The Elite

The Ceremony

    I walk slowly out of the room worried about my results I will receive tomorrow at the Ceremony.

   When I arrive at home I go straight to my room, finish my homework, and go straight to bed.

   I wake to a light knock I on my door "Jack," I hear my mother's kind voice say, "may I come in?"
   "Yes" I respond
   "How was the Test?" she asks me, even though it is against the rules to talk about it she tends to be curious and asks anyways.
   "Okay, I guess..." I respond
   "How many did you have left, your brother only had ten left. I have never heard of anybody in the Norm classification getting that close to finishing before." she says so proudly
   "I finished right before the lady took it from me" I say, the expression on her face changes in an instant, I can see how proud of me she is.
   "Really?" she asks
   "Yes, but don't get so happy I do not have the results yet and I'm pretty sure I guessed on most of them." I say
   "I hope you and Greyson both get to be in the Wise classification!" she adds "Well I'll leave you be so you can get some rest for the Ceremony tomorrow."
   "Goodnight" I say before she leaves the room.
   "Goodnight, sweetheart." she replies softly

The next morning when I wake I go straight to the bathroom and take a shower. I put my long wavy dirty blond hair up into a high bun, put on the standard black short sleeve shirt, and black jeans with my black sneakers, that everybody wears from every classification, before they receive their rankings, then I open a little black box that holds a small silver star pin that identifies my classification, Norm. Today I could get a gold one for the Wise classification or a bronze for the Dull, thinking about this makes me worry even more, so I decide to go downstairs.
I run down the stairs and I am greeted at the bottom by the smell of eggs and pancakes.
"Mmm..." I say walking into the kitchen and see my mom and dad making breakfast and Greyson sitting at the table devouring some eggs.
"I almost forgot you get off work today for the Ceremony" I say to my parents as I sit at the table and eat some eggs.
"You better hurry up the bus will be here soon. You don't want to be late on your last day" my father says and Greyson and I grab our book bags and walk out the door, heading for the bus stop.

When we get to school they take us into a huge auditorium and sit us down alphabetically Greyson sits to my right and a girl named Myra to my left in the very last row. We listen to the teachers and principals explain how important the Ceremony is. When they are done we sit and wait for the parents and family members to arrive. When they all do the Ceremony begins.
"Welcome everyone," the speaker announces making us all fall silent "we are here to welcome the new adults to our community. Who after they receive their classification will go straight to training and spend about six months going over new rules and job choices and on their graduation will be able to chose their jobs in rank order..." she explains more, but I start to dose off again coming to again when she shouts, "Now, let us begin!"
"Andrew Abbott, Norm"
"Elisa Abram, Wise"
"Noah Adams, Dull," the dull category is the bottom tier of social levels and anyone who is place in it is destined to a sad future. I feel bad for him.
   After the third name I start stop paying attention. Then I hear, "Greyson Walker, Wise" he smiles and walks up to the stage and they switch his pin to a gold one. I look over to my mother and father who are smiling from ear to ear. I would hate to disappoint them after my brother has done so well.
"Jackalynn Walker," I walk to the stage and she stops and turns the page confusion sweeping across her face. My mind starts to buzz. What were my results?!? "I'm sorry for the mistake" the speaker says "we seemed to have misplaced the form with your results on it, Jackalynn"
   I stand on the stage alone embarrassed. The whole community is staring at me as time drags buy:
   5 minutes
   30 minutes
   Finally, after an hour a younger lady not much older than I walks up holding a sheet of paper. There is some whispering. They look at me and then back at each other. Then announcer stands at the podium; just stands there for a moment and glances at me again. I start to panic. Then she speaks "Hello everyone," a pause and a tap on my shoulder. I'm guided away by a large man. "Let's continue, Myra Whitman, Norm" is the last thing I hear as I'm guided away.