THE ALIEN LANDS

The rest of Cordelia’s Third Year at Arcadia Academy went by beneath a gray water color of potential violence. In the weeks that followed the attack, Arcadia Academy was locked down both physically and technologically. Faculty members and some strange men dressed in black suits were wondering the grounds making sure the school would be protected from further intrusions from the skies as well as other worlds. Professor Rickman spent an entire day taking his alien equipment that he got reinforcing everyone’s work from before. He was followed by Professor Cole, and then preceded by a collection of attentive students who had checked under every tree, every bush, every inch of property that the school owned. There as a sense of determination that no one wanted this intrusion to happen ever again.

Cleansing the auditorium was just a matter of making sure that the alien technology did not interfere with the frequencies of the Earth based equipment. All of this took a solid week; according to students they were all clinched and reinforced with a field designed to repeal any kind of energies that are not native to earth. Finally, it was rumored that the Colonials sent some robotic sentries to patrol the skies over the school to ensure that no more alien threats could not penetrate the defenses. The sentries would project a field design to repeal any alien energies. Professor Branch, who after his ordeal never lost a certain anxious, signature look, roamed endlessly in and out of the levels and some of the forbidden levels of the school where no telling what was being kept in those locations. The Third Years had made a bonfire at their fall Equinox party, but now the faculty made a real bonfire, fed with logs imported from Atlanta in a configuration that would make Mr. Rogers from the old PBS shows proud.

In a way, this was an education a chance to see how the adults handle a stressful situation, with real things and lives at stake. But there was no fun in that. There was only silence a dinner, useless anger, and a sense of gloom and doom. One morning they found a room of a First-Year boy and girl cleared out: they both dropped out and gone home over night. It was not uncommon to come across groups of three or four girls --- girls who mere weeks earlier had avoided sitting next to Olivia Southerland --- were crying their asses off on the rim of a fountain at the edge of the Maze. Fighting among the students were starting to increase at the school. As soon as Professor Branch went on vacation, and those who claimed to know --- Damien made a bet that some of them if not all would never come back. Damien never blamed anyone who wanted to run away from this school, not after what happened.

Sometimes Cordelia wished she could run away, too. Suddenly, her parent’s condo didn’t look so bad right now. But then she checked her bank account balance. She had four point six million dollars in her account. She could go to Chicago and live or wait until the new island that was being built was completed and buy a spot of land there so she could be near her parents and in fact she was in conversations with a real estate agent who had promised to keep her updated on the plans. Cordelia thought the class would get her for the little incident from last year where she had made fun of Professor Branch, but the strange thing was that no one ever talked about the incident. She almost wished someone would talk about it. She really wanted someone to confront her about it so she could grieve properly at the situation. Cordelia was trapped. She was still silently crying for Olivia for killing her because she didn’t warn everyone about the Black Queen, not even to Raleigh who she was deeply falling in love with and her best friend Christina. How could she deal with the pain of this situation?

This was the kind of situation Cordelia thought she had left behind the day she was beamed on Academy grounds. Things like this did not happen in Mount Arm-Joy: sure, they had their share of violence, they had their share of conflict, but it was always heroic and the citizens would unite together to protect Mount Arm-Joy and if there was anyone important to the people, they would use their own life force to bring the fallen companion back to life. Sure, Mount Arm-Joy would seem like a perfect world, but this wasn’t a perfect world, this was reality. She wasn’t in a story where you could press a button and a person that you felt was worthy to live would be magically back, this was real and death was real and it made her think about that painful day they left their system. The day where she spent the entire month, crying, terrified, depressed.

A week after the incident, Oliva Southerland’s parents came to collect her things. No special fuss was made for them, they get that all the time back in Los Angeles, but Cordelia had happened by one of them one afternoon while they were saying goodbye to Director Ashman. All of Olivia’s belongings fit into one truth in a suit case that had her name and picture on it.

Cordelia’s heart swollen up as she watched them. She was sure they could see her guilt; she felt like she was covered in it, drowning in it. But they ignored her, Dr. and Mrs. Southerland looked more like an out of wedlock couple than husband and wife: both five feet-nine-inches tall, short-shouldered, with ink-jet black hair. They were walking as though they had a million things on their mind --- Director Ashman was guiding them by the elbows, something Cordelia couldn’t see --- and it took her a minuet to figure out that he was using alien tech to make sure they wouldn’t understand the nature of the school their daughter had attention. What a strange little world she found herself on.

