Introvert

Chapter I

Standing in front of the mirror, a girl in all white. A dress shirt, a skirt, long socks and shoes. The only decent outfit kept within the tiny closet she had. The only splash of color being her necktie. Baby blue, with a symbol threaded tightly onto the width of the fabric.

"Flor!"

She turns her head towards the shout and stays quiet as her sister, Celeste, enters her room.

"The signals going to come over in a bit. Stay down." Celeste says as she directs her attention to the window. A sea of strong, barely visible white mist passes slowly over the city, blurring every structure it touches. The two sit on the floor and keep their hands folded in their laps, awaiting the radiation that they have felt so many times before to reach them as well. They close their eyes as the mist holds them in its grasp, enclosing them in heat and sinking into the depths of their flesh. It only takes a few seconds, but it ends with a sting to the occipital lobe.

Flor winces as she slowly opens her eyes, the pain intensifying. Because she has learned to numb this pain, she takes a deep breath and exhales before she quickly stands up.

Bad idea.

She groans, and leans against the wall, desperately wishing the pain away. Celeste leaves the room without saying a word.

After the pain begins to fade, Flor slowly walks back towards the mirror. She grabs a hair tie off a table and twists her  brown hair into a bun, her fragile curls brushing against her delicate hands constantly. Standing back and staring at her own reflection, she attempts a smile. Slowly, her lips stretch into a grin, but when she enters the room where her parents stand hugging her sister, the corners of her mouth are heavily weighted back down.

"You've grown up so fast, my little angel." She hears her mother's faint whisper, her arms wrapped tightly around Celeste. She can already tell by her wavering voice that she's sobbing.

Celeste lets out a weak chuckle as she stands back and takes her father's hands. "Dad. I heard you got selected to read the formalities this year."

"That's right, honey."

"Alright, well, congratulations dad. We'll see you at the convocation. I will truly miss both of you." She cooed as she stepped back.

Their gazes turned from Celeste to Flor, and she hesitates for a while before she walks forward and gives them half-hearted hugs.

"Are you happy you don't get to see us for a whole year?" Her mother says. The quivering tone she had quickly disappearing as she looks Flor directly in the eyes.

All she could do was respond by backing away with a sigh. She turns and walks towards the door with Celeste, but before they're gone, they turn around and wave goodbye.

Once they were a few yards past their home, Celeste spins around, grabs her sister's necktie, and pulls Flor towards her. "Whatever you do, stay as far away from me as possible, never get in my way, and don't even try to spend time with me. If anyone asks, we aren't sisters. There are going to be so many other people there. I don't want them to know that I'm related to a Tristi." She mumbles aggressively before pushing Flor away and walking faster.

Celeste suddenly stops in her tracks and speaks, not bothering to turn back around and face Flor.

"One more thing. When dad finishes saying the formalities and all the parents are crying and hugging their kids goodbye, don't even think of hugging them yourself."

"My surname was always Dela Rosa, not Del Rosa." Flor yells back with a groan.

"You got that right, sister." Her voice fades away as she turns a corner, leaving Flor walking alone.

A few minutes later, Flor holds in a wide smile as she approaches another house, her friend standing near the door. When they finally make eye contact, he runs down and pulls her into a tight hug. She hugs him back.

"I missed you." He mutters into her ear, making her let out tiny chuckles.

"It's only been like, a month since the last time I saw you." She replies, resting her chin on his shoulder. "But I missed you too, Jj."

"Are you ready?"

"I have no choice but to be ready, but sure."

"I mean, you're not wrong."

After sharing a small laugh, they both pull away and turn around to face Jeremiah's parents, who are standing in the doorway with a sappy smile on both of their faces. They wave goodbye.

"Bye, mom. Bye, dad."

"We'll see you at the convocation, auntie and uncle."

They walk for about a mile in silence, finding peace simply just in each other's presence. They stop before they get to the terminals, where many other students from each school form a crowd as the bus approaches. Only the sound of hushed talking and heavy breathing is all that can be heard as everyone takes their seats. Flor looks around for people she knows, but gets a tap on the shoulder and looks up. Her calm expression brightens up, and her jaw drops.

"Luna..." She whispers as she rises from her seat and pulls her into a tight hug.

"How you going, Flor?" She asks as she returns the hug.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Great." She says as she looks away with a smile.

They both sit down and lean into the seat as the bus starts up.

A few minutes later, Flor hears the soft patter of footsteps across the hard bus floor. "Um, excuse me, is this seat taken?" A voice mumbles.

The three look at the girl who asked and give her a small smile.

"No not at all. Go ahead." Flor assures before the girl sits down next to Yang.

"My name is Valentina Suarez." She says with a little bow. "What are your names?"

"Flor Del Rosa."

"Jeremiah Javier."

"Luna Celestial"

"You're from Ingenium?" Luna asks, noticing the symbol on her necktie.

She nods and smiles, but her smile slowly disappears as she glances at the symbol on their neckties.

"Tristis..." She mumbles under her breath as she coughs, leans back, then looks away.

The three look at each other and roll their eyes.

"Have you eaten yet?" Jeremiah asks as he leans towards Flor

"Not yet." Flor whispers back. "What about you?"

"Starving."

She lets out a chuckle before an instructor comes around.

"Arms out." He commands them all.

Everybody obeys and sticks their arms out, getting their wrists wrapped in bandages hiding tiny devices, pressing into the rough skin of these adolescents. Despite the uncomfortable feeling, they must have to learn to live with it for the rest of their lives, labeling them as actual members of this society.

In about half an hour, they arrive at the convention center, and all the students stream out of their buses.

Once they all gather into the huge hall, they sit. A room full of 6,000 students fill the room with just the sound of whispering. But the room falls silent when the speaker, Vincent Del Rosa, goes up to the microphone stand.

"Hello students, and welcome to the highest level of education you'll ever need to use for the rest of your life. Now, students from Ingenium, Pacem, Fidelis, and Tristitita, we know you don't know each other very well. But from this day forward, you will all tolerate each other, and we will make an effort to unify as one large community of introverts."