Sugar Coated

  “Well, it’s going to have to be,” Brynn answered with a grunt of annoyance. She had already curled her long hair so that it cascaded around her shoulders like a black waterfall, and her makeup was subtly applied. “Might as well look like I planned it,” she said to herself, drawing a thin, neon-blue line above her thick black eyeliner. The effect made her blue eyes stand out even more than usual. Not wanting to look too made up, she removed the red lipstick she had applied earlier that night and replaced it with a nude color.

  “Beautiful,” Charlie exclaimed, a bit too emphatically.

  “Yeah, well, I programmed you to compliment me, so I can’t really trust what you say,” Brynn countered, feeling like a brat for being rude to her house, but not really caring enough to change her tone.

  “Have a good time at the party,” her house offered as the doorbell rang, announcing Ty’s arrival.

  “Have fun filtering air,” Brynn mumbled under her breath, not sure what had put her in such a foul mood.

  When she reached her front door she stepped outside to join Ty in his walk toward the bus stop. He wore black pants, a black collared button-up shirt, and a black jacket, all of which were very tailored and looked as if they had been made for him—which, she quickly reminded herself, they had.

  “You look really good,” she said, looking him up and down approvingly. He didn’t say anything in response but instead stared at Brynn with wide eyes, looking slightly shocked. She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. “Don’t say a word about my dress. It was my house’s brilliant idea.”

  “I think your house and I have just become best friends,” he finally said, the glazed look still present on his face.

  “You pig,” she joked, linking her arm through his and walking to the white bus that waited on the corner of their neighborhood. It departed as soon as they boarded and took their seats, always efficient when it came to the transportation of citizens. “Don’t tell Amber and Bennett my house made the dress. They’re supposed to think I did it.”

  “And you really expect them to believe you’d design a dress so…what’s the word I’m looking for?” he asked, snapping his fingers as if trying to recall something.

  “Skimpy?” Brynn offered.

  “Considerate!” he exclaimed, “That’s the word. Considerate to every male in attendance at this party,” he finished with a sideways smirk.

  “When did my best friend become such an animal?” Brynn asked, rolling her eyes for the second time since she’d seen Ty.

  “When you stepped out of your house in that dress,” he answered honestly.

  “At least I’ve got the black tights on, right? That makes it not so bad maybe?” she asked, hoping he’d agree with her.

  “Whatever makes you feel better,” he said as the bus stopped in front of Amber’s building, letting them off. They made their way to the elevator and typed in the code for Amber’s floor, riding the enclosed glass box up in silence.

  “You’re terrible moral support,” Brynn informed her friend finally, right before they opened the front door leading into Amber’s house.

  “I know, Brynn,” he said sympathetically, kissing her cheek, taking her by the hand, and dragging her into the sudden throng of noise and people.

  * * *

  Amber wasn’t exactly a big partier, but when she did throw a party, she did it properly. It seemed as if everyone their age in the city had been invited to the little get-together that night, and anywhere Brynn looked she could see people’s dimly lit faces.

  Somehow Amber had managed to turn off all of her overhead lights and only leave a long string of neon lights lining the floor to illuminate the party. The glowing tubes turned the walls pink, purple, and blue as Brynn and Ty walked down the noisy hallway, barely able to hear themselves think over the din of music and talking.

  “There’s Amber and Bennett,” Ty yelled to Brynn.

  Even though she was only a few inches away from him, she could still barely make out what he was saying. They made their way over to the solid wall of windows where Amber and Bennett stood admiring the view and congratulating themselves on a party well planned.

  “Everything looks amazing,” Brynn said, grabbing a glowing purple drink with neon pink ice cubes from a nearby table.

  “I froze pink sugar into the ice cubes,” Amber said with a smile. “Got the idea from some brilliant girl.”

  “I’m nothing, if not addicted to sugar,” Brynn agreed, raising her glass to Amber and reveling in the taste of the sweet liquid hitting her tongue. It felt like wrapping a comfort blanket tightly around her.

