Stella Urbem

Chapter 2: Part 1

The light changes from red, to yellow, to green. The racers zoom past the starting line and down a spiral track high in the sky. A racer dressed in all black calls out to his girlfriend racing next to him in an IndyCar. She smiles through her helmet and stomps on the gas, passing the four in front of her. Out of the blue, a horrifying squid-like monster appears and begins to eat the track. Racers scream and crash into each other, causing fires and explosions. One racer watches in horror as his brother is snatched into the air and devoured by the beast. The girl in the IndyCar screams, grabbing the attention of the monster. He lunges a tentacle at her, and her boyfriend cries out to her. He watches-

"Ok, NEVER watch this movie before a race," Jace joked. The others chuckled as they watched the screen in Glow's living room. "That guy is so stupid. He shouldn't keep driving with a flat tire, everyone knows you won't get anywhere moving that slow," RC explained. "It's a good thing we're watching this after the championship," Jey, winner of the annual Flights Race, assured. "Again," Glow replied, "I'm really proud of you Jey, you worked hard and you were confident in yourself, that's what's most important-" "Oh my gosh! That guy just cut off one of the Spikehead's tongues!" Tack interrupted. "Eww," Glow said, grimacing. Unlike everyone else, Glow didn't appreciate dark movies that showed nothing but blood and gross images. She rolled her eyes as the team laughed at the way a racer poked the squid monster-or "Spikehead"- in the eye. The team consisted of both racers and mechanics, which everyone living in the sky world wanted to be. While racers were the most popular and most difficult career, the closest to them were the technicians who were always around them, fixing their cars. Very few, like the famous Lizz El Nabbout - also part of the team - were both racers and mechanics. Those types were rare and considered especially gifted. The rest of the team, Jeyden-head of the group and winner of the championship race in the city/base called B27-6, Jace-a skillful technician and jokester, Tack-the oldest racer and Jey and Jace's best friend, Glow-a fun-loving racer who keeps the team together, RC-the head mechanic and pessimist, Venice-a kind rookie mechanic who's a little socially awkward, Aura-a jokester mechanic who's always fun to be around, Chess- a bubbly tomboy mechanic, and Drey-the former bully racer but now Jayden's best friend, was also beloved by the little city. Most of the teens grew up together in B27-6, so popularity would not take the place of the bond they had with each other. Despite the many fans, the team ignored the labels that people put on them and cared about each other for who they were as friends, not as celebrities. Jey turned to Glow, sitting on the couch next to Lizz, and smiled. "Thanks Glow." She smiled at him. A female racer on the screen dodged the squid's tentacle and jumped off of the track to her doom. "Same," Aura teased. "Me when Jace enters the room," Tack teased. The group laughed. "Hurtful," Jace said jokingly. None of the teens wanted the fun to stop, but when the movie ended, each trudged back to their dorm and fell asleep. Glow was alone in her room, which sort of bothered her. She vacuumed up the popcorn and chips, then secretly crept out of her room and down the hall to the elevator. When she had reached the top floor, an empty park to the left and the city to the right, she moved towards the park and looked up at the bright sky. This was her "peaceful place", a place where she would go by herself to figure things out. She had first made this her "peaceful place" on the day she almost died during one of the races. Were it not for her friends, she would have kept falling and falling from the sky, until she hit the earth. She still shakes when reminded of the near-tragedy. She took a breath and hummed her song:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are.