Chosen

Chapter 4

The morning of the Choosing, I get up early after a fitful night of sleep. I pay attention to my appearance, french braiding my hair diagonally across the back of my head and letting it fall over my shoulder. I never was great at symmetrical hairdos. After pinning my trainee badge to my shirt for the last time, I take one final look in the mirror. It'll have to do.

I make my way through the short breakfast line, too preoccupied to pay attention to anyone. I sit at a table near the corner with my bowl of oatmeal with a few precious berries on top. Even though my stomach is full of butterflies, I manage to eat everything since I know I need it.

Jay comes in as I'm finishing up. "You better hurry up," I say as I fix the back of his collar. "You don't want to be late."

He mumbles "I knnnw," around a mouthful of oatmeal and wolfs down his food in a quarter of the time it took me to eat. Jay never lets anything get between him and food.

He stands abruptly. "Come on slowpoke, we don't want to be late, do we? Hustle, hustle!" He tugs my hand and scoops up our breakfast dishes, dropping them with a clatter on the dish belt for the meal supervisors to clean. Then he gallops into the hallway with me on his heels. His enthusiasm is infectious, and right now, I feel too jittery to care if people giving us strange looks.

We race down the hall, with Jay tripping over his untied shoes and me nearly losing my balance trying to avoid him as he falls into the wall. We skid around the corner toward the Choosing Hall, breathless with laughter, when all the sudden we're brought to a halt.

Chief Crane stands in front of us, his face impassive.

I try to fix my hair and straighten my clothes without him noticing, which is impossible as he scrutinizes my every move.

"You would do well to remember who you are, Elia," he states, his cold eyes somehow burning into mine. I stare back, fighting the clammy feeling of my hands and churning in my stomach.

Crane gives me one more look before turning to walk past us. "I will see you at the ceremony."

After Crane stalks out of sight, Jay and I look to each other and let out a breath at the same time, causing Jay to chuckle a little. I'm both embarrassed and angry from the encounter, and I feel the angry red blotches across my cheeks to prove it. Crane has done everything in his power to steal any lighthearted fun from my whole childhood. These days only Jay can bring out that side of me anymore, and I spend the rest of the time hiding behind my level-headed and serious demeanor. Even if I'm screaming inside.

I shake my head and turn away from where Crane disappeared. "Let's just get there early," I say as we start back down the hall, walking this time. After another few minutes and a few more turns, we arrive at a set of metal double doors that look the same as most others in the building, except for the small all-caps plaque that reads CHOOSING HALL above the doorframe. I remember being in my father's office a few years ago and hearing him complain about having a room only dedicated to a once-a-year tradition. He finds it wasteful. But community tradition is to have a dedicated hall for the ceremony, so he reluctantly lets it remain empty for the rest of the year.

Jay shoves the door open with a flourish and waves for me to enter. "After you, milady," he says goofily, making me laugh. I walk in and see the long tables across the front of the room with metal chairs behind them. That's where the Masters will sit for the ceremony, in order from left to right that they will choose. Facing the tables are a couple rows of metal chairs for the people in my year. Nobody else attends other than the records person.

Grandma Juniper told me once that the Choosing Ceremony used to be more of a celebration, where the entire community attended. The hall where it used to be is now buried under the rubble from the cave-in. She told me it used to have a beautiful painted ceiling depicting community history. I wish I could have seen it. With so many people lost, Crane hasn't taken initiative to repair or take back the space that was lost: there's simply too much other important work do in order to keep ourselves alive. With that in mind, Crane thinks we can't afford to waste time and only allows those necessary to the ceremony to be present.

We sit in the front row off to the side to wait for everyone else to arrive, and slowly chairs on either side of the table fill up. Finally, only the chair on the far right is empty, where Chief Crane will sit. He didn't participate in the drawing order but put himself in the final spot. Milo sits near the middle and winks at us as he leans back. Norman sits four places from the end. Uncharacteristically, he catches my eye and looks at me intently. I give him a small wave, which he responds to with an almost imperceptible shake of his head. Huh.

Promptly on the hour, The doors are thrown open and Crane strides in, trailed by the small records woman. Everyone presses their left hand to their right shoulder as a sign of respect. Sweeping around the tables to take his place, he looks around with a hard glint in his eye.

"Welcome to today's Choosing ceremony. This time-honored milestone marks the leaving behind of your past to embrace your future. I know that each and everyone one of you takes your position in this community very seriously.

"It is right for you to feel the mantle of responsibility on your shoulders. We have been through it all, from our ancestors descending underground to escape the devastation on the surface of our world, to the cave-in twenty six years ago that left us with many essential roles empty and in need of filling. Through it all we have persevered, the ultimate survivors, and today you take your places among us as adults. I fully expect you all to put all your efforts into doing your part. Now, let's get started with Master Chet." Crane lowers himself into his seat.

I try hard not to wrinkle my nose. Crane has always been so cold, and his little speech is just further proof of his unfeeling heart. To paint a picture of the cave-in only being about the man-power lost instead of the many lost loved ones and broken families doesn't sit right with me.

Master Chet stands to recites the ceremonial lines. I feel a little thrill, even though I have a pretty good idea who all is going to be chosen for what. "For the new livestock supervisor, I, Master Chet, have chosen Ethan." Ethan, a quiet barrel-chested guy, stands with a small smile and walks forward to shake Chet's hand. Chet unpins Ethan's trainee badge and replaces it with an apprentice badge. After he returns to his seat, the ceremony continues the same way.

"For the new third engineer, I, Master Peter, have chosen Fern."

"For the new nutrition specialist, I, Master Raven, have chosen Garrett."

"For the new sanitation engineer, I, Master Wylie, have chosen Lawrence.

I silently clap my hands when Milo stands and recites, "For the new builder, I, Master Milo, have chosen Jay." I feel Crane's disapproving eyes on me but this one time I don't care. I'm beyond happy for my friend.

As the ceremony continues, I keep my eyes on his father. He almost looks bored, like he has better things to do than sitting here watching everyone get chosen for their future. At times like this, I feel a burning resentment towards him. It's easy to see that most of the masters are uneasy around him, especially the truly good people like Milo and Norman.

Before long, it's Norman's turn. He stands, looking uncomfortable to be the center of attention. Beads of perspiration are visible on his forehead. It doesn't escape my notice when he glances quickly at my father before resting his shaking hands on the tabletop.

"For the new tech lead, I, Master Norman, have chosen...Elia."