Operation Tenley by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

Tenley mumbled. She turned back to the boy. “He’s not trying out for ANMIT, is he?”
    The boy shrugged.
    “Let’s have the first two contestants come on out. Roberta Robb and Jorge Menendez!” Dan Ringer announced.
    Tenley thrust herself forward, leaving a confused Jorge Menendez behind.
    Rather than go to one of the podiums, Tenley took to center stage and clapped her pom-poms. “Hey everyone. Let’s hear it for Hadley Beach! Hadley Beach! Go, Hadley Beach !” She added a high kick.
    The students, upon noticing Tenley’s homemade tutu and pom-poms, started laughing.
    Tenley shook the pom-poms harder. “C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-I-O-N! What does it spell?” she asked the crowd.
    “ Nice outfit !” they yelled back.
    Dan lifted his hand to quiet them. “All right. We need to get going. There are a lot of you here tonight and only a few spots to move on to the regional level. Remember, those of you who are eliminated need to exit immediately so we can keep the competition moving. Let’s begin!” He walked over to Tenley. “What happened to Jorge?”
    “He let me go F-I-R-S-T!” Tenley bopped him once on the shoulder with her pom-pom.
    “And your name is?”
    Tenley looked stunned. “Tenley Tylwyth.” She bopped him harder this time.
    Dan scribbled it down and returned to center stage. “Well, it’s cool to see such enthusiasm for tryouts this year. Let’s hear it for word nerds!”
    The gym erupted.
    Dan Ringer raised both hands to quiet the crowd. “Okay. So, Tenley, we’ll start with you.”
    “Great. And I just want to say that I would be so honored to represent Hadley Middle School on America’s Next Most Inspirational Teen, which is holding nominations Friday. I promise each and every one of you that my nails and I will look our personal best.”
    A few loners in the crowd clapped lamely.
    “Hey!” someone yelled out. “Last year’s winner on that show gave Beatsheadphones to their entire school.”
    “Y.E.S!” Tenley clapped her pom-poms.
    Dan Ringer cleared his throat. “Here we go.” He picked up an index card. “‘Triumphant’.”
    Tenley went blank.
    “The word is ‘triumphant’,” Dan repeated.
    Tenley looked at the audience, at the judges, and then at Roberta Robb, all of whom were staring back at her.
    “Tenley. You have ten seconds.”
    The audience shuffled.
    Tenley broke out into a mega-watt smile and walked around the podium. “Give me a T, give me an R, give me an I, give me a—” She stopped with a blank look.
    The tension in the auditorium was palpable.
    For half a second, Tenley’s expression fell, until she broke into another mega-watt smile.
    “I’ll tell you how to how to spell triumphant ! H-A-D-L-E-Y-M-I-D-D-L-E-S-C-H-O-O-L!”
    The audience clapped halfheartedly. Tenley curtsied, waved, curtsied again, and slipped behind her podium, still waving.
    “I’m sorry, Tenley, that is incorrect. Thank you for coming today,” Dan said, showing her the exit.
    Tenley leaned into her microphone. “Don’t forget. On Sunday, text ANMIT: T.E.N.L.E.Y.T.”
    Someone threw a water bottle at her. Undaunted, Tenley reached into her sleeve, pulled out a handful of glitter and threw it at the audience before walking off the stage.

18
     
    42:58:43
    Hadley Beach
     
     
    Something sharp was jabbing into her side. Pennie opened her eyes.
    Branches.
    Poking her.
    Real branches .
    The kind that could only be found on Earth.
    Pennie jolted upright and hit the ground.
    She moaned. She’d landed in a tree. The one she’d just fallen out of.
    Her head felt like it was splitting down the middle. She reached for her tool belt before remembering she didn’t have it. She lifted her wrist to look at her stopwatch, before remembering she didn’t have that either.
    “Gavron?” Pennie whispered. “Gavron?”
    But Gavron was not there. And there weren’t any slurps or drools coming from anywhere, either.
    She tried to stand, but must have forgotten about the house on her back. Or