Megan started to continue on her clearly pre-planned speech, one that rose the eyebrows of all the contestants save for ever-unimpressed Mimi, a speech that was to explain everything the group would see and experience for the next hours of their lives, the rules of the games to be played, and even the ultimate fate of Megan's Emporium. It was all Very. Important. Stuff. Except before she could even start it, Wend Wittson accidentally stopped it.
"I'm not a grown up," Wendy said. She didn't yell it, or even say it loud at all. She didn't think Clyde standing next to her heard it, and certainly didn't think the strange pretend-rocker girl who claimed to Megan would, either. But she was heard, and it turned Megan's eyes on her.
"What. Did you say?" She asked, Megan. And it felt like a spotlight illuminated Wendy and made her the center of everyone's attention, a place she had never been before. Wendy's cheeks went red.
"You called us grown ups. I just turned eighteen. Thats, I mean, it is an adult, but grown up . . . i dunno . . . I don't feel . . ."
Megan snapped her fingers, and as if she could control Wendy's voice, the girl went quiet. Then she stared at Wendy with little blue eyes and a barely there smile. Wendy's heart started to beat faster under the little tyrant's gaze, until Megan said. "Okie Dokie. As I was about to say, the first and MOST importantest rule of my Magik Emporium is this: always do what I tell you. Do you understand me, to -- I mean, contestants?"
Seven heads nodded with various levels of enthusiasm.
"Good. The Second rule of my Magik Emporium is this: Dress appropriately. And I see that none of you are dressed appropriately. But that is perfectly excellent, because I love to play dress up."
Now everyone was more than a little confused and looked at each other, noting that everyone was wearing fairly nice clothes. Or at least, no one was a hot mess. Plus, the tickets said nothing about a dress code. So none of the contestants quite knew what Megan meant, but they were sure they were about to find out when the girl turned her gaze back to Wendy.
"You there, blabbermouth, let's start with you . . ."
