Belle of the Brawl Read Free Page B

shrugged.
    Skye turned to look at Thalia. The muse avoided eye contact and stared straight ahead.
She knows something.
    “These two Alphas, both invention majors”—Shira swept her bling-encrusted hand toward both girls before continuing—“took a very big risk. They teamed up to create SeeVD’s—sunglasses that play movies. The lenses act as mini-LCD screens, and if used correctly might bring humans one step closer to perfect fusion with technology. I love risk-takers. That’s why you’re all here—to take risks! Risks move society forward. They advance our species.”
    Get to the point, Shira.
    Singh and Saylene’s smiles were wide enough to park a yacht as they stood onstage, awkwardly receiving Shira’s gushing praise.
    “But.” Shira’s expression hardened. Her smile flattened into a thin line. “They made a careless error. The lenses were not properly coated, and they singed the girls’ eyelashes off.”
    Ah-ha!
Skye snuck a look at Allie and they both struggled to suppress nervous giggles at the horrible explanation for the girls’ shades.
    Shira cleared her throat. “And then, what did they do? Did these two promising Alphas start afresh, with a renewed enthusiasm?”
    Skye stared at her cuticles.
    “NO.” Shira hate-stared at Singh and Saylene like theywere cockroaches and she was about to unleash a bug bomb. The smiles disappeared from their faces. “They
cried
. Just like they are doing now.” Shira waved her arms wildly, reminding Skye of the monkey bats in
The Wizard of Oz
. The two girls onstage started shaking and began to wipe away silent tears streaming down their cheeks.
    “So… that’s all?” Skye leaned over and whispered to Charlie, raising her white eyebrows.
    Charlie gave Skye a knowing look. “Shira hates crying. She thinks it’s weak.”
    The mogul went on. “Crying is a waste of good mascara. Failure should make you
try
, not
cry
. And therefore, Singh and Saylene, I am afraid I must ask you to pack your bags and board your Personal Alpha Planes. You are both going home.”
    “But Shira!” The Texan took off her sunglasses and revealed red, puffy eyelids the size of kneecaps.
Ew!
The room inhaled in a collective gasp.
    “No buts. You no longer qualify as Alphas. Therefore, you no longer belong here.”
    As the crowed erupted in shocked whispers and girls began adding two more names to the growing list in their aPods of girls who’d been kicked out of the Academy, the two half-blind IM’s shame-shuffled out of the room.
    Shira continued once the commotion died down: “The only person I’ve ever heard cry for a good reason is my special,sensitive,
poetic
son Sydney. And thanks to a very special Alpha in the making, that’s become a thing of the past, too.”
    Ohmuhgud.
Skye’s heart began to beat faster than a Cascada song. She pulled her metallic silver hoodie up over her hair, wishing she could disappear. But a cotton-Lycra hood was no match for a Shira-induced spotlight.
    “And because my son is happy for the first time in his life, I have decided to let him continue associating with this very special girl.”
    Oh please no.
Skye squeezed her turquoise eyes shut, her ears tingling with mortification-anticipation. When the entire assembly discovered she was Syd’s girlfriend, her reputation would be ground into dust. She would be known as Puffs the Magic Tissue for the rest of the year!
    But shutting her eyes couldn’t stop the impending shout-out any more than Dorothy could stop the tornado from ripping her out of Kansas. “Skye Hamilton, please stand.”
    A hot shame-blush crept up her neck. Skye clung pathetically to her egg chair as if it could keep her from drowning in the floodwaters of embarrassment. Slowly, she pulled her hood down and rose out of her seat, pasting a fake smile on her bright red face.
    Skye normally loved an opportunity to have all eyes on her, but not this time. She turned toward the back of the room, where Syd stood, applauding, his