by April Marcom
As I was closing the top doors, something caught my eye on my bed. A sparkle. I walked over to the side and leaned down. There on my pillow was the most beautiful notebook I’d ever seen. The entire cover was made up of gold glitter, but felt smooth like plastic. A set of sketching pencils had been placed beside it. I sat on my bed and picked them up, opening the notebook to the first page to write my name inside. But someone had already done it for me. My full name was written in the upper left hand corner inside the cover and a message was written halfway down.
Dear Kristine,
I’m delighted to have you here at my school and hope you will find only happiness in the years you spend here. I also hope this notebook will serve you well as you fill it with the things of your heart. I’m available any time you wish to discuss anything, day or night. So please, never hesitate to ask.
Best wishes,
Headmaster Veziamo
It was wonderful. The clothes, the notebook, my room, the girls I shared it with—all just wonderful.
So that was my first day at North Haven High School. Now, for my first night....
Chapter Nine
~ First Kiss ~
After my shower I barely made it back to our room before Harmony left for an activities committee meeting.
Sassy was there, though, catalogues in hand. We went through them for a while and I picked out what I needed, most of it against Sassy’s advice. We had very different tastes in clothes. But I did let her talk me into wearing mascara, perfume, and a pair of her black boots for my date, though I still wasn’t sure how I felt about it. After that, we went to the secondhand room to pick out a few things to hold me over until I got my new wardrobe. Then it was time to go down to the first floor.
“You’ll be fine,” Sassy kept telling me all the way to the elevator.
But it was my first date with a guy I barely knew. How was I going to be fine? Deep breaths, I kept telling myself.
“Hello, Kristine,” Connie said when I stepped inside an elevator. “Roman is already waiting for you on the first floor.”
“What?” It was only four-forty. I’d hoped to get to look around the rec room for a little while before I met him at the cafeteria.
“Roman is waiting for you on the first floor,” Connie repeated.
“Yeah, yeah.”
When the elevator came to a stop, I saw him reading a book in a fluffy chair beside it.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey.” He set the book down and stood up. “You’re early. It looks like you’re as excited about tonight as I am. Do you want to eat and then hang around here until it’s time to go up to The Dome Room?”
“Okay.”
We headed to the cafeteria. Kids were already inside, some of them just sitting at empty tables talking about the day’s events. Sassy was right. The food was much better. “Chocolate cake?” I asked when I saw it. “I haven’t had cake in years.”
“Let’s get some real food first. If you’re going to eat it like that bacon this morning, you’ll be sick halfway through the show.”
“Okay.” I laughed as we got in line, which was longer than it had been at lunch.
“Hey Roman,” a blond pony-tailed guy said as he got in line behind us. “What are you doing here? I thought practice went to eight with you guys.”
“I’m showing Kristine around tonight.”
“Right...the new girl. I’m Alister, Roman’s roommate.” Alister reached out to shake my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“So, has anyone said who’ll be on which jet yet?”
I felt a little forgotten as the guys talked all the way through the line, but Alister went to sit with some other guys while Roman and I went to our own table.
We ate for a few minutes before he said, “So, in all the information we found out about you, no one had anything to say about what happened to your parents. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’ve been wondering what it was.”
It seemed like a blunt and out of place question, one that nearly brought tears to my eyes. “I don’t talk about it much,” I said simply, setting my forkful of spaghetti down. “They had me really young. My dad died of some weird infection when I was a baby. I don’t even remember him. But my mom...she was the best. She worked two jobs to take care of me, but always found a way to be there when I was sick or had a school play. And then....” I always got caught on the end, because I didn’t understand.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know. She fell down the stairs at our apartment. I’ve never been able to get over how something so simple could take my mother away from me. One slip of the foot and her neck’s broken and then she’s dying on the way to the hospital from head injuries.” Now a tear did leave my eye, so I wiped it away and swallowed the rest down.
Roman put an arm around me. “I’m sorry that happened. I didn’t know either of my parents.”
“Really? What happened to yours?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged and gave me a ‘who-cares-anyway’ kind of smile. “Some lady found me wrapped up in a blanket in an open box on her front doorstep one morning and called a social worker over to pick me up. That’s all I know.”
“And it doesn’t bother you not to know?”
“It did when I was young. Now I don’t really think about it much. I’m just glad I’m here instead of in the group home where I grew up.”
I nodded and picked up my fork again to eat the noodles still wrapped around it.
“I’ll go get a couple of pieces of cake,” Roman said, standing up.
“Okay.” Some of my hair brushed against my saucy fork as it fell over my shoulder. I grabbed a napkin and tried to wipe it clean.
My con buzzed suddenly, causing me to drop my fork, so I pulled the device out of my pocket and touched the top. Sassy’s face came up on the screen when it was fully open.
“Hey, Kristine. I’m looking at dresses and I wanted to ask what you think about these two.” She held up a long black one and a two-piece pink gown with silver chains crisscrossing all over the front. I didn’t like either one.
