Conform or Suffer

Chapter 12 The Beauty Contest

Same Day at 9:30 a.m. Inside The University of Sassy and Wayward Fae Cafeteria

*

Professor Avery-Joy's flowing black dress waved as she stepped around evacuees and students huddled at the white plastic tables.

Her heels clicked on the tiles as she lifted another tray of warm cinnamon tea and a stuffed American biscuit-type pastry called Happy Buns and handed them out.

A muscular elf man grasped her neck, trying to dig into her skin. He made her fall appear to be an accident to the surrounding people.

Cups and pastries spilled onto the floor. She held onto the nearest table to steady herself. She yanked herself away and rushed past the salad bar.

He strutted after her and attempted to caress her elf ears. The scent of cologne wafted from his gold and black suit. His voice was soft, and only she could hear him. "Stop blaming me for our breakup. You preferred Odin or Cutter to a real man. Let me move on."

She didn't speak to him.

"Hey, beautiful. Tell me where she is. If you do, I'll never bother you again." Stanton picked up a briefcase off the floor. "Don't worry, my ex is mad that I found someone new." He dumped pounds of cash from his briefcase and handed out pink currency stamped with a gold moth, officially called Key-Mark, but no one referred to it as that. The language is derived from mostly vanished when the kingdom adopted a long-abandoned American social media beauty subculture as the one truth. "Wait in the hall. I'm talking with my ex-girlfriend."

Everyone left the cafeteria.

"Most of the students are my friends because I established scholarships."

"You've tricked everyone. Even Yoleta calls you my ex, but our relationship was a month of arranged dates."

"I went looking for Grew-Ella, but she isn't at your place."

"Grew-Ella fled out in the snow to avoid you." Avery-Joy pressed a security button against the wall, but she didn't leave the lunchroom.

"Tell me where Grew-Ella is hiding. She'll be my mistress once I remarry. Unlike you, she doesn't have her own power." He tried to punch Avery-Joy.

She ducked and weaved. "Please, don't touch her."

"Baby, she can't escape. I'm a board member. We decide how women dress and how men act."

Avery-Joy scanned for anything she could use as a weapon, but fleeing was the better option. "You can't be here. This is a sanctuary because the school is owned by New Jersey." She glanced around, eyes searching for the squad, but the beautiful doll-like authoritarian guards weren't around, so she ran to escape Stanton.

"I'm not banned from public spaces." He fell over a chair, trying to pursue her, and a handful of cash scattered on the floor. His voice lowered and was quieter. "My pretty queen, I'll show you a rotting corpse. Grew-Ella will be one too if she says no."

Avery-Joy stood as far from him as she could. "I'm no longer queen, and that is the only reason you dated me. Look, I prefer not to fight you, but I've trained on my own for years to protect myself."

"Baby Queen, Vex and I killed Ida Web-Song. I used a death-binding spell, so she couldn't move. If you tell Yoleta, she won't believe you." He popped a vitamin into his mouth. "I'll offer you money." He clenched his fist and aimed for her head.

Avery-Joy ducked and tossed him to the wall. She exited the cafeteria, ascended the stairways, and hid behind pink vending machines. Her memories were haunted by the beauty contest.

The Past:

*

Avery-Joy stepped around a young tree. Two women in ball gowns swung axes in her direction. She kicked the closest contestant in the chin. The other fled in the opposite direction.

"You ruined my face." The woman dropped her ax into the mud.

Avery-Joy kept running until she entered a tin building when a recorded announcement went over the park's speakers. Vex's voice crackled. "We hope to have a record 45% survival rate this year, but coming out maimed makes you a loser. This isn't my dinky contest for a village prince or princess title."

Rain hit the confessional booth. Posters donated by sponsors were plastered on the tin walls. The camera zoomed in on her. She repositioned the sash embroidered with her name around her black dress. "My best friend was forced to compete, and I love him."

Vex's recorded announcement went over the speaker. "The rain is stopping, and it's time for the plank of pain."

She hurried out and walked across a thin board over a man-made pit, filled with mud, before anyone else.

Contestants shoved each other off, and a few drowned with muck filling their lungs, but most climbed their way out. A wolf humanoid crawled across and smiled at her.

"Cutter, we survived to the end." She hugged and kissed him.

His tail wagged.

Trent ran along the thin wooden path, shoving anyone in his way. His arm swung out, holding a laser gun, and he shot Cutter four times, tossing his fading body into the pit. "Cutter has too big a chance of winning." He winked at Avery-Joy. "I'm your king."

She climbed into the pit and dragged Cutter out.

"Don't leave me. I love you, and your son needs you." Avery-Joy cradled him in her arms until the man she loved stopped breathing.

Other memories filled her brain-a flash of her being ordered to hold Trent's hands as crowns were placed upon their heads before cheering crowds.

*

Avery-Joy tried to stop remembering, and she slid out her phone and called Yoleta. "Stanton and Vex executed Ida Web-Song. What should I tell poor Odin?"

"She is still alive, but don't inform him until his ex does."

"But Stanton is threatening Grew-Ella," Avery-Joy said over the phone.

"If your ex attempted to kill Ida, then he used magic that went wrong. Keep out of his way because he's cursed."

Avery-Joy's eyes widened. "Yes, Stanton claims he knows how to perform a death-binding spell."

"I'll have a conversation with him after Karen's potluck."