Royals Rise

by K. Manna

  So now the sister bracelet was wrapped snuggly around my upper arm as I followed behind Sir Felix, yet again. Dr. Avery had sent another request to meet with me. I wondered if the Zyon will be there, too. Butterflies fluttered in my tummy at the thought of seeing his royal hotness again.

  I wonder if he will watch my dreams again. Oh, I hope there’s nothing embarrassing for him to see.

  Dr. Avery opened the door when we arrived. “Why, hello again, Margo. How are you doing on this lovely afternoon?”

  “Pretty good. Do you like my new armband from the Goodies Galore room?”

  I pulled up my sleeve and flashed him the bracelet.

  “Very fancy, Margo. Is that the new bling?” Dr. Avery asked, smiling.

  I laughed at his use of the word “bling” and was a little surprised that he knew what it meant. Without really knowing how to reply, I said, “Sure, I guess.”

  Dr. Avery gestured for me to take a seat. “I have analyzed your scans from our last visit, and I am still mystified by the data. As you have probably already guessed, we need to reexamine you. I want to take more scans of your head. The process will be very similar to your last visit. Do you have any questions that I might try to answer?”

  I didn’t know if I should have asked this, but I did anyway. “Um, yeah. So why did the Zyon watch my dreams?”

  Dr. Avery cleared his throat. “Well, I have to look at all aspects of your head and brain, including your dreams. It is helpful to have a second pair of eyes—much younger eyes—to help notice anything that may be of any use. Zyon Leon is also extremely interested in my work. He has spent his whole life here at the palace, which has given me much time to train him.” He cleared his throat again. “The Zyon has also requested to be a part of this study.”

  What? The Zyon actually asked to be a part of my study? I can’t believe it. Wait a minute. Now, I’m considered a study? That sounds odd.

  My stomach twirled with excitement.

  Like before, the scan felt like it took forever. I tried to lie as still as possible, distracting myself with thoughts: thoughts of my new friends, my newfound healing ability, Eli, and even thoughts of the Zyon crept into my mind. Then an odd thought popped into my head.

  If you had to choose only one, whom would you pick: Eli or the Zyon? What the heck kind of question is this? Of course, I would choose Eli … wouldn’t I? Hmm, that’s a hard choice that I can’t answer right now.

  After many scans, Dr. Avery came to me with the amber bottle in his hand. “Now, for the next scan, Margo. Remember, we must put you to sleep for this one.”

  “Oh, how could I forget?” I mumbled, trying to prepare myself for the strong burn that accompanied the smell of the amber liquid entering my system.

  Okay. One, two, three. Burn!

  Blackness.

  I had the dream again: of sprouting wings and flying over the waterfall. I loved that feeling of flight, such a glorious ride. But now orange flames crackled in front of me. Blazing heat reached out to cover me like a warm, fuzzy blanket. Bonfire smoke clung to my hair and clothes. It would linger long after the fire had gone out, as it always did.

  I knew where I was. In the bonfire dream with Eli. I could feel our shoulders brushing, we sat so close. I could feel his eyes on me.

  Why is he staring at me? Eli, quit looking at me. I look like a mess.

  And then he gave me the pendant, the one with “Go-Go” etched on it, and he was helping me with the clasp around my neck. I loved the necklace, and I loved watching the stars with Eli. The shooting stars. “Did you see that, Eli?”

  No answer.

  A huge waft of lemon awoke me. It took a few moments for me to focus in on my surroundings.

  “How are you feeling, my dear?” It wasn’t the Zyon’s voice but Dr. Avery’s.

  Rubbing my eyes, I yawned. “Mmm, okay.”

  A beeping sound went off.

  Dr. Avery picked up his cell phone. “Oh, I will be right back. I need to tend to the Zyla immediately,” he said, rushing to the door.

  I watched him as he went out the door and then caught a movement from the corner of my eye.

  OMG, it’s him!

  My eyes traveled up his legs, along his upper body, and then to his face. Our eyes met. Those sky-blue eyes stared deep into mine.

