15
THE PAVILION
AMBROSIA BANQUET HALL
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6TH
7:02 P.M.
The Pavilion was alive with the sound of gossip as one hundred girls sat around empty tables trying to guess the subject of Shira’s g’day address. Rumors ranged from “She’s opening an academy for boys” to “Shira is actually a famous Australian game show host in drag.” Tired of useless theories, Skye was ready to focus her energy on something more productive. Like, why weren’t the guys at dinner? Why hadn’t she heard from Taz? Why…
Her aPod vibrated.
“Yes!” she blurted, then quickly lowered her voice and turned to Renee. “Taz just texted!” she whispered. Thalia was at the table with them, but Charlie Brown-nose concerned her more. Renee had been calling Charlie out as a spy all afternoon. And even though Skye believed Renee had SOS (Soap Opera Syndrome: confusion over where storylines in soap operas end and reality begins), why chance it?
“What did he say?”
“He wants to know when we can sneak out again.” She waved her aPod as proof. “And I say the sooner the better. Before our spa glows fade.” Skye stroked her cheek, marveling at how smooth it felt. “What good is beauty if it can’t be admired by boys? It’s like cutting the label out of a Chanel dress.”
“Or marrying Spencer without the MTV cameras,” Renee added.
“Exactly.” Skye tossed her hair. “What’s the point?” Without further hesitation, she texted back.
Skye: B there once r muse takes her snooze.
She was about to hit send when Renee smacked her. The aPod flew under the table.
“Are you crazy?” Skye narrowed her turquoise eyes.
“Relax,” Renee insisted. “I know what I’m doing. And you can’t send that text.”
“Why?” Skye scanned the dining hall. Everyone was still seated at their six-leaf-clover tables chatting away. Triple was rolling her neck, making it clear she didn’t care what they were talking about. And Charlie was talking to Thalia about some woman they knew named Bee. “No one’s watching.”
“What’s going on?” Allie J leaned in expectantly.
“I got another message. They want to know when we’re coming,” Skye muttered.
“You have to wait one hundred and thirty-nine minutes,” Renee told her.
“In bed!” Allie J cracked.
Renee rolled her eyes. “It’s kind of confusing, but trust me—I know. Don’t text yet.”
“Triple already told me about your theory.” Skye sat up a little straighter. “But I’m even better at boys than I am at dance. So don’t tell me how to flirt and I won’t tell you how to act.”
“Have you seen Rayne Storm?” Triple chimed in with a provocative grin. “Maybe you should tell her how to act.”
Skye instantly forgave Triple for her spa defection.
Renee’s violet eyes darkened with rage. “Maybe you should tell yourself to shut—”
“G’day!” Shira’s sharp accent hacked off the end of their conversation. The glass dome became silent.
She was rising from some mysterious place beneath the stage, wearing a tight black tube dress and an even tighter smile.
“Congratulations. You all survived your first day.” She grin-paused for applause, then lifted her chin, nudging them back into silence. Skye’s stomach lurched. “You all came to the island for one year of intensive training in your field of expertise. But I want to give you more than that.”
A few girls applauded. Shira lifted her hand, and they stopped at mute-button speed.
“I have no doubt that you’ve spent many sleepless nights imagining yourselves dancing on the best stages, cooking for monarchs, accepting Oscars, and building a better tomorrow. I know this because I used to do the same. And I have since accomplished it all.” Shira glided around the edge of the stage, making sure to connect with each girl as much as someone in dark sunglasses could. “So believe me when I say that I am here to make your daydreams come true. Not only while you’re on my island, but while you are on my planet. When you graduate, I will put all of my resources—of which there are many—behind you. My power and your talent will ensure that you are the biggest contributors in your fields for the rest of your life. You have my word.”
Everyone burst out of their seats, their excitement exploding off the Pavilion’s glass walls like fireworks. Their futures were set. Their wishes granted. Fame and fortune guaranteed.
Amid the chaos, Skye crouched down to retrieve her aPod from under the table. Taz had texted again.
Taz: 11:30 observatory sounds kl. We can climb the dome and slide down. Mjr rush!
“Huh?” Skye said to the screen. “Who said anything about the observatory?”
“I did,” Renee gloated as they took their seats. “Isn’t it a great idea? Totally romantic.”
“That was your idea?” Skye narrowed her turquoise eyes in confusion.
“Yup. I just sent it and he responded in like half a second. I mean, Sydney is cute and all, but Taz is so much fun…” Renee twirled a strand of pink hair around her finger. “I guess I know a thing or two about boys after all.”
