Illuminata: The Chosen Chapter 3

Roemy Hoektan’s life couldn’t have been better. At fourteen he was tall for his age, and muscular. Although he was only in second year, he was already center forward for Kelestra High’s chu-ball team, and the girls loved him, even the seniors. School didn’t go back in until tomorrow, but the team had been practicing for a month, and the school year always kicked off with the first game of the season.

 The score was tied, with fifteen seconds to go in the final third when Jaral passed the brown metal ball to Roemy. He had to stretch to get it, but it latched and clung to his catchpole.

He spun and leapt for the springboard, knocking an opposition blocker to the ground in the process. His feet landed square on the board and he sailed into the air. At the top of his arc he released the catch and flung the ball at the five concentric rings, only hoping that it would go through one of the outer ones. That’s all it would take to put them ahead.

Instead the ball sailed through the tiny, center ring, not even touching the sides. Ten points! Roemy watched a fraction of a second too long and barely had time to collapse the catchpole and curl in for the roll as the ground came up suddenly to meet him. He hit with a jolt, and bruised his right shoulder, but it didn’t matter. His team had won, and he had scored the winning goal.

Roemy came out of his roll to see the entire school come to their feet, cheering. The other school’s stands were quiet. As his teammates pulled him up, he caught a glimpse of a girl with long, white hair off to one side, turning to leave the stadium, but lost sight of her as Jaral spun him around to pound him on the back.

“Bliksing awesome, Roemy! A full tenner!”

Roemy opened his catchpole back to its full length, and marched off the pitch with his teammates, poles held high in salute to their cheering fans.

 

The ribbing started as soon as they were in the boys’ change room. “You just got lucky.” Jaral laughed as Roemy shoved him into the floating lockers above the benches. Blond and blue eyed, he was only slightly smaller than Roemy.

“The kus, I did.” Roemy grinned back at him and then pulled his blue t-shirt over his head. “I knew exactly what I was doing.”

 Jaral pulled his shirt back down and quickly ran his fingers through his still damp hair, not overly concerned about how it would dry. 

“Don’t listen to him, Roemy.” Ansel yelled from the far end of the room, where he had just emerged from the showers. “He’s just sour because he didn’t make the toss.”

Jaral closed his locker and slipped into his sneakers. “Come on, loser. Kara’s waiting for me.”

Roemy ignored the barb. Jaral thought he was too shy to ask a girl out. But the truth was he just hadn’t met anyone who interested him. Most of the girls he knew only liked him because he played chu-ball. It was flattering, and he liked the attention, but wanted to find someone who wanted to be with him for himself.

The boys wound their way through the spiral hallways, ignoring the ugly pink of the walls. Whoever had chosen that day’s color really should have thought it through more. Twice they passed monitor bots, assigned to maintain order in the labyrinthine school; but there were no bots in sight when they arrived at the school lobby, where a bunch of jeering girls had someone boxed in.

 Jaral kept walking, anxious to get to Kara, but Roemy stopped to see what was going on. He pushed his way through the crowd, to see a girl with long, white hair scrambling to pick up the contents of her purse. She had to be the girl he had noticed after the game. Timala Lyskal kept shoving her, so that she lost her balance and fell.

“Cut it out, Timala.” Roemy grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

She was suddenly sweet. “Hi Roemy. We were just having a bit of fun, weren’t we Anya?”

The girl on the floor raised her tear streaked face to look at them. Roemy was immediately transfixed by a pair of beautiful, golden eyes. He dropped Timala’s arm, forgetting that she was even there, and reached out a hand to help the new girl up.

“I’m Roemstral Hoektan. Everyone calls me Roemy.”

The girl smiled shyly. “I’m Anya, Anya Aa’Rkaan.”

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Roemy asked as they walked toward the exit, everyone else forgotten. The pair caught up with Jaral just outside the school doors. He had been stopped by a group of girls who wanted to congratulate him on the win. As soon as they saw Roemy, they transferred their attentions to him. Anya shrank back from them. Roemy, acutely aware of her discomfort, took Anya’s hand and pulled her away from the other girls as quickly as he could.

