by Ahmet Zappa
Vega glanced down at her Star-Zap. It was nearly time for practice, and she realized she wanted to be on her way there before her roommate got back from Meditation Club. Vega’s strong desire to vacate the premises surprised her. She stood up quickly and smoothed the blue coverlet, which was unnecessary, as its edges were pulled so tightly you could bounce a wharfle on it. She knew because she had tried. Vega’s roommate, Piper, kept her side of the room just as neat as Vega’s, and Vega counted her lucky stars every day for that. But that’s where the similarity ended. Piper’s side was dreamy and ethereal, with a gently undulating water bed covered with the softest of linens and more pillows than you could count, the largest embroidered with the word dream. Her star-painted dresser contained more nightgowns and pajamas than regular clothes; Vega was sure of it. She had not seen her roommate wear the same thing twice to bed.
Vega stole a quick glance at the mirror hanging on her closet door. Neatly bobbed blue hair, smooth and shiny. Electric blue jacket, sparkly tunic, leggings, and soft ankle boots. She was crisp, polished, and neat as a pin, as usual. She grabbed her bass and turned to head out of the room. The door slid open. Too late.
Piper stood in the doorway, blinking at Vega in her usual sleepy fashion. Her seafoam green hair rippled down her back, past her waist. Her long dress billowed around her feet. She was tall and slender, and whenever Vega looked at her, she couldn’t help thinking of a graceful, flowing waterfall.
“Hey,” said Vega.
“Hello there,” said Piper languidly. She smiled slowly and sighed contentedly. “Meditation Club was starmendously relaxing today.” She swiveled her head around and shrugged a couple of times. “I feel like a wet noddlenoodle, like I could just collapse in a heap.”
“Maybe you need a nap,” Vega suggested starcastically.
Piper’s light green eyes lit up. “What a great idea!” she said. She sauntered to her side of the room and reached for one of the week’s worth of sleeping masks that hung from the wall on pretty pegs before kicking off her slippers, pulling on the mask, and curling up on her chaise lounge. She arranged a loosely knit pale green blanket over her. Within arm’s reach of her lounge were a basket of holo-diaries for jotting down dreams and a large bouquet of glittery coral-colored flowers, which perfumed the room with an almost magical fragrance. Piper inhaled deeply. “Mmmmmmm,” she said sleepily.
Vega tried as hard as she could not to roll her eyes at her roommate. Not that Piper could see from under the sleeping mask anyway. Who needed to take an after-meditation nap? Wasn’t that redundant? But then she immediately felt bad. From day one it had been quite obvious that ethereal Piper and practical Vega were complete opposites. Vega was direct and serious, and she liked rules. Piper was emotional, otherworldly, and unhurried. But they quickly learned that they had a common love of order and that they often saw situations from two very different angles, which gave them a multidimensional view on many issues.
Soon they developed a grudging admiration for each other. It was a struggle sometimes, but they had made it work. But then, as Vega recalled, things had changed dramatically. They had gone to bed planning a hike to the Crystal Mountains, debating what to bring for lunch, and had woken up the next morning scowling at each other. Piper had started relaying the previous night’s dream, which apparently had featured Vega in a starring (and not very flattering) role, and Vega had just cut her off. Now relations between the two were chilly, though usually polite. She could tell it pained the sensitive Piper, and it wasn’t pleasant for Vega, either. But there didn’t seem to be anything they could do to fix it.
Piper raised her eye mask and looked at Vega. “Are you going to band rehearsal?” she asked.
“You’re a regular detective,” Vega heard herself say, an edge to her voice as she held up her guitar case. Piper gave a thin-lipped smile and pulled the mask back over her eyes.
Immediately feeling guilty for her rudeness, Vega quickly opened the sliding door, walked out, closed it, and stepped onto the dorm’s Cosmic Transporter, a moving sidewalk that ran through it.
Unbeknownst to each other, once they were alone, the two girls gave simultaneous sighs of relief.
