by Ally Condie
“Weren’t you expecting me?” Kathryn opened the door for Opal and they walked out into the hall. “Today’s the pageant orientation meeting. It’s in the auditorium right now.”
“I forgot.” In fact, Opal hadn’t read that part. Or any part. She’d just signed the document her mother put in front of her.
Once inside the auditorium, they sat in two plush theater seats. A decent number of seventh and eighth graders were there. Opal was surprised to see high schoolers, too—she’d assumed older kids would be able to get out of this.
Opal waved to Azra Alikhan from geography, who definitely had a chance to win. Azra could play piano and had cool glasses. Opal couldn’t compete with that. She was just hoping not to come in last. Is there a last? Jeez, I hope not.
“Hello, Walshes! What a nice surprise. May we sit by you?”
Opal looked up to see Mrs. Nantes standing at the end of their aisle.
And Logan. What on earth?
“Of course!” Kathryn and Opal scooted over to make room. “It’s good to see you, Lori. Opal thanks you for the lovely treat yesterday, don’t you, honey?”
Opal nodded dutifully. “Thanks, Mrs. Nantes.”
Logan’s mom smiled. “It was nothing. I’m glad you kids had fun.”
Lori Nantes made amazing caramel-stuffed chocolate-chip cookies. It was those cookies that had trapped Opal with Logan in Orca Park the day before. He’d shown up on her porch with a plastic-wrapped plate and orders from his mother to share. Opal’s mom had practically shoved her out the door.
Logan sat down beside Opal, staring straight ahead.
“Hi, Logan.”
“Hey.”
Opal fell silent, amazed he was there. She couldn’t believe his mother was making him do this.
“Logan,” her mother said. “I didn’t know you were entering the pageant.”
“It was his idea.” Mrs. Nantes sounded vaguely shocked. “He filled out the application and everything.”
Logan’s ears burned red. He still wasn’t looking at Opal.
“That’s … wow.” Opal fought down a grin. “What’s your talent?”
“I’m going to dribble a basketball while I’m standing on my head.”
“I’m not sure that’s what the committee had in mind, but it’s … something.” Mrs. Nantes’ eyes widened in delight. “And I hear Opal is doing a dance!”
“A what?” Opal’s mother twisted to look at her.
“She’s been practicing all week.” Logan didn’t even try to hide his grin. “It’s about being a radish. An emerging radish, right, Opal?”
Opal swallowed. “Yeah. About that.”
“You’re going to dance?” Kathryn Walsh sounded flummoxed. “I thought you were reciting one of Shakespeare’s soliloquies.”
Another part of the application Opal hadn’t examined. Still, anything was better than dancing in front of the whole school.
Principal Kisner walked onstage and tapped the microphone. “Welcome to rehearsal,” she intoned. “I’d like to introduce our radish festival chairman, Mr. Albert Murphy.”
What? The grump who lived next to Nico? Why was he in charge?
“Sorry, Mom,” Opal whispered. “I forgot. I’ll do the Shakespeare thing instead.”
“No, no.” A light had kindled in her mother’s eyes. “A dance will be beautiful. I always knew you loved dancing.”
Crap. Crappity crap crap.
“Would all pageant participants please come forward?” Mr. Murphy said. “No need to be nervous. We’re going to ask each of you a practice question, just to get the ball rolling.”
Logan and Opal followed the crowd backstage behind a heavy blue curtain. It reminded her of the houseboat. She couldn’t wait to get back. What figment would she create next? And Godzilla had left a footprint. What did that mean?
“I can’t believe I volunteered for this,” Logan muttered as they shuffled into the line.
“Why did you?” Opal asked. Logan hated public speaking. He hurried through school presentations so fast you could barely understand him. And he never signed up for anything except sports.
“I don’t know,” Logan grumbled miserably.
“There’s still time to get away. You could sneak out through the drama room.”
Logan locked eyes with her. “Would you come with me?”
Opal looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “I can’t. My mom would chase me down. There’s no way out for me.” She’d tried to sound funny and dramatic, but Logan didn’t laugh. The line began moving as other kids gave short, awkward answers to Mr. Murphy’s questions.
