There is some scattered applause as I shuffle meekly onto the stage, with my little sister leaping and smiling after me. She's grinning from ear to ear and waving to the crowd, no doubt an act because she's usually much more introverted than that. I scan the crowd for faces that I knew- Reese, Whateva, Popgum, and several others- before I slam my eyes shut for a second, transforming the two dozen faces I see before me into that of fluffy bunny rabbits. That doesn't seem to work, so I go and add woven baskets and Easter eggs. Then the crowd jolts me back to reality, and Ryn is speaking.
She starts off her speech with a loud "Um…" which makes a few authors giggle before recovering and saying, "Hi, I'm Rynette, and this is my sister Louisa-"
"Lucy," I cut in, a bit irritated with my sister's need for formality.
"Whatever," she mutters. "Most people call me Ryn, but Rynette's also okay. My sister and I write together using the penname Kyanite Archer, so yeah… you may recognize my sister as Lucy or Brightvale Lucy, an anon. So, yeah, um… anyway, Lucy came up with the idea for a contest, but we kinda decided that there weren't enough active authors in this archive, so we kinda changed it into, like, a collab story."
"Like Those Moments Between Us," I interject again. Ryn gets a bit irritated at this, I can tell. She elbows me softly. The only reason I let her speak first was because an eleven-year-old was going to sound a lot more adorable than a seventeen-year-old, even though the eleven-year-old in question was by no means a mere child. I'd seen her do high-school maths with ease.
"So, anyway, the Neo archive's getting, like, really, really quiet. We PM'd Reese about it," and she waves to the Filipino girl, before turning back to her speech, "and she put up an announcement on her fantabulous story Hanso's Journal, which we really appreciate."
She turns to me and I realise it's my turn to speak. Ryn's eyes had flashed brown-red for a moment in the light, which threw me off a bit. I swear, that girl's secretly Medusa or something. That would explain why she's about the meanest little sister ever.
Copying my sister, I stutter through my introduction, wondering whether my hair looks okay and stuff like that. I start off with my classic "Um…" and I'm sure I look stupid. Like Ryn, I quickly recover enough to sound convincing.
"Yeah, thanks Reese. So, um, my idea is that all authors join forces to write an epic story, taking it in turns to write a chapter each. The story, it'll be uploaded onto another author's account which will be determined via poll." Geez, what has gotten into my vocab? "Uh… it'll be a bit like the Storytelling Contest, and you can contribute to the plotline by writing, kinda like, um, yeah. The Storytelling Contest. The story will be updated when each chapter is received. Keep in note that Ryn is a little kid," and she elbows me again, "and she will be reading this, so no swearing and stuff, please." My gaze lingers over Whateva, who I know swears frequently. She huffs. "If you're interested, just PM us. Tell me what you'd like the story to be about, like Brynnso Romance," Ryn gags and I feel like gagging a bit too, "or something like Those Moments Between Us, and whether you'd like to host the story or not, or write in it. This is by no means something run by Kyanite Archer, this is something run by the whole community, which is why there'll be a poll on my page with all the eligible host's pennames on there, so you can vote on who you want to host the story. Please try not to vote for yourself…" I was kinda gaining confidence by now. It always happens whenever I get a speech or perform in a play, and by the end I'm brilliant.
"Feel free to submit a suggestion for the title whenever before the story starts… the host will choose what the title is.
"After a while, when there's enough votes, there'll be a topic poll. You can select more than one option, we can do more than one genre, because we're Neopians. We can do stuff like that. Then after that closes, we'll update the story with who's writing in which order and stuff like that, and we'll also post the topic. There will be no set plot, but try not to make it too gory and stuff, because Ryn is going to be reading this. Then the person who writes first will post the first chapter as soon as they are done, then the second person will write and PM the chapter to the host. If there isn't enough room for the chapter in one PM, then use multiple PM's with the part of the chapter in the title, for example, 'Chapter 1 part 3' and stuff. Yadda yadda yadda. The end."
I think I've said everything I know about the contest, before Ryn adds, "You guys all have about… a month? A month to submit all your entry forms and stuff. We'll give the poll two weeks, right Lucy?" I nod in response.
"Thanks for listening," I add as we step down form the stage. I don't notice the clapping from the audience, if there is any. I'm too nervous to notice.