16 Pick Me Girl

"Is this some sort of game to you?!" Olivia shouted, her nails digging into her palms as she balled her hands into a fist.

Much to her shock, The Maestro replied.

"It is, dear Olivia. It is."

"Wha..." Olivia tried to speak, but her words failed her.

"I'm bored out of my wits, Olivia Twyne!" The Maestro threw her hands in the air dramatically. "I want some sort of entertainment! And what better entertainment can there be but to alter a Plain Jane's life?"

"So you literally just threw me in here because... you 𝘤𝘢𝘯?"

"Correct, I didn't throw you in, but Badd." The Maestro grinned as if she was proud of her wittiness. "But of course, I know what you meant. I'm just kidding with you."

Olivia glowered at her.

"Don't give me that look, Olivia!" The Maestro gasped, placing a hand on her chest. "But let me clarify one thing: I didn't just pluck you out of the mortals in your universe and decided to send you here out of sheer randomness. I chose you."

"Out of all the 'Plain Jane's' in my universe?" Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You have a pure heart, Olivia. That's why I've given you this gift--Didn't I say this to you already?"

"You did," Olivia scowled. "You said you don't want me to have the life I have back in my universe. That's why you sent me here. But 𝘐 already told 𝘺𝘰𝘶, I have my sister in my universe, so this gift of yours is unneeded."

The Maestro raised an eyebrow, genuinely finding her response confusing.

"You're a bit of an enigma, Olivia," She remarked. "Typically, teenagers would leap at the chance to escape their challenging lives and dive into a universe where everything is the polar opposite of what they've known."

She gestured at JaNyx. "Like this young man over here with his face on the ground."

"The JaNyx of my universe would want that as well," Olivia said. "But I'm not her, am I?'

"Ah," The Maestro exclaimed. "A pick me girl."

"Wha--" Olivia couldn't even finish her reaction as Oliver burst out laughing.

"Sorry," Oliver covered his mouth, looking down at the ground in embarrassment. 

"Oh, I forgot you were there." The Maestro chuckled.

"I'm also here." JaNyx chimed, his face still buried in the grass like an ostrich. 

"So anyway, let me continue about the quest I was previously talking about." The Maestro cleared her throat before speaking in an authoritative voice.

"Olivia Twyne, you are sent here in this universe, so for once in your life, you can be the main character of your own story and not merely a villager B. The tasks I will give you are simple: Enjoy your life here in this alternate universe and shed your weak personality."

Olivia waited for The Maestro to continue, but she didn't.

"That's it?" Olivia made a frown of disbelief.

"That's it." The Maestro nodded in confirmation. "At least for you, Olivia."

She then turned her attention to Oliver and began.

"Oliver Twyne, you have one of the most wicked hearts I have ever seen. The tasks I will give you are harder: Aid Olivia as she navigates this dimension, and learn a thing or two from her to become a better person."

JaNyx finally stood up from the grass, narrowing his eyes as he wiped his face clean from the dirt.

He walked toward the two Twynes and said. "Oliver's tasks don't really sound difficult--"

"And if I don't?" Oliver challenged.

The Maestro gave JaNyx an all-knowing smile, and he pursed his lips in understanding.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘖𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳.

"If you don't..." The Maestro hummed, tapping her chin with her index finger. "How about I'll make you lose your basketball matches every time you decline Olivia's plea for help?"

"Whoa," JaNyx gasped, now standing beside Olivia. "That's evil!"

Olivia glanced at Janyx.

"It is?" She asked, surprise evident in her voice. 

"It is to a person whose motto is 'ball is life.'"

Oliver scowled, crossing his arms. "You think you can actually do that? 𝘔𝘦? 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘦 a basketball match?"

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 think 𝘐 can't actually do that?" The Maestro raised an arrogant brow, scoffing. "Oliver, dear. I made Olivia travel to another universe! You think I can't change the tides of a mere high school basketball game?"

Oliver's face turned flushed in anger. "Don't belittle my sport--"

"What about me?" JaNyx interrupted, knowing that Oliver was about to explode again any time soon.

"What about you?" The Maestro asked.

"Aren't you going to give me some tasks?" He asked, hopeful.

The Maestro smiled politely before answering with a terse, "No."

JaNyx dramatically fell again to the ground, hitting it repeatedly with his fist.

"The dimension deity won't even give me a quest!" He sobbed. "What the hell is even my purpose here?!"

"You're a very important side character to the Twyne's stories?" The Maestro suggested as consolation.

"I'm just a 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳?!"

"Anyway," She returned her attention to the Twynes, ignoring JaNyx, who was once again crying in despair in the background. "That's all I request from the both of you. If you satisfy me with outstanding results, I will send Olivia back to her universe."

"And if we don't?" Olivia questioned.

The Maestro gasped in astonishment. "What do you mean 'if you don't'? You're not planning to do what I ask of you?"

Olivia immediately shook her head in denial.

"No, it's because there's always a threat in situations like this if we don't comply."

The Maestro hummed in contemplation. "How about..."

"'How about?!'" Olivia exclaimed. "So there were no repercussions until I asked?!"

The Maestro shrugged and continued.

"How about... I make Oliver suffer the same fate as you do in your universe?"

"Why are you asking me..." Olivia knitted her eyebrows together. 

"That seems like a good punishment, don't you think?" She grinned and placed her hands on her hips, looking quite proud of herself. "What do you say, Oliver?"

"Olivia's life can't be 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 bad, can it?" Oliver gave his alternate-universe self a curious look.

"It is," The Maestro and Olivia replied.

"And anyway," Oliver pointed an accusatory finger at the Maestro. "Why am I the only one getting punished?! Why isn't Olivia getting any punishment?!"

"Me being here is punishment itself..." Olivia muttered.

"No, it's not, Olivia." The Maestro tutted. "Remember, I told you: It's my gift to you! If I punish you, it wouldn't become a gift anymore, would it? Also, don't worry about your sister, Azure. I'll make sure that your Aunt Suzy actually does her work as your guardian this time."

"This is just plain favoritism," Oliver grumbled.

"That's it for now, kids!" The Maestro clasped her hands together. "Be sure to talk about your living arrangements with each other!"

Before the Twynes could ask what The Maestro meant by that, she snapped her fingers and disintegrated into a black smoke.