I frowned. I had tried so hard the past few years to avoid someone seeing me at my mom’s diner. Now it was happening, and I didn’t have the energy to come up with an excuse.
“Yeah,” I said with a shrug, “I do sometimes. My mom owns this place.”
James took a look around and nodded appreciatively. “Cool. I never knew that.” He turned toward the door. “See ya tomorrow. And tell your mom she’s got the best grilled cheese in town!” He called back before the door closed behind him.
I glanced down at the sandwich I was making, which was completely burned on one side. I promptly threw it in the trash and started on another one.
I blew out a breath. Someone had found out about me working at the diner, and it really hadn’t been a big deal. I mean, it was James Huckston, who was pretty laid back anyway, but it wasn’t nearly as mortifying as I always imagined it would be. Maybe Frog had been right, maybe I had been worrying all this time for nothing. I winced. There he was again in my subconscious. It seemed like I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I knew I needed to move on, but I couldn’t shake the desire to find out what had happened to him. I needed some sort of closure. Suddenly, I had an idea. It was a little crazy, but if it would help me get myself back together, it would be worth it.
*****
I sat in my truck, staring out at Frog’s house. I had spent the entire day trying to talk myself out of going there, and yet, right after school, I had made my way over to his neighborhood. I was just hoping for some answers, but I didn’t realize I would be so nervous. It wasn’t like I was scared that I’d find dead bodies inside, but what if I knocked on the door and Frog answered and said something like, “Dang, Kayla, could you leave me alone already?” I chuckled at the thought. Frog had always been so nice, I really couldn’t imagine him acting like that. I was also mildly alarmed that I would rather find Frog dead than find him annoyed with me.
Finally, I slowly got out of my truck and walked up to the house. I took a deep breath and made myself ring the doorbell. The next few seconds were agony, and I considered running back to my truck multiple times. But after about a minute of nobody responding, I started to get curious. I walked around to the side of the house and peered in the window. Everything looked immaculate from what I could tell. All the floors and surfaces were clean and the furniture was perfectly placed. It was almost unnatural. It definitely didn’t look like it had been lived in recently. The only thing that seemed a little odd was a large camera mounted on the ceiling in the kitchen.
“Can I help you?”
I gasped and jumped away from the window, nearly running into a woman whose hair was pulled back so tight it made her face looked stretched.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you coming!” I said quickly, stumbling over my words.
The woman glared at me. “Can I help you?” She repeated.
I glanced down and noticed that she was carrying a For Sale sign under her arm. “Oh! Are you a realtor?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am for now, even though it’s so beneath me.”
I frowned, a bit confused by her odd response. “Okay, well, do you know what happened to the family that used to live here?”
She narrowed her eyes, almost as if she were trying to see through me. After several moments of her scrutinizing me, she lifted her chin. “I do. But I’m not at liberty to divulge that information to strangers.”
My heart soared. “Could you at least tell me-”
“Young lady,” she cut in, “if you are not interested in purchasing the house, I will need to ask you to leave, as you are trespassing on private property.”
“But I’m not a stranger, I was a friend of-”
“Do I need to call the police?”
All the hope I had just felt of finding something out melted away. I knew this lady wasn’t going to tell me anything.
“No, ma’am, that won’t be necessary,” I said glumly. I trudged back to my truck and watched the woman place the For Sale sign in the yard before I drove away. At least I had discovered that Frog had moved away, but I still wasn’t satisfied. Why did they leave and where did they go? Why didn’t they tell anyone? Why was that woman acting so strange? Something wasn’t right, and I desperately wanted to know what it was.
Chapter Four
Frog
“Ah! Make it stop! Make it stop!”
In the next moment, Zane sprayed some kind of foam on my face, and the burning sensation subsided.
“It’s a good thing you were wearing those goggles!” Zane exclaimed. “Otherwise, you might have lost your eyebrows!” He added gleefully.
I grunted and went to work wiping the foam off of my face. For the past hour, Zane had been showing me all the applications of Gulbranak, and more than once I had felt my life was in danger. So far, I had learned that the greenish metal could power the entire castle, slice through a boulder, be programmed to take on different forms, and spontaneously combust when it came into contact with any fruit. Yeah, fruit. Who would have thought?
Once I cleared the foam from my face I watched as Zane took a sample of boiling hot, liquified Galbranak, climbed up a step ladder, and adhered it to the ceiling of my room. He then embedded the end of a thick chain into the metal and held it there for a few seconds until the Galbranak cooled and hardened. On the other end of the chain was a large steel bowl, which was suspended about 3 feet up from the floor.
“Watch this,” Zane said, waggling his eyebrows in apparent anticipation. He activated his favorite robot, a squatty contraption that he called Mister Smee. The robot began to take 100 pound weights from a pile in the corner and transport them into the steel bowl. Zane really could have just asked me to put the weights in, but I knew how much he loved to use his robots.
“Isn’t this amazing!” Zane called out to me as the robot put the fourth weight in the bowl. “There’s nothing else like it!”
It was true. Galbranak truly was a miraculous metal. No wonder the Jumerum wanted to get their hands on it. I looked up and noticed that the ceiling beams were starting to groan with the weight.
