Hey everyone! It's me (: and I'm back. Enjoy!
CHAPTER TWO
Hundreds of feet up in the sky, Reid Dame stared contemplatively out the window of her golden Personal Alpha Plane, or PAP for short. She was currently picking out shapes and pictures in the clouds, a mermaid here, a whale there. Clouds floated serenely by as the plane headed towards its destination, Alpha Island, hundreds of miles out in the middle of nowhere. Her slim fingers were itching to paint something, anything. Painting had been Reid's life ever since she could remember. Maybe it was the time when her kindergarten teacher ordered her class to paint dinosaurs with their finger prints. Or maybe it was the time when her elementary school teacher instructed her how to use a paint brush for the first time. What the reason, Reid had been painting ever since the first time she laid her eyes on a can of paint.
Painting was her passion, and it was the thing that had gotten her into Alpha Academy. She had submitted quite a few sketches, portraits of her family and friends and watercolors of nature to Shira Brazille and had crossed her fingers and hoped to get in. A few months later, her answer came in the form of a golden envelope and a sparkling aPod that was supposed to be her new DBF, digital best friend.
"Pepsi?" a cool female voice asked. It had been talking to Reid since she first stepped foot onto the golden plane, asking her if she would like an almond cookie, a glass of Pepsi or anything else that she wanted.
"Yes, please," Reid answered. A cool glass of Pepsi was slid onto the small panel next to her armrest by a mechanic hand. "Thank you," she answered.
She took a sip from the glass and savored the tangy sweetness of the juice. She leaned back in her eco-friendly airplane seat and continued to stare out the window. She knew the entire plane was made out of recycled stuff, the voice had informed her about that the second she sat down. Apparently eco-friendly and energy-conserving would be a big part of Alpha Academy.
Thinking of Alpha Academy immediately set her nerves on again. Meeting new girls was always kind of hard for Reid. She hated that feeling of awkwardness and self-consciousness when first meeting someone for the first time. And anyways, she wasn't shy; sometimes she just didn't know what to say – a fact that her best friend Ally Lane had wholeheartedly agreed with. Ally and Reid had both been stereotyped as quiet, nerdy girls back in their old school. A girl who loved painting and a girl who was obsessed with band were immediately labeled "geeky." After all, the popular girls at the her old school considered coolness equivalent to cheerleading or the Class President.
Going to Alpha Academy would hopefully change that. Cure her of her awkwardness and make her a new confident, self-assured and relaxed alpha girl. After all, old Reid – the shy, awkward, nerdy girl – would be gone forever and new Reid – cool, talented, artistic and creative – would take her place. Phase one of her transformation had been applying to Alpha Academy and sending in her best artworks. Phase two involved getting rid of her braces and replacing her geeky glasses with contacts. Phase three included cutting her dirty blonde hair into a hair style that looked like it was from the pages of Seventeen. Phase four was complied of a shopping spree for new hair products and makeup. Phase five was a journey to improve and raise her self-esteem. A journey that was currently in progress as the plane sped toward Alpha Island.
Reid had hated the days back when sat in the background and the other beautiful and bitchy girls made fun of her secretly behind their shiny iPhones and rhinestone-studded compacts. If only they could see me now, she thought with slight satisfaction as gazed around the ultra-cool interior design of the PAP. On a plane that's on its way to Alpha Academy. She had hugged Ally goodbye a few hours ago when the PAP landed at the airport and picked her up. She had given Ally a friendship bracelet that she had slaved over for hours and a half of a heart-shaped necklace charm with BFFs written on it. The other half, which read FOREVER, hung on Reid's neck. Ally and Reid had been best friends since they were paired up for a science project back in second grade. Two girls who were too shy to talk to others became close to each other and stayed that way up until Reid's final year of middle school where she applied to Alpha Academy.
They had been the girls who were always picked last for PE sports teams, the girls who sat quietly in the back of the room, the girls who were labeled weird. The girls who were made fun of by the cheerleaders of the school. But Reid had hated that. She flipped through countless teen magazines, swept the shelves of makeup stores and spurged her two years of savings to get a ridiculously expensive but stylish new haircut. Now, new Reid was considered relatively pretty. With dirty blond hair, warm brown eyes that were carefully lined with kohl, straight white teeth and lips coated with Victoria's Secret Strawberry Fizz lipgloss, Reid Dame looked nothing like her old yearbook picture.
"In fifteen minutes and 56 seconds, this plane will be entering into the Alpha Island zone, with no connection to the outside world," the voice said coolly.
