27
THE PAVILION
AMBROSIA BANQUET HALL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH
10:40 P.M.
Skye wasn’t the only one who found God in the Pavilion. Alpha lips were moving at a frenzied pace as the remaining girls—minus Allie J, who was still missing—prayed for salvation amid the random claps of thunder.
“It’s gonna be me.” Charlie bit her thumbnail. All the lights on campus were back on, blindingly bright, like an interrogation room. “I’m the one who stole the key and brought everyone down there.”
“Yeah, but it’s my second offense.” Skye rolled her swollen ankle. The pain had lowered to a three. “Besides, I can’t even dance. So what good am I?”
“You have a point there,” Triple scoffed, examining her hair extensions for split ends. Her lack of anxiety made Skye hate her even more. Or was that jealousy? If Skye had half of Triple’s discipline, this contest would be over by now. But she didn’t. Not even close. And now her mother and everyone in Westchester would know she didn’t have drive to back her talent. Sure, Madame P would probably still use her as an example in dance class—an example of failure.
The thunder was getting louder. Shira was on her way.
“Maybe it’ll be Allie J,” Skye whispered to Charlie. “She’s not even here.”
Charlie didn’t bother to turn her head. “Maybe.”
Even though Skye had apologized fifty times, Charlie was still mad about the surprise guests. All Skye could do now was talk to Charlie like everything was okay between them. And eventually it would be. It was a technique she’d used dozens of times on her friends back home and it always worked. “You think Shira will notice Allie J’s not here?”
“I took care of it, okay?” Charlie whisper-hissed. She nodded to a chair in the back. A girl with jet-black hair and green eyes was reading her aPod.
“Allie J!” Skye cried.
“Shhhh!” Charlie warned. “It’s just a hologram.”
“How cool.” Skye tried to smile, but she had a feeling it came off as more of a frown. If Allie J was “there,” Skye was back at the top of the hit list.
A band girl dragging a midsize wheelie hurried by.
Skye filled with hope.
“What’s with the suitcase?” she asked. “Convinced you’re going home?”
“No, this is my clarinet.” The girl gave a nervous laugh. “There’s been tons of sabotage in the wind section. I can’t leave home without it.”
“I know what you mean.” Charlie nodded knowingly. “You can’t trust anyone around here.” She shot a pointed look at Skye.
Skye’s ankle throbbed and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn’t a matter of trust. She hadn’t set out to break their pact. She just wanted it all—dancers, boys, friendship, and adventure. Wasn’t that the alpha way?
“Charlie, I…” She wanted to apologize again, but the words tasted more fake and cheesy than Kraft Singles. She wasn’t sorry for bringing the dancers. They trusted her now. She was just sorry that her actions had made Charlie so mad. And that wasn’t an easy thing to explain.
“Students.” Shira’s voice boomed throughout the room, silencing everyone immediately.
Skye dutifully began clapping along with the others.
“I expected more.” Red hair flew wildly around her shoulders. She looked like a demon about to feed.
Skye’s limbs tingled in fear. The sting of adrenaline warned her that danger lay ahead. Her body couldn’t run… but her mind did. There were so many things she hadn’t done yet.
I never learned to fly a PAP.
I never made it to the zoo to pet the baby animals.
I never lip-kissed Taz.
I never got to show Mimi what I’m made of.
I never got to star in a dance performance.
I never made my mom proud.
The last thought made Skye ache all over.
Onstage, Shira was stomping around. “I started this academy because I grew tired of seeing potential alphas on TMZ, dancing on tables and falling out of cars without underwear. Who they were wearing or dating or drinking became more important than what they were actually doing with their lives.” Shira’s hair settled on her shoulders like a bird landing on a perch. “I hold you to a higher standard. My standard. And I demand that you back up your extraordinary talent with extraordinary judgment.”
Skye massaged her restless legs. Just tell us already!
“There is a time for mating. After all, the world always needs more alphas. But that time is not now.” Shira gazed out over the crowd.
A bolt of lightning sliced through the air, just missing the PAP landing outside.
“When you break a rule, you break my trust. If I can’t trust you, you don’t belong here.”
Triple nodded in agreement. Charlie twirled her bracelets. Skye was too scared to move.
A sharp pain sliced through her ankle. Like her grandmother’s arthritic wrist could predict rain, Skye’s soreness told her something major was on the way.
She leaned forward in her chair. So did Triple, Charlie, hologram Allie J, and everyone else in the room.
Shira opened her mouth to speak.
EEEEEEEEEEP!
Huh?
Shira lifted her aPod from the pocket of her billowing black dress. Fiona raced onstage and whispered in her ear. Shira’s face darkened, her brows furrowing behind her lenses. Thunder rolled and lightning crashed.
“Ahhhh!” the clarinet girl screamed, breaking under the pressure.
Shira looked up at the audience, as if remembering they were there. “We will reconvene in the morning at 7 a.m. sharp.”
Skye and the others gasped as Shira cliffhangered their night. Every cell in Skye’s body was firing. She wasn’t sure she could last another minute without knowing her fate.
“Enjoy this night, ladies,” Shira said as she walked off the stage. “It might be your last.”
Half an hour later, Skye lay in bed, balling her fluffy, star-speckled comforter in her sweaty fists. Triple Threat was purring peacefully, knowing she was safe. Charlie flipped from side to side trying to get comfortable. And hologram Allie J was fast asleep.
Skye begged her inner self for an explanation. Something to help her understand why she had such a hard time following rules. Why she couldn’t be disciplined, like her mom, or dedicated, like Triple. She balled up her sleeves and whipped them across the room. Why bother with self-expression when the “self” she was expressing always got her in trouble?
Staring at the empty lavender slipper hanging from her lamp, Skye couldn’t help but think that her hopes and dreams were a waste of time. Unless…
Unless tonight’s interrupted assembly was a second chance. An opportunity for her to prove to herself and the world that she could power down her fun button and crank up the serious.
And if she was getting a second chance, she was going to do it right.
New HAD No. 1: To stay at Alpha Academy.
New HAD No. 2: To earn Charlie’s forgiveness.
New HAD No. 3: To heal and dance by morning.
New HAD No. 4: To swear off boys until graduation.
New HAD No. 5: To be my the best.
Skye folded up each piece of paper and slipped them into the shoe’s not-so-secret compartment, then lassoed it around the lamp. It swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth… a bitter reminder that her hopes and dreams were hanging by a thin, fraying ribbon.