Sunnyside Up with Red Ketchup

by Andrews, Ashley

  As she emerged from Zane's bedroom and headed down the stairs, in between Casper and Seth, she noticed that everyone's heads turned in shock and awe. She didn't entirely get why. Was it because the boys looked so amazing in their tuxedos that even other boys thought they looked beautiful?

  Well, the expressions on the girl’s faces were ones of hatred. Those she understood. But they made her nervous. It made her swallow a lump that had risen in her throat.

  Maybe it was her imagination.

  Walking through the dorm, with Zane only one footstep away from her, sent a small shot of victory through her body. She was getting there—slowly. She was almost his friend and that would make it easier for her to stay by his side and ensure his safety.

  Astonished eyes followed our strange quartet and she continued walking amongst the tall, beautiful people, unaware that every single pair of eyes was focused entirely on her. She didn't hear the whisper that arose after they'd left, the rumors that were beginning to surface. Red Hart—the innocent, boyish—girl, had been accepted, whether that acceptance had been intentional...or not.

  Chapter 6: Silver

  They entered through the back. She had insisted on using the front, just like all the other kids had been doing, but Casper had literally dragged her with them, refusing to let go until they went in the back door. They were backstage and had an amazing view of the performance area. The performances tonight would range from dancing to playing five instruments at once.

  Swallowing, she noticed the vast amount of people that had gathered at the base of the stage. There must have been at least a few hundred. And she had never had the confidence to even share her talent with the agents at the Headquarters. Going in front of all these kids would be difficult.

  The bustling crowd fell silent as Leo, the camp manager, stepped onto the stage. She barely held back a gasp. It was her first time seeing him, but he was almost as stunning as the trio sitting beside her. His startling red hair was an amazingly unique feature. It was spiked at the back and he had two long pieces of hair that had been straightened on either side of his head. His bangs were all pushed to the right, the tendrils brushing against his eyebrows. Kind of like hers did. He had a sparkling smile, also.

  "Welcome, campers! I'd just like to congratulate the many new members that either had the guts to put themselves forward in the competition, or for earning their right to be here! Congratulations." A loud applause went around the hall.

  “I would also like to announce, that for this year, the show will include a little excitement for our members." He paused for dramatic effect. "Each camper will receive votes based on their performance. The campers at the bottom shall have to carry out a punishment." A sadistic smirk spread across the mesmerizing face, but she was too busy controlling her stomach to notice. A...competition?

  There was no clapping. Just silence. Leo placed his hands on his hips, sticking out his chest proudly.

  She swallowed as a tension throbbed in the air, almost choking her.

  Competitive tension.

  "The three judges are camp veterans who won’t be participating in this competition."

  With surprise, she noticed that Rupert was seated amongst them. He didn't seem to care about the mixed reaction and glares sent his way.

  Leo's grin widened and he clapped his hands together. "Anyway. On with the show!"

  There was no clapping as he exited the stage. She swallowed again and moved back from the curtain to sit down next to the three boys, who were sitting there calmly and talking amongst themselves.

  Only one of them seemed to notice her scared expression and he rose from his chair to tower over her.

  "Hey, you look pretty pale. You alright?" Casper bent down to her level and she lifted her gaze from the floor, looking up to his face. She was going to say that she was always pale, but didn't trust her voice, so nodded her head instead.

  He grinned, showing his dimples and placing a soft hand on her head. "Good," then he moved away to sit with the other two boys, who were staring at her with deep intensity. She didn't notice.

  The show consisted of minute long performances, one right after the other. It was quick and simple. One off, one on. Mostly it was singing, dancing, or instrument playing. And all of the performances were amazing.

  The show was split into two sections. First, Royal Haven performed. Then, the next day, Royal Nature would perform. Royal Haven's combatants were few in number, which was why they went first.

  Zane was the first to perform, she would follow him.

  He stepped out onto the stage, not an ounce of nervousness showing in his body language.

  She was envious. He was holding a mic, so she assumed that he would be singing. That was certainly a surprise.

  The moment the first words left his mouth, she was captivated.

  'They say you'll know,

  When you really find The One.

  But it's hard to tell with the damage that's been done.

  But I'd like to say that it's your fault.

  But I know better,

  'Cause I’m a fool to think you'd wait around forever.'

  She didn't know if they were his words, or whether they belonged to another singer, but it was the longest minute of her life, listening to him. He sung with such emotion that she was surprised the crowd wasn't crying. Well, if she squinted hard into the distance, she did notice a few of the girls sniffing.

  A hand slapped her on the back and she turned around, backing up when she noticed it was Leo, the camp manager.

  He leaned forward, way too close, and waggled his eyebrows. "You're goggling. Like what you see, cutie?"

  She opened her mouth and began to stammer hopelessly, when he was swiftly dragged backwards by the collar.

  "Leave her alone, Leo. You really don't want to flirt with someone we’re trying to get rid of." It was Zane. Off the stage.

  Leo reached out his arms, trying to grab her shoulders. "Awww, Zane, come on! Look at her! Don't you just want to squeeze her until her pale cheeks turn red?"