“No, no, no, no, no,” said Leona, stamping her foot so hard her golden earrings jangled. “You’ve got it all wrong. All wrong!” She dug her hands into her halo of golden curly hair in frustration.
Vega bit her lip, beginning to wish she had skipped rehearsal. From the looks on her fellow band members’ faces, she suspected they felt the same way.
Leona turned to the band’s lead guitarist. “Sage,” she said. “You’re playing too slow. This is rehearsal for a rock band, not an End of the Cycle of Life procession, for stars’ sake.”
Before the girl could respond, Leona turned to Libby. “And you’re coming in too soon on the keytar,” she scolded.
Libby sucked in her cheeks and stared down at the keys on her portable keyboard.
Vega held her breath, hoping she would be spared Leona’s wrath. No such luck. Leona spun around and stared at her for a minute before she spoke.
“And, Vega, you were in the wrong key.” She leaned her face close to Vega’s. “Don’t do that again,” she concluded.
Vega felt her cheeks turn red. She generally appreciated Leona’s big personality and even occasionally found her dramatic outbursts somewhat entertaining, but that day she felt the girl was just being a big bully.
She watched as Libby took a deep breath, closed her eyes, wiped the frown off her face, and opened her eyes. “Leona,” Libby said kindly, “do you need a break?”
This only served to infuriate Leona further. “I don’t need a break!” she screeched. “I need a new band.”
Clover, who had reluctantly agreed to sub for Scarlet when she hadn’t shown up for the last rehearsal, raised her drumsticks and hit the cymbal with a loud crash. She stood up. “That’s it,” she said. “Guess what, Leona? I don’t need to take this. I’m just doing this as a favor. And now I’m out of here.” She shoved her drumsticks into her back pocket and stormed off.
Leona spun around, throwing her hands into the air. “Great, guys, just great,” she said. “Now we’re drummer-less again. And she wasn’t even the problem. It’s the three of you!”
Libby, Sage, and Vega glanced at each other. Nobody seemed to be in any rush to argue with the enraged diva. Finally, Libby spoke up. “Leona,” she said, putting her hand on the girl’s arm. “We understand that you’re under a lot of stress right now. But you also have to see things from our point of view. We’re learning new songs and we’re trying hard and you need to be patient with us. Nobody is going to want to be in your band if you yell all the time. And I don’t think you want us to quit, do you?”
Vega was impressed. Libby always could see both sides of a situation and lay them out clearly in a nonjudgmental way. And Leona actually seemed to be listening to her.
“Yeah,” Vega added. “You’d have to have tryouts all over again. What if Vivica comes back?”
Vivica was Leona’s biggest rival and was still angry that Leona had beaten her to be lead singer of the group. Starting over would be completely unacceptable. Leona’s shoulders sagged. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m just so upset about everything and I guess I’m taking it out on you guys….” Her voice trailed off.
“Of course you’re upset,” Sage said in a calming tone. “Listen, it’s all going to be okay. We’re a good group! Don’t forget that we were the ones who were picked out of all the students who tried out. Maybe we should just hold off on practicing until you’re feeling better about…” Vega noticed that Sage’s eyes had lit on the empty spot on Leona’s wrist where her Wish Pendant used to be. Once you noticed that, it was almost impossible to look anywhere else. Vega forced herself to stare at Leona’s face. “Um, everything that happened,” Sage concluded.
“Okay,” said Leona softly. She gazed at the ground, unable to look anyone in the eye. “I’ll let you know when I’m feeling more up
to it.” She smiled sadly. “I’m sorry.”
The three girls watched as Leona headed toward the Big Dipper Dorm, the slightly bigger and fancier dorm where all the third and fourth years lived.
Vega turned to the two other girls. “Wow,” she said. “Do you think she’s ever going to get over what happened?”
“She had better,” said Sage, “or she’s going to lose all her friends. If she hasn’t already.” She shrugged. “Well, see you later. I have plans to meet some friends and listen to music at the Lightning Lounge.” She turned and hurried off.
“What do you think?” Vega asked Libby. But the pink-haired girl was holo-texting and held up a finger for Vega to hold her thought. Vega did.
