Good vs. Evil High (8 page)

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 my 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.”