PILLARS AND STONE

Hours later, our aero-bus lands on the Piedmont University campus in front of Piedmont Coliseum, a brick stadium set in a forest of trees. A banner hangs from the eaves.

Welcome State Champions to Camp Piedmont.
Training Center for the Piedmont National Finals.

I’m one of those state champions!

We run down the steps, and it’s like we’ve entered a fairy tale. The buildings surrounding the stadium are old but really pretty! I stare at the grass, the flowers, the stone pathways, and all of the people. Kids with suitcases are scattered everywhere.

I spot a sign in the grass with the Piedmont Challenge crest painted on the bottom:

Piedmont Training Camp . . . This Way.

“Come on!” I yell and race down the path pulling my suitcase behind me. My teammates can hardly keep up. I can’t slow down though. They may think we’re not in a hurry, but six weeks is not a lot of time to prep for this competition.

We weave in between the brick buildings. Another sign directs us through a bumpy alley. We round the bend and enter a square, grassy area surrounded by buildings with fancy white pillars. Kids from all over the country have invaded. A band plays under a tent. Flags from all fifty states hang from the buildings. I have to stop for a second to catch my breath. None of us say a word. My teammates must be swallowed up by the sight like I am.

Finally, Ander yells above the music. “Let’s go check in!”

The check-in line leading to Piedmont Chamber winds through the square like a snake. We take our place at the end of it, and I look up. The Chamber looks like a castle! I shade my eyes from the sun and imagine what could be inside. Before long, the band music stops and a voice booms through the cobblestones beneath my feet. I jump off the path and realize there are speakers down there!

“Welcome to the Piedmont Training Camp at Piedmont University. To make this check-in process run smoothly, all team members must be prepared to show their Golden Light Bulbs. This is your ticket to camp, and you will not be admitted without it. There will be no exceptions.”

I open my suitcase as the music starts up again and unwrap my Golden Light Bulb. No scratches and still shiny. I trace the plate with my name. It seems strange that the Piedmont Challenge was only last week. I’ve let myself feel like a princess ever since I won, but now I better forget about all that. I have to start prepping for our task because I’m not a big deal here like I was back home. I’m not really a princess. Here, I have to ace my task all over again—with teammates this time.

Piedmont Chamber is up ahead, but there must be at least twenty teams still in front of us. I clutch my Golden Light Bulb. My teammates haven’t even taken theirs out of their suitcases yet. I wonder if they wrapped them up like I did. Ander probably didn’t—he seems more worried about his hockey gear. Mare might have placed hers in a safe spot. Everything about her seems perfect. Her packing skills are probably perfect too. I’m not too sure about Jax. He’s one of those kids who looks older and more mature than everyone else in our grade. I never let looks fool me though. I bet his mom packed it for him. Jillian seems too spacey to worry about that kind of stuff. I’ve already had to remind her twice to grab her suitcase as we’ve crawled along this sidewalk.

I tug at my own suitcase. The wheel is stuck in a crack in the sidewalk. I break it free, and we scoot up a few inches. Jillian trips on the crack and bumps into me. My Golden Light Bulb fumbles in my hand, but I don’t drop it.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she says.

“It’s fine,” I say. “I didn’t drop it.”

Ander laughs. “Nice one. That would be funny if you got up to the registration table and had to show them your chipped trophy. You’d be the girl with the broken light bulb for the rest of camp.”

That would be horrible.

To pass the time, I study my teammates. I keep wondering how each of them won their trophies. They each scored a ton of points on their seven tasks like I did, but I want to know which category they scored the highest in. I guess once we get to our rooms, I’ll try to talk to them again.

I can see now that one team at a time is allowed into Piedmont Chamber. I can’t stop staring at the tall stone building. Tiny question marks and stars have been chiseled into the giant door. At the entrance, two matching magnolia trees stand watch as teams from all fifty states pass by.

I can’t be sure, but I think the tree on the right just raised its branch, and then lowered it again! Did it really do that? Its white flowers look like tiny bowls of vanilla ice cream and smell like it too. I wait to see if the branch moves again until Ander pulls on my ponytail. “Hey, Kia Krumpet, if I had duct tape and a few branches from that weird looking tree over there, I could make us some wings. Then our team could fly to the front of this line.”

I laugh. “Or maybe we could make stilts and step over all these other teams.”

“What are you guys talking about?” asks Jillian. “This is Camp Piedmont. Aren’t you just happy to be here? There’s nothing like this place anywhere in New York.”

A girl in front of us, with witch-black hair spins around. “New York? Oh . . . you’re that team.”

“What do you mean, that team?” Ander asks.

She smirks. “My team has heard about yours. All of you came from the same school, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” says Mare.

“It must be nice to be famous.”

“We’re not famous,” I say.

“Okay, whatever you say.”

“Where’s your team from?” Mare asks.

