PANDORA

Chapter 3

you are different.

she stares into my eyes.

you will always be different.

she touches my face, pushing my hair behind my ear.

you are the only one.

she smiles slightly, with her hand raising my chin.

who can save us.

she nods, slightly.

Pandora. it is you.

she walks away.

I raise up from my bed with a jolt, and instantly feel dizzy and nauseas. I look around me, breathing heavily, and pick up my clock. 6:58am. I realise that today is the day we turn sixteen and transition from the children's centre to adulthood, and leap off my bed into the bathroom.

I love how each of us children get a whole room and bathroom to ourselves. It gives us a sense of independence, and even though we have done basically everything else with the other children, our rooms are our one thing we get to keep to ourselves and personalize. I love my bed especially. Not just because I sleep in it and, if you know me, you'll know I love my sleep. However, because I have a small brown bear with a red heart, which I got when I was born, sitting in between my two pillows. None of us remember much from our childhood, except for the main events like birthdays, friendships, exciting activities, etc. For me, one of my best memories was my 10th Birthday. Before you turn 10, you have a simple room with just a small bed with black covers, a chest of draws for your clothing, and a bathroom. When you turn 10, the masters allow you to personalise and change your room to however you like it. So when I turned 10, I request a double bed, my own closet, and lastly to change the colour of my room from white, to silver. You might be thinking, silver? That's a weird colour to have your room painted. However, silver is my favourite colour, and always has been. My light on my roof has little specks in it which appear on my walls when it is turned on. So by having my walls painted silver, it reminds me of space, and makes me feel more free and open.

I walk up to the basin in my bathroom, splash my face with water, and face my reflection in my mirror. The dream I had last night pops into my head. 'You are the only one'? What was that supposed to mean? The lady in my dream had piercing green eyes and golden skin. Who was she? What did she mean 'it is me'? I splash my face once again, hoping to wash away the memories of the dream. Nup. They're still there. "Ugh" I shake my head and walk back to my bed, flopping down onto it with a loud thump. Whoops.

'All students, please make your way to F-36 immediately.'

F-36? Since when is there an F-36?

"Crap" I say to myself, a bit too loudly. I instantly place my hands on my face, shut my eyes, and take a few deep breathes. Yesterday I was over the moon with the thought of meeting my family and finally being treated seriously. But with what I heard last night, I'm not sure that's what will be happening, and therefore am not excited one single bit.

I roll of my bed and land on the floor, taking in the scent of the freshly cleaned carpet. If I had a choice, I'd fall asleep right now, peacefully. Unfortunately, that's not an option right now. I stand up off of the ground, walk over to my closet and open up the third draw from the top. I reach in, and pull out a black shirt with white hems, and throw it over my shoulder. I go over to the right side of my closet, open up the first draw, and pull out a pair of white jeans. I strip out of my pjs, put on my shirt and jeans, slip on my shoes, and make my way back into the bathroom. "Yuck" I say without planning it, from the look of my messy hair. I quickly pull out the messy bun, brush it with my fingers, and practically run out of the door as fast as possible. I need to see Max before the ceremony begins.