she perused his list again. "But who? He says someone to talk and laugh with, someone who can cheer him on…" The word cheer kept echoing through her mind…was he saying he wanted to be with a cheerleader? But who on the squad was available? She was the only one without a boyfriend. But if the rumors were to be believed, things weren't so great between Jan and Jason. Maybe Jan…

"I'm telling you Belle, we've got that problem covered. Mimi wants a boyfriend, Kevin wants a girlfriend. Let's just hook them up," Shawn said. His dad was right about Belle. It was almost a crime how cute she was. But Shawn had his mind set. He didn't want to date. He didn't want to be as pathetic as Kiriakis, or have all the problems that Philip was always having with Chloe. He wanted his freedom. Was that too much to ask for a 17-year-old guy? But when he looked at Belle…all his desires to be unencumbered tended to leap out the window.

"Didn't you read Mimi's list?" Belle asked him. "Mimi wants to be popular. Dating a guy like Kevin is not going to make her popular. If anything, it would probably make things worse. Besides, I don't really think that Kevin is her type. She needs someone exciting, someone with an edge, someone that would make all the girls at school green with envy…" Belle started racking her brain. Who did she know like that? Then like a bolt of lightning the answer hit her. "Brady!"

"What?" Shawn asked.

"No, not Brady like in your last name, Brady as in my brother. We should hook Brady and Mimi up!" Belle smiled triumphantly.

"Are you serious?" Shawn laughed.

"Totally. Mimi had a crush on Brady for years. When Brady lived in Salem, he was kind of like, I don't know, how Philip is now. The phone was constantly ringing off the hook with girls calling here for him. If Mimi was dating an older guy like Brady, I think her status at school would shoot through the roof."

"You know Belle, we're talking about matters of the heart here. You can't just make people fall in love. And I've seen your brother lately. He isn't the nicest of people," Shawn observed diplomatically.

"But maybe this is just what Brady needs," Belle said. "A girlfriend. Someone he can care about more than himself." And if Mimi and Brady really did start dating, maybe one of Belle's own wishes could come true. Maybe everything would stop being so awful at home if Brady fell in love.

"Okay, so let's try the Brady thing," Shawn said. "And just how do we go about doing this?"

This was going to be the tricky part. "I guess I'd need to start talking Mimi up to Brady. Maybe do some things to pique his interest. Get them interested in the other before they ever even go out. And then we could set up a blind date…" Belle trailed off.

"Sounds like a plan. When do we start?"

"No time like the present," Belle smiled. She got off the bed and walked across the room to her door. She went out to the landing and saw that Brady was downstairs on the couch watching TV, like he normally was. She could see his canes lying on the floor next to the couch. Belle put on her best smile and headed downstairs towards an unsuspecting Brady.

"Hey, Brady. Whatchya doin?" she asked sweetly.

"Playing soccer," Brady replied nonchalantly, his eyes not leaving the screen.

"'Die Hard' again, huh?" Belle asked as she settled onto the couch.

"Mm-hmm," Brady mumbled. 'Die Hard' was one of Brady's favorite movies. He thought Bruce Willis was a friggin' genius.

"Mimi calls Bruce Willis the smirk that walks. She thinks he's a terrible actor," Belle said casually.

"What?!" Brady exploded, his fierce blue eyes boring into Belle. "How can anyone think that? How could Mimi possibly think that?"

Belle shrugged her shoulders as she studied her fingernails. "I don't know. She just went on and on the other day about how terrible he is, how much she hated 'The Sixth Sense'."

Brady looked like he was ready to kill someone. "Call Mimi now. Tell her to come over. She and I need to have some words. She's obviously needs to be set right."

Belle smiled and stood up. "Call her yourself, Brady. Her number's on the speed dial." Mission accomplished, she thought. Brady would definitely be thinking about Mimi now. She had seen Brady around girls before. He never liked the simpering "Oh Brady, you're so strong" types. He liked girls that could give as good as they got. And with as feisty as Mimi was…there was no doubt in Belle's mind that this could indeed work.

**************************************************

Chloe felt like purring every time Philip nibbled on her ear like he was right then. "Philip, we need to work on this list."

"Come on, Chloe," Philip teased, his lips running over her neck. "You know I get my best ideas when I'm making out with you."

"Oh, please. You only get one idea when you're making out with me," Chloe laughed, giving him a knowing glance.

"Okay, but it is the best one," Philip pulled back to grin devilishly at her.

Chloe playfully nudged him away and picked up Jan's list. "You know, this has got to be some kind of karmic retribution. How did we get Jan and Jason, of all people?"

Philip grabbed a handful of Chloe's hair and began playing with the ends of it. "Beats me."