That August, the Comedy Clique straggled back from summer vacation early. They spent the week before classes camping out at their cottage, Cordelia brought them the new Play Station Four with the virtual goggle console which quickly became a hit and during that summer the formation of the eighth continent in the Pacific Ocean had become completed and was officially name the Colonial continent. New Colonial was going to be the capitol city which had begun construction and Cordelia spent a cool two-hundred and fifty thousand on a condo that was going up near the southern edge of the city. She could have stayed with her parents who the people demanded to be their leaders but she wanted to be on her own, much to the disappointment of her father. The mood was sober and subdued. Incredible, Cordelia was now a Fourth-Year student at Arcadia Academy.

“We have to put on a production,” Sandy announced one day.

“No,” Damien said, “We don’t. People are in no mood to have a production now.”

Damien laid down with one arm over his face on a leather couch Billy purchased during the summer. They were in the library in the cottage, exhausted from going over ideas for their Fourth-Year theater project.

“Yes, we do, Damien.” Sandy was asserting her dominance again as she always does. “Rickman told me. The staff voted overwhelming to put on a production. They wanted it to be something comical, something to lighten the mood. They just haven’t announced it yet.”

“Fuck,” Damien, Christina, and Cordelia all said in unison.

“I’d like to help write it,” Christina said.

“I was going to say the same thing,” Cordelia added.

“Why?” Billy moaned. “Why the hell are they choosing now of all times to want to put on a production for the school?”

By now, Sandy was starting to become disgusted with the conversation. Weeks earlier, she was the one who went to the staff with the idea.

“Because we need to increase our fucking morale you goof ball,” Sandy said. “After what happened last year, Ashman wants to see our students happy now, a theater production is an excellent way to boost morale for everyone on campus.”

“My morale was fine until a minuet ago. Hell, If I want to laugh, I will go into town and catch whatever comedy is popular in theaters.”

“Wait a second,” Raleigh said as he sat up now looking directly at Billy, “We’re the Comedy Clique, shouldn’t it be up to us to help make this school laugh?”

“I agree” Sandy said as she continued to exert her control over the group, “It’s by Discipline and it’s our specialty, that’s why I went to Director Ashman and ask if we could put the whole thing together.”

Silence fell over the room for about a long minute. Then, Billy looked up, his face turning red. The last thing he wanted to see happen was some stupid lame ass theater production considering what recently happened.

“We have no choice,” Billy said depressingly.

“We have no choice,” Sandy said in her commanding tone, “Now, since the Director wants us to have a theater production that improves the mood, they want us to make it as funny as possible while at the same time uplifting everyone’s morale. Cordelia and Christina, you guys are our strongest comics.”

“What, am I chopped liver?” Damien said, “I don’t have any street creds?”

Everyone started laughing, especially Raleigh who secretly thought that Damien was a cross between Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle with maybe a little Kanye West thrown in for the attitude issues he had.

“Gee, thanks and whatever role I get, please don’t make me the bad guy.” Billy said as he planted his fat behind in his seat. Pouting at the thought that he gets to be in another production, “I’d like to be the good guy for a change.”

“I vote that Cordelia and Christina write it.”

“Wait,” Cordelia started to object, “I barely understand directing, but you want me to help write this?”

“You took Fundamentals of Writing last semester, right?” Sandy asked.

“Well,” by now Cordelia was a little bit nervous. Sure, she had the acting experience, she had an assistant directing experience but she had not written anything yet, “yes, I took the class.”

“I spoke to Professor Cole, she told me that you passed with flying colors. Your problem is you need confidence.”

“What are you saying?” Cordelia questioned.

“You’re barking orders like you’re going to direct the bloody thing.” Billy said.

“Yes,” Sandy said as she started laughing, “I am the director of the production. Director Ashman is working on the school announcement as we speak. So, Cordelia and Christina, your mission should you choose to accept it is to write a comedy that will improve the morale of the students here at Arcadia Academy. I know you two are a talented team and I want you both to have a first draft in my hands within a month.

“What will the rest of us be doing in the meantime?” asked Raleigh. “We can’t do anything until the play is written?”

“We’ll start working some stand up. During stressful times, it often falls to the Comedy Clique to tell jokes that will improve the morale of the students here. Director Ashman has told me that we can put on six performances until Cordelia and Christina get the play done.”

“We can get something in your hands within a week,” Christina said, “Right Cordelia?”

“Oh yes, I just hope the story is good.” Cordelia was not that confident when she said that but with the morale of the students.

Sandy sat next to her. Cordelia had been feeling guilty since the day the Black Queen attacked. She wanted to do so much more than just sit there and look silly while she took a life.