“Thanks, Sassy, but I’m not sure if either one’s really me. I was thinking yellow, like Beauty and the Beast, but not so puffy.”
Sassy looked up and bit her lip, obviously trying to imagine it. “Yellow...with pearls...that could work. I’ll keep looking. And I’ll try not to bother you again. I just had to show these to you.”
“It’s okay. You’re not bothering me.”
“Good. See you later.” The screen turned silver as it began to fold up and Roman set a giant piece of cake in front of me.
“Who was that?” he asked.
“Sassy. She’s really excited about helping me pick out a dress for the dance. I’m excited too. I’ve never actually been dress shopping.”
“Dances are a lot more fun for girls. We guys get to choose between the black or white tuxedos. Not nearly as much selection.”
I pushed my dinner plate aside and picked up the cake. It was better than I remembered it being. When we were finished eating, we played the old Pac-Man game in the rec room until it was time to head up to The Dome Room.
“You’re gonna love this,” Roman said on the elevator. “Have you ever been in a planetarium?”
“No.”
“It’s kind of like one, but way better.”
“Approaching level seven, destination of Roman and Kristine.” The elevator began slowing down.
We stepped into an open area full of doors leading off to who knows where. At the end of the line of elevators I saw what appeared to be a veranda enclosed in glass. “Can we go out there after the show?” I asked Roman.
“Sure, if no one else is out there. There’re other places like that, though. I’m sure we can find at least one that’s empty.”
He led me to a big door on our left and we entered a black room the size of a closet. “It helps keep the inside totally dark during the showing in
case someone gets up to go the bathroom or something,” Roman explained as we passed through it and entered The Dome Room. It was exactly how it sounded: an enormous white-domed room with theater style rows of seats toward the back, half of them already full.
“Looks like we got here at a good time,” Roman said, taking my hand and leading me to the only two available seats in the back row. He put an arm around me and sat as close to me as he could. It felt awkward, almost like being with a stranger, but he seemed content.
“How long have you been here?” I asked.
“Since I was fourteen. I’m sixteen now. There was this hold-up at a gas station I was walking into. These guys needed a hostage and they tried to take this girl. She was terrified, screaming and crying like the world was coming to an end. They practically ripped her arm out of its socket dragging her toward the door. I told them to take me instead. Dying’s never really scared me, so I figured it should be me instead of her.”
I stared at him in shock. “Seriously?”
He laughed it off like it was nothing. “Yeah. I know it sounds crazy, like something out of the movies. But it’s not any different from what you did, trading your safety for the safety of those girls.”
“Maybe, it feels like they’re different, though. What happened next? Did they take you hostage?”
“Yeah. They thought the cops wouldn’t chase them if they had a kid they were threatening to kill, but they didn’t realize the car they stole had OnStar. We didn’t even get out of Colorado before the hotel they stopped at was swarming with SWAT guys.” He laughed again. “They weren’t the brightest pair.”
“That’s pretty amazing. Was it—”
The lights began to dim and we heard Connie’s voice. “Hello, students. Welcome to The Dome Room. Tonight we are showing volcanoes. It will last for approximately forty-two minutes. All cons will be temporarily shut off during this time. If you must exit during the show, please do so quietly and make sure the first doors are closed completely before exiting through the second ones. But for now, sit back and enjoy the show.”
By the time she was finished talking, I couldn’t even see the person sitting in front of me. I had to squint when red-hot magma and black rocks suddenly surrounded us.
A soothing man’s voice carried us through the volcanic process, the whole thing surrounding us as if it were real the entire time. It was like floating near the tip of the volcano looking down on it from the outside, watching the explosion of lava as it erupted, smoke spilling everywhere, and ash falling all around us. Every wall, including the ceiling, was projected to look like the real thing. Even the floor vibrated against our feet with the low rumble of the great detonation inside the earth. It was incredible.
When it was over, people stretched their arms and legs as they got up and moved slowly toward the doors. “You were right, that was awesome,” I said as we moved through the dark space.
“I’m glad you liked it. They have shows here a couple of times during the week and every Friday and Saturday night. I’d offer to take you again Friday, but our coach is training us pretty hard with only a few days left until we head south.”
I looked toward the veranda and saw that it was empty. “You still don’t mind going out there with me?” I asked Roman, walking toward it.
“Of course not. I haven’t been out on one of these things in awhile. Everything’s so much more fun when you first get here.”
“Is it not fun anymore?”
“No, it is. It’s just that the new feel kind of wears off.”
He grabbed the shiny handle to open the door and we walked into a long dimly-lit veranda that protruded from the castle walls. “I wish it wasn’t enclosed,” I complained. Some fresh air would have been nice.
“I don’t think you understand how cold it is up here. Being outside too long without dressing for it could kill you.”
“Right.”
I looked down through the floor at the snow and lights. It’s as beautiful as Christmas time, I thought. How could anyone ever want to leave this?
