by K. Manna
Not horrible, but I wouldn’t want to drink this stuff every day.
“Very good, Margo. Now, follow me. Someone will be calling you in for your scan shortly.”
The next waiting room had clearly been designed for complete relaxation. Upon entering the room, I immediately felt a little less anxious. Massage chairs lined the walls, dim lights lit the room, and soft nature sounds played over the speakers. Raindrops and birds chirping filled my ears.
“Pick any open seat that you would like, and feel free to use the massage settings. These chairs are fantastic.” Pale Lady lowered her voice to a whisper. “This is where I come for my break.”
I plopped into the chair closest to me. “Oh, I will definitely be getting a massage. My back hurts from painting, and this will be the perfect cure.”
“Well, good luck to you. I have to get back to work.”
I still cringed at the thought of needles, but I didn’t make it obvious. “Thanks.”
Okay. Full-body massage turned on high, check. Massage body warmer turned on high, check. Chair reclined back with the footrest up, check.
Everything was marked off of my imaginary list so that I could close my eyes and let my exhausted brain and body rest. The lack of sleep was catching up with me. As soon as I closed my eyes, the room became awfully quiet and my mind serene.
My tired eyes began to slowly open. A woman was tapping on my shoulder. Apparently, she had been calling out my name, but nobody stood up or answered; there I sat, completely oblivious. Somehow she must have figured it out. An unconscious girl—it must be that lazy Margo Selks. And yes, she was right.
I hope I didn’t snore or talk in my sleep. How embarrassing. Is that why all these chicks are staring at me?
Awkwardly, I stood up and followed the rail-thin lady who stood waiting for me into the scanner room. The scanner stood tall, well above my head. It was cylindrical in shape, almost tube-like, and sparkled silver with blue and white lights blinking in rows from top to bottom.
Wow, this scanner looks like something from the movies.
Skinny Lady grabbed for my bag. “I can take this for you. Margo, please step into the scanner, and we will get started. Place your feet within the outlined foot images on the scanner floor. The scan will only take a few minutes. Try to stand as still as possible.”
Slowly, I stepped through the scanner’s door. Cold air blew through the air vents on the upper portion of the scanner. Little, loose hairs from my head flew into my face with the blowing air. Goose bumps began to creep out from my skin.
Dang, it’s cold in here. I knew I should have brought a flippin’ sweat shirt.
“I will be starting the scan soon. You will hear loud beeping noises, and a bright light will scan starting at your feet and circling up around your body. You may close your eyes if you would like, but please try to stay as still as possible,” the woman explained.
Within seconds, the machine began to beep loudly. A bright blue light turned on at the foot of the scanner and slowly wound up and around my ankles, calves, knees, thighs—
This feels like I’m in a rocket ship and will blast off into space.
The beam of bright blue light continued upward, encircling my body, and when it reached my neck, it became so bright that I locked my eyes shut. But the brightness still showed through my eyelids. Not very long after, the loud beeping sounds stopped.
Skinny Lady’s voice echoed through a speaker inside of the scanner. “Okay, we are all finished. Don’t forget to take your bag. You will follow the signs through the next hallway that will lead you to the final waiting area.”
After stepping out of the scanner and picking up my bag, I asked, “May I see a picture of my scan?”
“Sure, but I am unable to answer any questions, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay.”
She turned a screen toward me that had a very detailed image of my body. A blue light blinked in the areas of my head and hands.
Weird. I wonder what that means.
“I wish I knew what it meant. Thanks for showing me,” I said, before walking out of the room.
Sitting in yet another waiting area, I tried to make myself comfortable, wishing that these chairs were the ever-so-cozy massage chairs. This room didn’t have only girls in it; it had both guys and girls. My eyes traveled over the room in search of Gage’s big head. Scanning, scanning, no, no … And then my eyes shifted back to a familiar face: the chick who sat a few rows down and to my left chatting with the girl beside her.
Is that the chick from Hoowynd? Yes, that has to be her. Oh, Ava’s gonna love to hear about this, if I ever get to see her again.
