The Breeder's Daughter

EMMA'S MYSTERY GIFT

I soaked in the April sun as I sat in the courtyard, my interview with Beachly Breed had gone exceptionally well. Three days of kissing up have made me an expert at how to say just the right things to feed these peoples ego's, and there's nothing they like more than having their ego satisfied.

Another gust of wind flew by, almost taking the paper in my hands with it. Holding tightly to the schedule I was given earlier in the week, I looked at the slot for Friday and crossed off Beachly Breed.

Next up I had Maurice's House of Excellent Breed.

Mother Mindy could only get an hour from them to spend on each girl, since they "have a high volume of applicants to interview." This interview especially, I figured would be the easiest, as one of the most prestigious houses of breeding in the entire nation, their ego was likely to be one of the biggest as well.

Everyone had their eye on Maurice's House of Excellent Breed. To join them would secure a life of high class for as long as you lived, it was as good as a breeders life could ever get.

"Mind if I join you?"

Stunned, I turned around to see Emma's dolled-up face making its way towards me.

"No of course not, what's up Emma"

She plopped herself next to me, a hint of her perfume lingering in the air,

"Not much, just waiting for my next appointment. You're being interviewed by Maurice's next, right?"

I wondered for a second how she knew before nodding.

"Excited?" she asked looking straight into my eyes, her face slowly getting closer to mine as her eyes narrowed into me, making me utterly uncomfortable.

"Kind of."

There wasn't much for me to say to her and her overwhelming proximity made me feel too uncomfortable to keep up conversation. As if reading my thoughts, she leaned away from me and continued talking animatedly,

"I would be. I'm super nervous for my next interview. If I don't make it into one of the top three breeding institutions, I don't know what I'd do with myself." she paused for a minute as if remembering something,

"What time is your interview by the way?" followed by more really close staring,

I glanced down at the sheet in my hands,

"In 20 minutes,"

"I should probably get going now, I don't want to be late" I got up, quickly dusting off my dress so I could escape Emma's creepy staring more so than being early to the interview.

"Stella hold on, I want to give you something before you go,"

Both surprised and curious, I stood in place to wait as Emma retrieved a jar from her bag. The jar was coated with black paint, concealing whatever was hidden inside of it. Though I really wanted to escape Emma and her interesting and not to mention creepy staring habits, my curiosity kept me in place for a bit longer.

"Here take it, it's a gift." Emma said smiling as she handed me the jar.

"What for?" hesitantly I took it from her hands.

Emma zipped her leather bag closed and slid it over her shoulder as she faced me,

"Consider it a good luck gift." she added mischievously before making her way through the shrubbery that surrounded us, leaving me alone with the mysterious jar between my hands.