Birthright

Chapter Twenty Four

For a moment, adults and teens absorbed the noise and the chaos that reined around them. It was like walking into a war zone. People flew through the air, some chanted in excitement and others argued about their seats in the stands. Gideon turned to Jordan and said something she couldn’t hear before he launched himself into the air and disappeared with Polly. Mr. Parker pulled Jordan into his arms and this time, she was semi prepared as he stepped over the edge and they hurtled to earth. She let out a huff when they halted abruptly. Mr. Parker loosened his grip and set her on solid ground. 

The noise from the crowd was deafening and Jordan resisted the urge to cover her ears. The adults in their group closed around them, shuffling Levi, Cibrian and Jordan to the middle as they pushed through the rowdy crowd. 

Mr. Parker stopped and Jordan saw they were at the fringes of the amphitheater. There was a solid wall of Lafita stopping anyone but the teens from walking down the aisles and claiming seats. Panic scorched Jordan’s insides. She tried to tug out of Mr. Parker’s hold, but he tightened his grasp to the point of pain. Mr. Parker looked at a blonde Lafita with orange eyes. 

“Name?” the man asked although he knew exactly who Mr. Parker was.  

“Jordan Parker, Cibrian Tolly and Levi Sawyer,” Mr. Parker said.

The Lafita tapped several keys on a small device in his hand. He nodded at the teens and moved to the side to let them pass. As the boys shuffled forward, Jordan turned desperately to Mr. Parker. She opened her mouth to speak, but he leaned down and raised the zipper higher on her jacket.

“Everything is going to be fine. I’ll be watching you,” he said and walked away. 

Heath clapped them on the back encouragingly while Kelly blew kisses. Seth Tolly leaned down and murmured something in Cibrian’s ear before he pushed him forward. Jordan was propelled past the wall of Lafita. Other parents with scared looking teens wished their children good luck with tears, smiles and in some cases, angry words. When Jordan turned to the amphitheater, she forgot everything. Looking down at everything from their balcony was nothing compared to actually being at ground zero.  

Jordan stood at the top step that led down a steep staircase that was so long, she could barely see where it ended. The amphitheater was as big as a football field. The seats surrounding the stage were set in a circle with about thirty seats in a row before giving way to an aisle. Like a movie theater, the seats were on a decline so everyone would be able to see the stage floating in midair. The ice circles Jordan despised from the hotel gathered around the stage. 

The colored stands with spectators towered vertically towards the sky. It seemed as if millions of people looked down at them. The flashes of light from the stands were blinding. Jordan wondered if this is what it felt like to be a rock star.

“Your seat is twenty rows down, left, aisle,” the Lafita hollered at Jordan. 

Teenagers milled around, whispering to one another, ignoring one another or watching people like Jordan make her way to a seat. On wobbly legs, Jordan walked down the steps, holding onto each chair as she made her way down. On the back of each chair in silver lettering it had the future student’s name. Jordan stopped, staring at the chair that stated, Jordan Parker. She rolled the name on her tongue and gave thanks she had an aisle seat. 

In her row, two seats over, a girl sat sideways in her chair. She had curly red hair and dark purple eyes. Leaning over the back of her chair was a very thin boy with glasses and a brown bow tie with neon green polka dots beneath his chin. They stopped chatting when Jordan dropped into her seat. 

“Are you really Donovan Parker’s daughter or is this a publicity stunt?” the girl drawled through a large wad of acid yellow colored gum. 

“It’s true,” Jordan said.