Logan’s jaw firmed. “Then I’m staying, too.”
Opal wanted to ask why, but Logan spoke again, his words tumbling out. “I don’t get you. We hung out together all summer, and I thought you had fun. But then this thing with Nico happened, and now you’re totally avoiding me. Why?”
Opal tried to collect her thoughts. Had Logan entered the pageant because of her? That was insanity.
“If he’d let me buy him a new drone, I would,” Logan went on. “But Nico wouldn’t take it. He’s too stubborn, just like his dad.”
“You shouldn’t have ruined his first one.” And Opal remembered how scared she’d been after Nico fell. Logan didn’t know the half of it.
Logan shifted uncomfortably. “I thought he’d find it.”
“In Still Cove? Well, he didn’t.”
There were only two kids left in front of them. The stage lights made it so Opal couldn’t see out into the auditorium, but she knew her mother was watching. “What do you see as the biggest challenge facing Timbers?” Mr. Murphy asked Megan Cook.
“Those owls?” Megan answered, her voice unsure. “Making them go away?”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Logan whispered, “but Nico is still a loser. Why are you following him around? What are you guys doing? You’re never home, and your mom didn’t know anything about your ‘emerging radish dance.’ ” He used air quotes.
Opal said nothing. Megan finished answering.
Logan narrowed his eyes. “Where do you go every day, Opal?”
Opal pushed past the next person in line and marched out to center stage.
Mr. Murphy regarded her coolly from behind his bifocals. “State your name, please.”
“Opal Walsh.”
“Opal, in your opinion, what is Timbers’ greatest strength?”
A long pause. Opal was thinking about everything but the question.
Finally, Mr. Murphy cleared his throat.
“The people,” Opal answered, speaking from a place she couldn’t name. “Everyone cares about each other. That’s important.”
Opal stepped away and continued across the stage. She didn’t look back at Logan, but it was his question that echoed inside her head.
Where do you go every day, Opal?
She worried Logan was determined to find out.
15
NICO
“I’m telling you, she’s overdoing it.”
Tyler dipped his oar into Still Cove. “All afternoon, Emma cannonballs into the vortex, splashes out of the pond, checks her latest insane creation, and then sprints back to do it all over again. It’s too much.”
Nico stopped paddling long enough to scratch his nose. “How many times has she gone?”
“What, today?” Tyler shook his head. “I lost track after ten.”
Nico whistled.
The mist parted and he could finally see the island ahead. Both boys jumped out to pull the boat onto the beach. Nico zipped his windbreaker as a polar gust swept the sand. He couldn’t wait to get inside the houseboat and warm up.
“Thanks for getting me,” Nico said. “Sorry I took so long. My dad held me up at home, and then Opal wasn’t at the meeting spot like we’d planned. I guess she’s not coming.”
“No biggie.” Tyler tossed his oar inside the rowboat. “Honestly, I wanted off the island for a while anyway.”
Nico glanced at him, sur
prised. “Off? Why?”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “You’ll see.”
Something rattled the bushes nearby. A moment later, three tiny blue Smurfs burst from the trees. Nico’s jaw dropped. “Right on cue,” Tyler muttered.
The lead Smurf—a stout, bearded fellow—spotted them and pointed. To Nico’s shock, he heard a squeaky voice yell, “Attack!” followed by two more high-pitched war cries. The Smurfs charged and began kicking sand onto Nico’s shoes, snarling and shaking their little fists.
“Not again.” Tyler shooed the pint-sized assailants. “Can you give it a rest, please?”
“War! War!” The leader began beating his chest, but a moment later the trio blipped out of existence. Nico and Tyler were alone again.
Tyler put a hand to his forehead. “Finally. Those guys have been driving me crazy.”
Nico was staring at his feet. “Tyler. There’s sand on my shoes.”
“Mine too. Those little creeps showed up mad and never stopped.”
“Tyler, those figments moved the sand. And they were talking to us.”
