It all started as a normal, if somewhat embarrassing, day for Maddy Banks. Maddy was going to be late. She wove through pack of jocks loitering in front of their lockers as she made her way across the school, her eyes trained on her feet as she stepped quickly down the hall. Her tennis shoes smacked on the grimy tiles, audible even over the din of conversation around her.
It was May, and Maddy was enjoying the bittersweet last few weeks of high school. As a senior, she'd soon shake the dust of Millworth High off her shoes and graduate. Then she'd be free to move on with her life, to what she hoped would be bigger and better things. Millworth was a small town, so the high school loomed large in the minds of its citizens. Men at the grocery store talked about the football team's last performance against Evanston or Terrance Hills and speculated about the quarterback's college prospects; Women at the salon gossiped about the cheerleading squad's chances at the regional tournament and where they should take their daughters shopping for a prom dress. Maddy knew there was more to life than student council and Spanish finals, and she longed for the days when she'd finally be able to discover it. Until then, however, she was stuck at Millworth High.
For dreamers like Maddy, Millworth was an abysmal little place, a brick and mortar prison for wandering minds. Like many other schools like it, Millworth was a proving ground, a veritable Serengeti of raging hormones and endless drama. Maddy kept to herself. She was a plain girl, with frizzy brown hair and a slim figure. She possessed a clear, pale complexion with wide cheeks and dark brown eyes. She sometimes felt blessed because of her plain looks because it spared her the wrath of her peers, who were quick to judge to tiniest of imperfections. Other times, she wished she had the good looks that many of her female classmates flaunted. On days like today, when Maddy was tired and stressed, the school seemed like a killing floor. Maddy picked up the pace, eager to make it to her next class so she could finally sit down. Briefly, her thoughts drifted to her lunch and the leftover Chinese she had packed in her bag. It proved to be a fatal mistake.
Rounding the corner from the opposite direction came Jessica Hynes. In the tiny town of Millworth, Jessica Hynes may as well have been royalty, and she knew it. Her father was a big shot real estate developer, and had his hands in half the town, making her one of the richest girls in school. As if that wasn't enough, she was drop dead gorgeous in a way few girls her age could ever hope to be. At 18, Jessica was nearly six feet tall. Years of volleyball practice had given her a lean physique, and Mother Nature had done the rest. She had long, wavy blonde hair that fell nearly to the small of her back. Today, it was pulled back behind her ears, perfectly framing her heart-shaped face. She wore skinny jeans which accentuated her muscular thighs, and a tight vest over her blouse that drew the eye right toward her perky double Ds. Maddy turned her head up just in time to catch Jessica's icy blue eyes furiously drilling down into her before the two girls collided at full speed.
The force of the blow caused Jessica to stumble, and she took a step back before balancing on her back heel. Maddy, who was much smaller than Jessica, was knocked back onto her butt. She hit the floor hard, her book bag sliding off her shoulder onto the floor. Jessica was quick to reprimand her clumsy subject. She mustered all of the disdain she could, her lip curling into a sneer.
“Watch it, you dumb fucking virgin!”
Maddy closed her eyes, holding back tears. Whatever happened, she was not going to cry in front of the likes of Jessica Hynes. She knew without looking that the rest of the hall was looking at her, her ass on the floor in the middle of the hall. Her cheeks flushed red. She hoped desperately that the moment would simply end. And for some strange reason, it did.
When Maddy opened her eyes, she found that everything around her had completely disappeared, save for Jessica Hynes. Though she remained seated, the hallway, her classmates, the lockers, all of it had simply vanished. Maddy blinked. Inky blackness pressed in from all sides where her school had been only a moment before. For a moment, the two girls looked around, dumbfounded. Jessica took a few exploratory steps forward, wondering of she would fall right through whatever was holding them in position into the swirling nothingness below.
“Wh- what's happening?” She asked. Her voice wavered, all traces of anger disappearing. “What did you do?”
Maddy shook her head.
“I didn't do this. I didn't do anything, I swear!”
A third voice spoke only a few feet away, piercing the odd silence of the odd nowhere-place with low and melodious tones.
“That was me,” it said.
