Introducing the Kids

Principal Deever presses on, giving a little shpeel about how proud Boulder City is of it's local innovators and entrepreneurs. Then, he introduces Loudon, who he says has a very, very special prize to give away. A hush ripples through the room, like wind through a field of wheat, as the rep steps up to the podium with a smile.

"Thank you, Principal Deever, so much for having me. We are so, so excited to bring these toys to Boulder City tomorrow, and we're proud that we're able to give the community that made this whole endeavor possible the first chance to get their hands on them. Hopefully, this is just the beginning - Our dream is to follow the Boulder City launch with a national launch, and hopefully, eventually we can go global, and put our little town on the world map! But we thought we could take tommorrow's event a step even further. All students at Garrett Junior High School have been entered into a lottery, and two of you are going to win a once-in-a-lifetime, VIP pass that will put you first in line at the Toy Corner tomorrow, and give you the opportunity to meet with the brilliant creators of Our Friends the Machines, Ursula Kerr and Helen Voss!"

He shoots his eyes up to the clock on the wall.

"Anyway, I think it's time to go ahead and find out who our lucky winners are! Here we go!" He walks over to a little table with what looks like a bingo spinner on it, and gives it a good crank. He plunges his hand in, and pulls out two small slips of paper before returning to the podium. The tension in the room has peaked, and kids are now whispering, talking, cracking jokes, laughing.

"Our first lucky winner is... Ambrose Kowalski!" He smiles broadly, trying to see by the reaction in the crowd who the lucky youngin' might be, and does a little fist pump with mock excitement. "And our second VIP will be... Julie Smith!"

Little smiles at Stephen, "Oh boy, me too. But, you know I really want an Icechaser - he's the bee's knees!" Ambrose exclaims, well aware of his outdated vernacular.

At the announcement of the winner, Ambrose sits there, mouth agape, as his buddies shake him by the shoulders in a playful and congratulatory manner. "No way!" he finally manages.

Julie is barely paying attention to the announcement when her name is read, chatting mostly quietly with her friends. But after a moment, she notices the kids around her all looking her way and realization hits. She looks around, briefly unsure what to do, before she settles on a faintly disdainful curl to her lips.

When she doesn't get out of her seat, a seventh grader in front of her calls out, "Julie's over here!" and points in her direction. She gives the younger kid a withering look, color rising in her cheeks. Amy leans over to whisper, "They called your cousin too." She points over toward where Ambrose sits with his buddies.

"Well, that's just wonderful," she mutters. The other two girls they're sitting with are trying really hard not to laugh out loud, but not entirely successfully. Julie draws in a long, deep breath, puts a confident, easy smile on her face, and makes her way through the crowd with all the cool dignity she can muster.

Jeremy offers Ambrose a weak smile, but casts his eyes down as Kowaslki stands and makes his way towards the front of the room. Julie and Ambrose climb the steps to the stage, and Principal Deever returns to the podium as Loudon shakes the kids' hands and offers them their VIP passes.

"Let's give it up for our winners!" Deever says into the microphone, gesturing to where Ambrose and Julie stand. Looking out at the crowd, Ambrose's friends are standing on the table cheering for him, while Julie's are pointing, howling with laughter, and whispering to each other.

Julie makes brief eye contact with Ambrose as they ascend the steps to the stage, just a flash of recognition and maybe a bit of a smile. She may not show it in public, but she knows that this means a whole lot more to her cousin than it does to her.

Ever confident, she politely shakes Loudon's hand and murmurs a gracious thank you. As she turns to face the crowd, she looks back at her friends with a sassy smirk, at least trying to show that whatever teasing is about to descend on her head, she'll be laughing at herself just as gleefully as they will be. If nothing else, it's a moment on stage, and a chance to be seen. She stands with her chin held high and a jaunty sort of tilt to her hips.

Ambrose looks over at his cousin, beaming, and gives her a hearty thumbs-up and a broad smile. He heartily shakes Loudon's hand, and mumbles something inaudible - a kind of mixture of 'thank-you' and 'this is awesome' as his excitement causing him to become tongue-tied. He follows behind his cousin back to his seat and looks over to his buddies, pumping his fist while he mouths the word 'yeah!'

Fade out over Ambrose, fist in the air, holding his backstage pass aloft.

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End Phase 1