Infinite | Chosen Series book one ❄️

15

"Good morning, Chosen! We're glad to see you all up and ready to begin Stage One!" A voice fills the room, the halls, everywhere.

I dance excitedly in my chair as I listen to the announcement that follows. The voice tells us that today we will be picking what skills training we want, where to go to sign up for them, and how soon we'll begin learning. As soon as the announcement ends, people jump up from their seats and crowd out of the room.

As I try not to get pushed around too much in the crowd, I see Nate two places behind me and I fall back beside him. Although my fear of large crowds has been improving —it had to really, or else I'd be in bad shape right about now— the moment still makes me feel a little shaky and dizzy.

"Hey, how many are you picking?" He asks me, linking his arm through mine.

"Depends on what they are," I answer him, ducking my head toward his so he can hear me over the loud talking of everyone else.

"When I was little my grandpa used to show me how to use his old bow, so that'd be really cool if archery was an option." He smiles as he thinks back on the memory.

"Oooh, that sounds fun!" I reply genuinely. I love when people talk about things they're passionate about; things that mean something to them. "I heard that we're 'graded' on how well we do with whatever we pick. Do you think we will be?"

"Yeah. I think a bit of competition, seeing who's going to be best at whichever thing, will make us try harder. So yeah, they might grade us. Plus it's probably a basis for elimination. If you can't pass Stage One, then..." He trails off.

"Then no Stage Two for you?" I finish his sentence.

"Then no Stage Two," he repeats me.

We talk quietly after that, until we reach one of the four rooms to sign up in. I'm glad they decided to use more than one, otherwise this would take forever. The line is still pretty long. I look over the room. The walls are chocolate brown, all the furniture is mahogany, two lamps sit on either side of the desk and the faded glow illuminates the room just enough for everything to be clearly seen without the room being bright. It looks so different from the sleek, bright modern interior of the rest of Glaxe.

Finally we're at the desk where a smiling woman with blond hair and big round glasses sits. She points at a sign up sheet and the options, then offers to explain them if we don't know what they are. Nate writes one of the required two down right away. I scan the list. Knives, swords, archery, hand to hand combat, guns, and the last one is nunchucks. Geez.

I write down archery and hand to hand then decide to add guns. Paintball is fun, maybe that'll be a training thing. Plus, extra course, extra credit. Who knows, it might be included in the evaluation for who gets the abilities.

I smile and leave for the next person to write down their choices. On the way out I pass Melody, who's still in the line, I stop to say hi then continue on my way out. Since we get the remainder of the afternoon to do whatever we want, I text Carrie to meet me at the aquarium, and grab us a box of candies to share from the vending machine.

* * * * * *

When you walk into the first part of the aquarium there is barely any light. It takes a while for your eyes to adjust to be able to spot the various sea creatures swimming by the glass, through the dark water. The only light is the neon glow of a few colourful LED lights, which match a school of tiny iridescent fish. I pause a minute to watch them flit about through the water. When you walk further, it slowly gets brighter, showing off colourful creatures each in their preferred brightness. The tanks are from the floor to the ceiling on both sides, and black leather benches sit four feet apart all the way down the middle of the hallway. At the end of the hallway, it opens up into a big square room, which the tanks completely surround you. In this room the ceiling is glass, making it the brightest part of the aquarium. When no one else is here, like now, it feels like you're standing in the middle of the ocean. It's beautiful.