PANDORA

Chapter 1

ONE DAY LEFT  

Tomorrow is the day. The day we have waited Sixteen years for, to see what life will bring upon us. Each year, around 100-200 teenagers turn sixteen on the same day. Those who were born on other years, either stay back at the centre and continue their training, or are already at work with their family. This year there are 120 of us who will go to the ceremony tomorrow, and finally be treated like adults, and not like kids who are locked up in a centre filled with newborns and bratty children running all over the place. We finally get to meet our birth parents and live like an actual family.

I always wonder what my family looks like. Does my mum have smooth silky long brown hair just like I do, with green eyes and pale skin? Does my dad have brown curly hair which falls upon his forehead and infront of his light blue eyes which make you feel happy? Do I have any sisters and brothers whom I don't know about yet? Do they sit around a dinner table with a freshly cooked meal, imagining what their daughter looks like? Do they think about me at all?

Those questions are constantly on my mind, from the minute I wake up, to the minute I fall asleep. Sixteen  years, and I finally get the answers.

"Could you pass me the juice," I gesture towards Max, interrupting his conversation with the girl on the table opposite us.

It takes him a few seconds to respond, until he faces me and notices me staring right at him pointing to the juice.
"Oh yes, sorry. Hey are you okay? You are looking more ghostly then usual," he tilts his head, picking up the juice and handing it to me.

I take the juice from his hand, lightly brushing my hand against his, sending shivers down my spine. I pour the juice into the cup, spilling a few drops which roll down the side of the cup and onto the metal table.
"Very funny. And yeah, I guess I am okay. Just worried about tomorrow that's all.."

I hear a loud scream to my left, and see that one of the boys, Lucas, has started another fight with one of the guys. You see this happen every morning at breakfast, yet everyone still turns their heads quickly, shocked at what they're watching. Living with a bunch of kids seems to be making everyone insane, especially Lucas, who is stubborn, agressive, and thinks he's the king. He attacks a different person each day, ranging from the ages 6-16. I remember a few years ago, he tried to pick a fight with me. We were all in the dining room, like usual, and I was sitting with a few girls who I don't speak to anymore, and Hailee. Hailee is my ex-best friend, whom was also Lucas's girlfriend at the time. Lucas walked up to our table, slammed both of his hands onto the metal surface and faced me with eyes which felt like poison. He leaned in closer, almost touching his face with mine, scrunching both his nose and mouth.
"I am yet to understand, why you would possibly consider sitting in my seat, next to MY girlfriend," he leaned back, and tilted his head.
"Uhh.." I managed to speak. He slammed his hands for the second time, then grabbed my neck, lifting me up off of the seat. I expected Hailee to do something about Lucas, and help me, but she just sat there watching everything, just like everybody else in the room. Except for one boy. I was in the air for a few seconds, until I hear the boy yelling out to us.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER, YOU SICK BASTARD," reaching us at a fast pace, pushing Lucas to the ground. "You are done picking fights with us for no apparent reason. DONE." The boy faced Lucas for a few seconds, then faced me. I was greeted with blue eyes and an adorable, comforting smile. This was when Max and I became friends, and have been ever since.

"Eh, I am not that worried. I'm sure I'll love them and they'll love me. I bet you they have a room already set up for me. With painted walls, a massive king bed, my own bathroom. What's there to worry about?" Now there's the usual overly-confident Max I've learnt to love. How can one be so confident? Doesn't he worry that his parents might be completely different to him?! I'm not going to suggest that to him though.