  "No," was his blunt response. He tilted his head towards the stage. "You're up," he said coldly to her, ignoring Leo as if he weren’t there.

  Those two words sent a large amount of butterflies through her stomach and she tried to swallow down her nausea. She stepped out onto the stage. Bright lights blinded her and she waited, patiently, for her instrument to be pushed to the center.

  Zane couldn't help but remain glued to the edge of stage as he stared at the girl. This would be a great chance—maybe the only chance to get rid of her for good. If the judges disliked whatever talent Red possessed, she would have to do the punishment. It was obvious the kid was scared of whatever that would be. Maybe failure would be enough to scare her away.

  He watched as Red patiently waited on the stage, raising a hand in greeting to everyone. Then, a lot of commotion appeared on the other side of the stage and Zane craned his neck above the people that surrounded whatever it was that had been brought on.

  It was a piano. A grand piano.

  He swallowed his fears. This would be so easy. There was no way that some upstart, lower class girl could play at a level to entertain this crowd. A grand piano? Did she think she was a virtuoso? This was going to be great. She’d be humiliated, and leave.

  As Red seated herself nervously on the stool, lifting up the cover with shaking hands, Zane noticed just how stark her nervousness showed. Smirking, he folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the edge of the stage. Piano players are NEVER supposed to get nervous; they were supposed to project a high confidence level.

  He turned away to go, not really caring to see the humiliation on her face when she began to get booed and then was harshly laughed of the stage.

  But, as he began to walk towards the exit, past Casper and Seth, music began to play. Angelic, beautiful music. He turned around and noticed Casper staring onto the stage in utter shock and awe, his hands frozen above the cooler of drinks.

 
Even Seth had stopped what he was doing to gaze onto the stage, his eyes bright, full of some unreadable expression. Zane unfolded his arms and his eyes widened as he gazed at the pair, then to the stage. He turned around and headed back to where he had a good view of the girl onstage.

  His couldn't believe his eyes. What had happened to the nervous wreck? Red was playing with her eyes closed, a content, unbelievably happy smile on her face. Her fingers danced across the keys like a true professional.

  The music just reached in and tugged at his heartstrings. His vision was focused on the small, elfin girl sitting in front of the grand piano. She was breathtaking. Wait, that wasn’t right…, the music was breathtaking.

  It was over too soon and Zane snapped out of his daze, folding his arms back up over his chest and looking around nervously in case he had been caught. He hadn't realized that he had slumped against the stage, his mouth hanging open.

  A small patter of applause echoed around the hall, easing up the competitive tension a little bit. Red got up from the stool, grinning. She nervously scratched the back of her head. She bowed hurriedly and then rushed off of the stage.

  Zane stared after the kid, filled with an uneasy emotion. What was it? He walked slowly toward the back of the stage, pondering deeply. He looked up when he figured it out. Extreme dislike. That about summed it up. Sort of.

  She heaved a sigh of relief. Everyone seemed to have liked her performance, judging by the applause she’d received at the end. It was by no means the first time she’d played the piano. She had a keyboard at Headquarters and she used to play it constantly, for her own pleasure. She'd never let anyone else hear her. Before today.

  She was a little out of practice and hadn’t been certain that the song she’d written would be accepted by some of these kids. They were so much more sophisticated than she had ever been. The whole of Sunnyside Summer Camp had heard it. The reaction was definitely unexpected. They’d seemed to like it.

  When she walked into the darkness of backstage, a pair of arms suddenly entwined themselves around her neck.

  "My, you just keep on surprising me, cutie. Why haven't I seen you before? Did the angels send you down to me? Did—"

  She gasped when the tight arm—lock was released, breathing in as much oxygen as she could, staring hard at her rabid fan—Leo.

  Seth was holding his collar, just like Zane had done before.

  "Leave her be, Leo." He released Leo and moved his head slowly to her. It was as though every movement he took was done slow and lazily, like he never liked to overexert himself too much.

  It was strangely mesmerizing and she felt her breath catch. Probably the nervousness from being on stage catching up with her.

  "You're an amazing piano player. Where did you learn how to play so beautifully?" The words that passed through his lips made her heart pound. This was the first compliment she had ever received from someone outside the agents. She couldn't help but feel sort of emotional about it.

  “I—" She hesitated. Would she sound as if she were trying to impress them? She sighed. “I taught myself."

  Seth looked surprised. "You taught yourself? You must be very skilled."

  Another compliment. She was holding back a huge grin and settled on smiling, ready to thank him for being polite. Before she could reply, she was yanked firmly around by Casper, who was looking at her like a kid that had just seen Santa Claus.

  “I can't believe it! On top of the fact you don't have a care in the world, you can play piano," Casper's excited expression switched to one of seriousness and he opened his mouth to say something again, but her wrist was grasped by a cold hand.

  She was dragged away from all of the excitement into a dark area and slammed against the wall, a pair of hands grasping her shoulders tightly.

