Bubble World

by Carol Snow

  “He is link-less,” Jelissa said. “In case you’re feeling fizzy.”

  “I’m not,” Freesia said. “At least not for Dare. But shopping for a frothy dress … that’s something I could get tizzy about.”

  After shopping, Jelissa gave her a ride home in her itty car. Ricky was sending Freesia’s unicorn to pick her up, so the two girls would meet up at the castle.

  Freesia stepped inside the back door, and there they were—Mummy at the stove, Daddy reading his newspaper, Angel on the floor, playing with her ballerina dolls. At last, she was home!

  “I’m making your favorite,” Mummy said. “Poached salmon with steamed broccoli and tricolor quinoa. Did you know that it’s important to eat foods with omega-3 acids?”

  “Um…”

  Daddy looked up from his newspaper. “I’m learning about the Republic of Malawi, a landlocked country in southeast Africa. Did you know that it was colonized by migrating tribes of Bantu around the tenth century? And that it used to be called Nyasaland?”

  “Uh, no,” Freesia said.

  “I read it in Wikipedia, so it must be true. Tomorrow we’ll talk about Zimbabwe.” He went back to his paper.

  “I’ll be in my room,” Freesia said. “Call me when dinner is ready.”

  Angel sprang up from the floor and did a graceful pirouette. “Don’t you want to hear about my day?”

  “Maybe later.” Freesia headed for the stairs.

  “You always do this!”

  Freesia spun around. Her sister smiled.

  “Do … what?”

  “Ignore me. Take off for your room. Leave me here with them. I told you I can’t go anywhere unless you invite me. But all you care about is yourself.” She smiled. Apparently, Agalinas Angel had no other facial expression.

  “Oh my Todd, Angel! It’s really you.”

  “Duh.”

  “How was your day?” Freesia asked.

  She crossed her arms over her narrow chest. And smiled. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Would you like to come upstairs and help me pick out my clothes?”

  “No.” She dropped to the floor and spun around so her virtual back was facing her virtual sister.

  “Fine. Don’t talk to me, Angel. Whatever.”

  Freesia hauled her shopping bags upstairs. She spread her new clothes, shoes, jewelry, and handbags over her big bed and began putting together one de-vicious outfit after another. Immediately, she felt better.

  40

  In Ricky’s world, there was no tricolor quinoa, no broccoli, no anything that could be classified as “good for you.” Instead, a multicolored candy buffet sprawled along one wall of his entryway, while a chocolate fountain—a big one, not some flimsy tabletop thing—gurgled in the center. Serfs offered trays piled with pound cake and sugared strawberries for dipping.

  At the candy buffet, Freesia helped herself to a spoonful of sour scrummies only to discover that they tasted just like Mummy’s quinoa. She moved on to spicy Cinna–yums and dark chock-licks. Same thing.

  All around, pretty, slender girls in bikinis fizzed with pretty, muscular boys in swim trunks. All newbies began their island adventures with only eighty shells. Real clothes would have to wait. A PEST dangled around each perfectly shaped neck like a clunky pendant. The tablets flashed and buzzed and yapped. The pretty girls and boys patted and stroked the screens like precious puppies.

  “The newbies all look alike,” Freesia muttered to herself. It was true. The new students came in all colors and a small range of heights, but their curves and muscles were remarkably similar, their facial features distributed just so.

  “Happy fizz?”

  She turned, and there was Ricky wearing, of all things, a black tuxedo with a white silk scarf.

  “You look like a prince!”

  “That’s the idea. And you look like a princess. The shoes are wicked.”

  Freesia had not worn a bikini—this was a castlewarming, not a pool party—but instead had donned a just-purchased one-shouldered silver sheath with a surprisingly comfortable pair of glass slippers (which she had no intention of losing).

  They toasted and drank. She felt better. Happy fizz made everything luminous. And yet …

  “What other princely clothes do you own?”

  Ricky shrugged. “Just this, I’m afraid.”

  A boy in flowered swim trunks slapped Ricky’s back. “Chill party, bro.”

