Ken grabbed Endo and Stacey by their elbows, pulling them close to him. Stacey helped him wheel his small luggage bag, while he kept a hold of them.
"If you're anything like Endo, if I let go of you for a moment, you'll get lost in the crowd," Ken said, dragging the two through the forest of people. "Endo being able to find me just now was a once in a hundred years fluke,"
"Hey, lookit what we got here," said a tough boy with a square jaw and the hint of a goatee blocked their way. He puffed out his chest. "Loser One and Loser Two with a cool girl." The tough boy posed and stroked his goatee, lifting his chin at Stacey while he looked at her with appreciation. "Hey there, beautiful, I'm Jeff. Why don't you join us and leave those two losers on their own. You don't want to become a loser too, hey?"
Jeff reached out to try and take hold of Stacey's arm and pull her away but Stacey stepped back, pushing Ken and Endo back together with her. She swatted his second attempt away with disgust and side stepped him when he tried to get close enough to intimidate her.
"Hey yourself, Biff," greeted Stacey, deciding to meet his slightly aggressive introduction like for like. She didn't like the look of this boy and hated being threatened upon first meeting even more. She decided that she wouldn't hang around this bully. "You have a strong whiff. Nice to not meet ya for the moment. I gotta get over there and these guys are helping me out. Smell ya later."
"What?" Jeff sniffed himself in confusion while Ken and Endo cracked up, helping Stacey push through the crowd to get away. They couldn't see him anymore when his delayed protest erupted. "Hey! I don't smell!"
"Respect," Endo roared in laughter while lightly punching Stacey on the shoulder.
"Nice," Ken choked from laughing so hard and high fived Stacey. "Way to go."
"Man, that put that blockhead in his place," Endo snorted. "We gotta learn from you, Stace."
The three pushed through chatting teenagers until they reached the sidewalk at the front of the big building. There were people with clipboards and lanyards around their necks talking to each other or on the phone. They wore clothes in uniform colours, consisting of navy bottoms and white tops, although the specific clothing style varied greatly from person to person. The organising staff appeared to be very busy.
"Hey, that's Hugh," Endo elbowed Ken excitedly. Ken winced and elbowed him back to calm him down.
"Excuse me," Ken caught the attention of an elegant looking man who had just gotten off the phone and was making some marks on the papers in his clipboard with a silver pen. He wasn't wearing the same uniform as everyone else although he was wearing a lanyard with a name tag. It looked like this man was more important than the uniformed people by his bearing and the space the other organisers left around him.
"Yes?" the man queried. Glancing up and seeing they were teenagers, he held up a finger. "Oh. Give me a sec. I've gotta finish writing these down or I'll forget."
A few scribbles later, he gave them his full attention.
"Alright. How may I help you?"
Ken did all the explaining for Stacey.
"She doesn't have an ID. She hasn't been to school for a few years."
"I see," the man nodded. "You'll need to give us your address and a number to call your parents then," he told Stacey kindly.
"I, uh, haven't lived with my parents for a few years. There's no address or phone number. I don't even know where to find them," Stacey took a big breath and admitted. It was the truth after all. Sort of.
"I see," the man nodded again as if it wasn't a big deal. "You must be a one of the lost kids. Don't stress. You aren't the only one in this situation. There are a handful of other kids like you who lost everything and everyone during the civil war a few years back. You don't have to worry or feel ashamed. You've had it tough, struggling to survive. We'll do everything we can to help you be successful. This program was originally meant to be aimed at kids like yourself but then other stakeholders got involved and it turned into an all inclusive program. Don't worry, we'll put a good spin on things for the camera when you do your interview. Do you at least know roughly where you're from or who your sponsor is? Did Marvel bring you in?"
Stacey shook her head.
"Never mind. Come on. It's nearly time to get everyone organised anyway," the man said, beckoning the three to follow him. "I may as well get you three organised first. I'm Hubert Harris. You can all call me Hugh. I'll be one of your dancing, fighting and stunt teachers. You all are?"
"Kenneth Aern. Call me Ken."
"Endo Hirano."
"Anastasia Wright. Stacey for short."
"Anastasia," Hugh lifted his eyebrows. "Pretty. A rare name in these parts. Come this way, kids. You'll need to register first, do your audition and initial interviews, and then everyone will meet in the hall before you can go choose your bedroom in the dormitories."
"We need to audition again?" Endo asked, lowering his head and ruffling his hair nervously.
"Not if you've already done it. You boys have both done your auditions already?" Hugh asked.
"Yeah," Ken replied. "In CC with a bunch of the others."
"Then you can come and cheer Stacey on," Hugh smiled, leading them into the building.
The building's internal architecture had a cheerful green and cream colour scheme. The open lobby opened up to a wide hall that looked like a canteen or cafeteria to one side and branched off into multiple corridors on the other. They were led into a wide corridor somewhere on the right, where more uniformed people were hurrying back and forth carrying or checking things. Grey doors in a cream wall were left open, showing a variety of rooms filled with wires, screens and various other equipment.