 

Outside, Karalee Shrell leaned against the rounded outer wall of the school. Kara was one of the prettiest girls at Kelestra High, but she tried to hide it with spiky black hair and torn up clothes. It didn’t work. However, the almost permanent scowl on her face kept most people at bay. Jaral pulled her away from the wall and kissed her. Anya turned her face away, embarrassed.

“What took you so long?” Kara yanked his hair and Jaral let go.

“Ask Roemy.”

Anya hung back as Roemy approached the pair. He took her hand and dragged her forward. “These are my friends, Kara and Jaral.”

Kara did a double take. “Whoa. You are seriously freaky, girl. What’s your name?”

Anya started to pull away, and Roemy noticed that her eyes shone with tears. “For kus, sake, Kara.”

“I’m sorry, OK? I didn’t mean anything by it, for bliks sake. Look, kid. I have to work at it to be different. You’ve got it all without even trying. Take a complement and don’t be such a baby.”

Anya just stared at her, clearly overwhelmed. Roemy knew he had to do something to salvage the situation. “Just ignore her, Anya. Kara’s an acquired taste. You’ll get used to her.” He glared at Kara and mouthed the words, Just shut up, before turning back to Anya. “Listen, we’re all going to the Founder’s Day Festival on the three day. Would you like to come?

Anya hesitated, looking uncertainly at Kara.

“Come on kid. It’s a good time. Really, I didn’t mean anything by the freaky comment.”

“OK.” Anya’s lips twitched upwards in a small smile. “I’d love to.”

Just then a large, private coracle, big enough to hold ten people landed. An elegant, brown skinned woman stepped out, eyes scanning the purple grassed area in front of the school.

“I’m here, Mom,” Anya called out to her.

The woman strode confidently over to the teens, quickly closing the distance. She seemed so different from her daughter. She smiled and said, “I see you’ve made some friends already,” and then turned to the others. “I’m Leila Aa’Rkaan, Anya’s mother. Would you like a ride home?”

“That’s OK. Jaral and I have something to do before we head home.” Kara started to back away, dragging a confused looking Jaral with her. She turned and kept going, shooting back over her shoulder, “Maybe another time.”

“What was all that about?” Anya’s mother asked no one in particular.

“Kara’s just a little uncomfortable around parents. But I’d love a ride, thanks Mrs. Aa’Rkaan.” Roemy looked down and realized he was still holding Anya’s hand. He felt embarrassed, but didn’t know how to let go now, without making things look worse, so he let Anya lead him toward the coracle.

“Where are we taking you, Roemy?” Mrs. Aa’Rkaan asked.

“Our house is in the third quarter, on the second tier. It’s not too far from here. If you could drop me off there, that would be great.”

Once everyone was seated Mrs. Aa’Rkaan set a destination and the coracle lifted from the ground to join the other vehicles on the windways. Anya finally let go of Roemy’s hand and asked her mother for permission to attend the festival.

“Of course you can. Your father and I were going to take you, but this is a much better idea.”

After that no one said anything until they dropped Roemy off at home. Anya’s mother had the coracle set down on the landing pad in front of his house. She gave him a huge smile and reached out to take his hand. “I’m  glad that Anya has found friends here already. It’s always hard coming to a new world.”

Roemy stammered something unintelligible and got out of the coracle as fast as he could. The new girl, the one girl who had caught his interest, was an off worlder. He shook his head as he let himself into the house. Good job, Hoektan. You want the only girl you can’t have.

 

Classes didn’t start until second day. Roemy met up with Jaral and Kara at the front door of the school. The lobby was green today, with different colors for each of the five spirals- one for each year. The second year hall was a sickly orange. The different colors were supposed to help students not get lost, but first years always got confused at the spirals within spirals. At least the hall monitors were there to help them find their way.

“So what happened with that white haired girl?” Jaral waggled his eyebrows at Roemy. They turned into the orange spiral.

“Her name is Anya, and nothing happened. She and her mother just dropped me at home.”

“But she is coming to Festival, right?” Kara elbowed Jaral as she spoke.

“Yeah, she is.” Roemy sighed.

Kara stopped at her locker and let it read her retinal print. It opened and she took out the book that had already been placed there for her use this term. She thumbed the on switch and her timetable came up on screen. “Kus. I’ve got Hangorn for Biostats.” She closed up the locker and they continued down the hall. Roemy’s locker was next to Jaral’s.

