The Last Changeling

by Chelsea Pitcher

  “Nothing official,” Kylie said. “But a group of parents called in to make sure prom is for traditional couples only.”

  “Big deal,” I said. “They can’t make the decision for everybody.”

  “It is a big deal,” Kylie countered. “The parents who complained were alumni. People who’ve given money to the school.” She lowered her gaze. In that moment, I was certain she was thinking of Alan Dickson. Of all the people who’d offered Unity monetary support in the past four years, Brad’s father was at the top of the list.

  “Brad strikes again,” I muttered.

  I hadn’t meant for it to be heard, but Lora turned to me, her eyes wide. “His dad’s loaded,” I explained quickly. “But so what? He can’t ask for his money back.”

  Kylie smiled, barely.

  I stretched out my legs. I wished we could move these meetings to a room with a window, but according to the principal, upstairs rooms were reserved for larger clubs. “All we have to do is get more parents to call in, on our behalf.”

  Keegan raised his eyebrows. “Yours or mine?”

  I drew another face on my desk, hiding my embarrassment. “We’re not the only people in the school with parents.”

  “Right,” Keegan agreed. He opened his notebook and started scribbling an equation. “So take the student body and subtract the parents of hetero students. Then subtract the parents of the closeted kids. Then subtract the parents who kicked the crap out of their kids for coming out.”

  “And minus the parents who think they can scare their kids straight,” said a girl named Alyssa, who sat in the back. Her partner from the previous meeting was nowhere to be seen, but the quiet boy in the front (what was his name again?) continued to show up, sweating and wheezing and never saying a word.

  Keegan nodded at Alyssa. “Right. Minus the parents who actually support their kids, so long as their friends don’t find out. And you have … ”

  Kylie snapped her fingers. “Sally Striker.”

  Keegan laughed. “Her mom’s living in the sixties—anything goes!” He turned to me. “You see the problem.”

  “But you admit,” Kylie said, pointing a finger at Keegan’s nose, “that there are parents who don’t make Cind­erella’s stepmother look like a saint?”

  “I’ve heard stories,” he drawled, grabbing at her finger. “But the fact is, most people, however decent, will go out of their way to avoid confrontation. I think Jade’s banking on that.”

  “Well then,” Lora said, rising to her feet. “That leaves us with two options.” I had the feeling she’d been waiting for this moment to speak, to lead us. “We either create a prom of our own, make it more decadent than their prom ever could be, and exclude them—”

  “That would be awesome,” Kylie broke in.

  “And expensive,” said Keegan.

  “And impossible,” Alyssa added. “If they won’t let us bring dates to this prom, why would they let us have our own?”

  “We do it all ourselves,” Lora said. “We secure the location, invite those we want to invite, and advise them to come to our prom on the same night of the other prom. No need to involve Unity at all.”

  “I like it,” I said, imagining a ballroom filled with rebels and outcasts. If Lora were in charge of things, she’d probably host an elaborate masquerade ball.

  An anti-prom for the ages.

  “Still expensive, and still probably impossible.” Keegan shook his head. “And we could get kicked out of school for something like that.”

  “You said there were two things we could do,” said the girl with the fiery hair, looking dotingly at Lora. “What’s the other thing?”

  “Show up anyway,” I suggested.

  “Yeah, right.” The girl laughed. “And get denied at the door.”

  “Actually,” Lora said, fixing her gaze on me, “I was going to say that.”

  “Really,” Kylie and Keegan said together.

  Lora waited for me to explain.

  Better make this good, Alder.

  “Well,” I began, “it’s easy to tell you no from behind closed doors. But when you’re there in person, all dressed up with a ticket in your hand, what are they going to do?”

  “Throw a sheet over you and push you to the side.” Keegan crossed his arms. “There aren’t enough of us.”

  “There are hundreds of us,” Lora countered. “There are far more outcasts in this school than anyone else. The outcasts are actually the norm.”