"No connection? Like no WiFi or phone signal?" Reid asked in surprise. For all she thought, Alpha Academy was a high-tech school and would have high-speed internet. Apparently not. It would be like being trapped in a little bubble floating in the center of a sea out in the middle of a desert. Weird.
"Yes, no connection," the voice instantly replied.
Reid frowned and picked up her aPod. If this was her last chance to talk to people, she might as well do it. She swiped a clear-polished fingernail across the sensitive touch-screen and watched as it unlocked. She tapped the internet browser and headed towards Facebook. Clicking on the status, she typed in a few words. Well, I'm on my own plane, headed towards Alpha Academy and it's landing in a few minutes. So bye to all my friends and I love you guys! She lifted her phone, turned it and snapped a quick photo of herself. An image of her new look filled the rectangular screen and she quickly uploaded it. Clicking the X she exited the internet.
"Five minutes," the voice said serenely.
Reid slipped her aPod back into her new Coach clutch and quickly applied a new layer of gloss, as if the shiny lacquer would protect her from the newness of Alpha Academy. She nervously twisted a dirty blonde strand of her around her finger as the plane dipped and began its descent towards Alpha Island. The planed dipped towards the ground and broke through the clouds, giving Reid a fantastic view of a glittering blue sea, sparkling with the sunlight. A few seagulls flocked and glided through the sky.
"Landing in thirty seconds."
The plane slowed down and glided to a stop on a panel on a copper-colored Twizzler shaped tower. Reid unbuckled herself from the seat and stepped off the plane onto a landing with a pair of gold elevator doors. She pressed an A-shaped button on the wall next to the doors. The door slid opened with a ding and Reid stepped in as the elevator descended towards the ground. Reid glanced around the elevator as it descended. It was a plain gold color, with gold plush lining the walls and a honey-golden wooden floor. A gold bar weaved around the wall, providing a hand hold for anyone who wanted one. The golden elevator doors slid open with another ding as it landed on the first level. Reid Dame had officially arrived at Alpha Academy.
Alice White's heels clicked on the pavement as she stepped out of the elevator and onto a gold carpet that seemed to lead right to a train station a few yards away from where she stood. She frowned at the quietness of the entire place. It was way to quiet. She had always though schools were filled with students mingling and chatting about. Here, it was strangely empty and deserted. Her midnight black hair blew softly across her face with the sea breeze. She tucked a black lock behind her ear where a pair of gold chandelier earrings dangled. She had worn her favorite army green pleated skirt and a cream-colored blouse with brown sandals. She sighed in slight relief as a few girls stepped out of the tall Twizzler-shaped tower and walked, or strutted, towards the train station. Alice tried to make eye-contact with them but failed. A whistling noise came from the train tracks as a long train with round bubble-shaped cars sped into the station and stopped.
"All Alpha Academy students please find your own car with your name on it. All cars are in alphabetical order by last names," a cool voice with a British accent blared over the loudspeaker. Alice swallowed with slight nervousness as she headed towards the end of the train. W for White. She paused in front of a shiny gold bubble-shaped care with Alice White written on it in flowy script. As soon as she approached the car, her name melted away and was replaced with a new message.
Welcome aboard Alpha Academy's Bubble Train. Please take a seat in the chair.
The silver flowy script melted away and the translucent gold doors slid open, allowing Alice to step aboard. Alice stepped into the little bubble car and took a seat in a rounded gold chair. The door slid closed with a soft hiss like the hissing of a steaming kettle and the train began to move.
"Welcome aboard the Alpha Bubble Train, Alice," a cool voice said serenely. "We will soon be arriving at the residences where each alpha will report straight to their Alpha House. Each Alpha House houses five alphas with a muse. Your Alpha House assignment is Taylor Swift. A house key will soon appear on the stand next to your chair."
The stand next to the Alice's chair had a panel under the surface and it slid open, revealing a small compartment with a gold rectangular shaped key in it. It reminded Alice of those cool hotel keys that hotels gave out, only this one was thicker and had the Taylor Swift scrawled across the right corner in black script. Alice wouldn't have been surprised if it was made out of solid gold.
"Currently, the train is approaching the Eos sculpture garden, which was built as a tribute to everlasting love with statues of Adam and Eve, Romeo and Juliet and others. It provides an inspirational and serene setting for all aspiring poets and writers," the smooth voice explained as the train glided past a garden filled with elegant stone sculptures.