  “Um…”

  “That’s a good thing,” Freesia said. “But—about your princely wardrobe. Will you show me what else you have? You know how I adore fashion.”

  Understanding crossed Ricky’s face. “Ah, yes. Let me show you my closet.”

  * * *

  “Why is the island so crowded now?” Freesia asked once they’d shut themselves in the secret room.

  “The media coverage was good for business.” Ricky sat on the comfy black couch and retrieved a hunk of cheesecake on a plate from the pull-out freezer below.

  “All those people downstairs, and I didn’t recognize a single friendly!”

  Ricky plucked the cheesecake off the plate and took a big bite. When he’d swallowed, he said, “Our friendlies don’t start the night this early. They’ll be here soon.”

  “What happened to our bubbles? Did those guidance counselor people take them all away?”

  “Oh, no. The bubbles just disappeared in the night. Poof!” Ricky smiled.

  Freesia did not smile back. “And people don’t mind?”

  “With the right medications, no one minds or questions anything. Would you like a bite of my cheesecake?”

  “No thank you.”

  “Happy fizz?”

  “No.” Freesia collapsed on the sofa next to Ricky. “Why is everyone calling our town Avalonia?”

  “Someone in marketing thought it was prettier than Avalon. You’ll notice the new students are prettier too. They changed the avatar templates.”

  “I don’t think they’re prettier. They all look the same.”

  “No one is prettier than you.” Ricky stood up. “Come. Let us enjoy the night. Perhaps Jelissa has arrived.”

  Freesia shook her head. “She told me she’d be late. And that’s another thing. Jelissa hadn’t even noticed your castle, and when I pointed it out, she didn’t seem surprised.”

  “It’s the meds. They keep people from paying attention to anything that doesn’t make sense.”

  Freesia nodded but stayed where she was on the sofa. “You go join the party. Let me just stay here a little while. Please?”

  “Why?”

  “Because I need a quiet place to think. And out there … where people in the real world could be watching—”

  “Stop.”

  Freesia blinked with surprise. She’d never heard Ricky sounding so forceful. Or at all forceful.

  “We are here. We are home. Those strangers downstairs—they are just friendlies we haven’t met yet.”

  Freesia bit her lip and nodded. “I know. You’re right. Of course you are. But let me sit here for just a few minutes. Please?”

  His expression softened. “You know I can’t say no to you. But promise me you won’t be long?”

  “I promise.”

  * * *

  She had no real intention of crossing beyond the secret room; she just wanted to see if she could find the door that led to the cave. It took a few tries to find the right spot on the wall, but at last cracks of light appeared in the plaster. She pushed—and almost fell backward when a wild ocean wind hit her in the chest.

  Taser’s cave lay ahead of her—except of course it was really Ricky’s cave. Ricky wouldn’t want her visiting the cave without him. But what harm would it do?

  A wave crashed against the rock dock, and sea spray stung her face. She couldn’t just stand there. She had to either go back into the secret room or …

  Just like that, she found herself on the slab of slippery rock, barely registering the moment when her legs propelled he
r forward and made her decision seemingly without consulting her brain. She twisted her head to where the secret door should be, but behind her she saw nothing but open water. That was okay; she remembered where Ricky had stood on the dock to find the door again. She could do that too.

  Near the mouth of the cave, she hesitated. Were the illuminated bats standing guard? But when the biggest wave yet crashed on the dock and the water rushed toward her, she sprinted inside.

  “Freesia? Is that really you?”

  Eyes adjusting to the darkness, Freesia followed the voice beyond the domed room and into the alcove, where she found Taser relaxing in the teardrop-shaped spa, his face glowing green from the reflected phosphorescence.

  “Taser! Oh my Todd. I’d heard you’d gone to the military academy!”

  He grinned. “Even soldiers need pampering now and then.”

  “I’ve been utterly worried about you. The last time I saw you here, you seemed … squiggy. In a destroyed-brain kind of way.”

  “I was having a bad day. Everyone has bad days. Come! Join me for a soak.”

  “I’d adore that, but I’m not exactly dressed for it.” Freesia looked down and gasped when she saw that she was no longer wearing her silver dress and glass slippers but a one-piece swimsuit and sandals.

