La Garnet

Chapter 3: Zara and Melinda

“Here we are.”  Cassie said proudly, “This is where you live until you want to quit.”
      In front of the two girls was a large apartment made of marble and lined with gold with at least 40 stories.
      “I will never quit, then.” Lily replied, “This place is awesome.”
      The two walked in and Cassie began talking with the lobby workers while Lily took her time looking at the large house. The lobby was also lined with gold and was complete with an extra-large living room on the right side and two-to-four people dining tables and chairs on the left. Both sides had a staircase and elevator.
      “Cmon Lily.” Cassie called, “Your room is 4138 on floor forty-one.”
      “How many floors are there?!” Lily asked, amazed that she was going to live on the forty-first floor of a building.
      “At least fifty.” said a voice behind her.
      Lily and Cassie both turned around. There were two teen girls standing behind them.
      “Hey.” said one of the girls, “Are you new here?” She looked at Lily. The girl seemed nice. She had seafoam colored hair and was wearing a
tank top with seaweed patterns on it and white khakis. The other girl had jet black hair in a high ponytail and was wearing a purple blouse and blue skinny jeans with flower designs. Both were wearing StrapFashion sandals.
      “Yeah.” Lily replied, “I'm Lily, and Cassie’s my new lady's maid.”
      “Nice.” said the girl with dark hair, “I'm Melinda, and this is Zara. And this hotel has at least fifty floors. We live in room 4137. Next to yours.”
      “We were just going shopping in town. Wanna come?” Zara offered, “We can give you lots of details for the best deals.”
      Lily looked at Cassie, “I'll come after I empty my bag. Cassie?”
      “Nah,” Cassie answered, “I'm going back to the office to sort out Jenni’s new files.”
      “Oh.” Melinda said, “Well, I guess we’ll just go down - because we're against gravity, so it actually means up - and get our stuff. See ya later Cassie.”
      Cassie walked out and the three others went to the elevator and rode to their floor.
      “We can go to our room.” Zara offered.

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      “Do you think 400 dollars will be enough?” Lily asked, “I don't want to look like a fool with money.”
      The truth was that Lily acquired a fortune, but it was in the bank and she only lived off the interest. But she would be embarrassed if someone thought her poor when she was wealthy.
      “Should be enough.” Zara answered, “I'm only allowed 500 a week.”
      “Lets go, you guys!” Melinda said impatiently and headed for the door. Lily and Zara stuffed their things into their handbags, got up and followed her out.
      “Do y'all want ice cream or ICEEs? We could stop by a drinks place and get some cold beverages.” Zara offered, as they got into the elevator.
“How about floats?” Lily asked
      Melinda shrugged, “You realize we can't bring food and drinks to the stores except water.”
      “We don't have to take our drinks into the stores.” Zara replied, as the three walked out of the elevator and out of the lobby, into the streets of Vienna STEP.

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      After the girls finished shopping, they all went to the LIOHL building. Cassie was there.
      “I've finally persuaded Kierra to get the newspaper out again!” Cassie exclaimed, “The news-robots are passing them out to all the rooms and the lobby’s paper stand in the HomeQuarters.”
      “Awesome! Zara said, “Now people won't keep missing the important festivals and stuff. And the fashion trends will be back!”
      “I like the sound of a newspaper.” Lily said, “How often do they come out? And are they for free?”
      “Well, The InSTEP News comes out weekly.” responded Cassie, “The Richmond STEP Times comes out daily. Richmond STEP Trendy comes out monthly, and the uSTEPress comes out monthly as well. And all are welcome to read them.”
      “Let's go back.” Melinda said, “Maybe the newspapers have come out already. And the Richmond STEP News Show is coming out. Today is the fashion trends!”
      The four headed back to the hotel.
      Once there, the news show was starting, and the papers had arrived. They all went to Zara and Melinda’s room to read and watch the latest news, while eating crepes and chips and nacho sauce.
      Lily opened a copy of InStep News and read a random article for their city. Then she gasped, “I'm in the News!”
Everyone gathered around and Melinda shut off the show as Lily read aloud the News.

Richmond, Virginia:
We continue with our interview with Jenni Lawler, the Mistress of the Richmond STEP,  and she says that we have found a new recruit. Miss Lawler describes the new member, Lily Sinclare, as a good fit. Bold, good, smart, and independent. “According to the survey by the STEP Administration, Lily has demonstrated good qualities for our Society.” says Miss Lawler. “We know she will make much more progress here rather than up there.”

      “That's epic!” said Zara, grinning.
      “Needs more detail.” Melinda said, “We know Lily better than everyone else. Except maybe your mentors, Lily.”
      “You just want to be on the news.” Zara contradicted, “Even though you already blog everything on STEPCommunication.”
      “Melinda’s blog is really trendy, actually.” Cassie replied, “Even Kierra likes it, when you post pictures of your vacation.”
      “That's cool.” Lily said, “Viktoria showed me how to blog on STEPCommunication, but there's nothing interesting.”
      “It's Ok if you don't like blogging.” Zara said, “Blogging is annoying. Last year, the Lady Catamount's pet sea hydra attacked us, and Melinda just blogged the whole time.”
      “I want to read that.” Lily said, smiling, “Oh, can I have your hangouts?”
      Everyone pulled out their TINDs.
      “My email is melindali@stepmail.com” said Melinda
      “Mine is zaraseafoam@stepmail.com” said Zara
      “Mine is cassandraletoil@stepmail.com” said Cassie
      “And mine is lilysinclare@stepmail.com. Jenni told me when I got here.” Lily said,
      “Does your mentor know?” Zara asked,
      “Viktoria knows.” Lily replied, “See you tomorrow. I'll text you guys later.”
      “Bye.” Zara said,
      Lily and Cassie got up, took their bags, and left.
      Once in their room, Lily and Cassie looked around. There were two identical queen sized beds with light satin sheets and a bedside table, two identical dressers, two identical desks and chairs, and two identical tall shelves. Everything was a beige color, and there was also a bathroom with two of everything, complete with a Neo-Angle enclosed shower, and a walk-in tub, and a huge walk-in closet for two people. Apart from the furniture though, there wasn't much, so the girls could easily customize. The only things in the room were a basket of yarn, cloth, and string, a few lamps, and a crate for paper.
      The two girls unpacked the little stuff they brought, and settled in.
      “I'll order an iron for the clothes later tonight.” Cassie said,

Two hours later…
      Lily picked up her TIND, which lay on her bedside table. She searched melindali@stepmail.com and began reading the blogs.
      Cassie had already ordered an iron and went to sleep on the bed on the left, since Lily requested the one closer to the balcony.