Tesla: A Teen Steampunk/Cyberpunk Adventure (Tesla Evolution Book 1) (19 page)

“If it makes you feel any better, at least yours isn’t way older than you and interested in someone else who’s going to be there,” Sebastian said.

“Tell me more. Is this the girl you arrived with who lost all the weight?”

“Yeah, Melanie. She’s gone No Bearing over Gavin.”

“Gavin!”

“I know. He’s all she talks about, other than how much her legs ache. His face. And his body. And his face. And his hair.”

“It’s sad that she’s chosen him. Of all people. There must be some famous saying about it. And what is it with the hair?”

“Always with the hair. Speaking of hair, are you going to brush yours?”

“You bet. Girls love whooshy hair. How about you?”

“I prefer the ones who don’t. Anyway, it’s a night out for us, our first one. It should be a lot of fun. And we’ll get some great food. You’re always saying how bad the food is here.”

“I don’t know if I like balls.”

“Have you ever been to one?”

“No. But my parents go to one every year, something about bachelors and spinsters. They always spend the next day looking really sick. Dad once spent two days in bed after one of them. Then when he did get up he said he had to have bacon or he’d die. I don’t want to be sick for two days then have bacon or die.” Isaac’s lip began to tremble. “And I can’t do up the stupid sleeves.” He shook them around aimlessly, and the extra material flapped until it hit him in the eye.

“Calm down,” Sebastian said. He took some deep breaths as an example. “Okay, come here and let me do up your buttons.”

Isaac looked forlorn as Sebastian, with a concentrated expression etched on his face, worked his way around the sleeves and tightened up the collar. He stood back to admire his handiwork. The shirt seemed to be longer on one side than the other, and the collar was bunched up due to its excessive size, but Isaac looked pretty good to him.

“Are you ready?” he said.

“No. Are you?”

“No. Okay, let’s do this.”
 

They turned in unison and headed out into the uncertain world of awkward relationships.

*

The boys were assembled in the antechamber in front of the banquet room in the town hall. It was a magnificent building full of polished brass and plush carpets. The high-domed roof was inlaid with fine white filigree carvings, which offset the deep purples and blues that lined the ceiling. The boys milled about uncertainly awaiting the instructions that would never be delivered on how to deal with the fairer sex. It was worse than algebra. Some of the boys with sisters joked and cajoled the others, but Isaac was sure they were just as terrified. This was different than punching your sister then blaming it on the goat.
 

“All right!” Sebastian said.

“What?” Isaac wheeled around, looking for the approaching danger.

“Food, glorious food. I’m starving.”

A waiter walked past and Sebastian grabbed an apple off the plate. He noted that Gavin was standing close to him. Eventually a gong sounded and all eyes turned to the sweeping staircase that descended from the ladies’ waiting area.
 

A group of huddled, timid-looking girls of all shapes and sizes assembled on the mezzanine floor, whispering behind their hands and glancing down at the boys, some ready to flush, some ready to vomit. With the conflicting emotions of being disgusted yet being unable to look away, both parties braced for impact.

But at the head of the collection of young girls stood Melanie, tall and strong, full of confidence, beauty and grace. She smiled, and several of the older men whispered among themselves. She tentatively stepped forward, temporarily losing her balance until she grasped the brass handrail, maintaining her flawless smile. She easily coasted down the wide stairs and joined the mere mortals.

“Oh wow, look at her. She looks amazing. So regal,” said Gavin as he stared at her. His voice was quiet and almost lost among the general hubbub of the crowd.

Sebastian still heard it as he munched on his apple. He glanced up. “She finally looks clean. I don’t like the frilly dress. My mother hated stuff like that. Got in the way of cleaning.” He continued to chew.
 

“Hey, you in the white jacket with the apple juice, over here,” Isaac shouted. Everyone turned to look at him. “What? That’s how my dad does it.”
 

Melanie smiled gracefully as she floated through the crowd. Everyone turned to stare as she passed by.

Mr. Stephenson whispered to Nikola, “It looks like she was born for it.”

“Hmm, I have thoughts about that,” Nikola replied.