  “Towels are over there.” He pointed to a pile against the wall.

  She took a fluffy white towel, placed it near the edge of the spa, and slipped into the silky warmth.

  Taser looked so much healthier than the last time she saw him. His hair had grown in, his face was clean-shaven, and his skin was tanned, clean, and free of cuts and bruises. But it wasn’t just his body that looked healthy. He seemed to exude a new self-confidence that she hoped came from somewhere other than the new mix of medications Ricky had mentioned.

  She took a deep breath. “I am so glad to see you looking well, Taser. But I need to warn you about Todd Piloski. He sold most of Agalinas to Ricky’s father, but he kept the interior for himself. The military academy could be dangerous.”

  Taser slipped under the water for a moment, then popped up with his hair newly slicked back. “Ricky’s father will ruin Bubble World. I’d much rather be in Todd Piloski’s school.”

  “But it’s not really a school, Taser. The military academy is just an excuse for Piloski to develop war games.”

  “Piloski is a genius. I’d trust him with my life.”

  “Taser! Have you ever even met Piloski? Because I have. He may be clever, but he’s cruel and manipulative and—”

  She stopped. And stared. The boy across the spa leaned against the edge with his eyes closed and a big smile on his face.

  Taser almost never smiled. But it wasn’t just that. While Taser had doubts about whether or not Agalinas was real, he’d never mentioned Todd Piloski to her—because he didn’t know who Todd Piloski was. The boy in the spa looked like Taser. He sounded like Taser. But he was someone else entirely.

  “It’s you. Isn’t it.” She hardly recognized her flat voice. Had Todd altered her appearance again? She examined her arms, her hands, her knees. No: she was still Freesia.

  His eyes popped open. His grin grew even wider. “Francine. The last time you got kicked out of Bubble World, it was because I heard what you said in the cave. Ergo, I knew about the cave. Ergo, you should have stayed away from the cave. As your eternally charming little sister would say, duh.”

  “So you’ve just been holed up here, hoping I’d show up?”

  “Oh, please,” Todd said. “Do you not understand how this works at all? I stuck Taser’s avatar in the spa and set the cave patch to alert me if there was any activity. You interrupted a really intense game of Words with Strangers. But don’t let that bother you.”

  “I thought Taser was at your military academy.”

  “He is. In a new-and-improved body. You wouldn’t recognize him, he’s so buff and square-jawed. Oh—and he changed his name. To Darth. I’m not even kidding.”

  “I’m leaving.” She hauled herself out of the spa and wrapped herself in the fluffy towel. She’d gone maybe three steps when her flesh began to sting. “Argh!” She chucked the towel on the ground. Tiny red ants ran in circles on her arm. Shrieking, she flicked them off.

  “Oh, I should have mentioned,” Todd said. “I saw some fire ants near the pile of towels. You should be careful. They bite.”

  “You are evil!”

  He grinned. “You’re just saying that.”

  “Don’t hurt Taser, Todd. I mean it.”

  “Oh, please. Taser is fine. With all the antianxiety drugs they’re pumping into him, he could fall off the edge of the world and not break a sweat. Looks like you could use some of those meds yourself. Maybe Ricky has some happy juice in his secret room?”

  “You know about Ricky’s room?”

  “Of course I know about the room. I know all. I see all. Why does that surprise you? And I’ll get Bubble World back someday. Just wait.”

  He held up an arm and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a swarm of glowing bats swooped toward her. Freesia turned and ran.

  The sea had grown even wilder, but she ran to the very edge of the slippery dock, chanting, “The bats can’t hurt me because they’re not real. The waves can’t knock me down, because I’m in my bubblepod.”

  She held her hands up against the angry air, and a door appeared. She pushed, and just like that, she was back in Ricky’s not-so-secret room.

  * * *

  “There you are!” Jelissa pushed her way through the crowd of swimsuit-clad newbies.

  Freesia, still jittery, hugged her bestie and forced a smile. “You look de-vicious.”

  Jelissa tossed her shiny red hair, which she’d curled into perfect corkscrews. “We both do. Which is more than I can say for any of these other fashion-backward dolts.”