Hoowynd was another school, not far from ours, and I was sure that this girl played volleyball. Let’s just say that Ava hated her because she talked major smack, and supposedly not only about Ava, but about many girls.
What is her name? Olivia? No. Octavia? No. I know it starts with an “O.” Mmm, Onnika? Yes, that’s it. It’s Onnika.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed someone walk in from the door on the opposite side of the room.
Gage.
I waved my hand high above my head, but he didn’t notice me. Or maybe he pretended not to see me. That’s something I could totally imagine him doing.
We waited for who knows how long. No clocks hung on the wall, and I never wore a watch. The room’s high ceiling was made of glass, allowing the warm, yellow sunlight to fill the hall. It was so bright that I couldn’t doze off, that’s for dang sure. To pass the time, I watched people. I watched them whisper into each other’s ears, laugh, sleep or try to sleep, stare at others or at the wall, bite their nails, play with their hair.
Finally, a loud man’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “The time has come to announce the chosen ones at Alacorian Center Number Four. I will call out five names. If your name is called, please take your belongings with you and exit through the south door. That’s the silver door with a sign that reads ‘Almost Royal’ across the front of it. Now listen closely. The first name is Maxwell Misklee.”
A loud hoot rang out from across the room as a tall, dark, husky guy jumped out of his seat and stormed for the silver door.
My hands began to tremble, and I chewed uncontrollably on my lower lip.
“The next name is Onnika Dreon.”
Onnika raised her hands in the air. “OMG, I can’t believe he called my name! See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya!”
I rolled my eyes.
“The third name is Anton Wyston.”
A skinny, olive-skinned guy rushed from his seat and through the door with a giant smile on his face.
“Margo Selks.”
What? Seriously, what? This dude just called my name.
I couldn’t believe my ears. Out of all of these people, I could not believe that I had been chosen. I couldn’t move.
“Oh, this is unusual; we have another Selks here. The final name for Alacorian Center Number Four is Gage Selks.”
Gage jumped up with a bang. He ran over to me and picked up my bag. “Come on, Go-Go! Snap out of it! We gotta go. Can you believe this?”
Coming out of my daze, I shook my head. “No, Gage. No, I can’t believe it.”
With that, he pulled me from my chair, and we headed for the silver door that read “Almost Royal.” Eyes glared at us with envy.
The girls at school are surely going to hate me now.
We were brought to a room where our parents were waiting for us. Everyone in this room looked completely overjoyed and sounded so ecstatic and hopeful.
Why don’t I feel that way? What is wrong with me? Everything.
Like everybody said, this would be a life-changing experience whether one won or not. Our parents were overcome with joy and sadness, too. Surprisingly, I saw tears in their eyes, even my father’s. When we spoke our last words to
each other, it felt slightly awkward. My family had always been odd about expressing emotions and feelings. Just a strange communication thing, I guess. And this whole experience seemed so dream-like and unreal, almost fake. Then came the awkward good-bye hugs and quick feather-like kisses that felt so light against the cheek. The words—I love you—were rarely spoken in our family. I guess we just knew that we all did, but without ever saying it.
After some time, the parents were ushered from the room. My mother looked back at us and silently mouthed “I love you.” Tears filled my eyes then, seeing her lips mouth those rarely spoken words. It meant so much.
Okay, Margo, life is changing no matter what. It’s time to be strong and independent; it’s time to hope, no, to fight for a better future. Plus, I have Gage. We have each other, unlike the others in the room.
Before leaving the Alacorian Center, we were thoroughly searched for any objects that were not allowed in the palace. Apparently, we were some sort of threat. A bird-faced woman waved her little handheld scanner over my whole body and then reached for my bag. She opened it and searched through every stinkin’ pocket and looked over every object, no matter how insignificant: pictures of my family and friends; the stone book Eli had given to me; my music player and headphones; Yuni, my old and faded stuffed unicorn; and finally, my jade stone.