“Look, I have no doubt that you and Christina are going to come up with something that is going to knock our socks off and Director Ashman said he will add that to your imdb profiles and make sure you get credit on that.”

“Thanks Sandy.”

“Good, the rest of us will meet at three to start practicing. Our first stand-up show is on Friday.”

“Great, now I got to come up with something funny to say to grieving students.” Billy complained, “No pressure.”

“You got this Billy.” Raleigh said as he got up, “Come on, I’ll even help you.”

In the end, it came down to the fact that no one had anything better to do and that’s what Sandy was counting on. They were upper classman and they had to lead by example. For three weeks straight, Sandy, Billy, Damien and Raleigh worked on their stand-up routines while Christina and Cordelia worked on writing the play.

One day Cordelia sat at her computer. She had just finished Act three of the play of which she named The Mall Crashers. Cordelia came up with a funny story where a young boy, shunned from his family members decides to do something so bold, so different that it earns him a precious award to any university in the county, if he can convince his overbearing and abusive parents to let him go. Cordelia came up with a story of hope, courage, and strength while Christina was making it into a part musical with songs of inspiration. She wanted to write her parents a letter.

Dear mom and dad:

So, I’m starting my fourth year at my school and today I have been given the task of writing a comedy musical designed to boost the morale of the students. Given what happened to us five years ago, how can I expect to be funny when I have experienced nothing but tragedy and death in my life?

Sandy, one of my friends say that laughter is the best medicine in dealing with any kind of stressful situation. We had an incident here at the school that I’m not really allowed to talk about much but because of this incident is why we’re doing the play in the first place.

I should be finish with the play tomorrow and I will deliver a copy of the draft to Sandy for her review. I’m nervous about this and I certainly hope she likes it. For that matter, if it turns out to be a hit, does that mean I have a future as a comic? Kind of hard to be funny after what we went through, but I want to know your opinions on the subject. I love you all and I will see you during my winter break.

With all my love

Cordelia.

Christina was hard at work working on a series of inspirational songs that she had written for the play. When Cordelia would finish an act, Christina would read over what she wrote and then lock herself in her bedroom and work on writing songs designed to inspire the students at Arcadia Academy. In all, she was anticipating writing about ten songs for the play. Two were going to be using the sadness theme, two were going to be using happiness for a theme, two were going to be using laughter, and the remaining four would be about family.

The week was half strategy, half-stand-up comedy practice. Though they did not have to, Christina and Cordelia would often work on their stand-up acts together. They felt it was their job to help their clique because according to Sandy, the first show was going to be this Friday and when they met two days before to go over their act, they received a pleasant surprise that Cordelia and Christina had been working on the play which was now finished but also working on their own stand-up routine. Eventually, you had to also do your own comic routine by yourself. Cordelia was familiar with the rules of the Clique and she was prepared when it came down to the individuals who did their own act.

Things went quickly in the early performances as everyone killed it during their own acts in a free-for-all let’s make everyone laugh so damn hard that they literary piss on themselves. As in chess, there were any number moves that you could work on and routes that you could take before going on stage. Most comics could get a feel for the mood of the audience by the reactions the previous comic would get. The afternoon wore on, with long breaks for Sandy’s classwork while she would also have to review the play that Cordelia and Christina wrote. Damien disappeared for about thirty minutes and came back with a hidden stash of Sonic Cheeseburgers he had the cook go off campus for. Sonic was just the motivation they needed to keep going.

Cordelia was not a fan of alcohol, and when she did try it, she quickly discovered that it wasn’t for her so no one could blame her not one blame her for not wanting to drink in the first place, which now combined with the pressures of making sure the play she wrote would be a hit and doing a stand-up routine added more pressure on her than she was used to. Apparently, some students would crack under pressure between the class work, the extra side projects and anything else that the school would require of their students. Lucky, the school play was the only thing that she had to worry about. A Taste of Freedom was still earning money overseas and was about to come out on DVD shortly, even the movie where she served as Assistant Director was doing well and she was still getting money off it based on the DVD sales. By the time everyone finished Sandy and everyone in the room were laughing so hard that their laughter could be heard from the edge of the Maze.

Not that anyone really cared, the sun was now racing down behind the trees, transforming the grass into a perfect shadow of darkness and the blue of the sky was quickly changing to black. It was a warm night for a change, Billy quickly fell asleep while he was supposed to be in the middle of a set where he was making fun of his congressman trying to read a bill. Raleigh and Damien pretended to do impressions of Sandy while Sandy pretended to get mad. Their voices were drifting in and out as they were getting tired from the hours of practice they were putting in.