“You think I don’t know?” Tyler removed a sneaker and shook it out. “The new ones won’t shut up. They last longer, too. I’ve been waiting for that crew to poof since they declared war on the ‘pond giants,’ or whatever they kept calling me.”
Nico blinked, trying to process this information. “So now they last longer, talk, and can move things around?”
“Dude, let’s get to the pond. You won’t even believe it.”
Ten minutes later they crested the ridge, allowing a clear view of the houseboat.
“Holy crap,” Nico whispered.
“Yup.”
Figments. Everywhere. Nico could see at least a dozen of them surrounding the water.
“Ty,” Nico breathed, his pulse ratcheting up a notch. “What’d you guys do?”
“Don’t look at me!” Tyler grumbled. “I made one BB-8, and the stupid droid tried to shock me before rolling into the bushes.” He swept a hand at the circus by the lake. “This right here is the Emma Fairington show, and it runs nonstop.”
Something uncomfortably tall with skinny arms and legs bounded toward them in bendy, knee-jarring lunges. Nico squinted, then straightened in astonishment. “Is that … is that an Elf on the Shelf?”
“Oh, his name is Herbie. When he gets up here, he’ll tell you all about himself.”
“Pass.” Nico descended in the other direction, avoiding the prancing North Pole spy, who spun to face them as they climbed down. “I don’t like how they watch us now.”
Tyler snorted at his side. “That dead-eyed creep factory isn’t the worst. There was a giant chicken nugget earlier that just rolled around in circles, and a dozen ballerina pixies flying in attack formation. It’s been quite an afternoon.”
They reached the grassy field. Nico dodged a troop of Minions carrying saxophones but reared back as the pond’s surface spluttered beside him. Out came a frogman in a tuxedo.
“You’re my bud! I’m your pal! We’re a team and play we shall!” The figment kicked up its feet and began to dance as Nico retreated, shaking his head and mumbling, “Nope nope nope.” The frogman closed the distance, shouting, “Friends are for caring and sharing!”
Nico whispered harshly to Tyler. “Let’s get out of here!”
“No argument here.” They broke into a sprint for the stepping-stones.
“Friends are fun, and you’re a fun friend!” the frogman shouted, swinging its arms as if marching in a parade.
Seconds later Emma emerged from the water in her bathing suit, lips blue, her body shaking from cold. “Nico! Did you see? The figments talk now! They last longer, too!”
“Inside the houseboat,” Nico demanded. “We have got to talk, Emma.”
Emma made a disappointed face but nodded. “Just keep an eye out for a centaur. I always wanted to ride one, but I hear they can be prickly.”
“You’ve got to slooooow down.” Tyler paced up and down the showroom aisle, waving his hands as he spoke. “It’s like a riot out there, and some of these figments are getting weird around people.”
“They’re harmless.” Emma sat on a full-size wooden carousel horse she’d found under a tarp. She seemed unconcerned by Tyler’s histrionics. “We agreed to test the Darkdeep, right? Well, how else are we supposed to do it? I’m happy taking turns, but you go in once and then quit.”
“A pair of Minecraft skeletons tied my shoelaces together,” Tyler shot back. “I’m not leaving this room again until every last one of those things is gone.”
“They’re so much stronger now.” Nico leaned against a bulky cabinet. Beside him, the green thing was slowly rotating in its jar. Nico wasn’t sure, but it seemed even more solid. The center mass now had lumpy appendages. And was it shinier than before?
Emma’s voice pulled him back. “The figments get stronger every dive we make. That’s why we should keep going. Who knows what they’ll be able to do soon?”
Tyler stared at her. “That’s exactly why we should stop.”
Nico found himself nodding. Something about what Emma had said made his skin crawl. But before he could explore that feeling, the curtain parted and Opal walked in.
Tyler stopped dead. “Okay, how’d you get here? Do you have another boat?”
“I told you, I have my ways.” Opal winked, then crossed the room to give Emma’s fake horse a pat on the nose, but her smirk only lasted a moment. “Have you seen the centaur outside? It bowed to me and declared me its champion.” Her voice dropped. “I touched its head, you guys. It felt … soft. So real.”