Melanie glided up to Sebastian, tripping on her last step and catching him to stabilize herself.
 

“Good evening, young sir,” she said. She half turned her head and gave Gavin a small nod.

Gavin went bright red and ran away to be among his friends.

“Nice dress,” Sebastian mumbled through a mouthful of food.

“It’s a gown, but thank you very much.” She cooled herself with a delicate silk fan.

“Whatever. It shows how much fat you’ve lost.”

She continued to smile. “I’ll let that comment go. And do you know why?”

Sebastian took another bite of his apple and a loud slurp from his apple juice, then looked up into her eyes and shrugged.

“You may not know how important this is, so I’ll tell you so you can be amazed and supportive. This gown is a size two.
Two
.” She did a little skipping dance until her calves began to cramp and then turned her attention to him.
 

“You’ve cleaned up all right. Have you even washed your hair?” She leaned over and sniffed his hair.

“Get off!” He pushed her away. “It wasn’t my choice. Nikola said it was important and had some specialist come around and make me take a bath and pour water over my head.”

“The clothes are good. Very regal.”

“They’re from Albert. He said he wore them in his homeland when he met his king. But then he was chased out of his home when he came up with his ideas. It’s one of the few possessions of his that survived.”

“And he lent it to you? You must be special.”

“No, awesome.”

The gong rang again and the guests started to enter the banquet room.

“In your dreams. Let me show you how to be awesome.” She held out her arm and waited for Sebastian to engage. “Well?” she said, after he did nothing.

“Well what?”

“Take my arm.”

“Where?”

She sighed and looked heavenward. “Put your arm out like mine. No, the other arm. Now link it around mine … no … just stay there.”
 

She stepped forward and was instantly yanked back by an immobile and terrified Sebastian. “What are you doing?” Melanie hissed.

“You said stay here.”

“It’s obvious you’re never going to become a gentleman. We move to the doorway and they announce our arrival.” She waited for several seconds as the waiter on the door ignored her. “Or not. What table are we on?”

Sebastian explained that they were on Nikola’s table. Sebastian spotted him and waved. The two made their way over through the tightly packed tables.

“I was born for things like this,” Melanie said.

“Knocking over chairs with your frilly dress? I thought you were born to be angry and shout a lot.”

“I can multitask.”

Nikola stood as they approached the table. Melanie suddenly realized the table was located right at the front. She scanned the room, searching for Gavin. He was several tables over, which wouldn’t normally be a problem, but the shoes could make it a challenge. She returned her focus to the table and noted the little nametags at each place.
 

Melanie said, “Nikola, you’re a commander?”

Nikola looked a little uncomfortable. He thought of it as a frivolous title with no real bearing in the real world.
 

Sebastian and Melanie unlinked arms and prepared to sit down in their allocated seats.

“My button thing is caught in your frills,” Sebastian said.

“Do you mean your cufflink is tangled in my lace?”

“Whatever.”

She examined the entanglement, subtly twisted her wrist and the cufflink was released. She gave him a small smile. “Awesome-est.”

He gave his sleeve a quizzical look. “How did you know how to do that?”

“It’s one of those things you have to learn when dealing with dimwitted, inbred oafs.”

“You seemed taller when we walked over, apart from when you were falling over.”

“I’m wearing fancy shoes. They make me six inches taller. You should see them. They’re somewhere under my dress. I’m not sure where. I’m only vaguely aware of their location due to the immense pain.”

“You girls are weird.” He remembered something that Nikola told him to recite. “But you do look very nice tonight.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you, sir. You do me the favor proudly.”

The banquet room was a large, square room decorated with large tapestries on the walls. The skirting and cornices were gold, and several large crystal chandeliers glittered brightly. Disturbingly, the stage was very close, and on it was the collective might of No Bearing ready to unleash its pheromone-laced dance moves and pop-laden harmonies on listeners incapable of anything other than turning pink.

“Oh no. Do you think we’re within fifty feet of the performing area?” Melanie said.

“We’re about ten feet. There they are. I can reach the one on the end. Look.”