“Nowhere as exciting as New York.” She spins around and her braid whips Ander in the face.

Ander rubs his cheek. “I hope the other teams here aren’t that friendly,” he says under his breath.

“She’s just mad because she has to work with those four dorky boys,” says Mare. “Look.” She points to three tall boys and one scrawny one with glasses.

I shrug. “Who cares if the other teams are friendly or what the kids are like? We have a competition to win, remember?”

“I care,” says Ander. “I want to meet kids from all over the place.”

The massive doors open and the girl with the witch hair and her team pass through. They slam shut before I can peek inside. I hear a clicking sound coming from the vanilla ice cream tree. The petals on each flower close and then open right back up again—all at the same time.

That’s weird. How did they do that?

I forget about the tree and watch for the doors to open again. I have more important things to focus on anyway. I’m about to walk into Camp Piedmont, one step closer to getting to PIPS. I pull my suitcase and look for my Golden Light Bulb. It was just in my hand. Wait! Where is it? I look every which way. It’s not here. It’s not anywhere!

The doors swing open.

“My Golden Light Bulb! Where is it?” My team stares at me. We freeze in the doorway. “I just had it!”

Ander looks at me, confused.

I blurt out, “I don’t have it!”

Mare points to the side of my backpack.

I see it there, shining in the pocket. And then I breathe again.

We step through the doorway and I take an even bigger breath.

The arched ceiling above us must be a hundred feet tall. Now I’m definitely sure this is a castle! In the center of the lobby is a table. A small lady with tiny eyes and a bun on top of her head sits behind it. Her chair may as well be a throne. Behind her is a two-sided winding staircase covered with red carpet. The two sets of stairs curve and meet up in the middle on the second floor. I can barely see up that high.

We stop at the table and the lady’s crackling voice surprises me. “Welcome, children from New York State. I am Mistress Andora Appelonia. You, of course are the New York team—all from Crimson Elementary School, yes?” Her smile is warm. Her eyes are accusing.

My throat feels like sand but I answer anyway. “Yes, Miss Appelonia. We are the team from Crimson.”

“How refreshing—a team where all five finalists come from the same school. I can’t imagine a more peculiar occurrence. That doesn’t happen often, you know.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Well, we will be expecting great things from you this summer. Welcome to Piedmont, the Camp of Champions. May you create a task solution worthy of a team in your situation.”

Ander speaks a little too loud. “What do you mean, ‘a team in our situation’?”

“You can’t possibly think that you won’t be set to a higher standard? You come from the same school, so of course the judges will expect more from your team.”

“That’s not fair! We just met each other last week on the Day of Brightness. We don’t have an advantage.”

“Well, I would encourage you to change your thinking, Mr. Yates. It would serve you well in this competition.”

I can’t think of one thing to say. We’ve been inside here only one minute, and we’re already on Andora Appelonia’s bad side.

“Now, if I may please see your Golden Light Bulbs, I will give you your room assignments. Ladies, you’ll take the staircase to the right. The young girl at the bottom is Miss Seraphina Swing. She will take care of your travel cases. Gentlemen, please take the staircase to the left. The young man on the bottom, Mr. Gregor Axel, will do the same. At the top of the stairs, follow the numbered signs to find your rooms. An itinerary of events for the remainder of the day will be waiting for you.”

We show our Golden Light Bulbs to her, and she hands us each a small golden card. Mine, Jillian’s, and Mare’s all say Room 1512.

“Now children, you may be on your way. Good luck to you. I look forward to hearing many exceptional tales of the Crimson Five from New York State.”

I smile as wide as I can, but my teammate’s faces tell me they’re feeling as much pressure as I am. We say thank you, and I walk with Mare and Jillian to the stairs. Seraphina Swing, a tall girl with purple lipstick and platform heels flashes us a smile. “Hi there, girls. I see you’ve met Andora Appelonia.”

Mare giggles. “What’s up with her voice? It sounds like she swallowed sand paper.” Andora swings around in her chair. I shoot Mare a dirty look. Seraphina straightens her face and whispers. “It’s okay. I want to laugh at her sometimes, too. You can leave your travel cases here. I’ll see to it that they arrive in your bedchamber within the hour. I hope you’re in good physical shape. You have a lot of stairs to climb.”

We begin the trek, and I’m sure my legs are going to turn into Laffy Taffy. When we finally reach the top, we see the boys. They take the down ramp to their rooms and we take the up ramp to ours. Ander waves to me as we pass. I feel better when he does it, like maybe the butterflies in his stomach are wide awake too. Soon our ramp levels out. The hallway is like a grand hotel! The doors are gold with red trim and a card hangs on each one. Written in fancy letters are the names of the girls staying in each room. Down the hall, we see our names on room 1512:

The Champions from New York:
Marianna Barillion, Kia Krumpet, Jillian Vervain.

A smile builds from deep inside me as I reach for the golden door knob.