Identity

Chapter 4

She gasped when she saw me, but ran at me at the same time.  It was Corinne.  I hugged her, exclaiming at the same time.  She got the first word in.  “What are you doing here?”  She half squealed, half asked. 

“What do you think?” I asked sarcastically.  “I fell through the ground, down a chute, and… well, never mind.  How did you get here, though?”

She replied, “I walked through a locked door, and then I ended up in a world as different from ours as Mars, and the sky shone with stars winking at me.  I was perched on a rainbow, a rainbow road.  I didn’t know where I was, but there was no ground, only sky, so I ran down the rainbow to try to find the end.  I guess I hoped that at the end there would be a pot of gold.  I think it was subconcious, anyway.  And guess what?  There was!  I jumped into it, don’t ask me why, and found myself in this hallway.”

Then Miss Jen interrupted, “Now that there are two of you, are you ready to get briefed?  That’s what the title on the door is for, you know, the Room of Briefing…”

I was just about to exclaim about how we were about to get briefed for something that we never volunteered for, but Corinne beat me to it.  “We’d be happy to, but must we do whatever it is?” She asked.  I shot a relieved look at her and she smiled nervously at me.

“Oh, not at all.  You’ll have a choice, of course!  Come, come, everything will be clearer in a minute.”  Miss Jen replied, still smiling, to my confusion

So we followed Miss Jen into a room with seven chairs.  Three were facing toward the other four, like a restaurant booth without the table.  Corinne and I sat in the two chairs next to each other, because the other three were filled with Miss Jen and one other man and one other woman.  Corinne and I looked at them expectantly, waiting for them to explain.  Miss Jen started off.

“Welcome, Corinne and Isabelle, to the Center for Curious Teens, or CCT.  Here, all your questions may be answered, if you so choose the pathway to get them answered.  We will be briefing you about what to expect so that you can decide whether or not to continue on with your studies.  Mr. Denessy and Mrs. DeForest will tell you all about your studies.”

The smiling, gentle lady had gone somewhat, replaced by a gentle but firm lady who no longer smiled, to my surprise.  She looked business-like and, unless my eyes were decieving me, almost nervous and... pitying?  What in the world?  Pitying?  Nervous?  The replacement of a smiling, mother-like lady to a business-like lady that looked at me with pity and sadness in her eyes scared me more than almost anything had so far.  And that was saying something.

“Glad to have you here, girls.”  Mrs. DeForest spoke with a soft, calming voice.  She seemed very intelligent, and her voice had a soothing effect on me.  “I am going to dive right in.  Here at CCT, we try to take the most curious teenagers under our wing to help them answer their questions.  However, your studies will be difficult and arduous, so we have instituted a test in order to pick out the teenagers who will be able to handle the program.  That is why you had to be tested as you did.  We're sorry about that, but it is a VERY neccessary precaution.  If we didn't weed some people out then they would never...  I'll stop now.  It doesn't matter, because both of you passed easily, so congratulations to you!  After Mr. Denessy talks, you will have the chance to decide whether or not you want to pursue the answers to all of your questions.  Do not take this on lightly, for it is a difficult task that few are prepared for.  CCT of Massachusetts hopes that you will get your answers, but we cannot guarantee how long it will take.  Mr. Denessy can explain better.”  Mrs. DeForest looked expectantly at Mr. Denessy.

I was more than a little bit scared now, but I tried my best not to show it. What I had decided so far was that I was going to be forced to study-  but there was no way that just studying could get me to find out who I was.  Was there?  Mr. Denessy broke into my thoughts by continuing to elaborate on what had already been said.

“They have covered the background very well,” Mr. Denessy stated, his voice rough and hard.  He obviously cared about us, but appeared to be unsure about what our reactions would be.  I guess he'd soon find out, though.  He continued, “But they haven’t told you what you will be doing.  We refer to the task as ‘studies’, but it’s nothing at all like studying at school.  You will be put out in an environment so different from your own, that to get back you will have no choice but to discover who you are.  However, if you cannot find yourself, which happens occasionally, then your chances are none of getting out of this strange place.  That was the reason for the odd tests- because both worlds were completely different from your normal one.  Oh, and you will have some help as well.  You will be put out to study with a partner- eachother- and you will also have a helper here at CCT.  Do not take on this responsibility lightly, for it will be a disquieting experience, but at the same time do not immediately turn your noses up, for by doing this you will find the answers to all of your true questions.”

After that little speech, Corinne and I both stared slack-jawed at each other and at the three adults in front of us.  How could we decide?  What should we do?  Could this really be that hard?  But I knew my answer already.  There was no way that I was going to go in the opposite direction from what I thought now.  I wondered what Corinne’s view was, because that would, I suppose, have a hand, since we were supposed to be partners.  I exchanged a look with her, and then we both looked the adults straight in the eyes and said,

 “We’ll do it.”

A/N DONE EDITING THIS CHAPTER :)  I KNOW IT ISN'T PERFECT, BUT I AM DOING THIS ALL REALLY FAST.  ok, so here is chapter 4 done :)  I hope you like it, I know it isn't terribly interesting, but you needed the background to know what was going on.  Actually, maybe you didn't...  DANG!  I wish I had a teacher to help me with this :p   Anyways, comment please!  You know how much I want feedback, and it might make this story a lot more interesting and good.  Thanks for reading, everyone!!