Skye’s heart began punching her chest. Her ribs held it back like a bouncer. “What about your one-hundred-and-thirty-nine minute rule?”
“It’s definitely been that long for me.” Renee winked. Gotcha.
“Ohmuhgud, you’re such a—”
“Shhhhhhhh.” Thalia silenced them from the other end of the table with a butter-colored finger to her lips.
“But as I’m sure you all know…” Shira continued from her perch on stage. The last standers quickly took their seats. “There can only be one alpha.”
Smiles dropped like stocks. Murmurs rose and morphed into grumbles. Skye strained, anticipating further explanation. But all she heard was blood pumping against her eardrums.
“Will Renee Foraday please stand up?” Shira pressed her hands together as if in prayer and tapped them against her lips.
“Me?” Renee gushed, obviously drawing from an old Emmy speech. “You pick me?”
Shira nodded yes. “I pick you.”
This time the applause was sparing, like the last few snaps of popcorn in the microwave.
Renee’s wet violet eyes met Skye’s hard turquoise ones as she stood. She extended her arms for a hug but Skye remained seated, weighted down by a billion questions. Most of them starting with, What about me?
Allie J smiled in a good-sport kind of way. Triple Threat began shouting at Thalia about the unfair edge celebrities had over people with true talent. Charlie lowered her head into her hands. Skye felt uncomfortable, like she was trying to squeeze into toe shoes three sizes too small.
The roof retracted just enough to let the moonlight illuminate Renee as she stepped onto the stage. A guarantee from Shira and a kiss from the universe—what next? Her own handbag line?
Renee stopped beside Shira, then waved at the unlucky ninety-nine with no regard for their crushed dreams. No idea how cheated they felt. No clue that they wanted to scratch her eyes out.
“Renee, you are a stunning example of hubris,” Shira began.
“Thank you,” Renee mouthed, bowing her head in gratitude.
Shira pursed her lips. “The Greek word hubris refers to the excess of ego and pride that often leads to a hero’s downfall. Hubris was the biggest sin in ancient times.” Her voice hardened.
Every set of eyes in the room fixed on the alpha. It was quiet enough to hear a bobby pin drop. Renee’s smile began to fade. Or was that the moon losing interest?
“And just as Hera and Athena punished the Greeks whose egos were outsize, I too will not tolerate hubris.”
The moon faded even more.
“What did I do?” Renee pleaded, her body suddenly shrouded in darkness.
“You went to see my boys.”
Skye’s feet tingled. Ohmuhgud, was she going to be next?
“And, as I stated earlier, that is against the rules.” A frosty breeze rushed inside the cracked ceiling, turning Shira’s breath into a cloud of anger. “You are no longer welcome at Alpha Academy. Your muse has your luggage. Exit at once,” she thundered.
Thalia appeared on stage with two rolly suitcases—Skye hadn’t even noticed that she’d left the table—and guided her toward the exit. Renee struggled to escape Thalia’s grip, but the tall, butter-colored muse held firm.
“I told you Charlie was a spy!” Renee managed to shout before one last tug from Thalia had her at the door. Renee’s violet eyes welled and two rivers of mascara-infused tears trailed down her cheeks. “I told you alllll!”
The instant she was gone, Shira continued.
“From this moment on, I will banish students as I see fit. There are countless temptations in this world and they come in all forms. Hold on to yourself. Follow your dreams. Obey my rules. And you just might be the one to win it all. Good luck.”
Shira sank back down through the opening in the stage, leaving ninety-nine girls in a state of complete shock. For a few moments everyone stayed put, as if glued to the Lucite seats. Then Oprah’s muse stood and stewarded her girls to the exit. The spell was broken, and everyone filed out of the Pavilion in silence.
Skye carefully put one gladiator-sandaled foot in front of the other, walking two paces behind her remaining housemates. She’d always pushed the limits back in Westchester—there had been secret rooms used to spy on boys, country club break-ins, and a black-and-white roof party with all the boys’ sports teams and just her four BFFs. But expulsion wasn’t something that happened to girls like her. It happened to boys who smoked cigarettes and drew anatomically correct pictures of teachers. And if it did happen to her, she’d have to go home in ignominy, with all of Westchester knowing she wasn’t really an alpha. The realization slammed into her with the force of a speeding SUV: This place would end in tragedy to for all but one girl.
And Skye had to be that one. She wanted it—and her mother expected it.
The second she got back to Jackie O, Skye rushed upstairs to bury her true feelings in the one place no one would ever think to look: her lavender ballet shoe.
HAD No. 4: Stay on Charlie’s good side.
HAD No. 5: Claim Renee’s closet.
HAD No. 6: Be the alpha.