Everyone was pretending to be bored to death, or maybe they were, but finally Cordelia wasn’t. She was unexpectedly happy, but she kept it a secret. She didn’t want the others to see that. In fact, three days until their first stand up show, she was so full of joy and relief she could barely breathe. Like the receding rivers from the ordeal that the Black Queen had left behind it changed the world, new levels of protection, innovative technologies were helping to protect the planet. Cordelia’s parents had been informed of the attack on the school and had vowed not to make a statement to the media since Arcadia was mostly a private well-funded, and off the books type of university that was only known to the entertainment community. Ashman’s idiotic plan had worked. The air of doom that had loomed over the school for the last several months was now retreating. It was all right for them to be teenagers again, at least for a little longer. Cordelia felt forgiven, though she knew the students understood that the arrival of the Black Queen was not her fault.

Cordelia imagined how they would all look to people who did not understand the culture of Arcadia Academy, or a wondering average every day person on the street, six people lying in a building in a secret school that the world does not know about, their voices soft and unintelligible from a distance, how complete and content with life that an observer would think are these folk’s characters in some guy’s wacky dream? The observer would be right. It was however, still real.

“Without me,” Sandy said again as she let out a loud ass stinking fart, “you people would be so the fuck lost.”

If Stand-up comedy restored some of Cordelia’s lost momentum, it presented a whole new level and a problem for Billy. They kept on practicing though the first month of the semester, and Cordelia rapidly began getting comfortable with performing in front of the Academy students. That first Friday, the auditorium they had performed, the auditorium was packed. Cordelia much to her surprise was the best out of all of them. She got a standing ovation that first night and it seemed to increase her confidence. She had finally gotten comfortable with the timing, she had seen enough comedies and stand-up routines that she knew what worked and what didn’t work. Director Ashman read the play that she had written and was impressed with what she wrote and signed off on it. The play would be performed before they go home for winter break in November.

Billy once had the reputation around campus of being the goof ball. The odd duck of the comedy clique. But after the Black Queen attack, he didn’t know what to do or what he would find. At one practice, Cordelia watched Billy and Raleigh go over their acts and it almost seemed as Billy was in a daze of confusion, like he took some illegal drugs. Billy was lost and seemed off and trying to figure out where he was fitting in the academy now that he was a Fourth-Year student. The pressure was on to really pull out all the stops if he was going to make it to his Fifth-Year.

Raleigh and Billy had been working together for the last two weeks doing stand-up. Billy was feeling dry as his jokes were not as funny as everyone else. He even went back and pulled some of his old text books trying to review lessons from previous classes. Something about him was strange and he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He knew he needed help as the day was ending, Billy decided he needed to talk to someone.

Professor Rickman had just finished a lecture on Physical Comedy for Advanced Players when after class he saw Billy standing outside of his classroom. Once the last student left the classroom, Billy walked inside hoping to talk to Rickman alone. Billy was looking down right depressed and sad. It did not take a genius to figure that out. Rickman closed the door and joined him at the front of the classroom.

“You look like hell Billy.” Rickman said. He felt his head, “You don’t have a temperature.”

“No, although,” and Billy cracked a smile when he said this, “I have been feeling terrible lately.”

“I saw your performance Friday night.” Rickman said as he walked over to his little refrigerator and grabbed a couple of sodas from it. “Soda?”

“Thanks. Mr. Rickman.” Billy said. The soda tasted so good going down his throat. “I really needed this.”

“It seems to me and this is just an old man’s observation but your performance was not you the last couple of weeks.”

Billy sighed, “Tell me about it.”

“No, Billy I believe that is your job. What’s been bothering you?” Rickman ask as he took a swallow of his soda.

“Ever since Olivia died, I been questioning if being here at Arcadia Academy was the right thing for me to do. I don’t sleep all that well at night, in fact, when I do sleep, I have nightmares.”

“Tell me about these nightmares Billy.”

By now, memories of the day of the attack plunged Billy mind, even though it was only two in the afternoon, Billy was having trouble concentrating. The feelings he had the day of the Black Queen’s attack rushed to the surface. He couldn’t control them. He started crying, uncontrollable crying. Rickman grabbed a series of tissues from his brief case and handed them over to Billy who used them to dry his face.

“You’re still grieving over Oliva Southerland’s death.” Rickman deduced.

“I’m not going to lie. I see her in my dreams. I see her during waking hours. I can’t be at my best because she haunts me.”

“Olivia was your friend, wasn’t she?” Rickman asked.