Alice stared out the window, half-noticing the beauty of the island. She was more absorbed in thoughts about her new roommates and potential friends. Alice had been born into an acting career, with her mother as a dancer in London and her father as a movie director in Hollywood in California which was in America. An entire ocean away from Alice. Alice had been in movies since she was born, first taking a role of a baby, then a toddler then evolving into one of the most famous teen actresses of the year. She had never gone to a real school, instead being tutor by her private tutor her entire life. She had never made any real friends, only becoming brief "best friends" with her costars while filming and never had someone close in her entire life. Her sister, Corona was always away at a exclusive art school in Paris, training in ballet while her brother, Jose had been away at Oxford for most of Alice's childhood and was working as an accountant somewhere in North Carolina, California. Her eldest sister, Naomi had gotten married when Alice was ten and lived with her husband somewhere in Spain while Alice was stuck back home in plain old London. Her parents had gotten divorced when she was barely six and while Jose and Naomi where old enough to handle life on their own and Corona had her own life and friends in Paris, Alice was left alone with no one but her agent and tutor to take care of her. Her mother was always away on trips to Paris, where she worked at an opera house, teaching ballet and coordinating shows.
Now, with a ticket to Alpha Academy where there would be 99 other girls, Alice's first priority was to make a few friends who she could call her actual best friends. Maybe her roommates would live up to expectations. Her second priority was to succeed, something she did best.
The bubble train began to slow before coming to a complete stop at another train station.
"We have arrived at The Residences. Here is where you will live and sleep for the duration of your stay at Alpha Academy. Please proceed directly to your Alpha House. We hope you enjoyed your ride aboard the Alpha Bubble Train." The smooth voice announced as the doors slid open, allowed Alice to step off the train.
Alice stepped off the train and onto another train station that looked very similar to the one at the landing. She headed down a cobblestone path and into a courtyard with a marble fountain in the center of it. Water splashed playfully in the fountain and butterflies fluttered around. Lush trees lined the outside of The Residences and birds sang from the branches. The island emitted a lively and cheerful aura to welcome all the alphas of Alpha Academy. Alice turned towards a rounded dome-shaped building that shimmered white and a robin-egg blue, reminding Alice of a rounded shiny Tiffany box.
She climbed up the steps and inserted her gold room key into the slot. "Hello?" she called out as she stepped into the room. She pasted on a smile that screamed "confident and friendly" on her face as entered the room. It was round, like many other things at Alpha Academy with couches around a glass coffee table and a spiral staircase leading up to a second floor of the house.
A gorgeous girl with glossy dark hair extending down to her waist and wide dark eyes sat on the couch with her long slim legs crossed. The girl wore a cream-colored embellished tulle tank that looked like it came straight from the pages of Seventeen and a pair of True Religion denim shorts than showed off her long, tanned legs. A pair of patent leather sandals with pink straps adorned her feet and a pair of gold D&G sunglasses rested on her head like a headband. The girl looked like she came straight off the cover of a magazine or straight from a photoshoot. Her makeup was flawless and her nails were perfectly done in a basic French manicure that completed her looked of "carelessly-beautiful". Another girl with dirty blonde hair and warm brown eyes sat on the other couch. The blonde girl wore a simple grey shirt with a picture of a bow and a belted ruffled pink skirt. A pair of light blue pumps and tiny sparkly pink earrings that decorated her ears completed her outfit. Her dirty blonde hair was curled into perfect spiral ringlets which finished off her look of "cute-pretty".
"Hey," the stunning brunette uncrossed her legs and stood up from the couch gracefully. "I'm Vivian. Vivian Dresden." Gold hoop earrings glinted from behind her dark curtain of hair which she flipped over her shoulder.
"I'm Reid Dame," added the blonde.
"Alice White," Alice introduced herself.
Vivian nodded and pulled up her ankle towards her butt, stretching out a few muscles.
"You're a dancer?" asked Alice as she eyed Vivian.
Vivian shook her head, her dark waves tumbled around her face before she tossed her bangs out of her eyes. "I'm a figure-skater," she explained, "What about you?"
"Me? Oh, I'm an actress," said Alice. "What about you, Reid?" Alice directed the question toward the blonde.
"I'm a painter, uh, artist," said Reid. She blushed slightly under Vivian's scrutinizing gaze.
"Art is art in itself, a divine aura," a soft voice said. A woman with soft features and caramel colored hair entered the room. "I'm Ivory, your house muse."
Alice stared blankly at Ivory, trying to decipher the confusing sentence about art while Vivian smiled graciously at the muse and replied, "Hi, Ivory."
"Hello, Vivian Dresden," Ivory smiled mysteriously, "Fear is just excitement in need of an attitude adjustment.'
Vivian blinked in confusion. "What?"
But Ivory seemed not to hear her. She tilted her head towards the door. "Two more shall complete our circle of five." Ivory blinked and said, "Use your aPods, you can scan the girls' profiles."
