Darkness. All I had seen for hours was darkness. I didn't know where I was, but I knew that this was not the way this was supposed to be going. They told us that the re-naming ceremony was supposed to be a wonderful time when we are seen as adults. I could hear the voices around me coming from dark, nameless faces. They were worried too. We had all been taken from our homes in the dead of night and thrown into this dark, plain room. There was no furniture, and every so often, the room would shake. It had gotten very hot in this room, because of all the body heat, and everything was sticky. My hair was sticking to my neck and face, and my legs that were usually covered by a long skirt were only covered by a shorter night skirt were sticking to the metal floors of this room. Suddenly, the room seemed to stop. I heard a loud, grinding, squeaking sound as the door to our room was pushed up. Light flooded in the grey room, only to be stopped by a manly figure that stepped into it. He led us into a straight line outside of the room as we all whispered to one another. It seemed as though our room had wheels below it. We quit talking when we noticed that the man was studying us.
"You don't have to be so quiet, you know. I'm rescuing you." He said. His voice sounded young, and upon looking at him closer, I noticed that he wasn't quite a man, but a young man. He looked rough only because he hadn't shaved in a while, and it didn't look like he had showered often either. He wore a black button-up shirt that had three buttons undone, and it was tucked into some black pants. He looked very sleek, but he also looked disheveled. His dark hair was short, but wavy and unruly, and he had several piercings in his left ear. His skin was dirty and tan, but his eyes were clear and blue.
"What are you rescuing us from?" I heard myself ask.
He turned to me and looked at me funny.
"Haven't you heard?" He asked me, he then turned around facing all of us and noticed the confused faces. "Haven't you all heard? The Center has been brainwashing you with that mirror of theirs that you see when you are re-named!" He said.
Suddenly, I heard sirens, and a sharp look came on the young man's face.
"Gotta go! If any of you aren't brainwashed after today, I'll be where the land meets the sky!" He shouted, as he ran off.
The sirens came closer and we all stood still, frozen in shock.
~
When we all got into the numerous police cars, they decided to allow us to get on with the re-naming ceremony. They drove us to a large, brick building and escorted us inside. Throughout the long journey there, I couldn't stop thinking about the young man who had abducted us and where he was trying to get to.
Inside the large building, there were teams of stylists waiting for us. They began calling off the names of people, and had an assigned group to meet them.
"Nicole Dominic." I heard my name being called. I stepped forward and was immediately bombarded by a styling team.
"It's nice to meet you, Nicole! My name is Campbell Rushton, and I am going to be your head stylist. Come on, let's go into the room!" He said. He linked his arm through mine and rushed towards a long hallway of silver doors. He went over to the 5th one and opened it. I stepped in and realized that it was my dream of a room, like all of the things I'd seen in the few magazines that were sent to my village. The room was shrouded in pink; pink love seat, pink chair, pink sparkly mirror panes, and even pink fabric being hung from the ceiling.
"What do you think, Nicole?" Campbell asked
"It's wonderful! It's like a dream!" I said. I spread my arms out and twirled and I landed on a pink cushion that was laying on the floor.
"Alright, you need so much work done right now, so it's time to get started!" Campbell said. He helped me up and led me to a chair in front of the mirror. He twirled it so that it wasn't facing the mirror.
"I want you to be surprised when you look in the mirror for the very first time in your life." He said. He rolled the chair over to a shampooing station. He scrubbed my hair clean, and attempted at brushing my hair.
"Did you ever brush your hair?" He asked me. I laughed, knowing that where he grew up in the big city, not brushing your hair was a pretty big deal. In my village it showed that someone was stil a child.
"Not once!" I said. He laughed as his hairbrush broke.
"Okay, I'm going to give you over to our girls to scrub you up clean." He said. The chair I was sitting in was rolled away. The girls wheeled me into a pristine white room.
"Let's get you cleaned up!" One of them said. There were only two, but I couldn't distinguish one from the other. They undressed me quickly and shoved me into a scalding tub of water and bubbles. I was feeling a little bit exposed in front of them. I tried to cover up, and when they saw this, they reassured me.
"Don't worry, darlin', we're all girls here." She said.
They began with my hair, and they scrubbed it until foam was dripping to my eyes. Then they put strange concoctions into it.
"This is to make your hair softer." She said
Then they both grabbed some fluffy thing and scrubbed my body until my skin was bright red.
"Alright, now that you're done with cleaning, we'll start with beauty." One of them pulled out a white strip of paper.
"What is that for?" I asked her as she covered it with a waxy, yellow substance.
"Honey, it's best for you not to know." She said with an apologetic look on her face. She placed it on my shin. It burned.
"Ow!" I shouted
"Don't touch it!" She said. The put more and more strips up my leg until nearly every part of my body was covered in this paper.
"I promise this will be quick." One said. She lifted her hand up, and ripped a piece off of my leg.
"Ow! Ow ow ow ow owwww!" I shouted. Then I realized that these girls would have to rip all of the paper off of my body.
They did.
"I'm sorry, darlin'," These girls only called me by one name each, so this one I called Darlin', "But you'll love how smooth it is!" She said. I tested her theory but rubbing a hand down my leg. It was as soft as silk! Then they each pulled a small brush out of a table. Then they attacked my mouth.
"Ugh!" I choked
Then when they were finished with that, they put my in a robe and wheeled me back into the hair stylist.
"There you are! My don't you look clean!" He said. He pulled out his scissors and began to chop off all of my lovely long hair.
When he was finished he called Darlin' and Honey in to do my make-up.
"Okay, so I'm putting the eyeshadow on," Honey said
"I thought you said that I could,"
"Honey, don't even try that with me, I did not even talk about it with you!" Honey said
"Ladies! Ladies! Just put the makeup on!" Campbell said
"Yes sir!" They said.They painted my face up, then wheeled me into a closet. They dressed me in some sort of flowy dress that was red, white, and black checked.
"You are ready!" They said. They pushed me out of the door and straight into a mirror. They all stood behind me as I took in my reflection in the mirror. I saw a girl with cropped blackish-blue hair, pale skin, deep blue eyes, and a slender body.
That's me, I thought.
"Let's get you to the naming cermony, Nicole." Campbell said. He pushed me towards a door.
