Before I start with this next chapter, I want to thank all of you who have been reading and voting for this story. I just found out that it's ranked 79 in science fiction! I never thought I'd ever come close to the top 100, but here I am thanks to you!
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Most of WGO was gathered in the bleachers by the Glitchketball court, waiting anxiously to see if they or their friends made the Division teams. I sat with Kelly on the warm concrete. There wasn't enough space for everyone in the bleachers during large gatherings that involved almost the entire organization, and, as expected, we Sloppies were the ones who had to give up our seats.
As usual, Amanda, Jade, Calvin, and Megan had disappeared from view into their government box at the top of the bleachers and the Codies and Cookies got the top few rows of the bleachers.
The Speedies filled in the lower rows, and some of them preferred to stand. It seemed as if the hierarchy controlled everything everyone did.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the first day of the Glitchketball season!" Lucy yelled, and everyone cheered loudly. A huge screen flickered to life behind her, displaying the WGO logo and "The Official WGO Glitchketball league" in large, gold lettering.
"Are you ready to find out who made the teams?" The cheering escalated and a few of the Speedies even threw baseball caps, bandannas, and change at the court.
"Let's see! We're starting with Team Codie!" Lucy yelled, Coding the screen to switch to another slide.
"Our Team Codie regs are...Justin King!" His Codie friends cheered as Justin skipped down the stairs to the court and received a red cloth bag.
"Michael Ramirez!"
"Kennedy Parker!"
"Joe Gray!"
"Elyse Lane!"
"Peyton Walker!"
The enthusiastic Codie regs walked down the stairs one by one to pick up their Glitchketball bags.
"Let's give our Team Codie regs a big hand! Now, for their Glitches! Let's hear it for Vincent Cobbler and Eva Mae Song!"
Shouts of "Eva!" and "Vince!" rang through the air as the two were practically carried down the stairs by enthusiastic Codies. The Glitch bags they got were a bit bigger than the reg ones, and were emblazoned with purple.
"And now, it's time for Team Cookie!" The Cookies cheered in anticipation.
"Oh, we have a sibling thing going on with the regs! Vanessa Ramirez!" A young girl happily walked down the stairs, she must have been Michael Ramirez's sister.
"Hey, want to go get a drink or something? It's going to be a while before she gets to Sloppies," Kelly leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"Sure," I shrugged, and the two of us stood up, inching our way past many pairs of legs, around the court, and toward the Cookies' cafe block. With nearly the entire organization at the results announcement, the cafes were deserted.
"You know, I wish Government had a Glitchketball team," said Kelly as we entered the first cafe we saw.
"Why?"
"The Codies would totally kick their butts," she giggled. "I think we'd all like to see Amanda and her evil henchmen not get what they want for a change."
"Not all of them are evil, Kelly," I said, thinking of my sister Megan.
"Yeah they are!" Kelly pouted. "They live in their big fancy Government tower and make us live in the stupid Can."
"Ssh!" I pointed to the surveillance camera in the cafe as we walked in, and Kelly fell silent.
The cafe was small and quaint, painted to look like it was made of bamboo. In the corner was an extremely tempting fridge. Gripping the slightly wet black handle and pulling it open, I picked out a can of Mountain Dew and placed it on the counter.
"Aren't you going to get anything?" I asked Kelly.
"Mmhm," she nodded. "One hot chocolate with whipped cream please," she told the guy at the counter, and he nodded, putting in our order. Hot chocolate in the summer? What could I say, Kelly was pretty strange.
"That will be $3.49," he said, and I pulled some crumpled bills from my pocket. I couldn't help but think with bitter longing of a time I couldn't walk into any store or restaurant without being swarmed by fans.
I took my Mountain Dew off the counter and popped open the can. Taking a long sip, I stood just outside the entrance to the cafe waiting for Kelly.
Soon, she walked out with a cup in her hand, stirring as she went. "Let's get back now, they're probably almost to our Division!" She yelled excitedly, skipping down the street.