“Hey Zane,” I said, pointing to the beams, “maybe you ought to stop.”
He looked up and sighed regretfully. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I just wish I could show you the full amount. Just one gram of Gulbranak can hold up to 1100 pounds!”
Just then the door to my room opened and my mother stepped in. “Sorry to cut the demonstration short, Zane, but I need to talk to Frederick.”
Zane’s face fell, but he nodded. “Sure thing, Mrs. V. Just let me break all this down and get it out of here.”
Zane operated the robot as it took the weights out of the bowl. Then he climbed up and used some kind of blow torch to melt the Gulbranak and clean it off of the ceiling. I don’t know how he didn’t start everything on fire. Finally, Zane had the robot take each weight, one by one, and place it on a cart in the hallway outside my room.
I stepped toward the pile of weights. “Here, let me help.”
Zane held out a hand, stopping me. “No no, Mister Smee can do it.”
My mother and I watched in awkward silence while the robot laboriously took each weight out to the hallway. After what seemed like an hour, the weights were all loaded on the cart and Zane packed up the Gulbranak and his tools and stepped out the door. “We’ll finish tomorrow night,” he said cheerily. “Wait till you see what this stuff does for body odor!” He said as he waved goodbye.
I shut the door behind him and looked at my mother. “How can you stand that kid?”
She only smiled and motioned for me to sit down at a small table in the corner. She had always been very tactful and diplomatic, but now I knew that these characteristics were a result of her being the queen of a small country. It had taken a while for me to adjust to the fact that my mom was not a business consultant and that my dad was not some jerk that had left his family ten years ago. Well, in reality, he had left us, but for more noble reasons than I had previously
believed. He had left to protect us.
“Frederick,” my mom began as she sat down across from me, “I wanted to tell you about an important event that will be happening at the end of the month.”
“Where’s dad?” I interrupted. I’d seen very little of my father over the past view weeks, and I was a little annoyed by it. I mean, sure, he was the in charge of the country, but I’d hoped that after being away for a decade he might want to spend some time with his son.
“He’s working on a plan to capture the Jumerum,” my mom replied, stiffening slightly in her chair.
“Can I help?” I asked. “It seems like I should be doing something useful.”
My mother sighed. “Frederick, you need to be eased into this. That’s why we have you training with Alm and Zane. You’ll have a chance to participate in these affairs soon enough, but for now, just take it one day at a time. You haven’t even seen the whole country yet!”
I rolled my eyes. “Mom, I’m pretty sure I could walk around the whole island and visit all the villages in a couple days. It’s tiny!”
Something sparked in my mom’s eyes, but she just shook her head. “What I came here to talk to you about,” she said forcefully, “is your presentation gala.”
“My what?”
“Your presentation gala,” she repeated. “It’s a celebration where you’re formally introduced into Gulbranian society.”
My mouth went dry. “Like a debutante ball?”
My mother rubbed her temples. “If that’s the way you’d like to think of it, sure.”
“Mom,” I said, looking her in the eye, “that sounds horrific.”
“Why?” She replied in exasperation. “It’s a party all in your honor! It’s for people to see who you are!”
I winced. All I could imagine was me standing up on a stage with hundreds of people gawking at me. I’d had enough of that in high school. My mom must have read my expression, because she reached out and took my hand.
“Frederick, it will be fine. The Gulbranians are going to love you. You’re their prince, and you don’t look the way you used to-”
I felt indignation flood through me. “It doesn’t matter what I look like, mom!” I exclaimed. “A room full of people staring at you is awkward, no matter who you are!”
“They won’t be staring...” she trailed off and then took a deep breath. “It’s happening, and you will enjoy it,” she said with a tone of finality, as if she could force me to be excited about it. “But before that occurs, we need to address a few things. You need to be fitted for your royal suit, you need to go through etiquette training, and tomorrow you’re going to meet with the press.”
My head was swimming. “The press? So, someone’s going to interview me or something?”
My mom gave me an uncharacteristic smirk. “Something like that.”
I suddenly didn’t have the energy to argue. I slumped back in my chair and stared out the window at the darkening night sky.
“I know this is a huge adjustment for you, Frederick,” my mother said, standing, “but everything is going to be fine.”
It was such a vague, cliche statement, but I knew that she meant it. By the time I turned my gaze away from the window, my mom was already gone. I crossed the room and fell onto my bed, picking up my phone and settling into what had become a nightly ritual: reading through all of Kayla’s texts and talking myself out of texting her back. She had probably forgotten about me by now, so there was really no point, but I still found enjoyment in remembering those times when we had been friends, when she might have even cared about me.
I switched over to one of the school’s social media groups and saw something that made me feel nauseous. Someone had posted a video of Milo stuck to a chair in chemistry lab. While he tried to pry the chair off of his pants, the students around him just laughed. The more I watched it, the more awful I felt. It wasn’t like I had a choice in leaving Indiana, but I still felt guilty for leaving Milo alone there. A thought crossed my mind and I sat up in bed. There was really no reason for me not to text Milo. I didn’t have to tell him everything, but I could at least apologize for leaving and offer some moral support from afar. Plus, it would be nice to be in touch with a friend.