Up until now, Billy had been keeping something hidden that only one person in the entire Academy knew about. For the most open, loudest person in the Comedy Clique knew about. He had been careful to make sure no one found out about it. He covered his tracks, made sure they met during odd hours of the day and the night. If someone did come up to confront them, they always had an excuse ready as to why they were in the same building together. As it turned out, Billy and Olivia were a couple and they never told anyone. Olivia was the type of student who liked odd looking guys and you don’t get any odder than Billy. Billy and Olivia did everything together, they took trips on the boat together, went into town together, had dinner together and although Olivia was not a member of the Comedy Clique but rather a drama student who was going to be acting in her first movie this upcoming summer, but now with her death, the director was forced to recast and went with her back-up but promised to make sure Olivia get a dedication credit at the beginning of the film.

“She was more than my friend,” Billy said still trying to control the river of emotions flooding to the surface.

“You two were lovers?” Rickman asked.

“Yes.” Billy said. “I couldn’t even bring myself to talk to her parents the day they came to the Academy.” He dried his tears and sat up straight, “I been feeling guilty about that ever since.”

“Billy,” Rickman said, he was no longer in professor mode, he was in the second father mode, “it’s natural reaction that you are going through.”

“Will this feeling ever go away?” Billy asked.

“In time and with support from your friends.”

Billy looked pale, but regretful, resentful: he felt as if Professor Rickman had pissed on his parade. But he knew if he was going to get out of this spat that he was feeling he needed to do something to help him move past this setback.

The stand-up routines were a huge hit at the Academy. Sandy was given the credit for coming up with the idea. The students appreciated her for even coming up with the idea in the first place. With the end of the semester fast approaching, the attention shifted to the production of the play that Cordelia and Christina had written.

Director Ashman arranged the play schedule of weekend viewings between the staff, the students, and VIP visitors from various Hollywood Studios. To their surprise, every performance the Comedy Clique gave was sold out. Students would gossip in-between their classes. Even Billy was starting to impress the students with his performance. Their run of success continued through the month of October with their shows getting bigger and bigger and alumni members getting word of their performances coming back to the Academy to want to see them in action.

Bit by bit, the summer atmosphere of balmy doom evaporated as the afternoons and the demands of doing a full fledge theater production on the weekends started to feel like a full-time job on top of their academic workload. After a while, it wasn’t as fun and entertaining to them. In fact, Sandy got concerned, she knew the play was a huge hit with the students, the feedback she was getting from them confirmed it. She was worried that Cordelia and the others were becoming burned out by it. Sandy could not help it, it was in her nature to control people and make them do what she wanted them to do. Being a successful producer and director was her goal in life and if the play started to lose the magic that it had in the beginning her plans of leaving Arcadia and being put in charge of a major film would be in jeopardy.

Sandy was worried though. Billy’s inconsistency continued to be a problem. On the morning of the show’s final performance, he didn’t show up at all.

It was a Saturday morning in early November, and they were doing the final performance of the play was going on. They had been scheduled to perform all day. Lucky for Sandy, she had a back-up comic to take Billy’s place. Director Ashman had been fielding telephone calls all week long regarding the cast and the crew of this current production. Next year, if nothing happened, Cordelia and those in the clique would become Fifth-Years and would need to have something for their Fifth-Year project. Director Ashman knew that just about all the Fourth-Year students would be ready for their Hollywood Careers. All except for Billy whom he had to privately admit that he was disappointed in lately. Still, there is an old saying in the entertainment business, the show must go on and during this Saturday, they had the biggest performance of their lives ahead of them as the CEO of several major studios were going to be attending. Director Ashman and Professor Cole had sent for all their heavy hitters to come and watch these kids give the performance of their very young lives.

For the last month, Billy had been sweet talking the executives at Disney Studios to come and watch him. Billy’s dream had been to work for Disney as an actor. He wanted to be associated with that company more than anything. He sacrificed a lot of time, effort and fun just to get this far and before they went out on stage, the group got word that executives from Disney in the audience today.

“Where the hell is he?” Cordelia asked as she looked down the hall in the back part of the set where the cast had gathered.

“I don’t know,” Sandy had her arm around Damien shoulder. Everyone always hugged another cast member. They did that for luck.

“You know what, for months he bitched about getting the attention of the Disney Executives.” Raleigh said, “Finally they are here to watch our performance and what happens, he’s a no-show.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Damien said, “This is the last day of the production and I so want to get this behind me.”

“We can’t, not without Billy,” Christina said firmly.

“Who says we can’t?” Damien tried to remove Sandy’s arm from his neck but Sandy did not want to let go, “We’re better off without him anyway.”