“So what do you think about that?” Vega repeated when Libby was finished.
“What do I think? I think we’d better find Scarlet if we want to keep this band together,” said Libby. “As much as she and Leona didn’t get along, Leona usually behaved around her. And Clover was mad. I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“So no one has seen Scarlet since…that day?” Vega asked.
“Well, Tessa told me that Scarlet stopped showing up for their Astronomics class,” said Libby. “It’s totally bizarre. Nobody’s seen her. And nobody knows where her new dorm room is—or even if she has one.” She shook her head. “It’s a mystery.”
Libby’s Star-Zap pinged, telling her she had a holo-text. She read it, smiled, and put her guitar back in its pink case, then snapped the case closed. “Adora’s at the Serenity Gardens,” she reported, “so I’m going to paddle out there and hang out with her until dinnertime. Want to join me?” Vega declined, even though she enjoyed the gardens, a chain of star-shaped islands connected by footbridges that sat in the middle of Luminous Lake. Lush and beautiful, it was a wild place with towering trees, shady nooks, blossoming shrubs, creeping vines, and more varieties of flowers than you could count. The air smelled tantalizingly delicious. But there was a place she liked even better.
“See you at dinner, then,” said Libby, walking off toward Luminous Lake. Vega knew she’d grab a hovercanoe at the boathouse on Shimmering Shores. Vega slung her own guitar case over her shoulder and headed to the hedge maze, her favorite spot in all of Starling Academy. The trickily curving paths, which led, eventually, to a lovely seating area in the middle, were surrounded on either side by tall green hedges, so you couldn’t see over to the next turn. But this maze was special. Its paths were constantly shifting, so it had limitless possibilities. You never went the same way twice. It was quite challenging. This was delightful to Vega but entirely frustrating and confusing to most of the other students, so Vega knew she would have her privacy. An escape route had recently been added, after a first year had unwisely gone into the hedge maze without her Star-Zap and, unable to find her way out, had to sleep under a hedge overnight. Now a single red florafierce could be found blooming in each wall of the maze. All you had to do was pick it and the maze would immediately form a doorway out. But Vega would never consider using it. Finding her way in an ever-changing maze was too much fun.
Vega could feel all the frustrations of the day magically lift as she stepped between the leafy maze walls. She loved the way the thick hedges towered over her head and framed the blue sky above. She was convinced she did her best thinking as she wandered through its pathways.
She switched on her Star-Zap’s holo-video and began recording. She liked to take holo-vids of her day and review them before she got into bed for the night. After she made the first turn, she had a choice of going left or right. Without hesitation, she took the left path. Turning, and turning, and turning some more, she meandered through until she found herself in the center of the maze, which that day featured a display of lallabelle flowers, formed into a star shape, of course. Nearby was a pretty little swing hung with creeping zeldablooms, fragrant and lush. She sat on it and swung back and forth, the slight breeze ruffling her short hair.
Vega opened her guitar case, lifted the blue embroidered strap over her neck, and began to strum, practicing her scales, starting with C major. Her fingers alternated over the frets as she picked out a sequence of notes. Practicing her scales soothed and calmed her, which was good, because Leona’s outburst during band practice was still bothering her. It wasn’t only that the girl had berated her fellow band members (Vega did not appreciate being yelled at for no good reason), but also that the usually confident Starling was feeling so downtrodden. Plus, she wondered, if they could even find Scarlet, could they convince her to return to the band? Not if Leona was acting like this; that was for sure. Vega thought there must be something she could do to help. Her fingers playing the notes, she swung back and forth, lost in thought. That’s it! I’ll holo-text Cassie! Cassie had struck up an unlikely but warm friendship with Leona. Unlikely because Cassie was as reserved and shy as Leona was loud and confident. But their opposite-personality friendship worked. Vega felt a twinge of remorse. It was just like how she and Piper used to balance each other out.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Star-Zap. I’M IN THE HEDGE MAZE. DO YOU HAVE A MINUTE TO TALK ABOUT LEONA? she holo-texted.
