To Breathe Only Smoke

Chapter Five

Monday mornings had always been easy for me. School was one of my favorite places to be. Marlene would have been graduating that year if she hadn't gotten married, and Elias had graduated the year before. I wasn't the star pupil, like Dawn was, but I was happy where I was and never complained about homework. It got me out of doing things around the house.

Bright sunlight flooded in through the open window, along with an uncomfortable summer breeze that made my skin feel clammy. For a second I wondered if Lucielle had opened it, but when I looked over at her bed, another person was in it. The night before seemed like a blur. I sat up, still in my clothes from yesterday, and quickly headed down to the showers before anyone else woke up. It wasn't even six in the morning yet. When I came back, Abel was awake and reading. He didn't look up from the text but greeted me. "Top of the morning to you, Vintage."

"Good morning," I responded and sat down on my bed. Amma had returned and was currently passed out on her bed, with one foot in the air and drool on her pillow. Ricca had been lying awake in her bed, letting out sharp groans and holding her stomach. "Is she okay?"

"I examined her when she woke up," Abel explained. "They're a nasty case of cramps. I gave her some water. They should subside soon."

She smiled at me, "I have them all the time."

Instead of arguing how unhealthy that sounded, I sat down on my bed and tied my hair back with a stretchy band I found in the bathroom. Amma was snoring up a storm, and no one else was paying attention to me, so I slipped out again and back to my supply closet to read Elias's first note.

"Hey Vintage,

The first week is all written tests. They're kind of boring, but important. It's going to test how much you know and how much you think you know about the sectors and their operations. A different sector a day is the way they do it, so it's easier to judge. It goes in the order of the sectors formation, with the Redi first and the Dark last. It's not so much what answers you get correct, as it is how you answer them. Your handwriting, your facial expressions, the way you form your sentences; that's what they're looking at. So if you don't know an answer, that's okay.

Now, I know that your first supper must have been pretty intimidating. They always do some kind of massive stunt that scares everyone. They called a member from each sector up onto that balcony thing and made them swing from the colored banners. Granted, the Apricas were in charge that year, and I don't know who you have guiding your Judgment. It's not the Dormants, I know that. If it was, I'd be there telling you this in person. -Elias DuPree."

Our first supper consisted of innocent kids being sent out into The Dark Sector, not something whimsical and daring such as swinging from a banner like apes. I wish Elias could see what had happened here, but then again, he'd probably get thrown into the Dark Sector for questioning the Liona Valor leaders. I was glad he wasn't around.

Written tests. I could do written tests. I was sure Abel would excel in them because he never did anything but read and study. Amma would probably just spit on it and kick back in her seat for some sleep, and I wasn't sure that Ricca could even write. Were there any schools in The Dark Sector? I couldn't help but think of how Lucielle would have written her responses. She probably would have asked whoever looked at her paper how their days were and dot her letters with little hearts or swirls. It made me sick to think about.