Unmasked by Hope Bolinger Read Free Book Online Page A

“Adventure genre, please proceed to the Challenge Course Arena to the left of the Nursing Quarters. Sci-Fi, meet at the Rock Wall at the other end of the rec. center. Unknowns, stay right where you are, we’ll conduct the second test for you in here. Romance, you also stay in here, and Fantasy, meet in the auditorium to the left of the Challenge Course Arena.”
    With a swift flutter of movement, more than half the campers flooded the doors to begin their second test.
    “Challenge Course!” Elm squealed in delight before bolting off. “I’m going to so get a Main Character position!”
    The noise died down as Noelle scanned the room for fellow friends in either the Romance or Unknown genre.
    Much to her dismay, the only person that she knew in the room was Blade, who meandered over to her spot.
    “So, you got the Unknown genre?” she asked awkwardly.
    Blade swore loudly.
    “No,” he muttered bitterly.
    Noelle bit her tongue to block a squeal of laughter. Probably the most disgusting, unromantic boy managed to enter her category: Romance.
    “Looks like you’re a fruitcake now,” Noelle smirked knowing that Blade seemed far from the mood, but she couldn’t help it.
    “Don’t tell me you got into Romance too, Saint,” Blade spat. “You don’t have a single romantic bone in your body.”
    Noelle felt her cheeks flush a harsh color of red.
    “First of all, my name is Noelle, No-elle,” she pronounced it slowly. “Get that through your thick brain. Second of all, just because I don’t let you play around with me like a toy, doesn’t mean that I’m not capable of Romance.”
    Blade smirked condescendingly, “Have you been preparing that speech for the past 24 hours, Saint?”
    “Noelle!” she snapped. “And just go away before you ruin another day for me.”
    Blade let out a low whistle and slumped right next to Noelle, unfortunately a tad bit closer than she would have like.
    “I said ‘go away’,” she said exasperatingly.
    “This is quite entertaining,” Blade chuckled twirling a strand of Noelle’s pin-straight hair. She slapped his hand with a noise much louder than she expected.
    “Saint, listen –”
    “Noelle! No-elle. No-elle. No-elle,” she shrieked.
    “Noelle?” called an unfamiliar voice from afar.
    “What?!” she snapped as Miss Willows popped into view.
    “Oh,” Miss Willows looked mildly alarmed as she nearly dropped her clipboard, “Your judge for your interview is ready to see you.”
    Noelle’s rage flushed out of her as anxiety replaced it once more. She arose at once and followed Miss Willows. She lengthened her strides to ensure that she would escape Blade as soon as possible, secretly envying Lacey for her long legs.
    Miss Willows led her down a corridor as they made a few left turns until she reached an office.
    Miss Willows motioned for her to enter as she plopped down in a seat parallel to a very large desk; surprisingly, it was so bulky that Noelle began to wonder how it fit in the room in the first place.
    On the other side of the desk sat a very gaunt woman with beautifully flushed chocolate cheeks and chestnut eyes.
    “How are you doing today, Noelle?” the lady asked with a very bright, white smile.
    “O-okay,” Noelle stuttered.
    “No need to be nervous,” the lady soothed. “We don’t expect you to climb over walls or jump through tire hoops; we’ll leave that to the Adventure campers. Today we’re just going to conduct an interview which we’ll review over a few of the answers on your test and ask a few other questions.”
    Noelle took in a deep breath and forced herself to relax.
    “Now,” the lady intoned. “Do you have any questions for me before we begin?”
    Noelle automatically shook her head.
    “All right then, may I see your scoring sheet?”
    With shaking hands, Noelle passed it over to the woman as she reviewed it occasionally making non-committal grunts. Finally she turned to Noelle and another bright smile etched on her