  “Nice dress Brynn,” Bennett said, looking her friend up and down interestedly. “Never pegged you for a mini dress kind of girl,” she added with a giggle. “I don’t suppose this change in style has anything to do with Jonah?”

  “No, I just thought I’d try something new for Amber’s party,” Brynn explained, biting her tongue to keep from telling them the truth.

  She wasn’t quite sure which was worse—her friends thinking she’d actually want to wear this dress, or her friends finding out she’d been lying every time she ditched them with the excuse of working on her new dress.

  “I find it very refreshing,” Ty said with a raise of his eyebrows, daring Brynn to tell her friends the truth.

  “Yeah, well, I do what I can to make you happy,” Brynn replied in a mockingly sweet voice. “You guys both look amazing of course,” Brynn added, wanting to turn the focus of the conversation away from herself.

  “I was going to go with green to kind of match the theme of my new house, but let’s be honest, I like pink too much,” Amber said, giving a little twirl to show off her new dress.

  It was made from a lightweight sheer pink material that floated around her like a cloud. The strapless dress went to her knees in the front but hung down further in the back, almost reaching the floor. Bennett was dressed almost identically except for the color; she had gone with the sage green dress that matched Amber’s new remodel. Their signature colors.

  “So who exactly are all of these people?” Ty asked, looking around the room skeptically at the interesting group of partygoers.

  There wasn’t much you could do to permanently alter your physical appearance, but the people of Seaside did their best to morph nature as much as they could using dyes, makeup, and clothing. Brynn and her group of friends were considered pretty subdued when compared to the two-inch long hot pink eyelashes or neon blue lipstick most people wore to parties. Only a few feet away from the window stood a group of people who had dyed their hair and skin a pure white color, violently reminding Brynn of the Angel she often dreamed about.

  “That’s a good question,” Amber said to Ty, watching a group of blue haired boys in white suits walk by. “Most of them are people we’ve met at pick-up games, I think, but we sent out a general invitation, so I’m not sure who really showed up.” She absentmindedly fluffed up her blonde hair, which she had curled and pinned into a pile on top of her head. Brynn could see a few glittering strands of pink ribbon she had wound in with the curls catching the neon lights in the room. “I thought maybe if enough people came tonight, my remodel would make it into the week’s top ranking,” Amber admitted with a shrug.

  Brynn laughed at her friend’s insistence on reaching the weekly top ranking in any category as she pulled out her tablet to check the time.

  “Have another party to go to after this?” Ty asked, as she slipped the tablet back into her purse.

  “No, just a train to catch,” she answered distractedly.

  “Seriously?” Amber asked, looking disbelievingly at her friend and tapping her peep-toed shoes that revealed toe nails covered in pink diamonds. “You do realize it’s weird how often you travel, right?”

  “I didn’t before, but I’m always glad to have good friends like you to point those kinds of things out,” Brynn said with a good-natured laugh.

  “She’s kind of right, you know?” Bennett added, also fluffing
up her hair as Amber had done, the light green ribbons standing out against her dark brown hair. “Most people go on one trip a year, tops. And that’s only when they’re really old and bored and don’t know how to work their tablet anymore. What’s so fun about going to a city where you have no friends and your house doesn’t know you that well?”

  “Don’t you guys ever get tired of looking at the same scenery every day?” Brynn asked.

  Amber and Bennett thought about it for a moment, looking out the tall windows in Amber’s house over the city that sparkled like a thousand tiny diamonds in the night. In the distance, the full moon reflected light onto the turbulent water of the ocean.

  “Not when the scenery is this good,” Amber said.

  “She’s got you there,” Bennett agreed.

  “And the scenery just got a whole lot better,” Amber suddenly said, looking over Brynn’s shoulder with a smile. Brynn turned around to see the object of their attention standing awkwardly by the door, looking very uncomfortable in his usual black fitted jeans and grey shirt.

