by Melissa Kuch
All of a sudden she was whisked in the head with a flying scrunchie.
Aurora opened her eyes with a start to behold her friend Mary Fray nearly tackling her on the corner.
“Mary, that could have hit me in the eye.”
Mary threw her backpack down onto the ground and stretched up toward the sky, letting out a huge yawn. “Just checking to make sure you were alive. You looked like you were daydreaming in broad daylight. The Inspector might make that illegal. You don’t want to get sent away to Candlewick Prison, do ya? ”
Mary’s thick blonde eyebrows furrowed over her pointy nose and contrasted with her dyed black hair. Her overgrown bangs nearly covered her big owl eyes. A rose tattoo etched into her skin on the top left shoulder blade. She refused to wear the entire school uniform, always managing to find a way to add a touch of her personality into the structured outfit mandated by the school board. Today it was mismatched socks, the required orange sock on her left leg and a knee-length red-and-white polka dot sock on her right.
Aurora laughed as her friend tried to blow a bubble with some bubblegum she’d probably stolen from Ernie Levitz, a freshman who’d had a crush on Mary since the first grade.
“First of all, you only get arrested if you get caught outside at the Sacred Hour, like Boreas Stockington. That’s why he ended up in prison.”
“Yeah, well, he has always been begging for attention.” Mary chewed and chewed. They started walking down Main Street toward Candlewick High School. While Mary was trying to keep up with her friend’s long strides, she said, “I wonder how Boreas did it.”
Aurora shrugged, wiping a bead of sweat that was dripping down her forehead. “Did what?”
“How he got out of Candlewick Prison alive, silly. I wish he would tell someone already.”
Aurora shrugged and then froze as she looked up. On the opposite side of the street was none other than Hattie Pearlton walking arm in arm with Jonathan Stockington. Jonathan stood tall with his long honey-blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, his uniform pressed and perfectly tailored over his physique. He had bright turquoise eyes, high cheekbones, and a silver stud earring in his left ear. His hand was latched onto Hattie’s, and she was standing beside him like she had won the lottery. Her perfect hair cascaded down her back, and she wore a white tank top; her uniform skirt hiked up over the knee so it accentuated her slender legs. She was encircled by a group of the popular students, who were gossiping and every now and then turning in Aurora’s direction, pointing and laughing. Aurora looked away then turned her back on them because just thinking about what they were saying was enough to make her nauseous. She was glad Mary was walking with her. She always felt safer with Mary around.
Mary blew another big pink bubble that exploded, causing little bits of bubblegum to get stuck across her lips and cheeks.
“I wonder what Jonathan Stockington sees in that dimwitted Barbie doll.”
Aurora blushed at the mere mention of Jonathan’s name. Aurora had had a crush on Jonathan Stockington since the third grade. He was highly renowned at their school, being captain of the high school football, baseball and basketball teams. He was student body president and even was the lead in the high school musical Anything Goes. Aurora, who couldn’t sing or dance for the life of her, actually tried out for the play in the hopes of getting a chance to be close to him. Of course she didn’t make it after making a fool of herself attempting to do the Charleston dance routine and falling flat on her butt in front of the entire theater club.
“I think I have given up on him ever knowing I’m alive.”
Mary pushed her friend playfully. “Please. You can do so much better than a Stockington. You know that boy Harold Horsegraves has been itching to ask you out.”
Aurora made a gagging expression, and they laughed as they picked up the pace, realizing they were running late. Main Street consisted of cobblestone sidewalks with lamp posts on each corner. They passed the Candlewick Library, a big colonial-style brick building with high security surrounding its perimeter since it was only to be utilized by the Common Good officials. The public was not permitted to enter the grounds, but Aurora couldn’t help but wonder what they were hiding within their walls.
They passed little Fanny Sue’s Bakeshop, which smelled of cupcakes and croissants, and the scent made their stomachs wish to linger a moment or two longer. They ran passed the beautiful thirty-story white marble Candlewick Government building where Inspector Herald and his Common Good officials were stationed. It was the most modern edifice in the entire county since it had been rebuilt after it had nearly burned to the ground ten years earlier. The flag was already raised at half-staff in honor of the Independence Day of the Last Straw, which would be celebrated that weekend. The orange flag featured an indigo stitch outline of the country with THE IDEAL spelled out in bold letters in the dead center of the flag.
Aurora paused for a minute to look at the government building. Her father worked somewhere on the fifth floor, but she was always prohibited from visiting. Inspector Herald worked in the office at the very top of the building, the penthouse, overlooking all of Candlewick and the Atlantic Ocean. It was the only office that had a circular balcony surrounding it and if Aurora strained her eyes she could make out the outline of the telescope that, rumor had it, was used by the Inspector to gaze down onto the graveyard of those who had fallen in the Last Straw Protest.