  "You need to leave. NOW." Zane's cold, harsh voice echoed in the darkness. She didn't reply and listened to the quiet murmuring in the distance. What was she supposed to do? He sounded furious with her. Inside, she felt something tug at her stomach.

  “I can't," she said quietly. “I've got nowhere else to go."

  She'd accidentally let her true emotions show. For a minute she let them play over her face. It was true. She didn’t really have anywhere else to go. She didn’t think she could go back to living underground. Not now. So what would she do when this assignment was over? She cursed herself mentally and locked those thoughts away. She felt the hands drop from her shoulders and she swallowed, smiling weakly up at Zane, even though in the dark he couldn't see her.

  She said nothing and escaped the darkness before he could drag her back into it. She was feeling terribly low, considering she had just performed a piece of music she had been working on since she was little. She felt as if nothing would cheer her up. She headed back to the side of the stage, watching as another boy from Royal Haven demonstrated his dancing skill on stage. Her eyes were on him, but her mind wasn't.

  Anything she did to try and make her friendship with Zane progress further was just making it worse. At the rate things were going, she’d be his enemy before the first week of camp ended. Then what was she supposed to do? If she failed the mission, Blaine would probably kill Zane?

  Would she fail to protect him?

  While these questions ran through her head, taking over all the other thoughts, she failed to notice that a pair of warm, brown eyes were planted not on the dancer, but right on her.

  Chapter 7: Orange

  She left shortly after that, not in the mood to watch the other performers. It wasn't because she wasn't interested; she just couldn't get into it.

  She was in such a low mood that she didn't even act surprised when Leo told her that she’d won the round. She just left with a gray raincloud over her head. Her mood had been fine until Zane had spoken to her so harshly. Was that it? Was she getting so worked up because he'd told her that she definitely had to leave? That he didn’t want her here.

  Maybe she should leave.

  She stopped walking, then screwed her eyes shut and slapped her cheeks with both hands. Was she stupid? Even if it did make him happy, she wouldn't be there to take advantage of it.

  A vibration just below her collar bone grabbed her attention and she reached down her shirt, plucking the dog pin free. She placed it in her ear.

  "Dexter?" she asked. She heard a sigh from the other side of the earpiece.

  "You played great, kid. Didn’t realize you could do that. Things are going good. You are where you need to be. Zane Noble is a very difficult person to deal with. You can't let his attitude get to you. Usually, he isn't this aggressive – there must be something going on that we don't know about. Regardless of that, I need you to stay strong. Without you there, he’d be in huge danger."

  She rubbed her forehead with the back of hand and she forced a weak smile onto her face. She realized he’d been monitoring her. So he’d heard her play, heard the conversations. Now he was giving her a pep talk. “I know, Agent. You can count on me."

  "Great." And he hung up.

  She yanked the earpiece from her ear and tucked it into her upper pocket, strolling up to the front door of the dorm and entering. It was completely empty. Which was lucky for her. She needed some space right now. She strolled up the stairs at her own pace and headed to the third floor. When she reached the brightly lit hallway, she noticed that only five doors were shut. The first door on the left was open.

  She walked slowly past it, only looking behind her once at the wide open door. There was a suit strewn across the bed and she heard the patter of water hitting very faintly in the background. It wasn't Casper or Zane's room, she knew that for sure. Who did this room belong to?

  She found herself stepping through the door, wondering if she should just walk in uninvited. She did at Headquarters’, but that probably didn’t apply at the Dorm. But her curiosity got the better of her. Who was moving into the room? Looking around, her mouth fell open. This room was even bigger than her room. If that was even possible. It was
almost the size of the HQ. Definitely the biggest room she'd ever seen.

  She wandered slowly over to the bed, picking up a picture that she noticed was lying face down on the small, brown table. It contained a boy and a very pretty woman with long, blonde hair that reached her waist. She was on a red, velvet stool and had the boy perched on her lap. He was smiling happily, his arms thrown around her neck, his cheek pressed to hers, and his face scrunched up as he grinned. They were both so full of life and happiness that she felt a smile spread across her own face in response.

  She was so absorbed in the picture that she didn't hear the door open beside her.

  "Oh. I wasn't expecting anyone."

  She jumped and fumbled with the picture, placing it back onto the small table in a hurry. As quick as she could, she straightened up and looked innocently at the person whose room she had just invaded.

  It was him. Seth. Immediately, she regretted ever entering the room. Not only was his hair disheveled and wet, he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

  Her face heated up and she coughed, choking on her own saliva. She slapped her hands to her eyes and ran blindly towards the door, tripping on the corner of the bed as she did so. She yelped quietly and stumbled to her feet again, muttering a quick sorry before she slammed the door closed behind her.

  She fled to her own room and ripped open the door, shutting it loudly behind her. She leaned against it after she was safely inside her room, tilting her head back, closing her eyes and laying her palms flat against the wood surface.

  You're an idiot, Red, she told herself, over and over. She raised her hand to cup her cheeks, urging the blush to disappear.

  She swallowed and opened her eyes again after she had calmed, trusting her feet to move towards her bed. She slumped down onto it, ready to fall asleep as soon as she hit the soft cushions.