  “Jonah,” Brynn breathed, feeling terrible at how out of place he looked in a loud and rowdy party, surrounded by some of the most bizarre fashionistas in the city.

  She tried to imagine what this kind of scene must look like to someone who spent most of his time alone in a quiet, dusty library. Before she could bring him over to apologize, Amber and Bennett were flanking him, smiling winningly up at him and offering him drinks as they passed by tables on their way back to the window. When he arrived within earshot Brynn shouted a quick, “Hi,” to him, trying to show him that he wasn’t alone.

  He looked over at Brynn in mild interest before saying, “Wow…that certainly is a…dress.”

  “Isn’t it though?” Ty asked, patting Jonah on the shoulder and looking back over at Brynn with a look that said I told you so.

  She shot Ty a silencing look before grabbing Jonah by the hand and leading him over to a quieter corner of the room away from her overbearing friends and the crowd that was growing in size and volume.

  “Sorry they talked you into coming to this,” Brynn said apologetically, looking into Jonah’s sharp blue eyes with her own.

  “It’s fine. I just feel bad that I didn’t dress up. I didn’t realize it was a formal party,” he said, pulling at the sleeves of his T-shirt uncomfortably and looking around at the room of well-dressed partygoers.

  “Trust me, Amber and Bennett didn’t even notice. All you have to do is wink at them and they’d forgive you for anything,” Brynn reassured him with an attempt to wink like Jonah did.

  Jonah looked confused at this explanation, but didn’t bother asking Brynn to expound. Instead, he looked out the large window behind them in silence, taking in the brilliance of the city, or perhaps the mystery of what lay beyond in the ocean.

  “There’s our spot,” Jonah said, pointing at the sandy hill that rose up right before the beach off in the distance.

  “Our spot,” Brynn repeated, a smile involuntarily gracing her lips. “I like that. ‘Let’s go to our spot,’” she intoned with a grin. “It has a nice ring to it.”

  “Yeah, I thought so,” he said warmly, still looking out over the city.

  “What made you come to the party tonight?” Brynn asked, finishing the rest of her glowing drink in one sugary gulp. “It doesn’t seem like your thing.”

  “Doesn’t really seem like yours either,” he countered, “Though that dress would suggest otherwise,” he added thoughtfully, attempting to hold back a smirk.

  “Don’t even get me started on the dress,” she warned, waving her glass menacingly in front of her. “My house made the dress. I had absolutely no say in its length.”

  “Or lack thereof,” he said.

  “Yes,” Brynn agreed, “Or lack thereof.”

  “So what do normal people who don’t spend all of their time in the library usually do at these parties?” Jonah asked, pulling his eyes away from the window to silently survey the room.

  “They usually invent new methods of travel, discuss art, talk philosophy, that kind of thing,” Brynn deadpanned.

  “I should have known,” Jonah answered with a defeated shake of his head. “I don’t know if I’m brilliant enough to be here anymore.”

  “Probably not,” Brynn said. “It might be best if we just go.”

  Brynn looked over at Amber, Bennett, and Ty, who quickly looked away from her, obviously trying to avoid the appearance of obsessively studying what was transpiring between Brynn and Jonah. She shook her head at her friend’s behavior before looking back at Jonah.

  “I have a train to catch. Want to walk me to the station?” she asked, raising one eyebrow quizzically.

  “Well, I was really hoping I could absorb some of the free thinking going on here, but if you insist on dragging me away from this culturally enriching experience, I guess I’ll go.”

  “Perfect,” Brynn said with a smile. She and Jonah walked over to her group of friends, who were still pretending not to notice them.

  “I’ve got to get going or I’ll miss my train,” Brynn informed them over the loud music that filled Amber’s house.

  “So soon?” Bennett asked with a suddenly sad expression. “You literally just got here!”

  “Can’t be late,” Brynn replied with a shrug. “Amber, the party really was amazing. Message me with a link to the weekly top ranking site so I can see your new remodel on there!”

