“Can you move that a little bit to the right? It’s blocking the view of the… important thing.” Lillia glanced side to side nervously.

“If you think it’s important, it must be,” Aker sarcastically muttered.

Lillia gasped. “Aker, I just don’t understand you. You’ve been so helpful for this event and seen my best and worst sides. What reason would I have to lie?”

“To impress someone into thinking you’re important.”

Lillia half-smiled and tilted her head. Aker was being more ornery than usual, but maybe it was just his way of being nervous.

“It really is important,” Lillia stated.

“Then why is it all covered up?” Aker retorted.

Sighing, Lillia replied, “Because later on, it’s going to be revealed, and when that happens, everyone will be very impressed. I’m sure of it.”

“I bet you don’t even know what it is.”

“I do too!”

“Then tell me.” Aker finished adjusting the banner and climbed down the ladder, standing on the bottom rung, his face even with Lillia’s. “Tell me what’s so important.”

Lillia stared defiantly for as long as she could, but eventually her impatience for needing to get things done on time won out and she broke.

“Ugh, fine… but… maybe we can take a look at it. I didn’t think it was fair that I would have to find out the same time as everyone else-

“Woah, slow down, Lily.”

“Don’t call me that, “Ache-er.”

“Irrelevant. Perfect Lillia wants to break the rules?”

“Maybe.” Lillia chewed her lip as she imagined the moment when she would find out before everyone else the great reveal. She’d give an exclusive interview to the newspaper, no… the national television reporting network, NATREN, before any events started. She’d be like one of those anonymous tipsters where they blur the face and use voice-changing technology to protect the identity of the whistle-blower or witness to a dangerous crime.

Aker’s voice cut through her daydream.

“Why don’t we finish up our checklist first and peek if we have the time? Don’t we still have a lot left to do in the next half hour? Plus getting in place for the opening ceremony…”

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“I guess you’re right.”

Lillia and Aker folded up the ladder, brought it backstage, and set it up underneath the sound booth. The last item on their checklist was to sound check the announcer’s headset mic and make sure it worked from anywhere in the park. Looking up at the booth, Lillia tapped her foot as Aker scratched his head.

“Hey, Aker?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think you could let me sound check the mic?”

Aker rolled his eyes. “Of course not. You know how much I love speaking to as many people as possible at one time.”

Lillia laughed. “Thanks, Aker.”

Lillia smoothly ascended the ladder, retrieved the headset, and came back down. Aker took his place in the sound booth as Lillia lifted the battery pack towards the sun.

“Please work, please, work, please work,” Lillia whispered as a prayer while she adjusted the headset over her eyes and ears. It looked like a protective helmet with a tinted covering over the eyes and ears. This headset was an older model, so it was tinted lavender. Newer models were all magenta and teal, as neon colors were “in” right now.

“Aker, is everything energized up there?”

“Someone didn’t start the sequence when they were too excited about being heard by dozens of people.”

“Hundreds! Oh, I can’t wait.” Lillia composed herself.

The headset was starting to charge, and the display came alive. Lavender models had yellow text. Lillia started to see the boot up sequence tell her 'good morning', show her the time, and ask if there was anything she wished to import.

Lillia reached into her pocket to get today’s schedule of events and plugged it into the headset, ready to customize the notifications so that the announcer would have an easy time of it.

“Lillia! Say something!”

“Just a moment, I’m setting up the local notifications to not interfere with the regional ones- oh! Aker, I’m not ready! Shut that off!”

Lillia blushed so hard her ears got warm while Aker was laughing so hard that tears started to form. People started to look since they had just heard sound come from the speakers, but once they realized it was a mistake, they went about their business.

Lillia ripped the headset off and started to climb the ladder, furious.

“You’ve got to tell me when we’re live.” Lillia was nearly to the booth.

“That would’ve ruined all the fun.”

“The fun is supposed to be running the event so that everyone thinks that nothing is wrong and has a good time.” Lillia gestured emphatically with her hands as she stood next to Aker’s chair.

Aker stood up, visibly shorter than Lillia this time.

“You wouldn’t know fun if it slapped you across the face and threw you across the room.”

“Why do you always have to be so negative and tear everyone down?”

The yelling attracted a bit of attention this time around. The attention came in the form of their teacher, Stavo, who had gotten them involved in this project in the first place.

Stavo was dressed in traditional formal wear. Lots of black and white layers, red embroidery at the neckline and at the hemline, and no shoes. Seeing your teacher like that would’ve made anyone embarrased, but seeing Stavo like that was regular. He would come to class without shoes most of the time, and the students didn’t bother to ask why. Stavo’s feet didn’t smell so it didn’t matter to them.

Boy, did it matter to any and every adult. There would always be at least one parent at each monthy school meeting requesting that Stavo present himself in “a civil manner befitting one employed in the noble art of instruction.” Every month Stavo would read from both ancient literature and new, showing how he was respecting tradition and not breaking any ordinances. It became the popular thing to attend school hall meetings just to hear what Stavo would say that month, and to see which of your friend’s homes to avoid going to.

What would Stavo say now?