  Oh, he is such a gorgeous thing, maybe even too gorgeous.

  His stare made me feel like he knew all of my little secrets. At a loss for words, all I could do is stare back at him.

  “What is Go-Go? Does it really stand for something?” the Zyon asked curiously.

  I answered shyly. “Yes, it’s my nickname. You know, Margo, Mar-Go, Go-Go. My brother Gage came up with it when we were just kids.”

  He smiled. “Cute,” he said a bit teasingly.

  “I used to hate it, but it grew on me.”

  The Zyon looked at me and then looked away. “And this Eli in your dream, is he real?”

  “Y-yes, he’s my neighbor. We grew up together, and now he’s my best friend,” I explained, reaching to touch the jade stone in my pocket.

  “And is that all? Only friends?” the Zyon questioned some more.

  This surprised me.

  Does he really think that I’m going to spill all of my personal business to him?

  “Yes, that’s all,” I said, a nervous little laugh escaping me.

  I would have liked to be more than that, but the Zyon doesn’t need to know that.

  “But in your dream …” he continued.

  I cut him off. “Exactly, my dream, it’s just a dream. It isn’t real. We are only friends. Besides, Eli probably has a new girlfriend by now.”

  The Zyon sat back in his chair with a teasing smile on his face. Yeah, he just sat there all cute as if he knew something about me, something that I was trying to hide.

  Ugh, can he see right through me or something?

  Shyly, I asked, “What?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  Is he playing with me?

  Suddenly, the doorknob turned and Dr. Avery entered the room. “I will be right with you.” I watched Dr. Avery as he walked into the back room. And when my eyes traveled back to the Zyon, he already stood in the doorway looking at me.

  “Till next time, Go-Go.” He smiled and was gone.

  That brat! He got me all riled up about Eli and then just left.

  I stood up to go after him and noticed something in my lap fall to the floor. I bent to pick it up.

  An orange flower. The Zyon had given me a lily, just like the one in my dream. Wow.

  “Where did everybody go?” I asked myself.

  Lottie wasn’t in our room, and I couldn’t find anyone, anywhere. I checked everywhere: the art room, the theater, the arcade, the pool. Nobody.

  Maybe, they’re outside practicing or meditating. I hope the girls didn’t go do something fun without me. Jeez. Can’t a girl go for a few scans without being left behind?

  The sun still glared brightly with not one cloud in the sky. I walked around the outside of the palace like a lost wanderer.

  There is no one here, no one there, no one anywhere.

  “Seriously, where did everyone go?”

  I walked farther out near the woods and saw something move through the trees in the distance. As I walked closer, I realized that it was a person, a guy standing still and looking in my direction.

  “Hey!” I yelled.

  He continued to stand perfectly still, staring at me but not responding.

  “Hey, it’s Margo!” I yelled again.

  “Y-yeah, I kn-know!” he shouted back.

  When I finally reached the pale, blue-eyed boy, I asked, “Hey, what’s your name again?”

  “P-P-Preston.”

  Oh, he stutters.

  “Your name is Preston?”
I asked.

  “Y-yeah.”

  Looking around, I noticed there were eye charts and pictures scattered all over the place. Many of them were placed so far away that I couldn’t read them. The charts leaned, hung, and were attached to whatever was available. Rolls of tape, metal and wooden clamps, binoculars, and black-lensed glasses with a tiny hole centered in the middle lay on the ground.

  “Are you practicing?” I asked, bending down to pick up the funny-looking glasses.

  “Y-yeah.”

  I put the glasses on. “Wow, these are cool.”

  The tiny hole in each lens made everything faraway look so much clearer. Preston stood quietly, looking at me. He didn’t talk much, I assumed because he felt self-conscious about his stutter. Not wanting to make him uncomfortable with all my questions and small talk, I decided to ask only one more important question.

  “So, where is everybody?”

  Preston pointed in the direction of a path lined with trees. “D-down there, r-r-racing.”