“I’d rather us do terrible with him,” Christina said, “than go out there and not doing our best knowing that all the movers and shakers from the Hollywood community is out there watching.”

“If he doesn’t show up soon, we’re all going to seriously die of boredom. He’ll be the only one left who won’t get to see his glorious dream come true.”

Billy’s absence made Cordelia worried, about what she didn’t know.

“How much time do we have before Show Time?”

Sandy checked her watch, “An hour, why?

“I’ll go and find him.” Cordelia said. “I bet he’s going through one of his drama spits right now.”

“Don’t be silly. He’s probably ---“

At that moment, the faculty member who was advising Sandy on the production, Professor Rickman, strode up to them, playing with his new i-Phone that he recently brought. Rickman was Facetiming with a cute blonde redhead who was working on a picture off campus that was part of the staff when she wasn’t working.

“Hang on,” he told the blonde on his screen, “What’s going on?”

“We’re short a player, sir.” Sandy told him, “Billy Doorchester is MIA.”

“So?” Professor Rickman hugged himself. His short body had an interesting thick nose and set of eyebrows, “Let’s get this piss ass show on the road. I’d like to be back on the internet talking to my girlfriend by two this afternoon. You guys have finals to start studying for.”

“Sir, we have two more shows to do.”

“Well,” and Rickman let out a sigh, “Fine.

Cordelia did not feel good about this situation, “Professor Rickman, Billy been wanting this chance to chase his dream working for Disney, but I have to find him. He should be here to share this with us.”

Cordelia didn’t wait for an answer but set out for a pace out of the building, her hands out of her po0ockets as she was bracing herself for the cold she knew was coming the moment she ran out of the building.

“Come on, C!” she heard Sandy say. “I’ll be back before we have curtain call.” Cordelia said.

Sandy just stood there and said, “Shit.”

Cordelia didn’t know whether to be pissed off at Billy or worried about him, so she was both. Rickman was right, it was the quality of the production and Cordelia noticed in the last three performances, Billy wasn’t at his very best. Maybe his punk ass overslept and forgot we had a curtain call Cordelia thought as she half-ran over the frost sea of the Maze. At least he had his fat to keep him warm. That Fat Bastard. Cordelia thought to herself the next villain of her next movie she writes was going to be called The Fat Bastard or was that already taken by another movie, she had to check.

But Billy wasn’t in his bed. His room looked as though a tornado had gone through it. It wasn’t even clean. There was books and papers scattered all over the floor. Pants that should be hanging up in the closet. Cordelia walked down to the media room. He figured maybe Billy was watching old school Cartoons for inspiration. However, it’s only occupant was the aged Professor Luke Summers, the method actor expert who sat at the window enjoying the warm sun, his white beard flowing down over an old police uniform. Cordelia couldn’t help but noticed a huge ass wasp against one of the window panes. Professor Summers looked sleep when Cordelia was almost out of the door, he spoke.

“Looking for someone?”

Cordelia stopped. “Yes, sir, Billy Doorchester. He’s late for The Mall Crashers.”

“Doorchester. The fat one.”

The old man waved Cordelia over with a white-gloved paper out of his uniform. With slow, precise strokes Cordelia watched as the old man drew an amazing representation of the Arcadia campus. He drew it like someone who had worked in the comic book business. The outline was a rough sketch of Arcadia’s campus. He muttered a few words in Japanese and made a sign over it with eerie precision.

He held this up.

“What do you see?”

Cordelia had expected something dramatic as she knew this man had experience as a cartoonist, but there was nothing. A corner of the map stained from a tea spill on the tray.

“Not a lot, sir.”

“Really?” The old man studied the paper for himself, looking confused. He smelled like a bottle of old spice, as if he was expecting a hot date with a good-looking woman. “This is a computer sheet, I’m still trying to work the kinks out but it has a good student tracker program on it. Look again.”

Cordelia looked again, “I don’t see anything.”

“That’s right. And where on campus does even a very good alien tracking system does not work?”

“I have no idea.” Admitting ignorance and acting clueless was the only way Cordelia needed to get information from Arcadia facility members.

“The library is the answer you seek.” Professor Summers closed his eyes again, like an old ninety-year-old man ready to retire for the afternoon. “The Library is more than just a library you know. It is a doorway to worlds beyond imagination. If you know where to look.”

Cordelia had spent very little time in the Arcadia library. Hardly anyone did if they could help it. There was something about the library that made everyone’s hair stand up on its end while you were in the room. Students and staff members would go in, find the books they need and get the hell out of there as fast as they could. Rumors have it that there were portals scattered all over the library. One just needed to know where to look.