The Last Straw Protest was fifteen years earlier when the religious protestors had one final stand against the IDEAL and the Common Good government. It resulted in a massacre, with many innocent people killed, and caused the collapse of the protests across the country. With no one else to interfere, the IDEAL, along with Inspector Herald and the Common Good Party, were able to rise to power; the right to freedom of speech and religion were abolished for the greater cause. The IDEAL said that if everyone conformed to one idea, then there would be no fights or wars over opposing thoughts or beliefs. No one ever saw the IDEAL. Inspector Herald from Candlewick was the IDEAL’s second in command, ensuring that the country followed the IDEAL’s rules and teachings or paid the consequences.
Aurora gazed through the thick barbed wire fence to behold the line of gravestones that were barely visible from view. Aurora’s father had told her that even IMAM, the leader of the religious rebellion, was buried there. He had been the one who had organized the Last Straw Protest, and he was executed by the Inspector himself for his crimes of conspiring against the country. It was rumored that the Inspector liked to keep the rebel’s gravestone there as a reminder that it was he who had crushed the leader of the rebellion all those years before and that he would not hesitate to stop anyone else who tried to rise up against him.
Aurora took a peek through the fence to catch a glimpse of the infamous leader’s grave, a game a lot of the other students played when they were younger. She thought she saw a glimpse of the pink marble stone and of a woman planting a forever flower at the grave site. The woman was wearing a dark cape over her body, but a few blonde strands were whisked out from beneath the hood. She looked to be digging. Aurora tried to get a better look, but then Mary’s voice called out, “Come on, Aurora, you slowpoke. We’re going to be late.”
When Aurora turned back, the woman had vanished. A cool, brisk wind crawled over her skin, and immediately Aurora ran away from the government building. Adjacent to that building was the Candlewick Prison, and she did not want to linger too long and become a permanent resident.
They were about a block and a half away from the school when Aurora shuddered at the sight of Joshua’s Laundromat boarded up with a sign “For Rent” blasted on the front in red paint. There was graffiti over the entire store with illegible symbols that Aurora had never seen before.
“I can’t believe Joshua’s Laundromat is out of business. We’ve been coming here as long as I can remember,” she said nostalgically.
Mary took her red lipstick out of her purse, knelt down, and made a mark on the door of what resem
bled a star, but more like two triangles superimposed.
“What are you doing?” Aurora cried out, trying to cover her friend from sight.
“Joshua was my family’s friend. This is a symbol for our people.”
Aurora took her friend’s hand and yanked her to her feet. “Mary, I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you could get into loads of trouble for drawing things like that. What if someone saw you?”
“So what? I am so sick and tired of everyone looking away when something like this happens.”
Aurora stared at her friend in disbelief. “Something like what? The store went out of business. It happens.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Mary leaned in close, her eyes looking troubled as she whispered, “I’m talking about the disappearances.”
Aurora felt her body go numb as she stared again at the boarded up store, and her mind started racing about the others on their street that had suddenly vanished out of nowhere. The local grocer Mr. Lee, the fisherman Benny Breezeworthy, and even the Mulberrys. They had all moved without a word. The newspaper had a story for them all, but they were never seen or heard from again. Mary was right. There were many disappearances that nobody questioned. The only one who had returned after disappearing was Boreas Stockington.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the school bell, and both Mary and Aurora dashed as fast as they could toward the school building to make it to their first class, which was science. Their teacher, Mrs. Xiomy, would not be happy they were late.
Mrs. Xiomy silenced the class with a loud chemistry explosion that shook the entire classroom and caused a hole in the ceiling. The whole front row was whisked back and nearly thrown from their chairs. Mrs. Xiomy removed her goggles, and her bright blonde hair stuck straight up from the aftermath of the explosion.
“Good morning, class,” she said in her high soprano voice with a slight Middle Eastern accent. Though eccentric at times, she was one of the better teachers at the school. “That’s what we call another example of Newton’s Third Law of Motion. For every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. Can anyone explain what caused that explosion?”
She pointed at Hattie Pearlton, who stood there befuddled from the explosion with a spilled bottle of Diet Coke on her desk. “You’re trying to kill me!” she shrieked, trying to get some of the soda off her tank top. “This will never come out!”
“That will teach you to wear your school uniform to class, Miss Pearlton. Anyone else?”
Aurora’s hand shot up and once called upon said, “You created a chemical reaction mixing the Alka-Seltzer tablets and water. This chemical reaction causes the massive buildup of pressure. Eventually the gas pressure needs to be released, so the rocket is pushed upward out of the film canister as the gases are exhausted downward. Now the rocket is lodged in the ceiling or maybe somewhere in Mr. Smith’s math class.”
Mrs. Xiomy amethyst eyes gleamed. “That is correct.” She turned to the blackboard and started writing, and Mary patted Aurora on the back.