“Ah, dangit. That was supposed to be my champion.” Emma dropped to the floor. “Let’s go say hi.”
“Wait!” Nico pushed off the cabinet. “We need to decide how to manage these figments. They last longer, which means there could be dozens out there at a time if we’re not careful.”
“Making this island a magical paradise,” Emma supplied, her blue eyes glowing with excitement. “I’m still waiting to hear the problem.”
“You’re being the problem!” Nico exploded. “You’re seriously overdoing it, Emma.”
Emma’s face reddened. She crossed her arms but didn’t respond.
“I have other news, too,” Opal said quietly. Her gaze flicked to Nico. “It’s not good.”
Nico’s hands found his pockets. “Well?”
Opal cleared her throat. “Logan has started asking questions.”
Nico felt his blood pressure rise, but Opal continued before he could speak. “I ran into him at the radish pageant meeting, and he started badgering me about where I’ve been lately. That’s hard to play off, guys. Suddenly I’m gone every afternoon, and anyone paying attention can see me biking into the hills.”
“Logan’s entering the pageant?” Tyler asked in disbelief. “I’m hearing that right?”
“What’s his talent?” Emma asked. “I saw him logroll once, and he was pretty—”
“I don’t care what Logan thinks.” Nico tugged on his windbreaker with both hands, aiming a pointed look at Opal. “If you’re gonna hang out with him all the time, tell him we’re fishing in the state park. To the west.”
“I’m not hanging out with him.” Opal squeezed her long black braid. “It’s a small town, Nico. You might be able to sneak away all the time with no one asking questions, but it’s harder for some of us.”
Nico’s chest caved.
Opal paled. “Nico, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine.” He waved it away. “You’re right, I know.” Nico took a deep breath. “Maybe we should shut everything down for a bit. Take a day off. I bet Ty and Emma have been skating on thin ice with these trips, too.” He looked at his friends.
Tyler sighed. “My mom is getting annoyed. Coming up with excuses every day is tough.”
Emma’s shoulders drooped. “It’s been a little tricky not being around to help out at the store. Not that I care!”
“It’s settled, t
hen.” Nico felt relief steal over him. “We’ll take a break and come up with a better plan for the Darkdeep.” Opal frowned, and Emma looked ready to protest, so Nico added quickly, “After which, we’ll keep testing it like we agreed.”
Emma nodded, mollified. She laced her fingers together and batted her eyelashes. “Can I go one last time today? Pleeeeease?”
Tyler huffed loudly, but Nico chuckled. “Whatever. Make a troop of spider monkeys. But then we head back.”
Emma squealed in delight, racing for the stairs. “Thanks, guys! I love being a Steward of the Midnight Pool!” She disappeared behind the wall.
Nico spun on Opal. “And now you’re going to tell us how you keep getting out here all alone.” He crossed his arms. “No more secrets, Opal. We’re a team, right? So fess up. Do you have a jet pack or something?”
Opal laughed. “Nothing like that. But I do have something to show you.”
Nico had thought the island couldn’t surprise him anymore. He was wrong. The boys were peppering Opal with questions about her mystery tunnel when the houseboat lurched.
“What was that?” Opal asked.
Before anyone could answer, a shout carried in from outside.
“HELP!”
Nico felt his blood freeze.
It was Emma.
16
OPAL
They ran to the front porch.
Pulled up short, and stared.
A towering humanoid stood beside the pond, between Emma and the stepping-stones. The figment had shiny gray skin and impossibly long fingers. Opal spotted two extra eyes on the back of its head.
“Holy crap,” Tyler breathed. “She made a Visitor.”
“It’s her favorite invasion show.” Nico gripped his hair with both hands. “It only lasted twelve episodes, but Emma’s seen them a million times.”
Emma was trying to get around the figment, but it was between her and the stepping-stones, mirroring her every movement. “It won’t let me back to the boat!” Even across the pond, Opal could hear the frustration in Emma’s voice. “I don’t understand. It’s supposed to help me, like on the show!”
“Can we reach her?” Opal asked.
