Elite || Marhinki

•Chapter Five: Last Time•

Once the last few people arrived, a guard locked the entrance. I took this to mean that the Announcement was starting.

I recognized the Blue who walked out and stood in front of us, a clipboard in one hand and the same object the Lord had used in the other. She was the same woman who had given us our last rations, which felt like forever ago, though it was only a few days ago. I tensed up. It was starting.

"Dan Anson," She announced. It was deathly quiet in here, and I could hear her voice coming out of the speakers outside. "Physical: 76%. Mental: 63%. Average: 69%."

That score was similar to my brother's average of 65%. Your average was what really mattered, as the factory runners usually looked at it more than your individual scores.

She kept going on, listing people's names and their scores. We were all tense, waiting for our scores to be called. I was near the end of list, unfortunately, as they were announced in order of last name.

"Pamela Horton," The woman announced. "Physical: 96%. Mental: 87%. Average: 91%."

I could see her smile across the room as people congratulated her. I was proud of her, even though we weren't very close. That was probably going to be the highest score out of all of us.

I was gripping my armrest so hard my knuckles were turning white. She had reached the S'. My score would be announced soon.

"Matthew Sohinki," She announced. "Physical-"

She gasped, and her eyes widened. Everyone's eyes turned to me. I was frozen, and I started hyperventilating, as my mind went crazy. Had I failed? 

"Physical," The woman tried to regain her composure. "Physical: 100%. Mental: 100%. Average: 100%."

She said it very quickly, which made me wonder if I'd heard her wrong. I must've. A 100% average? That's impossible.

I was suddenly very aware of everyone's eyes on me. I tried to calm myself down. I'd never had a panic attack before, but I felt like I was on the verge of one. I could hear people whispering around me, and voices from Town Square as well.

There hadn't been an Elite in any of the Yellow Districts for over a hundred years. Yet here I sat, breaking that record. Impossible. There has to have been a mistake.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to run back to my apartment and lock myself in. I'd spent a lot of time dreaming about getting a 100% on either Tests, so I could move up a District, especially in the last 24 hours. But now that it had happened, all I could think about was how uncomfortable I'd felt using the technology and eating the food of the Jewels. How much I loved my family. I didn't want to leave, I realized. But I didn't have a choice.

The woman had moved on, and was reading other people's scores. I wasn't listening too her. I was too busy being stuck in my own brain.

Luckily, there weren't many people left. She finished quickly, and we all stood up to leave. I felt like I was in a trance, or a dream. This couldn't be happening.

My family was waiting for me. My mother hugged me immediately, as my brother and father looked at me with shock. I didn't blame them. I hadn't processed what just happened yet either.

"Well, you definitely did better than me," John said, trying to lighten the mood. But there was nothing to be done. We all knew what this meant; I would be taken away from them, to go wherever they take Elites. This was one of the last times I'd ever see them.

My mother released me and grabbed my shoulders. She tried to smile, but I could tell she was faking it. "I'm proud of you, Matthew."

"Thanks, Mom," I replied. I didn't feel proud of myself.