Inhale

Chapter 9 - The Ceremony

"Al!" cried a voice. I turned to see Phillip, wide-eyed and ecstatic. "How'd you do?"

"I passed," I coolly stated, continuing to stare at my score. A ninety-nine... Katherine would embrace me and ruffle my locks for such an excellent score. "How did you do?" I questioned, rotating to look at him.

"I did, too!" he cheered, gesturing to his score on the board. An eighty-five... nice. "See, Al? I did really well!"

"Good job, Phillip," I said, patting him on the back, "you did well." He beamed, his bright eyes dilating while he displayed his pearly whites for the world to see. He opened his mouth, ready to continue the conversation, until someone intercepted.

"Recruits, are you done looking at your scores?" the moderator asked.

"If so, please go to Recruit's Hall—there, you will receive information on housing and uniforms."

"All right, understood. We'll be on our way," the boy answered. Before I could say a word, he grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me out. He took me with him through the hallways, passing various individuals who only had a chance to give us one glance as we bolted through the corridors of the base. We barely avoid catastrophes—it was a good thing that he was as agile. Yet, despite all the mishaps that could have happened, we somehow made it into an open area that was labeled "Recruit's Hall" in one piece.

"We're here," he sang, letting go of my wrist. I grimaced at the red tint of my skin, yet made no mention of it to the boy. I searched my surroundings. A murmuring crowd was gathered around a sign, making it suspicious... could it be important? I pushed my way through the mass. On the board was a list in alphabetical order, listing the names of all the recruits and their room. My eyes scanned the chart, searching for my name, and soon, I found it.

"Alastair Adair... Room 23A."

"And I'm your roomie," Phillip sang, slinging his arm around my shoulder. Great. I have to deal with him at night, too. "We're the only two in that dorm. Compared to those roomed with three other people, I'd say we're really lucky."

"It's nice to know that I'm sharing a room with someone I know and it's not going to be crowded," I responded with forced excitement, trying to hide my irritation. He grinned, and took me by the wrist once more. Kill me. However, before we left, an officer stopped us.

"Excuse me," he called, running up to us with two bags in his hands, "don't you need your uniforms?"

"Yes, please," I responded. He smiled, and handed me the smaller of the two. I peered at its size label. X-Small... that really makes me feel good about my body. I glanced over at Phillip, who was given a medium bag.

"Thanks," Phillip said to him, before dragging me out once more.

"Hey, where are we going?"

"We're going to go check out our room, silly," he merrily sang as we barely managed to escape colliding with another pair. "I know exactly where it is, so we'll be there soon!"

"Hopefully, in one piece," I murmured, rolling my eyes. If I had known that Phillip was this destructive, I would've ignored the boy... if only I knew.

"And, we're here!" he announced as we reached a door made from some sort of dark wood. It had a label, and on it read, "Room 23A"... I suppose he's right with that. "Alastair, welcome to our new home!" With that, he gripped the doorknob and threw the door open.

The dorm could be summarized with one word: monochrome. Everything in it was either black, white, or in between. The walls were painted an ominous black, the ceiling a peeling off-white, the floor covered with a white, slick carpet, and the single dresser was pitch-black. There were two beds and though they were small, they were sufficient and appeared cozy. At least the room is better than what I expected.