Split

The Test

It's kind of silly, calling it a test. It's not like you can fail. I guess it's like this SATs thing on planet Earth. You can't fail that, I don't think. Tina is coming to the test with me. We have the same birthday. And this is not a coincidence. We were taken to Start Ville together and brought up together and so we became best friends. My parents live in Freeze Ville. I want to get into there.

I've been told that it's a personal test, about yourself, not your ability. Apparently, you don't actually have to do any work. All you do is go into this kind of egg-shaped cubicle and it checks to see what -Ville you should go to. I have no idea how it works, but I don't want to know.

'Come on, Nina. Are you nervous?' Clementine called.

'Not at all, no,' I was shivering. It was so cold! If I find it cold, will I not make it into Freeze Ville? We walked into the hall and sat inside the fourth egg-cubicle that the tester person showed me. There were about 12 others. I was surprised. So many others had the same birthday as us? Wow! 

I finished in a few minutes, and the door of the egg-cubicle opened with a whirring sound. I left the cubicle and walked out of the hall. I was third to finish and two boys were already in the waiting room. They were big, tough boys and they were fighting when I went in. A few minutes later, a spindly girl came in. Not Tina. I was waiting for her. She was taking ages. There were only two left to finish the Test and Tina was one of them. What if she never comes out?