Today is the day I go to Society School in Pangaea. Yippee!
Not.
I don't even feel like getting out of bed, much less going somewhere. It just makes it worse that I have to go with: you guessed it.
Max.
I roll over with a groan and slap my alarm clock, hoping to silence the shrill beeping coming out of it. It doesn't shut up so I try again. Nothing. I pick it up and slam it down on the table repeatedly. If anything it gets louder.
I sit up and run a hand through my hair, annoyed, and stare at the alarm clock as if it will sense my death glare and be stunned into silence.
Surprise, surprise. It doesn't.
Eventually, after a long staring contest with the non-blinking alarm clock, I simply pick it up and throw it across the room, breaking it into about, say, four million pieces, before getting up to get ready.
I stand and gaze into my wardrobe for about twenty minutes before my shower, seemingly waiting for something gray to pop out at me and say, "Hey! Wear me today! I would love to go to Society School with you and Max!"
That doesn't happen either.
There's a knock at the door and I turn in the general direction of where the sound came from. Why would Rachelle come this early in the morning? She knows I go to school on weekdays.
I turn into the hallway and trudge into the living room, yawning. Why do they make school so early in the morning?
I swing the door open, still rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
"Rachelle, I told you that--" I slowly lower my hand from my face and stifle a yawn. "Lena?"
"Jackson." She replies. I'm suddenly aware that I have no shirt on. It would be different if I actually knew her (and if she wasn't engaged to Max), but I don't and she is. I cross my arms over my bare chest and step aside for her to come in.
"What's this about?" I ask. She looks at me, confused. If I didn't recognize that look from Rachelle, I might've been able to look past the evil gleam in her eye. Geez, those girls hang out too much.
"What do you mean, Jackson?" She asks innocently, leaning against the wall beside the couch. I close the door and lean back against it. "I just wanted to talk."
"Lena, you know that Max and I leave in about an hour." I point out. "You wouldn't just randomly want to talk."
She drops her "innocent little girl" act and pushes herself off the wall.
"Yeah, you're right." She says. "I have a totally evil plan to get back at Max and you're gonna help me."
I stare at her. "What?" I ask. "I thought you guys were engaged. I thought you guys were gonna be happily married and have babies and continue to ruin my life."
She smiles slightly.
"I thought so, too." She says, beginning to pace back and forth in front of the couch. "And then Daddy gave him power." She says everything so calmly, like it's a normal day and she's not trying to overthrow her fiance.
I shake my head. "What are you talking about? You never wanted that. You were so proud of him when he won leadership..." My voice trails off as I realize how she must feel.
By passing the power of Mercywoodian leadership to Max, Lena's family is essentially losing what influence they once had... Lena won't be like a princess anymore.
She gazes at me as realization dawns on my features, a smirk finding its way onto her face. "I was totally in love with Max, Jack. But now? I want my family to have elevated rank again. I'm going to marry Max and force him to turn power back over to the Council. I am not going to be a Mercywoodian commoner."
