Superior

Chapter 6

 Picture of Trai on the side!

Chapter Six

Caleb

"Do you know the answer, Mr. Payne?"

Dr. Hart's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. You know how when you really want—no, need—something to happen, it becomes all you can think about? I was having one of those moments. It had been four days, and Delaney still hadn't responded.

I was getting desperate.

"Um...sir?" I asked stupidly, blinking up at my teacher. Despite how idiotic I sounded, no one dared laugh. Dr. Hart sighed.

"Caleb," he said, shaking his head, "while I realize that you must have some very important things on your mind, I'd appreciate it if you would pay attention to the lesson. Now please, what is the answer to number five?"

I stared down at my math book and tried to make sense of the sequence of numbers and letters. When I didn't respond immediately, a voice hissed the answer my way.

"X equals twelve?"

Dr. Hart looked at me sternly, then focused his vision somewhere behind me. "Thank you, Mr. Kaiser." I turned to see my friend Trai smirking at me smugly.

"You're off the hook this time, Mr. Payne," my teacher said grudgingly. "Next time, however, I expect you to be prepared to answer."

I nodded absently. "Yes, sir." Though I tried to pay attention, for the rest of the class period, my mind was elsewhere. By the time the bell rang for lunch, I'd retained nothing of the lesson.

Just as we were walking out the door, the expressionless voice of the school secretary came over the intercom.

"Attention, students and faculty of Beverly High: this is just a reminder that the Superiors will be arriving on May 31; in exactly fourteen days. The Community Service Club has volunteered to assist us with preparations. A meeting will be held today after school, regarding this, so if anyone is interested..."

The rest was lost on me as I processed the information. Fourteen days. It had already been four days, and there were only fourteen left. Two weeks may seem like a long time, but I knew it would pass in a heartbeat. During the past ninety-six hours, I had wanted to call Delaney, only to realize that I didn't have her number. And although it would have been easy to obtain through a few connections, it would started a wildfire of rumors. Carlie was already suspicious enough; I certainly didn't want her to find out about my meeting with Delaney, even if we were doing nothing wrong.

But there were only fourteen days.

And if Delaney didn't respond very, very soon, I'd be screwed.

○●○●○●○

"Hey, beautiful," I said, kissing Carlie on the cheek as I slid into my place next to her. The greeting came out automatically. Everything I said to Carlie felt like it was programmed into me. No surprise there; my parents had coached me for days on how to act with Carlie when in public. They, after all, were Popular in their high school days. They weren't Chosen, though, and so were bent on making sure that their kids were. They passed on all their knowledge, first to my brother, then to me. And based on the fact that I had a 10+ rank, they were doing a pretty good job.

"So, how does it feel to know that in ten days, the two of you will be off to the Capitol?" Trai asked us as he took the seat across from me. Gradually, other Populars and several followers, few of whom were actually my friends, filled in the other places. We were at Dulcet, the favorite hangout of all the school's Populars. It sold amazing desserts, though none of us ever actually bought anything. Over the years, it had become a routine after-school meeting place.