Alice stared at Ivory in puzzlement. From the brief few minutes Alice had known her, Ivory already was a total mystery. Alice pointed her aPod at Ivory and scanned her.
Ivory Diamente. She has been well-known to be able to sense coming events making her, in other words, psychic. She's known for her quotes and they have advice ingrained in them. Alphas would do well to follow her advice. Being a descendant from some coven of witches that have been burned at the stake in medieval times has given her a sketchy background and her great-grandmother was known for being a seer. She had never gone to college, instead choosing to become an artist, drawing scenes from images that she has "seen".
Alice's eyes widened.
Vivian seemed to have done the same thing and read Ivory's profile. So she's a fortune-teller? Vivian mouthed the question from behind Ivory to Alice.
Alice shrugged and gave her the typical "I don't know" shoulder shrug. Her attention was soon diverted by the sound of the door opening, letting two more girls into the house. This time, a freckled girl with long blonde hair that was perfectly straight and extended almost to her waist and navy blue eyes entered the room. She wore a pair of light wash skinny jeans with a hot pink shirt with tiny stars. A pair of boots and dangling pink flower earrings completed her entire outfit. She looked like a typical all-american girl to Alice and her outfit was just "typical-teen". She was pretty, though Alice. Anyways, none of the alphas here at Alpha Academy were just normal-looking. They were pretty. Another girl followed the blond into the house. This girl was pretty pale, thought Alice. She had shoulder-length chocolate brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and bright green eyes. A few freckles were sprinkled over her perfect ski-slope nose and wore a pair of straight legged jeans with a burgundy sweater and some black riding boots.
"Hey," Vivian stepped forward to greet the girls. "I'm Vivian Dresden, figure-skater," she tossed her dark waves over her shoulder and gave the two girls a smile.
"I'm Ali, Ali Ryan," the brunette with the ponytail answered. "I'm a jockey."
"What's that?" Alice asked with interest, "I'm Alice White, actress, by the way."
"A horse-rider, or racer," replied Ali, "Basically, I race horses."
"That's cool," Vivian's eyes sparkled with interest, "Win any big competitions lately?"
"Actually yeah," Ali admitted, "I won first in the Kentucky Nationals last month."
"Cool," said Reid. She seemed to have stepped out of her shyness and answered Ali. "I'm Reid Dame, artist. What about you?" Reid asked the blonde.
"I'm Summer Williams, singer-slash-songwriter," the blonde answered.
"You're Summer Williams?" Reid asked shocked. "I just heard your new single, Chosen, yesterday!"
Summer smiled, "Yeah, I wrote that when I got accepted into Alphas. It just seemed to fit you know? Like how special it made me feel and how good it felt to be chosen."
Reid nodded empathically, "I love all your songs, like everyone just relate to them!"
Alice looked around at the girls. Summer and Reid were already chatting about Summer's latest songs and Reid's paintings while Vivian and Ali were talking animatedly about Ali's latest competitions. Vivian had competed big time with her figure-skating and they were trading stories about competitions, medals and trophies. Summer and Reid had immediately clicked with their love of art, musical or visual while Vivian and Ali were both two competitive individuals who had the single-minded determination to get to their goal.
"Girls," Ivory glided back into the room. Alice hadn't even noticed that she was gone for a while. "Tomorrow will be your very first day at Alpha Academy so I suggest you all get a goodnight's sleep. Alpha Academy does not tolerate tardiness."
Alice swallowed hard. Tomorrow was the very first day. The very first start of her year at Alpha Academy.
Ah well, there's all the girls! I know the introductions were a bit short….. I promise the chapters will start getting longer as the story progresses. Oh, and I know most of these submit-a-character stories are usually given up after a few chapters….but I PROMISE that this story will be finished. (:
One question: Do you want me to bring the Brazille boys in the story? Like let some of the alpha girls crush on them and become bf and gf? Or should they remain as simply eye-candy and flirtation devices?
*Note: The rest of my stories are slightly put on hold while I focus mainly on this one. They will have occasional updates for me to take a break from The One but most updates will be on The One. And for the updates….I'm planning on updating at least twice as week. Hopefully on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If I don't, well something must have come up, I'm on my school's dance team as well as being a member of ASB and my classes are killing me…so let's say I'm a busy girl. :P
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the long A/N's they will get shorter…. And REVIEWS ARE AWESOME and make me want to hug you! So review, review, review! I'm hoping for at least five reviews before my next update...
I don't have a beta, so all mistakes are mines.
-The Lovely Psyche