“So why the sigh back there?” Jaral looked at his own timetable. “I thought you liked Anya.”

“I do. And that’s the problem. She’s an off worlder.”

Kara let out a long, low whistle. “That kind of complicates things. What are you going to do?”

Roemy shrugged his shoulders and closed his locker. “I don’t know. I feel really drawn to her, for some reason.”

“But you know, Roemy…”

“I know, I know.” he cut Kara off. “Nobody knows better than I do.”

Roemy and Jaral had first class together, so they left Kara at the first inner spiral. They continued on to the gym, and went into the change room. Roemy couldn’t help grinning as he remembered yesterday’s chu-ball win.

 Jaral punched him on his bruised shoulder. “All right, hero. Enough. We’re going to be late, and I don’t think Wearth is going to accept I was reliving my glorious triumph as an excuse.”

Roemy laughed and punched him back, before leading the way out to the gym. He stopped dead in the doorway. Anya stood alone, a little way from a knot of girls, giggling together in the corner. She stood stiffly, staring at the floor. Roemy’s chest went tight at the sight of her, all alone, and before he knew it, he was standing next to her.

“Hey.”

Anya looked up, and he could see unshed tears shining in her eyes. “Hey.”

“So.” Roemy felt awkward, talking to her. It felt weird; he’d never been awkward around girls. “I guess we have first class together.”

“I guess so.” She wasn’t making this easy for him.

“We should check our timetables, and see if we have any other classes together.”

That coaxed a little smile out of her. “Really? Because, I know you’re really popular. You don’t have to feel sorry for me.” Anya bit her lower lip. “I mean, I know people don’t like me.” She glanced around the gym and Roemy noticed the other teens watching them.

“I don’t feel sorry for you,” he said, though he kind of did. But he felt something else too, something that drew him toward her, made him want to be with her, even though he hardly knew her. “Come on, let’s go see what the first gym quarter’s going to be this year.”

It turned out they had track. Given how shy and awkward Anya was, Roemy thought she would hang back. Instead, she was first out onto the field and he had to hurry to keep up with her. She also had her hand up to be in the first group of runners. She stretched out before the run like a pro, and once they hit the track, she left everyone else in the dust, Roemy included. No longer shy and withdrawn, Anya ran with grace and power, her hair a long white mane, streaming out behind her.

When they checked their timetables, they had four out of six classes together and shared lunch, as well. It seemed they would be seeing a lot of each other this semester. Roemy knew that that being with Anya was a bad idea, but by the time the three day rolled around, there was nothing he wanted more.

 

After third day, Anya’s mother had agreed to let Roemy walk her home after school. She didn’t live all that far away. He dropped her off at the tube to her level and then caught a public coracle. On seventh day, though, He went to his parents’ shop instead of home.

He ignored the bird chime as he came through the door, waving across the aisles of floating curiosities. His mother smiled as she waved back, before returning her attention to a customer. There was a new shipment, just in from Baxor, one of the many worlds his parents imported their goods from. He opened a box and started to position the multi-hued, abstract sculptures within the anti-grav wells of the display in front of it.

Roemy’s father joined him, and they soon had everything put away. Mr. Hoektan straightened from placing the last item, and turned to his son, with a sparkle in his eye. “Jaral’s mother told me you’re seeing someone. How come we haven’t heard it from you?”

Roemy froze and felt his face flush. “I’m not seeing anyone. She’s just a friend.”

“Who’s just a friend?” His mother came up behind them. “Is Roemy seeing someone?”

“No.” Roemy was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with this. “She’s an off worlder, Mom. She’s just a friend.”

Both of his parents nodded their heads, disappointed.

“It’s no big deal.” But it felt like a big deal. Anya was already getting under his skin. “By the way.” He tried to sound off hand. “She’s coming to Founder’s Day tomorrow. We thought it would be nice if she had someone to go with.”

 

“We really only have two big festivals on Sanning.” Roemy walked beside Anya, with Kara and Jaral on her other side. “In the spring the Illuminata put on the Angel Blossom Festival, their gift to the humans on Sanning. And the second one is this one, Founder’s Day.”