The response was immediate: I’LL BE THERE IN TEN STARMINS.
So Vega continued to play, lost in her thoughts about Leona, Scarlet, and Piper. Glancing at her Star-Zap, which sat nearby, she realized the ten starmins were almost up. She put her bass back in its case and began making her way toward the maze entrance. Then her Star-Zap beeped and flashed a small icon of her mother’s face. It was in a red star, a reminder that she had not yet returned her mother’s holo-call from two stardays earlier. Vega considered doing it right then and there, but she still wasn’t ready. She knew her mom was going to ask her to come home for a visit (again), and Vega needed to come up with a reason that she couldn’t (again). She had already used a fellow student’s Bright Day celebration she couldn’t miss, a Glowin’ Glions game, and an extra-credit assignment. She was running out of excuses. Vega felt uneasy. She wasn’t exactly sure when things between her and her mom had gotten so complicated, but she figured it must have been around the time the two had seemed to switch roles. Vega had reached the Age of Fulfillment and overnight, it seemed, had transformed from a carefree child to an über-responsible, grades-obsessed perfectionist. She was determined to get into Starling Academy at any cost and had focused all her energy on studying. (She took the entrance examination five times to get the rare perfect score, which she was sure would guarantee her acceptance. Luckily, she loved tests, seeing them as the ultimate game.) And perhaps because her mother, Virginia, realized she no longer needed to worry about her daughter, she changed from a constantly stressed-out single mom into a relaxed, fun-loving person. The two rarely saw eye to eye on anything these days, so Vega alternately missed her mom terribly and was relieved by the distance between them.
Vega turned a corner and spotted Cassie, who looked flustered. She had somehow gotten turned around and was headed the wrong way.
“Hey, Cassie,” Vega called.
Cassie spun around, a frown on her pale, pretty face. She was wearing a white diaphanous baby-doll dress shot through with silver thread over a pair of calf-length white leggings and a white tank top. She had delicate silver sandals on her feet.
“Oh, there you are,” Cassie said, sounding faintly put out. She blinked up at Vega through her star-shaped glasses, her silvery hair done up in her signature pigtail buns. Vega smiled at the girl.
“Stop it,” Cassie snapped.
“Stop what?” Vega asked innocently.
“You’re looking at me like I’m some precious little doll,” Cassie replied. “You know how much I hate that.”
“Sorry,” said Vega with an embarrassed grin. She couldn’t help it. It was true. Cassie was so tiny and cute, even when she was scowling.
“Well, thank goodness I found you,” said Cassie. “You know how this maze drives me crazy.”
Vega opened her mouth, about to mention tha
t it was actually she who had found Cassie. But the irritated look on Cassie’s face told her to keep that thought to herself.
“I’m glad you holo-texted me,” Cassie said as the two girls made their way back to the hedge entrance.
They reached a place where they could turn either right or left. Cassie started to go to the right and Vega tapped her on the shoulder. “This way,” Vega said, pointing in the opposite direction.
Cassie shrugged. “Whatever you say. You’re the expert.” She glanced at Vega. “So was Scarlet at practice today?”
Vega shook her head.
Cassie looked disappointed. “So weird,” she said. “No one’s seen her since that awful day….” Her voice trailed off.
Vega winced, recalling the fear in the pit of her stomach when they all realized Lady Stella was going to tell one of them that she was about to be ousted from the Star Darlings. After all her hard work, it would have been such a blow to her. She had actually frozen with terror at the thought. But as she had looked around the room, she’d realized that each of the eleven other girls felt the same way.
Cassie looked at the ground. “I still feel guilty over how happy I was that it wasn’t me,” she said.
Vega nodded. “I think we all do.”
A sly smile crossed Cassie’s face. “Everyone except Leona,” she said. “I think she was glad to see Scarlet go.” The smile quickly left. “But now Leona’s got her own troubles.” She looked up at Vega. “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”
Vega took a deep breath. “It’s just that Leona’s not herself,” she said. She filled Cassie in on that afternoon’s outburst.