Ugh, woman, why did you have to pull out Yuni? I don’t want that hot security guard to see my personal stuff. Poor Yuni, look at you. You are so matted and ugly looking, but I still love you.
The woman looked suspiciously at the stone in her hand. “This stone is pretty sharp and could possibly be used as a weapon.”
Oh, please, lady. You have to be kidding me. A frickin’ pen could be used as a weapon.
Not wanting her to take it away, I begged. “Please don’t take it, ma’am. It was given to me as a birthday present, for luck,” I lied. “I will need all of the luck I can get for the Royals Rise. Please, ma’am. It’s only a stone, a harmless stone.”
Please don’t take it away, lady … please.
“Oh, all right, dear. Take it with you, and I hope it works for you.” She handed the stone back to me.
I slipped the warm stone back into my bag then followed the others outside to the Z-Speed van that would be taxiing us to the royal port. From there, we would take a boat to the royal island and the palace. After we were buckled in the back of the van, Seymour the driver crawled in and handed each of us bulky blue headphones.
Seymour explained, “Place these over your ears, please. The siren on this van is mighty powerful. It will alert all drivers on the road to pull over so that we can arrive at the royal port as quickly as possible. We have no time for delays.” He started the engine. “Hold on, because we will be going faster than fast.”
Cruising on the highway at such fast speed was awesome. The adrenaline rush definitely put me on high alert, my gaze darting every which way, from window to window. Car after car quickly pulled over to the side of the road upon hearing the blare of the Z-Speed siren. I sat quietly, clenching the edge of my seat, while Gage and the others joked and laughed the entire ride. In less than an hour, Seymour announced that we would be arriving at the royal port shortly.
“Grab your belongings,” said Seymour. He then rushed us up a ramp that connected to the fancy boat that would be taking us into the royal world. Gage walked a ways in front of me, chatting it up with the others. He was always such a social butterfly, making friends so easily. I, on the other hand, tended to be a little on the quiet side, especially when surrounded by complete strangers.
Wowsers! This was the first word that I thought of when we walked toward the sparkling white boat. It was much too big for the small number of people it had to carry. But it was gorgeous and I couldn’t wait to take my first step onto the luxurious royal boat.
On the boat, we stood together near the bow. There were more guys than girls, which was probably a good thing. Fewer girls equaled less drama, at least in my book. Counting everyone, there ended up being fifteen of us: eight boys including Gage, six girls including me, and one unknown. To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure about the sex of one of them. He or she had nearly shoulder-length hair pulled back into a ponytail, a masculine square jaw, but with eyes and lips that looked slightly more feminine. A skintight T-shirt covered a flat chest, and the skinny jeans on the slender body gave away no hips.
Maybe, a chick? IDK.
That Onnika chick tapped Gage on the shoulder and, from the looks of it, began to flirt with him. She looked all giggly and smiley.
Ugh, so annoying. Stop talking to her, Gage, like, now.
Not wanting to watch that whole situation, I decided to check out what was inside the boat. The black-tinted windows made it difficult to see inside from the deck. An automatic door opened before me, and I slowly stepped inside. Unmarked silver-gray carpet covered the floor, and dark-gray leather couches and chairs were spaced evenly and ever so perfectly from each other. It was some kind of lounge area. Framed pictures of other fancy-schmancy boats hung on the walls. Decorated tables lined the far back wall and held silver platters containing what looked like an assortment of different finger foods. Also, in the back, stood two men talking with the Zylo. The Zylo noticed me and smiled.
Wow! I can’t believe I am in the same room as the Zylo.
Shyly, I smiled back and then quietly chose a chair. A massage chair, too. Yay. Next to me on the table was a glass bowl of chocolate candies. Of course, I sneaked one into my mouth. When it broke open, a creamy caramel surprise filled my mouth.
Mmm. Another, please.
After a few more chocolaty caramels, I turned the massage chair on and tried to relax my overly tired mind and body. I felt the boat begin to creep out of the harbor. It wasn’t long before I began to drift to sleep, my reality blurring into a half-awake, half-sleeping state.