To make matters worse, in the last six years with the invention of the computer systems, many of the books in the library had been scanned, transferred into .pdf formats and can now be accessed from anywhere on campus if you were connected to the school’s network. That gave the students a reason not to go into the library. In fact, many of the students felt that the library was downright creepy.

It turned out to be a good thing because many of the books were over two hundred years old and maintaining them was a full-time job. The librarian had built a transporter and physically entered in every coordinate of every book so that if a student came in, he could key in the books location and within thirty seconds see the book materialize in front of him. The magic of alien technology. The magic of alien technology made the librarians life easy and it also made it dull at the same time, the librarian didn’t even have to leave his station any more.

The library was mostly empty, and it wasn’t hard to spot Billy sitting in a booth off the second floor. There was someone sitting in the booth with him, a cadaverously man with a moustache as thick as a tree ornament. The man wore a thick black trench coat. It reminded her of those spooky government types that surrounded her when they first arrived on Earth. Cordelia didn’t like those men then and she still doesn’t like them now.

Cordelia recognized the thin man: he was the spinnman dealer who turned up once or twice a year in his run down beat up 1965 Dodge truck, loaded down with strange spices that students would buy to help enhance their performances, help them to reach deep down to get one hundred percent performances when they would be in a production. No one liked the guy at least that was the rumor that was going around campus that if you needed anything that wasn’t legal, he could get it for you at a reasonable price. Students tolerated him for that because he understood their humor and their needs. He wasn’t an actor himself, he did not have any experience with it, but he knew what actors needed to become the best of the best. His name was the Charmer.

He turned up again shortly after the incident with the Black Queen, and some of the younger kids brought oils and drugs from him to help them deal with their emotions. But Billy knew better than that, or so Cordelia have thought.

“Hey,” Cordelia said, as she started toward them, she was met against an invisible barrier.

Whatever this was, was technology that was like the force fields that was used on the Colonial home world. It was soundproof, also: she could see their lips moving, but the rest of the area, silent.

Cordelia finally caught Billy’s eye. There was a quick exchange with the Charmer, who peered over his shoulder at Cordelia. The Charmer did not look very happy, but he had picked up some technology that look like a personal force field, flicked the green button on it. The barrier vanished.

“Hey,” Billy said droopy. “What’s going on?” His eyes really looked bad, in fact, Cordelia was concerned about Billy’s health. She couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t happy to see her.

“Hey,” she answered back.

“Nothing.” Billy said slowly walking towards Cordelia.

“What’s going on?” Cordelia ignored the Charmer. “You know we got a performance today, right?”

“Oh right, Shit. I lost track of time.” Billy smeared his right eye with the heal of his hand. The Charmer watched them both, carefully avoiding the fact that the two completed a transaction. “How long do we have?”

“About fifteen minutes until curtain call.”

“Oh, shit,” he said again. Billy was starting to panic, he then looks at the Charmer. “Please tell me you got some alien personal transport devices?”

“Not now,” the Charmer intoned. “But, if you like I can look around.”

“Awesome.” Billy stood up. He blew the Charmer a kiss. “Next time you and I are going to my bedroom.”

“Come on, we got to haul ass if we’re going to make it in time.”

“Good for him, besides Ashman’s sexy ass needs to be frozen.”

“You got a thing for the Director?” Cordelia said.

“Don’t tell him I said so. I don’t want him getting ideas.”

Cordelia got Billy out of the library and was heading towards the rear of the house, those he was moving slowly and with a tendency to run into walls and eventually and this annoyed Cordelia, right into her.

“It’s fucking freezing out here.” Billy said.

“I know that,” Cordelia said, “We need to get to the auditorium, curtain call is in ten minutes.”

“I know that, I’m high right now, I’m not stupid.” Billy said.

“Yea?” Cordelia asked. “How is that working out for you right now?”

“It’s just a little spice, for Christ sake. My parents met a spice dealer in New York who without anyone looking hooked them up with a fresh batch of Spice. They were kind enough to send that to me knowing how freaked out I was the past few months.” Billy saw that Cordelia wasn’t buying it, “Relax, I know I’m cutting it close.”

“Yea, your cutting it close all right. Close enough that the Disney executives you been bitching would come all month, are here, today.”

“Oh, who gives a shit!” Billy was turning nasty now. If Cordelia wanted to get violent and mad, she would have an excuse, “You were hoping I wouldn’t show up and blow your precious chance to impress some big shot. I wish you would fucking admit it. God, you should hear Damien and the others talk about you behind your back. You think you are king I am cool as fucking air, but you’re not. They can’t stand your guts. Sandy at least has the balls for it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Even though she’s a woman.”

