Worlds Apart

Chapter Nine - Juliette

        The day has come. My birthday. I get up and dressed in the morning, ready for the very action-packed day ahead of me. I prepare myself in front of the mirror and tell myself I will make it a good day, before going downstairs to face life.

        Both my mother and father already wait by the kitchen table. Today I will not only have my graduating ceremony from school, but I will also have my Elder Initiation today. And I will be going to volunteer at the fence. My parents said it would be best to start as soon as possible. They say the Government likes it when the young people of Arcadia get involved at the youngest age possible.

        "Are you ready, sweetheart?" My mother asks. I nod my head, unsure of the answer. I take a big gulp as my mother and father inspect me.

        My father nods approvingly, and my mother reaches out to straighten my dress.

        "There. Now you're perfect." She says. She takes a step back and looks at me one last time with a smile growing on her face. "I think you'll be perfect for the day. Are we all ready to go now?" She asks.

        "Yes. I think so." I answer. "I'm all ready." My father replies.

        "Good. Then I suppose we can head out now. We've got a very busy day ahead of ourselves you know, Juliette." "Yes. We sure do." I say back with a smile spreading.

        We arrive at my school, and we all tumble out of the car. As we make our way to the gymnasium, we are all silent. I can't quite tell if my parents are too proud to speak, or they just lost the ability to feel proudness and there is simply nothing to say.

        "Welcome everyone! I would like to welcome all of the graduating students first." Says principal Hanson. "Also a warm welcome, and round of applause to all of the parents, for helping their students through their journey of life, and making this a wonderful session." He adds as I walk as silently as possible in heels to my seat. The ceremony hasn't started yet, but the principal is just warming up the crowd and trying to waste time before it's time to start.

        15 minutes later, and we are finally starting. The ceremony goes by rather quickly, which I am surprised about. Principal Hanson gives a long speech, and then a few students stand up and say something about how we have come so far. And how much we've grown. And how long we've come and progressed since our early stages of life.

        Finally they call us up, and we move on from the time in school, to the 'grown-up' part of life.

        The ceremony ends and we go straight home to freshen up. By the time we get there, we only have about ten minutes to change. I quickly rush to my room, and reapply my makeup. There's no need to change because I'm still going to be at a fancy event, but I do need to do a few touch ups.

       After perfecting everything, and deciding I am acceptable to show to my parents, I walk downstairs.

       As usual, they inspect me and finally approve me. Then we are ready to leave again.

       We pile into the car, and my father starts it up. Then we're off.

       Once again, we get there rather early. 20 minutes to be exact. We sit around and wait for it to begin.

       At this ceremony, it is very similar to the last. The only major differnce is the reason for being here.

       When it starts, we are all seated and listening quietly and respectfully, as we should be.

       The mayor of our piece of land in Arcadia steps forward and gives a short speech. I am by no means the only one here today. there are at least five or six hundred other graduated students, preparing to become an Elder.