  Keegan shrugged. “That’s true of any totalitarian regime.”

  “And how are such regimes overthrown?” she asked, tapping his nose with her finger.

  “Revolution,” I broke in. “If all the outcasts in our class show up at the prom, they can’t turn us away to please the few.”

  “Wait a second,” said Kylie. “It’s taken us weeks to double our members. How are we supposed to gather all the outcasts in the school before prom?”

  “Easy,” said Lora, a blush creeping over her cheeks. “First, we invite them to a very exclusive event.”

  –––––

  The meeting had been over for ten minutes, but I was still trapped in the confines of Unity’s basement. I stood outside the girls’ bathroom while Keegan paced the lockers nearby, kicking a fast food bag across the floor.

  “Do the janitors even come down here?” he asked, kicking the bag into a row of lockers. It split down the side, spilling fries.

  “Would you?”

  “If I were a janitor, I’d walk with a limp and invent weird facial tics.” He stooped low, dragging one leg behind him. “Damn spoiled kids.”

  I smiled nervously, glancing at the bathroom. Keegan’s mood was cheerful; it didn’t take a genius to guess that Kylie hadn’t told him about her evening with Brad. “What are they doing in there?” I asked.

  “Toilet diving. All the best drugs get flushed down the basement toilets.”

  “The Great Toilet Capers. Why didn’t I think of that?”

  His face broke into a grin. “They’re up to something.”

  “Right.”

  “No, seriously.” Keegan crept up to the bathroom. “They’re always huddling together, whispering about shit.” He beckoned for me to come closer.

  I leaned in. “That’s what girls do. Hell, that’s what we’re doing.”

  He pressed his ear against the door. Then, quick as a fox, he hurried down the hallway. “You coming?”

  I followed reluctantly.

  “Kylie sneaks out at night,” Keegan said when we reached the bottom of the stairs. “I hear her going out the back door.”

  “Seriously?” My emotions shifted, too quickly to examine them. “Maybe she smokes.”

  Keegan shook his head. “Our parents were super anti-drug, so … she’s retained some of that.”

  “Maybe she’s getting some fresh air,” I said, not mentioning the object I’d seen sticking out of her sweatshirt. It might not have been a lighter. But I was pretty sure it was.

  “Sometimes she tells my aunt she’s going away with her theater group for the weekend,” he said. “Except they don’t really have weekend—”

  “Okay, I get it. She’s meeting someone.” I stared at the bathroom door like it was a mirage that might disappear. Maybe it would all disappear: my friends, my chance at happiness. My ability to sleep at night. “That doesn’t mean she’s meeting Lora.”

  “Maybe she’s not,” Keegan agreed. “I mean, I’m pretty sure you’d notice if Lora was sneaking out too.”

  “I’d think so,” I said, trying to ignore the mocking voices in my head. I had a distinct memory of waking up disoriented the night I’d brought Lora home, staring through the darkness at an empty room. But exhaustion had pulled me back to my pillow, and later I’d told myself it was a dream. Of course she hadn’t snuck away in the middl
e of the night. Of course she wasn’t meeting Kylie.

  “Hey.” I narrowed my eyes. “How the hell would I know where Lora goes at night? Why would you even—”

  “Save it,” Keegan said. “Kylie told me she’s staying with you.”

  He might as well have kicked me in the gut. I felt like the broken bag on the floor. How could Lora have told Kylie our secret? If any adult found out, it would jeopardize our entire arrangement.

  I stepped back, trying to distance myself from the situation.

  “Interesting,” Keegan said. “I guess she doesn’t tell you everything.” He held out his phone. “Give me your number.”

  “What?” I had the weirdest feeling of being led, blindfolded, by a guide who knew exactly where we were going. It didn’t calm me in the least. “Why?”

  “Relax,” he said as I programmed my number into his phone. “I won’t tell the other boys I have it.”

  “I’m not—” I forced a laugh. “I don’t care about that.”