“It’s the anniversary of the day our ancestors landed on Sanning.” Jaral looked over Kara’s head to talk to Anya.

“But aren’t those angel blossom trees over there?” Anya pointed to the white blooms cascading down from the tall upper branches of the braided, blue-boled trees.

“Yeah, why?” Kara asked.

“Well, I read that the Angel Blossom Festival takes place in the spring, but they’re in bloom now.”

Kara laughed. “Well, yeah, but they bloom three times a year. Their festival happens at the first bloom of the year. This is the last, and it just happens to coincide with Landing.”

Even though Roemy’s parents had come to Festival as well, they had had the good grace to give the teens space. They went off and did their own thing, leaving Roemy and his friends to enjoy the festival their own way.

They had just come off the twisting maw for the fourth time, and the girls asked for a break from the rides.

“I don’t know about you, Anya, but one more time on that thing and I’m going to lose my bliksing lunch.”

Roemy was amazed at how quickly Anya and Kara had become friends. They seemed so different, but maybe they had more in common that it seemed. An awful lot of Kara’s hard exterior was an act. Not many people got to see just how vulnerable she could be.

They picked up some sodas and wandered over to a bench to watch a couple of indigo Illuminata create Illusions. Roemy thought Anya was impressed when he heard her gasp as a little girl and her father shimmered and morphed into a stooped old man with a music box and a monkey on a tether. Everyone laughed as he seemed to caper around her in a circle.

 It wasn’t until he glanced over at Anya that Roemy noticed she wasn’t laughing. In fact, she looked almost afraid. He moved closer to her and took her hand. “What’s wrong?”

Anya looked back at him, tight lipped. “Nothing. It’s OK.” She shook her head and turned back to watch the show.

They watched the tricks for a while and then wandered further into the park where a yellow Illuminata was Reconfiguring colorful, miniature castles from a clear, plastic-like substance. Roemy stepped up, pulling Anya with him. She gave him a pained look, but didn’t hang back.

“My friend is new to Sanning. It’s her first Festival here.”

The yellow turned to look straight at them. He raised his hairless eyebrows and grinned. “What’s your name, young lady?”

Anya shook her head, and her eyes went wide. She couldn’t move away because of all of the people behind her, but it was clear to Roemy that she wanted to.

The Illuminata looked puzzled, but he finished the castle he was working on and held it out. Anya’s hands stayed firmly at her sides, so Roemy took it from him and stammered a thank you, before pushing back through the crowd, with Anya in tow.

“What was that all about?” he turned to face her as soon as they were clear.

“I’m sorry. I’ve just had a bad experience with the Illuminata, and I don’t feel safe around them.”

Roemy wanted to ask her what had happened, but  just then Jaral and Kara caught up with them. Kara grabbed Anya’s arm and dragged her off to a clothing booth. Jaral looked from Roemy to the pink castle he still held in his left hand. “It’s not your color.”

 

When they found the girls again, Kara was snapping a picture of Anya, who stood under a tree, looking up. She had the most incredible, radiant smile on her face, and she looked lost in the sweet, spicy scent of the flowers. Watching her, Roemy noticed the smell all around him. He had become so accustomed to it through the years, that most of the time he wasn't even aware of it.

Anya’s blue shirt and pants were nearly invisible against the blue braids of the trunk. The angel blossoms, pale as her skin, spilled down from the canopy, so her face, close enough to almost touch them, was nearly lost. But her lips stood out, pink against the white, and her eyes… those beautiful golden eyes…. Roemy felt a chill run up his spine. He didn't realize it then, but he was already falling for her.

Jaral elbowed Roemy and he tore his eyes away from Anya. He turned to see his parents standing behind him. They didn’t look happy.

"Roemstral, you know you can't be with an off worlder." His mother led the charge. "You’ll be sixteen less than two years. What will you tell Anya then? Certainly not the truth."

No, of course not the truth. They had to keep Sanning’s precious secret. What Roemy wanted didn't matter. What had always seemed like a wonderful possibility before now hung over his head like an ax. “I know, Mom. I told you, she’s just a friend.” But of course, it didn’t take long for that friendship to grow into a lot more.