“You do celebrate Christmas here, don’t you?” I asked, thinking of the kids brought here from all over the world, possibly places where there was no Christmas.
“Most of us do. The Cinders don’t, though. We probably won’t see a lot of decorations there. You can decorate your room and exchange gifts with your friends all you want, of course. Which reminds me—” He reached in his khaki pants pocket and pulled out a thin silver chain with a tiny bell hanging on it. “I got you something.”
“Thanks, Roman.” I took it and shook it gently. We heard the tiniest tinkling sound. “This is really sweet.” I slipped it over my neck.
Roman smiled and moved closer to me. “Kristine?”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I’ve wanted to do since I saw your picture yesterday...” He moved even closer, placing his hands over my shoulders, and I knew he was going to kiss me.
“Why?” was all I could think to say. It still felt like I hardly knew him.
“Because I feel something I’ve never felt before when I look at you. I can’t explain it—the sparks people always talk about, the butterflies in the stomach. I don’t know, but I feel it with you.”
I knew what he meant, I guess. He was describing what you see on those chick flicks Ms. Wendy back at the orphanage was always watching. But I didn’t feel those things for him.
It didn’t matter, though, because he was about to kiss me. And I figured what better place to get my first kiss than on a castle veranda with a guy who, for some reason he didn’t even seem to understand, was crazy about me. So I tilted my head and kissed him.
Chapter Ten
~ No Escape ~
“I usually eat breakfast about half an hour before classes start,” Roman told me when we climbed into the elevator to go back to our rooms. “Tomorrow morning, meet me in the same place you did tonight and we’ll go together. Then I can walk you to your first class.”
I nodded as we began going down, because he made it sound like I didn’t have a choice. In fact, I felt kind of like I was being forced into being his girlfriend, even though neither of us had brought it up. I was flattered that he liked me so much; I just couldn’t make myself like him back. It was all so confusing.
“We have reached the girls’ living quarters, destination of Kristine,” Connie said a moment later.
The elevator stopped and Roman kissed my cheek before I stepped out. “See you in the morning,” he said.
When I walked into my room, Nadine was lying facedown in her bed, dead to the world, and Sassy was lying on hers looking at a magazine with headphones on. She didn’t even notice me come in.
But Harmony was sitting in her bed with books spread out in front of her. “Hey, Bunky. I’m glad you’re here. I need a break from all this studying.”
“Final exams?”
“Killer final exams. Come on up.”
I climbed up using the boards at the edge of our beds and sat down beside her.
“How’d it go?” she asked.
“The Dome Room was cool, and we went out on a balcony, which was amazing.”
“Did he kiss you?”
I could feel myself blush as I nodded.
“Wow.” Harmony closed the book in front of her and pushed them all aside. “What was that like? Are you in love?” She put her hands beside her face and batted her eyelashes.
“Nah. Roman’s okay, but...I’ll put it this way. The view was better than that kiss.”
“Aww, I was hoping you’d have tons of juicy stuff to tell me about your new boyfriend and we could stay up all night talking about it.”
“We can stay up all night talking about whatever you want, but Roman is not my boyfriend.”
“I hope he knows that.”
“Me too.” Though I doubted it.
“You know what we need to do? Set your wake-up call. It can sound like whatever you want it to.”
As I reached into m
y pocket to pull out my con, Miss McCree walked into the room. “Lights out, girls.” She went over to Sassy’s bed as Sassy set her magazines on top of her wardrobe and climbed under her blanket. Miss McCree did the mom thing, making sure her blankets were pulled up around her shoulders and telling her goodnight.
“Can we have a few more minutes?” Harmony asked when she came to us. “We were about to pick out Kristine’s wake-up call.”
Miss McCree smiled. “Of course, just make sure you go to bed when you’re through. Good-night, girls.”
She turned the lights out as she left the room so that the only thing keeping us from being in total darkness was the light cast by my con. It only took a couple of minutes to pick out the sound of bubbles being blown underwater. I thought it would be a fun way to wake up every morning. And, even though we both climbed into bed right after that, we did end up spending most of the night whispering about whatever we wanted to.
* * * *
Luckily, Roman was busy with practice most of the time after that night, so I only saw him at lunch and in Algebra during fifth hour. Breakfast the next morning was uncomfortable enough that I told him I preferred to sleep in and skip that meal on school days. I didn’t have the guts to tell him I wasn’t interested. Well, I had the guts, just not the heart. I’m not big on hurting people’s feelings.
The next couple of days flew by. Sassy and I picked out my dress, bundled up and walked around outside, and I helped her with some studying, which was something she really struggled with. Nadine had soccer and Harmony had activities committee, so it was mostly just us.
North Haven wasn’t like any school I’d ever been to or heard of before. It was as much the students that made it different as the castle. Everyone was so good and nice, like Harmony had said. I honestly hadn’t expected it since teenagers can be so cruel.
