In the Runway House, all the girls got dressed into their dance outfits; short, pastel-colored dresses with flaring skirts and foamed ends. The skirts were reflective so the word ‘SOCIALIGHTS’ would show under the light, and the tops now had large slits to accommodate their ballooned arms. The sleeves continued from their forearms down to their hands, forming fingerless gloves. They had white leggings and tall, luminous boots with 6-inch heels, but the shoes were meant for easy dancing. Their hair would have thick headbands for short hair and large bows for long.

  Calista’s favorite part of the outfit was the accessory: an umbrella. She’d used them in her Sweet 16 choreography and the crowd had gone wild with them. They no longer existed as a tool now that rain shields and weather barriers had been invented, so they were a rare sight, and a wonderful way to flair up an outfit.

  Her outfit was a pastel pink color scheme, her umbrella having her name on it instead of the channel name. Her boots would also leave glowing footprints underneath, which would differentiate her and the other channel leaders from the other members; only the four of them would be going to the New York School, after all.

  The rest of them were only accessories to solidify their popularity and influence, and they’d all be their dance monkeys if it meant they’d get the most remote chance at being talked up at the school full of some of the most popular Socializers of the age.

  “Do the walk! One, two, three, four, sweep!” The girls walked forward rhythmically at Calista’s command, swishing their umbrellas in a circle and lifting them up. On her chest, her ‘CM’ necklace glinted and winked in the lights. It was too iconic to not include in the performance.

  During rehearsals, they wouldn’t broadcast so they wouldn’t spoil the dance, but their Pets would be scanning them so they could revise their performance. During this time, their families back home would fill the void by doing their usual routines. Katelyn and Quinlan would easily fill in by pretending to go into Calista’s room and play ‘pranks’— mostly Quinlan, since Katelyn had a job. Calista knew all about it, but the pranks were unpredictable enough to startle her at least a little bit. It was also a way she could spend time with her siblings.

  “Open!” The umbrellas bloomed like flowers in sync. “Go back and spin; one, two, three, four…” Holding the umbrellas across their shoulders, they walked backward while spinning them in their hands, giving the would-be audience a beautiful sight of flower patterns in the inner umbrella.

  Calista was hating the temporary balloon pads around their arms that simulated the new mod. It really got in the way, requiring a couple of changes, but thankfully, it was nothing major. Hopefully, everyone would get used to it quickly— evidently, they were adapting well already.

  The problem was, the real mod brought pain.

  “Stop!” Calista’s mother held up a hand.

  Next to her, Iva and Braxli nodded. “I saw it, too,” said Iva.

  “What?” Calista asked.

  “Elizabeth, you’re looking behind you again.” Calista’s mother gave her a look of both fatigue and annoyance.

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  “Sorry, I just… I have a balance thing, and, like, with the balloons and all…” Elizabeth smiled sheepishly and did a little curtsy, probably hoping to be relatable. If she had higher Charisma and Social Presence stats, it would’ve worked— but being looked down on by the leaders and bitterly envied by the followers, she only came off as annoying to them. Her Rep Level bar lowered slightly.

  “So you can’t try and dance perfectly for the sake of awareness?” Calista’s mother raised her black brows.

  At the girls’ indignance, Elizabeth quickly shook her head. “No, Ms. Medley! That’s not what I-”

  “You care about other species besides your own, right?”

  “Yes, of course-”

  “So you can suck it up and do it right. They all have to go through Balloon-Arm Disease every day. Think about that before you complain.”

  “Mom, I’m… sure she didn’t mean it that way. Relax.” Calista stared at her mother, wondering why she was so hostile. She knew she didn’t really like Elizabeth, but that was an overreaction.

  “Just walk back the way you’re directed and you’ll be fine,” Iva told Elizabeth.

  “You’re giving clumsy. It’s not good. You need to be more put togetherrr,” Braxli said in the nasally voice Calista hated, that unfortunately passed down to Rebecca.

  “From the top,” said Calista’s mother, making everyone groan and glare at a red-faced Elizabeth.

  They finally passed the backwards march after a few tries, giving Calista relief and excitement to move on to the next stage of the performance. “One, two, three, four, hold it out!” They held their open umbrellas out in front of them and spun them around, slowly marching forward. “Now, spin again— kick!” They kicked to the right, then to the left.

  “And twirl…” One of the most difficult parts of the dance came up, requiring a full spin followed by a harsh smack of the umbrellas on the stage. Calista heard a few beats off-sync and some stumbles. They didn’t need her mother to tell them to stop.

  “Let’s start again from the forward march and spin,” she said.

  “Wait.” Her mother approached the stage. “Could I talk to you? In private.”

  Silence. Everyone stared at the two. A private conversation wasn’t really heard of in the Socializer world. Even gossip would eventually come out to the public.

  “Okay…” Calista glanced back at her posse as her mother led her out of the room. She didn’t trust any of them to not secretly send their Pet after them to record their conversation.

  They went down the long hallway and entered an empty stage room. Her mother locked the door, making it completely solid. “You need to change that choreography,” she told Calista.

  “Yeah, I know. The balloons don’t help the spin and the-”

  “No. You need to change that whole part.”

  “What part?”

  “The kicks and the umbrellas hitting the ground… all of that.”

  Calista’s brows knitted. “That part’s fine. The balloons don’t-”

  “Seriously?” Her mother stared at her. “Calista, those moves are too violent. It’s like you’re doing a dance-fight thing.”

  Her brain glitched. “What?” What on Earth was she talking about? What did this dance have anything to do with fighting?

  “Have you been watching that death game?”

  “Wha- no-”

  “Are you looking for updates?”

  “No, I-”

  “I don’t need anyone bringing back what happened last year and calling my daughter a rager.” Calista’s mother’s lips were in a firm, thin line. “Tone down the choreo. You’re graceful, gentle peacemakers, not harsh and violent attackers.”

  She shook her head, her mouth flapping helplessly. “That’s not what-”

  “If you don’t change it, I will. We can’t afford another rep hit like that, especially at the school showcase! You need to be the most desirable channel on campus. Can you imagine what the other girls would say if they saw you kicking at them? You have enough Flaws to deal with!”

  “I…” Calista was speechless. Did it really look like that? They’d had the same choreo for weeks and her mother hadn’t said anything. No one had noticed. She didn’t even notice.

  “Let’s go back, and you tell them you’re changing it to make it easier with the mods.” Her mother’s face changed eerily from firm and serious to happy and excited. “Let’s get that uber-stellar status!” she squealed, leaving Calista alone in the room.

  The conversation was over, and she couldn’t say anything further.