"Yeah," I followed her back the way we came to the courts and we arrived just as they were concluding the Speedie segment.
"And our Team Speedie Glitches are... Julie Hoffman and Keaton Moore!" Lucy beamed, giving Keaton a thumbs up as the two Speedies came down to receive their bags.
As soon as they were finished announcing the Speedies, many people began to gather their things and leave. The only people who remained for the last portion of the announcement were the Sloppies and a handful of caring Cookies, including Ellie who waved encouragingly when she saw me looking at her.
"Okay everyone, let's get ready for-"
"I will be taking over from here, Lucy," a familiar cold voice said.
"Well...sure...um...of course, President," Lucy replied as she stepped off the court. Was it just me, or did she say Amanda's title with the slightest bit of sarcasm?
Amanda walked down the stairs with perfect elegance, dressed formally as usual in a red dress and black cardigan and followed by Jade and Calvin.
"And now, it's time for the last and the least, Team Sloppie." Calvin snickered at her "joke" and Jade simply stood there.
"Our Sloppie regs for this year are Ashley Wen, Alan Langdon, Paul Ross, James Short, Helen Pullman, Anthony Hunter, Clara Springer, and Yvonne Peak," said Amanda blandly, not even bothering to pause in between names. She made it very evident that we Sloppies meant nothing to someone as powerful as her.
Even the few kind Cookies who stayed behind to watch us moved out of their way in disgust as the regs walked down to receive their bags from Amanda. They were the lowliest creatures in WGO, and nobody was afraid to tell them that.
"And now, for our final announcement, the Sloppie Glitches," Amanda flashed a perfect fake smile. I could've sworn she looked straight at me with her dark, piercing eyes.
"Congratulations, Kelly Peters and Claire King!" She said with feigned enthusiasm that barely concealed the waves of dominance and cruelty that seemed to slide off of her.
Kelly and I high fived each other and hopped down the stairs two at a time. When I heard only one person applauding and looked back to see who it was, I saw Ellie smiling and clapping like an idiot while everyone else looked bored to death. Sometimes, that Cookie was too nice for her own good.
I felt fear and unease build in my stomach as I approached Amanda. Being near her made everyone uncomfortable, especially me.
Still smiling professionally, she handed Kelly her Glitchketball bag and my friend joyfully skipped away. I took a deep breath and put my hands to my side as I stepped forward to collect mine. At least 5'9'', Amanda towered over me in size as well as personality. By the time I was close enough to reach out and get my bag, her presence was so powerful it was all I could do not to fall to my knees.
What was the deal with her?
I took the bag quickly, trying to get out of there as fast as I could, but to my horror, her cold fingers closed around mine as I gripped the strap. I bit my lip in pain as she dug her long, manicured fingernails into my skin.
"I know what you are," she stated simply, as if I was supposed to know what she meant. She stepped back and sighed, handing me the bag, when she saw the confused look on my face. "Never mind, forget I ever said that," she turned away, disappointment in her eyes. What? Amanda never made open mistakes like that. I shook my head and walked away with my bag, bewildered.
Amanda's POV
The strain in her eyes and the way she trembled in front of me as I handed her the bag only supported my theory. She had definitely sensed my powerful Aura, the Aura of a noble heiress, and her body was responding accordingly. However, when I told her I knew what she was, she was genuinely confused.
She was not the one I thought she was. That one would've known what I was talking about, and she would've recognized my last name. Myers, a powerful name on Lessaenes. However, though she wasn't that specific one, she was definitely a Lessaenite. Her recognition of my Aura confirmed it.
There were many possibilities as to why she didn't remember. Maybe Claire had been sent by her, like me, but her memory had been somehow wiped after landing on Earth. But if she was here on a royal mission, I would probably know about her... A lot of things about Claire were strange and contradictory. I couldn't come to any conclusions before I had more evidence.