Chloe lay back on Philip's bed, reading over Jan's list. Philip was propped up on one elbow, still playing with her hair. She had no idea how to make things better at home for Jan. She wasn't in any position to give advice to anyone on how to improve their home lives. Neither was Philip, for that matter. "I think the easiest thing to do here is to focus on Kevin. Shouldn't be too hard to make him cooler. We'll get him some trendy clothes and do a total makeover, make him watch some TV shows, introduce him to cool music. What do you think?"

"That could work. We could invite him to start hanging out with us. We could give him tips on what to do, what to say," Philip offered helpfully, trying to not let on that he was focused solely on Chloe's mouth, wanting to kiss her instead of talking.

"And seeing as how Jan seems to be somewhat interested in Kevin, maybe they'll get together, and he has to treat her infinitely better than Jason would. By Jan dating Kevin we could kill two birds with one stone."

"How could you kill two birds with one stone? I want to know how you'd even kill one bird with one stone," Philip playfully mused.

Chloe gave Philip a disapproving look. "You know what I mean."

"What about Jason?" Philip asked.

"I thought your plan earlier today was a good one. You know, the Kiriakis School of Charm."

"You really want me to teach Jason how to attract girls? I mean, that's a dangerous power. It shouldn't fall into the wrong hands," Philip warned.

"We can both help. You can give him some of your secret tips, I can tell him what things do and don't work," Chloe replied. She reached up and ran her finger along his cheek. "Course, he doesn't have these killer dimples to help him."

Philip lunged for Chloe's fingertips as if he was going to bite her. Chloe quickly pulled her hand away, giggling. "There is one other thing," Chloe said.

"That you worship me?" Philip suggested helpfully.

"Um, no," Chloe responded, laughing. "Jason wants to get an A on his project. That means we'll probably have to help him and Jan in granting their people's wishes."

Philip flopped onto his back. "Of course Jason would ask for a wish that would involve us doing twice as much work. We should probably hook up with them to find out who they've got so that we can help."

"We can do that tomorrow," Chloe mused quietly, moving her hand to the side of Philip's face, caressing it gently.

"So what should we do now?" Philip asked in mock innocence.

"Come here and I'll show you," Chloe smiled. Philip willingly obliged.

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Mimi looked over at Kevin as he sat pouring over various relationship books. She hoped that no one would see them together here at the public library. She had to give him that he was an amazing kisser, but other than that…she really didn't want much to do with him. This project couldn't be over quickly enough for her.

"Fascinating," Kevin suddenly said.

"What?"

"Most failure in communication happens because people are so busy trying to defend themselves that they don't take the time to listen to what their partner is really trying to say. This book recommends 'empathetic listening' which mainly consists of 'I feel' statements."

"Huh? English please. It all sounds geek to me," said a confused Mimi.

Kevin looked up from his book at her. "I'll give you an example. Let's say a husband comes home late for dinner. The wife is furious. She says stuff like 'You're so selfish. All you think about is you. You don't care about me and my feelings.' How does the husband react?"

"He turns around walks back out if he's married to a rag like that," Mimi said.

"Exactly. Now, imagine the scenario if the wife said, 'I feel like I'm not your number one priority right now. I feel like you're putting me second to work. I feel like my feelings aren't being heard right now.' She's in essence saying the same thing, but in a way that her husband doesn't feel threatened or defensive."

A look of understanding passed over Mimi's eyes. "That actually makes sense."

Kevin nodded, excited. "Yes. And then it says that the husband, to prove to his wife that he's really listening to her uses reflective statements. Like after she was done, he would say, 'So what you're saying is that you feel like your emotions and needs are unimportant to me.' By doing that he validates his wife's feelings, making her feel as if she's truly been heard."

"So you're saying we should teach this to Philip and Chloe?"

"Definitely. I think it could be most helpful."

"What about the other wishes? I mean, what can you and I do about Lucas' burns?" Mimi asked.

"I know that Lucas was recently moved to one of the best facilities in the nation. I read that in the paper," Kevin said. "I was thinking I could do some research on the Internet, try to find out if there are any radical treatments going on right now with treating burn victims."

"What about Chloe?" Mimi asked with a sigh of disgust. This girl already had everything. Now she wanted more?

"It seems fairly apparent to me that Philip is the guy of Chloe's dreams. It seems he's the guy of every girl's dreams," Kevin said miserably. Kevin was deeply envious of Philip. Philip had no problems getting girls. Kevin had kissed Jan and Mimi, but that had been because of him helping them in some scheme. He really wished he could find a girl that would like him for him.

"So we need to help Chloe figure that out," Mimi said, drumming her pen on the table. How could Chloe miss something that was staring her right in the face? She and Philip had been going out for over a year. What other proof did Chloe need?

