Silent Rebellion

Chapter 6.) Becoming Clear

I woke up in a large room with tiled floors. My dress was neatly folded on the trunk at the foot of the bed. I sat up, and saw a figure approach. It was Jason. I hadn't really talked to him much since we've gotten here. He had a change of clothes in his hand. He handed them to me.

"You hit your head pretty hard. It's two days after the ball." He said. "What happened?" I pulled the curtain closed so I could change. Jason was on the other side of it. I slipped out of the hospital gown and into the clothes he brought me. I explained what had happened that night in the bathroom. When I finished changing, I grabbed my dress and pulled the curtain back and he led us out of the hospital wing which was on the fourth floor. We got into an elevator.

"Logan really doesn't like other girls that talk to him. She feels like they'll steal him from her." He explained. I laughed. "Yeah, that would make sense. She threw her shoes at me, and even stood on me. Is she really matched to him?" I asked. He nodded. I sighed.

People get matched at a certain age. Girls get matched at sixteen, boys at seventeen. It's always been that the boy must be a year older than the girl. They'll come to your door with a picture of him and a list of things that he likes. They'll take a picture of you, then ask you the same questions they asked him. Then, they'll go back to your match and give him that list. They'll meet up in the girl's county for a designated time. They'll write to each other for 2 months until they'll have the girl and the boy assigned to a certain county, one that's different from both their parents'. If one of them dies, the boy or girl left will go back to a living relative.

I only know this because it happened to Luke. While he was working, she apparently had a heart attack and died in their home. When he came home, the officers were waiting for him to break the news. He had to quit his job and move back with us. But now that I saw the video... Oh my god.

It hit me like a truck. I fell onto my knees and covered my mouth with my hands. Jason knelt beside me and frantically asked me what was wrong. I sat down on the elevator floor and rambled.

"Carolynn. It was her. That's who it was. But... But she died. And she was there. With... Elliot. And... And-" The words got lost as I spoke.

"What? Evelyn, what happened?"

"My... My brother. He used to have a match, Carolynn. They told us she had a heart attack... But she's alive. She's here. Somewhere in the City. With Elliot. We have to find them." I slowly said, wondering if I could even trust him. He patted my back.

"So, you saw that video too? On your tablet?" He asked, fear in his voice. My mouth gaped open. "I saw it too. So did Nick. There's something strange going on." He stood and helped me up and onto my feet. What are they doing to us? Has Dawn seen the video too? Who else has?

"We need to find out who has seen that video." I said finally. Jason nodded. "At dinner tonight?" I asked. He nodded again. The elevator stopped on our floor and we both got off. He walked with me to my room.

"Tonight?" He said.

"Tonight." I replied. He smiled. I opened the door to my room and closed it behind me. Dawn jumped up from her bed, threw her book onto the floor, and ran up to me.

"Thank god you're alright! I was so worried! You know classes begin in two days, right? What happened?" She babbled.

"Logan happened. And yeah, I know classes are tomorrow." I paused and sighed. "Dawn, you saw that video too, right?" I saw something cross her face. Fear? She slowly nodded.

"I saw it too. Jason and Nick did too. We need to figure out who else has seen it. Tonight. You in?" She nodded again.

• • •

We all sat in different places in the long table. Jason was at the far left, Nick and I in the middle, and Dawn on the far right. Logan was next to Nick. The girl from the other night was seated on my other side.

"Hey." I whispered. "Did you happen to see anything... Strange... In the video of President Ember?" Her eyes darted around at the other kids at the table, then nodded. "I'm Morgan. My roommate Noelle saw it too. And I think the boys sitting across from us, Ben and Dennis, saw it too. They're the next door down from my room." She whispered. I nodded. Morgan leaned over to the boys sitting across from them and whispered to them. They both looked at her for a moment before nodding. She turned back to me and slammed her hand on the table.

"Why is this happening?"

"I don't know. I wish I did, though."

"What if we had a group of people that tried to figure out? Like, out of the 48 of us?" Morgan said.

"Well, how would we do that?"

"An alliance. We become the favorites of the teachers during classes, and gradually get tiny bits of information from them. If we have a big group, it would go easier. But, it would be difficult to make sure that no word is getting out to people like Ember or Skilling with a larger group. Not everyone may be committed in helping us."

"And we would share information at meals?"

"Great idea. So, who should we have in here? Noelle, Dawn, who else?"

"Nick and Jason." I blurted almost immediately. She smiled and nodded. "Great!"