Just then the classroom door shot open, and in walked Principal Borscht, a short, rotund man who resembled an oompa loompa, followed by Boreas Stockington. Boreas was marched to the front of the classroom, his thick black hair gelled up and his school uniform on backward. Boreas was also a sophomore at Candlewick High but barely attended class and, unlike his brother Jonathan, was considered a failure by most teachers and students. Boreas was the polar opposite of his family lineage; where his father and brother strove for perfection, Boreas did not. Except for tennis. He had agreed to join the team, and to everyone’s shock he was really good. Aurora had actually watched some of the games when she was hiding from Hattie Pearlton’s wrath behind the football bleachers after school. Boreas was the best player on the team, with a serve of seventy miles an hour that crushed his opponents. His broad shoulders, defined arms, and six-feet-tall stature also helped his game. She remembered hearing some of the students in class say they actually had a chance to make postseason this year. Many girls thought he was cute, except for the scowl plastered on his face.
Principal Borscht fixed his dress shirt collar, his face plum-red, and said in his thick Russian accent, “Now think about what I said, Boreas. This is the first time in ten years we could make the playoffs, and your ego is not going to take this away from me or this school. You have twenty-four hours to think this over, or else I have no qualms with putting you in detention for the rest of the school year.”
The entire class erupted in disbelief over Boreas’s act of betrayal to the school, and even Aurora turned to Mary in shock, but she was busy scribbling on a piece of loose-leaf paper.
The Principal went up to Mrs. Xiomy and whispered something in her ear. Mrs. Xiomy’s face went pale, and she said softly, “Please excuse me for five minutes. I will be right back. And no touching the chemicals while I am away or there will be hell to pay when I return.”
The door shut behind them, and instantly Hattie stood up and moved her hands like she was parting the sea and strutted toward Aurora with an evil twinkle in her eye. Before Aurora even had time to react, Hattie had swooped down and knocked the binder off her desk; it crashed onto the floor, her notes scattered under her desk.
“That’s what you get for making me look bad in front of Mrs. Xiomy.”
Aurora felt the whole classroom staring at her, and she sputtered, “I don’t know what you are talking about, Hattie.” She slowly knelt down to pick up the papers but was self-conscious, as if her pants were going to split down the seam.
“You know exactly what you did,” Hattie bellowed in her nasal voice. “You had to show off in front of the whole class and describe the explosion in perfect detail when you know perfectly well I had no idea what she was talking about.”
“So you just looked bad on your own,” Mary chimed in, now standing up. Though a mere height five foot one, she held her head up high, and for a second Hattie looked inferior.
“Stay out of this, Fray,” Hattie exclaimed, regaining her composure once she realized her posse was still backing her. “I don’t know why you hang out with Fatty Alvarez anyway.”
Mary was still chewing her gum, and before anyone had a second to blink, she spit the gum out of her mouth. Hattie ducked at the last minute, and the huge wad of gum ended up going into the hair of Boreas Stockington. Mary and Aurora both held their breath as he pulled the sticky substance out of his hair, crumbled it up into a ball, and held it in his fist as if he were ready to strike.
Instead of throwing it at Mary, he stuck it aggressively under Mrs. Xiomy’s desk, followed by a thunderous applause from the cronies. He wiped his hand on the side of his jeans and then sat on the edge of the desk, staring so intently at Aurora that she felt stupid as she continued putting the papers back on her desk and trying to get them organized into their proper order.
Hattie let out a giant humph and retreated back over to her circle of friends.
Aghast, Aurora turned to Mary and whispered, “I can’t believe you stood up for me in front of Hattie. I don’t know what to say.”
Mary smiled. “You would have done the same thing for me.”
Aurora resumed putting the sheets of paper back into her binder, feeling like a coward and wondering if she would have hid under the desk instead of standing up for her friend. She clicked the binder clips shut and put her face in her hands.
Hattie marched over to Boreas and demanded, “Where the hell were you this morning? Jonathan wants to talk to you.”
Boreas put his legs on his desk and laughed outright. “I’m sure he does, along with the rest of the tennis team, my coach, my dad, and probably the whole damn school.”
Another boy named Henry, who was on the tennis team, cried out, “You’d better not quit the team, Boreas. If I were you I’d march back into the principal’s office and say you changed your mind.”
Henry pushed Boreas, who took it without any resistance. Aurora thought there was going to be an
other fight, and Mrs. Xiomy was nowhere to be found.
“Look, I quit the tennis team. It’s my business why I did, so just leave me alone.”
“Do you think about anyone but yourself? We’re talking about making the playoffs!”
Boreas slammed his fist against the desk. “It’s not my fault all of you suck.”
Henry pushed the desk out of the way, the legs screeching against the floor like chalk on the blackboard, and Boreas stood up as if waiting for the punch. Henry looked bewildered, not expecting Boreas to actually fight, but then before he could make a fist the door flew open and five Common Good officials marched into the room. Everyone jumped back into their seats like robots as the officials filed in, their metallic badges glistening on the right side of their uniforms. The slogan The IDEAL for Unity was embroidered alongside their sleeve. They marched in unison down the aisle, their shadows engulfing the light in the room, and their footsteps sounded like drums beating mercilessly in mechanical rhythm. Nobody dared take a breath as their shadows passed their desks. They stopped marching right in front of Mary’s desk. The front guard spoke in a monotone voice, “Mary Fray, we need to take you in to headquarters for questioning.”