Profession Day

6- The Arrival

When the morning finally arrived, I was more then ready. Before the sun had even started to come out, I looked at my clock, which read 5:00 AM. I'd been wrestling with sleep for long enough. I tore the blankets off of myself and leaped out of bed. I put on the clothes I had set out, light jeans and a plaid shirt before quickly brushing my hair and dragging my bag downstairs.

My mother was still asleep upstairs, and Ava had fallen asleep on the couche, and was now clutching a wool blanket to her face. I tried to be as quiet as I could and grabbed the paper bag my mother had left out for me. I opened it to see a small raspberry muffin. I smiled, taking a bite as I went for the door, eating it as quickly as I could. I slipped on my pair of black flats, my eyes resting on my hover boots. I paused for a moment.

I grabbed them with one hand and arranged them in front of the door so Ava would notice them. Who knew. Maybe she'd lean to ride while I was gone. Then I opened the door and stepped outside. I looked at the house one more time, a smile creeping up on my face. I closed the door and jogged out to the street.

The hover bus was already waiting for me, and a woman asked me for my bag. I handed it to her and she loaded it onto the storage compartment. I stepped onto the bus, looking for Peter. Then I saw his hand waving to me, then snapping twice to get my attention. I walked over and sat next to him.

"Hey." He greeted.

"You survived the night." I said sarcastically.

"Barely. I wanted to see my spot in the forest one more time last night." He said.

My smile dropped. "Peter. You didn't." I said. I was serious now.

"I was careful. I mean, it wasn't like I wasn't prepared. I just... I didn't think there'd be that many." He continued.

"It was profession day. The woods are always crawling with Officers. You know that." I said. There was a long pause that followed before one of us spoke again.

"Did they see you?" I asked. He shook his head.

"They found my spot though. They planted a camera right by my tree. I can't go back now." He said, looking down at his hands. Again, there was silence for a moment. Then I smiled at him.

"Hey, things can't be that bad, can they? Your friends with a society member." I joked, trying to cheer him up. "I'll bet I could get that camera taken down easy." I said proudly.

He chuckled. "Oh yeah? How? Guilt tripping?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him, acting like I was speaking to an Officer. "I'm afraid that information is confidential. Do I need to brief you on the punishments for negativity towards the society, or are you going to take that camera down like we asked?" I said.

Peter laughed. "You couldn't convince a fruit bat." He said.

"Yeah, but I'd try." I replied.