We Are One

Chapter One

I scowl as I walk through an alley. It's a shortcut I found to get to the headquarters.

They teach us that after the whole world shut down we formed this society. With new rules and traditions. Now they force us into the headquarters, there we learn who we are. We take a test to determine that. Then they pair us with a teacher who tries to explain it.

I am the only person I know who doesn't agree with the system. Figuring out who we are is something we should do on our own. Figuring out who we are teaches us more lessons then they could. But the headmaster, Dr. Kay, doesn't think so.

The mice scatter to their hiding spots, out of fear that I will hurt them. A flaw in their system.

I was told by my older sister, Jennie, that the test is a simulation in your brain. I'm not sure whether to believe her or not. My mother and father are so distant I can't ask them for advice.

That's the way things are around here. You don't really grow close with your parents until you master your classes. Which for most is 17. Then they are finally welcomed into our lives.

Therefore, I grew up alone. No one was there to teach me to ride a bike or tie my shoes. No one was there to hold me when I cried. That's the way I plan it to be for the rest of my life. Everything will get done better, faster if I do it alone. I don't need anyone to help me.

      And as I reach the roads where the girls in their tight clothes and skirts are walking beside the boys with baggy hoodies and jeans, I put my head down. I try to become unnoticeable, out of cowardice. I'm afraid they will tease me for not being like the other girls, with my hair in a ponytail instead of curled. And my leggings that hug my thighs. Or my oversized shirts that look like boys clothes. Therefore, I walk quickly and quietly to my destination. I'm not sure if I'm fine with being unnoticed. But I won't change my mind.

     Everyone piles into a big room. With chairs covering most of the floor. The windows are high up on the plain white walls, that bring in sunlight that brightens the room. At the front of the room is a enormous bowl. Filled with every 15 year olds name in our city. I shudder, knowing my name is in there somewhere.

      I fall into a seat, pulling off the straps that sit on my shoulders. I unzip the pouch and pull out my art book and pencils.

       My hand holds the pencil and begins to move itself across the paper. My hand has an imagination of its own, causing the drawings to turn out extraordinary.

     But to soon, a man dressed in a gray suit taps the microphone and speaks into it. He is probably around 30 with brown, tamed hair and a mustache that spreads over his lips. I don't exactly here what he is saying. But when he starts to pull names out of the bowl my ears train on his voice, fearing that I will miss my own name.

      "Elizabeth Lawrence" he calls and a girl with blond hair skips towards the nurse waiting to start her test.

    "Bryan Osterhout" he calls, Bryan walks over to another nurse.

     The man continues to call names. And nurses take them back. Students also return from the exit doors and back to their seats. They have shocked expressions on their faces. Only making my anxiety increase.

     "Faith Peercher" he calls. A women steps up. She has brown hair, it flows into blond that waterfalls down her back. Her lips are turned up in a smile. She walks with pride up to the nurse, and adds a bounce in her step as she reaches her.

     A few seconds later the man reaches his hand in the bowl and pulls out a random paper. "Kaylen Moore" that's me. I stand up and look at my feet as I walk to the dark skinned, brown eyed, freckled nurse. "I'm your nurse. This is your test. It is a mind simulation. You will be put in many situations where you must think fast. Your decisions determine ours." She explains.