Among the Hidden

Chapter 1: The Letter

The year had gone by fast. I only had a week left until the official coming of age ceremony, and I had no idea which occupation I would choose.

I got up and walked over to my dresser, where my invitation stood against my picture of my family.  I read it again.

Dear Brooklyn Elle,
We are pleased to inform you that, since you are turning 15, you have the privilege of coming to the official coming of age ceremony, where you shall choose your destiny. You will need to come on September 22, at 2:00, but earlier would be recommended. You will need to come appropriately dressed for this occasion. Join us for a late lunch and the choosing ceremony, which will be followed by dinner.

Sincerely,
The Tribals

I hate when they used my real name. I have a nickname that I prefer, Brooke, but nobody seems to care.

It doesn't make sense why the tribals make us make decisions that alter our lives at 15! I walked over to my bed and landed face down in my pillows, the invitation in my hands.

I heard my name being called by my mother, but I was too busy thinking about the ceremony. If you could even call it a ceremony; it's just you sitting in a chair in front of the tribals and you eventually tell them what you want to do after they have finished discussing what you should decide to do. What life would I choose? How could I choose? I rolled over and stared at my ceiling.

If I don't think of anything by the deadline, I'm just going to run away and join the Hidden, I promised myself. I sat upright in my bed, shocked that I would think such a thing. I shuddered, trying to erase the thought from my head.

My mother burst into my room, making me jump.

"Brooklyn Elle! I have called you so many times for dinner, and yet you're still up here! Why, might I ask?" She said.

Her eyes were furious. She stared at me and I looked away, toward the invitation in my hand. Her eyes followed mine to the small slip of paper in which details of how my life was going to change were written, and her expression slightly changed.

"Oh. I see." She said, walking over to me. "I know that this is a big deal and everything, but don't expect to be able to use it as an excuse for anything."

"Okay. I know." I said as she turned around and left.

Once she had left, I sighed and fell back onto my bed. "Thanks for the advice mother, you're always so helpful," I whispered to myself.

I looked out my window. The sun had fallen since I had last looked, making the sky a gold-tinted blue. 

I sighed and got up from my bed. My mother would probably come upstairs and yell at me more if I didn't go down now.

* * * * * * *

At dinner that night, my mother acknowledged my choosing. My family talked about it for all of ten seconds, then moved on. I watched as my mother straightened out her cuffed sleeve and sat up straighter. She was a worker at the Corwick Government Facility. She wasn't allowed to talk about her job, so I have no idea what she does there. My father is the manager of a store in Bellwin, a part of Corwick.

My older brother, Mike, has already moved away. He works with my mother at Corwick Government Facility. He lives across the street and sometimes brings his wife, Sarah, over to dinner. My younger sister, Ginger, is a cute, innocent little girl with high hopes and big dreams. She isn't that little, she's ten, but I still consider her young. I, on the other hand, have no big dreams, high hopes, and not very many talents. I could sort of cook. I mean, if you call the entire fire department coming to our house cooking, then, yes, I can cook.

In the middle of dinner, a few minutes after Mike and Sarah had arrived, my mother started scolding me for not putting my napkin back in my lap when I went to get door. We all started eating again once they were seated.

"Mother," Mike said, "This is delicious."

"Thank you," My mother replied flatly.

"What is it?" Mike put down his fork. "Did they refuse your plan for capturing the Hidden again?"

She looked at him with wide eyes. Mike realized what he had done and turned to Ginger and me. "You didn't hear that. I forgot that I couldn't talk about work in front of you."

I nodded and went back to eating my food, but Ginger stared at them for a while before asking, "What are the Hidden, mom? I have never understood what they are."

We all went silent. My mother took a deep breath and replied, "They are the people who broke all our rules and ran away from punishment."

"Did they ever get caught?" Ginger asked.

"A few did." My mother replied, stabbing at her salad.

"Then where are they?"

"We don't know. We only know that they're on the other side of the fence somewhere."

After dinner, Mike came into the living room, where I was sitting, looking at the invitation.

"You look so sad. Lighten up, I mean, it's not like someone died!" Mike said. He was nice, but sometimes said stuff that was supposed to make you laugh, but instead sounded depressing.

I glared at him with a look in my eyes that made him turn around and walk straight back into the kitchen. I heard Mike and Sarah talking about their own choosing ceremonies.

I walked with Sarah and Mike to their house. They encouraged me to choose a good job that earned a lot of money. Apparently, they wanted me to do some sort of bank job, but I wasn't listening to half of what they were saying, instead, I was listening to the bugs. The president banned bugs inside the cities. In the day, you can't hear them, but at night you can hear them outside the city limits because it's all quiet. Mike and Sarah noticed that I wasn't listening, and gave up and went inside. I walked back home. 

After a few hours of thinking hard about what I like to do—which is apparently nothing—I heard a noise outside, so I went outside onto my balcony. In the distance I saw a bright flashing light and heard a siren on the hill. I bet that the police had seen the Hidden and tried to catch them. After a few seconds, the light stopped and started pacing; they had probably gotten to the fence. I went back to my bed and tried to go to sleep. But the words kept echoing through my head, "The Hidden."

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Thanks for reading! This was the first chapter of Among the Hidden after the major changes! Hope you liked it, and if you did, vote on this chapter and check back for the next one!

- the-bookishgirl