  “Good.” He took the phone back.

  “I don’t. I officially stopped caring when I found out I was banned from the soccer team.”

  “What?”

  I smirked bitterly. “Apparently, I’m not allowed to be on a team with other boys if I can’t keep my hands to myself.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Afraid so.”

  He shook his head. “Brad did this.”

  “Not just Brad. A bunch of his cronies backed him up. Apparently I’ve groped a few.”

  Keegan leaned against a locker. “And so far from football season.”

  I glared.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just … if I hadn’t learned to laugh at everything I probably would’ve quit society a long time ago.” He pushed off from the lockers. “We have to do something about this.”

  “It’s already done.” I saw the girls emerge from the bathroom, but the action barely registered to me. I was trapped in the memory of Coach’s discomfort at just being near me.

  “They’re not going to make it to State,” Keegan said. “You’re their best offensive player.”

  I smiled a half-smile. Lora sidled up to me, but for the first time I didn’t melt in her presence. Too many emotions battled inside me, tearing me this way and that.

  “Can you give us a sec?” I asked her, barely keeping my voice steady.

  Kylie raised her eyebrows as she pulled Lora toward the elevator, shooting glances back as she went.

  “If we can pull off this prom thing, I won’t even care,” I said when the elevator doors closed. “If we can pull this off, it’ll be better than anything.” I chuckled to myself.

  “What’s funny?” Keegan asked.

  “I don’t even care about sports.”

  “Could’ve fooled me.”

  “No, I love playing. But I don’t want to go pro or center my life around it. I just love being out there, running across the field—”

  “Grabbing guys’ asses, apparently.”

  I ignored him. “When I’m out there and nobody can touch me, it’s the one time I actually feel free. Like I’m flying.”

  Kylie’s voice filtered down from the top of the stairwell. “What are you guys doing down there? We have to make, like, two hundred invitations!”

  “We’ll get there when we get there,” Keegan yelled.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  “Patient, ain’t she?” He ambled up the steps. When we reached the middle of the staircase he held up his phone, speaking so only I could hear. “Next time she sneaks out, I’m calling you to see if Lora’s gone too. So be ready.”

  –––––

  I was dreaming of glitter and paint, and the most elaborately decorated invitations Unity had ever seen. They started out simple enough, just like they had in real life: Slogans like Reclaim the Prom or Take Back the School (along with Keegan’s one addition: Destroy the Norms! ) sat in bold letters against the blood-red paper. Beneath these slogans, invitees were advised to go to Unity High at midnight this Saturday, and to dress all in black. (“If you do not own black, black will be provided for you.”) But as the dream progressed, the slogans morphed into something dark and dangerous. The glittered letters took on a life of their own, growing claws and wings, threatening the lives of anyone who didn’t RSVP. In the background, I could hear the sound of clattering chains and the faint buzzing of an electrotherapy machine.

  My eyes popped open. My cell was vibrating. Lurching forward, I toppled to the floor, searching with my hands. My fingers made contact with the phone. I pushed the silencer repeatedly, still drowning in the swamps of my subconscious. The number flashing on the screen was unfamiliar. I dropped the phone on the floor, wondering vaguely why there seemed to be footsteps in the garage below. Then I sat up.

  Lora was gone.

  I jumped to my feet.

  Lora was gone. She was gone, someone was leaving the garage, and the number on my phone had to be Keegan’s.

  I darted across the room, searching the empty bed for clues. From the floor, I heard a single beep as I received a text. I dove for it. My elbows screamed as I slid over the rug, reading the sentence Keegan had sent: “Was I right?”

  I cursed and pulled on my clothes. I was out of the room in two minutes.

  Racing through the garage, I didn’t bother to turn on the light. The sky was black as I stepped onto the lawn. I pulled my phone from my pocket, checking the screen to see if I’d received any calls, and rounded the garage to the driveway. Keegan hadn’t called again.