  Jelissa’s dress was made of apple green silk and trimmed with crystal beads. Freesia was back in her silver sheath and glass slippers; the one-piece tank suit had disappeared along with the cave.

  “Come.” Jelissa grabbed her hand and tugged her through the crowd till they found Cabo, Ferdinand, and Dare on the edge of the pink marble ballroom. A Chase Bennett cover band played on a temporary stage in the middle of the vast room, but no one was dancing.

  The three boys all had their heads bowed toward their PESTs. “What are they doing?” Freesia asked.

  “They are transfixed by an electronic hamster game,” Jelissa told her. “It is utterly un-utter.”

  “Got ya both!” Dare said, waving his tablet like a victory flag.

  “Dash it!” Cabo and Ferdinand said at once.

  The three boys looked up.

  Dare said, “Freesia. Hey.”

  “Dare. Hey.”

  “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  “That’s because … the thing is…” It didn’t matter that she didn’t know what to say. Dare had already started another hamster game.

  “This party is borrifying,” Jelissa whispered. “And don’t tell Ricky, but I liked his old house better.”

  “Me too,” Freesia said. “Though the unicorn stable is utterly magical. Do you want to see it?”

  “Of course!”

  Jingle, jingle, jingle.

  Everyone froze.

  “I think those are the wind chimes,” Freesia said. “That means we have to go home.”

  “But it’s so early!” Cabo and Ferdinand said at once, still clutching their PESTs.

  Around them, newbies headed for the doors.

  “We don’t want to get in trouble,” Dare said.

  Jelissa scowled. “All I can say is that they’d better have extra-scrummy snacks in our new classes. Because so far I don’t adore this new program, not one itty bit.”

  41

  Freesia was deep in a dream about blue slushies and blooming cacti when she heard the music.

  It’s another day.

  On the island we say, Hey,

  Hey, oh. Hey, oh. Hey, oh.


  Don’t wanna see you frown,

  Girl, turn it upside down.

  Hey, oh. Yeah, turn it upside down.

  Girl.

  Hey.

  Chase Bennett? Was maybe not as much of an artistic genius as she had once supposed. Then again, only silence would sound good this early in the morning. Six o’clock was no time to be awake.

  Their song complete, Ashley and Jennifer, the peacocks, wandered back out to the balcony, hopped up on the railing, and fanned out their magnificent tails.

  Freesia pushed herself up against her puffy pillows and stretched her toned, tanned arms toward the cloud mural overhead. The light filtering in from her French doors was pink-gold and sparkly.

  Right on schedule, Mummy appeared in the doorway holding a translucent white china cup. “It’s Shanghai Moon Green Tea with hibiscus flowers and honey! Nothing like Shanghai Moon to start your day in a Zen-fully delicious way!”

  “No coffee? Okay. I mean—thank you, Mummy.” Freesia took the cup and yawned. “I’ll have my pancakes in here, please.”

  “Your tofu scramble with millet toast is in the kitchen.”

  Freesia almost asked if she could eat something else instead, but then she realized it didn’t matter. In Bright Planet, everything tasted the same.

  “No dawdling,” Mother said. “Your physics class starts in an hour.” She turned and left the room.

  “Please. Check. Your. PEST. For. Important. Information.” On her night table, her tablet flashed pink. She picked it up and read the screen.

  Welcome to morning, FREESIA SUMMERS! Here is your PEP schedule for today.

  Report to the Island Beach Club at 7 A.M. From there, you will proceed to the Rotunda for an interactive physics demonstration. Wear school uniform (navy top, khaki bottom, white sneakers) and bring a positive attitude!

  With something less than a positive attitude, Freesia chucked the PEST back on her night table and slurped down her green tea. There was no time for a shower, so she yanked on a navy polo and khaki slacks and spent a little extra time curling her hair and applying makeup—though really, with a face and body like this, she looked de-vicious no matter what she did or didn’t do.

  On her way down to breakfast, she halted outside Angel’s closed door. Had she ever been in that room? She couldn’t remember.