“A party?” I ask, as Mom directs servants to hang streamers and lights up in the now-empty dining room. The long table is now against the wall, a metallic gold table cloth covering it. 

“It’s because you’re going away tomorrow,” She informs me. “I’ve invited the whole neighborhood, and they’re all going to come and celebrate.” 

“I don’t know anyone in the neighborhood,” I say. Well, at least Cai will be there so I’ll have someone to talk to. 

“Then goodbyes will be easy,” She says, kissing my cheek as she instructs people to lay flower petals out on the table. 

“What time does the party start?” I ask, looking at my shiny fingernails. Don’t bite them. Resist the urge to bite them. 

“Six this evening,” She says. “So you need to get dressed soon.” 

“Mom, it’s eight in the morning,” I say, rolling my eyes. “I need a half hour, tops.” Mom rolls her eyes. 

“Fine. But you will go over to the Edwards’ house to learn how to dance.” She pushes me into the hallway, and I pull on my coat and boots, walking out into the brisk autumn air. 

“Dancing is easy,” Cai says, leading me into a big room with a colossal black shiny box on one end of it. The rest of the room is empty. Cai pulls a bench up to the box, and opens the lid. Inside, a series of thin rectangles, black and white, are set. 

“What device of medieval torture is this?” I ask. Cai laughs. 

“It’s a piano,” He says, then puts his finger on one of the rectangles, and presses it down. The box makes a noise, like a ringing bell. “It’s used to make music, and each one of these keys makes a different note.” I nod. He starts pressing down his fingers on the keys in different combinations, playing a melody that I could never dream of replicating. 

“How do you do that?” I ask, watching his fingers dance across the keys. I sit down on the bench next to him, my eyes wide. 

“Years of practice,” He says, then ends the song. “Do you know how to dance even a little?” He asks, tilting his head. 

“Nope!” I say with a smile. Cai stands up and walks over to a machine against the wall. I press down several keys, and music fills the room. Wait a minute. I’m not playing this. I turn to look at Cai, turning on the radio over by the wall. I take my hands off the keys, and turn to look at him, closing the box. “You can’t expect me to dance on my first try,” I say, tipping my head to the side. He chuckles. 

“You might be a natural at it,” He says, offering his hand to me. “Only way to figure out is if you try,” He says, and I stand up, walking to the center of the room with him. 

“And what happens if I’m really bad at dancing?” I ask. Cai smiles. 

“Then we will both have a lot of fun with this part.” He puts his right hand on my waist, and holds my right hand with his left, guiding my left hand to sit on his shoulder. Oh, this is going to be a lot to get used to. I think uncomfortably.“Dancing goes with a rhythm,” He says, then taps his foot to the beat of the music, muttering, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. We slowly move around the floor to the beat of the music. “Try not to look down at the ground. Your feet will take care of themselves.” I nod and look back up at his face. “Plus, it’s bad manners in Gold society to not make eye contact.” I need to remember this etiquette stuff, or tonight could go badly. We spiral around the floor, one of us graceful, and one of us obviously a novice. 

“Did I fail?” I ask, as the song ends and I step away from Cai. 

“Well, it was rocky at first, but you’re a quick learner,” He says with a smile. “Do you want to practice more?” 

“Not really,” I say, brushing my hair out of my eyes. “Is it always that awkward?” 

“Depends on the partner,” He says. I nod. So if it’s going to be that awkward with Cai, who I speak easily with, how bad is it going to be with complete strangers? “Are you okay?” He asks, noticing my unease. 

“Tonight I’ll be dancing with complete strangers,” I breathe, barely audible. Cai chuckles, and puts his hands in his pockets. 

“That would make it very awkward,” He says, whistling. I nod. “Well, Golds are too polite to tell you you suck at dancing, and you’re already pretty good, so I don’t think you need to practice much longer.” I nod. “Want to learn more about the mainland?” He asks. I nod, and he turns off the lights. 

We walk back to the classroom in silence. He sits in his usual spot on top of the desk next to mine, and talks to me about the various jobs that the lowest Subdivisions in all the Divisions do. After a bit, he looks down at my arm, his brows furrowed. 

“Are you wearing latex on your arm?” He asks. I nod, and he chuckles. 

“They put it on me for my makeover,” I comment, and Cai reaches over. “They said I have to be perfect.” 

“It’ll come off in a week, Olive, people will know what’s under anyway by there,” He says, and reaches over, quickly peeling it off. It doesn’t feel like much. He stares at my scars for a while, his smile gone. “D-did you do that? Or someone else?” Cai asks, his eyes wide. 

“Other people. At work,” I answer, tucking my arm away. “There are other ones that they also covered with latex,” I mumble. Cai nods. 

