Underscore | h.s. au

three.

"Liam!" I almost screeched, pushing past the others as fast as I could as soon as my eyes had connected with his. He smiled, holding his arms out for me to come crashing into. I was beyond scared and worried, and it was comforting that Liam was still there for me, unlike Father and Zayn. I was lucky, most Males were already seated for the ceremony. Anyone with eyes could see that every year, this ceremony brought out the worse of people, the mentality that if one did not succeed today, their entire life would be a disappointment.

Liam looked at me, then looked around the dome, his eyes jumping everywhere trying to find something to converse with me about. He seemed so fascinated by this place, and his face read an emotion I haven't seen in a while, inquisitiveness. I looked around too, curious of my surroundings. 

The place was huge. We were standing on a cement floor that was lined with yellow X's spray-painted on the ground, with our names written in the middle. Some girls had found their spots and were standing on them nervously, waiting for the ceremony to start. There was a stage up front with a ton of Males working to get the microphones and results in order. The stage and podium were plain, a boring gray with steps on the side. The only color, other than the X's, were pink curtains hanging as the backdrop. Around all this, on elevated bleachers, were rows and rows of Males, with the occasional Female, from families of these girls around me. It was like a stadium, and we were the show.

"How do you think you did?" Liam said excitedly, bringing his attention back to me. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I didn't really know what to say. I felt good, but then again, was my good enough to be an Asterisk? And what about Niall? He'd raised my hopes by his words and actions, but it was only his opinion. There were three others I was supposed to impress as well.

"Fine," I finally said, sighing a little as I noticed Liam's face was dropping in concern when I didn't answer right away. I still couldn't get over what he'd said to me before the examination.

"Let's have all the eighteenth year Females make their way to the center so we can start the ceremony," a Male voice announced into the microphone in a very festive way, saving me from continuing the conversation with Liam. I wonder if he did this every year, or if his optimism was solely there because this was his first and only time announcing.

"Good luck," Liam smiled, pulling me in for yet again another hug. His eyes held a deeper meaning than what I could grasp.

I watched him walk off, being escorted by a guard up a locked off flight of stairs. Something about his words threw me off a bit. He seemed like he already knew something that he felt like he had to protect me from. He couldn't already know my status yet, because it hasn't been released to anyone, only my examiners and the ceremonial Males should know it. I brushed off the thought, deciding it wasn't a good time to worry about such a thing.

Instead I focused on trying to find my spot. Virginia Hines. I was one of the last girls to find my X, which was smack dab in the middle of everyone. It felt like we were cattle, all locked into this place so we couldn't run off. I did not like the idea of that thought at all, and for a spare moment, I wished Zayn and Father had to go through such a thing as this.

[]

"Darcy Hailey," the Male's voice carried throughout the stadium as a tall blonde from down my aisle started to walk up the stage.

It was a deadly silence, everyone waiting for this girl to find out her status. I picked the cuticles of my fingers absentmindedly, my legs still numb. I felt nervous for her, and I don't really know why, what she was had nothing to do with me. She had nothing to do with anyone, unless if she was an Asterisk. Another example of the selfish parts of people coming out on this day.