Amanda

Chapter II

Carlton woke to the familiar sound of his alarm clock playing oldies such as Mayor Swift, One Director, and The... Beets? That was the most ridiculous dream I've ever had, he thought.
Then he saw the blank card and realized it wasn't a dream. Carlton called Alexa Wilkinson, his boss, and said he was sick. The lie formed a lump in his throat. Alexa told him to apply for medicine, to which Carlton replied that he already had. The lie formed another lump in his throat.
Once he got Alexa off the phone, Carlton sat on his bed and stared at the blank card. How was he supposed to call Evangeline if the card was totally blank? Carlton had heard of invisible ink being used in the primitive past, but never in this common time. After a few failed experiments, Carlton was beginning to lose hope.
As he entered his sitting room, he almost tripped on his wooden desk, on which sat his government-gifted Greenwall computer. Carlton stared at it for a moment, as a small idea formed in his brain. He fished the Greenwall manual from the full-to-bursting desk drawer. He opened the manual, looking for the typical "Questions? Contact..." at the bottom of the page in each manual. Finally, he found the phone number, and called it on his model 4 holo-phone. After the second ring, a familiar voice answered.
"I knew you'd figure it out," Evangeline said, and Carlton could hear her smirk.
"How did you know that?" Carlton tested her.
"Easy. Carlton Kay, in the BetterTech department of Greenwall, or should I say, the government. Busy making the model 16 holo-phone?"
"Well, no, actually, I told the boss I was sick."
"You lied for me?" Evangeline asked in mock flattery. "Tell you what. I get off in... twenty minutes. Shall we get some lunch?"
"Well, ok, I mean, I guess," Carlton stammered. Evangeline was the first person who had ever reduced Carlton to a stuttering idiot. Carlton usually prided himself on his charisma, but man, Evangeline was that good.
That afternoon was a repeat of the previous night, except this time, Carlton actually knew who he was meeting. This time, his also made a bigger effort to comb his unruly hair so you could actually see his deep blue eyes. He exited his residence and hopped aboard the nearest train, feeling happy about his very real and beautiful world. He hopped off the train when it stopped in front of the lounging area. He spotted Evangeline quickly. She was the only one with such outrageous colors on her lips and above her eyes. She smiled and raised her hand in greeting.
"Carlton!" She called to him. "Are you feeling up to a little field trip?"
Carlton didn't know what she meant, but he nodded anyway. Evangeline had that kind of power over him.
"Cool," Evangeline said and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the crowd of people in matching drab clothing.