“Well, take those off too, when you get home. It’s only more of a scandal if they fall off later and everyone does have their eyes on you.” I nod, and he stands up. “Best show them from the beginning.” He goes back to the lesson. 

“Do we know who the other contenders are yet?” I ask, interrupting Cai’s lecture about Coals, the lowest Subdivision of Fire, the Division in charge of heating and fuel. Cai straightens his glasses, and shrugs. 

“All we know is that they’re about your age, and handpicked by their Mayor,” He informs me. 

“That’s helpful,” I say, putting my face on my desk, and sighing. Cai pats my head, and goes back to his desk. “I’m guessing they’ll be pretty famous where they’re from. Could you tell me who’s most likely to be chosen from that small minority?” 

“That’s a more logical way of thinking,” He congratulates me. “Well, Fire is most likely to choose Julia Montgomery,” He says. “She’s really famous, and a good leader. A bit of a jerk, though,” He says, like he knows her. 

“Aren’t all high-born kids?” I ask. Cai smiles quietly. 

“I guess.” He runs his fingers through his hair. “Light will most likely pick Caden Imperos. He’s a favorite of the mayor.” I nod, writing his name with Julia’s in my notebook. 

“He sounds very stuck-up.” I say, leaning back in my chair. Cai looks out the window, seeming distracted. “Cai?” He snaps out of his trance, and continues talking.

“And I know for a fact that Metal will pick some Iron girl who has a very hot temper.” He says jokingly, after telling me about the other contenders. I flush and look back down at my paper, doodling a picture. “And she probably doodles smiley faces while a very handsome tutor tries to teach her so she doesn’t slip up miles from home and humiliate herself.” 

I crumple up the piece of paper, and throw it at him. He laughs aloud, and twirls a pencil in his hand like he normally does. A butler walks up to the door, and bows to Cai. 

“The young lady is requested back at home,” He says, gesturing to me. 

“Thank you,” Cai says, then turns to me. I stand up, and leave the room, waving to Cai. 

“Get ready,” Mom hisses to me, a wild look in her eyes as she organizes the food table. “You’ve been lounging around the house ever since you got back.” I nod, and go upstairs. 

A clothing bag hangs in my closet. I unzip it, and groan. No. I think, letting the giant golden ball gown fall to the floor. Skylar laughs as she enters the room. 

“It’s practically a ball, Olive. You’ll have plenty of them during the competition.” I groan as I pull on the gown, and Skyler ties up the back because I can’t move my arms. 

“It’s so tight,” I groan, as she straightens the sleeves that hang off my shoulders. 

“This is the loosest it will go,” Skylar says, and I sigh. She curls my hair and pulls some of it back, so I don’t have it in my face. “Ready to do this?” She asks with a smile. 

“No,” I mutter, trying to bend over and put my shoes on, but failing very badly. Skylar puts them on for me, then sends me out of the room. I go downstairs. The first of the guests have begun to gather in the dining room, and I try to take a deep breath, but the dress prevents me from doing so. 

I enter the room, and hear music playing. Almost everyone turns to look at me, and I try to smile. Mom comes over and holds my hand, leading me into the crowd, introducing me to people. 

I eye the sweet snacks piled high on golden plates as Mom leads me to a raised platform on one end of the room, so everyone can see my embarrassment. I find Cai in the crowd, and wave. Mom slaps my hand, while Cai waves back, smirking. As more guests appear, and stare straight at me, my breathing gets quicker, but there isn’t enough room in the dress for it. 

Once everyone on the guest list is here, Jackson makes his way to the platform, smiling warmly at me on his way up. 

“Attention, everyone,” He says, in the most calm voice, but everyone goes silent at it. “Today we are gathered here to give a warm farewell to the contender in the Governor’s Pageant from the Metal Island, Olive Ferrum.” Everyone claps, and I try to smile. “She is a very kind person, always willing to help, and the most gentle person I know.” 

Mom, Dad, and Casey all choke on their drinks. Yeah, I’m not gentle, Mayor Mountbatten. You just haven’t seen that part yet. Cai hides a smile with his hand. I resist the urge to roll my eyes as he does so. 

“So let’s make this the best party that Metal Island can offer,” Jackson says with a smile. Everyone cheers, and I make my way down the steps to the food table. Cai meets me there, smirking. 

“So clearly my uncle hasn’t seen you in a bad mood,” He points out, laughing, and fixing a wayward curl on my shoulder.  

I dip a strawberry in melted chocolate, curious to see what the combination is like. I’ve only ever tried dried strawberries in oatmeal, and only for special occasions. I put the treat into my mouth, and moan with delight.