Star-Crossed

Part 4

I wake up in a haze.

It's Recruitment Day, and I feel completely dead inside. I wish I could rally the excitement I should be feeling for Niko, but I feel nothing.

Like a zombie, I move through the motions of the day. Get dressed. Eat stale biscuit for energy. And trudge to The Field to watch the lottery winners tryout for a chance to join the Galactic Squad.

That was supposed to be me.

I just want to die. Why is that even so hard to accomplish?! I literally control nothing about my life. I can't even choose to die. I feel nauseous.

The Field is crowded. It's hot and sticky outside today. I can feel the anticipation in the air.

An attractive, slightly older boy with dark, jet-black hair and fierce brown eyes takes the stage. I feel a little tingle in my body. That's weird. The crowd roars with delight.

"Lords of Shinar," he bellows. "Ladies and gents of Dard. All citizens of the Galaxy of Seratona."

He pauses to add some dramatic flair.

"Welcome to the 113th annual Recruitment Day. My name is Zayn, and I'll be your host today."

Everyone squeals with delight. I cringe.

Zayn looks to the right of the stage where all the Recruits are standing, nervous and excited. Niko waves at me. I look away.

"Congratulations to all whose names were chosen today!" Zayn continues. "As you all know, that's just the first step. Now the Challenge begins. Before you can join the Squad, you must first face - and conquer - your Greatest Attachment."

The crowd claps in anticipation. This is the part they've all been waiting for. The part when each of the Recruits gets up one by one to face their Greatest Attachment.

"Because your attachments are your weaknesses," Zayn says, raising a hand to silence the audience. "And Galactic Fighters can't afford to be weak."

Everyone in the crowd nods as one.

"Alright then - let's please give a warm welcome to our first candidate, Ms. Eva Lively!" Zayn bursts.

The crowd erupts in a cheer.

Eva Lively. She's Dard's most beautiful female slave.

And everyone loves Eva. It's her hair - golden-brown, long, thick, shiny and stick-straight - that makes everyone swoon. It's impossible to be in the same room as her and not stare at it, not imagine yourself running your fingers through her mane.

Although I've always secretly sort of hated her for it. I mean, if she shaved her head, she'd be kind of hideous honestly. Why can't anyone else see that?

"Eva, please put on the Occulizer," Zayn instructs, handing her a pair of oversized metal goggles with wires sticking out everywhere.

The Occulizer is what determines your Greatest Attachment. It searches your mind, and your soul, for all the things you hold dear, and it picks out the thing you love the most.

And that's the thing each of the Recruits has to crush before joining the Squad.

Depending on the Attachment, destroying it can get bloody. Which is precisely why the crowd loves this event so much.

Eva takes the stage, gives a quick beauty pageant-style wave and then blows a kiss to the crowd. She then puts on the device. It's quiet for a moment and then lights up and buzzes.

The audience inches closer to read the word flashing across the goggles' golden screen in big, shiny, black letters.

Everyone gasps when they see what it says: