The Divided

Chapter Six

On 6/12/18 I changed the lengths of all the chapters to be more effective in reading and interest. If you don't know what chapter you left off at, message me and I will let you know where you should start back off at. Sorry for the trouble:)

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            The next day, I walked into my father's office and found him very busy with some sort of paperwork. "You can't work for the rest of the week, Melody," he said without looking up from his pen and paper.

I nodded and folded my hands in front of me. "I know. I came to ask what you did with James."

He wrote something down on the page in front of him. "I had Vincent take him to the other side."

"He was taken to the Extricates to live there?"

"Yes."

I nodded, realizing he really didn't want my presence around. Turning to walk out, I made it to the door before he spoke up again. "Oh, and your idea about the curfew? It starts tomorrow night," he told me, still not looking up. "I'll be making the announcement to everyone this evening."

"What time will the curfew be?"

"Everyone under eighteen years of age will be required to return home before eleven pm," he answered. "Everyone who fails to do so will be reported in."

I nodded and mustered up a small grin. "That's great."

After leaving my dad's office, I made my way to Roman's office, hoping to see him there, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found. In the hallway, while I was trying to think of where he could be, I walked right into a body. Looking up, I found Mason looking down at me with a soft glint in his eyes. "Hey."

I chuckled and awkwardly took a step back. "Sorry. I was looking for Roman. Have you seen him?"

He shook his head. "I haven't seen him all day," he said.

I nodded and slipped him a small, closed-lip smile. "Thanks anyway. I just thought I'd spend some of my spare time with him." I made a move to step around him, but he stopped me with a touch of his hand on my shoulder.

"I was just about to go hang out with Bella and Landon at the ice cream parlor down the street, if you want to join us," my best friend informed me. Time with all of my best friends did sound tempting. It would be nice to get my mind off of everything going on around me, even if just for a little while. "You've been a little distant lately, I think some time with all of us would be good for you," he told me. Looking up into his eyes, I nodded, liking the idea.

"Yeah, let's go."

#

When we arrived at the newly build ice-cream parlor, our friends Bella and Landon were already there. We went to the counter and ordered ourselves a strawberry milkshake each before we joined them at the booth.

Bella was short and thin, making her the smallest out of the four of us and her pale skin was scattered with freckles. Her shorter red hair was straightened and thin, and her large green eyes were dark and always had a happy glint in them. She was also the most intelligent out of all of us. She always knew the right thing to say in the right situations and knew how to solve every problem she came across. Landon liked to call her a know-it-all...to each his own. Although she was outgoing and comfortable around us, outside of her friend group she came off as cautious and shy.

Landon, on the other hand, was super outgoing and definitely a people person. Everyone loved him and his wide-ranged sense of humor. He wasn't the smartest, but he made up for it with his sarcasm...if that's even possible. His black hair was short on the sides and just slightly longer on top, and his hazel eyes were on the smaller side. He was strong, buff and taller than Mason, making him look intimidating if you didn't know him personally. One thing about Landon though, he had a weird interest in the Extricates, which just might be a good thing for me, but a suspicious thing for everyone else.

As we sat down at the booth we were welcomed with wide smiles and drawn out "hellos." "I feel like we haven't hung out in forever," Bella said before taking a bite of her ice cream sundae.

"Well with all the training Xavier has been putting her through lately, we haven't had a chance for all of us to meet up," Mason acknowledged. Our two friends nodded, agreeing.

"I wouldn't quite call it training," I told them, twirling my straw around in the glass in front of me. "I only give my opinion on things."

"You should still be excited," Mason spoke with his mouth full of his milkshake.

I shrugged. "I am, I just wish the process would go faster. I want to actually see what everything is like from my dad's point of view," I told them half-heartedly. My words were somewhat true. I did want to see my dad's point of view, but I couldn't have cared less about the process of me becoming leader then. I wanted to learn the secrets being kept from me.

"Give it time," Bella told me, pushing a strand of her short red hair behind her ear. "Everything will come soon enough."

I nodded in response and happened to glance at Landon, who had been absent in our conversation. He seemed lost in thought, with his gaze out the window. I watched him stare at the border's main gate which was a clear view from where we were sitting. "What is it like on the other side?" he asked, not moving his line of sight.

I took a drink of my milkshake before I answered his question. "From what I experienced, it's a lot different than how it is here," I said honestly.

"Why are you so obsessed with the Extricates?" Mason questioned, his tone seeming to harden in the slightest.

Landon shrugged and finally glanced at us around the table. "I just find it all interesting. I want to know what it's like to be one of them in comparison to one of us," he said, stirring his straw around in his chocolate milkshake.

"Well you'll never know, so you might as well just give up on the idea," Mason snapped all of the sudden. "If a leader finds out about your curiosity, they'll tell Xavier and you know how bad things can get from there."

Landon looked at him, clearly not liking Mason's attitude by the look he gave him. "Mel is a Sharpe and knows about my obsession," he pointed out with clarity in his voice.

My eyes met his. "Yeah, but I'm different," I reminded him. "You know how harsh my dad can be."

Landon nodded and exhaled, knowing my words were true. "Well when you're Leader, you should let me go over there for my own observations."

I smiled, about to reply, when Mason beat me to it. "Are you hearing yourself right now?" Mason outburst, anger lacing his words. "Why are you wanting to be an Extricate?" He looked at him like he was crazy. "You're lucky I haven't reported you in. If you want to be part of the leadership one day then you have to be a loyal Ameliorate. If you aren't reliable, you won't last long here." Landon just stared at him and Bella was looking down at her dessert, not liking his outburst. As harsh as he sounded, it was actually true. If you weren't faithful to my father, then you were punished. You were banished. You were shunned.

Landon opened his mouth to respond, but we'll never know what he was about to say because a blaring alarm filled our ears. I furrowed my brows, along with my three friends. "Where is that coming from?"

Bella's eyes were staring out the window, at the leadership building that was barely in view. "It's coming from the leadership building."