Maddy stood to face the sudden voice, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Jessica's eyes went wide with fright, and she clamped her jaw shut to stifle a scream. Just as quickly as the school had vanished there appeared a tall skinny man out of the nothingness. Wearing a crisp gray suit and a red tie, he looked as if he had stepped in from Barry's, the local used car dealership. His black hair was slicked back across his skull, and his beady green eyes darted between the two girls with reptilian hunger.
“What did you do to us you, you freak?” said Jessica. Her legs were shaking, but her voice betrayed none of her fear. The man took a step away from them, his palms turned upward.
“I assure you no harm will come to you here,” he said. “I've only briefly plucked you from your mortal realm so that we may speak more... intimately. I have a once-in-a-lifetime proposal for the two of you.”
The man hung on the last word for a moment, his thin lips widening into a predatory smile.
Maddy found her voice.
“What do you want? What is this place?”
The man walked slowly to the side, pacing a lazy circle around the two girls.
“What, this? It's difficult to explain. I suppose it's sort of like an envelope in time in space, just big enough for the three of us. I call it the Zone, and I am its Keeper. But to your first question, what I want is a little excitement. And I'm willing to pay you unimaginable rewards for it, I assure you.”
The two girls looked at each other uneasily. The man continued.
“I'm an observer, if you like. I watch your realm like the television that you mortals consume like oxygen. But my powers are limited. I can't... change the channel, if you will. I've watched your worthless little town for a long, long time, since it was just a speck of unassuming prairie. I've seen your many families rise and fall since then, generation after generation. Great monuments raised and ground to dust. And you are all terribly boring.”
Jessica had enough.
“Who cares, you slimy fuckwad? Let us go!” she yelled. The man raised his hand.
“In good time, my dear,” he said, raising his voice a little to silence her. “Indeed, why should you care? What are the troubles of an immortal, inter-dimensional being to the likes of the great Jessica Hynes?”
Jessica did a double take as the man said her name.
“Yes,” he said. “As I've said, I've been watching you for a long time. But now, I've finally hoarded enough power to make things... interesting. And that's where you come in. You're going to make things fun. And in return-”
Maddy shook her head.
“Not going to happen,” she said, imitating Jessica's commanding tone. “Fuckwad,” she added.
The man raised an eyebrow. Maddy continued.
“You kidnap us and want us to work for you? Dance like your little puppets? Screw you, let us go! We won't do anything for you.”
The Keeper's jaw tightened for a moment, but he let out a slow sigh.
“Please, let me finish,” he said. “I've given this a great deal of thought, and in any case, you have no choice in the matter. What I'm proposing is a sort of... game. Complete the challenges that I assign to you, and you will be rewarded in ways you never thought possible. Fail, and you will be humiliated and punished.”
“Why would I agree to that?” asked Jessica.
“Why wouldn't you?” asked the man, his voice booming. “I've seen how your life will end up. You'll get a cushy job working for your father, marry a rich investment type, have two bratty kids and a divorce. You'll die unfulfilled and unhappy. Terribly unoriginal. Don't you want more out of your life? Don't you want real thrills? Real power? And you, Maddy, I know you can relate to my problem. You hate your life as it is today. You hope for a more exciting future, but secretly you feel it isn't coming. You'll go to a state college and slave away at a desk job you hate, under-payed and under-appreciated, until you meet a nobody to settle down with. But isn't excitement what you've always craved? Don't you want to be envied? Desired? Surely you've always imagined better things for yourself. And I can give them to you! Both of you! This is an opportunity, you see? I have the ability to change your lives in ways you can faintly even imagine.”
Jessica and Maddy exchanged glances again. The were both still afraid of the way the man looked at them, but his words seemed to ring true. He had, after all, somehow transported them to the “envelope” in which they now found themselves.
“So... what?” said Jessica, still thinking. “You're like a genie, or something?”
The man chuckled.
“Hardly. But I do possess the same sort of... potential. Let me show you.”
The man reached out his hand. Between where he was standing and the two girls rose a marble pedestal, like a stone fish jumping from the depths to greet them. On top it sat a wide gold chalice, studded with rubies and emeralds. It glittered, casting lights all around them like stars. Gold coins filled it to the brim, ready to spill out at any moment. Jessica moved toward it, mystified. She reached out her hand. Just before she could touch it, it disappeared, evaporating into gray smoke.
