Joan Ascends

Chapter 16: Remember your place

From the moment I wake up the next day, there's a buzzing in my body, as if some part of me knows that today will mark a change for our rebellion. Part of it could be because we will release the pilot episode of Just Like Us online tonight, after a fancy, live premiere, but my instincts scream that Lexi's article has kicked off a firestorm that won't be put out easily.

Lady Cleo has spent weeks organizing a formal, in-person viewing to kick off the series. It will be an exclusive, red-carpet event attended by all the "stars" of the show. Tickets are expensive, and the buildup has been so successful that it completely sold out.

According to Wilde, there is only one theater in Seattle that is worthy of our event, and he booked the Showbox Theater. The idea of going back to the site of Crew's first attack, during the premier of Strand's promotional video, gives me the chills, but my opinion is not consulted.

While I'm eating breakfast, I get a text from the hospital saying that Jo is stable, and can check out tomorrow as long as her condition doesn't change. Even though I knew from my vision that's she'd recover, it's a relief to have the confirmation.

I do a quick search for Lexi's name online, and find that her article has gone viral, shared and reshared on social media platforms around the world. The Emerald City News website, as well as Nellie and Ida's newsfeed, have written rebuttals picking apart Lexi's article line by line, but they aren't getting the kind of traction that the Evolved Herald is generating.

I want to check in with Harriet about what Lexi's article means for us, but before I can make my way to her office, one of the first-year students insists that I go straight to Seattle Secondary to get my hair and makeup done. She practically shoves me into a waiting car that takes me to my old school.

Inside, Lady Cleo has taken charge of the school's well-equipped dressing room, directing a team of students as they style each of the show's "stars" for the big event. The boys get off easy, with only light makeup and high-end tuxedos, but Alison and I are informed that it will take at least a couple of hours to get us plucked and painted until we're perfect.

While I'm getting beautified, I shoot off rapid-fire texts to Kat to make sure that security is on high alert at the event tonight. She has corralled two dozen people from the Chrysalis to guard the entrance and exits to the theater, and is even in contact with the local police. Officer Ben is dedicating a team to patrol outside the theater to make sure the crowd doesn't get out of control. Remembering my last vision, I tell Kat to make sure that her team is equipped with more than laser pens in case things really go sideways.

Wilde sweeps into the room and looks Alison and I over with a critical eye. "Alison, you are stunning, as always."

Alison glows at his compliment, completely in her element. "Thank you, Headmaster Wilde. I won't let you down."

"And Joan, as the late, great Oscar Wilde once said, 'Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.' But not too yourself, if you catch my drift," Wilde says with mock-sternness. "And don't give away that you and Justus are together by trying to sneak a kiss. We want everyone to be surprised when they see Lexi stab you with that needle in episode three. Thank God that footage was in high definition!"

Leave it to Wilde to see me struggling for the rest of my life with H2IV as a blessing.

"Got it, boss," I say, and he boops me on the nose before leaving.

"Our lives are beginning tonight, Joan," Alison says with a dreamy smile as Lady Cleo pins her hair into an elaborate up-do.

"If you say so. I remember what it was like, when Justus was having his 15 minutes of fame and there were cameras hovering around us all the time. It was the worst."