"Yes. And with the opera thing…maybe we can help her fill out an application to Julliard. Oh - I know! We could set up a concert here in Salem, maybe invite some of the people from Julliard to come down and listen to her," Kevin said, excited at the possibility. It might even earn him extra credit.

"We'll see," Mimi smirked. Kevin made it sound as easy as picking up the phone and making a call. "What about Chloe's father?"

"I thought that we could mess around on the computer to find out information there, as well. I'm a fairly decent hacker," Kevin said matter-of-factly.

Mimi raised one eyebrow. "Hacker? Like in the movies?"

"Something like that." Kevin turned the page and began to scan the contents. Good thing he had learned how to speed-read. There was quite a bit of information that could turn out to be helpful to him personally as well as to this project. Why hadn't he thought about that earlier? He never considered doing research on how to get girls. This could put him one step ahead of the rest of the jerks out there.

Mimi knew she should probably read something too, but why should she bother when Kevin was so willing to do all the work? She started to look over the library, studying the people around her. Her attention was diverted to the large window near them, and she began watching people on the sidewalk.

"It is too bad that Philip's mother doesn't have an illness or something. According to my research that sort of thing can help draw a separated couple back together." Kevin continued turning pages and absorbing. "It'll be great. Not only can we use this empathetic listening for Philip and Chloe, but for Philip's parents as well."

"Well, that's going to have to be some great technique seeing as how Mr. Kiriakis is currently making out with Nicole Walker."

Kevin looked up and followed Mimi's gaze. He observed an older man passionately kissing a very blonde and very sexy younger woman. "Variables are to be expected, but this will definitely put a crimp in our plans."

**************************************************

"Hello?" Jan said, irritated.

"Don't you think we should be working on this stupid wish thing?"

"What the hell do you want me to do right now, Jason? I'm in the middle of giving myself a facial. And how am I supposed to make Susan thin? Lock up the Hostess man? Didn't I tell you to not call me on Mondays while I'm doing my facials? And don't you say hello any more?"

"Aw, Jan, is it that time of the month?" Jason smirked.

Jan slammed the phone back down on the receiver and unplugged her phone. That stupid wish thing could wait until tomorrow. She didn't feel like dealing with it at the moment. She turned her stereo back up so that she didn't have to hear her father screaming at her mother.

**************************************************

"And just what do Belle Black and Shawn Brady want?" Mr. Woods asked.

"Belle wants things at home to calm down between her mother and brother, for all the kids at school to get along, and for the boy she likes to like her back," Susan read.

"And Shawn?"

"He wants for his little brother to get better and not have any more health problems, for his family to be left alone, although he doesn't say from what or who. And then he wishes that all his friends' wishes can come true."

Mr. Woods laughed, a deep and rich sound. "No small order there, huh? I guess we should be glad he didn't ask for world peace. But for Mr. Brady to get his last wish we'll probably have to act as 'fairy godmothers' to the other students, ensuring that everyone's wishes get met."

Susan looked over the lists again. While she would never wish any one harm, it was nice to see that people as popular and well liked as Belle and Shawn had problems. Big ones at that. It almost made some of her own problems seem small and insignificant, comparatively. "These sound like really hard wishes to grant, Mr. Woods."

"I suppose it wouldn't be a wish if it was easily fulfilled, would it?" Mr. Woods took the lists and looked them over. "Ah. I think Belle's third wish will be the easiest."

"How can you say that?" Susan asked. "She doesn't even say who the guy is."

Mr. Woods smiled a half-smile. "I know you guys think all teachers are clueless idiots, but the boy that Belle is talking about is Shawn Brady. I've seen the way she looks at him. I've also seen the way he looks at her when she isn't looking at him."

"I have to be honest here, Mr. Woods. I have no experience in the romance department besides what I've seen on television or in the movies," Susan sighed. It was humiliating to have to admit to her teacher that she was a pathetic loser that couldn't get a date.

"I think that could work out nicely. We'll have to play matchmaker here, and I think we'll be able to use that vast knowledge of useless entertainment information that all teens have stored in their brains." Mr. Woods pulled a notepad out of his middle desk drawer and placed it on his desk. "Okay. Let's start brainstorming. How do we get Belle and Shawn to admit their feelings for one another?"

"Well, I saw this movie once where they got locked into a room together and by the end admitted how they were feeling," Susan offered, trying to be helpful. She had to contribute if she wanted to get a good grade."

Mr. Woods wrote it down. "Great idea. What else?"

Susan smiled to herself. This could actually be fun. Those hours of summer soap watching were going to pay off. She'd figure out a way to get Belle and Shawn together.

to be continued...

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