“You are making this about me,” Cordelia countered back, “If I wanted to go on with the production I’d be going on stage right now trying to make sure the show would go off without your punk ass. I care too fucking much about you to see your dream not come true.”

Cordelia waited in the doorway, furious, arms folded, turning red in her face as Billy looked for his costume. He also grabbed his coat and changed right in front of her. The time was ticking down, curtain call was going to be in seven minutes. They were pushing it. Billy got changed, popped a breath mint and they dashed out of the building running as if their lives were in danger.

“Look,” Billy said finally. He sighed. “I get it, everyone thinks I’m a fuck-up. Hell, even my parents think the same thing.”

Cordelia said nothing. She knew Billy was trying to bait her. She wasn’t in the mood for personal drama right now and what she really wanted to do was get back and get to the show.

“Let me tell you straight Cordelia, I have self-esteem issues. I freely admit it. I know you could give two shits about what I am going through right now. I like to be good at my craft. But my inner demons make it hard for me sometimes. If it wasn’t for Ashman, they would have kicked me out two years ago.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Cordelia had picked up cursing in the Earther’s language. She wouldn’t dare use that language in front of her parents, not if she wanted to remain on good terms with them one day and maybe work in the Colonial Government.

“Look, the rest of you all act like you come from these perfect lives. Movie star perfect, and that’s good, I must work my ass off to stay here. If you saw my grades, you would be laughing day in and day out at me.”

“We all have issues we work at,” Cordelia Said, “Well, Damien is a special case.”

“Yea, okay, fine. But it’s easy for you. You have fun with it. That’s your thing.” Billy and Cordelia were now running at top speed towards the auditorium. “Fuck, it’s cold out here. We’re not going to make it in time. The production going to be late and I’m going to blow my chance to impress the Disney Executives.”

Cordelia then had enough of the bull shit. She stopped him. Slapped him in the face hard. That caught him by surprise.

“Don’t you fucking get it? I don’t know where this comes from myself. I do a scene, I try to call fourth the emotion the writer is calling for and I pray to the Gods that it works.” Cordelia’s soft, normal face was showing her true self. “You look for the drama, you look for the tone the author is trying to convey and you go for it. The people are either going to be entertained or they won’t be. It’s a simple as that.”

“Okay, okay.” Billy put his hands-on Cordelia’s shoulders. “I didn’t mean to piss you off. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Sandy, Damien, Raleigh, Christina, because they are the ones who keep going despite how sorry you keep feeling for yourself. I get what you are going through, I really do, but they don’t. They have had your back this entire time but you are just too clueless to see what’s in front of you.”

Billy let go of her and dashed for the auditorium. Cordelia caught up with him.

“You thought the Charmer could help?”

“I thought he could. I don’t know.” Billy shrugged helplessly. “But I am not sure now. It might have been a mistake.”

“You know most of the stuff he sells any old joe could buy off the internet, right?”

“I know but he has some interesting Colonial connections.” Just like that, Billy was back to his old self again. He always was. He just needed a reality check. “They act all goodie, good when they know we are watching, but deep down, when they don’t think we’re looking, they go to the Charmer to get their pick-me up. I know about that because that’s me.”

“What were you hoping he could sell you?”

“Something to help boost my confidence, to help me deal with the feelings of sadness I been dealing with for the last few months.”

“We all got to face what happen. We all miss Olivia.” Cordelia said. “But look, we only have one more year left and then we face the real world. You can’t give up, no matter how bad the struggle gets, the end is always in sight and if you keep fighting for what you want, the universe eventually will reward you what you are wishing for.”

Billy turned back and eyed Cordelia, “You say that like your speaking from experience.”

Cordelia returned a smile, “I am speaking from experience, trust me.”

They pushed their way into the auditorium and made their way around the stage. The auditorium was packed with students and VIP’s nervously waiting for the show to start. Poor Christina was crying as she was rehearsing lines. Damien and Raleigh were going over their scenes together. It was hard to see their faces but when they finally saw Cordelia and Billy appear, the Comedy Clique gave a cheer when they appeared.

“My heroes,” Sandy said with relief, “Where did you find him?”

“Somewhere warm and dry.” Billy said.

They went through the three performances for that day. Billy knocked his performance out of the park because not only were the executives impressed but Director Ashman was convinced that Billy was ready to become a Fourth-Year student. Billy received numerous job offers that were waiting for him once he graduated from school. He couldn’t help but pass out from the excitement at having pulled it together at the last moment thank to Cordelia.