Don’t be an idiot, Caden. I want to win, to show Judy I’m better than her. Don’t let him destroy you before we’ve even begun.
So that’s all she cares about? Great. I turn in my seat so my back is to Kaylee. The plane is moving, and now I’m out of the LIC. I guess it’s a big deal, but I’m still recovering from Kaylee’s scolding and my own self-loathing, so I don’t really feel anything.
I squint and look out the window. All I can see is a long stretch of brown earth and then the sky. The sunlight is golden, and I imagine the smell of it, clean and free of chemicals. I’m as free as I’ll ever be now. Holy shit! The feeling, bright and hot, overwhelms my shame. I’m finally a part of the real world. Maybe I can’t do anything I want, but it’s definitely better than before.
I remember Dyl spluttering after he sipped the scotch, and smile. Don’t forget what you are. The only reason I’m on this trip is to reach Juliet. Even though it feels like it, it’s not a big deal. Right now I’m nothing, a blank page waiting to be filled. I shouldn’t feel anything until I meet Juliet. But man, that was funny. He’s funny.
All I have to do to survive is make sure that boy dies.
My smile fades.
CHAPTER
SIX
The plane touches down in a small, private runway in the middle of a farm. The flight passed pretty quickly as, thankfully, there was a TV screen that dropped down from the ceiling. The only options were eighties movies, so I watched The Breakfast Club and then the first third of The Princess Bride. But for the most part I spent my time staring out the window. The countryside we were flying over was so big and so flat it fascinated me.
“Are you coming, Caden?” asks Kaylee.
I unbuckle my seat belt and force the Nice into my voice. “Yep.”
When the door opens, Kaylee reaches across the bar and swipes three cans of Coke, tucking them into her handbag. Then we disembark.
Outside it’s flat and barren and the air smells like burnt sugar. Past the fields of swishing grass and the green mountains is the impossibly blue sky. At the top of the stairs, I pause with my hands on the cold metal railing, marveling at the world in front of me. Everything is vibrant and colorful. The sun is rising, peeking out against the mountains, but the air on my skin feels dreamily warm.
“Yeah, yeah,” says Kaylee. She’s already off the steps and is standing in front of a shiny white limousine. “The world is beautiful. Big whoop. Now come on, I want to show you your house. I spent a lot of time working on it, so you need to appreciate it!”
I walk down the steps. On the other side of the plane, Dyl is disembarking. He raises one hand and waves.
I don’t wave back.
Rather, I clamber into the limo after Kaylee. Inside is a row of black leather seats. Kaylee is sitting with her back pressed up against the door. Tinny classical music pumps from a speaker on the ceiling. The windows are tinted so dark I can’t see outside.
The limo starts up and pulls off the side of the road onto the highway. Kaylee cracks open a can of Coke, filling the limo with the scent of sugar.
“Can I…” I start, then I shut my mouth. Soda, even diet soda, is a banned substance at the LIC, and asking for it now feels way out of line. It’s only Kaylee, and she’s so laid back it’s easy to forget who she works for, but that’s a mistake I can’t afford to make. Kaylee is my boss, and I’m not free, so I need to tread carefully around her.
She smiles. “Oh my God, have you ever had a Coke before?”
“Not since I hit puberty.”
She reaches into her bag and pulls out a can. Then she offers it to me.
“It’s up to you, Caden. You can drink it if you want to, but remember, you’re going to have to take your shirt off in front of Juliet at some point, and your body is perfect right now. Do you want to risk losing your physique over one tasty beverage?”
I push down all the thoughts telling me to grab the drink and finish it in one go, and shake my head. “No, you’re right. I’ve worked too hard to ruin it now.”
She beams and puts the Coke back into her bag. “Good choice. So, just to keep you in the loop about what’s happening, right now we’re going to go to your home, the place you’ll live while you’re competing. Oh, and you’ll meet your parents. They aren’t your real parents, but I don’t think you’re dumb enough to think that. Seriously, some Love Interests get so excited, like I’m taking them to their birth parents. It’s totally pathetic. By the way, do you remember your birth parents? I read that some people have memories of their infancy.”
I look down at my hands. My only memories are of foster parents who only pretended to love me because it was necessary for development, then mirrored walls, red-clad guards, and a promise of a better life if I became a good enough liar.
“Well,” she says. “I guess you don’t want to talk about that. That’s fine. Anyway, you’ll meet the people we’ve chosen to be your parents. I didn’t have any control over the mom, but I did pick the dad. Not that that means much, as all the good ones were already taken. So he’s, er, a bit rough. I’d stay away from him as much as possible if I were you.” She glances down at her watch. “Okay, it’s five-thirty now, which means you’ve only got a little bit of time to get ready before school starts. And have a guess who is going to be there.…”
“Jennifer Lawrence? No freaking way!”
She rolls her eyes. “No, unfortunately for you, she’s already been paired. For real, though, Juliet is going to be there. So, on the drive over, I want you to read this.”
She reaches into her shiny gold handbag and pulls out a few sheets of paper that are clamped together by a black clip. I glance at the first page. It’s like a movie script, only my name is in big block letters above some of the dialogue. The page is titled “First Meeting.”
She leans in closer. “This is your script. Obviously, I can’t predict exactly what Juliet is going to say, but I’ve studied her for a while and I can make a pretty informed guess. Just make sure you keep the idea of each line and tailor it to what she says. Hit all the right beats and you’ll be fine. Craike told me you showed him in your interview how great an actor you are. Now is the time to use those skills. You’ll need them.”
I flick through the pages, quickly counting ten. Each one is full to the margins with script. There’s only one page for our first meeting, but there are others for things like first date and first kiss.
“So it’s all fake?”
“There’s no such thing as fake. As much as it sucks to admit sometimes, everything that exists actually exists and everything that happens actually happens. Do I look fake to you? Does the paper you’re holding not feel solid? This is real. It’s just unusual. Think of it like a great romance. People in those never come together in the way they expect. All this stuff with the LIC and me and everything could be the setup for your kick-ass love story.”
Yeah, because manipulative liars make great partners.