Then the sound of someone gagging filtered through the window beside me. I looked out the window and saw a girl bent over the edge of the boat throwing up.
Nasty. Poor thing. No one even cares to help her?
Not looking forward to the smell of puke, I decided to be the nice girl and go and comfort her. I left the lounge and went back on deck.
Trying to hold my breath, I asked, “Hey, are you all right? Do you want me to get you anything? Maybe some water?”
Breathing heavily, she looked over at me. “No, that’s okay. I already have a bottle of water, but even water won’t stay down. Sorry if I’m grossing you out.”
“Oh, you are, but don’t be sorry; it’s not like you can help it. My name is Margo, but most people call me Go-Go. What’s your name?”
Gripping her stomach and crouching to the ground, she replied, “Lottie. My name is Lottie.” Suddenly, she made a gagging sound and sprang to her feet again to lean over the railing.
When Lottie was finished with that bout, she said, “Uh, I hate throwing up.” She looked at me. “You have sparkles in your hair, ya know?”
“Yeah, I know. It’s from my birthday party.” I looked at her dark, long, wavy locks streaked with bold red dye. “You have puke in your hair, ya know?”
“Ew.” Lottie bent down and grabbed her water bottle and began to pour water over the goo in her hair. “This will have to do for now. Sorry if I stink. I’m sure my breath isn’t any better.”
I leaned against the side of the boat. “Quit saying sorry, Lottie. It’s not your fault.”
Lottie slowly slid down to the ground. “Will you just sit with me?”
“Sure.”
“Do you mind if I lie down and use you as a pillow?” Lottie asked, already tilting toward my lap. “Sometimes it helps to just lie down.”
“Go for it. Whatever makes you feel better, but try not to spew on me. All right?”
Lottie laughed. “Ha. I’ll try not to.” Lottie put her head on my lap. “I totally understand if y
ou don’t want to, but would you play with my hair? My sister always plays with my hair, and it helps me fall asleep.”
With hesitation, I said, “Um, okay.”
Lottie looked so small all curled up, like a child lying down to take a nap. Her long, partially wet hair covered my lap. Dark-brown freckles clustered the top of her little nose. She was such a cute, petite thing. Trying to avoid the gooey strands of her hair, I pieced my fingers through her hair and tickled her head for a few minutes.
“Lottie?” I whispered.
No answer.
Well, that was quick. She’s out like a light. Maybe she’ll sleep until we get to the palace. She better not wake up and barf all over me, or I will flip. Okay. Quit thinking mean thoughts, and be thankful that I’m not the sick one.
Although my neck and back ached from sitting awkwardly, I stayed still, not wanting to wake Lottie until we reached the royal island. When the boat stopped, Gage came over to where I sat with Lottie, who was still asleep. “Wake up your sick friend so we can get this party started.”
I rubbed Lottie’s head. “Lottie, we’re here.”
She didn’t budge.
I wiggled my legs from beneath her. “Lottie, it’s time to wake up.”
Still, no response.
I gave her shoulders a little shake. “Come on, Lottie. We have to go.”
Paranoia washed over me like it sometimes did.
OMG, is she breathing? Is something really the matter with her? Holy crap, could she be dead? Did she puke herself to death? Is that possible?
I shook her even harder, raising my voice. “Lottie! Lottie! Come on! Wake up! Please!”
“Chill out, Go-Go. Quit freaking out. She’s just passed the heck out. Here.” Gage took her water bottle and poured the rest of what was left over her face.
Lottie shot up, wide-eyed. “What the hell are you doing?”
With relief, I said, “We were trying to wake you, but you wouldn’t budge. You scared the crap out of me. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
Smiling, Lottie said, “Sorry, that’s not the first time that has happened when I’m not feeling good—so my sister says. Well, at least I’m feeling better now that we aren’t moving. Seasickness sucks. Let’s get off of this boat and do this thang.”