  “Racing? Cool, I wanna watch. Do you wanna come with me?” I asked.

  Preston shook his head.

  I started to walk backwards in the direction he pointed. “Okay. Well, I’m gonna head down there then. Thanks.”

  Everything looked so green. The leaves, grass, and bushes almost glowed a lime-green color in the golden sunlight. The sun definitely felt hotter than it had since previous days at the palace. Actually, the hottest it had been that whole summer. I wished I had worn shorts. Sweat began to dampen the back of my neck and my armpits.

  Walk, walk, walk, that’s what I did for a good while until I heard roaring engines in the distance.

  “What the heck are they racing? I thought Preston meant Gage and the speedsters were running a race.”

  A loud whistle sounded as the engines roared. Arms waved in the air from afar. I waved my arms high above my head in response.

  Someone better have some water because I am dying of thirst here.

  And what do you know? Elise ran toward me with inhuman speed and stood in front of me within seconds. She handed me a bottle of water. “Here, Go-Go. Alex saw you first and said that you looked like you could use some water.”

  Grabbing the bottle, I immediately downed half of it. Wiping my mouth, I asked, “So what’s going on out here?”

  “I haven’t raced yet, but there are these awesome little cars to race around a huge track. And your bro and Ricky are doing more than just racing cars,” Elise said with a high-pitched giggle.

  I looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

  She laughed again. “Just wait. You’ll see.”

  Six little racecars zoomed around a track, each a different color and marked with a big “Z” on the hood. The large track wound this way and that, over bridges and under tunnels. Streetlights and street signs were visible throughout the track, but it didn’t look like the drivers were paying much attention to them, especially the signs that read “Slow” by the sharp turns. Oh wait, I lied. There was Lottie, slowly taking a sharp turn, her lips puckered like a fish. She looked uptight and nervous.

  I searched for Gage and found him driving the bright-green racecar. I was glad to see that each car had large safety bumpers protecting the entire car because Gage kept crashing into Ricky and Ricky into Anton. All of them were desperately trying to pass the other to gain the lead. It was fun to watch them yelling at each other and causing mad crashes.

  The whistle blew again. “Next round!” Sir Felix shouted.

  Gage pulled his car to a stop and jumped out of the open-top. “Here, Go-Go. Take mine. She’s a fast one.”

  I jumped in and buckled up. In the rearview mirror, I saw Lottie’s car slowly come in last and park.

  She is too funny.

  Sir Felix yelled for Lottie to stay in her car and go for another round.

  Lottie hadn’t noticed me at the racetrack yet. I knew this because I had waved at her, like a dozen times, but she never took her eyes off the road in front of her.

  Just imagine what kind of driver she will be when she gets her license. She’s gonna be a Sunday driver.

  I wanted to see if Lottie could hear me, test her a little bit. “Lottie, you drive like an old granny,” I said, without raising my voice above all of the other loud noises.

  I glanced at her in my rearview mirror. Nothing.

  I raised my voice a little louder. “Lottie, you drive like an old granny.”

  That did it. I could tell that she heard me that time. Her body language changed, and I’m pretty sure I saw her mouth the words “Bite me, Go-Go.”

  We both smiled. Then I stuck my tongue out at her and pretended to grab it, just like she had done to me. Lottie shook her head and smiled again.

  Sir Felix yelled, “Ready! Set!” and blew the whistle.

  Alex and I, being placed at the very front, stepped on our accelerators to begin the race. Elise and Onnika trailed right behind us. My car sped quickly over a hill, took a sharp turn, and went down through a dark tunnel leading to a long stretch of road. Something moved quickly on my right side. I looked to see what it was.

  What the heck?

  Gage and Ricky were actually running right alongside the track next to my car. I couldn’t believe it.

  So that’s what Elise was talking about.

  They moved so fast that I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. It was so cool to watch Gage and Ricky running like the wind.

  SCREECH!

  My bumper made contact with the outer rail because I wasn’t paying attention. Startled out of my stupor, I overcorrected and ended up colliding with Alex’s car just as we were making the turn. Luckily, both of us were able to keep control.