Hey, sorry I didn’t respond to your texts, I wrote, I lost my phone for a while and I just got it back. My mom’s work transferred her to Gulbrania and we had to leave pretty quick. I frowned. That was almost true. Anyway, I hope you’re doing okay.
I read through it once before I sent it. It was a pretty lame text, especially for someone who I hadn’t corresponded with in over a month, but I didn’t know what else to say. I stared at my phone for a few more minutes and then let my mind wander to things like the Gulbranak, the Jumerum, and the presentation gala my mom had just mentioned. The more I thought about that impending event, the more it seemed like it was going to be an entirely different type of torture.
Chapter Five
Kayla
I twisted my hair around my fingers while Mr. Jacobs droned on about some rare metal found in northern Europe. I generally tried to tune out in world cultures class because it reminded me too much of Frog. I was frustrated that my little trip to his house had only added more to the mystery instead of giving me the closure I was seeking. I kept telling myself to just forget about him, that I didn’t need to waste my energy thinking about the kind, funny guy that had overwhelmed my emotions despite his underwhelming appearance. But the more I tried to drive him out of my mind, the more he invaded my subconscious.
The bell rang and I took my time packing up my stuff. By the time I left the classroom, there was some kind of commotion in the hallway. As I walked toward the chaos, I saw that a large group of students was gathered around Pete Dickenson and Brian Gibbs, who were throwing a lunch bag back and forth, keeping it out of the reach of an overweight boy who was frantically trying to reclaim it.
“Here piggy! Come get your slop back!” Brian Gibbs called out, waving the bag in front of the boy before launching it over to Pete.
Most of the students surrounding the melee erupted into laughter, but a few looked uncomfortable. The spectacle spurred me to action, and before I knew it, I had stepped into the middle of the circle behind Pete Dickenson and snatched the bag out of his hands.
“What is wrong with you guys?” I exclaimed, glaring between Pete and Brian. “Do you think this is funny?”
“Um, yeah,” Pete replied with a casual shrug, but his expression held a trace of insecurity.
“Honestly? How could you be so barbaric?” I shouted, giving the lunch bag back to the boy with more force than I had intended. “What if it were you? Do you know what it feels like?” Pete, Brian, and the rest of the students in the crowd just stared at me. I was kind of losing it, but I didn’t care. The more bullying I witnessed, the more it infuriated me. “These are the kinds of things you did to Frog, and where did that get you? Did it make you feel good?”
“Who’s Frog?” Brian asked.
I felt my face flush with anger. “Who’s Frog?” I yelled. “How in the world do you not remember him? He was the tall, skinny guy everybody picked on! You turned his skin green!”
“Oh yeah,” Brian said, chuckling, “that was epic.”
“No it wasn’t!” I screamed. I noticed several people take a step back from me. “Why can’t you guys just look past someone’s appearance and get to know them! Who are you to decide that someone is beneath you, that someone deserves that kind of treatment? What benefit do you get from tormenting people when you’re not even going to remember them?”
Everyone was silent. Someone near the back of the crowd was taking a video on their phone. I was pretty sure a few of the students thought I was going crazy. Maybe I was. A few seconds later the bell rang, signaling the start of the next period, and everyone dispersed. The overweight boy murmured an embarrassed “thank you,” as he slipped by, and soon everyone had left the hallway except for Milo Kowalski, who was grinning at me.
; “I knew you liked him,” he said, nodding knowingly. “You and I need to talk sometime.” Then he turned and disappeared down the hall.
*****
I was absentmindedly watching the afternoon shadows move across my kitchen counter when my mom came in the door.
“Hey, you’re home early,” I said nonchalantly.
My mom dropped her bag on the counter and came and stood right next to me. “Kayla, I just got a call from the vice principal.”
“Oh yeah?” I still couldn’t bring myself to express any emotion.
“She told me you had some kind of outburst at school?”
I sighed. “It wasn’t a big deal. I just yelled at a couple guys because they were bullying this kid.”
My mother huffed. “Mrs. Youngblood also told me that your grades have been slipping and that you haven’t been completing any of your assignments.”
I shrugged and focused on a scratch on the countertop.
“Kayla!” My mom exclaimed, grabbing me by my shoulders and forcing me to face her. “You are scaring me! I’ve noticed that you’ve been acting strange, but I just stepped back to give you space. This apathy is so uncharacteristic and I can’t stand it anymore! Please tell me what’s wrong!”
As I looked at my mom, nearly frantic with worry, something in me snapped. Every emotion I had been holding back for the past several weeks broke through my carefully crafted indifference and soon I was bawling into my mother’s shoulder. Through tears and sniffles, I told her about everything that happened at the homecoming dance, about how Wyatt had assaulted me and how Frog had come to miraculously get Wyatt away from me. My whole body shook as I recounted the events of that night, and I realized that holding in the secret for all those weeks had been eating away at my self worth and determination. As difficult as it was to tell my mom about it, I felt a small sense of freedom, like a weight being lifted off of my heart.
My mom cried with me and held me for a long time. When she finally pulled away, I could see the distress in her eyes.
Prince of Gulbrania Page 11