“So what's the catch?” said Maddy. She was not as convinced by the man's display. “Why the two of us?”
“Ah yes,” the man said, drawing out the words for dramatic effect. “The 'catch'. You see, I brought the two of you because you represent an interesting potential for conflict. On one hand, the vicious but beautiful queen of Millworth, who wants to hold the world in her hand. On the other, the brainy but unassuming Maddy, who desperately wishes to one day best her. It's quite interesting, if you ask me. But as I said before, this is a game. Each challenge will have a winner, who will receive a wondrous reward. But each challenge will also have a loser. Succeed, and be rewarded. Fail, and be punished.”
“And if we refuse?” asked Maddy.
“So be it,” said the man. “Opt out. Go back to your 4th period class. Forget your supernatural encounter. Live boring lives. Maybe in a few years, I'll be able to choose others in your place. But you both are in this together, understand? If one of you plays, you both play.”
The man clapped his hands.
“Enough chatter!” he said. “I've waited too long for this! On to the first challenge!”
As if coming into focus, the scene of Maddy and Jessica's collision returned. The hallway sprang up around them, banishing the Zone in a flash of white light. The hall was completely deserted. The man still stood next to them, though he appeared hazy and translucent, like a ghost in a cheesy horror movie.
“It's nearly lunch time,” said the man. “Nobody has missed your sudden and unexplained absence here. Ugh. What color is that that wall, anyway? Puke green? It seems much worse in person, somehow. But what am I saying? The first challenge!”
The man clapped his hands again, which echoed in the empty hall.
“I call it, the Test of Love. In this very high school is a young man named Ryan Heron. Ryan is a senior, like you. Except he's invisible. Forgotten. Left alone on the dust heap of all the single men of Millworth. He's had awful last few years, and his desperate wish is that some girl, any girl at all, will finally notice him before the end of school. Tragic, truly. And highly unlikely. Well, at least until now. One of you will make Ryan's wish come true. Be the first to find Ryan and plant a kiss on his lips, and you will win the challenge.”
“What?!” yelled Jessica. “That's nuts, man. You want us to kiss Ryan Heron? He's a bigger virgin than Maddy!”
“Hey!” protested Maddy.
The Keeper shook his head.
“I'm afraid that's the challenge, my dear. Take it or leave it. Now listen up. There's some important things I should mention. First of all, nobody will notice you coming and going from the Zone. But that's the extend of my interference in your world on your behalf. If you break the rules of your school, I won't save you from the evil eye of Principal Miriam. Same if you break the law. Or your mother's prized vase! But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try these things, oh no! As long as you don't do anything to interfere with the progress of the other, er, contestant, then it's fair game! Oh, and happy hunting!”
With that, the Keeper disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving the two girls alone in the hallway. For a moment they said nothing, their minds racing with the bizarre turn of events that had just engulfed them both. They sat in complete silence, broken only by the rhythmic tick of the clock in the hall.
“That was... different,” managed Jessica. “And like, totally and completely crazy. Did all of that just happen?”
Maddy nodded her head slowly.
“I guess it did,” she said quietly.
“So... what the hell do we do?” Asked Jessica. “If it's all the same to you, I mean, screw it. I will never, ever speak of this again. Not ever. Is that good with you?”
Maddy nodded again, more vigorously this time.
“Oh God, yes,” she said. “I don't want anything to do with that Keeper's game or whatever. Hell no.”
“Then it's agreed,” Jessica said. “You and I shall never speak of this again.”
“Or ever again,” added Maddy.
“Great,” said Jessica, forcing a smile. “That's great then.”
Maddy walked to lunch, her head still swirling. She didn't know what to make of the Keeper and his little game. Were there really inter-dimensional creeps that made sport out of people like that? It seemed too outrageous to be true. But Jessica had been there too. It hadn't been a dream. Maddy reached the lunch room, a wide room with a low ceiling and a view of the school's athletic fields. Life at Millworth had continued at full speed without Maddy and Jessica, and the room was packed with students. Maddy made her way to her usual table at the back and sat down next to her friend Carly Hammond. Carly was Maddy's closest friend at Millworth. A tall and skinny track star, the two of them had met in first period English and became fast friends. Today, Maddy was just glad to see her.
