Cassandra stepped out of the cafeteria when she saw her friend Jazzy rushing toward her.

“What’s wrong?” Cassandra asked. Jazzy looked worried and Jazzy was never worried. She was one of the happiest people she knew.

“It’s not me. Have you seen Yvette?”  

“No.”

“She’s on the back patio. You need to talk to her.” With that Jazzy rushed off.

Cassandra checked her phone. She had a few minutes before classes started. She set out towards the patio. This can’t be good, she thought to herself.

Yvette was sitting alone. Her phone pinged and she made no effort to check it. Cassandra walked slowly toward her best friend, not knowing what to expect.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

Yvette shook her head with a worried look on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

Yvette took a deep breath. “I don’t have enough money for prom.”

“You’ve been making so much money baby sitting. Last time we talked about prom everything was going great.”

“I just lost my best paying family. They’re moving.”

“But you had extra. And you can find another family.”

Yvette took another deep breath. “I sort of spent some of my prom money. Money is tight and I bought my little brother some expensive art supplies. Now, I don’t have enough. What am I going to do?”

Cassandra nodded. She understood. She would have done the same thing. “We will find a way. We always do.”

Yvette shook her head. She looked as if she had given up all hope.

Before Cassandra could say anything more, a teacher tapped the window. “We’d better hurry or we’ll be late.”

The two headed off to their next class.

***

Cassandra didn’t have another chance to talk to Yvette. By the time she got home her head was spinning. She knew she couldn’t help Yvette. She wasn’t sure she had enough money for prom either. Her dog walking business recently lost two good paying clients.

When she arrived home, she rushed to her room with one thought in her mind: I’ve got to talk to Quark. Quark, the Quantum Jumping Frog, was her teacher and her mentor. He lived in the void, the zero-point field.

She tried to settle on her meditation cushion. She focused on slowing her breathing, but she couldn’t calm her mind. She kept at it though, always bringing herself back to her breath when she realized she was distracted.

Finally, she was startled to hear a familiar voice. “Stop spinning.”

“Quark?”

“Of course, it’s me. Now stop spinning. I’m getting dizzy.”

Just hearing Quark’s voice calmed her. Quark listened carefully as she told him what happened with Yvette.

When she finished, Quark said, “I guess you can manifest the money in a different way.”

“You make it sound so easy. I know something about manifesting, but Yvette doesn’t. She’s the one who needs help.”

“It is easy and you can teach her.” Quark grinned.

“No! I can’t teach anybody. I barely know how myself.” Cassandra floated backward.

“Just like I taught you – you can teach Yvette. And remember the most recent point I covered.”

“Yes. I remember. It’s easier to manifest when you help more people. Not just yourself.”

Cassandra heard a door slam in the 3D world. “Gotta go. Mom’s home.”

***

Cassandra and Yvette settled into a table at Sonic. “I’m going to teach you how to manifest.”

Yvette looked confused and then she smiled. “Is this why you seem so lucky?”

“Yes. And you can be lucky too. It’s pretty easy to describe, but sometimes it takes a little while to get it tuned in.”

Yvette nodded, eager to learn more.

“First, you decide on what you want to manifest. In our case it’s going to the prom in style. Next, you imagine the two of us at the prom feeling fabulous. Finally, you stay open to receiving what you desire.”

“Okay. That sounds like something I can do.”

“Now, here’s the hard part. You can’t worry or think about all the ways you won’t get to the prom in style.”

“That is the hard part. I keep thing about how awful I will feel if I don’t get to go to prom. Or if I can’t afford the dress and shoes I want.”

Cassandra guided Yvette through a visualization exercise. “Now, remember to include both of us. It’s always easier to manifest what you want when you include more people.”

Yvette had a puzzled look on her face. “Walk me through it again.”

Cassandra explained in greater detail the importance of putting yourself in the end state, as though it had already happened. And emphasized feeling the emotions and being grateful for it.

“Imagine how thrilled we’ll be when the money we want shows up. We’ll be jumping up and down with excitement, especially because we’ll know we created it!”

Yvette smiled. “I think I’ve got it.”

***

Cassandra and Yvette stood with a small crowd of people. “They’re going to start drawing the winners any minute now. Have you got your mother’s ticket?”

Yvette nodded. She had her eyes closed. Cassandra knew she was visualizing. She squeezed her friend’s hand to let her know she was visualizing too.

“Okay. There’s one more winner. Keep imagining.”

A voice from the stage called out, “Now for our grand prize winner. You will receive all these great gifts from our downtown merchants plus a generous cash prize. And the winner is … Carla Pierce.”

Yvette’s eyes popped open. She squealed and rushed toward the stage.

***

“My mom said we could share the prize money. Why do you always need to do the numbers? I mean, it’s not math class.”

“I have something in mind and I just need to make sure it will work out.”

Yvette shrugged her shoulders. She knew from experience that there was no way she could stop Cassandra. She loved numbers and physics and all that kind of stuff.

“Okay. I think this will work. Remember when I told you that it is easier to manifest when you include more people. I think we have enough money for three.”

“Three?”

“I’ve been visualizing you, me, and the new girl Linda. We are all at the prom. We could ask her to join us. It would be fun.”

Yvette hugged her best friend. “You are the most amazing friend ever. Let’s ask her.”

Stay tuned for more adventures with Cassandra and Quark, the Quantum Jumping Frog.