Melanie yanked Sebastian’s arm back. “That’s Zane,” she said, looking toward the dim-looking singer. “At least he isn’t limping. This is very bad.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t know it’s you. Even I hardly recognize you. You’ve changed so much over the last months. There’s color in your face, you stand up straighter, you’re less flabby, and you’re wearing a dress.”

“It’s a
gown
, and are you saying I was fat?”

“No,” he replied, so fast the word ended up in another dimension. “Not what I would call fat. And it doesn’t matter what other people said.”

She gave him a dangerous look and raised her fist to punch him.

“Did you ever wear a dress before?” he squeaked.

“Not if I could help it,” she said through clenched teeth. She hesitated then ended with a light tap on his shoulder.
 

Sebastian rubbed it in dramatic fashion, seeking some errant sympathy from the other guests at the table. “See, I’m sure it’ll all be for the best.”

“What will be?” Nikola said as he leaned over and joined them in conversation. He didn’t look happy, but he rarely had over the last weeks.

“She’s wearing a dress. It’s not like her.”

“Yes, where did you get the money to buy that?” Nikola asked.

“I have funds available to me,” she replied defiantly.

Nikola gave her a disbelieving look, only to be interrupted by the arrival of food. It was fish. Without hesitation, Sebastian and Melanie both picked up their fish knives and tucked into the food.

“How refreshing that the two of you know how to use the correct knife,” Nikola said.

Sebastian dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “My mother was very particular about manners.”

“Mine too,” said Melanie.
 

“How interesting,” Nikola replied.

No Bearing started singing their fan favorites to the delighted squeals of the young girls and some of the older men, and Melanie made sure she had a clear view of Gavin across the room. She smiled.

25

THE EVENING WORE on and people smiled. Furtive looks were exchanged, glasses were clinked, and Sebastian talked a lot about himself to everyone at the table. He was in mid-recount of his escape through the forests with Dr. Filbert when Melanie started prodding him. He eventually became quiet as an elderly man in military uniform stepped up behind a large podium on the stage.
 

The man placed a large fob watch on the podium and coughed. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I’m Captain Hawk.” His watch ticked away loudly in the silence of the room, the wood of the stand amplifying the sound.
 

“Many of you know about our troubles in the west. For years the cyborgs have been consistently attacking us, but we’re no still nearer to finding out where they are. Well, today we do something about it. We’ve been training you young teslas for a year, some even longer. We have word that the cyborgs will be launching a major offensive against us in the summer. We won’t wait any longer, cowering in fear. Today we’ve made the decision to strike first. You’ve all been training for the moment where you can track them and lead us into their own fortress, when we will unleash the zeppelins on them. It will be
our
time.”

General cheering erupted from the crowd. Oliver and Nikola looked concerned.

“Gosh. A war. I’ve never been in a war.” Sebastian was filled with a mixture of absolute fear and excitement.

“Not you, Sebastian. Both of you will be staying here,” said Nikola.

“What? Why?”

“Number Two has said so. And that is simply it.”

“They can’t be serious. These guys aren’t ready. They couldn’t find their way into the class if there wasn’t only one stairway. They’ll be slaughtered.”

“No, Sebastian,” Nikola said. “And that’s final.”

“But why? It’s not fair.” Sebastian prodded Melanie, who was looking across at Gavin. “Did you hear that?”

“Huh?”

“They’ll need me. I’m the only one who’s any good at sensing the magnetic fields.”

“The others have made significant improvements in their detection skills of late,” Nikola said. “They’ll be sufficient.”

Captain Hawk left the stage to a mixture of cheers and hesitant clapping. A chamber orchestra tuned their instruments and commenced playing popular classical tunes.

“I need to dance,” Melanie burst out.

Sebastian gave her a horrified look.

“Not with you.” She looked over at Gavin.
 

Nikola was watching her closely. For the first time that evening his face lost its dark demeanor. He leaned over to her. “I’ll help,” he said quietly.

Nikola went over to Gavin’s table and whispered something in the teen’s ear. Gavin looked up straightaway, and Sebastian and Melanie looked hurriedly away. Melanie went bright red. Gavin got up and shuffled over. Melanie went so red Sebastian thought she was going to catch fire. He could feel the heat pouring off her.