“What happened to you?” asked Carly. “You look like 4th period was a tornado.”
Pulling out her lunch and setting it on the table, Maddy numbly ate her chow mein without answering.
“Um, hello? Maddy?” plied Carly. “You OK in there?”
Maddy snapped out of it.
“Yeah, sure,” she said. “I just had a run-in with Jessica Hynes. Last period. No biggie.”
Carly inhaled sharply.
“Yeah,” she said. “I heard. Sounded pret-ty bad the way Miles told it. Pret-ty awful.”
“It was no big deal,” repeated Maddy. “Let's not talk about it, alright?”
As she ate, Maddy kept thinking about what the Keeper had said about her. Had he been right about her? Did she really want to be like Jessica Hynes, and be queen of a dump like Millworth? It was true that she was a little jealous of her looks. But what girl at Millworth wasn't? Jessica was one of the hottest girls in school, which was the entire planet, as far as Millworth was concerned. And how did Ryan Heron fit into all of this?
Ryan was a lot like Maddy. They had both had Ms. Reamer for Spanish. He hadn't stuck out much to her. He was average height and average built, if a little on the chubby side. Maddy couldn't remember, but she thought he was in the band. Or was it hockey? They had only talked two or three times in their years at school. Maddy didn't think he was quite the charity case that they Keeper had described. She couldn't help but wonder if he was connected to the Keeper somehow. The Keeper had mentioned he had wished a girl would notice him. Was the Keeper trying to literally grant his wish by indirectly engaging her and Jessica in his game? Maddy turned to Carly.
“Hey,” she said. “Do you know Ryan Heron?”
“Sure,” replied Carly. “He's in my Calc class. Why? You got the hots for him or something?”
Maddy grinned sheepishly.
“No!” she said. “I just had to ask him about something for Spanish. Do you know who he eats with?”
“No. He probably sits outside on the steps with Reggie and them.”
Maddy stood up, finishing off the last bite of her noodles.
“Worth a try,” she said. Seeya.”
Maddy marched for the front doors of the school, her mind heavy with questions. She was nearly to the entrance when Todd Jones appeared out of nowhere. The tall football lineman sauntered over to her, his chest inflated with confidence as if he had just performed a sack to the adoration of hundreds of fans. Maddy tried to sidestep him, but he moved with her, blocking her path.
“Hey, Maddy!” he called. “Just the girl I was looking for. Uh. Do you have any gum?”
Maddy paused, surprised. Todd Jones had never spoken to her once in the last four years, let alone ask her for gum like he was her buddy.
“No, I don't,” she said. “Sorry.”
“Well, that's fine!” he said, his voice oddly strained. “I just really wanted to talk to you, any way. You're in Oliver's after school volunteer thing at the food shelf, right? Cause I'm thinking of getting into like, helping people, you know?”
Maddy put her hand to her face to conceal her exasperation.
“Yes, whatever. Fine,” she said. “Look, you can talk to Oliver in person yourself, OK? He has the sign up. I need to see Ryan Heron.”
Maddy tried to move past Todd again, but he moved in time with her, staying in front of her to block her way to the front entrance.
“Don't you want to talk a little?” he asked. “About it, I mean. The food shelf thing. You'll be there right? How about... that Evans kid? Drake? Or Sally Logarth?”
Maddy gave up trying to be polite.
“Will you just let me through? What's your deal, any way? Do you really want to help the Student Council with the food drive?”
Todd snorted.
“No,” he said. “But Jessica Hynes gave me this and told me to tell you all about it anyway.”
Todd reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. Maddy couldn't help but stare at it, confused.
“Wait,” she said. “Jessica Hynes. Paid you. Twenty dollars to talk to me?”
“Easy money,” he said. “Talk to you later.”
Todd finally moved his huge frame out of Maddy's path. She rushed past him, pushing open the front doors to the school. As the cool spring breeze hit her face, she surveyed the school grounds for Reggie Yates and his group of friends. She didn't have to look for long. On the grass in front of the school not 30 yards away stood Ryan Heron. Next to him stood Jessica Hynes. Without ceremony, she grabbed the side of his head and pulled him in for a long kiss on the lips.