Superior

   I had never taken much notice of Blaire. I knew she was quiet, and, like me, had no idea who her parents were. But those qualities were found among thousands of us in the holding houses. It was almost rare to find an emotionally secure kid, even rarer to find one with parents. So it’s not like Blaire had made any attempts to be different. And neither had I. But everything changed after I was sent to the Royals. And because of it, my life as a Reject will never be the same.

   Part 1 “Rejects”

Chapter 1- Jobs

   When the sirens start I’ll have to get up. I have no choice, but I like to imagine ignoring their noise and sleeping in until a desirable hour of the morning. Really, anything is better than four a.m. But my desires will never be fulfilled. Resistance is punishable by law in Reject country.

   The dreadful wail of the sirens start up and my already heavy eyes drip forward. I have to force myself off the bed and into a stand before I’m able to peel them open. I rub them quickly to shake the grogginess out of my system, and blink until I can focus on the girl sleeping before me.

   “Spruce, baby, get up,” I mumble, sticking my hands over her bed to rustle her. Spruce sleeps adjacent to me and has a habit of sleeping through the sirens. I’ve promised to wake her every day before it gets her into trouble since I can’t bear the thought of her getting punished. She arrived at my holding house only three years ago, and ever since we’ve been like sisters.

   “I’m up,” Spruce mutters as she tumbles out of bed. I help her to her feet and together we make our way to the shower stalls. Since we woke so quickly, we get first shift, which means heated water. I sigh as the liquid rushes over me in a fury of heated drops. When was the last time I’ve been given first shift? Weeks, surely. Almost a month. It feels good to be given the hot water privilege, and I know Spruce is surely enjoying it.

   But in almost no time the water shuts off, and I am forced into the prepping room with nothing but my hair to cover me. I am thankful for its length at times like this, and push it so it covers my back while I try to make my way quickly to my hook. Another advantage of waking early is the unusual vacancy of the prepping room, which allows for extra space and less exposure. When I reach my hook there are no other girls clouding around, allowing me to quickly grab my jumpsuit and step into it. The neon orange color has faded quite a bit since I got the mandatory outfit, but it still sticks out in the early morning dusk awaiting outside. I zip it up, tie my hair, and move toward the Hall.

   “Come on, Spruce,” I mutter as I catch her by the arm. She scrambles to zip up her jumpsuit as we hurriedly make our way out of the prepping room. By now, more girls have stumbled in from their showers and are doing their best to get ready. I watch as a girl, no older than five, trips over her jumpsuit. She slams into the floor and lets out a wail. My first instinct is to help her, but then Spruce gives my hand a squeeze and I remember that as much as I may want, I can’t help everyone.

   I ignore the escalating cries of the five year old as Spruce and I make our way into the Hall. The foul smell of mildew and sweat engulfs us as we enter the room. It stretches out a good way with a food line on one wall and a double door to the outside on the other. There are ten lunch tables that run the length of the room resting on the floor. I glance up momentarily and blink against the harsh lights. The holding house runs on fluorescents, which aren’t tuned to fit the human eye as well as the solar imitation lights in the Royals’ houses. Of course, Royals aren’t human anyway, which makes the adjustment just that much more ridiculous.

   I adjust Spruce ahead of me and try to keep her in order with the others. When we’re no more than two steps away from the food, she stumbles over her foot and falls out of line onto her hands and knees. I gasp and pull her back up, but the guards still straighten and give us a threating glance. Spruce whimpers to herself as she hurries to grab her food portion and follow through the double door and into the yard with the rest of the girls.