War of Colors

Chapter Two

I stood there in my best clothes. I knew I'd probably never be this clean again. My short, thick hair was clean and soft. My tan skin was scrubbed. I wore my best outfit - blue dress shirt, khakis, and nice, white shoes. I even wore my bronze medallion. Parents dress their kids well because they want to make a good impression on the officers.

 

"You look so hansome, Ari." My mother commented. I managed a smile. Then, she sighed. "Let's get this over with." Tears were swimming in her eyes as she opened the front door.

 

As we reached the Recruiting Center, my nerves were more on ege. The center is basically a large arena, like a basketball court. Mom an Terra went one way to find their seats, and I went another to sign in. If someone wasn't  there, they'd go on a man hunt to find them. It's happened one year, they had to pry a kid off his mother.

 

When I finished with my form, I gave it to an offical looking woman, and headed down to the stage. About a hundred kids were already there, not only from Austin, but from every other city as well. They all sat in a roped off section in the front. Calista and Matthias were sitting in the back, also dressed nicely.

 

"Hey." I greeted, sitting down beside Matty. Matthias only nodded and looked straight ahead. Tears were forming in his baby blue eyes. I leaned back, and tapped Calista's shoulder. Pointing to Matty, I gave her a curious look and mouthed, "What's with him?"

 

Matthias must have sensed something, because tears were running down his pale cheecks. "Mathew's dead." He mumbled. Then, he started to sob, and head starting to turn. "We recieved a call last night - Mathew is dead!"

 

Mathew Juno was Matthias's eighteen year old brother. He joined the Blue army when Matty was only eight. Shortly afterward, their parent's divorced.

 

The ceremony began, and Matthias calmed down a bit. Up on stage, there was a podium, and four chairs. Each of them was occupied by a uniformed officer. Their uniforms were nothing special. They were camoflauge, or the color of their army, that would be a little obnoxious. All of them wore a black dress acket over a white shirt, and a black tie. Their jacket had gold buttons on the abdomen, and gold rings around the wrists. On the left side of their chest were awards, and on the left was a name tag. On their heads, they wore caps with their armies symbol in the middle. Another way to idenify their armies was by looking at their shoulders. Sort of like Nazis, they wore a band around their left arm.  They were the generals of the units we would be joining.

 

The mayor, Joshua Cass, stepped up to the microphone, wearing a crisp, white suit. He cleared his throat, causing complete silence. "Welcome to the Blank District Recruiting Ceremony!" Nobody clapped, why would they? "When I call the child's name, they will step up here, and announce the army they will be joining. Afterward, make your way..."

 

I completely zoned out. I had to get up in front of thousands of people? What if one of them was a supporter of another army, and threw something at me? It happened one year. Someone threw a rock at a girl who was going to join Green. It killed her on the spot. Fear controlled my legs as I scooted to the aisle.

 

"Sage Giovanni!" I glanced up at the stage, and saw Sage step up to the microphone. I could hear him say, "Green," as the aisle got closer and closer.

 

"Ari!" Calista hissed. My head snapped in her direction, almost giving me whiplash in the process. She was pointing to my previous seat, mouthing, "Sit down!" I obeyed, finally realizing what I was about to do. Why was I even thinking about running? They'd catch me, and punish me in front of everyone. That's a great way to start off my military career!

 

After many names, Calista was called. "Calista Meer!" Color drained from her face, as she stood. She walked straight and tall, with an expressionless face. Calista wasn't crazy about crowds.She climbed the stairs, glancing at every one of the generals. Finally, she reached the podium. "I'm going to join the Blue army." The color returned to her face as she bounded down the stairs, and joined the group of new Blue soldiers.

 

The other kids around me started to disappear, and join the others. When Matty left, that's when I started to feel vulnerable. You start to feel exposed when you're sitting alone.

 

Finally, the moment I dreaded arrived. "Alexander Matthews!" I winced as he called my real name. I didn't like it that much, but I hated the name Alex.

 

I made my way to the stage, avoiding eye contact with anyone. As I approached the podium, I made eye contact with one of the officers. I really wish I hadn't.

 

The man was in his forties. His salt and pepper hair was cut short, and his eyes were as cold as cinderblocks. He wore a Green uniform. The thing that caught my eyes was his name.  On his name tag was Giovanni, Sage's dad.

 

He smirked and winked, obviously knowing who I was. I turned to the crowd, and sighed. "Umm..." I said intelligently, "I will be joining the Blue army. I turned and repeated what the others did before me. Calista hugged me fiercely as I met up with them. "The hard part's over." I assured her.

 

"No," A voice said. We turned to see Jacob Ryder. "The hard part's only begun."