  “Whoops. Sorry!” I yelled.

  Alex yelled back. “Don’t be sorry! It’s all good.”

  When my car pulled up alongside Lottie’s, I yelled, “Come on, granny pants, punch it!”

  She shook her head back and forth, clearly not having it.

  I let my car slow down so that I could sneak in behind her, and then I accelerated, giving her a gentle little bump, just enough to let her know that I meant business. I yelled again. “Come on, granny, move it!”

  BAM!

  Damn!

  Someone hit my back end with some major force. In my rearview mirror, I saw Onnika laughing.

  What a creep!

  I slammed on the brakes until Onnika and I stopped completely, and then I punched the accelerator, passing Lottie with a wave.

  Next came a little bridge that crept over a small pond. My little green racer zoomed up the bridge—and then you wouldn’t believe whose eyes peered back at me: the Zyon! Right there. Right in front of me. Seeing him standing on the other side of the fence must have totally stunned me. Without realizing it, my car was slowing down.

  BAM!

  Onnika again. Damn her!

  I punched the accelerator again and took another sharp turn. To my surprise, when I peeked in the rearview mirror this time, Lottie’s car was picking up speed and slammed into the rear of Onnika’s car.

  “Whoa!” I screamed. “Lottie, you rock!”

  The loud whistle sounded. Coming to a stop, I parked the little green racecar and got out. Lottie pulled up right behind me with a giant smile stretching from ear to ear.

  I teased, “So there is hope for you after all, Lottie. I sure as hell couldn’t get you to step on it, but thankfully somebody else could. I guess you just needed the right kind of push, huh?” I reached over and gave Lottie a high-five.

  The Zyon held the gate open for all the racers as we exited the track for the next round. Onnika went through the gate ahead of us, and I heard her trying to start up a conversation with the Zyon. She sounded like a completely different person, all nice and chatty—and fake. The two of them laughed, and I felt instantly a
nnoyed. Lottie walked through next, politely thanking him as she passed. I followed behind her and smiled when I met his gaze.

  “Hello again, Go-Go.” The Zyon smiled.

  Lottie looked back at me with a surprised expression on her face.

  I swiftly looked from Lottie to the Zyon. “Hi. Are you going to race?”

  He said, “No, I’m only watching today.”

  Onnika unexpectedly interrupted. “Aw, why? You should come out and race with us. It’ll be so much fun.”

  I rolled my eyes at all the fakeness in the air, which the Zyon noticed, and he smiled at me. When he began to answer Onnika’s question, I gave him a little wave and silently walked away.

  I can’t stand her. If only the Zyon knew what she was really like.

  Lottie grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear. “Why did he call you Go-Go? How does he know your nickname?”

  I never told Lottie—or anyone for that matter—about how the Zyon had taken an interest in my studies with Dr. Avery. Lottie only knew about the incident when he poked my booty, but only because she started the whole fiasco. My reasons for keeping quiet about his involvement in my scans—and his flirting—was: number one, I didn’t want to sound as if I were bragging; number two, I definitely didn’t want to jinx myself; and number three, I didn’t want to give loud-mouth gossipers what they so dearly craved.

  I have to think fast. A reason? An excuse? What will sound realistic?

  “Oh, Gage told him,” I said, telling a little white lie.

  Lottie looked at me funny. “Really? Why?”

  “Well, remember that night at the coming out when you so rudely left me alone with the Zyon? It just so happens that, when I introduced myself as Margo, Gage walked up to us and said, ‘a.k.a. Go-Go.’ He did it to embarrass me, thought he was being funny.” Lottie’s head nodded with understanding. “Oh.”

  Whew, that was a close one. Good thinking, Margo, good thinking.

  Nighttime had come all too quickly. Lottie and I played a little game that we sometimes played before bedtime.

  “Okay, I give up. I have no idea what it is,” I said, lying on my stomach while Lottie drew on my back with her finger.