  Now I was faced with a dilemma. Should I walk or should I drive? I glanced at the phone, irrationally hoping for some guidance while my mind fought to wake up completely. Walk, drive? Walk, drive? And to where?

  Then I saw her. She wore a nightgown, the long black number I’d stolen from my mom’s Goodwill box, with buttons going up the back. She was walking down the sidewalk in bare feet. I started after her, keeping to the hedges that lined the neighbor’s yard.

  Lora neared the end of the shadowed street, looked left and right, and literally disappeared into the night.

  I shook with fear, along with a healthy dose of denial. My phone dropped to the sidewalk and I tripped over a very visible skateboard. By the time I’d retrieved my phone and reached the end of the street, hitting the callback button with my thumb, I had a cut on my knee the size of a silver dollar.

  “I lost her,” I hissed into the phone when Keegan answered. “She disappeared into thin air. I lost her.” I gasped for breath, for reprieve from this horrible suffocating feeling, as I waited for Keegan to speak.

  “Relax.”

  “What?” I wheezed, scanning the block. The word made no sense, was utterly incomprehensible. I had lost a person in the middle of the night.

  “Relax,” he said again, his voice muffled. I had a vision of him walking down the street covered in a blanket. “You know the park on Langley and Evanstead?”

  “With that weird play structure shaped like a face?” I searched for signs of life in the darkness. “Yeah.”

  “I followed my sister there. She’s heading across the grass toward the merry-go-round. Can you get here fast?”

  I glanced in the direction of my car. One block felt like a galaxy away. But walking to the park would take too long. “Yeah. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  I took my time as I walked toward the car, allowing myself to catch my breath. Even if I was forced to drive a little out of the way, to avoid being spotted, I knew I could get to the park before Lora did. Still, I didn’t waste time or call Keegan for further instructions. I started the car, minus the lights, and drove down the street.

  The park was dark, unlit by moon or lamplight, as I strode across the grass toward the merry-go-round. Tall spruces dotted the grounds, spaced almost mathematically, and I darted
between them like a cartoon cat. I was nearing the play structure, the giant yellow face with a wavy-tongue slide, when I spotted a hooded figure up ahead.

  Kylie.

  Her back was turned to me. I sprinted toward the closest tree. With my hands placed on the bark, my body hidden behind the trunk, I inched my face to the right until I could see what was happening.

  For the moment, nothing was happening. Kylie continued to stare into the distance, fidgeting occasionally with the sleeves of her sweatshirt. I started to wonder if anyone was going to show up. Maybe Keegan was wrong after all and Lora was just going for a walk. She was used to life outside the city, after all. Walking around at night was probably normal for her.

  Then I saw it. The figure was tall, almost as tall as I was, and walking with purpose across the grounds. I held my breath. I couldn’t make out the figure’s clothing. Darkness was doing its best to confuse my eyes, and no matter how I squinted, the shadows moved and twisted to keep me guessing. In spite of this, I could tell that the figure was female and would reach Kylie within seconds, and then, anything could happen …

  The figure reached the merry-go-round, knelt down in front of Kylie, and kissed her on the lips.

  15

  ElorA

  “No way,” said a voice below me.

  I turned, peering down through the branches of my hiding spot. “Taylor?”

  He looked up, into my tree. “Lora?” His hair was sticking up in every direction, the way it had the first night I’d slept in his room. I couldn’t tell for certain, but I thought his shirt was on backward.

  Kylie rounded on us then. “Taylor?” she said, as her companion turned to face us.

  “Alexia?” Taylor gasped.

  “Keegan!” Keegan shot out of the smiling play structure and tumbled down the slide. He picked himself up by his collar. “Sorry. I just wanted to be a part of things.”

  Alexia looked from Keegan to Kylie to the tree where I was hiding. She took a step back. “What the hell is going on?”

  Kylie appeared to be shrinking in on herself.

  “Did you do this?” Alexia stared at Kylie. “Why would you do this?”