  “I will,” Amber exclaimed, instantly forgiving Brynn for leaving her party early with the reminder that she may have finally cracked the top ranking.

  “Thank you for inviting me. It was a lot of fun,” Jonah said politely, lying through his teeth.

  “We’ll expect to see you around here more often now that you’re one of us,” Bennett said, giving Jonah a long slow wink.

  “Subtle,” Brynn told her friend with a shake of her head.

  “Have a safe trip,” Ty said to Brynn, a worried look passing over his face.

  “I always do,” she answered, pulling her friend into a tight hug and closing her eyes for a moment.

  “You still smell as sugary as ever,” he whispered to her, placing a light kiss on her cheek as they pulled apart.

  “See you in a few days,” she told her group of friends as she and Jonah made their retreat from the party.

  * * *

  “So, how long is your trip?” Jonah asked as they walked through the relatively silent streets of the city. Most people were either at parties or home by this time of night in Seaside.

  “I leave tonight and come back in two days,” she informed him, trying not to fall over in the kitten heels her house had thought were a good idea. “I’ll only be in Central Wildwood for one full day, but with the twelve-hour train ride both ways, it makes the trip a bit long.”

  “How often do you go?” he asked her.

  “Once a month,” she answered, still concentrating on placing one foot in front of the other. After leaving the party, it seemed much more difficult to walk straight than it had going in.

  “Wow. That’s a lot of trips. Do you always go to the same place?”

  “Every time,” she said with a knowing look. “Didn’t I tell you about the trip I took with my parents?” she asked, finding that her memory recall was not working quite right at the moment.

  “Is this the trip you took when the train stopped?” he asked, trying to make a connection between the trip she took with her parents and all of the bizarre things she had asked Jonah to look up since they met.

  “I just figure, maybe if I keep taking the same trip, the train will stop again and I can get some real answers for once,” she answered with a defeated sigh.

  “Real answers,” he repeated, hooking his arm through hers and making it much easier for Brynn to walk suddenly. “Now that would be something, wouldn’t it?”

  Chapter 11: Luxury

  Though the purpose of Brynn’s monthly trip was to gain knowledge and hope for a breakthroug
h in her ever-growing list of questions, she couldn’t help but revel in the luxury of traveling by train. She had reserved a private compartment at the very front, only a few steps from the door all of the Angels had filed through when she was nine.

  Her compartment contained a small bed, an entertainment wall screen, and a plush maroon armchair with a side table. Though she didn’t expect the train to suddenly come to a jarring halt after years of having taken the same trip every month with no luck, Brynn was still on high alert, hoping for anything out of the ordinary to happen.

  Ice water with sugar? the wall screen in front of her suddenly read.

  “Yes please,” Brynn replied, never quite sure why the train computers could only type and not talk. The wall dispenser to her left pushed the icy glass into her hand before retracting and disappearing seamlessly into the dark wood paneling of the train.

  “Thanks,” she said distractedly, drinking down the sugary water while her mind focused on other things. She thoughtlessly swiped her finger across the surface of her tablet, turning the pages of a magazine she didn’t really care about as she thought back to the recent events that had set her on a more productive course.

  Before she’d met Jonah, she had grudgingly accepted the role of ‘the girl with questions’. Her friends were well aware of the fact that nothing seemed to sit right with her, but when even her parents couldn’t answer the endless questions she thought of, Brynn had all but given up on ever trying to figure things out.

  That was before Jonah.

  Once she met the elusive boy with intelligent blue eyes and long, thoughtful pauses in his conversation, things seemed to change. Now, not only was she more motivated to find her own answers, she had someone just as interested in discovering the truth. Whatever that truth might be.

  Brynn thought back to what Jonah had said to her right outside of the train station. “Real answers. Now wouldn’t that be something.”

  She played his remark over and over again in her head. It almost sounded to her like a challenge. Like he was daring her to come back from her trip empty-handed after all of the stories she had told him.