Listed: Book One of The Listed Trilogy

Chapter Six

 Underneath

I step onto the plane, and the carpet makes my feet sink ever so slightly. I turn my head, and look down at the other Listed kids for the first time.

In every row there are two seats, one for the guardian and one for the Listed child. The odd numbers are on one side of the plane, and the even numbers are on the left side. I presume that the numbers represent the number of your state. I notice that some numbers are missing, probably because of how close some people are to State 2. I see the teenage girl in the 43 window seat, and she gives me that face again. I shiver, and look away. I see several boys, all older than me (as I expected) scattered around the plane. Although, there are more girls than boys so far. 

I start walking down the aisle, and scan the numbers above the seats. I find 42, and sit in the window seat. Kat takes the seat next to me, and pulls on a strip of black fabric. She pulls another one, this one with a metal sort of clip at the end, and connects the two. She then pulls another piece of fabric and the whole thing tightens around her stomach.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at the strip of fabric. She sighs, and I feel embarrassed.

"It's a belt, here, you do it like this." she takes the pieces of fabric, and repeats the cycle. I look around, and see that everyone around me is staring at me. I shrink into my seat, wishing I could disappear.

The girl from State 43 leans into the seat in front of her, and whispers something into the boy from State 41. They look at me, then snicker. I try to keep my head held high, when really I'm dying of embarrassment.

I can tell that all of these kids are from Opes. They have nice clothes, they're clean, and they look completely comfortable in the airplane. I swallow, knowing that these kids are stronger than me.

Another girl walks down the aisle, and she looks as old as me, if not younger. She's thin, wearing clothes from Paupertas, her hair is a dark black, her skin is fair, and her eyes a deep cocoa brown. She looks shaken, and I assume it's just the fact that she was Listed, like me. She sits in the aisle seat for some reason, in the State 45 seats. I stare at her, then look away when she looks up.

"I'm Lavender." a small voice says behind me. I turn, and see the girl offering me her hand. I reach across Kat (much to her annoyance) and shake it.

"I'm Athena." I say, and we let go. Her arm dangles at the side of her seat.

"I've never heard of that before." she says quietly.

"What?" I ask confusedly. Kat groans, and looks at me.

"Why don't we switch?" she asks while unbuckling her belt. I unbuckle mine, and we switch seats. She reaches for my belt when I hold up my hand.

"I got it." I say. Then I hear giggles, and I turn to see the girl from State 43 laughing with the boy from State 41.

"Ooh, look. little girl's gettin' sassy!" then they laugh some more. I grunt, and do my belt. I turn back to Lavender, and she looks at me in horror.

"What?" I ask. She shivers.

"That girl is one of the toughest girls in Imperium." she whispers.

"How do you know?" I ask.

"She's all over the news in my state." she says, looking down the aisle at the girl nervously.

"What did she do?" I ask.

"She's an entertainer, in a way. She fights people in a confined space until one of them passes out. Whoever wins is awarded money. She does this in front of an audience." Lavender explains.